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AWOL 1924 and never seen again so what records are there?

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PhiloNauticus:

Monarch was at Portsmouth.

On 5 March 1920 she was reduced to Reserve, and remained moored at Portsmouth, with a reduced crew

She does not seem to have moved far until 28 August, when she sailed from Portsmouth for Gibraltar, carrying relief crews for ships in the Mediterranean.  She returned to Portsmouth on 25 September

ValB:
Thank you PhiloNauticus

Am I right in thinking that if Fred stayed onboard as part of a reduced crew then that would / might mean he would not get much leave other than overnight shore leave on a rota and would not have had much opportunity to go up to London?

He said in a letter it was very expensive to travel up from Pompey and I was thinking that if he had come back to Portsmouth from elsewhere on 5th March 1920 then he might have taken any accrued leave soon after he came back or early April (Easter) and gone up to London then.

I don't know how much leave he would have got in total (other than overnight shore leave) and presumably there are no "leave" records surviving.

Would it be the case that someone taking 2-3-4 days leave (or however long they were allowed in one "hit") in March or for Easter would not be able to do the same again during July or maybe not even before sailing to Gibraltar on the 28th August.

Thanks
ValB

PhiloNauticus:

Ratings were allowed 28 days leave, plus public holidays, per year.  In home waters, this would normally be taken in three chunks, at Christmas and Easter, plus one other period, usually fitting in with the ships programme. 
 
In addition ratings were allowed overnight leave.

He would presumably have been granted 9 or 10 days leave at Easter; would have expected something similar at Christmas, and so could have requested to take the balance or a portion of it [perhaps a week] in the summer, if he could be spared from his duties....
 
It was not unusual for ratings to accrue leave that had not been taken - this would usually be taken on leaving a ship, prior to joining a new one ...

Leave records would be kept by the ship, and I doubt any have survived.

[source for the above info:Kings Regulations and Admiralty Instructions [1913 ed] paras 872-899]

ValB:
Yet again...... brilliant info PhiloNauticus !

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