Distinguished Service Cross - Master John CROCKART ?

[Marks]

Distinguished Service Cross – D.S.C

LG 30-11-1917 Sup 30408 p12549

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30408/supplement/12549

Master John CROCKART MM SS Mereddio 10-1-1918 Tower Hill Memorial

The CWGC does not show his D.S.C, I'm having trouble finding out what the DSC was awarded for.

Also as evidence to show the Cwgc he was awarded the DSC there must be an obituary or some other information.

This is the information I have :-

 

https://search.lma.gov.uk/captains-registers-pdfs/captains-registers-c.pdf p328 - Captains Register Lloyds

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/129968255/william-crockart Fathers grave mentions D.S.O (D.S.C)

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15225871/john-crockart

Any help much appreciated

Mark

[michaeldr]

Wreck of ship 'Mereddio' found Bay of Audierne - Ship was sailing from Bilbao to Glagow with a cargo of iron ore – Possibly/probably sunk by U84 [details from https://en.calameo.com/read/00080255233141fe6a0f1 also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM_U-84 also https://uboat.net/wwi/boats/successes/u84.html NB: some of these sites give the date of the sinking as 11-1-1918]

https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-644067 the entry here gives his place of birth as Arbroath – perhaps a local newspaper there might have carried an obit.

Edited 26 October , 2022 by michaeldr

[DavidOwen]

Mention of his award https://search.findmypast.co.uk/bna/viewarticle?id=bl%2f0000164%2f19171203%2f076&stringtohighlight=crockart dsc

[michaeldr]

3 hours ago, Marks said:

Also as evidence to show the Cwgc he was awarded the DSC there must be an obituary or some other information.

Have you checked with the CWGC to see what (if any) further evidence they require in this case, beyond The London Gazette?

The LG itself proudly proclaims that it is the Official Public Record: see and that "From 1889, all three Gazettes were published by His Majesty's Stationery Office." Perhaps the LG entry will be enough for the CWGC?

[TullochArd]

19 minutes ago, michaeldr said:

Perhaps the LG entry will be enough for the CWGC?

I'd hope so.  As the LG formally records the King's knowledge of the circumstances and his approval of the award you'd reasonably expect that to be the case here.

"HONOURS FOR THE MERCANTILE MARINE. The KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the following honours, decorations and medals to the undermentioned officers and men of the British Mercantile Marine, in recognition of zeal and devotion to duty shown in carrying on the-trade of the country during the war: — To receive the Distinguished Service Cross. Capt. Thomas Henry Beard. Capt. Joseph Brown. Capt. Theobald John Claude Buret. Capt. John Crockart. Capt. George Fenby Hiles. Capt. David Isaac Jenkins. Capt. James Herbert Needier (since died). Capt. William Park Purdon. C'apt. Edward Wilson Rettie. Capt. Francis Thomas Skellern"

It will be interesting to see what happens.

 

Edited 26 October , 2022 by TullochArd

[Allan1892]

3 hours ago, michaeldr said:

perhaps a local newspaper there might have carried an obit.

Have searched the available newspapers on the British Newspaper Archive database and nothing comes up.

[TullochArd]

11 hours ago, Marks said:

I'm having trouble finding out what the DSC was awarded for.

There is a MacLeod M. on the Mereddio panel on the Tower Hill Memorial. 

The Stornoway Gazette 13.12.1918 mentions Malcolm MacLeod as lost on SS Mereddio. 

It reads:

"Mr Macleod lost another son, Malcolm, who was a gunner on board the SS Mereddio, an amiable and gallant lad who, previous to the loss of the Mereddio, gave a good account of himself by sinking an enemy submarine in the Mediterranean, for which he received the £50 bonus."

I cannot confirm/deny if Malcolm MacLeod was on the Mereddio at the time of this worthy bit of gunnery .......... but the time frame is plausibly tight. 

If he got £50 I strongly suspect the ship's Master would have received some medallic recognition for such an event.  Could this be the event we are looking for? 

Addendum: Perhaps not.  A significant number of U Boats rammed by Merchantmen shown here:  Boats lost in action - Fates - German and Austrian U-boats of World War One - Kaiserliche Marine - uboat.net with no obvious connections to Master Crockart, SS Mereddio or the MacLeod marksmanship incident.

(4440A Leading Seaman Malcolm MacLeod RNR aged 20, SS Mereddio. Lost at sea 10 January 1918. Photo Stornoway Gazette 5.4.1918)

Edited 26 October , 2022 by TullochArd
Addendum: .......

