You wrote.
"So when he worked on the Cunard chips he wouldn't of been MN, but then signed up to the MN when he was on the Hector?? Just out of interest, do you know what provisions would be in place for his family after going missing at sea?"
As far as I can ascertain, he was a Merchant Seaman for all of his seagoing career including the Cunard vessels he sailed on. Where did you get the information that he served on HMS HECTOR ? There are no records for him on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.
Merchant vessel HECTOR official number 102191, was a entirely different ship to HMS HECTOR!
I note that his entry in the returns of Deaths at Sea, November 1914, reported to the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894.
Says he "disappeared at sea"
Whatever the reason of his demise, I leave it to your imagination but suicide, murder, where not an entirely unknown phenomena.
Given his rank, I think it doubtful, that apart from a "whip round" by his shipmates for his widow, That any formal provision for his family by the shipowners.