On February 10, 1906, the Royal Navy launched its latest warship out of the H.M. Dockyard, Portsmouth. The vessel, the first capital ship to be powered by steam turbines, represented such a momentous development in naval technology that its commissioning in December of that year spawned an entire generation of battleships, the classification for which were named after her.

The ship was HMS Dreadnought.

Such was the significance of this watershed moment in warship design that those vessels that came before her were rendered obsolete virtually overnight, and came to be known collectively as ‘pre-Dreadnoughts.’ ‘Jane’s Fighting Ships,’ the leading reference book on warships published annually since 1898, noted that HMS Dreadnought was the equivalent of two or three normal battleships.

Dreadnought’s entry into service sent tremors through those nations seeking to challenge Britain’s superiority of the seas. So much so that it triggered a naval arms race, as aggressive as the general competition for military dominance that had commenced in the final decade of the nineteenth century.

The shockwave launch of Britain’s premier warship led to a series of political bills being passed in Germany in its bid to pursue naval dominance over Britain. The fourth bill, together with the general unease at Germany’s military expansion, prompted a drive here in Britain to increase the government’s proposed construction of Dreadnought-class battleships, then set at six vessels. In the ensuing campaign one Conservative MP coined what would become a popular public slogan:

‘We want eight and we won’t wait.’

Exploring those things, however, is not the purpose of this post. Instead, I wish to highlight a personal interest which I have in the battleship:

My maternal grandfather, Edward Victor Baker, served aboard HMS Dreadnought from September, 1907 to March, 1909, then again from September, 1913 to August 1918 – the duration of the First World War.

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On October 12, 1896, Edward, then a young Gamekeeper at Cheriton, Hampshire, continued a family tradition of seamanship when he joined the Royal Navy. He was fifteen years old.

Noted in his service record as a ‘Boy, 2^nd Class,’ he was described on entry to the ‘senior service’ as being five feet one and a quarter inches tall, having brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.

On completing his period of shore-based training at HMS St. Vincent, he signed on to serve for a period of twelve years. He was to serve far longer, however, and was finally discharged in February, 1921, by which time he held the rank of Chief Petty Officer and had attained an exemplary service record.

During his period of service, ‘Vic’ Baker was assigned to several vessels, aside from HMS Dreadnought.

In the years that followed, he saw service aboard HMS Queen, where he attained the rank of Leading Seaman, before being promoted again in 1905, when he became a Petty Officer 2^nd Class. He then joined the crew of the Royal Navy’s prestige Capital Ship HMS Dreadnought in September, 1907.

During the period 1909-10 he also served aboard the navy’s battleship HMS Revenge (below left) and light cruiser HMS Swiftsure (below right).

In May, 1912, after being re-assigned to shore base HMS Excellent, he achieved promotion to Petty Officer 1^st Class, and his remaining service was spent serving at Excellent and aboard Dreadnought. During this period he attained his final promotion to Chief Petty Officer in 1919.

Prior to his eventual discharge in 1921, Grandad Baker also achieved various merits and good conduct awards. One purpose of this post is to highlight what was, perhaps, his most notable achievement.

‘Instituted to promote excellent gunnery performances in the annual fleet competitions, it was first awarded in 1903 but discontinued in 1914.’

Whilst a total of 974 medals were awarded, the significance of my grandfather’s medal is that it includes two clasps, each clasp bearing the name of the ship to which the serviceman was assigned at the time, together with the year of the award. Each clasp represents a separate award. During the eleven years in which the Naval Good Shooting Medal was awarded, only three were issued having two clasps.

Clearly, my grandfather not only served with distinction, he was a master gunner and recognised as such.

Included with the medals in the Museum’s artefact collection is a copy of the Gunnery Prize given to my grandfather – a Postal Draft to the sum of four shillings and a penny – and a Bosun’s Pipe awarded to him during his service aboard HMS Dreadnought.

I don’t know exactly when my grandfather relocated with his family to Essex. I do know that, following his military service, he was employed at Belhus House, an imposing manor house and estate at Aveley. There, he and his family occupied a separate residence in the manor’s grounds.

I can only presume that the move from Hampshire came about following his successful application for the role of gardener, a position which he held for the rest of his working life.

At the outbreak of World War Two in 1939, my grandfather longed to serve his country once more and applied to rejoin the Royal Navy. His application was turned down, rather unsurprisingly, due to his age. This long remained a disappointment to him.

He died in Aveley on January 21, 1947.

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