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The  Naval  Career  of  Herbert  John  Thomas  Barrett  My  Great  Grandfather.  

Born  in  Croydon,  London  1881,  Died  Toowoomba  Qld  Australia  1974.    Herbert  John  Thomas  Barrett  was  born  30  September  1881  in  East  Croydon  Surrey.  He  was  educated  at  Holy  Trinity  Mission  in  Selhurst  in  Croydon  London  and  in  1891  he  was  awarded  a  prize  of  a  book  “Electricity  and  its  Wonders”  by  Ascot  R.  Hope  (1881)  by  Vicar  R.  Patterson.          

 Holy  Trinity  Mission  Croydon.  

   Herbert  officially  joined  the  British  Royal  Navy  on  30  September  1899,  on  his  18th  Birthday.  But  he  was  on  his  first  training  ship  on  14  February  1898  (HMS  St.  Vincent)  at  the  age  of  16.  Herbert  rose  in  the  ranks,  beginning  as  Boy  (14  February  1898-­‐30  September  1899),  then  Ordinary  Seaman  (30  September  1899  -­‐  3  January  1901),  and  then  Able  Seaman  (AB  more  than  two  years  experience  at  sea  –  3  January  1901).  Having  been  made  an  AB  in  1901  Herbert  remained  on  ships  as  such  until  29  September  1911  when  he  was  discharged  with  the  note  ‘Shore  b.l.  Expd.’.  In  this  1898  -­‐  1911  phase  of  his  naval  service  Herbert  served  on  HMS  St.  Vincent,  Agincourt,  Sans  Pareil,  Highflyer,  Pembroke  and  Pembroke  I,  Wildfire,  Repulse,  Dominion  and  Vulcan.    

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This  is  HMS  St.  Vincent,  the  ship  Herbert  Barrett  trained  on  from  14  February  1898  until  13  June  1899.  

 HMS  St.  Vincent  was  one  of  class  of  three,  and  the  only  one  to  see  active  service,  though  she  was  not  put  into  commission  until  1829,  when  she  became  the  flagship  of  William  Carnegie,  7th  Earl  of  Northesk,  under  Northesk's  flag  captain,  Edward  Hawker,  at  Plymouth  Dockyard.  After  paying-­‐off  in  April  1830  she  was  recommissioned  the  following  month  and  was  made  flagship  at  Portsmouth  Dockyard.  From  1831  until  1834  she  served  in  the  Mediterranean.  Placed  on  harbour  service  at  Portsmouth  in  1841,  she  joined  the  Experimental  Squadron  in  1846.  From  May  1847  until  April  1849  she  was  the  flagship  of  Rear-­‐Admiral  Sir  Charles  Napier,  commanding  the  Channel  Fleet.  After  a  spell  in  ordinary  at  Portsmouth,  from  July  to  September  1854,  during  the  Crimean  War,  she  was  used  to  transport  French  troops  to  the  Baltic.  Subsequently  she  became  a  depot  ship  at  Portsmouth.  She  was  commissioned  as  a  training  ship  in  1862,  and  specifically  as  a  training  ship  for  boys,  moored  permanently  at  Haslar  from  1870.  In  this  role  she  retained  26  guns.      

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 HMS  Highflyer  (Herbert  Served  1899-­‐1903)  

