Lede Posted 7 January , 2015 Share Posted 7 January , 2015 Hello, Can anyone tell me how to find out what type of ship HMS Excellent was and what it was doing in 1916 ? I am researching an ordinary seaman who was based there between Feb and April 1916. I am also trying to find out the history of HMS Petunia, Egmont and ?Cormorant? during ww1. The record card of the seaman is hard to decipher so the ships I have listed are my best guesses at their names! Any information or pointers would be much appreciated as I am new to naval history. Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 7 January , 2015 Share Posted 7 January , 2015 HMS EXCELLENT was the gunnery school at Portsmouth. HMS EGMONT was the naval base at Malta. HMS CORMORANT was the naval base at Gibraltar. HMS PETUNIA was an ARABIS Class sloop. PETUNIA (launched April 1916) may have been one of those that were deployed to the Mediterranean for minesweeping duties and were tenders to EGMONT and CORMORANT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lede Posted 7 January , 2015 Author Share Posted 7 January , 2015 Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. I am in admiration...I have a few more questions if you can spare the time: On the record card, it states that the seaman was posted to Egmont which is immediately followed by (Petunia) in brackets. Do you know what that means ? Also at the top of the card there is a hand written notation that says P.I.C (or P.L.C. ??) 234135, 5 June '19. Any ideas ? Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 7 January , 2015 Share Posted 7 January , 2015 As indicated in my earlier post, PETUNIA was a' tender' to EGMONT. Small ships did not carry their own pay accounts and their admin/pay was carried out by a larger (e,g, depot) ship or by a shore establishment. In records the name of the tender (in which he physically served) is placed in brackets after the name of the parent ship (which he probably never visited). PIC refers to the Protection and Identity Certificate issued to him on discharge/demob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolt968 Posted 7 January , 2015 Share Posted 7 January , 2015 The usual explanation for an entry like Egmont (Petunia) is that he was actually serving on HMS Petunia (a sloop) but for administrative reasons was being carried on the books of HMS Egmont (the base and base ship at Malta). This is common when men were serving on small craft. Flower class sloops were big enough to "administer" themselves (I think) but the situation is not unknown. I can't make anything of the initials at the moment, but I'm sure someone will. R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lede Posted 7 January , 2015 Author Share Posted 7 January , 2015 Many many thanks for this information. It has saved me hours ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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