HMS St Angelo (Naples)

Discussion in 'The War at Sea' started by Peter Miles, May 27, 2022.

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  1. Peter Miles

    Peter Miles Member

    Hi,
    My father served at HMS St Angelo during three periods between November 1945 and May 1946.
    On two occasions, his service record says "HMS St Angelo (Naples", while in the third instance, it says simply "HMS St Angelo".
    Can anyone enlighten me on the significance of the addition of "Naples" in brackets, given that HMS St Angelo was a shore base in Malta?
    Many thanks!
    Peter
     
  2. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    Peter,

    Might it not depend on what role or speciality HMS St Angelo performed? Having an out-station was not unheard of, even more so in wartime as the RN expanded to absorb manpower and the demands upon it.

    Wiki's entry does not really help:
    From: Fort St. Angelo - Wikipedia

    This brief history may fill in the gaps: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/b...._St._Angelo-last_British_stronghold_1983.pdf
     
  3. timuk

    timuk Well-Known Member

    This is a common occurrence on navy Service Records where a Unit was too small to keep it's own records. In this case his records and pay documents would be held by HMS St Angelo but he was serving with a naval Unit in Naples. HMS St Angelo alone should indicate he was now actually in Malta. Regrettably it is not foolproof as it is also quite common for the Writer to miss out the (-----).

    Tim
     
  4. Peter Miles

    Peter Miles Member

    Many thanks, davidbfpo and Tim for your suggestions.
    Your explanation, Tim, makes a lot of sense to me. He spent some months in hospital in Naples recovering from pneumonia, and the two entries with "Naples" in brackets immediately precede and follow his stay there by one day. I have been puzzled as to how he would have transferred to and from Malta within 24 hours on both occasions.
    He was a Coder, by the way.
    Speaking of hospitals: He was at 92 British General Hospital, but I am struggling to establish the hospital's excact location in Naples.
    Any ideas?
     
  5. Temujin

    Temujin Member

  6. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    More info from this site

    In answer to a query from Ron further up the thread, yesterday I had a look at the war diaries to confirm the locations. It was definitely No.92 General Hospital in Scudillo, Naples, at that time and not No.93. The diary of No.92 also has a separate mention of the eruption of Vesuvius on 18th March 1944, necessitating the evacuation of No.1 R.A.F. General Hospital for a couple of weeks, and the admission of all patients to 92 General.

    Source: British General Hospitals: Locations

    And a 1943 map of Naples, I’ve circle SCUDILLO


    [​IMG]

    Source of Map: Town plan of Naples. G.S.G.S. 4380 - Digital Maps and Geospatial Data | Princeton University
     
    timuk, hutt and vitellino like this.
  7. Peter Miles

    Peter Miles Member

    Scudillo does narrow it down, and makes sense. I remember my father saying it was on a hill overlooking the bay.

    Would the armed forces have commandeered an existing hospital, or set up their own?
    If an existing one was commandeered, I'd be keen to know which one.

    Many thanks, Temujin!
     
  8. timuk

    timuk Well-Known Member

    It is odd that he would have been transferred sick from Malta to Naples. Malta had good medical facilities with RNH Bighi and BMH Mtarfa (90 BGH).
    There was a significant RN presence in Naples and personally I think he would have been posted to Naples and then went sick.

    Tim
     
  9. Peter Miles

    Peter Miles Member

    Tim, that is making increasing sense to me, thank you - especially if the RN unit in Naples was in some way linked to St Angelo.
    No wonder he learnt to speak fluent Italian!
     
  10. timuk

    timuk Well-Known Member

    There was a naval base at Naples, HMS Byrsa, In late 1945 Bysra's accounts were closed and transferred to St Angelo.

    Tim
     
  11. Peter Miles

    Peter Miles Member

    Thanks again, Tim,
    I think that comes very close to completing the picture, as the first reference to St Angelo (Naples) in my father's record is 9 Nov 1945,
    after he'd served aboard HMS Start Bay from 15 Aug to 8 Nov 1945, having been trained at HMS Mercury between May and Aug 1945.
     
  12. Peter Miles

    Peter Miles Member

    I have another query within this context:

    As I mentioned, my father served as a Coder on HMS Cheviot from 29 May 1946 until 23 Jan 1947.
    I'm wondering whether there is a war diary, or its equivalent, for this destroyer or the command it was under.
    I haven't managed to find anything in the National Archives catalogue, but have probably not gone about it in the right way.
     
  13. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    Given wartime and peacetime secrecy around codes etc then you may find it difficult to get specifics, e.g. an instruction book from HMS Mercury, which from memory was the signals training school.

    As a coder and late in WW2 it is likely he had to be familiar with Typex, although from memory it was not issued to each ship. Wiki indicates so: Typex - Wikipedia
     
  14. Hugh MacLean

    Hugh MacLean Senior Member

    Ship's logbooks for HMS CHEVIOT only survive from December 1948 so you probably have gone about it the right way.
    Regards
    Hugh
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2022
    timuk likes this.

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