Able Seaman Thomas Bates

[Tuggybear]

I'm looking at the service record for Able Seaman Thomas Bates  born in Belfast In Antrim in 1916. It doesn't contain a lot of personal information so doesn't provide details like who got his war gratuity or where he lived at the time of volunteering in March 1935  but given his place in my Leicester family it seems he must have been in Leicester in at least 1939/40, which would be useful to me to clear up a secret. Thomas died in the sinking of HMS Gloucester on 22/5/1941.
Anyway, I'm not completely clear on what some of the entries say.  Not sure if I'm allowed to post photos but I'm struggling with a ship named something along the lines of St Ang???r and something that looks like (Acaste) written next to the ship's name. On the above listing of the ship it says (Watch)
Also what are the columns entitled Non-substantive, among other entries.
I believe the times he was serving on board Drake 1 and 2 were possibly times when he was 'at home base' even if the ship was not docked in Devonport.
I'm happy to post photos if allowed and would greatly appreciate any help in fully understanding this record.
Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give.

[Andy J2022]

I think it would be best if you posted photos of the bits you want clarification on. Context can help a lot. I can't see any RN ship with a name beginning St Ang-- for the period you are talking about. As you may have correctly identified, HMS Drake was shore-based establishment: the Royal Naval Barracks in Devonport and as such would have been the administrative base for a number of ships afloat, so that entry doesn't pin down the ship he was serving in at that time. You didn't mention his trade. Do you know what it was, as this again might help in identifying the earlier ships he served aboard? The exact meaning of 'Watch'  and 'Non-Substantive' should become clearer when we can see the image(s).
HMS Acasta was a destroyer which was sunk by the German battleship Scharnhorst on 8 June 1940. Only 38 of the crew survived the sinking, and one of these later died of his wounds.

[Tuggybear]

I'm afraid his civilian trade was redacted for some reason. So all I know about him is that he was an able Seaman when he was lost at sea and that he had gained 'a badge?'
Sadly I cannot trace him in NI nor in Britain. The 1926 census has been lost and he does not appear on the 1921 England and Wales census.
I can find no trace of a marriage to my late aunt and need to buy a certificate to confirm he was the father of her son. The only reason I know of him is because the son entered that my aunt was the Widow of Thomas Bates able Seaman on her death certificate in 1969. Sadly there is no one left alive who can give me more information.l but i feel he needs to be on my tree and in the family story so I thought I'd write a bit about his life and death in the navy.
Unfortunately the records are not as clear as the army ones and I have no experience of sailors to go on.

[Andy J2022]

Tuggybear, if you can post photos of his record it would certainly help us to decipher some of the more obscure naval terminology.

[q98]

Could  " St Ang... " be HMS St Angelo in Malta? Originally in 1912, it was HMS Egmont, then it became a Mediterranean base for the Royal Navy and in 1933 was renamed HMS St Angelo.

[Tuggybear]

Thank you q98. . I'm not sure. I am going to try again to take a photo of the record and post to here. Not sure why I can't upload the photo I already have though.