Can anyone tell me how to find my Dads ship

[Derek Brownfield]

Doc
I am so indebted to you and all the people on this site for all the time you have spent and all the information you have given me in just one day I can’t believe it.

Does this mean my Dad served on two ships the Ranchi and Avila?

I have to say the dates I gave were a shot in the dark. I knew he was on a ship before he married mum in 1939 so I sort of just figured it had to be between certain dates. I didn’t know what age he was when he first went to sea and as he passed away when I was only Ten I never had a chance to talk to him about it. I know I just remember him taking me down to the docks at woolwich and showing me the boats coming into the dock. I have tried for years and all the things you people have given me are overwhelming

Del….

[Doc Vernon]

Hello Derek
Thank you for your thanks, its nice to get this sort of feedback.

As for the Ships your Dad was on, as far as i can tell (this is not 100%) but from the Documents , it only shows the Two Ships, so they are for sure two he was on. As he joined his first Ship very early on , looks like 1929 or earlier ( 1928) because of shore training first he would have been then about 16 or so.??

The CR1 and CR2 only show him as a Bellboy, but the Photo he is definately more than that! LOL

So worked his way up to most probably Steward and Higher!? This will only tell in Records or Crew Lists!

To however be certain of his full Service one would need the Complete Documentation which may or may not contain more info , like Ships , Ranks etc!

This is as said should be available from the Southampton Archives, and as i said a lot earlier i would Email them with all the info you now have at hand, and ask the Question as to if they could tell you more ???

I have in the past approached them for similar , on behalf of others here and have had good responses, without a cost, as it was just info about the Person.

Now again as i have indicated, it may be an idea to also look at getting the Crew Lists from Canada, which again i have used both for my own Records and for many others as well.

That is a bit of a cost though, but does contain quite a lot of info like some Logs etc! Any given Year that they find with his name on it with the Ships given, will be many pages, as it will contain the Entire Crew List for each Ship and each Years Voyage!
But like mine at least it gives the Salary, Rank at the time, place he was living before joining the Ship and so much more! But as said its up to you and cost a wee bit!

Anything else i or others can assist with just holler! We i know will try if possible

Best of luck Derek.

[Graham Shaw]

Just augmenting Info on s.s.RANCHIRANCHI O.N.148130.-As Originally Built with 2 Funnels.jpg
Courtesy of Kevin Blair,Tynebuilt Ships Database
INFOLINK

[Louis the fly]

There is an interesting coincidence in the research here. The Avila Star was torpedoed by U-201 July 07 1942. Five days later July 12 1942 U-201 torpedoed the ship my dad was serving on, Sithonia bound for Montevideo.

[Ivan Cloherty]

Not commenting upon the research and help which as always is magnificent and to be applauded.

Just looking at the photo of the grand-old-lady elegant in her design, but you can bet your bottom dollar that crew conditions and pay were horrendous.

[Derek Brownfield]

Hi Doc
And all those helping out thanks for all the assistance. I am going to write my email to Southampton as soon as I finish work today and will of course share any findings with you all, in case I in turn may be of a little help to someone else as you have all been. I wish I had found this site long ago. It is amazing and so interesting.
Cheers for wishing me luck, fingers crossed

Feel free to call me Del, mum and dad did and so do all my friends

Cheers

[Graham Shaw]

There is an interesting coincidence in the research here. The Avila Star was torpedoed by U-201 July 07 1942. Five days later July 12 1942 U-201 torpedoed the ship my dad was serving on, Sithonia bound for Montevideo.

Yes Louis,July 42 was another sad month for British shipping personnel ,and a lucrative one,tonnage wise for the 29 year old Korvettenkapitan Adalbert 'Adi' Schnee, 1913-1982,Knights Cross; and his crew in U-201 from Brest patrol.

Avila Star on 6/7 ,59 lost,137 survivors
Then from convoy OS33 on 12/7 : RM Line's Siris ,3 lost,52 survived
and Donaldson Bros Cortona,32 lost,23 survivors.
and on 13/7 RM Line's Sithonia,7 lost,46 survived

Then on 15/7 tanker British Yeoman,43 lost,10 survivors
25/7 the RN Trawler HMS Laertes (T),19 lost,0 survivors

[Doc Vernon]

Hi Derek
Just looking at the dates on the Docs i notice that your Dad was about 13 Months on the Avila Star , then went to the Ranchi , so not sure how long he was on that one.
Now the reason i post again is that, as he started at an early age as we know, in the Photo you give he is a lot older, would you know what age he would be then? All this again i ask as he joined the Ranchi in July of 1930 i am wondering how long he was in the Service, as there then must be quite a few more Ship Numbers that are not shown on the CR2 ??
This is baffling me, and the only solution is that he may also have a CR10 or CRS10 Document which then would be at the National Archives in Kew!?? Again all conjecture on my side! LOL
Anyway hope that you will get some info back from Southampton, so that this can be fully solved!
Cheers

If there is a CRS10 At Kew or possibly a CR10 at Southampton that would have all his Records in them!

If a CRS10 here is the Link it would be in this Series. ??

Browne R to Brownlie W | The National Archives

Reference:	BT 382/213
Description:	Browne R to Brownlie W
Date:	1941 Jan 01 - 1946 Dec 31
Held by:	The National Archives, Kew
Former reference in its original department:	200
Legal status:	Public Record(s)
Closure status:	Open Document, Open Description

Cheers

As in Deep Sea's Post could all that too could be most helpful .

[Derek Brownfield]

Hi Doc
This is just great I have another photo here if him and on the back there is written “darling brother Bill as a BellBoy training to be a Steward aged 17”

I will also contact Kew

Thanks Doc

Del…958263E8-5E53-48D7-8310-2F06A1484179.jpg

Just added for Clarity Del! Cheers

Bell Boy.JPG

[Doc Vernon]

Derek
Last one for now , but i think that if he did serve for some time you may also want to look at the CRS10 for later Years at the Archives, as these cover from 1941 to 1972 so there could well be an overlap on the earlier CRS10.
Here again is another Link for that

Cheers

Brownfield J J to Bruce R M | The National Archives

Reference:	BT 382/2137
Description:	Brownfield J J to Bruce R M
Date:	1941 Jan 01 - 1972 Dec 31
Held by:	The National Archives, Kew
Former reference in its original department:	115
Legal status:	Public Record(s)
Closure status:	Open Document, Open Description