I’m new here .. any info would be gratefully received …

[Anna Lee]

I’m looking for any info on my mothers biological father!

We’ve found out he was in the Merchant Navy
His name was Richard Anthony Hartley born around 1921.

We would love to see any info on his naval career.

We have found out that he was discharged and have the following discharge reference:
18 Nov 1941
MN Discharge No. R 238633

Thank you, Anna

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Anna
That is his discharge book, it should list all the ships he sailed on, joining date and leaving date, If for some reason he didn't continue in the MN then there would be no further discharge's in there, if that is the case he might have been forced to join the armed forces.
Des

[Doc Vernon]

Hello Anna
Here is a Link to his Seamans Pouch, this will have limited info.
You will also need his CRS10 Cards for his full Sea time Service.
Will look it up in a while
Cheers

Name: Hartley, Richard Anthony . Service number: R238633 . Place of birth: Hull . Date... | The National Archives

He also served on the T124X Services . That is Merchant Navy Personell on Royal Naval Vessels ww2.

Name: Hartley, Richard Anthony . Service number: R238633 . Place of birth: Hull . Date... | The National Archives

tna_msea_bt349_11_70_117081.jpg

Not much on his CR1 , you will also need a CR2 Card that should have Official Numbers of his Ships he served on. Dont know where that is , should normally be with this ?
His CRS10 is the next step, as that will have all his Ship Numbers or Names as well.
Cheers

NB If there is a CRS10 for him, then it should be in this Series!

However as it looks as though he may not have served for very long??

Cheers and Good Luck
Hartley J to Harvey A W | The National Archives

[Anna Lee]

Oh thank you so much for this, really appreciate it.

How do I ask on this forum if anybody knew him please??

Anna x

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Thank you. Any idea how i find out?

[Ivan Cloherty]

How do I ask on this forum if anybody knew him please??

Maybe clutching at straws there Anna, as most of us now in our late 80's didn't go to sea until the early 1950's, (most at the age of 16) but once you have found out the names of his ships then we may have a fighting chance, but in the era he served there were over a 195,000 British Merchant Seamen and over 3000 merchant vessels, so the chances may be slim. But life is full of strange coincidences and where there is life there is hope

[j.sabourn]

Talking about chances Ivan ,think I’ve mentioned before , think if memory correct as said yonks ago on first Trip to sea finished up in Kobe and at 16 was maturing at the rate of knots. A crowd of us were in a bar off limits to US troops so we chose that one among the many hundreds of such in the area that the Japanese themselves called Chinatown. After various visitations of American shore patrols and had to show papers that was not an American serviceman we carried on in the usual boisterous manner as far as financially possible. A British shore patrol. Visited the bar consisting of think it was 3 men ,they were off a small warship on a courtesy visit from H.K. , On a million to one chance one of them was an old school mate of mine about 3 years older than me and lived along the road from my parents house. Needless to say they immediately locked the door on the inside and joined the party , with the excuse they were outnumbered by our allies the American shore troops stationed there. Of all the places to meet up never ceased to amaze me. Cheers JS
PS should have said that similar saying in the movie Casablanca by Humphrey Bogart is purely coincidental . JS

[Anna Lee]

Haha! Thank you, I had thought the same to be honest, anyone that may of known him would be rather old by now !
Thank you for your message. I have no idea how to look for his vessel that’s another problem!

I appreciate you replying to me though.

Thanks
Anna

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Wow, just wow ! This is fantastic.

[Ivan Cloherty]

Yes truth is stranger than fiction sometimes, chap I went to school with, who had same birthday and year of birth as myself, we left school and went our separate ways and both joined the MN, I next met him walking down the street in Wellington NZ in January 1956, he had joined Port Line and myself had joined PSNC, by chance we had been taken off our regular run to S.America and chartered to SSA and thus ended up in NZ. Never saw or heard from him again except by chance pre-covid days when my name appeared somewhere in print and he contacted me, we had a chat and he had ended up marrying my first girlfriend (we had been together for two years) who had left me for someone else as I was away too long! then I knew who, mind you he was better looking and taller!

Unfortunately we never got chance to meet in person again after 1956 as he died shortly after our contact, (his wife had preceded him not too long before) so it was well over 60 years between contacts. After gaining his Extra Masters he became a teacher at the school we had attended together.

Met another shipmate 40 years after sailing with him on my 22 month trip, so never say never.

[Doc Vernon]

Haha! Thank you, I had thought the same to be honest, anyone that may of known him would be rather old by now !
Thank you for your message. I have no idea how to look for his vessel that’s another problem!

I appreciate you replying to me though.

Thanks
Anna

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Wow, just wow ! This is fantastic.

Anna
Once you get a reply from the Archives, (That is i am presuming you will be applying for his CRS10 ?) then from there as i said it will have his Ship Official Numbers on the Card!
So may be worth a Quid or three if you are really wanting to go father!
Cheers

If he has a CRS10 (which he should have ) it would be located here, or as i had posted earlier on the other Link.

One Link Covers 1941 Jan 01 - 1972 Dec 31
The other Covers 1941 Jan 01 - 1946 Dec 31
Cheers

Harte A to Harvey D T | The National Archives

Hartley J to Harvey A W | The National Archives
Good Luck

[Anna Lee]

Thank you. I’m going to try …