# grandfathers sea records



## vmr

Hi Everybody From Oz, A Bit Hard To Get Family History Out Here, I Have Git Of The Internet My Late Mothers Fathers CR 10 Records Showing His Photo Name James William Robson Dis A No 936035, His ID NO 801425, He Sailed As Cook/Steward On The Vessel SAMPAN Built1898 as The CALGARTH, She Was If My Research Is Correct Owned By The DENABY Shipping Co, Was She A Collier? The Date He Was Serving On The Sampan Is Shown As 8/7/19,The Series No Is Shown As BT350, Is There A Photo Of The SAMPAN On File? I Would Like To Send To My Sister, I Also Foun Record Of Him Sailing As Cook On The Royal Mail Lines Ship AMAZON In 1917, I Understand She Was Sunk In 1918,Be Pleased If Any Info,Thanks VMR.


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## Hugh MacLean

Hello and welcome,
This looks like his WW1 medal file held at the Kew in piece *BT 351/1/121389*
This can be downloaded to your computer fo £3.36 GBP.

Ship 'AMAZON' official number, 120715, http://www.uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/236.html

Regards
Hugh


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## ian d.cameron

No photo so far, but a wee bit more info that might help..
Built by S.P.Austin & Son, Sunderland 1899 sold to R. & J.H. Rea, Liverpool renamed Calgarth.. 
1911 sold to Denaby & Cadeby renamed Sampan… 
1923 sold to W. Schuchmann, Germany renamed Sudsee.. 
1947 allocated to Netherlands Government renamed Breskens… 
1948 to (Stoomschip Hannah) F.W. Uittenbogaart, Rotterdam renamed Houtlaan.. 
17th Sept. 1948 capsized near Boisto Pilot Station.

http://www.uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/search.php


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## Roger Griffiths

There are other vessels listed on his CR 10
Do you wish to know details of these?

regards
Roger


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## vmr

Hi Roger Many Thanks For The Info Yes If You Have That Info Be Pleased To Copy Mums Do***ents Lost Over The Years so Trying To Get Some Info To Pass Onto My Sister Thanks AgainVmr


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## vmr

G,Day To Hugh Maclean And Ian D Cameron Many Thanks For Your Info,Thats What Makes This A Great Site People Helping Other People With Info And Nostalgia Etc Well Done Guys,VMR.


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## Roger Griffiths

Official number 128047 KWARRA
http://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/vie...&name=KWARRA&page=327&imagesource=CLIP�images

118786 IDAHO
http://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/viewimages.php?year=1920&name=IDAHO&page=279&imagesource=CLIP�images

137507 SMOLENSK
http://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/vie...ame=SMOLENSK&page=552&imagesource=CLIP�images

http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/1227.html

182075 Seems to be a mistake this O/N would not have been issued till the the late 1940's

Two of the vessels were owned by Ellerman Wilson Line of Hull which would fit nicely with his place of birth.

regards
Roger


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## vmr

Hi Roger, Many Thanks For The Extra Info, My Mum Used To Talk Of Ellerman Wilson Line Re Her Dad, He Came Ashore Sick In 1930 And Died One Month Later. My Mothers Mum Remarried Some Years Later To A British India Cadet,Whos CR10 Card Shows Frederick Herbert Rendell ID Number 219986, Born 28/10/1904, Ships Name CARPENTARIA A Date Of 3/2/1? Hard to Read The BI Web Site Gives Masters Lists By Years Except The War Years, I Remember Seeing His Captains Uniform Hanging Up In The Wardrobe, He Was Invilided Of Ships 1944, My Parents Brought Us Out To Australia In 1951, I Was Wondering Did He Stay With BI? During The War Years,Mum Said He Did Some Russia Convoys, There Was No Discharge Number On His CR10 Card Only A Photo,With The Above Info Is There Any Way To Confirm His BI Time? Many Thanks VMR.


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## ian d.cameron

Discharge A number http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C9485256


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## vmr

Hi Ian, Many Thanks For The Info, The Discharge Number Gives Me A Pointer To The National Archives, Thanks Again, VMR.


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## Roger Griffiths

If indeed he held the rank of Captain, then Lloyds Captains Register available from London Metropolitan Archive, should give details of his entire seagoing career.
You can visit or they do have a good, if somewhat expensive research service.

http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/thin...ry/Pages/Family-History-Research-Service.aspx

regards
Roger


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## vmr

Hi Roger, Many Thanks For Your Info, Will Be A Great Help With Other Info Given On This great Site, It Seems A Lot Of seafaring Info On Merchant Seamen Are Scattered Around A Bit A Shame, Thanks Again VMR.


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## antiquesam

Roger Griffiths said:


> If indeed he held the rank of Captain, then Lloyds Captains Register available from London Metropolitan Archive, should give details of his entire seagoing career.
> You can visit or they do have a good, if somewhat expensive research service.
> 
> http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/thin...ry/Pages/Family-History-Research-Service.aspx
> 
> regards
> Roger


I'm chasing my father's career and read your reference to the Lloyds Captains Register. Can I ask, does this just cover his career while holding his Masters Ticket, or his whole seagoing career? I ask because I have his CRS10 from 1941, and he got his Master in 1943.


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## Roger Griffiths

Hello, 
It would probably give details from when he gained his First Mates certificate.
There may be details of his service prior to 1941 in the Fourth Register of Merchant seamen. This should be available from "Find my Past"
If not you can back track via Crew Agreements. If you give us a name and date and place of birth we may be able to find records for you. Do you have his Seamans Pouch?

regards
Roger


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## antiquesam

Thanks for the offer of help. his name was Frederick Charles James Coomber, Born Apr 1912 in Devonport. His Discharge No. was R92158. I have a replacement Discharge Book from 1966. I have his CRS10 and a few crew lists from earlier when he entered the US. any help gratefully received.


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## Roger Griffiths

Hello,
I cannot find any primary online records for him. thats not surprising given that there is little on Masters after 1947.
If you have his Discharge book, it should tell you the name and/or official number of the first ship he sailed on in 1966.
With this information you can look at the Crew Agreement of the vessel and it should tell you his previous vessel. In this way you can backtrack until you have all of his outstanding ships.
Only one problem. Most of the crew agreements, some 90%, 1951-1976 are held in Newfoundland and are not indexed.
http://www.mun.ca/mha/holdings/searchcombinedcrews.php
The remaining 10% are stored at the National Archive and for the years ending in "5" the National Martime Museum.
All crew agreements are searchable via the ships official number.
regards
Roger


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## antiquesam

Thanks for that. I've been to Kew and got his CRS10 so have all his ships from 1940 on, but to go back will be both very time consuming and expensive. It may be worth tracking his wartime ships and seeing if I can find the convoys he was in.(Smoke)


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## Roger Griffiths

Some useful links
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/merchant-shipping-cards-ww2.htm

http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/

http://warsailors.com/convoys/index.html

http://www.maritimearchives.co.uk/

regards
Roger


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## antiquesam

Thank you Roger. I have started working through Convoyweb and have more or less found the entire war of both my father and grandfather, but have probably ruined my eyesight for life. lol


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