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Researching my friend's Granfather's Royal Naval Career

I hope that the members of Rum Ration can help me with the following as I am researching a friend's Grandfather's Royal Naval Career as she wishes to give it to her dad in book form as the grandfather did not tell the family about his time in the RN during the War.

I have a copy of his Doc's and have managed to get pictures of the Ships and some Shore establishments and the Ships' histories but have drawn a blank on a few dates and locations/ships. I have written the details below as they appear in his Docs.

ST Vincent 17 Jul 39 I believe this was a training establishment in Gosport for Boy Seaman.

ST George 7 Sep 39 This was the training establishment that they were evacuated to, to continue training.

Victory I 27 June 40 This I believe was Victory Barracks now HMS Nelson and he was attached here whilst taking pre-embarkation leave and awaiting his first ship?

Revenge 2 July 40 A Royal Sovereign Class Battleship.

Ramillies 5 Aug 42 A Royal Sovereign Class Battleship.

Victory I 2 Nov 42 Again attached to this barracks awaiting next draft and taking leave?

Excellent 14 Nov 42 The Gunnery school at Whale island Portsmouth.

Victory 3 (LST Pool) 17 Jan 43 Was this a POOL of manpower for LST’s?

Victory 3 (LST 416) 6 April 43 I cannot find a reference to LST 416 and LST all seem to have four numbers?

Nile (Favourite) 1 July 43 The only mention of HMS Nile I can find was in one of the forums in Rum Ration and this was a base in Egypt. I cannot find any reference to a HMS FAVOURITE?

Nile (Bideford) 1 Jan 44 There was a sloop HMS Bideford and she was in the Med at this time could they be referring to that?

Victory I 28 Oct 44 Leave again and awaiting draft or course?

Excellent 10 Feb 45

Daedalus 3 19 April 45 Shore time or course?

LST Q1 (3024) 6 Aug 45 Once again I have drawn a blank, as I cannot find a LST 3024, was she a Q Ship?

Terror (3024) 1 April 46 Does this mean they were based at HMS Terror and was 3024 a Navy Party?

Bambara 15 April 46 This was HMS Bambara a Naval Air Station at China, Trincomalee.

Loch Glendhu 1 July 46 A Loch Class Frigate based out in the Far East/East Indies.

Highflyer 30 July 47 HMS Highflyer the Naval Base at Trincomalee.

152/2905 Victory I -I 15 Oct 47 I do not understand what the numbers refer to at the front of Victory and it is underlined?

1505/2640 Victory I-3 3 June 48 Again I do not understand the numbers?

1505/2640 Victory I-3 21 Aug 48 Shore Invalided PUNS.

He finished as a Leading Seaman (TY), does this stand for Tactical Yeoman?

There are three boxes that I don’t fully understand and I have shown them below.

Non-Substantive
Rating From To
Bugler 25.5.40 21.8.41
A.A 3 18.6.42 6.4.45 Does A.A refer to Anti Aircraft and if so are we
A.A 2 7.4.45 talking Radar or Gunner?

Badges
G.D.or R. Date Number Held
G.I 7.4.44 I


Time Forfeited And Class For Conduct
Offence Sentence P.D.C.,&c. Served
Disobedience 5 C 24.4.42 28.4.42

I hope that you Guys can help me out there and i look forward to reading the answers.

many thanks,

Nic_Cates.
 
1505/2640 Victory I-3 21 Aug 48 Shore Invalided PUNS


Not sure about the numbers but the rest means he was invalided out of the NAvy Permanetly Unfit for Naval Service(PUNS)
 
I'm sure Naval_Gazer will be along shortly to advise on good places to search for further information. And welcome to Rum Ration! :thumright:
 
The LST's --LST 416 was a lease lend USNavy ship supplied to the RN
returned to the US in 1946
LST 3024 was a British built LST . It was transferred at the end of the war to the Army and sold at Hong Kong in 1966

Favourite was an ex USNavy Tug on lease lend returned 1946 to the USA




:nemo: :nemo:
 
Not sure, but I think AA2 ans AA3 were gunnery ratings who specialised in close range weapons like 20mm Oerlikons and the like.
I have a suspicion that LST(Q) were conversions to Headquarters Ships, with additional radio gear and accommodation for extra staff. The names BEN LOMOND and BEN NEVIS stir memories from long ago - one of these may have been involved in the Nuclear tests at Monte Bello Island in the early 50s.
 
