Walter Pritchard's record

[RNCVR]

1 hour ago, FrancesH said:

Thank you once again Horatio and Bryan! I love the photographs, these were men with serious responsibilities, proud of their status.  Very grateful for all your help. 

 

Very pleased to be able to assist you Frances.   Yes, those Victorian\Edwardian\Georgian Batteships & Cruisers (plus all of the smaller ships) could not have sailed without the Stokers & ERA's that crewed them.  Depending upon the class of ship its crew could easily be almost 1\2 of the entire complement consisting of Stokers , Mechanicians, & ERA's.  The Ironclads & Battleships consumed a huge amount of coal when steaming at high speed.  They could easily go thru a couple of tons of coal in an hour, so the Stokers worked in hot dirty (coal dust could be similar to a fog in the coal bunkers & boiler rooms) & close conditions, It was not a job for a faint, frail or clausterphobic man.

& I expect their language was just as bad as their job!

Oil fuel did not come into play until 1WW & it took quite a fair amount of time to "catch on" & convert all of the larger ships to oil fuel. Oil fuel was considerably better, cleaner, & made the job of Stokers much easier, but it also increased their technical knowledge & responsibilities.

 

Best wishes! 

Bryan

 

 

[RNCVR]

Frances here is a large photo of a huge number of ERA's & Stokers ashore at their Depot Ship HMS Asia just prior to 1WW.

 

This photo will give you an idea of the amount of ERA's(& they are not all shown in the photo) & Stokers(I could not get all of them in!) that were on shore, it does not include the many that were at sea!

 

The ERA's are first two rows the Stokers all the remaining rows.

 

Best....Bryan

[FrancesH]

Hi Bryan, that is an absolutely astonishing photograph, seeing all those men together, and as you say does not actually include all those actually serving! It also makes one realise how terrible it must have been when one of these ships was attacked and how many lives were at risk, and of course, lost. 

 

I do apologise for not responding sooner to this post but I didn't get an email notification -- also I have actually been away (yes, left home for the first time since March!). Just going back to Walter's service record again : I am particularly interested in his whereabouts at the end of 1920. As I read it, he was serving on 'Columbine', depot ship 'Winchelsea'. Slightly confusingly, Wikipedia has 'Columbine' as either a ship or a naval base on the Firth of Forth at that date. I haven't found what the 'Winchelsea' was doing at that date, although she was recommissioned in Portsmouth only that summer. Would she have been in the Firth of Forth as well??? I'd be very grateful for your thoughts. 

Best wishes Frances

[horatio2]

During his service in WINCHELSEA she was parented by and based at Port Edgar (HMS COLUMBINE, on the south bank of the Forth near the road and rail bridges), Although based in the Firth of Forth, as a destroyer she could have ranged quite widely in the North Sea and beyond. I do not have details of her employment and movements. She was part of the 2nd Destroyer Florilla, Atlantic Fleet.

Edited 16 September , 2020 by horatio2

[RNCVR]

Hi Frances,

None of the Victorian Ironclads was ever attacked & fired guns in anger, or saw any fleet battle action. However HMS Victoria (flagship of the Mediterranean fleet) was sunk in collision with HMS Camperdown on 22 June 1893 with considerable loss of life, as she sunk in 11 minutes, taking virtually all of her engine & boiler room complement with her. This collision & loss of life was entirely preventable as well. You can look her up on the internet for details.

 

As Horatio has explained in his post above, concerning HMS Wilchelsea, I cannot add anything further to that.

 

Best wishes!

Bryan

[FrancesH]

Hi Bryan and Horatio

Once again thank you so much for your illuminating comments. My reason for enquiring particularly about the end of 1920 (as you may have surmised) is because a child was born nine months later, and I am becoming increasingly convinced that Walter could not have been the father, as he was in Scotland (or at sea) and the mother was in London. I am sorry about this as I've found exploring Walter's life with your guidance quite fascinating! Is it at all likely that a Leading Stoker would get leave in this period?  (Not my relative by the way -- part of research I'm doing for a friend.)

Very best wishes F

[horatio2]

The war was over and normal leave would have been granted as allowed by the ship's programme. The annual leave allowance:-

 

The crews of seagoing ships in home waters  ...  will be granted 28 days' leave in each year at such periods as the Admiralty shall determine. These periods will usually be at Christmas, Easter, and during refit.     So it was very likely that (unless operationally impossible) he was granted leave at the end of 1920.

[Talesofaseadog]

Additionally there can be compassionate leave at any time, dependant on ship programme.

This was almost allways granted for the death of parents, it depends on individual circumstances.

Tony

[FrancesH]

Thank you! I can see the only answer to the paternity of the infant concerned is going to be DNA testing by their descendants (which was actually what I suggested to start with -- but then I would have missed out learning about the daily life of stokers, which would have been a great pity. Thank you both very much, gentlemen, for all your help. 

[wallace2]

A book, published at the end of 1WW, was "A Stoker's Log" and written by Henry Vincent.  He volunteered to serve as a Stoker in 1915 and he writes well about the training received, draft to a ship on the West Africa Station, life in the coal fired boiler rooms, mess decks, refits in South Africa.  After this he was sent to a newly built oil fired cruiser in the North Sea.  Worth finding on second hand book sites if more information on a Stoker's wartime life is wanted.

[FrancesH]

Hi there, thanks for adding this reference which I am sure will be very helpful. I really enjoyed finding out about a stoker's life for my client -- quite fascinating.