Life in the Royal Navy
Between Expeditions
William arrived back in London with the Discovery on September 15th 1904 after 3 years in the Antarctic. Captain Scott was immediately taken up with lecture tours, interviews and writing but made time to report to the Admiralty on those men who had been loaned to the expedition by the Navy. He announced that the men would be paid off at the end of the month and asked for 2 months leave for each. He also requested that they receive “some substantial reward” for their loyal service. He knew that the men were career Royal Navy people and did what he could to ensure they were not disadvantaged. He wrote to the Admiralty: “It is to be observed, and the men are fully aware, that they have lost much by their long absence from the regular service. The men are prepared to do their utmost to regain the lost ground, but I would submit that my Lords should be pleased to direct that they should have every facility which is comfortable with the efficiency of the service in qualifying for such gunnery or torpedo ratings as they may wish to obtain.”
William was appointed to the steam yacht HMS Firequeen II, on October 1st 1904. In response to the appeal made by Captain Scott to the Admiralty to reward outstanding members of his expedition, approval was given for William’s promotion to Chief Stoker from September 10th for services in Discovery, backdated to June 1st 1902.
William as Instructor
In January 1905 William’s navy record shows him attached to HMS Racer. This was the name given to the Royal Navy College opened at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight in 1903 for officer cadet training. The college was not in the royal house itself but consisted of a series of dormitory and gunroom buildings built where Queen Victoria’s stables once stood. Nearby at Kingston, a short walk from the college, there were workshops and on the River Medina was HMS Racer, a 970 ton sloop. About 400 cadets received tutoring in many academic and practical subjects there. Commander Ellis, editor of William's diaries, comments that it came as no surprise to those who knew William that he was sent to the Royal Naval College as an instructor. No doubt he was able to bring some vivid accounts of his own unique experiences on the Discovery and in the Antarctic to their training.
HMS Proserpine
HMS Proserpine and Gun-Running in the Persian Gulf
After brief stays on HMS Victory II and HMS Gladiator (famously sunk 18 months later after colliding with an American liner) William was appointed to HMS Proserpine as Chief Stoker on September 15th 1906. The ship was a Pelorus class cruiser. There were eleven protected cruisers in the class, well-armed for their size, and primarily workhorses for the overseas fleet on "police" duties and did not normally serve with the main battlefleet. These third-class cruisers were small, lacked the watertight double-bottom of bigger ships and were intended primarily for trade protection duties, though a few small cruisers were built for fleet scout roles or as "torpedo" cruisers. The ship had a crew of 224 men and was armed with a range of guns and two torpedo tubes. It served in the Channel, at Gibraltar , and in the Suez Canal.
Eighteen months into his time with Proserpine William was caught up in a different kind of adventure, this time against gun-runners in the Persian Gulf. Later in the year William was serving with Proserpine in its blockading role off Somaliland. For his service there he was awarded the Africa General Service Medal in May 1912, the medal being sent to the College at Greenwich as by then William was away on the Terra Nova expedition.
The Terra Nova Expedition
In the autumn of 1908 William was back in England. After short stays on HMS Sappho, HMS Victory and HMS Revenge he spent a year on HMS Mercury, the depot ship for submarine training. In Spring 1910 he decided to apply to join the 8,000 men who volunteered for Captain Scott’s second expedition to the Antarctic. He was selected and joined the Terra Nova, sailing from London to Cardiff on June 10th 1910.