William Henry STEVENS HMS WOODNUTT Z/11044

[ralphjd]

The seaman mentioned drowned 26 4 1918 after being washed overboard, can any  Pal shed light on where the Woonutt was on this date  - the Med ? Ralph

[HERITAGE PLUS]

In 1914 the Passenger/Cargo Steamer Woodcock, owned by G&J Burn of Glasgow was requisitioned by the Admiralty for use both as an Armed Boarding Steamer (ABS) and as a Fleet Messenger ship.

She was renamed a HMS Woodnutt in 1915 to avoid confusion with another ship of the same name.

In her ABS role she carried out inspections of shipping at sea.

In April 1918 she was operating out of Gibraltar.

After the war in 1920 she reverted to the name Woodcock.

Dave

Edited 13 February , 2023 by HERITAGE PLUS
Typo correction

[horatio2]

The RN Pink Lists show that HMS WOODNUT had been part of the Gibraltar Patrol since early 1916, the crew borne on the books of HMS CORMORANT (Gib Base). However, the January 1918 Pink List shows her as Gib Patrol operating out of Lisbon. There is nothing to indicate how long she was based there.

The Pink Lists do not record any name "WOODNUTT" and she appears as WOODNUT in the Navy Lists.

WOODNUT's log should record the loss  -  https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1533363

[KizmeRD]

Unfortunately the Portuguese navy was ill-equipped for entry into WW1 (March 1916), and was quite incapable of independently defending its long Atlantic coastline or the strategically important sea area between the Portuguese mainland and the islands of the Azores, Madeira and Cape Verde without support from the French Navy, Royal Navy., and later the USN. HMS WOODNUT was one of the ships assisting with this task, hence the fact that she was operating out of Lisbon.

MB

Edited 14 February , 2023 by KizmeRD

[ralphjd]

Thanks chaps that is great information. Much appreciated. Ralph