WW2 Ships requisitioned for Royal Navy service
Quote from Bill Ogle on 27 September 2020, 11:04Many UK registered fishing vessels (trawlers and drifters) as well as many Dutch owned coasters were requisitioned and often listed as under RN command. I wonder if the rest of the crew retained their position? Particulary the Dutch crewmen who without their ship would have had no home.
I hope someone can clarify
Bill Ogle
Many UK registered fishing vessels (trawlers and drifters) as well as many Dutch owned coasters were requisitioned and often listed as under RN command. I wonder if the rest of the crew retained their position? Particulary the Dutch crewmen who without their ship would have had no home.
I hope someone can clarify
Bill Ogle
Quote from Ted Scaplehorn on 8 December 2020, 16:07The general procedure for requisitioned ships from WW1 onwards was that the whole crew would be taken into temporary naval service using a form of agreement with the generic title 'T124' by which the crew agreed to serve under naval discipline in a particular ship for a specified period. In WW2, T124 agreements were further refined to provide flexibility so that crews could be transferred between ships for the duration of hostilities, and there were attempts to standardize pay and conditions, though this proved quite difficult. There were several variants of T124. T124X was the most commonly used and applied to merchant seamen required to serve onboard Armed Merchant Cruisers, Escort Carriers and some ships converted for specialised duties. T124T applied to crews of the Rescue Tug Service, though not Convoy Rescue Ships which continued to use normal mercantile agreements.
Fishing vessels were taken up for naval service as part of the Auxiliary Patrol (WW1) which by WW2 had transformed into the RN Patrol Service. The crews were engaged under T124-type agreements, though I'm unsure if there was a specific variant for this purpose. Officers were given unique ranks/ratings, eg Skipper RNR (roughly equivalent to a warrant officer); Chief Skipper RNR (sub-lieutenant); Skipper Lieutenant RNR and Skipper Lieutenant Commander RNR. I'm not sure about ratings' titles. T124 engagement wasn't compulsory but if the seamen failed to get another MN job they would become liable for conscription.
Elements of the RNLN were effectively subsumed into the RN (eg there were wholly Dutch-manned squadrons within the Fleet Air Arm) but I haven't come across anything similar relating to the Patrol service.
The general procedure for requisitioned ships from WW1 onwards was that the whole crew would be taken into temporary naval service using a form of agreement with the generic title 'T124' by which the crew agreed to serve under naval discipline in a particular ship for a specified period. In WW2, T124 agreements were further refined to provide flexibility so that crews could be transferred between ships for the duration of hostilities, and there were attempts to standardize pay and conditions, though this proved quite difficult. There were several variants of T124. T124X was the most commonly used and applied to merchant seamen required to serve onboard Armed Merchant Cruisers, Escort Carriers and some ships converted for specialised duties. T124T applied to crews of the Rescue Tug Service, though not Convoy Rescue Ships which continued to use normal mercantile agreements.
Fishing vessels were taken up for naval service as part of the Auxiliary Patrol (WW1) which by WW2 had transformed into the RN Patrol Service. The crews were engaged under T124-type agreements, though I'm unsure if there was a specific variant for this purpose. Officers were given unique ranks/ratings, eg Skipper RNR (roughly equivalent to a warrant officer); Chief Skipper RNR (sub-lieutenant); Skipper Lieutenant RNR and Skipper Lieutenant Commander RNR. I'm not sure about ratings' titles. T124 engagement wasn't compulsory but if the seamen failed to get another MN job they would become liable for conscription.
Elements of the RNLN were effectively subsumed into the RN (eg there were wholly Dutch-manned squadrons within the Fleet Air Arm) but I haven't come across anything similar relating to the Patrol service.
