James Rowe - Able Seaman

James Rowe joined the Royal Navy on the 3rd March 1915 on a Special Service Engagement. These were not something brought in during the war they were actually introduced 1903 and allowed Stokers the opportunity of 5 years service in the Royal Navy and then a further 7 years in the Royal Fleet Reserve. It was intended to encourage the recruitment of adults into the Stoker Branch as normal recruitment measures couldn't meet the demand as ships were bigger and required more and more stokers than previously. Following the success of the Special Service Engagements in the Stoker Branch of the navy it was extended to include seaman as well as stokers. Those on a Special Service Engagement or Short Service as it was commonly known had the prefix "SS" on their service numbers.

James was born on 30th August 1885 at Preston in Lancashire. His occupation at the time of enlistment was that of a "...Piecer"  The entry is illegible on his Service Record. He was described as being 5' 3' tall with brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion. He had a scar under his chin. From the 3rd March to 31st July 1915 James was based at two training establishments and was rated as an Ordinary Seaman.Following his 5 months training James was posted to his first ship HMS Spanker on 1st August.

HMS Spanker

HMS Spanker was a Sharpshooter Class Torpedo Boat which was launched on 22nd February 1889. In 1906, she took part in a Royal Navy investigation of deep-sea diving. Lieutenant Damant and Gunner Catto, from Spanker, descended into a Scottish loch in diving-suits to the depth of 210 feet (64 m), at that time a record for the British Isles. By 1909 HMS Spanker and her four sister ships were converted to minesweepers^. Their torpedo tubes were removed, but the ships retained their guns. The mine sweeping equipment constituted a kite winch and gallows fitted on the quarterdeck. She was assigned to the North Sea Fisheries under the orders of the Admiral Commanding the Coast Guard and Reserves. On 15 April 1913 Spanker was recommissioned at Portsmouth and served throughout World War I. From 1914, she served in the North Sea^. From 1917 and formed part of the 13th Fast Minesweeping Flotilla at Oban. James Rowe was to spend over 2 years on board Spanker first as an Ordinary Seaman and then as an Able Seaman or Able Bodied. His character was rated as "Very Good" whilst serving on the ship.

After leaving Spanker James spent 3 months serving on a Tender Ship for torpedo boats and then returned to shore and various training establishments until he was posted to HMS Kent. Kent was a Monmouth Class Armoured Cruiser which was launched in 1901. She had fought in the Battle of  the Falklands in 1914 and the Battle of  Mas a Tierra in 1915.

HMS Kent

James joined HMS Kent on 10th June 1918 and was to spend just over a year on board. The First World War finished in November 1918 however HMS Kent was sent to Vladivostok as part of the Siberian Intervention. This was an expedition to support the White Russian forces during the Russian Civil War. The United Kingdom and France decided to militarily intervene in the Russian Civil War against the Bolshevik government. They had three objectives that they hoped to achieve:

1. prevent the Allied war material stockpiles in Russia from falling into German or Bolshevik hands
2. help the Czechoslovak Legion and return it to the European front
3. resurrect the Eastern Front by installing a White Russian-backed government

In the Summer of 1919, the White regime in Siberia collapsed^, after the capture and execution of Admiral Kolchak by the Red Army. In June 1920, the Americans, British and the remaining allied coalition partners withdrew from Vladivostok. The evacuation of the Czechoslovak Legion was also carried out in the same year.

On the 28th July 1919 Kent called at the China Station and transferred several ratings, including James Rowe, onto HMS Bee. HMS Bee was an Insect Class gunboat launched on the 8th December 1915. These ships were also known as "Large China Gunboats"  Initially built for service on the River Danube, after the First World War the "Insects" were transported to China and served on the Yangtze River In 1920, Bee became the flagship of the Yangtze patrol.

HMS Bee

James served on HMS Bee patrolling the Yangtze River from 28th July to 7th September 1919. The log for HMS Bee records the activities of the boat along the huge Yangtze River. There are meetings with Japanese and American patrol vessels and of course also with other Royal Navy patrol boats such as HMS Gnat, HMS Scarab and HMS Kinsha. On the 9th August the Officer of the watch visited an American and Chinese gunboat visits which were reciprocated by the Americans on the 11th and 13th August. At 10am on the 22nd August the log records "one of the deck watch was lost overboard by accident" presumably the unfortunate sailor drowned in the Yangtze River. There are also recorded the transfer of ratings and stores between other River Gunboats and then on the 7th September in the evening 13 ratings were transferred from HMS Bee to Scarab to be to conveyed to Colombo. James Rowe was amongst this group.

HMS Colombo was a C Class Light Cruiser launched in December 1918. She spent 7 years serving in the Eastern Fleet between 1919 and 1926. She was to take James back to the United Kingdom. James arrived back in Britain on 12th November 1919 and spent the remainder of his initial 5 year period of service at shore based training establishments.

On the 8th April 1920 James Rowe left the Royal Navy and joined the Royal Fleet Reserve to commence 7 years with the reserves as part of his Special Service Engagement. Throughout his 5 years service with the Royal Navy his character had consistently been described as "Very Good". For his wartime service James was paid a War Gratuity and was also awarded the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal. James continued to serve in the Royal Fleet Reserve after his initial 7 years and therefore qualified for the RFR Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. sometime in the 1930's.

James Rowe died at Preston, his hometown, in 1975.

