William Henry Carter
Place of birth: Plymouth, Devon
Previous occupation: Fire Engine Man
Service: Royal Navy
Rank: Chief Stoker
Service Number: 305075
Joined Hood: 30th October 1923 (Chief Stoker)
Left Hood: 10th November 1924 (Chief Stoker)
Biographical Information: William Henry Carter, known as Bill, was born on 19 May 1881 in the naval dockyard city of Plymouth. Bill’s Royal Navy Service Certificate incorrectly shows his year of birth as 1882.
Prior to joining the Navy Bill was employed by the Great Western Railway Company. His record card shows that he joined that company on 22 November 1898 and that his reason for leaving on 31 August 1901 was “to better his position”. Bill joined the Royal Navy on 24 September 1903 at the naval barracks HMS Vivid in his home city and volunteered to serve initially for 12 years. He was already 22 years old – much older than most recruits.
Bill spent much of World War I stationed at the Naval Depot in Wei Hai Wei, a Chinese territory leased to the United Kingdom, and so did not return home for nearly three years.
Bill’s service certificate records that throughout his naval career his character was assessed as Very Good and his professional ability was consistently assessed as ‘Superior’. He was presented with his Long Service and Good Conduct medal on 2 December 1918. Not surprising, then, that he achieved advancement through the ranks and, in 1919, selection for promotion to Chief Stoker.
On 30 October 1923 Bill joined HMS Hood as a Chief Stoker and on 27 November 1923 HMS Hood led the Special Service Squadron on a ten month circumnavigation of the world on what was known as the “Empire Cruise”. Bill retained copies of a number of souvenir booklets of that trip, including ‘Crossing the Line’ on 15 December 1923, ‘Visit to Vancouver’ on 25 June 1924 and ‘Visit to San Francisco’ on 9 July 1924.
Bill served until 23 September 1925 when he was discharged to pension and transferred to the Royal Fleet Reserve in Devonport, from which he was discharged on 18 May 1932.
Back in civilian life, Bill worked for the Millbay Laundry Company in Plymouth. During the Second World War the Plymouth house in which Bill and his wife Emma lived was bombed and they went to live with his son Frank and his daughter-in-law Dora, first in Plymouth and subsequently in Bath.
Bill continued to live with Frank and Dora until he died in Bath in 1973 at the age of 91.
History of ships served in and ratings held:
Date From | Date to | Ship | Rating | Source |
24th September 1903 | 10th May 1904 | Vivid | Stoker 2nd Class | ADM188/497 |
11th May 1904 | 30th November 1904 | Theseus | Stoker 2nd Class | ADM188/497 |
1st December 1904 | 30th June 1906 | Cornwall | Stoker 2nd Class | ADM188/497 |
1st July 1906 | 31st December 1906 | Cornwall | Stoker 1st Class | ADM188/497 |
1st January 1907 | 26th March 1907 | Vivid II | Stoker 1st Class | ADM188/497 |
27th March 1907 | 27th April 1908 | Niobe | Stoker 1st Class | ADM188/497 |
28th April 1908 | 2nd May 1910 | Suffolk | Stoker 1st Class | ADM188/497 |
3rd May 1910 | 17th June 1910 | Vivid II | Stoker 1st Class | ADM188/497 |
18th June 1910 | 4th November 1910 | Leander | Stoker 1st Class | ADM188/497 |
5th November 1910 | 15th February 1911 | Indus | Stoker 1st Class | ADM188/497 |
16th February 1911 | 16th March 1911 | Indus | Leading Stoker | ADM188/497 |
17th March 1911 | 30th April 1912 | Leander | Leading Stoker | ADM188/497 |
1st May 1912 | 6th September 1912 | Leander | Stoker Petty Officer | ADM188/497 |
7th September 1912 | 17th September 1912 | Vivid II | Stoker Petty Officer | ADM188/497 |
18th September 1912 | 25th February 1913 | Irresistible | Stoker Petty Officer | ADM188/497 |
26th February 1913 | 7th March 1913 | Vivid II | Stoker Petty Officer | ADM188/497 |
8th March 1913 | 15th December 1913 | Indus | Stoker Petty Officer | ADM188/497 |
16th December 1913 | 16th January 1914 | Indus | Stoker Petty Officer | ADM188/497 |
17th January 1914 | 9th March 1914 | Doris | Stoker Petty Officer | ADM188/497 |
10th March 1914 | 16th January 1917 | Tamar (Wei Hai Wei) | Stoker Petty Officer | ADM188/497 |
17th January 1917 | 26th June 1917 | Vivid II | Stoker Petty Officer | ADM188/497 |
27th June 1917 | 20th March 1918 | Blake | Stoker Petty Officer | ADM188/497 |
21st March 1918 | 31st October 1918 | Hecla | Stoker Petty Officer | ADM188/497 |
1st November 1918 | 31st December 1918 | Vivid II | Stoker Petty Officer | ADM188/497 |
1st January 1919 | 4th March 1919 | Vivid II | Acting Chief Stoker | ADM188/497 |
5th March 1919 | 11th May 1919 | Vivid II | Chief Stoker | ADM188/497 |
12th May 1919 | 30th September 1919 | Cyclops | Chief Stoker | ADM188/497 |
1st October 1919 | 14th November 1919 | Vivid II | Chief Stoker | ADM188/497 |
15th November 1919 | 29th October 1923 | Warspite | Chief Stoker | ADM188/497 |
30th October 1923 | 10th November 1924 | Hood | Chief Stoker | ADM188/497 |
11th November 1924 | 24th April 1925 | Vivid II | Chief Stoker | ADM188/497 |
25th April 1925 | 22nd June 1925 | Impregnable (King George V) | Chief Stoker | ADM188/497 |
23rd June 1925 | 23rd September 1925 | Vivid II | Chief Stoker | ADM188/497 |
24th September 1925 | Joined RFR | Chief Stoker | ADM188/497 |
Additional Photographs
None at this time.
No known memorials
Sources
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
'Register of Deaths of Naval Ratings' (data extracted by Director of Naval Personnel (Disclosure Cell), Navy Command HQ, 2009)
Service record on Ancestry.co.uk
The Empire Cruise by VC Scott O'Connor