Great War Gallipoli campaign and Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal group awarded to Gunner F.M. Wellstead, Royal Marine Artillery who would see service aboard HMS Ocean during the Gallipoli campaign surviving the mining of the ship on 18th March 1915 during the initial bombardment of the forts along the Dardanelles. He would survive the war to be demobilised in March 1919. Rejoining in January 1921 he would be awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal on 4th September 1921, before being finally discharged after completing his period of engagement on 22nd May 1925.
Group of 4: 1914-1915 Star; (R.M.A. 8879 GR. F.M. WELLSTEAD) British War Medal and Victory Medal; (R.M.A.8879 GR. F.M. WELLSTEAD.) Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, GVR, (RMA.8879 F.M. WELLSTEAD. GUNNER. R.M.A.)
Condition: BWM and LSGC toned, Good Very Fine
Frank Marlow Wellstead was born in Christchurch, Hampshire in July 1882, and joined the Roya Marine Artillery on 2nd July 1900, subsequently attaining the rank of Gunner on 28th May 1901. He would see service aboard Dreadnought on 16th July 1901 until 27th August 1901, Camperdown from 9th October 1901 until 7th October 1902, Duncan from 28th November 1905 until 17th August 1908, Vengeance from 17th June 1909 until 23rd July 1909, Hindustan from 5th October 1909 until 21st February 1912 and Collingwood from 26th March 1912 until 21st June 1912. He would transfer from the Royal Fleet Reserve on 2nd July 1912. Wellstead would be recalled on the outbreak of the Great War, serving aboard HMS Ocean from 4th August 1914 until 18th March 1915, surviving the sinking of the ship on that date. When the First World War broke out, Ocean was assigned to the 8th Battle Squadron, Channel Fleet, which she joined on 14 August 1914.[11] She was detached to Queenstown, Ireland on 21 August to serve as guard ship there and to support a cruiser squadron operating in that area. In September 1914, she was ordered to relieve her sister ship Albion on the Cape Verde-Canary Islands Station, but while en route was diverted, first to Madiera and then to the Azores. The threat of the German East Asia Squadron and the independent cruiser SMS Königsberg, both of which were still at large, forced the Admiralty to redirect Ocean again, to the East Indies Station, to support cruisers on convoy duty in the Middle East. She was joined by the protected cruiser Minerva.
From October–December 1914, she served as flagship of the squadron in the Persian Gulf supporting operations against Basra. During this period, she escorted an Indian troop convoy to Bahrain in mid-October; the convoy had departed India on 16 October, and Ocean met the convoy at sea three days later to take over escort duties. After the convoy arrived on 3 November, Ocean began making preparations for the attack on Basra. Numerous small craft were armed to enter the Shatt al-Arab, the river leading to Basra. The first objective was to silence the old fortress at Al-Faw. On 5 November, Britain declared war on the Ottoman Empire, and the next morning, Ocean began the bombardment of Al-Faw. A landing party of 600 men, some of whom came from Ocean's detachment of Royal Marines, stormed the fortress and captured it, having encountered no resistance.
By December 1914, the ground forces Ocean supported had advanced to Al-Qurnah, at the juncture of the Euphrates and Tigris, allowing the Admiralty to recall Ocean for other purposes. She was accordingly stationed at Suez, Egypt, to assist in the defence of the Suez Canal, arriving there on 29 December. She anchored in the mouth of the southern end of the canal on 29 December and remained in that area until mid-January 1915, when she proceeded northward up the canal. On 3–4 February, she and the armed merchant cruiser Himalaya supported ground troops against an Ottoman attack on the canal in the vicinity of El Kubri. Later on the 3rd, after the Ottoman attack at El Kubri had been defeated, Ocean was sent to Deversoir to provide artillery support to the garrison there, but Ottoman attacks were insignificant. By the following day, the Ottoman assault had broken down completely. Ocean transferred to the Dardanelles in late February 1915 to participate in the Dardanelles campaign. On 28 February, she took part in an attempt to suppress the Ottoman defences in the Dardanelles led by Admiral John de Robeck; the battleships Albion and Triumph led the operation, and were tasked with neutralizing the repaired fortress at Dardanus, while Ocean and Majestic supported them by engaging batteries of mobile field guns that had proved to be troublesome in previous attempts to neutralise the Ottoman defences. Ocean initially attempted to locate guns that had been active in the vicinity of Sedd el Bahr, before moving on with Majestic and coming under fire from several Ottoman batteries, including howitzers around Erenköy. The British battleships eventually silenced the guns, but only temporarily; as soon as the ships moved on to other targets, the guns opened fire again. In the meantime, Albion and Triumph had approached Dardanus but they came under heavy fire from Ottoman guns on the European side of the straits, including the fortress at Erenköy, and were forced to circle to avoid taking hits. Unable to engage Dardanus under these conditions, the ships instead opened fire on the guns at Erenköy, which initially seemed to be effective, as the Ottoman fire slackened. Ocean and Majestic approached in an attempt to attack Dardanus, but they too came under renewed, furious fire from Erenköy, and de Robeck again ordered a withdrawal. The only success came after the four battleships withdrew from the straits and a landing party from Triumph went ashore and disabled several light guns. The inability of the British and French fleets to neutralize the mobile field guns convinced the Allied command that the only way forward would be to make a major amphibious assault to clear the guns by land.
