The large and tragic loss of life at the Battle of Jutland has a local family connection to Ballintoy. Inside the church there is a plaque to David Elder Jamieson who came from the townland of Knocksoughey - his home looked out over Carrick a Rede to Raghery and beyond to Islay. He joined the Royal Navy and worked his way through the ranks to become a First Class Petty Officer and was assigned to HMS Defence under the Command of Admiral Arbuthnot. HMS Defence was a 1st class armoured cruiser of the Minotaur class and displaced some 14,600 tons, her armaments included four 9.2inch primary guns, ten 7.5 inch secondary guns, sixteen 12 pounders and five 18 inch submerged torpedo tubes, the ship was built in 1907 at the Pembroke Dockyard.

Commissioned into the Home Fleet in 1909, she served on the China Station in 1912, the Mediterranean Station in 1913 and in 1914 she joined the 1st cruiser squadron and became the flagship of Admiral Sir R. Artbuthnot. At the Battle of Jutland, she was leading her squadron ahead of the main battle fleet, the cruiser engaged with light scouting forces of the German High Seas Fleet, in these engagements she damaged and brought to a stop the crippled German cruiser the Wiesbaden. As she closed in to sink the Wiesbaden she came in range of the main German fleet and was repeatedly hit by five battlecruisers leading the main fleet, at 6.20 am on May 31st the ship exploded and sunk with the loss of 903 men. Photograph of David Elder by kind permission of Stanley Jamieson.