Frank Schunck was born on the 8th March 1899 at Chapel en le Frith in Derbyshire. In January 1912 Frank was sent to Britannia Royal Naval College more commonly known as Dartmouth to begin his initial Royal Navy officer training. He was to spend the next 2 and ½ years here learning the basics of his trade. In August 1914 Frank was appointed a Midshipman and left the college to commence his career in the navy with the following comments on his report written by a Captain Craig:
General
Conduct – Satisfactory
Ability –
Exceptional
Comments –
Very bright, zealous and intelligent young officer
The first ship Frank was to serve on was HMS Amphritite a Diadem Class protected cruiser launched in 1898 which was considered obsolete by 1914. Amphitrite
had the nickname 'am and tripe' amongst her crew based on a humorous
malapropism, and a reference to common foodstuffs such as might be served on
board. HMS Amphritite was part of the Ninth Cruiser Squadron, serving in the Atlantic. In June 1915
she was placed in reserve. Frank served
on Amphitrite until 22nd June 1915 when he moved, briefly, to a shore based establishment. He must have impressed his superiors as the following comments were entered onto his service record by Captain Gerrard:
General
Conduct – Satisfactory
Ability –
Exceptional
Comments –
Exceptional calm, zealous and promising. Takes things well and makes his own
mind up, physically strong and good handler of boats under sail or steam.
Frank spent a month ashore before being posted to his next ship HMS Barham. Frank was to serve on Barham for much of the First World
War from 22nd July 1915 until September 1917. Frank was serving on board
Barham during the battle of Jutland. HMS
Barham was a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship of the Royal Navy named after
Admiral Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, built at the John Brown shipyards
in Clydebank, Scotland, and launched on 31st December 1914.
HMS Barham 1917
At the
Battle of Jutland on 31 May to 1 June 1916, Barham was Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas's
flagship of the 5th Battle Squadron, attached to Admiral David Beatty's
battlecruiser fleet. Barham fired 337 15-inch shells and 25 6-inch shells
during the battle.The number of hits cannot be confirmed, but it is believed
that she and her sister ship Valiant made 23 or 24 hits between them, making
them two of the most accurate warships in the British fleet. She received six
hits during the battle, five from 12-inch shells and one from an 11-inch shell,
suffering casualties of 26 killed and 46 wounded.
Damage to HMS Barham inflicted at the Battle of Jutland
Following
Jutland, Barham was under repair until 5 July 1916. She was refitted at
Cromarty between February and March 1917, being fitted with a pair of
12-pounder anti-aircraft guns that year, and was again refitted in February
1918.
Frank was appointed Acting Sub- Lieutenant on 15th May 1917. He continued to serve
on HMS Barham until September 1917 Lieutenant
Commander Kennedy wrote the following comments onto
his service record:
General
Conduct – Satisfactory
Ability – Above
Average Ability
Comments – Completed
three weeks training in JBD(?) Keen interest in Engineering. Learns quickly. Highly
intelligent and independent - lacking
only in physique.
A short stint on the ageing Blake Class protected cruiser HMS Blenheim was followed by a series of shore based postings during which Frank was promoted to Sub Lieutenant and lasted until peace was declared in November 1918. Frank was to remain at HMS Alecto, a depot ship, until 15th January 1919 when he moved to the London based naval establishment President V where he studied a course regarding Naval Accounts. He then moved to HMS Conqueror for an engineering course which was to last until 20th January 1920.It was during his time on Conqueror that Frank was appointed Acting Lieutenant and then Lieutenant backdated to 15th August 1919.
An entry on Frank's service record written by a Captain Seagrove for this period states:
General Conduct
– Satisfactory
Ability –
Above Average Ability
Comments – A
very intelligent officer with lots of character. Not very athletic but he
should do well in the service if he sticks to it.
Frank remained ashore for the next 5 years until 30th January 1925 when he joined HMS Tiger which at this point had become a seagoing training ship.
HMS Tiger
HMS Tiger
was a battlecruiser built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland, and launched in
1913. Tiger was the most heavily armoured battlecruiser of the Royal Navy at
the start of the First World War, but was not yet ready for service when it
began. The ship was assigned to the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron (1st BCS) for
the duration of the war and participated in the Battle of Dogger Bank in early
1915, though she was still shaking down and did not perform well. Tiger next participated
in the Battle of Jutland in 1916, where she was only lightly damaged despite
suffering many hits by German shells. Apart from providing distant cover during
the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1917, she spent the rest of the war on
uneventful patrols in the North Sea. Tiger was recommissioned at the end of the war as a seagoing training ship.
Frank spends
much of the 1920’s and early 1930's attending courses at shore based naval establishments as well as Woolwich studying naval ordinance and in
particular torpedoes. On 15th August 1927 Frank is promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. By the mid 1930's he is serving on the
staff at Greenwich as a Torpedo Officer.
In 1929 Frank attends the wedding of Edward Russell Gibson, 3rd Baron Ashbourne and Reta Francis Manning (nee Hazeland) Lady Ashbourne and is photographed with the wedding party wearing his uniform and First World War medals. Two years later in 1931 Frank himself married Robina Richie at St. Georges, Hanover Square in London.
Frank Schunck - Back row third from the right
Britain and France declared war against Nazi Germany on 3rd September 1939 whilst Frank was still serving at Greenwich as a Torpedo Officer. On 3rd October Frank was granted Acting Rank of Commander and continued to serve in the navy.
On the 8th
March 1942 Frank Schunck is placed on the Retired List with the rank of
Commander (Retd)
Then on the 18th
August 1942 Frank was recorded as being “on loan” to the Royal Australian Navy with the
appointment of Torpedo Inspecting Officer. He and his wife, Robina, left the UK
on the 21st August 1942 from Liverpool on board the SS Delftdijk a
ship of the Holland America Line bound for Australia. The ship was a civilian
passenger liner but was obviously doing some sort of work for the war effort as
all the First Class passengers where specialist officers of the Royal Navy and
their wives. The SS
Delftdijk arrived in Australia on the 5th October 1942 along with Frank, Robina and several other Royal Navy specialists, engineers and liason officers.
SS Delftdijk the ship which took Frank and many Royal Navy officers to Australia in August 1942
Frank spends the remainder of the war in Australia. Once the war is over in August 1945 Frank and Robina return to the United Kingdom. On the 5th
June 1946 Frank is appointed to a role serving with the Royal Navy at Woolwich. Two years
later on 1st June 1948 Frank is appointed the Naval Member of The
Ordinance Branch at Woolwich. On the 16th June that year he is
appointed to serve in the Acting Rank of Captain at Woolwich.
Frank
retires on 8th March 1956 – There is a note on his service record
which states:
To be
re-employed as assistant to Chief Inspector of Naval Ordinance (CINO) Group C Naval Ordinance Inspection Department
in Bath. Vice Commander Busbridge – A separate communication will be made about
salary.
Frank Schunck was awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Allied Victory Medal for his service in the First World War. It is not known if Frank qualified for any medals following his service in the Second World War.
It is possible Frank Schunck died in 1974 but I do not have a definite date for him. Robina, Frank's wife, died in 1985 on Anglesey.
The 1914/15 Star awarded to Frank Schunck Midshipman
