Snowyred Posted 26 October , 2018 Share Posted 26 October , 2018 Evening all this is my first post after joining, I'm hoping someone can help. One of my ancestors was a steward aboard one of the ships at the battle of Jutland. I'm trying to find his service records as I can not find the ship he served on at Jutland. During the battle he became a casualty, blinded by shell splinters. His name is John Thomas Sharplin b) 1884 in Hampshire and d)1947. Any help would be fantastic. Thanks. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil 2242 Posted 26 October , 2018 Share Posted 26 October , 2018 Can I ask what your source is for him being at Jutland? I'm not immediately finding him..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowyred Posted 26 October , 2018 Author Share Posted 26 October , 2018 Family history Neil, it's mentioned on a web site dedicated to my grandfather, if you go too Google and type Robert Sharplin and Ajax the site written by his son should come up, and the person in question is mentioned in his biography Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyH Posted 26 October , 2018 Share Posted 26 October , 2018 Do I take it that this is his service record and that you have already seen it? : http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D6779699 Without me paying £3.50 for it, it looks as though he may have finished in the RN in 1915 (before Jutland). BillyH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowyred Posted 26 October , 2018 Author Share Posted 26 October , 2018 Hi Billy, no I've not seen that document or any of his service records, this could well be the person in question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyH Posted 26 October , 2018 Share Posted 26 October , 2018 (edited) Jutland seems doubtful. Suggest you download the document and ask again here for help from a Navy expert if you don't understand it. BillyH. ps click on the 'preview' button and then zoom in to the image to see some detail (heavily watermarked though). Edited 26 October , 2018 by BillyH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowyred Posted 26 October , 2018 Author Share Posted 26 October , 2018 Ok will do thanks for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowyred Posted 26 October , 2018 Author Share Posted 26 October , 2018 Well if I'm reading correctly after zooming in on the document I may have found a very large skeleton in the cupboard. According to the comments in the discharged column it states that he left because he was diagnosed with stage 2 syphilis, which maybe the real reason he was blind. Oh dear my uncle's bubble will be well and truly burst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyH Posted 26 October , 2018 Share Posted 26 October , 2018 I didn't like to say BillyH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeCeeCee Posted 28 October , 2018 Share Posted 28 October , 2018 Apt fore names given the circumstances! ☺️ JT seems to have been a bit of a lad. If you was asked in 1919 why are you blind? What would you say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowyred Posted 28 October , 2018 Author Share Posted 28 October , 2018 Yeh definitely lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilB Posted 28 October , 2018 Share Posted 28 October , 2018 Could he have lived to 1947 if he contracted syphilis in 1915? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 28 October , 2018 Share Posted 28 October , 2018 Yes , provided it didn't progress to the tertiary stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilB Posted 29 October , 2018 Share Posted 29 October , 2018 (edited) I believe that blindness would, if it was caused by syphilis, appear decades after initial infection. That would make it unlikely that he would blame Jutland if it appeared many years later? Edited 29 October , 2018 by PhilB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowyred Posted 29 October , 2018 Author Share Posted 29 October , 2018 Confused.com Were there any other navel engagements at Jutland before May-June 1916. John Thomas Sharplin's naval records reads as follows :- Battles - Dardanelles Dogger Bank Heligoland Jutland So I am confused as he was invalided out of the Navy from Greenich Hospital on the 14th May 1915, diagnosed with stage 2 Syphilis. Any thoughts please. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 29 October , 2018 Share Posted 29 October , 2018 This man's record appears to show that he was serving in the cruiser HMS DIAMOND (if I have read the record correctly) from November 1913 to February 1915. During that period I do not believe DIAMOND was involved in any of the battles named and she was certainly not present at the Dardanelles. Which of his "naval records" records these battles? Battles are not usually named on ledger records, as in this case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowyred Posted 29 October , 2018 Author Share Posted 29 October , 2018 (edited) The site I found the information on was Www.royalnavyrecordsww1.rmg.co.uk Edited 29 October , 2018 by Snowyred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 29 October , 2018 Share Posted 29 October , 2018 19 minutes ago, Snowyred said: The site I found the information on was Www.royalnavyrecordsww1.rmg.co.uk I cannot vouch for the accuracy of that website relying, as it does, on accurate transcription and interpretation of ledger records. For a start "Battle Honours" are awarded to ships, not to individuals. To attribute a Jutland "battle honour" to him three months after he last served at sea and two weeks after he had left the service gives me cause to doubt the accuracy of this website, even if it is hosted by the Royal Museums, Greenwich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm12hl Posted 29 October , 2018 Share Posted 29 October , 2018 The record transcription appears to be broadly accurate, but this does nothing to support the "battle honours" assertion. H.M.S. DIAMOND, the ship upon which J. T. Sharplin was serving at the time of Heligoland Bight and Dogger Bank, was not, I believe, present at either engagement, being based at Portland on the Channel with the Sixth and then the Fifth Battle Squadrons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penfold Posted 26 May , 2019 Share Posted 26 May , 2019 The Battle of Jutland crew lists project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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