Captain Arthur Lindesay Cay lost his life aged 48 in command of the battlecruiser HMS Invincible
HMS Invincible
Arthur Lindesay Cay was born on 31st January 1869 in Penzance, Cornwall and joined the Navy as a cadet in 1882. He was the son of Capt. Robert Barclay Cay, J.P., R.N., and Augusta Del Hoste Cay. He married Mabel Laidley in June 1901 and they had four children. Mabel died in 1912. A Lieutenant under his command described Captain Cay as ”a very upright six foot three, sparsely built with the expression of a bulldozer, it would never occur to anyone to gainsay him; a widower living a spartan life except for golf, and saving anything possible for his children.”
The Invincible was the lead British ship during the battle. At the short range of 9,000 yards she was targeted by the German fleet, blown up and completely destroyed at 6.34pm on 31st May. The explosion engulfed the entire ship and she sunk in less than a minute. All but six of her crew of 1,031 were lost.
