Thomas Pike was born in Kingsteignton, Devon on the 15th Dec, 1873, and lived there with his widowed mother until he first went to sea in 1891. Thomas entered the Navy in 1889 at the age of 16 and in 1891 he received promotion to Ordinary Seaman. That same year he saw his first active…

Victor Yule was born on 11 June 1897, the youngest son and fourth child of George and Bathea Yule of Dundee. The sea probably ran in his blood as he was the son and grandson of two Dundee Sea Captains. The family story has it that when asked what service he was going to join…

Luke Smith was the fourth oldest born to Martha and Joseph on August 7, 1886. He enlisted with the Royal Naval Reserve on March 18, 1906 and completed his training at HMS Calypso. At that time he was given the Newfoundland #233 which was replaced when he re-enlisted in 1914 and assigned the number 947X….

Fireman John Coyle was born in Dublin on 22nd January 1879, son of John and Mary and second eldest of 6 children. As a boy, he and his younger brother Thomas worked as deck hands, but also took work when they could with Cartwrights and Coopers around the docks. When John was old enough he…

George Edwin Coaffee was born 11th March 1878 in Walcot, Somerset. He was the youngest of six children born to George and Lucy Coaffee. His first period of service in the Royal Navy began on 6th February 1895 on the HMS Northampton, when he was 16 years old. At that time the HMS Northampton was…

Seaman Martin Moloney of the Royal Naval Reserve was born in 1877 in County Clare, Ireland, the son of Martin and Ellen Moloney. When he married Bridget Shanahan on 22nd September 1896 in Kilrush, he was working as a fisherman. They had four children, all boys.  Their eldest son Michael was killed in action in…

Albert Henry Andrews was one of only two children born to George and Jane Andrews. He was born in Clapham in March 1876 but his service record has his date of birth as 28th December 1875. We know from his record that he took part in his first period of naval service on 20th May…

One of four children born to George  and Louisa Gill (née Coney), Petty Officer George Gill was born in Twyford, Hampshire, England in 1878. His naval career began on the HMS Northampton, a boys’ training ship, in 1897.  He went on to serve on no less than 17 battleships before joining the crew of the…

Frederick John Abbot, seaman gunner, second son of Henry Octavius and Nelly Abbott, was born 1888 in West Derby, Lancashire.  His parents, both Londoners, moved to Liverpool after the birth of their first son Roderick.  Frederick had been at sea on merchant ships since the age of 15, serving at first as a deck boy…

Harry Dyer,  the third son of William and Sarah Ann, was born in Brixham, Devon in 1884 and lived most of his life in there. His father was a fisherman as were his two older brothers, so when Harry left school before he reached the age of 15 he also joined the fishing fleet, sailing…