Life of a Trimmer in the RNR

[pandabean]

Can anyone tell me what the lif of a trimmer with the RNR would be like? How long would their shifts be? What sort of work would they be expected to do and how respected were they amongst the rest of the crew? I am mainly trying to piece together what my great grandfather did for his short service on the HMS Attentive III.

[Terence Munson]

Hi, Doesn't answer all your questions but see this topic:

 

Cheers Terry

[historydavid]

Crewmen were normally divided into two watches, designated Port and Starboard, and worked shifts of 4 hours on and 4 hours off, but at action stations everyone was involved all the time.

When a ship was in port, leave was granted also by watch for as long as was reasonable.

In the closed community of a ship everyone realised they were dependant on everyone else doing their job properly, particularly when at action stations,, although some trades claimed superiority and made disparaging remarks about others.

Best wishes

David

[pandabean]

Thank you David and Terry. So on a ship like the Attentive would most people have known each other or at least know of some people?

Is there any books that you know of that talks about life on board a ship in WW1? As far as I can gather from the logs the Attentive III was involved in mine clearing around the Dover area.

Slightly off the mark here but does anyone know of any decent pictures of the Attentive III from WW1?

[IanA]

I have a copy of the 2 volume 'The Dover Patrol' by Admiral Bacon. There are two photos of the King & Queen of the Belgians on board HMS Attentive. Let me know if you are interested and I can scan them for you. They only show small parts of the ship.

[truthergw]

A quick run down on what a trimmer did. A large ship carried many tons of coal. As it was burnt, the coal needed to be redistributed about the bunkers. The load had to be ' trimmed', They shovelled and barrowed coal from one part of the ship to another. Hard, dirty work, albeit not so hot as a stoker's.

[per ardua per mare per terram]

In the Royal Navy 'stoker' was used for all ratings in the engine room (even on oil fired ships); the merchant marine used 2 titles fireman and trimmer. The fireman's role was primarily to tend the boilers and ensure they ran efficiently, as the fireman of a steam train would do on land. The trimmer's role was to ensure that the fireman has adequate supplies of coal near at hand, while also ensuring that the trim of the ship wasn't altered unevenly: coal bunkers ran the length of the ship and on both sides so if all the coal was taken from just one at a time the ship would be unbalanced. Sounds like an easy job doesn't it? The access points were cramped; they had to dig coal out and shovel it into wheel barrows, then wheel those along narrow tracks. All this without extractor fans for the coal dust, air conditioning in the tropics or heating in the winter and with the ship moving or often pitching and rolling They often ended up battered and bruised and with coal dust in any open wounds.

They would know the men of their mess and firemen they worked with and some others but there was quite a strict heirarchy. There would be rivalry between seamen and stokehold.

Pictures of Attentive

http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/hms_attentive.htm

[benson]

http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/hms_attentive.htm

you might try this

Dave

[joseph]

A Trimmer on a Steam Trawler/ Drifter would move the coal from the bunkers to the Stokehold ensuring it was removed so the ship would stay on an even keel. The Engineman would then feed the boilers; the trimmers secondary job was more than likely Cook. At Action he would back up the engineman and take over the engines if necessary.

Regards Charles

[spithead]

Slightly off the mark here but does anyone know of any decent pictures of the Attentive III from WW1?

Pandabean, ATTENTIVE 111 was not a ship but the shore establishment at Dover, a parent to the Auxiliary Patrol 1917 - 1918. Your relative would more than likely have been on one of the many trawlers/drifters engaged in minesweeping from this shorebase.

Regards John

[pandabean]

Thanks all for the information, it certinaley has given me a lot of information.

I am getting completely confused with the Attentive III, one minute I am being told it is a shore base, other places I am being told it is a main ship of the flotilla at Dover.

Pandabean, ATTENTIVE 111 was not a ship but the shore establishment at Dover, a parent to the Auxiliary Patrol 1917 - 1918. Your relative would more than likely have been on one of the many trawlers/drifters engaged in minesweeping from this shorebase.

Regards John

[spithead]

Thanks all for the information, it certinaley has given me a lot of information.

I am getting completely confused with the Attentive III, one minute I am being told it is a shore base, other places I am being told it is a main ship of the flotilla at Dover.

Hello Pandabean

Originally you were asking about ATTENTIVE 111. The information you have been getting applies to HMS ATTENTIVE which was a Scout Cruiser of 2,670 tons, spending most of the war at Dover in the 6th Destroyer Flotilla. If you have or could get his service papers I'm sure this would clear up any confusion.

Regards John

[per ardua per mare per terram]

I provided a link to Attentive because she and Attentive III are one and the same.

HMS Attentive was a scout cruiser launched in 1904 and became the Dover Base; she was the flagship of the Admiral of the Dover Patrol in 1914 and hence the Base took her name. In January 1916 she became Attentive II and Attentive III at the same time! Attentive III was the parent ship for the Dover Auxiliary patrol, so someone ‘on’ Attentive III was likely to be serving on the cruiser Attentive and not necessarily on shore even though Attentive III is called a shore establishment. If there are brackets after Attentive III on a service record then the man served on the ship named in those brackets.

Details from Lt Cdr. Warlow Shore Establishments of the Royal Navy, (Maritime Books, Liskeard, 2000); but set out differently.