Deciphering Royal Navy service record

[dobfarm]

Some doc's from the National archives are on Ancestry either if you subscribe or use the free library Ancestry Access in most libraries UK

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_q=Augustus%20Dalby%2C&_ps=15

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C8960982

As I said earlier if its really important - the unreadable info in your image - then as you said in post 1 - I quote you ;- ' Maybe I'll need to go to Kew to view the original., is the only way to find out. 

[silicondale]

Thanks - wasn't aware that ncestry might also have TNA documents, though likely the same scanned copies. I don't have a paid subscription but can do a search and if they have it, could drop into the local library (yes, we do still have one here!) to check. A day trip to Kew is not all bad - there are other things I want to do there as well. I have copies of some of Augustus Dalby's logs from ships he served in, but still many more pages to photograph.

[silicondale]

I have now received a much better resolution copy from TNA (full marks to them for recognising and fixing the problem!). No longer a resolution issue. Just deciphering some very bad handwriting. What I get from this so far is

Superintending the Dismantling the *****ian* Ships from 8 Nov 1808.

Just one word to decipher. Presumably they were dismantling captured ships that were too badly damaged to be of any value. Could be Austrian, except I can't find a capital A and I didn't know there would have been any Austrian ships to dismantle.

[Andy J2022]

'Austrian' would make no sense in this context. The Austrians were allies of the British during the Napoleonic Wars and they were assisting the Royal Navy against the French in the Adriatic over this period.

What this entry refers to is the destruction of the Danish fleet, following the Battle of Copenhagen in August and September 1807. The Danes were actually neutral at the time but the British feared that they succumb to French pressure to ally with Napoleon against Britain and Russia. This would have allowed Napoleon to blockade the entrance to the Baltic which would hamper Russia's ability to supply its troops on the continent. When the Danes refused enter into an alliance with the British, the Royal Navy was ordered to capture the Danish fleet so that it could not fall into the hands of the French. After a successful British bombardment of Copenhagen the Danish Crown Prince ordered his naval commander to destroy the Danish fleet. When this order was not complied with, the Royal Navy captured the ships and set about destroying most of them, although several were retained for Royal Navy service. More on the background here.

While I am certain this is what is being referred to, I have no idea what the actual word is, it clearly isn't 'Danish'.

[tonepad]

The word is "Russian"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Russian_War_(1807%E2%80%931812)


Tony

[Andy J2022]

Good call Tony. You are right, and my Danish theory is wrong. I had forgotten that the Russians broke off their alliance with Britain in 1807. As we saw again in 1917 the Russians proved to be fair weather allies.

[silicondale]

Thanks, Tony and Andy - It looked a bit like "Russian" to me but didn't seem to make much sense. Now more logical.

As for Denmark, the following year Augustus was Master of the Owen Glendower in the action to take (the Danish) Anholt island to restore the lighthouse there to full operation. No prize money for this (successful) operation because it was an island, not a ship, but he was already wealthy from prize money in some previous actions against the French.

He was superintending the dismantling for only just over a month (Nov-Dec 1808) before he was sent to sea again in Jan.1809 on the Owen Glendower.