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Harry Phillips – Service with the Royal Marine Light Infantry (1898-1914)

Page history last edited by Jon 15 years, 7 months ago

In this article the career of Harry Phillips (1877-1914), son of George Charles Phillips and Esther Jane Phillips (née Tomkins), has been summarised alongside a chronological history of the ships that he served with, to give an indication of where Harry travelled and what he might have seen.

 

Harry Phillips enlisted with the Royal Marines in London on 19th September 1898, signing up to serve for a term of 12 years. At the time of his enlistment Harry was just over 5ft 6in. tall with a fresh complexion, grey eyes and brown hair[1] though his chest measurement of 32¼ inches was ¾ inch under the standard chest measurement for entry. Harry was examined by a medical officer who approved his entry[2].

 

A few days after joining Harry was assigned to E Company and sent to the Depot at Walmer for training, which lasted just over 9 months. In his time at Walmer Harry was tested for his ability to swim (on 15th February 1899), schooled (gaining a 3rd class certificate on 28th March 1899) and trained in both infantry drill (passing on 30th June 1899) and musketry drill (passing twice in 1899).

 

After completing his training Harry was transferred to Chatham Division on 6th July 1899 and he embarked on his first ship – H.M.S. Wildfire - on 12th January 1900. After a short spell on board Harry was transferred.

 

Harry embarked on H.M.S. Diana[3] on 15th February 1900 and left Chatham, England for the passage to Sydney, Australia sailing via Sheerness, Plymouth, Gibraltar, Malta, Port Said, Port Lucy, Colombo, Albany and King George’s Sound[4]. H.M.S. Diana reached Sydney on 21st April 1900.

 

On arrival at Sydney Harry joined H.M.S. Ringarooma, one of five Royal Navy ships in the Australian Auxiliary Squadron[5] based at Sydney, New South Wales.

 

H.M.S. Ringarooma

In his time aboard H.M.S. Ringarooma the ship spent a considerable amount of time at Sydney as well as patrolling the waters of the Australia station[6], including visits to Noumea, Wellington, Hobart, Adelaide and Port Lincoln.

 

Harry’s service record shows that his first six months aboard saw him punished for a number of offences[7]. On 27th May 1900 Harry was punished for ‘Not slinging a clean hammock’ and less than a month later, on 22nd June 1900, received a further punishment for ‘Slack turning out of his hammock’. The punishment in each case was given as 3 days W 10(A). 

 

The ships of the Australian Auxiliary Squadron rarely made the pages of the British papers but there was a minor drama on board the Ringarooma on July 15th 1900 when a torpedo was lost whilst practising off the New Hebrides. Three divers were sent to recover it, but instead encountered an active underwater volcano and returned to the ship bleeding from their noses and ears[8].

 

On 10th August 1900 Harry was recorded as ‘Making an unseemly remark to Colour Serg[ean]t Knight when at drill as to his front and rear’ for which the punishment was given as 5 days W 10(a). It was not to prove a good month, as just six days later, on 16th August 1900, Harry was reported as ‘Leaving his post when sentry on the Half Deck during the middle watch’ and received a punishment of 7 days W 10(a).

 

In spite of these transgressions Harry received his first Good Conduct Medal on 19th September 1900. Three days later, on 22nd September 1900, the records show that Harry was deficient of a pull through and he was required to pay the full value to replace it.

Finally, on 18th December 1900 Harry was punished for ‘Neglecting to carry out an extra Parade in Review order’. The punishment was once again given as 3 days W 10(A). 

 

H.M.S. Katoomba

Harry was transferred to H.M.S. Katoomba on 31st August 1901 and spent a year on board. It did not prove to be the most auspicious of beginnings, as on the 9th September 1901 Harry committed the offence of ‘Disrespecting an officer by not saluting him’ with a punishment of 5 days W 10(a) recorded.

 

The remainder of Harry’s service on H.M.S. Katoomba proved to be uneventful and no further offences are listed in his record.

Throughout his time in the Australian Auxiliary Squadron Harry passed two further musketry drills in 1901 and one musketry drill in 1902 – all of which took place at Sydney. Harry also achieved two passes in gunnery (sea services)[9].

 

Harry was one of three RMLI Privates to transfer to H.M.S. Wallaroo on 30th September 1902[10].  