 In  1901  HMS  Highflyer  served  in  the  Indian  Ocean  as  the  flagship  of  Rear-­‐Admiral  Day  Bosanquet,  Commander-­‐in-­‐Chief  East  Indies  Station.  Admiral  Sir  Day  Hort  Bosanquet  GCVO,  KCB  (22  March  1843  –  1923)  was  the  Governor  of  South  Australia  from  18  February  1909  until  22  March  1914.  The  East  Indies  Station,  established  in  1865,  covered  the  Indian  Ocean  (excluding  the  waters  around  the  Dutch  East  Indies,  South  Africa  and  Australia)  and  included  the  Persian  Gulf  and  the  Red  Sea.  These  responsibilities  did  not  imply  territorial  claims,  but  rather  that  the  navy  would  actively  protect  Britain's  trading  interests.  The  East  Indies  Station  had  bases  at  Colombo,  Trincomalee,  Bombay,  Basra  and  Aden.  In  response  to  increased  Japanese  threats,  the  separate  East  Indies  Station  was  merged  with  the  China  Station  in  December  1941  to  form  the  Eastern  Fleet    From  November  1902  to  March  1903  Captain  Arthur  Christian  commanded  Highflyer  as  the  flagship  of  Rear-­‐Admiral  Sir  Charles  Drury.  Highflyer  was  at  the  head  of  the  squadron  of  six  ships  that  took  part  in  the  Somaliland  Campaign  in  various  coastal  capacities.  The  ships  assisted  in  landing  troops  and  stores,  in  transport  work,  and  in  the  prevention  of  delivery  of  munitions  to  the  enemy.  Three  officers  attached  to  Highflyer  were  landed,  and  assisted  the  progress  of  the  campaign  with  a  wireless  telegraphy  apparatus.    Herbert’s  son,  (my  grandfather)  Arthur  Fredrick  Barrett  was  born  in  24  September  1909  at  39  Milton  Road,  Croydon  London  (the  below  image  is  from  outside  the  address  but  the  house  no  longer  exists).  Herbert’s  profession  on  the  birth  certificate  of  his  son  Arthur  is  given  as    ‘Seaman  Royal  Navy’.    

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 Milton  Road,  Croydon  London  

 Herbert’s  service  record  resumes  on  20th  February  1914  when  he  is  on  HMS  Pembroke.  In  1914  HMS  Pembroke  was  the  name  given  to  a  number  of  shore  barracks  at  Chatham,  Harwich  and  on  the  Forth.  A  number  of  ships  were  renamed  Pembroke  while  serving  as  base  and  depot  ships  for  the  establishment.  HMS  Trent  was  a  Medina-­‐class  gunboat  launched  in  1877.  She  was  the  fifth  ship  of  the  Royal  Navy  to  be  named  after  the  River  Trent.  She  was  renamed  HMS  Pembroke  in  1905,  and  served  off  the  coast  of  Tanganyika  in  1915.  She  was  renamed  HMS  Gannet  in  1917  while  serving  as  a  diving  tender.  She  was  scrapped  in  1923.  Herbert  served  on  HMS  Pembroke  from  20  February  1914  until  8  May  1914.    

 From  10  May  1914  until  10  May  1915  Herbert  was  on  HMS  Apollo.  Britain  declared  war  on  German  on  4  August  1914.  HMS  Apollo,  the  sixth  ship  of  the  Royal  Navy  to  be  named  for  the  Greek  god  Apollo,  was  a  second-­‐class  Apollo-­‐class  protected  cruiser  launched  in  1891  and  converted  to  a  minelayer  in  1909  along  with  six  of  her  sisters.  They  formed  a  minelaying  squadron  in  1914—15  during  World  War  I.  She  and  her  sisters  formed  a  squadron  operating  from  Dover  and  the  Nore  laying  mines  in  the  English  Channel.    APOLLO  (1),  minelayer,  ex-­‐2nd-­‐class  protected  cruiser,  Apollo-­‐class,  N.36  (1914),  N.05  (1.18).  Launched  10.2.91  Chatham  DY.  3400  tons,  314(oa),  300(pp)x43x16ft.  TE  9000ihp,  20kts  (designed).  Conversion  to  minelayer  completed  4.8.09  Chatham  DY,  armament  4-­‐4.7in,  100  mines.  Minelayer,  based  at  Dover  and  Sheerness  1914-­‐15  (seven  Apollo-­‐class  minelayers  laid  nearly  8000  mines  in  22  operations),  then  subsidiary  service,  ended  war  as  depot  ship.  BU  8.20  Castle.  Plymouth.  

