chris basey Posted 18 October , 2004 Share Posted 18 October , 2004 I'm hoping that someone can add to the scant information that I have found so far about the Halcyon II. It seems that she was a minesweeper and acted as a depot ship in 1915. Does anyone have further details of her and whether she was involved in an action on 15th March 1918 when Deck Hand Herbert Grimmer met his death? Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Nulty Posted 18 October , 2004 Share Posted 18 October , 2004 All I can find is that she was a paddle mine sweeper from 1916 to 1921. I came across the Absent Voters List for Grimsby in 1919 and many of the crew are Halcyon II are shown. SN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kin47 Posted 18 October , 2004 Share Posted 18 October , 2004 Grimmer died of illness on that date. don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted 18 October , 2004 Share Posted 18 October , 2004 All I can find is that she was a paddle mine sweeper from 1916 to 1921. I came across the Absent Voters List for Grimsby in 1919 and many of the crew are Halcyon II are shown. SN Stephen, Some discrepancy here. HALCYON, pennant No C82, was a Dryad Cass Gunboat fitted as a sweeper of 1050 tons. as you say . HALCYON II was a fishery trawler, Port No A514, of 141 tons launched 1893 used solely for fishing under Admiralty control. Aye Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris basey Posted 18 October , 2004 Author Share Posted 18 October , 2004 Don What's the source for the detail of Grimmer's death from illness, please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kin47 Posted 18 October , 2004 Share Posted 18 October , 2004 Chris Source of data is ADM 242. It is a ledger of naval personnel killed or died in the Great War. This source only gives codes for deaths. In this case 3 which indicates he died of illness. Other ADM ledgers give a more precise description. don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest C729LEE Posted 19 October , 2004 Share Posted 19 October , 2004 I have a War Medal to a young man who served on Halcyon II, and the vessel's name appears quite frequently on his service record. It would seem she was in Hull and sailed out of there regularly. The sailor was resident in Hull at the time of joining up. I bought the medal in Hull from a junk shop some time ago. I will get back to you with what info I have on this ship. Lee in N. Lincs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris basey Posted 19 October , 2004 Author Share Posted 19 October , 2004 Lee Looking most likely she was a converted trawler from Hull. Shall look forward to seeing what else you can dig up. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Nulty Posted 19 October , 2004 Share Posted 19 October , 2004 Malcolm Yes, not sure about the reason for discrepancy. The web site I found stated "Six vessels of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS Halcyon. The first Halcyon was the French 16-gun brig-sloop Alcion, captured in 1803, and broken up 1812. The second Halcyon was an 18-gun brig-sloop launched in 1813 and wrecked the following year in Jamaica. The third Halcyon was a torpedo gunboat in service from 1894 to 1919. The fourth Halcyon was a paddle minesweeper in service from 1916 to 1921. The fifth Halcyon was a minesweeper of 815 tons laid down in 1933 and which served throughout the Second World War. She was taken out of service in 1950. She was the lead ship of her class. During the war she served as a small escort for coastal convoys as well as clearing channels of naval mines. " So because the third Halcyon was still in service, I assumed they named the fourth ship Halcyon II. But that's just guesswork on my part. SN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 19 October , 2004 Share Posted 19 October , 2004 'Shore Establishments of the Royal Navy' (B.Warlow) states the following.... (only refers to service as depot ships and not their previous service) 1) HALCYON (launched 1894) Torpedo Gunboat, Depot Ship Auxiliary Patrol Lowestoft 08.1914 to 14.03.1919 Paid off 14.03.1919 and sold 11.1919, Replaced by HALCYON II 2) HALCYON II (hired 1917-1919) Trawler, Auxiliary Patrol Depot Ship Lowestoft Commissioned 15.03.1919 to 08.1919 Nominal depot ship for Motor Boat SALMON from 15.03.1919 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Lowrey Posted 19 October , 2004 Share Posted 19 October , 2004 It does sound as if here are references to different ships here: the torpedo gunboat is a given but a trawler and a padle minesweeper are not the same thing. The Royal Navy did make use of a vessel named Haldon, which was a paddle drive ship, and used for minesweeping. Perhaps the references to a paddle minesweeper are a misidentification/misspelling of this ship? Best wishes, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted 19 October , 2004 Share Posted 19 October , 2004 Dittmar & Colledge gives: From 1917 to 1919 HALCYON II was in the fisheries fleet. Her Port ID was Aberdeen - A514. The Fisheries Reserve operated from various ports. Aye Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest C729LEE Posted 25 October , 2004 Share Posted 25 October , 2004 Further to my last on Halcyon II / Halcyon. The details I have have on this vessel come from the record of 4049 ES (Engineroom Man) George Henry Alcock of 3 St Andrews St Hull. DOB 03 11 1883 Joined Royal Navy 16 09 1915 to the Sir James Reckitt to 22 09 1915 23 09 1915 to 11 10 1915 with Halcyon(696/3) 12 10 1915 to 04 02 1916 with Sir James Reckitt 05 02 1916 to 10 03 1916 with Halcyon(776/7) 11 03 1916 to 21 10 1916 with (not legible) in brackets Sir JR 22 10 1916 to 18 01 1917 with Vindictive, in brackets Sir JR 19 01 1917 to 31 03 1917 with Halcyon II " " " " " 01 04 1917 to 31 10 1917 with Vindictive " " " " " 01 11 1917 to 30 12 1917 with 1234 Pekin 31 12 1917 to 10 11 1918 with 2649 Elm II (Sarpedon) 11 11 1918 to 31 12 1918 with Victory (Sarpedon) 09 02 1919 to 28 03 1919 with Juno (Vie X) 30 04 1919 to 07 06 1919 with 1314 Pekin and De mob to Mercantile Marine in Grimsby. Alcock received the 1914 / 15 Star, VM., & WM.in 1925, and later collected "Naval Prize Money" of £30 in 1923 and a supplementaryaward of £4 later in the year, which poses a question in itself. I hope this is of interest. Lee in Lincs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LynneBee Posted 1 October , 2010 Share Posted 1 October , 2010 I also have a relative that dies while with this ship could anyone tell me how he died please he was J/67065(Dev.)Able Seaman AA Odd and died 2 Jan 1918 Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 1 October , 2010 Share Posted 1 October , 2010 Serving in a non-seagoing depot ship and buried in Surrey, he most probably died of natural causes (eg disease) or possibly in an accident. His record, if you do not have it, may give an indication:- http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=7184984&queryType=1&resultcount=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LynneBee Posted 1 October , 2010 Share Posted 1 October , 2010 Many thanks for such a fast reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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