Frank Beard – Royal Naval Reserve, H.M. Trawler Benton Castle

Engineman Frank Beard – Royal Naval Reserve, H.M. Trawler Benton Castle

Frank Beard was born in 1883 in Bristol, the son of Albert Beard and Maria Beard.

Very little documentary evidence survives regarding his early life, and no census or military service records have been positively identified for him. It is known, however, that he married Amelia Rose Chugg, though further details of their marriage and family life remain unrecorded.

Naval Service and Death

Frank served with the Royal Naval Reserve, holding the rank of Engineman aboard H.M. Trawler Benton Castle, a British steam fishing trawler requisitioned by the Royal Navy during the First World War for auxiliary patrol and minesweeping duties.

On 10 November 1916, H.M. Trawler Benton Castle was sunk by a mine laid by the German submarine UC-17, while operating off Dartmouth. As a result of the sinking, ten members of her crew were killed, including Engineman Frank Beard.

Frank Beard
Plymouth Naval Memorial, Plymouth
credit - findagrave

Frank Beard
Plymouth Naval Memorial, Plymouth
credit - findagrave

Frank Beard has no known grave and is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial, which honours members of the Royal Navy and Royal Naval Reserve who lost their lives at sea during the First World War.