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HMS  Apollo      From  10  May  1915  until  10  September  1918  Herbert  Barrett  was  a  Petty  Officer  (6  Years)  on  H.M.  Minelayer  Angora.  H.M.M  Angora  was  a  passenger  and  cargo  ship  owned  and  operated  by  British  India  Steam  Navigation  Company  and  was  taken  over  by  the  Admiralty  as  an  Auxiliary  Minelayer  on  27th  February  1915.    She  was  returned  to  the  B.I.S.N.Co  on  15th  November  1919  having  laid  14,729  mines.  Many  of  these  were  in  the  Gallipoli  area  after  the  evacuation.  It  seems  likely  that  Herbert  was  in  the  eastern  Mediterranean  during  the  Gallipoli  campaign  and  possible  in  the  immediate  area  and  involved  in  it.      In  July  1918  Herbert  is  recommended  for  Chief  Petty  Officer.  In  the  Royal  Navy,  the  rank  of  Chief  Petty  Officer  comes  above  that  of  Petty  officer  and  below  that  of  Warrant  Officer  Class  2.  It  is  the  equivalent  of  colour  sergeant  in  the  Royal  Marines,  staff  sergeant  in  the  Army,  and  flight  sergeant  in  the  Royal  Air  Force.  

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From  11  September-­‐24  February  1919  Herbert  is  listed  as  Acting  Chief  Petty  Officer  stationed  on  Rameses  in  his  navy  record.  The  First  World  War  ended  on  11  November  1918.    I  cannot  find  a  record  of  a  vessel  in  the  Royal  Navy  that  was  named  Rameses.      From  28  February  to  11  June  1919  Hebert  is  serving  back  on  Pembroke  I.  Pembroke  was  what  is  referred  to  as  a  ‘Stone  Frigate’  and  the  number  1  designates  a  station  within  Pembroke,  which  is  the  barracks  for  the  Port  Division  of  Chatham.  Until  the  late  19th  century,  the  Royal  Navy  housed  training  and  other  support  facilities  in  hulks—old  wooden  ships  of  the  line—moored  in  ports  as  receiving  ships,  depot  ships,  or  floating  barracks.  The  Admiralty  regarded  shore  accommodation  as  expensive  and  liable  to  lead  to  indiscipline.  These  floating  establishments  kept  their  names  while  the  actual  vessels  housing  them  changed.  For  example,  the  gunnery  training  school  at  Portsmouth  occupied  three  ships  between  its  foundation  in  1830  and  its  move  ashore  in  1891  but  all  were  named  (or  renamed)  HMS  Excellent.    As  ships  began  to  use  increasingly  complex  technology  during  the  late  19th  century,  these  facilities  became  too  large  to  continue  afloat  and  were  moved  to  shore  establishments  while  keeping  their  names.  An  early  "stone  frigate"  was  the  engineering  training  college  HMS  Marlborough,  moved  ashore  to  Portsmouth  in  1880.  The  gunnery  school  continued  to  be  named  HMS  Excellent  after  its  move  ashore  to  Whale  Island  in  1891.  By  World  War  I  there  were  about  25  "stone  frigates"  in  the  United  Kingdom.  Under  section  67  of  the  Naval  Discipline  Act  1866,  the  provisions  of  the  act  only  applied  to  officers  and  men  of  the  Royal  Navy  borne  on  the  books  of  a  warship.  When  shore  establishments  began  to  become  more  common  it  was  necessary  to  allocate  the  title  of  the  establishment  to  an  actual  vessel  which  became  the  nominal  depot  ship  for  the  men  allocated  to  the  establishment  and  thus  ensured  they  were  subject  to  the  provisions  of  the  Act.    