 

H.M.S. Wallaroo

On 5th November 1902 H.M.S. Wallaroo set sail on a tour of Australia waters[11] which took the ship’s crew to Wellington (11th November 1902), Lyttleton (23rd November 1902), back to Wellington (28th November 1902), Picton (8th December 1902), Akaroa (15th December 1902), Port Chalmers (19th December 1902) and The Bluff, the southernmost point in New Zealand (31st December 1902) where they saw in the new year.

 

At the start of  1903 Harry and H.M.S. Wallaroo left behind The Bluff, sailing to Stewart Island (7th January 1903) and then on a route that took them to Chalky Inlet, Dusky & Briarsea Sounds, Milford Sound, Westport, D'Urville Island, Port Hardy and eventually back to Wellington (19th January 1903). 

 

From Wellington H.M.S. Wallaroo sailed north to Auckland (via Port Tryphana), arriving on 17th February 1903. The next four months covered much of the same territory as the previous year, including visits to the Bay of Islands, Wellington, Port Chalmers, Akaroa and Lyttleton before returning to Auckland on 23rd May 1903[12].

 

H.M.S. Diadem

On 8th December 1903 Harry was transferred to H.M.S. Diadem for passage back to England, finally leaving the ship on 29th March 1904.

 

Chatham Division

On his arrival Harry went back to his home division at Chatham and whilst there he gained a further pass in musketry, on 25th June 1904[13].

 

H.M.S. Fisgard

Harry was transferred to H.M.S. Fisgard on 9th July 1904. On 19th September 1904 Harry gained his second good conduct badge, marking six years of service. Harry remained on the Fisgard until 14th March 1905, when he returned to Chatham Division.

 

Chatham Division

In his time back at the division Harry passed in field training (on 6th May 1905) with a rating of ‘Good’ and was passed for Semaphore on 8th June 1905 with a rating of ‘Very Good’.

 

H.M.S. Aboukir

After some time on land, Harry embarked on H.M.S. Aboukir[14] on 15th June 1905 and served on this ship until 16th March 1906[15].   

 

H.M.S. Black Prince

Harry was transferred to the newly commissioned armoured cruiser H.M.S. Black Prince[16] on 17th March 1906 whilst the ship was at Chatham. A few weeks later, on 6th April 1906, Harry was found to be ‘Slack in stowing his hammock when piped’ and was punished ‘1 Leave  - 1st watch’[17].

 

On May 19th 1906 the Black Prince left Chatham to join the Second Cruiser Squadron[18] and headed out for her commissioning trial on May 31st 1906[19].

 

Over the next few months H.M.S. Black Prince took part in naval manoeuvres and travelled around the British Isles. The naval manoeuvres in late June 1906 saw H.M.S. Black Prince take part as one of nine battleships in the ‘Blue Fleet’ based at Bantry Bay, outside Berehaven, with an objective to prey on the enemy’s commerce[20]. The manoeuvres took place around the British Isles, Gibraltar, Lagos (Spain) and the Cape St. Vincent (Portugal) though the Black Prince was eventually put of action after trouble with her boilers[21].

 

On 15th August 1906 the band of the Black Prince played the national anthem for the King on his departure from Port Victoria, London for Cronberg and Marienstad[22]. A week later (21st August 1906) H.M.S. Black Prince sailed for Gibraltar and spent much of the next few months travelling to and from Gibraltar. The ship’s log gives only a limited indication of the activities of the ship during this time, though there is reference to time spent on 14th September 1906 on ‘circle turning’.

 

Not long after this, on 20th September 1906, Harry committed the offence of ‘Making an improper remark to a Petty Officer 1st Class[23] and received a punishment of 14 days No 10A.

 

In  early November H.M.S. Black Prince sailed from Gibraltar to Sardinia (via Malaga) and the month saw the ship at Aranci Bay and Civitavecchia, with much time spent firing at targets in Aranci Bay, test firing the heavy guns and carrying out battle practice. On 4th December H.M.S. Black Prince set sail from Aranci Bay for Sheerness (via Gibraltar) which she reached on 16th December 1906. The remainder of the year was spent in and around the British Isles.

 

The start of 1907 saw H.M.S. Black Prince sailing from Portland for further naval exercises, much of which took place off the coast of Gibraltar and Lagos Bay (Spain).  This included wireless exercises, torpedo practice, cruiser work and tactical exercises[24].

