Genealogy Chat

My grandfather served on HMS Victory in the First World War. I have searched for details about this ship on the internet but the results refer to a much older ship which would not appear to have remained in service in the 20th Century. Does anyone know anything about an HMS Victory c1917?

There hasn't been any later HMS Victory's, Lord Nelson's flagship, here in Portsmouth, is still a ship of the line and still the Navy's flagship.

HMS Victory was not a ship but a Shore Base in Portsmouth. This site has some useful info: http://www.oldoppos.*co.uk/extras/familyhelp.asp

HMS VICTORY Bob - never say to anyone in the navy that HMS Victory was not a ship! It is THE ship - Admiral Lord Nelson's very own ship on which he was killed at Trafalgar. It is in drydock at Portsmouth and preserved for the nation. Ian

Wendy Thinking about it - if he served at sea - are you sure of the name? Might it have been HMS Victor (destroyer) or HMS Victorious (battleship)? Just a thought Ian

Thanks for responses. I have photos of my grandfather wearing a cap with the logo HMS Victory, he is wearing naval uniform and his certificate of service mentions a couple of periods on HMS Victory, including others like HMS Dreadnought. Would his presence at "HMS Victory" have been a period of training on shore before / after being at sea on other ships?

PS - his rank (if that is the correct term) is described as Stoker.

Wendy Have a look at this site: http://www(.)gwpda(.)org/naval/rnshore(.)htm Remove brackets. Bob is also correct in that HMS Victory was also a Depot, but it was and still is also a ship! Ian

Ian I think Bob meant it was not a serving ship taking part in action during WW1. Wendy I found this RN Shore Establishments A common question is "why is my great-great grandfather shown as serving in HMS Victory - wasn't she obsolete in WW1??". Yes, that famous sailing ship was obsolete, and she certainly wasn't expected to see combat against the Kaiser's dreadnoughts! However, she (at least her name) did play an important role: as the name of a Shore Establishment Hope it helps Christine ps you could also try ...http://rmhh.*co.uk/mariners.html it's the British Mariners page and you may find more info there ( remember to remove * )

Wendy, I believe they train cadets at Hms Victory. It is a 'shore based' estabishment. My grandad was killed at Hms Britannia in WWII - he wasn't on the Royal Yacht, that too was a training establishment in Devonport!! Maggie

My Grandfather was in the navy and served twice according to his service records on HMS Victory. Sue

Hi Wendy My husband has been in the Royal Navy and believes he can talk with some authority on HMS Victory as used in RN service records. We recently researched a relatives Service Record from around the First World War and found some interesting websites on the use of HMS Victory and others (in other RN bases in the UK and abroad). It is traditional that all records (for Pay etc) show RN personnel as being "on a ship" even when based ashore. Each Naval base had a "receiving Ship" which the man nominally served on. The Portsmouth Navy base receiving ship was HMS Victory which was also the Flagship, so all Naval personnel living ashore in Portsmouth Barracks (Now HMS Nelson) were recorded as serving on HMS Victory. All Portsmouth sailors "dressed as seamen" (ie not officers) wore "HMS Victory" cap tallies (except during the wars when, for security reasons, it was just "HMS"). Those in Plymouth (Devonport Dockyard) nominally served on HMS Vivid. This tradition lasted late into the last century. A Stoker is a rating in the Marine Engineering branch which was responsible for looking after the old coal fired steam engines, hence stokers "stoke" the fires to keep them burning. For all RN family researchers, you may find the following sites worth a look: http://www.hms-victory.com/home.htm http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/UKRNMainBases.htm http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/RN/Establishments.html http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/ All the best Jane

Try looking into the history of the Flagship. For a while it layed in Portsmouth harbour before being taken into dry dock and the restoration work beginning. It could be that for a while it was used for training. Two members of my family have also spent time on this wonderful ship doing the tours, although their time on there would have been later. Look out for news on the Victory as October 2005 is the 200th anniversary of Trafalgar and Portsmouth is planning massive events for this. Hope this helps....

OOps lost web addresses Further to earlier, the following websites were supposed to be with it: About HMS Victory after Trafalgar on: http://www(.)hms-victory(.)com/ All about other probable non-ship RN ships: http://www(.)mariners-l(.)co(.)uk/UKRNMainBases(.)htm A generally useful Family History by Paul(?) Benyon, site with something about the Royal Navy: http://www(.)pbenyon(.)plus(.)com/ All the best Jane