Guest fairlight Posted 14 March , 2004 Share Posted 14 March , 2004 I know from a birth certificate that one of my grandfathers was serving as a Leading Signalman on HMS Dolphin in 1922 and from his marriage certificate that he was a Signalman Royal Navy in 1918. Does anyone know anything about this ship and/or how I can find out if he was serving on it during the War? Many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
museumtom Posted 14 March , 2004 Share Posted 14 March , 2004 It seems that HMS Dolphin is a Submarine Base in Gosport. http://www.rnsubmus.co.uk/welcome.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 14 March , 2004 Share Posted 14 March , 2004 HMS Dolphin was the RN Submarine Base at Gosport. The Base was decommissioned a few years ago. The Establishment is now known by its original name Fort Blockhouse providing accommodation for Service Medical Personnel from the Royal Hospital (formerly Royal Naval Hospital) Haslar. The bulk of submariner training and the RN Submarine School transferred to HMS Raleigh at Torpoint. The Training Tower (Tank) is however still used. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorts Posted 15 March , 2004 Share Posted 15 March , 2004 One of my grandfathers was serving as a Leading Signalman on HMS Dolphin in 1922.... Does anyone know.... how I can find out if he was serving on it during the War? Hi, His service record will confirm all vessels served on and the dates on which he served. Depending on his date of discharge his record may or may not be at the Public Records Office at Kew. If it is then it will be found in ADM 188. Rgds, Alex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 15 March , 2004 Share Posted 15 March , 2004 As a follow up to my previous post here are brief details of HMS Dolphin. http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/static/pages/2110.html Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healdav Posted 15 March , 2004 Share Posted 15 March , 2004 Dolphin is now a museum, so they may have information on people who served there (and on other submarines). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 15 March , 2004 Share Posted 15 March , 2004 Sorry - The Submarine Museum is not HMS DOLPHIN. It is situated 'outside the wire' of what was Dolphin, however contact with the curator may help. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healdav Posted 15 March , 2004 Share Posted 15 March , 2004 You are correct. However, every submariner talks about the museum at Dolphin. We know what we mean! They do have a lot of info. I'm not sure what they have on particular men, but they the submarine service has always kept a pretty close eye on their men, so there could be a lot. The curator should at least know where to find records if he doesn't have them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERITAGE PLUS Posted 15 March , 2004 Share Posted 15 March , 2004 Healdav Pax. I was trying not to confuse a non-submariner. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fairlight Posted 15 March , 2004 Share Posted 15 March , 2004 Many thanks to you all for your help and information. Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jonc Posted 27 March , 2004 Share Posted 27 March , 2004 Another sun dodger head Dave? I was kucky enough to be serving at HMS dolphin as it was decommissioned so got a hand at the decommisioning duties. The other guys are right, the (ex) submarine school was seperate from the museum. To be honest I'm not sure how long the base was in commision but it could be that there was a ship or submarine commisioned with the same name before the RNSMS base. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Lawton Posted 28 March , 2004 Share Posted 28 March , 2004 Jonc, My great grandfather HJ GOUGH was stationed at HMS Dolphin from 28/01/1914 to 27/02/1914 having been loaned to the RAN for 3 years on 01/12/1913. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDick Posted 2 April , 2004 Share Posted 2 April , 2004 HMS Dolphin's name was taken from the submarine depot ship of the same name based at the sight during WW1 (renamed in 1920s when Submarine Service was reaping the benedits of prestige gained in WW1?). Prior to this and since the Upholder SSKs left c.1993, it was/is referred to as Fort Blockhouse; now the main base for RAMC field hospitals, located as it is next to Royal Hospital Haslar. If you wish to find out about submarines served upon by any relative, you should get in touch with the head archivist (email available on RNSM website) and ask for the Submarine Service Cards (SSC) to be searched for the person in question. These, unike most of the ADM 188s (navy service records at the PRO), list the names of submarines served upon rather than merely depot ships/home ports. Unfortunately, the inventory of SSCs (dating from 1910-1967) are incomplete: if his card is not found it does not mean that he was definitely not a submariner, it is just that they might not have a record of his service. Equally, as mentioned above, service at a submarine base does not necessarily denote his being a submariner. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDick Posted 2 April , 2004 Share Posted 2 April , 2004 Re: above Please excuse my poor spelling (vide. 'sight' instead of 'site'). D'oh! Also, since he was a signaller it would appear most likely that he was a submariner rather than a skimmer, since such men were in high demand and often poached by the submarine service. Most subs carried one signaller and one telegraphist for all their comms. duties: all unidentified submariners were attacked during WW1, making the return journey often as dangerous as the patrol, so a good signaller was worth his weight in gold. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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