 

Harry’s records appear to show that he was sent to Head Quarters in the Naval Hospital, Portland on 6th February 1907 and that he returned to the ship from 5/S Quarters on 10th June 1907[25].

 

On 10th July 1907 H.M.S. Black Prince was one of four ships to escort the royal yacht H.M.Y. Victoria and Albert on the occasion of a royal visit to Kingstown by the King and Queen, with Princess Victoria[26]. The remainder of the month saw visits to Cardiff, Galway Bay and Berehaven.

 

At the start of August H.M.S. Black Prince sailed for Gibraltar and she remained there for the rest of the month. Harry passed his training for first aid to the injured on 27th August 1907[27], whilst the ship was in Gibraltar[28]. A few days later, on 30th August 1907,  H.M.S. Black Prince set sail for Plymouth Sound.

 

After spending most of September and the first weeks of October at Chatham, Sheerness, Spithead and Portland H.M.S. Black Prince set sail for the North Sea on 14th October 1907 to take part in naval manoeuvres.

 

On 3rd November 1907 H.M.S. Black Prince returned to Portland and spent most of the next five months around the south coast. In this time the Black Prince frequently left Portland for firing practice[29] and on one of these occasions, on 4th December 1907, Harry passed his drill in naval gunnery (sea service)[30].

 

In March 1908 the Black Prince returned to Chatham Dockyard for a refit[31]. On 30th March 1908 Harry was paid off and returned to Chatham Division.

 

Chatham Division

Whilst he was back at the division Harry passed drill in Field Training (2nd June 1908) with a grade of ‘Very Good’ and on 24th August 1908 Harry passed musketry drill at Gravesend[32]. 

 

H.M.S. Inflexible

After almost seven months on land Harry returned to sea on 20th October 1908, embarking on the newly commissioned Invincible-class battlecruiser H.M.S. Inflexible[33] at Chatham. The Inflexible would serve in the Nore Division of the Home Fleet[34].  

 

The Inflexible remained at Chatham until the new year. On 10th January 1909 H.M.S. Inflexible made her way to Sheerness and then on to Bantry (16th January), Gibraltar (25th January), Aranci Bay (31st January), Malta (17th March) and Gibraltar (29th March) before returning to Sheerness on 3rd April 1909[35].

 

After a fortnight at Sheerness the Inflexible set sail for Scotland, reaching Scapa Flow on 18th April 1909 and visited various points along the Scottish coast until making a return to Sheerness on 27th May 1909[36]. 

 

On June 12th 1909 a Naval Review took place at Spithead for the delegates of the Imperial Press Conference, who travelled to Portsmouth by a special train from Victoria Station in London. The review consisted of 140 ships from the main fleet, including the Inflexible[37].

 

After leaving Spithead H.M.S. Inflexible sailed to the naval base at Berehaven, on the southwest coast of Ireland. The entire fleet was mobilized for naval manoeuvres on a larger scale than had ever been seen before, which took place over three weeks in late June and early July. In total 350 ships were mobilized[38].

 

On 17th July 1909 H.M.S. Inflexible arrived at Southend for an event proposed by the Lord Mayor of London to bring the Royal Navy in sight of Londoners. Over 130 ships were visible from Southend on one side of the river and Sheerness on the other. The public were able to visit the ships and the entire fleet was illuminated on the evening of the 22nd July 1909[39].

 

On 23rd July 1909 Harry was found to have committed the offence of ‘Being out of the “rig of the day”’ and the punishment awarded was given as 3 days 10B[40].

 

H.M.S. Inflexible arrived at Cowes on 30th July 1909, ready for the Royal Navy Review on 31st July 1909[41] and to play her part in the guard of honour for the Tsar on his visit to England. The guard of honour was comprised of three cruisers (the others being Indomitable and Invincible) and all three headed out towards France to meet the Russian ships.

 

The Tsar arrived on his Imperial yacht, the Standart, on 2nd August 1909 with an Imperial cortège[42] and the British escort fired a 21 gun salute, which was immediately returned by the Russian warships. After fulfilling their duty the cruiser escort joined the lines of the British fleet.

 

The King and Tsar inspected the fleet and as the royal yachts passed each ship in succession ‘the men cheered lustily and the bands played the Russian Imperial Hymn’. A thunderous royal salute was fired by every ship in the fleet in the afternoon after the start of the procession. The fleet was illuminated that night but had dispersed by early morning, leaving only the cruiser escort and the Bellerophon (acting as guardship)[43].

