Able Seaman William Arthur Kensit DSM 201510 served on SS Crescent 191

[loweman2]

hello all, after having great success with the help of the guys in the soldiers forum in finding out about my grandfather Wilfred Lowe and Frederick Charles Reynolds I am now trying my luck to find out more information about a third relative William Arthur Kensit who was awarded the DSM and had an army / navy number 201510 served on SS Crescent 1914-18, he was awarded the star victory and war medals aswell.

I know he served on the ship "Crescent" who it would appear so did HRH the duke of York around the same time.

he was awarded the distinguished service medal I have found on on the archives as per attachment.

there seems to be a lot of extra "info" around his entry, can somebody with a more trained eye understand what it is saying ? and could anybody tell me exactly what he received the DSM for ?? I can not find anything, there is an entry in the London gazette

any help on where he served and what he did in the war would be greatly received as I have gone as far as I think I can with my limited experience in searching the files and archives, many thanks in advance

[horatio2]

His record of service is here:- http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=D7146073

Unfortunately the notes on the attachment are unreadable here. (Something to do with re-issuing the medal?)

[spof]

A close up of the entry on the roll

His DSM was gazetted on 10 September 1915

[loweman2]

thanks horatio, I paid and downloaded that file and it is attached, I was surprised to see just how many ships he had served on and that he was in the navy a long long time before the war started.

can any body make sense of the remarks in the bottom quarter of the page, I would love to find out what he did to be awarded a DSM, also can anybody spot anything else that stands out about his naval history ? I make out that he served on 23 ships, that is some going isn't it but it was spread over 18 years it would appear from 1900 to 1918

[horatio2]

Several of his 'ships' were not sea-going: barracks (eg PEMBROKE); training ships (eg BOSCAWEN, MINOTAUR). Nevertheless an impressive record of sea service with unbroken VG character. Interesting that he served in a Q-Ship (decoy ship) from May 1916 to May 1917, in his case the stores carrier INTABA (Q2) and was apparently advanced in that ship from Able Seaman (AB) to Petty Officer 1st Class (PO1), leapfrogging the rating of Leading Seaman.

You will note that his service ends on this page on 24 April 1918 and below that is the entry "Folio 201509". This means that, having run out of space, they continued his record of service on the ledger page of the previous man (201509 - James England JARVEY). Kew should have included that page in your download but, it being an impersonal, automated system, they have not done so. You should go back to them and request the additional page be provided at no charge.

[loweman2]

Several of his 'ships' were not sea-going: barracks (eg PEMBROKE); training ships (eg BOSCAWEN, MINOTAUR). Nevertheless an impressive record of sea service with unbroken VG character. Interesting that he served in a Q-Ship (decoy ship) from May 1916 to May 1917, in his case the stores carrier INTABA (Q2) and was apparently advanced in that ship from Able Seaman (AB) to Petty Officer 1st Class (PO1), leapfrogging the rating of Leading Seaman.

You will note that his service ends on this page on 24 April 1918 and below that is the entry "Folio 201509". This means that, having run out of space, they continued his record of service on the ledger page of the previous man (201509 - James England JARVEY). Kew should have included that page in your download but, it being an impersonal, automated system, they have not done so. You should go back to them and request the additional page be provided at no charge.

Great spot Horatio, I did infact get the second sheet aswell but saw a different name at the top and thought no more of it, I have attached it below for your further perusal, does this show anything else of interest ? are you able to see when he was awarded his DSM and what it was for ?

thank you for your help in pointing out the barracks and training ships, it would appear from the second sheet that he went on to serve until june 1921

[ARABIS]

Is that Rhododendron listed in brackets, first ship on the second page? If it is, then he was a survivor of her torpedoeing & sinking by U70 in the North Sea on 5th May 1918. There is also a note on the Remarks column at the right hand bottom of the first page "New S.C. 21?/7/18 [2222]," with to Rhododendron crossed out. Which is the issue of a new Service Certificate.

[horatio2]

In fact he was demobilised at the end of the war in March 1919 and reverted to the Royal Fleet Reserve, from which he had been mobilised in August 1914. He was again mobilised from the RFR in April 1921 for the national coal-miners strike, being demobilised again in June 1921.

His final ship on wartime service was the 'KIL' Class patrol gunboat HMS KILDYSART, which was based successively on HMS EAGLET (Liverpool), HMS IDAHO (Milford Haven) and HMS ATTENTIVE III (Dover).

The London Gazette entry for his DSM give no details of ship or event [ http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29292/supplements/9065 ]. The LG date in September 1915 means it must have been awarded for service in HMS CRESCENT between early February and July/August 1915 when she was guardship at Hoy (probably later in the period). I can find no details.

[loweman2]

thanks horatio, what an amazing addition to his long service history to find out he was torpedoed and sunk !! why would he have been mobilised for the miners strike ?? as a back up to the "police"

[ARABIS]

So was I correct in post #7, is it Rhododendron listed?

ARABIS

[horatio2]

I read "RHODODENDRON" followed by GIBRALTAR (RHODODENDRON) and the dates certainly fit.

[ARABIS]

Thanks horatio, I could not quite make it out on the second page.

Regards,

ARABIS.

[Guest Jacqueline03081950]

I was so pleased that I stumbled on this forum as William Arthur Kensit (1882 - 1943) is my maternal Grandfather. I have been researching my Family Tree for some time now but decided to concentrate on my Grandfathers naval record and collate the information for my Grandchildren (12 and 10) in readiness for the centenary of the start of the 1914 -1918 war next year. As a child I was told that Grandad (who died before I was born) was a hero, serving on the Q ships, being torpedoed and surviving. He married my Grandmother in 1917, he was 34 and she was 19. His residence at the time of the marriage was HMS Q2. Any further information or links to more family members would be great.