Record Reign and her Crew

[kelvintruss]

My Great Grandfather was Mate on the ketch 'Record Reign' in 1915 according to National Archive 1915 crew lists. A short history of the barge that I found on line states that

 

...she was taken over by the Admiralty in 1915, to be converted to an anti-submarine decoy ship. She and the similar barge, Sarah Colebrooke, were selected as anti-submarine decoys because their shallow draft allowed torpedoes to pass safely under them without exploding. They were manned by Naval crews dressed as merchant seamen & were commanded by Naval Officers. The white ensign was broken out before they opened fire & these decoys were the terror of the submarines operating around the British Coast. The Record Reign was heavily armed, although despite her armament, she was never in action with German submarines & spent most of the war in dockyards being repaired & modified.

http://www.maldongigclub.org.uk/2015/12/07/news-item-post/

 

If the history is correct, should I assume my GG transferred from being merchant marine to RN at the time that the ship was requisitioned, or would he have been replaced and thus had to find another merchant ship to work on?

His Merchant Marine medal card records the following:

 

John Wakefield Crisp

Mercantile Marine Ribbon Issued 3-11-19

British Medal Ribbon issues 3-11-19

RS2 No 25889

 

Thanks

 

Kelvin

[Milner]

I think if he had been transfered to the R.N. he would have transfered via the R.N.R. (If he was registered) and his medals would have been issued by the Admiralty, not the mercantile service.

[ernest james]

RS2 No 25889 is the identity number he was given for his merchant seaman identity card which were issued between September 1918 and December 1921 under the Registration of Seamen scheme. There is a corresponding central record card (CR10 card) with passport style photo for him  in BT350 which is on findmypast

He is rated master, born 15 Oct 1873 London and the card appears to have been issued post August 1919.

Does this match your information?

ernestjames

[kelvintruss]

That's most useful, thank you. I had his birth date as 10 Oct 1871, but could be wrong. Is there an easy way of finding out what vessel(s) he sailed on between 1915 and 1919?

Kelvin

[ernest james]

Kelvin

There are no voyages shown on his CR10 card but if he served on ships in the home trade they were not recorded centrally. 

There is no easy way of finding out which ships he served on between 1915 and 1919.

 I had a look at the 1915 crewlists and I believe that he served on the ss ONYX, Official No 129501, as a seaman. There are two records for him, one as John Cusip and one as John Cusp. Handwriting transcription is often a problem with these records.

I searched this record because ONYX is mentioned as a previous ship for him on one of the 1915 RECORD REIGN crew lists.

best wishes

ernestjames

[kelvintruss]

That's fantastic Ernest. Thank you so much. 

[David_Underdown]

Have you investigated CLIP  http://www.crewlist.org.uk/  ?