Nic_Cates said:
I hope that the members of Rum Ration can help me with the following as I am researching a friend's Grandfather's Royal Naval Career as she wishes to give it to her dad in book form as the grandfather did not tell the family about his time in the RN during the War.

I have a copy of his Doc's and have managed to get pictures of the Ships and some Shore establishments and the Ships' histories but have drawn a blank on a few dates and locations/ships. I have written the details below as they appear in his Docs.

ST Vincent 17 Jul 39 I believe this was a training establishment in Gosport for Boy Seaman. Correct. Commissioned 1 Jun 1927 and closed down 2 Apr 1969.

ST George 7 Sep 39 This was the training establishment that they were evacuated to, to continue training. Douglas, Isle of Man. Commissioned 9 Sep 1939 and paid off 31 Dec 1945.

Victory I 27 June 40 This I believe was Victory Barracks now HMS Nelson and he was attached here whilst taking pre-embarkation leave and awaiting his first ship? Most likely yes.

Revenge 2 July 40 A Royal Sovereign Class Battleship. Correct

Ramillies 5 Aug 42 A Royal Sovereign Class Battleship. Correct.

Victory I 2 Nov 42 Again attached to this barracks awaiting next draft and taking leave? Most likely yes, although by this time the accounts were actually held at Goodings near Newbury in Berkshire.

Excellent 14 Nov 42 The Gunnery school at Whale island Portsmouth. Correct.

Victory 3 (LST Pool) 17 Jan 43 Was this a POOL of manpower for LST’s? Most likely yes.

Victory 3 (LST 416) 6 April 43 I cannot find a reference to LST 416 and LST all seem to have four numbers? See Greenie and Salty-Dog's contributions. LSTs had two, three and four figures in their numbers. Recommend you contact people at the LST & Landing Craft Association for further information (www.lstlandingcraftassoc.org/).

Nile (Favourite) 1 July 43 The only mention of HMS Nile I can find was in one of the forums in Rum Ration and this was a base in Egypt. I cannot find any reference to a HMS FAVOURITE? HMS Nile was the main RN base at Alexandria in Egypt after the Med Fleet was forced to evacuate Malta. It had several outstations for various purposes. See Greenie's contribution about Favourite.

Nile (Bideford) 1 Jan 44 There was a sloop HMS Bideford and she was in the Med at this time could they be referring to that? Most likely yes.

Victory I 28 Oct 44 Leave again and awaiting draft or course? Most likely yes.

Excellent 10 Feb 45

Daedalus 3 19 April 45 Shore time or course? RN Air Station at Lee-on-the-Solent and Bedhampton, Hampshire. Also used as a release centre so anyone's guess. He may have been helping processing people being demobbed.

LST Q1 (3024) 6 Aug 45 Once again I have drawn a blank, as I cannot find a LST 3024, was she a Q Ship? See Salty-Dog's contribution. LST 3024 was renamed Maxwell Brander and suffered a fire after the war (see National Archives file at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=7&CATID=-2368772) and my reference to LST & Landing Craft Assn above.)

Terror (3024) 1 April 46 Does this mean they were based at HMS Terror and was 3024 a Navy Party? Could be but you were probably right in your assumption that 3024 was an LST.

Bambara 15 April 46 This was HMS Bambara a Naval Air Station at China, Trincomalee. Correct.

Loch Glendhu 1 July 46 A Loch Class Frigate based out in the Far East/East Indies. Correct. She survived until paid off in Dec 1953.

Highflyer 30 July 47 HMS Highflyer the Naval Base at Trincomalee. Correct.

