The British Naval Record of my Paternal Great Grandfather Herbert Barrett
-
Upload
jim-barrett -
Category
Documents
-
view
225 -
download
0
Transcript of The British Naval Record of my Paternal Great Grandfather Herbert Barrett
1
The Naval Career of Herbert John Thomas Barrett My Great Grandfather.
Born in Croydon, London 1881, Died Toowoomba Qld Australia 1974. Herbert John Thomas Barrett was born 30 September 1881 in East Croydon Surrey. He was educated at Holy Trinity Mission in Selhurst in Croydon London and in 1891 he was awarded a prize of a book “Electricity and its Wonders” by Ascot R. Hope (1881) by Vicar R. Patterson.
Holy Trinity Mission Croydon.
Herbert officially joined the British Royal Navy on 30 September 1899, on his 18th Birthday. But he was on his first training ship on 14 February 1898 (HMS St. Vincent) at the age of 16. Herbert rose in the ranks, beginning as Boy (14 February 1898-‐30 September 1899), then Ordinary Seaman (30 September 1899 -‐ 3 January 1901), and then Able Seaman (AB more than two years experience at sea – 3 January 1901). Having been made an AB in 1901 Herbert remained on ships as such until 29 September 1911 when he was discharged with the note ‘Shore b.l. Expd.’. In this 1898 -‐ 1911 phase of his naval service Herbert served on HMS St. Vincent, Agincourt, Sans Pareil, Highflyer, Pembroke and Pembroke I, Wildfire, Repulse, Dominion and Vulcan.
2
This is HMS St. Vincent, the ship Herbert Barrett trained on from 14 February 1898 until 13 June 1899.
HMS St. Vincent was one of class of three, and the only one to see active service, though she was not put into commission until 1829, when she became the flagship of William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk, under Northesk's flag captain, Edward Hawker, at Plymouth Dockyard. After paying-‐off in April 1830 she was recommissioned the following month and was made flagship at Portsmouth Dockyard. From 1831 until 1834 she served in the Mediterranean. Placed on harbour service at Portsmouth in 1841, she joined the Experimental Squadron in 1846. From May 1847 until April 1849 she was the flagship of Rear-‐Admiral Sir Charles Napier, commanding the Channel Fleet. After a spell in ordinary at Portsmouth, from July to September 1854, during the Crimean War, she was used to transport French troops to the Baltic. Subsequently she became a depot ship at Portsmouth. She was commissioned as a training ship in 1862, and specifically as a training ship for boys, moored permanently at Haslar from 1870. In this role she retained 26 guns.
3
HMS Highflyer (Herbert Served 1899-‐1903)
In 1901 HMS Highflyer served in the Indian Ocean as the flagship of Rear-‐Admiral Day Bosanquet, Commander-‐in-‐Chief East Indies Station. Admiral Sir Day Hort Bosanquet GCVO, KCB (22 March 1843 – 1923) was the Governor of South Australia from 18 February 1909 until 22 March 1914. The East Indies Station, established in 1865, covered the Indian Ocean (excluding the waters around the Dutch East Indies, South Africa and Australia) and included the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. These responsibilities did not imply territorial claims, but rather that the navy would actively protect Britain's trading interests. The East Indies Station had bases at Colombo, Trincomalee, Bombay, Basra and Aden. In response to increased Japanese threats, the separate East Indies Station was merged with the China Station in December 1941 to form the Eastern Fleet From November 1902 to March 1903 Captain Arthur Christian commanded Highflyer as the flagship of Rear-‐Admiral Sir Charles Drury. Highflyer was at the head of the squadron of six ships that took part in the Somaliland Campaign in various coastal capacities. The ships assisted in landing troops and stores, in transport work, and in the prevention of delivery of munitions to the enemy. Three officers attached to Highflyer were landed, and assisted the progress of the campaign with a wireless telegraphy apparatus. Herbert’s son, (my grandfather) Arthur Fredrick Barrett was born in 24 September 1909 at 39 Milton Road, Croydon London (the below image is from outside the address but the house no longer exists). Herbert’s profession on the birth certificate of his son Arthur is given as ‘Seaman Royal Navy’.
4
Milton Road, Croydon London
Herbert’s service record resumes on 20th February 1914 when he is on HMS Pembroke. In 1914 HMS Pembroke was the name given to a number of shore barracks at Chatham, Harwich and on the Forth. A number of ships were renamed Pembroke while serving as base and depot ships for the establishment. HMS Trent was a Medina-‐class gunboat launched in 1877. She was the fifth ship of the Royal Navy to be named after the River Trent. She was renamed HMS Pembroke in 1905, and served off the coast of Tanganyika in 1915. She was renamed HMS Gannet in 1917 while serving as a diving tender. She was scrapped in 1923. Herbert served on HMS Pembroke from 20 February 1914 until 8 May 1914.
From 10 May 1914 until 10 May 1915 Herbert was on HMS Apollo. Britain declared war on German on 4 August 1914. HMS Apollo, the sixth ship of the Royal Navy to be named for the Greek god Apollo, was a second-‐class Apollo-‐class protected cruiser launched in 1891 and converted to a minelayer in 1909 along with six of her sisters. They formed a minelaying squadron in 1914—15 during World War I. She and her sisters formed a squadron operating from Dover and the Nore laying mines in the English Channel. APOLLO (1), minelayer, ex-‐2nd-‐class protected cruiser, Apollo-‐class, N.36 (1914), N.05 (1.18). Launched 10.2.91 Chatham DY. 3400 tons, 314(oa), 300(pp)x43x16ft. TE 9000ihp, 20kts (designed). Conversion to minelayer completed 4.8.09 Chatham DY, armament 4-‐4.7in, 100 mines. Minelayer, based at Dover and Sheerness 1914-‐15 (seven Apollo-‐class minelayers laid nearly 8000 mines in 22 operations), then subsidiary service, ended war as depot ship. BU 8.20 Castle. Plymouth.