 

The Tsar’s visit drew to a close on 6th August 1909 and in the afternoon H.M.S. Indomitable, followed by Inflexible and then the Invincible led the procession of ships away from Cowes. As they reached the Owers lighthouse the three cruisers changed formation – ‘the Inflexible taking station ahead of the Standart, with the Indomitable and the Invincible disposed respectively to port and starboard on either beam.’[44] As dusk came the British warships bade farewell to the Russian warships with one final Royal salute ‘and as each ship passed the Standart her men cheered lustily and her band played the Russian Imperial Hymn. Their farewells were acknowledged by the Tsar standing on the bridge of the Standart.’[45]

 

After returning to Sheerness on 7th August, the Inflexible sailed north to Lossiemouth at the end of the month where she remained for four days before returning to Portsmouth[46].

 

H.M.S. Inflexible set sail from Portsmouth on 16th September 1909, bound for New York. The battle cruiser was carrying Sir Edward Seymour, Admiral of the Fleet, to the Hudson-Fulton celebrations[47] - arriving on 24th September 1909 and mooring off Riverside Park where the crew noted the American, German, French & Italian Fleets as well as Dutch & Argentine men-of-war. The event was to prove spectacular with the New York Times reporting on the amazing sight of 10 miles of warships (numbering 57 in total) along the River Hudson which were illuminated on the night of the celebrations and watched by a crowd of over a million.

 

‘The great Inflexible, the British warship that has been the real heroine of the show, made the most beautiful spectacle as she lay outlined in light in the river. Between her masts glittered in electric lights a splendid jewelled crown.’[48]

 

As darkness fell the event saw night parades on the river, searchlight displays and fireworks. Over the weeks that the battle cruiser remained in New York she received a number of foreign admirals and the Secretary to the US Navy (who was saluted with 17 guns on leaving). The ship was also opened to visitors on a number of occasions during her stay[49].

 

H.M.S. Inflexible finally left New York on 9th October 1909. On her return voyage it was rumoured that she was making an attempt to beat the Transatlantic "record" held by her sister ship the Indomitable and initial reports in the Times indicated that she was making ‘record runs’[50]. The papers speculated on when she might reach Spithead with suggestions of early morning on 14th October[51], though in the end H.M.S. Inflexible did not reach Spithead until 19th October[52].

 

H.M.S. Inflexible returned to Chatham on 26th October 1909 and stayed there until 30th December 1909, when  she made her way to Sheerness. The new year brought stints at various points around the British Isles and Ireland, including time at Berehaven, Rathmullan and Queenstown in March and at Scapa Flow, Talbot Ness and Queensferry in April/May[53].

 

On April 18th 1910 the British Home and Atlantic Fleets began a combined cruise, as part of their annual spring training programme[54] which included H.M.S. Inflexible. A few months later, in July, H.M.S. Inflexible was also involved in naval manoeuvres[55].

 

Harry remained on board H.M.S. Inflexible until 14th August 1910 when he returned to Chatham for the final month of his period of service.

On 17th September 1910 Harry received his third and final Good Conduct Badge.

 

Discharge to the Royal Fleet Reserve

Harry Phillips was discharged from the Royal Marines on 23rd September 1910 and enrolled in the Royal Fleet Reserve on 24th September 1910[56]. Each year from 1910 until 1913 Harry was recalled for 6-11 days drill at Chatham Division.

 

H.M.S. Hawke

Following Britain’s declaration of war the fleet was mobilised in August 1914 and Harry found himself assigned to H.M.S. Hawke.

 

H.M.S. Hawke was an armoured cruiser launched at Chatham in 1891 and was among the oldest ships still in service at the start of the war.

 

Harry was killed on 15th October 1914 when the cruiser HMS Hawke was sunk by a torpedo in the North Sea.HMS Hawke had met with HMS Endymion in the North Sea to collect mail when she was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U9[57]. The torpedo struck near to a magazine and the cruiser sank in five minutes with the loss of around 500 men[58].  

 

After his death Harry’s family received the Royal Fleet Reserve Long Service & Good Conduct Medal, which he was entitled to, in October 1923. 

