I have this unidentified ship amongst family photos... likely to be late 1920s..a tropical station it appears . Any suggestions welcome

further images here of the Kiel canal passage..

I have come across these family photos which I am reasonably certain relate to a Baltic cruise of 2nd Cruiser Squadron in summer 1928...and a transit of the Kiel canal.  I believe taken from HMS Curacoa [Capt F T B Tower]. The Squadron included HMS Comus(Capt H R Sawbridge) and with Curacoa was due to visit Helsingfors 13-18th June.. Libau 19-22 June, and Riga 23-30 June.. while HMSCambrian and HMS Canterbury would visit Reval, Memel, Danzig.  The whole squadron was due to return via the KielCanal July 2nd.. which suggests the likely date. As presumably taken from Curacoa the other ships may include the above, although I believe the 6th Destroyer Flotilla was also on the cruise. I think the picture of ships in the lock are likely to be at the eastern end of the Kiel Canal, although have not been able to find any other 1920s pictures. These may be of interest to some ..

Subject -
James Fitzpatrick Kellard Stoker I KX526058 (aka as pop)

The Royal Navy Search section was kind enough to furnish me with some records of my grandfathers service and I can't thank them enough as they had to search through Payment & Victual Ledgers to get even the bare bones of his records In everything my grandfather seems to be a bit mysterious and hard to track down but being born in the workhouse and abandoned by his mother I suppose that is only natural.

The first thing that caused me to question what might be missing is the reference -

HMS Duke (Anson Division) 17 May 1943 23 Jun 1943.
I looked this up and HMS Duke appears to be a Stokers Training Shore Establishment in East Anglia.
Surely he did his phase one training before training as a stoker or did ratings forego phase one training and go straight to trade training?

HMS Boscawen (Dockyard Fire Party) 27 June 1943- 30 Sept 1943
I understand this was Portland Naval Base.  Then from 01 Oct 1943 until 05 Dec 1943 he is posted as Ships Company to the same establishment. 
I always understood that he served in Coastal Forces and when he was alive there were photos of him at sea on MTB's but could a draft to that shore establishments ships company mean a draft to a Coastal Forces Unit based there or were individual craft a draft in its own right?

06 Dec 1943 - 17 Dec 1943 HMS Vernon      
I presume this was the old Torpedo School in Portsmouth?  How would this fit with his being a Stoker?

19 Dec 1943 - 15 Jul 1944  HMS Boscawen
Stoker Class I. Would he have been there as a shore party, part of the coastal forces base staff or crew on one of the

16 Jul 1944 - 15 Dec 1944 HMS Tadpole
During this period a Casualty Card was raised  "Injured/Missing 6 August 1944 Operation Overlord"  would this mean whilst serving in Poole or a craft attached to HMS Tadpole?  Or could it mean in NW Europe as ships company to one of the Mobile Coastal Forces Bases?

16 Dec 1944 - 19 May 1945 HMS Turtle 
A short move from Poole to Hamworthy takes him to the Combined Operations Training Centre, were Coastal Forces Craft attached to that shore establishment?

HMS Ringtail a  RNAS in Lancashire and then another RNAS HMS Condor in Scotland
Invalided out of the service on 08 Nov 1945.

The medal card at the end of his service record has not been filled in,

Even if he had never served abroad he would have qualified for the War Medal?
The entry "Service for 1939-45 Star simply has P.P Per 6 R Card" whilst another entry at the top of the page has "S.C. Not Awardable" but I've no idea what that means nor what a 6R Card is?

Thanks in advance for any ideas, thoughts or answers

 

It seems the online Radio play back of the Reg talk with Spence, in regard to HMS Manchester has expired now. As it is showing, sorry, this audio is not yet available or has expired.

Reg Swanborough has written a book called A life Well Lived. On page 101 (Inside Chapter 23, Operation Pedestal Continued) HMS Manchester is mentioned.

The book can be found fast on Australian search engines such as Google. I would think the same would apply in the UK. I put in Reg Swanborough Gawler SA Australia and a long list of items about Reg comes up. The book is inside the Gawler History (library) listing with the name Reg Swanborough that should be near the top of the page of listings.

