Petty Office Stoker Francis Harold Armitage, RN (K16328), was a Luton man lost when HMS Vanguard sank following an internal explosion while at anchor at Scapa Flow on July 9th, 1917. His body was never recovered for burial.

A son of Thomas and Elizabeth Armitage, of 43 Tennyson Road, Luton, the 26-year-old had recently been promoted from Leading Seaman and was second in charge of the engine room. He had served on Vanguard during the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and come through unscathed.

Before joining the Navy in September 1912 he had worked as an iron moulder at Hayward Tyler & Co. The family were then living at 104 Lea Road, Luton.

He is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial and Luton War Memorial.