[Ivor Anderson]

13 hours ago, Marks said:

LG 30-11-1917 Sup 30408 p12549

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30408/supplement/12549

If it's in the LG, then he got it:

[Ivor Anderson]

I think the family headstone says DSC, but discolouration has led to it being mis-transcribed on 'find a grave':

[Michael Lowrey]

A couple of points:

Given the location of the wreck, the time frame, and routing, it's highly likely that Mereddio was torpedoed and sunk by a U-boat on the night on January 10/11, 1918. This is a case where the U-boats in the area didn't make it back home to report their actions and thus its impossible to be sure which U-boat was responsible (if any). The candidates are U 84 (wreck found off Penmarch, date of loss uncertain, presumed loss to operation cause), U 93 (stern blown off off Hardelot in the eastern English Channel), and UC 50 (still missing).

My initial guess would be that Crockart was awarded the DSC for some action in which his ship successfully resisted a U-boat attack. Mereddio though isn’t listed in the ships “molested” (attacked) section of British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-1918, so it shouldn't be the answer. The incident thus like predates Crockart becoming master of Mereddio. If we knew his history (ships he was the master of during the war), it would go a long way to clear this up.

Defensively-armed merchant ships using their gun to actually sinking a U-boat in WWI isn't really of a thing. The purpose of the gun was to drive the U-boat off if it tried to use its gun(s) to try to try to sink the ship. Malcolm MacLeod would appear to have been involved in such an action. There was an award of a DSM to a merchant marine seaman Malcolm MacLeod on May 11, 1917. Is this the same person?

[tootrock]

19 hours ago, Allan1892 said:

Have searched the available newspapers on the British Newspaper Archive database and nothing comes up.

I have found a mention of him in the Dundee Courier, 3 December 1917, and the Arbroath Herald, 7 December 1917. From the articles he was awarded the DSC "in recognition of zeal and devotion to duty in the trade of the country during the war". So apparently not for any specific action.

On March 1 1918 "the steamer Merredio, Crockart, master, was officially described as being very much overdue" on a voyage from Bilbao to Glasgow.

No obituary found.

Martin

Edited 27 October , 2022 by tootrock

[horatio2]

18 hours ago, TullochArd said:

I cannot confirm/deny if Malcolm MacLeod was on the Mereddio at the time of this worthy bit of gunnery .......... but the time frame is plausibly tight. 

Leading Seaman MacLEOD had served in (probably several) defensively armed merchant ships (DAMS) since August1916 so his 'U-Boat sinking' cannot be clearly linked to MEREDDIO. The wording of the LG DSC citation for Captain CROCKART (and nine others) "in recognition of zeal and devotion to duty shown in carrying on the-trade of the country during the war." indicates an award for a period of good service up to Autumn 1917, rather than a single event.

4 hours ago, Michael Lowrey said:

There was an award of a DSM to a merchant marine seaman Malcolm MacLeod on May 11, 1917. Is this the same person?

This DSM was awarded to a Mercantile Marine rating. Leading Seaman MacLEOD had been serving as an RNR rating (4440.A) since mobilisation in 1914 and any DSM to him would be in an RNR listing - and there is none.

[TullochArd]

7 minutes ago, horatio2 said:

Leading Seaman MacLEOD had served in (probably several) defensively armed merchant ships (DAMS) since August1916 so his 'U-Boat sinking' cannot be clearly linked to MEREDDIO. The wording of the LG DSC citation for Captain CROCKART (and nine others) "in recognition of zeal and devotion to duty shown in carrying on the-trade of the country during the war." indicates an award for a period of good service up to Autumn 1917, rather than a single event.

This DSM was awarded to a Mercantile Marine rating. Leading Seaman MacLEOD had been serving as an RNR rating (4440.A) since mobilisation in 1914 and any DSM to him would be in an RNR listing - and there is none.

Thanks horatio2. 

I agree that the Mereddio MacLeod RNR would unlikely be the Navy DSM recipient as this would have appeared in the local papers.  That said, surely Mercantile Marine sailors are civilians and the the Navy DSM is specifically the "third level decoration for gallantry in action for ratings of the Royal Navy". 

How does that work? 

T.A. (....... a Landsman)

 

 

[horatio2]

Numrous Mercantile Marine ratings (including MMR) appear in the DSM awards from late 1915, presumably eligible under the catch-all term "other services".

[Ivor Anderson]

1 hour ago, TullochArd said:

surely Mercantile Marine sailors are civilians and the the Navy DSM is specifically the "third level decoration for gallantry in action for ratings of the Royal Navy". 

      Nurses, and even some UK civilians, received the MM in circumstances where they came under fire during wartime. The DSC/DSM would be similar.

Edited 27 October , 2022 by Ivor Anderson

[TullochArd]

7 hours ago, horatio2 said:

Numrous Mercantile Marine ratings (including MMR) appear in the DSM awards from late 1915, presumably eligible under the catch-all term "other services".

TVM horatio2.  TVM Ivor Anderson.

Edited 27 October , 2022 by TullochArd