British Navy Officer in New Zealand 1925

[1JC]

Hi, I am looking for some guidance in finding information about a British royal navy crew member.

I know that Fred (Freddie) Hawkes, born in Halling, Kent 1897/8, served with the British Navy, Chatham Division 19706, and was in New Zealand between April & July 1925. However, I don’t know how he got to NZ or when he left. Is there any way of finding the crews of British Naval ships visiting or stationed in NZ at that time?

[Andy J2022]

Your mention of the Chatham Division made me think he was in the Royal Marines, and sure enough his record of service is on FindMyPast. https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=GBM/ADM159/35483/1
Outline details are:
Born 12 June 1897 at Halling, Rochester, Kent
Enlisted at Chatham 26 Jan 1915 aged 17 yrs 7 months and 15 days. Formerly a farm labourer, height 5'5", eyes grey, fresh complexion and brown hair. Service number 19706
His was assigned to the Chatham Division Royal Marines Light Infantry andf held the rank of Marine (Private) for all of his service. He was discharged at Chatham 11 June 1927.  Unfortunately the name of the ship he was on between 14 Oct 1922 and 1 Jun 1927 is obscure (picture below).
His next of kin was initially his father J Hawkes of 4 Burton Place Upper Halling, then after his marriage on 27 Oct 1923 at St Michael's parish church Maidstone, it was his wife Clara Annie, 19 Warwick Place, Tonbridge Rd, Maidstone.
He served with the Middle East Force in the Dardenelles 22 Oct 1915 - 19 May 1916 and was wounded on 11 Dec 1915 

[1JC]

Thanks Andy. I did have a copy of that service record but not as good a resolution as you have. Looking at your image do you think the obscured ship name could be Dunedin? If so the HMS Dunedin was stationed in New Zealand for a few years around 1925, which would fit.

Do you know how I could find the crew list for the Dunedin in 1925? There is information about the crew list in 1941 when it went down buy I cant find anything before then.

[Andy J2022]

Hi 1JC,

 Yes I would agree with Dunedin.  I imagine the purpose of the visit to New Zealand was the fairly standard one of showing the British Flag around the world, so the ship probably called in on many friendly nations in South East Asia as well as Australia and NZ. No doubt the Royal Marines Band was on board and would have performed concerts onshore for the local populations.
I don't know where you would find a list of the crew of HMS  Dunedin in 1925. If it still exists, it almost certainly won't be available online.

[Andy J2022]

Possibly not the period you are interested in but there's also a record of him being admitted to 2 Field Ambulance RND at Stavros, on 3 Mar 1916, suffering from catarrh and debility.  He was serving in D Company and his age is given as 18. He was transferred to the hospital ship Somali on 7 Mar 1916.

[AlanBoyd]

This clipping explains why HMS Dunedin was in New Zealand at that time.

from the Torbay Herald and Express  26th January 1927

[HMac]

Do you know how I could find the crew list for the Dunedin in 1925? .

The RN recorded the movement of their personnel differently to say the Merchant Navy who kept crew lists and agreements for each ship. So, unfortunately you will not find any official crew lists for RN ships on or off line. You will sometimes see unofficial crew lists from ships that were sunk during the war but they tend to be made up from death records and other sources.
Regards
Hugh

[GrahamSimons]

The ship's logs for Dunedin can be found in the National Archives;
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/advanced-search
and use Dunedin as the keyword and ADM53 as the series.

Nothing available online, you would need to visit Kew to see the logs; worth noting that logs rarely mention anyone by name except senior officers.

[1JC]

Thanks for all your replies. I think the question is fairly much answered now.

The HMS Dunedin was docked at Auckland for a refit between 6 May 1925 and 28 July 1925.