152/2905 Victory I -I 15 Oct 47 I do not understand what the numbers refer to at the front of Victory and it is underlined? I am assuming your Grandfather was Hostilities Only RNVR. The first numbers may refer to some document such as an Admiralty Fleet Order which dealt with the process for demobbing RNVRs or transferring them to regular service. Victory had several different incarnations (and Roman numeral afifixes) during the war as its roles were dispersed to other parts of the South of England. They were realmagamated at the end of the war.
1505/2640 Victory I-3 3 June 48 Again I do not understand the numbers? See above.

1505/2640 Victory I-3 21 Aug 48 Shore Invalided PUNS. See andym's contribution.

He finished as a Leading Seaman (TY), does this stand for Tactical Yeoman? If your Grandfather was RNVR, this probably stood for 'Temporary'. All sorts of RNVR and RNPS officers and ratings spent the entire war being rated/promoted from one 'temporary' rank to another.

There are three boxes that I don’t fully understand and I have shown them below.

Non-Substantive
Rating From To
Bugler 25.5.40 21.8.41
A.A 3 18.6.42 6.4.45 Does A.A refer to Anti Aircraft and if so are we
A.A 2 7.4.45 talking Radar or Gunner? Possibly a mixture of the two. The Fleet Air Arm Museum website mentions Anti-aircraft Corps (‘AA’ ratings) as part of the RNVR (see www.fleetairarm.com/pages/research/archivep1.htm).

Badges
G.D.or R. Date Number Held
G.I 7.4.44 I

Might be 1st Good Conduct Badge awarded for four consecutive years of 'undetected crime' although I'm not sure why the award of punishment below wouldn't have resulted in a break in VG (Very Good) conduct which would have prevented this.

Time Forfeited And Class For Conduct
Offence Sentence P.D.C.,&c. Served
Disobedience 5 C 24.4.42 28.4.42

Five days punishment awarded, possibly confinement to ship or barracks rather than prison or detention quarters.

I hope that you Guys can help me out there and i look forward to reading the answers.

many thanks,

Nic_Cates.

Many ships' logs are held by the National Archives at Kew. Contact details for this and other useful sources of information are available via www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.4338.

I hope some of this helps. I'm off for a drink.
 
I seem to remember the Buffer on board Triumph in 1955 was an AA1 - gunnery qualification for close range AA armament only, i.e. 40m Bofors, 20mm Oerlikon (remember EVERY round must be lightly greased), maybe the Lewis gun, maybe if deeply unlucky the Chicago piano or 8-barrel 2-pdr pom-pom (2pdr was pusser's pre-war attempt to avoid buying the superior and effective Bofors; pusser also tried, on technical grounds, to avoid buying the Oerlikon; hooray for the staff people in the Admiralty). AA3, 2, 1 may have been rush qualifications to (a) man guns on the steadily flowing stream of LCT etc and (b) much increased close range AA armament on other ships, want of enough of same having proved expensive for PoW & Repulse & need for same underlined by Jap Kamikaze attacks. AA func tion later pretty much absorbed into the GL (gunlayer) qualification.

NB very small ships such as tugs, LCT etc which were not complemented for a Writer rating had their pay accounts kept in a shore base such as Victory (essentially Portsmouth Barracks later renamed Nelson because of years of confusion with its wooden namesake, which used to have a sign outside with 'HMS Victory (ship)' painted on it to clarify matters for the lost), Nile etc.
 
lsadirty said:
Not sure, but I think AA2 ans AA3 were gunnery ratings who specialised in close range weapons like 20mm Oerlikons and the like.

AA was the anti-air specialisation, I think, which along with "Quarters", "Layers" and "Control" formed the rating element of the Gunnery branch (from http://www.naval-history.net/WW2aaRN-PayTables00Ranks-Badges.htm - just search for "Gunnery"). I have somewhere at home an old copy of the "Gunnery Pocket Book" dating back to the 1940s which sets out career progression of ratings; I'll see if I can lay my hands on it to check. Having just doen a quick "google", it appears that there's a copy on-line at http://www.hnsa.org/doc/br224/index.htm
 

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