lyndaf Posted 12 May , 2020 Share Posted 12 May , 2020 hi everyone! I am trying to find more info about the electricians in RN 1914-18 my grandpa Findlay's brother douglas was based in Portsmouth during ww1. he enlisted into RN 1909 as First class boy (aged 15) and risen through the ranks to Able Seaman. He passed several exams and risen to electrician by 1914. I wanted to know what the role of electrician was and whether they were able to be saved on boats (as he was on HMS AUdiacious 1914 ) andship was bombed in 1914? Thanks very much and hope everyone's ok. lynda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNCVR Posted 12 May , 2020 Share Posted 12 May , 2020 You certain he was an Electrician? Electrics were part of the Torpedo Branch in his time, If you have his ADM188 Service Record might you pls post it. It will assist us very much in assisting you! Best....Bryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNCVR Posted 12 May , 2020 Share Posted 12 May , 2020 HMS Audacious was sunk by a German mine whilst leaving Lough Swilly for a gunnery exercise on 27 Oct 1914. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 12 May , 2020 Share Posted 12 May , 2020 18 minutes ago, RNCVR said: You certain he was an Electrician? His ADM 188 shows he was an Able Seaman, Non-substantive Leading Torpedo Man (LTO) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNCVR Posted 12 May , 2020 Share Posted 12 May , 2020 Thanks Horatio, as LTO he was in Electrics then. Were they all saved on Audacious? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyndaf Posted 15 May , 2020 Author Share Posted 15 May , 2020 I watched a programme not so long ago about the ship HMS Audacious. It looks as though the ship was indeedsunk by a mine. But onle part of it was missing. This in turn set up the ship's torpedos with water, setting them off. Douglas as part of ship engineers would have been very important to be saved. Most of the other lads would either be saved or drown. there were many emergency boats on board ship. from the HMS Audacious he was on HMS Queen Elizabeth (dreadnought class) where he part of Gallipoli attack at Gaba Tepe 1915, continuing his RN career on and off with ships and submarines until ww1 ended. he also saw action at Scapa Flow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 15 May , 2020 Share Posted 15 May , 2020 14 minutes ago, lyndaf said: Most of the other lads would either be saved or drown. There were no casualties of the sinking from HMS AUDACIOUS. The single casualty from her exploding was in HMS LIVERPOOL:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Audacious_(1912) 20 minutes ago, lyndaf said: Douglas as part of ship engineers would have been very important to be saved. He was not an engineer, he was an Able Seaman - just one of probably over 200 in the ship's company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikB Posted 15 May , 2020 Share Posted 15 May , 2020 38 minutes ago, lyndaf said: I watched a programme not so long ago about the ship HMS Audacious. It looks as though the ship was indeedsunk by a mine. But onle part of it was missing. This in turn set up the ship's torpedos with water, setting them off. Douglas as part of ship engineers would have been very important to be saved. Most of the other lads would either be saved or drown. there were many emergency boats on board ship. from the HMS Audacious he was on HMS Queen Elizabeth (dreadnought class) where he part of Gallipoli attack at Gaba Tepe 1915, continuing his RN career on and off with ships and submarines until ww1 ended. he also saw action at Scapa Flow HMS Queen Elizabeth was not dreadnought class - if anything her class (of which she was the name ship) were the definitive superdreadnoughts, throwing a broadside about twice the weight of HMS Dreadnought's, just as Dreadnought could throw twice the weight of a standard pre-Dreadnought. With their high speed, the QEs were probably the most capable battleships of their time, by some margin. They fought their way out of a very bad situation at Jutland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KizmeRD Posted 15 May , 2020 Share Posted 15 May , 2020 (edited) At this point in time there was general branch training up to LTO, thereafter some men specialised in looking after the ordinary electrical needs of ship (including the switchboards and searchlights etc.) while others became outright torpedo weapon specialists. Michael PS Probably better to refer to him as seeing action during the Battle of Jutland rather than him seeing action at Scapa Flow. Edited 15 May , 2020 by KizmeRD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 15 May , 2020 Share Posted 15 May , 2020 1 minute ago, KizmeRD said: Probably better to refer to him as seeing action during the Battle of Jutland rather than him seeing action at Scapa Flow. Unfortunately, his ship, QUEEN ELIZABETH, did not participate in the Battle of Jutland. 4 minutes ago, KizmeRD said: there was general branch training up to LTO, thereafter some men specialised in looking after the ordinary electrical needs of ship Indeed. Douglas Findlay did not reach LTO until August 1918 after which he served in submarines,including H41 and K22. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikB Posted 15 May , 2020 Share Posted 15 May , 2020 1 hour ago, horatio2 said: Unfortunately, his ship, QUEEN ELIZABETH, did not participate in the Battle of Jutland. ... Yes - sorry; it was the other 4 ships of the class that fought as 5th Battle Squadron - I'd forgotten to point out that QE herself missed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNCVR Posted 15 May , 2020 Share Posted 15 May , 2020 1 hour ago, MikB said: Yes - sorry; it was the other 4 ships of the class that fought as 5th Battle Squadron - I'd forgotten to point out that QE herself missed it. HMS Barham was Flagship of 5th BS at Jutland. VAdm EvanThomas in command. I have shown his Secretary's medal group in the MEDALS section Thanks, Bryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 15 May , 2020 Share Posted 15 May , 2020 2 hours ago, RNCVR said: HMS Barham @RNCVR, for your interest, BARHAM's SMO Ernest Penfold on his experiences of Jutland: https://archive.org/details/JRNMSVOL3Images/page/n51/mode/2up (improve readability by toggling to full screen and zooming in with the buttons in the lower right corner of the display). sJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KizmeRD Posted 16 May , 2020 Share Posted 16 May , 2020 I hadn’t made any reference to QE in my previous posting, I was only attempting to make the point that one wouldn’t normally refer to a relative as having seen action at Scapa Flow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyndaf Posted 17 May , 2020 Author Share Posted 17 May , 2020 many thanks for your help My gt uncle , douglas did, indeed miss the battle of Jutland. HMS QE was in harbour at Portsmouth being cleaned and rearmed. but I did a bit of research into her. it turns out that HMS QE was at Gaba tebe , Gallipoli protecting other ships. She was lead by John Jellicoe and Hamilton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNCVR Posted 17 May , 2020 Share Posted 17 May , 2020 (edited) Adm Jellicoe was notin Dardanelles campaign Lyn. After he relinquished command of Grand Fleet he went to Admiralty as 1st Sea Lord. Thanks, Bryan Edited 17 May , 2020 by RNCVR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyndaf Posted 20 May , 2020 Author Share Posted 20 May , 2020 many thanks. I've found a little bit more about Admiral Jellicoe. It turns out he married a daughter of Charles William ayzer and later owned and St Lawrence Hall, Ventnor IOW. Which ties into another link with my family as my Gt uncle Malcolm , Grandpas eldest brother was a servant there in 1914. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 20 May , 2021 Share Posted 20 May , 2021 7 minutes ago, BARLEY said: I saw in the comments a lot of people who understand electrics. and ..........? The topic concerns Royal Navy electricians, not "electrics" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin DavidOwen Posted 21 May , 2021 Admin Share Posted 21 May , 2021 13 hours ago, horatio2 said: and ..........? The topic concerns Royal Navy electricians, not "electrics" Spammer, banned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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