hello all, was the vivid the depot ship for auxillary trawlers in devonport during ww1, thanks regards, john

John,
Vivid was the R.N. barracks at Devonport from 13/8/14 to 1/1/34 when it was re-named Drake. There was an Auxiliary Patrol depot ship there in WW1 which included Falmouth until 1/10/15 which then became Dreel Castle.
Regards,
ARABIS.

John, VIVID / Aux Trawlers ;

STAFFORD Walter N/E Lt. RNR 84S044 Vivid
C-in-C Plymouth 27.06.17 Gazetted
Auxiliary Patrols to 31.12.16 DSC
He has been in charge of the Drifters of Devonport Sub-Base, and has been responsible for the upkeep of Drifters and their anti-submarine armament, since Macrh, 1915.
He has invariably paid careful attention to his duties, and by his zeal and ability has brought the Drifters under his charge to a high state of efficiency.

Sadsac

thanks guys for that, on my grandfathers records it states he went to vivid after osiris, that would be from galipolli to devonport, is that right, thanks john

thanks guys for that, on my grandfathers records it states he went to vivid after osiris, that would be from galipolli to devonport, is that right, thanks john

John - in an attempt to `muddy the waters' was it OSIRIS (Destroyer) OR OSIRIS 11 ????
Here's one for O.11 ??

BEVAN George Parker N/E Cdr. RN 80E041 Osiris 11
Vice Admiral Commanding Eastern Mediterranean Squadron
14.03.16 Gazetted
Landing Gallipoli Peninsula April 1915 & Evacuation Dec. 1915 - Jan 1916 DSO
Has done continuous patrol work with great zeal and energy, and carried out valuable feints at landing in the Gulf of Xeros on the 6th and 7th August, during the landing at Suvla.

Sadsac

hello sadsac, it was osiris on his card, i believe it changed to osiris 2, the record and m.i.d in the gazette says for action in the eastern med. squadron, regards, john

At the risk of appearing totally ignorant, can someone kindly explain exactly what HMS Vivid did? I now have my Grandfather's death certificate, (L/Smn Sidney George Bond), which lists his ship as the Vivid. He died in RNH, Stonehouse. Is it likely that the Vivid saw action, broncho pneumonia and left empyema (judging by the writing on the certificate) is listed as the cause(s) of death and I wondered if this could have been contracted by time in the sea awaiting rescue, or just a case of 'hard luck' making him a victim of the 1918 influenza pandemic?

Thank you in anticipation of your help.

Regards,
Carole

Carole

I'll leave to the resident experts to answer your query, but I did a quick check to see if your grandfather was commemorated given the circumstances of his death.
This seems to be him if you haven't seen it already: Click here or see text below.

CWGC Casualty Details
Name: BOND
Initials: S G
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Leading Seaman
Regiment/Service: Royal Naval Reserve
Unit Text: H.M.S. "President III."
Date of Death: 23/07/1918
Service No: 4073A
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Church P. 19. 53.
Cemetery: FORD PARK CEMETERY (FORMERLY PLYMOUTH OLD CEMETERY) (PENNYCOMEQUICK)

Cheers, Terry

Hello Terry,

Thank you for your help, you did find him. I had found my Grandfather's CWGC entry and from there his actual grave. Mum has just told me that she has been given to understand, from my late Father, that my Grandfather's vessel was torpedoed in Plymouth Sound and he was brought ashore as a suvivor and taken to hospital. Slowly I am, I hope, bringing the picture of what happened to him together.


If anyone can shed some light on the fate of H.M.S. Vivid in June/July 1918 I would be delighted. She is the ship listed on his death certificate, although the CWGC entry states H.M.S President III which I know was an administration depot.

Ragards,
Carole

Carole,
Vivid & Attentive III were both shore bases/administrative depots. You need to obtain a copy of his service record to trace which ships he served in, as he could have served in other ships while being administered by Vivid or Attentive III. Unfortunately Royal Naval Reserve ratings records are not available online.
Regards,
ARABIS.

Hello Arabis,

Thank you for making things a little clearer. I guess he was Admined by both President III & Vivid, but to have President III on his Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry and Vivid on his death cert still has me rather confused. Surely he wasn't admined by 2 bases at the same time. Maybe when he was brought ashore, his admin unit was transferred from Vivid to President III, does that make sense?

Do you think that it will ever be possible to put the RNR rating records on line and if so how would this be done? Does MoD hold the ultimate sanction on such things?

I'll send off to Yeovilton for Grandfather's Service Record.

Regards,
Carole

Carole,
Sending off to Yeovilton for your grandfather's service record is a good idea, because as you say, being administered by two bases at the same time seems unlikely.
Good luck,
ARABIS.

My grandfather's record says Vivid addl _ _ 19 on P.O.

It really does have the dashes.

Jane

Carole,
As Arabis said in post2: Vivid was the R.N. barracks at Devonport" that included RNH, Stonehouse. He died in the hospital (which is what is on his death cert), but the unit he was serving with at time of death was President III (this is the actual unit he last served with). On an army CWGC entry the name of the hospital usually doesn't appear, but it might on the death certificate. Btw H.M.S. "President III" has been mentioned before on the forum, it was the admin centre for Defensively Armed Merchant Ships. Here's one thread on DAMS http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...+Merchant+Ships

The RNR records were made out by the Board of Trade and were nothing to do with the MOD. Now that they have been released BT have little say in what happens to them. They would get online either if the Fleet Air Arm Museum put them on or if someone digitised the microfiche copies held at Kew and both of those are remote possibilities.

Per Ardua,

Thank you very much for the information leading me to the thread about Merchant ships and DAMS. I have emailed the Fleet Air Arm Museum asking if they can find my Grandfather's Service Record and if I may have a copy. I'm waiting for them to get back to me.

Maybe the FAAM need to take a leaf out of Births, Deaths & Marriages (BDM) Registration site, they use volunteers to transcribe handwritten records and post them on the BDM site. I have just signed up as a volunteer. You get pages scanned and emailed to your home computer and then you do the transcription, sending it back via the same medium. Each volunteer has their own unique ID code. Just a thought.

I found the thread very enlightening, since as a History Graduate I had never heard of DAMS, (Q Ships etc, yes at 'O' level), so maybe it is time we took rather more notice of our own history, military rather than social, at Higher Education level. This thread has certainly broadened my education about how the was at sea was fought. Thank you again for the information - and the education.

Regards,
Carole