On 14th April 1915 Albert (aged 16 years 5 months) joined HMS Neptune as a Boy 1st Class becoming an Ordinary Seaman in April 1916 and an Able Seaman (and Seaman Gunner) in June 1917. He left the Neptune on 22 January 1918 to prepare for the Raid on Zeebrugge.

HMS Neptune was a dreadnought battleship built for the Royal Navy. Shortly after her completion in 1911 she became the flagship of the Home Fleet. She became part of the Grand Fleet when it was formed shortly after the beginning of the First World War in August 1914 and was then based in Scapa Flow. Her service during WW1 consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea and she took part in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and a later action in August 1916.

North Sea patrols

Soon after Albert joined Neptune she sailed to patrol the North Sea and conducted gunnery drills off the Shetland Islands. She then conducted sweeps into the central North Sea during May 1915 without encountering any German vessels. In June she was involved in fleet gunnery practice and battle exercises west of Shetland.

In September and October she conducted sweeps of the North Sea followed by a training operation west of Orkney during November. She patrolled the North Sea during February and March 1916. The March patrol had to be abandoned as the weather grew too severe for the escorting destroyers.

On the night of 25 March Neptune and the rest of the fleet sailed from Scapa Flow to support Beatty's battlecruisers and other light forces raiding the German Zeppelin base at Tondern. By the time the Grand Fleet approached the area on 26 March the British and German forces had already disengaged and a strong gale threatened the light craft, so the fleet was ordered to return to base.

On 21 April the Grand Fleet conducted a demonstration off Horns Reef to distract the Germans while the Imperial Russian Navy relaid its defensive minefields in the Baltic Sea. During the night of 22/23 April Neptune was accidentally rammed by the neutral merchant ship SS Needvaal in thick fog, but the battleship was only lightly damaged. The fleet returned to Scapa Flow on 24 April and refuelled before proceeding south in response to intelligence reports that the Germans were about to launch a raid on Lowestoft, but arrived in the area only after the Germans had withdrawn. On 2–4 May, the fleet made another demonstration off Horns Reef to keep German attention focused on the North Sea.

The Battle of Jutland

On 31 May, Neptune, under the command of Captain Vivian Bernard, was assigned to the 5th Division of the 1st Battle Squadron and was the nineteenth ship from the head of the battle line after deployment. During the first stage of the general engagement, the ship fired two salvos from her main guns at a barely visible battleship at 18:40. She also fired one salvo at the crippled light cruiser SMS Wiesbaden with unknown effect. She then fired four salvos at the battlecruiser SMS Derfflinger, claiming two hits, although neither can be confirmed. Shortly afterwards, the ship fired her main and secondary guns at enemy destroyers without result and then had to turn away to dodge three torpedoes. This was the last time Neptune fired her guns during the battle. She expended a total of 48 twelve-inch shells (21 high explosive and 27 common pointed, capped) and 48 shells from her four-inch guns during the battle.

Admiral Jellicoe to decide to not risk the major units of the fleet due to the prevalence of German submarines and mines. The Admiralty agreed and stipulated that the Grand Fleet would not sortie from Scapa Flow unless the German fleet was attempting an invasion of Britain or there was a strong possibility it could be forced into an engagement under suitable conditions.

Neptune was present at Rosyth when the German fleet surrendered on 21 November 1918.