James'  British War Medal, Allied Victory Medal and Royal Fleet Reserve Long Service & Good Conduct Medal 

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Frederick Edward Maxted - Chief Petty Officer

Born in Ickham, Kent on the 10th December 1880 Frederick Edward Maxted took the decision to enlist in the Royal Navy at the tender age of 15 years on the 12th May 1895. Although only a youngster he gave his occupation as that of a Labourer. His height was recorded as being 5' 1" - this was to rise to 5' 7" later in his service. Frederick is described as having Light Brown/ Brown hair,  Blue/ Grey eyes and a Fresh/ Ruddy complexion. He is also noted as having a scar above his left eye. He commenced a long career in the Royal Navy on the 12th May 1895 when he was sent to HMS Impregnable a training ship for boys located near Devonport.

Frederick served at several training establishments and ships for the next 18 months including HMS Black Prince, the sister ship of the famous HMS Warrior, before moving to HMS Bonaventure on the 3rd March 1898 being rated as Boy 1st Class. Bonaventure was an Astrea Class Cruiser launched in 1892 there were eight ships in the class and they were designed for service off the coast of Africa and in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

  HMS Bonaventure

Frederick was to spend the next three on HMS Bonaventure and participated in the China War of 1900 also known as the Boxer Rebellion. The Boxers were a Chinese nationalist movement which objected to foreign intervention and occupation of China. They besieged the foreign embassies in  Peking and fought a multi- national force sent to relieve the capital. The British sent several warships, including Bonaventure, and landed soldiers and Naval Brigade composed of sailors and marines to assist in putting down the Boxers. Frederick did not land in China but was awarded the China War Medal for his service whilst serving in the Royal Navy off the coast of China.

Sailors from HMS Alacrity during the China War 1900

Whilst serving on HMS Bonaventure Frederick went from being a Boy Sailor to an Ordinary Seaman and then after two years being rated as an Able Seaman or Able Bodied. His time on Bonaventure came to an end when he arrived back in England on 30th August 1901. He then spent some time serving ashore at a couple of training establishments. Throughout his time as a Boy Sailor and his adult service so far Frederick's character was rated as "Very Good". By 1903 Frederick is rated as a Leading Seaman whilst serving aboard the battleship HMS Jupiter. After a short time at a shore based training depot he is serving aboard the cruiser HMS Leander as a Petty Officer 2nd Class and then nine months later he is rated as Petty Officer 1st Class. By 1905 Frederick has been in the Royal Navy for 10 years and has gone from being a "Labourer" with no experience of the sea whatsoever to a Petty Officer 1st Class. 

On the 10th February 1914 whilst serving on board HMS Dido an Eclipse Class Cruiser which incidentally had also served in the China War of 1900 Frederick Maxted was awarded his Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct medal. 

When the First World War broke out at the beginning of August 1914 Frederick was serving on board the Armoured Cruiser HMS Hogue. Hogue was a Cressy Class Cruiser and was considered obsolete by the time the war started.

 HMS Hogue

On the morning of 22 September, Hogue and her sisters, Aboukir and Cressy, were on patrol without any escorting destroyers as they had been forced to seek shelter from bad weather. The three ships were in line abreast, about 2,000 yards apart and were moving at a speed of 10 knots. They were not expecting any submarine activity, but they had lookouts posted and had one gun manned on each side to attack any submarines sighted. The weather had moderated earlier that morning and Tyrwhitt was en route to reinforce the cruisers with eight destroyers

U-9, commanded by Kapitan Leutnant Otto Weddigen, had been ordered to attack British transports at Ostend, but had been forced to dive and take shelter from the storm. On surfacing, she spotted the British ships and moved to attack. She fired one torpedo at 06:20 at Aboukir that struck her on the starboard side; the ship's captain thought he had struck a mine and ordered the other two ships to close to transfer his wounded men. Aboukir quickly began listing and capsized around 06:55. As Hogue approached her sinking sister, Captain Wilmott Nicholson realised that it had been a submarine attack and signalled Cressy to look for a periscope although his ship continued to close on Aboukir as her crew threw overboard anything that would float to aid the survivors in the water. Having stopped and lowered all her boats, Hogue was struck by two torpedoes around 06:55. The sudden weight loss of the two torpedoes caused U-9 to broach the surface and Hogue‍ '​s gunners opened fire without effect before the submarine could submerge again. The cruiser capsized about ten minutes after being torpedoed as all of her watertight doors had been open and sank at 07:15.

Cressy attempted to ram the submarine, but did not hit anything and resumed her rescue efforts until she too was torpedoed at 07:20. She too took on a heavy list and then capsized before sinking at 07:55. Several Dutch ships began rescuing survivors at 08:30 and were joined by British fishing trawlers before Tyrwhitt and his ships arrived at 10:45. The combined total from all three ships was 837 men rescued and 62 officers and 1,397 enlisted men lost. Of these, Hogue lost a total of 48 men.

Frederick Maxted was lucky enough to survive the sinking of HMS Hogue and her sister ships on the 22nd September and the very next day he was assigned to a new ship and his home for the next 2 1/2 years HMS Lowestoft. Whereas HMS Hogue had been obsolete when the war started HMS Lowestoft was one of the newest ships in the service having been launched in April 1913. She was a Town Class Cruiser and as part of the First Light Cruiser Squadron was to take part in the Battle of Dogger Bank on the 24th January 1915 when the German battleship SMS Blucher was sank. On the 24th April 1917 Frederick left HMS Lowestoft and spent the remainder of the war ashore at training establishments and depot ships. From the 1st July 1917 he was rated as Chief Petty Officer.

 HMS Lowestoft

Frederick was discharged  from the navy on 5th June 1920. Throughout his entire service of 24 years with the Royal Navy his character was rated as "Very Good" he received the China War Medal, the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal, Allied Victory Medal as well as the Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. Frederick was also paid a War Gratuity for his service. 

 Frederick died in the last quarter of 1961. He would have been 81 years old. 

Frederick's China War Medal and Royal Navy Long Service & Good Conduct Medal