Unknown sailor, HMS Excellent 1899-1912

[DJP]

One was my wife's ancestors served in the Royal Navy.
He spent three periods at HMS Excellent
21 Sep 1899 23 Jun 1900 (266 days) promoted Ldg Seaman on arrival
18 Mar 1904 19 Oct 1908 PO 1
5 Nov 1910 10 Aug 1913promoted act CPO 9 Oct 1912

How long was a training period there? Would you agree that as he was there for such long periods it would suggest that he was an instructor?

David

[Mark A. Reid]

Hi David;

Good question. I was rather expecting some naval expert to come along with the definitive answer but in the interim I had a look at the service records of several fellows whose medals I have and came up with the following periods spent at H.M.S. EXCELLENT during the late Victorian/Edwardian period;

CPO A.H. Colby
1879-1882 - 27 months ( as an AB )
1885-1886 - 12 months ( as a Ldg. Smn. )
1890 -1894 - 48 months ( as a Po 1st Cl. )
1896 - 1899 - 43 months ( as CPO Gunnery Instructor )
1900 - 1902 - 25 months ( as a CPO )

Ldg. Smn. W.F. Tynan
1886-1887 - 11 months ( as an AB )
1887 - 1 month ( as an AB )
1891 -1892 - 8 months ( as Ldg. Smn. and Captain of a Gun )

PO H.R. Bridle
1907-1908 - 12 months ( as an AB )
1911-1912 - 10 months ( as an AB )

As you can see, there doesn't appear to be any clear pattern here, although each man seems to have had one 12 month course on Whale island. I would speculate that, considering your man's rank, the last two periods were probably spent there as an instructor, or at least on the staff of the school. Have you ever checked to see if he might have been involved with any coronations or royal funerals?

Good luck,
Mark