 

Summary of Harry Phillip’s service as given in his Service Record 

 

Ch 10503 – Pte. Harry Phillips (Royal Marine Light Infantry)

 

R. Depot Walmer 19th September 1898 5th July 1899
Chatham Division  6th July 1899  11th January 1900
H.M.S. Wildfire  12th January 1900  31st January 1900
Chatham Division  1st February 1900  14th February 1900
H.M.S. Ringarooma  15th February 1900  31st August 1901
H.M.S. Katoomba  1st September 1901  30th September 1902
H.M.S. Wallaroo  1st October 1902  7th December 1903
H.M.S. Diadem  8th December 1903  29th March 1904
Chatham Division  30th March 1904  8th July 1904
H.M.S. Fisgard  9th July 1904  14th March 1905
Chatham Division  15th March 1905  14th June 1905
H.M.S. Aboukir  15th June 1905  16th March 1906
H.M.S. Black Prince  17th March 1906  30th March 1908
Chatham Division  31st March 1908  19th October 1908
H.M.S. Inflexible  20th October 1908  14th August 1910
Chatham Division  15th August 1910  23rd September 1910

 

Ch B/1672 – Pte. Harry Phillips (Royal Fleet Reserve)

 

Chatham Division   24th September 1910  
Chatham Division – at drill  25th September 1910  1st October 1910
Chatham Division – at drill  1st October 1911  7th October 1911
Chatham Division – at drill  10th October 1912  16th October 1912
Chatham Division – at drill  27th April 1913  8th May 1913
Test mobilisation  15th July 1914  25th July 1914
Chatham Division  2nd August 1914  5th August 1914
H.M.S. Hawke  6th August 1914  15th October 1914

 

