The Service Record of William Stevenson Bremner

William’s service record shows that from 4 February until 26 November1896 he served at HMS Vivid and HMS Pembroke both shore establishments.

From 26 November 1896 to 19 July 1897 he served on the , HMS Endymion “on particular service”. During his service on board HMS Endymion he was present at the Naval Review at Spithead on 26 June 1897 to celebrate ’s Diamond Jubilee.

His next period of service was to be on HMS Empress of India from 20 July1897 until 23 December 1900. On 8 June 1897 the Empress of India was recommissioned for the Mediterranean Fleet. The ship arrived at to begin her Mediterranean service. In August and September 1898, she was part of the International Squadron blockading Crete during the Greco-Turkish uprising there.

He was back at HMS Pembroke on 24 December 1900 until 4 March 1901.

On 5 March 1901 until 5 August 1902 he served on HMS Severn. It was whilst serving on this ship that he progressed from Shipwright to Leading Shipwright, promoted on 13 June 1901. He would have been on board when Severn was used as a Coastguard Ship at Sheerness and grounded when coming into Harwich on 31 December 1901. It was recorded in the service record of Captain Frederick Fegen.

On 6 August until 31 August 1902 at HMS Pembroke, shore establishment, his rank was recorded as Carpenter’s Mate on 28 August 1902.

HMS Galatea was a Coast Guard ship at Hull and William’s service dates on her are from 1 September 1902 until 30 June 1903.

HMS Andromanche was his next ship from 1 July 1903 to 4 March 1904. In June 1902 she was reported to serve as a Naval Reserve drill ship at North Shields.

HMS Moorhen, a river gunboat, was William’s next posting from 5 March 1904 until 13 March 1906.

William was assigned to the Cruiser HMS Andromeda on 14 March 1906 until 13 June the same year. Then the shore establishment, HMS Pembroke from 14 June to 26 December 1906.

HMS Halycon was a Torpedo Gunboat to meet the threat posed from Torpedo Boats. They were not very effective and were replaced by scaled up Torpedo Boats, called Destroyers; quickly shortened to Destroyers. Carpenter’s Mate William Bremner’s service time on Halycon was recorded as from 27 December 1906 to 31 March 1909. It became a Royal Naval Reserve drill ship in 1908 and served in the Fishery Protection Service from 1909 to 1914.

HMS President was an accounting base as sailors have to be assigned somewhere between ships. All Royal Naval Personnel had to belong to a Commissioned warship to be subject to Naval Discipline, so any shore base had to have a ship as tender, this went on until the 1950s. 1 April to 2 May 1909 was William’s time there.

From 3 May to 12 September William is shown to be at HMS Pembroke for the fifth time in his Naval Service.

13 September 1909 saw the start of William’s second stint on HMS Andromache which was converted to a minelayer in 1910. Possibly William did some work during that conversion as he did not return to HMS Pembroke until 29 February 1912 leaving there on 4 March 1912 for work on the HMS Africa.

In 1912 HMS Africa took part in aircraft experiments at Sheerness. She was fitted for flying off aircraft, with a 100-foot (30-metre) downward-sloping runway which was installed on her foredeck. Ship borne aviation had begun in the aboard Africa and by 1917 would become an important part of British fleet operations. William Bremner’s skills as a Shipwright would be invaluable in the work these conversions needed. His service on Africa was from 5 March 1912 until 14 April 1914, during which time the runways were fitted. He was promoted twice whilst serving on Africa, 1 December 1912 to Shipwright 1st class and then to Chief Shipwright on 1 January 1913.

After another short spell at HMS Pembroke 15 April to 12 June 1914 William spent the start of his war service on HMS Tyne from 13 June 1914 to 8 January 1918. She was a Destroyer Depot Ship for the Eighth Destroyer Flotilla Stationed at Queensferry in the Firth of Forth. On the 13 June 1914 William was awarded “1st Class for Conduct”.

From 9 January 1918 until 20 January 1918 William was to serve on the HMS Royal Oak. It was during this time that the Royal Oak was fitted, with flying off platforms, from which fighters and reconnaissance aircraft could launch, mounted on the roofs of ‘B’ and ‘X’ turrets. In 1934 the platforms were removed from the turrets and a catapult installed on the roof of ‘X’ turret, along with a crane to recover a seaplane.

After another posting to HMS Pembroke from 21 January to 21 June 1918 William joined HMS Superb on 22 June 1918. On 16 October 1918 he was promoted Chief Shipwright, 2nd Class and on 1 January 1919, Chief Shipwright, 1st Class. His service on Superb ended on 26 February 1919.

The last entry in his service record is for his ninth posting to HMS Pembroke, 27 February 1919 to 26 March 1919. On 27 March 1919 he was further promoted to Temporary Acting Warrant Shipwright. A Warrant Shipwright is a skilled tradesman with long initial training or entry after a shore apprenticeship responsible for hull repair and maintenance in wooden and steel ships including operation and maintenance of anchors and cables, and also employed in Royal Dockyards. As 341074, Chief Shipwright William Bremner, was also awarded the Victory Medal and British War Medal.