 HMS  Cormorant  

   

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From  Pembroke  1  Herbert  went  to  HMS  Cormorant,  an  Osprey-­‐class  composite  screw  sloop  launched  in  1877,  reduced  to  harbour  service  in  1889,  renamed  HMS  Rooke  in  1946,  and  broken  up  in  1949.  Herbert  was  on  HMS  Cormorant  from  12  June  1919-­‐  20  February  1920.  Cormorant  became  a  receiving  ship  at  Gibraltar  in  1889,  was  renamed  HMS  Rooke  in  1946  and  was  scrapped  in  1949,  being  broken  up  at  Malaga.  During  the  first  world  war  Cormorant  was  a  Q-­‐ship.  Q-­‐ships,  also  known  as  Q-­‐boats,  decoy  vessels,  special  service  ships,  or  mystery  ships,  were  heavily  armed  merchant  ships  with  concealed  weaponry,  designed  to  lure  submarines  into  making  surface  attacks.  This  gave  Q-­‐ships  the  chance  to  open  fire  and  sink  them.  The  basic  ethos  of  every  Q-­‐ship  was  to  be  a  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing.  The  British  Royal  Navy  (RN)  used  them  during  the  First  World  War  and  by  both  the  RN  and  the  United  States  Navy  during  the  Second  World  War  (1939–1945),  as  a  countermeasure  against  German  U-­‐boats  and  Japanese  submarines.    After  the  war,  it  was  concluded  that  Q-­‐ships  were  greatly  overrated,  diverting  skilled  seamen  from  other  duties  without  sinking  enough  U-­‐boats  to  justify  the  strategy.  In  a  total  of  150  engagements,  British  Q-­‐ships  destroyed  14  U-­‐boats  and  damaged  60,  at  a  cost  of  27  Q-­‐ships  lost  out  of  200.  Q-­‐ships  were  responsible  for  about  10%  of  all  U-­‐boats  sunk,  ranking  them  well  below  the  use  of  ordinary  minefields  in  effectiveness.    The  Osprey  class  was  of  composite  construction,  with  wooden  hulls  over  an  iron  frame.  The  Chief  Constructor  William  Henry  White  designed  them  and  five  were  ordered.  Of  1,130  tons  displacement  and  approximately  950  indicated  horsepower,  they  were  capable  of  approximately  11  knots  and  were  armed  with  two  7"  muzzle  loading  rifled  guns  on  pivoting  mounts,  and  four  64-­‐pound  guns  (two  on  pivoting  mounts,  and  two  broadside).  They  had  a  crew  complement  of  approximately  140  men.    From  9  May  1920  to  the  30  March  1922  Herbert  was  stationed  at  another  ‘Stone  Frigate’  HMS  Actaeon.  On  26  April  1876  HMS  Vernon  was  joined  by  the  former  steam  frigate  HMS  Ariadne  and  the  lighter  Florence  Nightingale.  These  were  then  commissioned  as  HMS  Vernon,  and  became  the  home  of  the  Royal  Navy's  Torpedo  Branch,  independent  of  HMS  Excellent.  Ariadne  was  used  to  provide  accommodation.  In  January  1886  HMS  Donegal  replaced  the  original  Vernon  as  a  more  spacious  torpedo  school  ship.  Donegal  was  renamed  Vernon,  the  original  Vernon  was  renamed  Actaeon  and  took  over  as  the  practical  workshop.    On  the  outbreak  of  the  First  World  War  Vernon  was  used  to  carry  out  torpedo  trials  and  to  train  new  recruits  for  the  Navy.  Extensive  research  and  development  was  also  carried  to  develop  new  anti-­‐submarine  devices,  mines  and  ships'  electrics.  On  1  October  1923  Vernon  was  moved  ashore  and  new  departments  were  set  up  to  cover  aspects  of  maritime  warfare,  such  as  mining,  torpedoes  and  electrical  equipment.  The  names  of  the  original  hulks  that  made  up  the  floating  Vernon  were  used  for  buildings  in  the  base.    HMS  Actaeon  (shore  establishment)  was  a  shore  establishment,  originally  part  of  HMS  Vernon.  It  was  established  as  a  separate  command  in  1905  and  paid  off  in  1922.    Finally  from  1  April  1922  to  the  28  August  1922  Herbert  was  stationed  back  at  HMS  Pembroke  1.  He  was  then  pensioned  from  the  Royal  Navy.  He  would  have  been  41  years  old.