5
HMS Apollo From 10 May 1915 until 10 September 1918 Herbert Barrett was a Petty Officer (6 Years) on H.M. Minelayer Angora. H.M.M Angora was a passenger and cargo ship owned and operated by British India Steam Navigation Company and was taken over by the Admiralty as an Auxiliary Minelayer on 27th February 1915. She was returned to the B.I.S.N.Co on 15th November 1919 having laid 14,729 mines. Many of these were in the Gallipoli area after the evacuation. It seems likely that Herbert was in the eastern Mediterranean during the Gallipoli campaign and possible in the immediate area and involved in it. In July 1918 Herbert is recommended for Chief Petty Officer. In the Royal Navy, the rank of Chief Petty Officer comes above that of Petty officer and below that of Warrant Officer Class 2. It is the equivalent of colour sergeant in the Royal Marines, staff sergeant in the Army, and flight sergeant in the Royal Air Force.
6
7
From 11 September-‐24 February 1919 Herbert is listed as Acting Chief Petty Officer stationed on Rameses in his navy record. The First World War ended on 11 November 1918. I cannot find a record of a vessel in the Royal Navy that was named Rameses. From 28 February to 11 June 1919 Hebert is serving back on Pembroke I. Pembroke was what is referred to as a ‘Stone Frigate’ and the number 1 designates a station within Pembroke, which is the barracks for the Port Division of Chatham. Until the late 19th century, the Royal Navy housed training and other support facilities in hulks—old wooden ships of the line—moored in ports as receiving ships, depot ships, or floating barracks. The Admiralty regarded shore accommodation as expensive and liable to lead to indiscipline. These floating establishments kept their names while the actual vessels housing them changed. For example, the gunnery training school at Portsmouth occupied three ships between its foundation in 1830 and its move ashore in 1891 but all were named (or renamed) HMS Excellent. As ships began to use increasingly complex technology during the late 19th century, these facilities became too large to continue afloat and were moved to shore establishments while keeping their names. An early "stone frigate" was the engineering training college HMS Marlborough, moved ashore to Portsmouth in 1880. The gunnery school continued to be named HMS Excellent after its move ashore to Whale Island in 1891. By World War I there were about 25 "stone frigates" in the United Kingdom. Under section 67 of the Naval Discipline Act 1866, the provisions of the act only applied to officers and men of the Royal Navy borne on the books of a warship. When shore establishments began to become more common it was necessary to allocate the title of the establishment to an actual vessel which became the nominal depot ship for the men allocated to the establishment and thus ensured they were subject to the provisions of the Act.
HMS Cormorant
8
From Pembroke 1 Herbert went to HMS Cormorant, an Osprey-‐class composite screw sloop launched in 1877, reduced to harbour service in 1889, renamed HMS Rooke in 1946, and broken up in 1949. Herbert was on HMS Cormorant from 12 June 1919-‐ 20 February 1920. Cormorant became a receiving ship at Gibraltar in 1889, was renamed HMS Rooke in 1946 and was scrapped in 1949, being broken up at Malaga. During the first world war Cormorant was a Q-‐ship. Q-‐ships, also known as Q-‐boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-‐ships the chance to open fire and sink them. The basic ethos of every Q-‐ship was to be a wolf in sheep's clothing. The British Royal Navy (RN) used them during the First World War and by both the RN and the United States Navy during the Second World War (1939–1945), as a countermeasure against German U-‐boats and Japanese submarines. After the war, it was concluded that Q-‐ships were greatly overrated, diverting skilled seamen from other duties without sinking enough U-‐boats to justify the strategy. In a total of 150 engagements, British Q-‐ships destroyed 14 U-‐boats and damaged 60, at a cost of 27 Q-‐ships lost out of 200. Q-‐ships were responsible for about 10% of all U-‐boats sunk, ranking them well below the use of ordinary minefields in effectiveness. The Osprey class was of composite construction, with wooden hulls over an iron frame. The Chief Constructor William Henry White designed them and five were ordered. Of 1,130 tons displacement and approximately 950 indicated horsepower, they were capable of approximately 11 knots and were armed with two 7" muzzle loading rifled guns on pivoting mounts, and four 64-‐pound guns (two on pivoting mounts, and two broadside). They had a crew complement of approximately 140 men. From 9 May 1920 to the 30 March 1922 Herbert was stationed at another ‘Stone Frigate’ HMS Actaeon. On 26 April 1876 HMS Vernon was joined by the former steam frigate HMS Ariadne and the lighter Florence Nightingale. These were then commissioned as HMS Vernon, and became the home of the Royal Navy's Torpedo Branch, independent of HMS Excellent. Ariadne was used to provide accommodation. In January 1886 HMS Donegal replaced the original Vernon as a more spacious torpedo school ship. Donegal was renamed Vernon, the original Vernon was renamed Actaeon and took over as the practical workshop. On the outbreak of the First World War Vernon was used to carry out torpedo trials and to train new recruits for the Navy. Extensive research and development was also carried to develop new anti-‐submarine devices, mines and ships' electrics. On 1 October 1923 Vernon was moved ashore and new departments were set up to cover aspects of maritime warfare, such as mining, torpedoes and electrical equipment. The names of the original hulks that made up the floating Vernon were used for buildings in the base. HMS Actaeon (shore establishment) was a shore establishment, originally part of HMS Vernon. It was established as a separate command in 1905 and paid off in 1922. Finally from 1 April 1922 to the 28 August 1922 Herbert was stationed back at HMS Pembroke 1. He was then pensioned from the Royal Navy. He would have been 41 years old.