Merchant navy

[andyhayes]

Hi

I am trying to find out anything I can regarding my Great grandfather.

John William Hayes died at sea in 1916 aboard SS Harlington.

This is more or less all I know, when did John William join the merchant navy, was he always a donkey man>

Any help greatly appreciated.

[seaweed]

http://www.uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/2716.html
HARLINGTON official number 136752
Researching merchant seamen between 1857 and 1918 is always difficult as no central records were kept between 1857 and 1913. The personal records 1914-1918 have been destroyed.
The only way to search for your G/G is to obtain the last crew agreement of HARLINGTON
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C2480609
hopefully this will tell you his previous ship. you can then backtrack on crew agreements to find more about his seagoing career. Search via the ships official number rather than name.
http://www.rmg.co.uk/researchers/library/research-guides/the-merchant-navy/tracing-people-crewlists-agreements-logs
There are a couple of downloadable medal listings
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Result/?discoveryCustomSearch=true&_t1=john+william+&_t2=hayes&_t3=&_sd=&_ed=&_ser=BT+351&_ser=MT+9&_col=online&_sf=DRETITLE&_sf=DESCRIPTION&image1.x=42&image1.y=25

[wakokid]

Seaweed

Thank you for this post which has helped me find my grandfather's medal card.  Now all I need is some idea on how to decipher it and what it actually means.

He was Charles Frederick Nutman born 1878 and I have downloaded his CR10 card from TNA and now his medal card.

It looks as if he was issued with the Mercantile Marine Ribbon and the British Medal ribbon on 7th August 1919 and the medals themselves later (in 1921?)  The ribbons were issued to MMO Cardiff The medals to MMO 4 Vere Street, City Road, Roath, Cardiff (his home address).

Sorry for being naive but what do these medals relate to?  Is it for service during the WW1?

Any help would be gratefully received.

I can try to attach documents if that helps.

Wakokid

[seaweed]

Yes. They are for WW1 general service.
The Mercantile Marine Medal and the British War medal.
I take it that he was the Charles Fredrick  Nutman born 19/08/1878 in Newcastle on Tyne.
The numbers on the reverse refer to the ships he sailed on.
142710 was CAPE COLONY
 http://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/viewimages.php?year=1920&name=CAPE COLONY&page=90&imagesource=CLIP images
142382 was GRELDON
http://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/viewimages.php?year=1920&name=GRELDON&page=243&imagesource=CLIP images



As records for WW1 have been destroyed you would need to look at the crew agreement of CAPE COLONY for the dates in question. This should tell you his previous ship. You can then  with a little luck, backtrack and trace all his previous ships. Search via the ships official number.
Most crew agreements are stored in Newfoundland, some in TNA.

http://www.mun.ca/mha/holdings/viewcombinedcrews.php?Official_No=142710

[wakokid]

Out of interest, I have found the extract below.

GRELDON SS was a 3.322 grt defensively armed British Merchant steamer built in1903 by Richardson Duck, Thornaby, England as the British cargo steamer DARTMOUTH SS for Anning SS Co. Ltd., Cardiff, England. In 1915 she was renamed GRELDON SS when purchased by J. C. Gould & Co., Cardiff, England.

She was torpedoed without warning by German submarine U-96 on October 8th 1917 when 7 miles ENE from N Arklow Light Vessel, Ireland. 28 lives were lost including the captain.

How would I find out if my grandfather was aboard?

Wakokid

[seaweed]

The GRELDON sunk by U-96 in 1917 was a different vessel official number 115380.
The vessel your grandfather sailed on in 1921, O/N 142382, built 1918 and broken up in 1953, was a vessel with the same name and the same owners, Shipowners very often used the same name for their vessels. That is why it is important to trace vessels by their official number.