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Thread: The 'Skipper' Frank A Worsley DSO, OBE, RD

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    Default The 'Skipper' Frank A Worsley DSO, OBE, RD

    Hi team
    A remarkable New Zealander - mariner, polar explorer, naval officer and writer was Frank Arthur Worsley. Some of his achievements are detailed below. A biography entitled 'Worsley, Frank Arthur' is an excellent read as is one of his own titles 'Endurance'.
    Thanks to Ngapona Assn for some of this information.
    Regards
    Peter Hogg
    Royal NZ Naval Assn
    South Canterbury Branch
    New Zealand


    THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
    26 September 1917 HMS PC61 rams and sinks SM UC-33 (a German minelaying submarine) in the Southwest Approaches (southwest of Great Britain). PC61’s captain, Lieutenant Commander Frank Worsley, earned the DSO for his actions.

    Frank Arthur Worsley was born at Akaroa, New Zealand on 22 February 1872, the son of Vincent Georgiana Priscilla Fulton and her husband, Henry Theophilus Worsley, a labourer. After attending Fendalton School he joined the New Zealand Shipping Company in 1887, serving on sailing ships between New Zealand and England for about a decade, and qualifying for his Foreign Trade Master’s Certificate in 1900.

    In 1901 Worsley achieved his first command - the Government schooner, the Countess of Ranfurly, which operated between New Zealand and the islands of the Pacific. Worsley also saw service in other Government ships such as the Hinemoa and the Tutanekai.

    Worsley joined the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) in 1902, being granted the rank of Sub Lieutenant, and was able to undergo some training for short periods in ships of the Australasian Squadron. When the New Zealand Government acquired HMS Sparrow for use as a training ship, Worsley was the first officer on the delivery voyage from Sydney and was in charge for the next year while the ship was at anchor in Wellington.



    HMS SPARROW
    1905 March 21 Under the jurisdiction of the New Zealand Defence Department and the command of Captain Post, Sparrow arrived at Wellington. The cost of bringing her across the Tasman had been £722, four shillings and fourpence. She lay at anchor for another year while her use as a training ship was approved and formalised by Parliament.
    1905 March Her first New Zealand skipper until he resigned a year later, was Frank Worsley (Right) who later gained fame as the commander of the Enduranceon Shackleton's 1913-16 polar expedition. In April 1916, after the Endurance had become ice-bound, Worsley navigated the open boat James Caird in the epic 800 mile trip from Elephant Island to South Georgia.
    He had served as chief officer for Sparrow's delivery voyage from Sydney under his old skipper, Captain Post of the Government Steamer Tutanekai. Worsley stayed with her during her year at anchor in Wellington Harbour on a salary of ten shillings per day and technically he was in command of a Royal Naval vessel while only a sub-lieutenant in the naval reserve.
    1906 July 10 Purchased by the New Zealand Government from the Royal Navy for £800.

    Following this, Worsley took leave from the New Zealand Government and went to Britain where he held seagoing positions with the Clan Line and the Allen Line before joining Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Trans-Antarctic Expedition, as Master of the Endurance.

    “The Skipper”, Frank A. Worsley, who miraculously navigated the Endurance crew to safety during Shackleton’s trans-Antarctic expedition. Photo by Frank Hurley/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty
    FAW.jpg

    In October 1915, Endurance was trapped in pack ice in the Weddell Sea and had to be abandoned. The expedition set out in three lifeboats and eventually reached uninhabited Elephant Island. From there, a small group (which included Worsley) under the command of Shackleton set out in an open 22 foot boat, the James Caird, to reach South Georgia and arrange the rescue of the remainder of the expedition. Worsley’s navigation under the most difficult circumstances was the single overriding factor in the success of this 800-nautical-mile voyage and the subsequent rescue of the expedition (it is significant that the James Caird had been built to Worsley’s specifications). Worsley was later made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), civil division, for his navigation skills.

    Back in England, Worsley was appointed to command PC61. PC61 was from a class of vessels built to resemble small merchant ships and which operated as decoy ships to attract and sink submarines. Worsley’s First Lieutenant was Joseph Stenhouse, who had been First Officer in the Aurora, the support ship for the Shackleton expedition.

    On 26 September 1917, PC61 was at sea when a nearby merchant ship was torpedoed. Worsley was able to manoeuvre his ship to where he expected the submarine to be and, when it was sighted, rammed and sank UC-33. For this action Worsley was made a member of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).
    Brian Probetts (site admin)
    R760142

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    Default Re: The 'Skipper' Frank A Worsley DSO, OBE, RD

    I was in Akoroa approx 8 years ago on holiday, and staying next door to the small theatre there, i saw on the notice board a talk being given on the exploits of that expedition, and managed to get tickets to the talk. An incredible story, and the photographic plates came back with them after all they had suffered, to look after the photograhs was incredible. KT

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    Default Re: The 'Skipper' Frank A Worsley DSO, OBE, RD

    HI Brian.
    A few memories brought back with that article.My brother who jumped ship in NZ had a small batch and a sailing boat in Akaroa, he told me all about Frank Worsley when I visited him in the 60s. my brother also worked as a maintenance man in Fendelton school for many years.
    Cheers Des

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    Default Re: The 'Skipper' Frank A Worsley DSO, OBE, RD

    I see on the news this morning that Shackletons medals are to be sold. An incredible man who never lost one of his crew, including the guy who stowed away, what a story he lived to tell KT

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