Or this link may work.

https://gawlerhistory.com/index.php?title=Swanborough_Reg&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile

A very interesting book which covers some important naval history and battles during WW2 and naval life. A lot of effort and research must have gone into this book.


Philip L

I am researching WW2 Royal Navy positional signals in Scotland in 1940. I have come across a reference to a four-letter code “LMSE” + distance / bearing. I am trying to decode the reference to "LMSE". I believe it is code for a specific landmark in Scotland. Does anybody know? Thank you!

I asked the ABC if they can provide a transcript of the Reg talk with Spence on ABC Adelaide Radio. They replied that unfortunately, we no longer have the resources to provide transcripts however the radio program is still available to listen to online. They gave me a link to that episode on Monday, August 11th, 2025. It should be a direct link to that episode if all works well. The talk starts at about the 2 hours, 25 minute and 30 second mark. The whole episode is about 2 hours and 45 minutes long.

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/adelaide-evenings/evenings/105626762

Reg told Spence that he was on the Cruiser Manchester in WW2 when it was attacked by masses of Italian torpedo bombers and German Stuka dive bombers.

This is how the Advertiser (Adelaide, South Australia) reported the events that Reg was talking about. Advertiser, 15th August 1942. Convoy at Malta.

APA citation
CONVOY AT MALTA (1942, August 15). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved September 2, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48878802

Philip L

thank you both for your reply.  It gives me something to go on.  The family do think that it is Winston Churchill - 2nd from the end of the people sitting - with no hat .  I will look at the links and suggestions you have both made.  Kind regards, Karen W.

This may have nothing to do with this photo above but just to mention this in case it is relevant somehow. If the sailor was born in 1928 it is possible he may have been in the Royal navy at 18 years of age (1946).

My father, Norman Lock (WW2 Royal Navy) told me when he was alive that he was, at one stage, on the same ship as Winston Churchill. I am reasonably sure that he was referring to the Queen Mary.

On the general Photograph sharing board (RNRAF Forum) there is a photo titled Father and Sailor in New York USA. Close to end of WW2 or end of WW2. The photo is of my father and unidentified Royal Navy sailor at Jack Dempsey's bar, New York, USA. I found a date on the back of the photo. 28 February 1946. So, it was after WW2. I think the reason my father was in the USA was because HMS Findhorn was returned to the USA government under a lease deal.

In the reply under this New York photo is a copy of my father's WW2 travel list. Under 1946 it has America. New York. Back to UK on Q Mary. I think this would have been after February the 28th, 1946, after WW2.

I found on Google that there are some stills from a short film. Churchill on Queen Mary (1946). Date found in old file 04/04/1946. Several shots of the liner Queen Mary entering Southhampton harbor.

Philip L

https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/69404/






 

Mmmmmm… how sure are you that it is Winston Churchill ?   I can see the resemblance with the gent at the end of the sitters, but I do not think it is Winston…

The ship is clearly a large[-ish] one – being able to fit a ceremonial guard, plus rows of seated guests and the large stanchions would suggest a sizeable quarterdeck.   This would indicate that the type of ship is a cruiser. It is also clearly post-WW2 = all those rows of medals being worn show that

The New Zealand connection offers a clue – the Royal New Zealand Navy commissioned three cruisers post-WW2:

BLACK PRINCE – 1946 – 61, but laid up in reserve from 1955
BELLONA – 1946  - 56
ROYALIST 1956 – 66

SO, if this is a photo showing RNZN personnel… on a cruiser… it must be one of these.

Could I suggest the most likely would be the ROYALIST.   She was taken over by NZ in 1956 and checking with contemporary newspapers, it was reported that the hand over, at Plymouth [UK],  in July 1956, was attended by the NZ Prime Minister and his wife [Mr & Mrs Holland I believe}, who was accompanied by the First Sea Lord, Viscount Cilcennin

Could these be the people in the front row seats ?

For a history of Royalist in NZ service, see:

https://rnzncomms.org/what-where-wither-when-hmnzs-royalist-1956-1966/

...and you can see the extent of the quarterdeck of this class of cruiser in this pic:

https://preview.redd.it/1czrxws0le281.png?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=885f0c6294c759ce9304c869ff12ce42496ea665