'Voices from the Lower Deck': British
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‘We Sail the Ocean Blue’: British sailors, imperialism, identity, pride and patriotism c.1890 to 1939 Simon Mark Smith The thesis is submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Portsmouth, September 2017. Whilst registered as a candidate for the above degree, I have not been registered for any other research award. The results and conclusions embodied in this thesis are the work of the named candidate and have not been submitted for any other academic award. Abstract In terms of studies of British imperialism, the Royal Navy, and more particularly its sailors during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, has remained a neglected topic. Historical studies of the navy continue to be dominated by naval historians, who are primarily concerned with the technical and strategic aspects of the Royal Navy. In the past 10 years there has been a gradual intrusion upon this and a number of socio-cultural and gender historians have turned their attention in this direction. Therefore, this thesis continues this development and examines the relationship that the lower deck had with imperialism by examining the testimony of sailors through unpublished diaries held in museum collections. It charts the period chronologically and thematically through events of naval pageantry and war, which reveals the complexities of the sailor’s character particularly around the concepts of imperialism, identity, pride and patriotism. By examining sailors as they experienced imperialism through both peace and war, it reveals that the Empire was a vital aspect of their lives and also their own identity. As a significant part of the imperial construct within British culture, sailors consequently viewed their experiences through an imperialistic prism. However, it reveals that sailors were not simply passive recipients of imperial inculcation and demonstrated a level of independence to this. Thus it is argued that their relationship with imperialism was part of a wider independent sailor culture, which competed with individual beliefs, differing loyalties, and could mean different things at different times. i Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................... i List of Figures ............................................................................................................iii List of Appendices ..................................................................................................... iv List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... vi Chapter One – Sailors: voices from the lower deck ......................................................... 1 Chapter Two – “I name this ship…”: pageantry in the Royal Navy and the forgotten participants before the First World War ....................................................................... 26 Chapter Three – Bluejackets in Britain’s late imperial wars: imperially-minded soldiers of Empire? .................................................................................................................. 54 Chapter Four – Killing, dying and duty: British sailors in the First World War .................... 85 Chapter Five – Showing the Flag: sailors and the experience of naval propaganda in the 1920s ................................................................................................................... 117 Chapter Six – Firing up the boilers: sailors and imperialism in the 1930s ......................... 146 Chapter Seven - Conclusion: Sailors - the sure shield of empire .................................... 176 Bibliography ........................................................................................................... 183 Appendices ............................................................................................................ 198 ii List of Figures Figure 1 Carr and Co. Biscuits, 1899 (The National Archives) Figure 2 'A Sad Hobby', Ashore and Afloat, XXV, 2, 1901 Figure 3 'The Blockader', Sea Pie, June 1917 (National Library of Scotland) iii List of Appendices Appendix 1.1 John Player Ltd. Player’s Navy Cut (John Player Ltd.) Appendix 1.2 RNM 1994.253.3: Diary of Douglas Poole Appendix 1.3 Diary of Walter Dennis Appendix 1.4 RNM 2013/100/2: Diary of William Brooman Appendix 1.5 The Gridiron Movement (The Times, 18 August 1902) Appendix 1.6 ‘With the Royal Navy for half an hour. Our Gallant Tars’, RNM 2013/100/1: Diary of William Brooman iv List of Abbreviations ADM Admiralty AS Able Seaman CPO Chief Petty Officer CSA Continuous Service Act HOs “Hostilities Only” rating IWM Imperial War Museum LSA Leading Sick-berth Attendant NA National Archives NDA Naval Discipline Act NLS National Library of Scotland NMM National Maritime Museum NMRN National Museum of the Royal Navy OS Ordinary Seaman PO Petty Officer RFR Royal Fleet Reserve RN Royal Navy RNR Royal Naval Reserve RNVR Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve v Acknowledgements My thanks go firstly to my supervisors, Professor Brad Beaven and Dr Rob James, to whom I am deeply indebted for their help and support in making this thesis become a reality. Likewise to the Port Towns and Urban Cultures project team and fellow PhD candidates at Portsmouth who prevented this from being a lonely experience and provided a wonderful level of support and encouragement. Special thanks also go to the staff at the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth for all their assistance over the years, in particular Heather Johnstone who dealt with all my requests kindly and quickly. To my previous employers, Royds Withy King who gave me a job and allowed me a level of flexibility I doubt I shall ever find again. Lastly to my parents, my sister and all my friends who have supported me in their own way over the years. Without you I would not have reached the finish line. vi Chapter One Sailors and the Empire: Voices from the Lower Deck Introduction On attending the funeral service of a young sailor killed at the Dardanelles in 1915, Seaman William Abbott heard his captain say: ‘there is nothing better than to fight and die for your country’.1 Later, confiding in his diary, Abbott proudly wrote: ‘I agree with him’.2 Such displays of patriotism are not uncommon for this period. In particular, historians such as Niall Ferguson, Adrian Gregory, Gerard DeGroot and David Silbey have considered the influencing effect of patriotism on men volunteering for the army during the First World War.3 However, Abbott did not volunteer to join the navy out of patriotism generated by the declaration of war; for him, as with the majority of sailors who served during the conflict, the navy was his career.4 Studies of patriotism amongst British sailors remains a relatively ignored area of research for two key reasons: firstly, because sailors were not volunteers they have been excluded from studies which have focused specifically on the relationship between volunteering, imperialism and society. Secondly, and perhaps more seriously, the maritime sphere has received significantly less consideration from socio-cultural historians. This point has been readily acknowledged by Brian Lavery who has said ‘Traditional naval history has tended to ignore the “common seaman”’.5 Instead, sailors and the Royal Navy as a topic remains the preserve of naval historians like Nicholas Rodger who have been critical of more recent approaches.6 This lack of engagement is striking especially considering the continued interest in the relationship between imperialism and British popular culture. As a topic, imperialism and society continues to be a contested area of historical research with strong arguments voiced on both sides. On the one hand, there are those such as John M. Mackenzie who have argued that British culture was strongly influenced by imperial sentiment and his pioneering research has led to the successful Studies in Imperialism series.7 In particular, Mackenzie argued that imperialism created ‘for the British a world view which was central to their perceptions of 1 RNM 2004/103/5: Diary of William Thomas Abbott 2 RNM 2004/103/5: Diary of William Thomas Abbott 3 Niall Ferguson, The Pity of War, (London: Penguin, 1999 [first edition 1998]); Adrian Gregory, The Last Great War: British society and the First World War, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008); Gerard DeGroot, Blighty: British society in the era of the great war, (London: Longman, 1996); David Silbey, The British working class and enthusiasm for war, (London: Frank Cass, 2005) 4 Although volunteers in the form of “Hostilities Only” ratings did serve with the Royal Navy during the Great War, and this point will be considered in more detail below. 5 This point has been well made and is a recurring comment in recent historiography. See Brian Lavery, Able Seamen: The Lower Deck of the Royal Navy, 1850-1939, (London: Conway, 2011); p. 9; Mary A. Conley, From Jack Tar to Union Jack: Representing naval manhood in the British Empire, 1870-1918, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2009); p. 11 6 Nicholas Rodger, The Command of the Ocean: a naval history of Britain, 1649-1815, (London: Penguin, 2006); Don Leggett, ‘Navy, nation and identity in the long nineteenth century’, Journal for Maritime Research, 13, 2, 2011; pp. 151- 163, p. 152 7