Footnotes

  1. Source: Harry Phillips' Attestation Form/Discharge papers (ADM 157/1793) ▲
  2. The Form R98 - Recommendation for Entry into the Royal Marines of a Recruit who is not up to the Physical Standard (completed on 19th September 1898) was included with Harry's Attestation Form/Discharge papers (ADM 157/1793). The medical officer indicated that he thought Harry would grow to meet the requirements of the Royal Marines and that he had a good character. ▲
  3. H.M.S. Diana was an Eclipse-class protected cruiser completed in June 1897. ▲
  4. H.M.S. Diana took relief crews to three vessels serving in Australasian waters - Ringarooma, Boomerang, and Torch - and brought back the time-expired officers and men to England. Source: The Times, 17th February 1900 - Naval & Military Intelligence. ▲
  5. The Australian Auxiliary Squadron was established by the Australasian Naval Defence Act 1887 through which Britain agreed to provide a squadron of vessels which would operate within the within the limits of the Australia Station (in addition to any Royal Navy vessels stationed there during this time). 'The new squadron, consisting of five 3rd-class protected cruisers and two torpedo-gunboats, arrived in September 1891, and the ships were given an enthusiastic welcome. The cruisers were named Katoomba, Mildura, Ringarooma, Tauranga and Wallaroo. Smart looking little ships, they displaced 2575 tons and were armed with eight 4.7-inch and eight 3-pound guns, together with machine-guns and four 14-inch torpedo tubes. They were twin-screw vessels with a speed of 19 knots and carried a complement of 217.' (Source: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ausnavy/RN_In_Oz.htm accessed on 10th June 2008). ▲
  6. ADM 53/15419 Ship's Log - H.M. Ship Ringarooma (24th April 1900-13th August 1901). Ports visited by H.M.S. Ringarooma during this period included Georges Bay , Jervis Bay, Noumea (New Caledonia), Janna, Efali, Bangolia Bay, Port Resolution, Port Amityum, Panghumi Bay, Valfre, Fila, Hobsons Bay, Wellington, Hobart, Adelaide, Albany, Fremantle and Port Lincoln. Harry's service on H.M.S. Ringarooma ended on 31st August 1901 but at the time of writing we had not looked at ADM 53/25576 Ship's Log - H.M. Ship Ringarooma (14th August 1901 - January 10th 1903) covering Harry's final fortnight on board. ▲
  7. Source: Harry Phillips' Attestation Form/Discharge papers (ADM 157/1793). The offences were recorded on a page from the papers headed R -154 Company Defaulters' Book, with entries from 27th May 1900 to 9th September 1901. ▲
  8. Source: The Times, July 10th 1900 - A Submarine Volcano. ▲
  9. Service Record CH/10503 (ADM 159/53). The dates appear to be 20th December 1900 (or possibly 1901) and 10th October 1902. ▲
  10. The Ship's Log for H.M. Ship Wallaroo includes an entry for 30th September 1902 which states: Rec'd 5 AB, 4 O Wkrs, 1 Corpral & 3 Privates RMLI from H.M.S. Katoomba ▲
  11. Ship's Log for H.M.Ship Wallaroo (ADM 53/31949). The dates indicated in brackets give the date of the ship's arrival. ▲
  12. Ship's Log for H.M.Ship Wallaroo (ADM 53/31949). The last date in the ship's log was 16th June 1903 and this shows the ship at Auckland. The remaining months that Harry was on board were covered by the next log (ADM 53/31950) which had not been consulted at the time of writing. ▲
  13. Service Record CH/10503 (ADM 159/53). The pass was recorded as having been achieved at Milton. ▲
  14. H.M.S. Aboukir was a Cressy-class armoured cruiser launched on May 16th 1900 and sunk by a U-boat on September 22nd 1914. ▲
  15. The Ship's Log for H.M.S. Aboukir (ADM 53/16654) shows that the ship was based at Portsmouth from 16th June 1905 to 23rd June 1905 and at Chatham from 24th June 1905 to 16th March 1906. ▲
  16. HMS Black Prince was a Duke of Edinburgh class armoured cruiser. The ship was launched on November 8th 1904, commissioned for service on March 17th 1906 and sunk on May 31st 1916. ▲
  17. Source: Harry Phillips' Attestation Form/Discharge papers (ADM 157/1793). The offences were recorded on a page from the papers headed R -154 Company Defaulters' Book, with entries from 6th April 1906 to 20th September 1906 in the left hand column and other entries relating to Harry's location in the right hand column covering the period from 15th June 1905 to 30th March 1908. In the entry for 6th April 1906 there is a tick in the column headed 'Cases of Drunken-ness'. ▲
  18. Source: The Times, May 16th 1906 - Naval & Military Intelligence. ▲
  19. Source: The Times, May 31st 1906 - Naval & Military Intelligence. ▲
  20. The Times, June 25th 1906 - The Naval Manoeuvres ▲
  21. The Times, August 18th 1906 - The Late Naval Manoeuvres ▲
  22. Source: The Times, August 15th 1906 - Departure of the King. ▲
  23. The entry in the record shows this as P.O. 1.cl ▲
  24. Source: ADM 53/17852 - H.M.Ship's Log for Black Prince, covering the period from 17th March 1906 to 6th March 1907. ▲
  25. Source: Harry Phillips' Attestation Form/Discharge papers (ADM 157/1793). The entry here is not entirely clear - there is the possibility that it is the papers rather than the individual that have been sent to headquarters. ▲
  26. Source: The Times, July 11th 1907 - Court Circular. ▲
  27. Source: Harry's Service Record in ADM 159/53. ▲
  28. Source: ADM 53/17853A - H.M.Ship's Log for Black Prince, 7th March 1907-26th February 1908. ▲
  29. Source: ADM 53/17853A - H.M.Ship's Log for Black Prince, 7th March 1907-26th February 1908. ▲
