RN Service Record

[wellsms]

Hi,

I am struggling to understand what this service record is telling me. From what I can see on this forum and on the wider web, all of the 'ships' seem to be moored, is that right?

Also does the 'Chatham' at the top relate to the Chatham Btn of the RMLI (which would make sense as I think this may be the man Other thread

Any guidance appreciated

thanks

Mike

[kin47]

Hello Mike

Your man is from Chatham Barracks of the R.N., not the Chatham Division of the RMLI. Note the service number J 10804, which indicates he is from the deck division.

[GavinH]

The 'Pembroke' listed on the record refers to the naval base at Chatham.

Regards

Gavin

[Terry Denham]

The shore bases/depot ships here are

Ganges II - Shotley training base, Suffolk

Africa - Accommodation ship, Portsmouth

Pembroke I - Chatham

Dido - Training Ship, Sheerness

Sandhurst - Destroyer depot ship, Scapa Flow

Hecla - Depot ship, Buncrana

Blake - Depot ship, Harwich

[wellsms]

Guys

Thanks for the replies, and apologies to everyone who now has stiff necks..... I could have sworn I rotated the damn thing.

What does 'deck division' mean? (the navy is as new to me now as the army was 6 months ago!!)

thanks

Mike

[kin47]

Sorry, deck division is someone who works in the ship, but not a stoker who in your man's period would have had a K prefix, an E.R.A., Cook, Clerk, etc who would have had a M prefix. Anyway, someone in the deck division was involved in any of a host of non specialty jobs and had the rating of Ordinary Seaman, Able Seaman, Leading Seaman.

Also, of note, is the fact that the depot ships shown would have held his pay and victualling records, but they were not necessarily the ship he served in. The smaller ships did not have paymasters, so the men were shown in the depot ship and frequently then with his actual ship in parenthesis afterward.

don