Joseph Drake born 1895 in Bradford, Yorkshire, was the elder son of William Henry Dixon Drake and Bertha Annie (formerly Jones) who married 29 Aug 1891 at Bradford St Peter. Joseph’s grandparents were John Henry Drake and Elizabeth (formerly Dixon) who married 24 Jul 1869 at Bradford St Peter, and his great grandparents were William Drake and Mary Ann (formerly Fawthrop) who married 3 Jan 1843 at Shipley St Paul.

Joseph served as a Stoker 1st Class on the battlecruiser HMS Indefatigable. Indefatigable was sunk in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916. Two Shells from the German battlecruiser Von der Tann caused huge explosions on Indefatigable, one tearing a hole in her hull and the other causing metal to be thrown 200 feet into the air. Only two men survived of her 1,019 crew.

The names of Joseph Drake and his fellow-sailors lost in this terrible event are to be found on the Plymouth Naval Memorial.