mystery document fragment

[Ian Underwood]

This fragment was with my Grandad's other Admiralty papers (that were'nt eaten by mice) from my Grandmothers back shed. I don't place a great deal of importance to it in the grand scheme of things - but every little clue helps.

It looks like some kind of pay slip or demob paper, but I'm intrigued by the stamped text appearing to say 'supplementary prize fund'. This is an old photocopy of the original by the way.

[Tom Morgan]

I don't know much about Naval matters, but could it be something to do with the old pratice of sharing out money as a reward for captures or something like that? Or perhaps a more modern version of that?

I have found two websites which mentions this, though only briefly, and they both refer to sailors receiving a payment. One site has an awful movie to play through before you get to the business but it says (eventually) in the records of one sailor's service:

5th May 1922 - Paid medal gratuity.

20th May 1922 - Paid final share of Naval

prize fund.

4th May 1924 - Paid supplementary final share of Naval prize fund.

This is another one which refers to a soldier receiving such a payment.

Hope this is of some help.

Tom

[Guest Hussar]

Tom,

You are quite correct in your assumptions.

The allocation of prize money for the destruction, capture or salvage of a vessel is still in force today and still runs along the same lines as it always has done.( Except we are not allowed to just pull them over and commandeer them in the the name of the Queen!) That is one of the reasons that everyone races to a distress call, it's not just altruistic motivation to help a fellow mariner!! Basically, I believe, the first person to put a line across, with the masters permission, has salvage rights which is why you often find little fishing boats swarming round, even when the stricken vessel is a cargo ship or suchlike and they could not concievably salvage it.

[Ian Underwood]

Thanks for you insightful replies, if only the remainder of the document was intact it may give clues to the german ship(s) captured or destroyed....damn mice!

I've searched the PROCAT, and the only references to the Naval Prize fund in the ADM series appear not to contain details of individual payments to sailors.

I don't suppose there would be any records kept elsewhere?

Ian.

[Michael]

I've seen references to prizes in the London Gazette which showed exactly how much everyone got - right down to the Ship's cat !

Michael

[Terry_Reeves]

Tom

The rules for prize money appear in various editions of the Navy List if I remember rightly.

Terry reeves

[christine liava'a]

right down to the Ship's cat

So how much did the ship's cat get? Or did somebody get the ship's cat?

[Staffsyeoman]

Yup, my partner's father got something like a hundred quid in 1943 as his corvette took an abandoned merchantman in tow. He has a painting of the incident on the sitting room wall! But I bet (as a brown job) I'm muddling prize and salvage money...