  30. Source: Harry Phillips' Attestation Form/Discharge papers (ADM 157/1793). This qualification was recorded on a page from the papers headed R -133 Drill History Sheet, Royal Marines. The record gives the qualification as T.M. whilst a further note underneath states R. for Q.M. ▲
  31. The Times, 20th March 1908 - Naval & Military Intelligence. ▲
  32. Source: Harry Phillips' Attestation Form/Discharge papers (ADM 157/1793). This qualification was recorded on a page from the papers headed R -133 Drill History Sheet, Royal Marines. The qualification was listed as having taken place under War Office Regulations rather than Naval Regulations. Harry's service record (in ADM 159/53) gave the location as Milton. ▲
  33. H.M.S. Inflexible was launched on 26th June 1907. The battlecruiser took part in the Battle of Jutland (1916) and was present at the surrender of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow (1918). H.M.S. Inflexible was decommissioned on 31st March 1920 and scrapped in 1923. ▲
  34. The Times, 21st October 1908 - Naval & Military Intelligence. ▲
  35. Source: ADM 53/22219 - H.M.Ship's Log for Inflexible, 20th October 1908-8th October 1909. ▲
  36. Source: ADM 53/22219 - H.M.Ship's Log for Inflexible, 20th October 1908-8th October 1909. ▲
  37. The Times, 1st June 1909 - Three Naval Events, The Times, 11th June 1909 - The Naval Review: Assembling of the Fleets and The Times, 12th June 1909 - The Naval Review at Spithead. ▲
  38. In the exercise the 350 ships were assigned to three fleets - red, white and blue. The red fleet was stationed at Berehaven and at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys. The blue and white fleets were based at at Oban and in the Firth of Forth, with an objective to combine their forces without interruption by the red fleet - whilst the red fleet's objective was to prevent these fleets combining, or to bring them to an action if they did combine. The blue and white fleets succeeded in their objective (the white fleet having made its way through the English Channel) but were then brought to an action by the red fleet. Sources: The Times, June 17th 1909 - The Naval Mobilization and The Times, July 31st 1909 - The Royal Naval Review. ▲
  39. The Times, 17th July 1909 - The Fleet in the Thames. ▲
  40. Source: Harry Phillips' Attestation Form/Discharge papers (ADM 157/1793). The offences were recorded on a page from the papers headed R -154 Company Defaulters' Book, with a single entry for 23rd July 1909 in the left hand column and other entries relating to Harry's location in the right hand column covering the period from 20th October 1908 to 14th August 1910. In the entry for 23rd July 1909 there is a tick in the column headed 'Cases of Drunken-ness'. ▲
  41. The programme for the Royal Naval Review was described in the Times on 31st July 1909. The event saw a review of the fleet by the King and a number of demonstrations. ▲
  42. The Imperial cortege was comprised of the Polar Star, another Imperial yacht, the Russian armoured cruisers Rurik and Admiral Makaroff, two Russian destroyers, the Emir Bukharski and Moskvityanin. The Russian Imperial cortege was escorted by four large French cruisers and eight destroyers, which altered course for Cherbourg when the British guard of honour reached the Imperial cortege. Source: The Times, August 3rd 1909 - The Tsar at Cowes. ▲
  43. The Times, August 3rd 1909 - The Tsar at Cowes. ▲
  44. The Times, August 7th 1909 - The Tsar's departure. ▲
  45. The Times, August 7th 1909 - The Tsar's departure. ▲
  46. ADM 53/22219 Ship's Log - H.M.Ship Inflexible: 20th October 1908 to 8th October 1909. ▲
  47. The event was held to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the discovery of the Hudson River by Hendrick Hudson and the 100th anniversary of the first practical application of steam to navigation by Fulton. Source: http://www.hrmm.org/quad/1909hudsonfulton/prt-chapter01.html ▲
  48. New York Times, Sunday September 26th 1909 - 'City illumined as never before'. Source: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9905E0DA1539E632A25755C2A96F9C946897D6CF The Times also carried an account of events in the edition of September 27th 1909 within an article titled 'The Hudson-Fulton Celebrations'. ▲
  49. ADM 53/22219 Ship's Log - H.M.Ship Inflexible: 20th October 1908 to 8th October 1909. ▲
  50. The Times, October 13th 1909 - The voyage of the Inflexible. ▲
  51. The Times, October 14th 1909 - Return of the Inflexible. ▲
  52. ADM 53/22220 Ship's Log - H.M.Ship Inflexible: 9th October 1909 to 11th October 1910. ▲
  53. ADM 53/22220 Ship's Log - H.M.Ship Inflexible: 9th October 1909 to 11th October 1910. ▲
  54. Source: The Times, April 19th 1910 - Naval Training Cruise. ▲
  55. ADM 53/22220 Ship's Log - H.M.Ship Inflexible: 9th October 1909 to 11th October 1910. ▲
  56. Service Record CH/10503 (ADM 159/53) and Attestation Form/Discharge papers (ADM 157/1793). The service record records his address on discharge as 1 Commercial Road, Peckham, London, S.E. ▲
  57. U9 had been responsible for sinking three cruisers in the previous month. The U-Boat commander's account of the torpedoing has been published online at http://www.pigstrough.co.uk/ww1/jull.htm ▲
  58. HMS Hawke was completed at Chatham Dockyard in 1893. An account of the sinking is available from the Guardian's online archive at http://century.guardian.co.uk/1910-1919/Story/0,,126442,00.html and the five minutes it took for the ship to sink was stated in a telegram sent to Admiral Dunfermline on 16th October 1914 giving the account of a survivor (ADM 1/8398/377). ▲

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