She supported the landings at Sedd el Bahr on 4 March. These consisted of two companies of Marines, each landing at their beach. Ocean was tasked with supporting the northern company that landed at Sedd el Bahr. The southern group, tasked with capturing the coastal town of Kumkale, came under heavy fire as soon as they went ashore. The northern group encountered similar resistance, but Ocean's gunners, more experienced from their operations of Basra the previous year, proved to be more effective than the other ships. Nevertheless, both companies were forced to withdraw, in large part because they were too small to break through the Ottoman defences. Another bombardment followed on 6 March; Ocean and the battleship Agamemnon were tasked with covering the powerful superdreadnought battleship Queen Elizabeth while she engaged the Ottoman artillery batteries. After a day's bombardment, the British sent in minesweepers to try to clear the minefields blocking the strait, and Ocean, Majestic, and several destroyers were tasked with protecting them. Despite the heavy bombardment, the Ottoman defenses were largely intact, and even concerted firing from Ocean and other ships could not suppress the guns or their search lights. Early on 7 March, the British were forced to withdraw.
On 18 March, the Anglo-French fleet mounted a major attack on the Ottoman defences; Ocean joined ten British battleships and one battlecruiser and four French battleships for the operation. The plan called for the battleships to enter the narrows and suppress the fortresses while minesweepers cleared paths in the Ottoman minefields. At the same time, transport ships outside the straits would conduct a demonstration to convince the Ottomans they were going to land troops; the Entente commanders hoped this would tie down the Ottoman mobile guns. The British ships initially succeeded in inflicting heavy damage on the fortresses, but the battleship Formidable and then the battlecruiser Inflexible began taking serious damage from the coastal batteries. The French battleships also began to take damage, and the battleship Bouvet struck a mine and exploded. Later in the day, Irresistible was disabled by a mine in Erenköy Bay. Once it became apparent that the ship could not be saved, all of her surviving crew was taken off by destroyers except for her commanding officer and some volunteers trying to keep her afloat. Ocean was sent in to tow her out, but she ran aground during the attempt, and, after freeing herself, found it impossible to take Irresistible under tow because of the shallow water, Irresistible’s increasing list, and heavy enemy fire. Ocean then took off the remaining members of Irresistible's crew and left the abandoned battleship to her fate; Irresistible sank unobserved by Allied forces, at around 19:30.
While retiring with Irresistible's survivors aboard, Ocean herself was hit by an artillery shell fired by Seyit Çabuk, an Ottoman Army gunner, and struck a drifting mine at around 19:00. Her starboard coal bunkers and passageways flooded, her steering jammed hard to port, and she took on a list of 15° to starboard. She came under fire from shore and began taking hits, which flooded her starboard engine room and prevented steering repairs. The destroyers Jed, Colne, and Chelmer came alongside and took off her crew (and the survivors from Irresistible) at around 19:30. She then drifted into Morto Bay, still under fire, and sank there unobserved by Allied forces at about 22:30. When destroyer Jed entered the bay later that evening to sink Ocean and Irresistible with torpedoes so that they could not be captured by Ottoman forces, the two battleships were nowhere to be found. Having survived the sinking of HMS Ocean, he would then serve with Ark Royal II from 19th March until 22nd September 1915, before being posted to Endymion where he served until 12th February 1916. He would then serve ashore until he was posted to HMS Crescent on 16th March 1918, remaining with her until 18th February 1919. He would then be demobilised on 21st March 1919.
Wellstead would subsequently rejoin once more on 10th January 1921 being awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal on 4th September 1921 whilst serving with the 10th Royal Marine Artillery Battalion. He would be discharged for the final time on 22nd May 1925 having completed his period of engagement.
From October–December 1914, she served as flagship of the squadron in the Persian Gulf supporting operations against Basra. During this period, she escorted an Indian troop convoy to Bahrain in mid-October; the convoy had departed India on 16 October, and Ocean met the convoy at sea three days later to take over escort duties. After the convoy arrived on 3 November, Ocean began making preparations for the attack on Basra. Numerous small craft were armed to enter the Shatt al-Arab, the river leading to Basra. The first objective was to silence the old fortress at Al-Faw. On 5 November, Britain declared war on the Ottoman Empire, and the next morning, Ocean began the bombardment of Al-Faw. A landing party of 600 men, some of whom came from Ocean's detachment of Royal Marines, stormed the fortress and captured it, having encountered no resistance.
By December 1914, the ground forces Ocean supported had advanced to Al-Qurnah, at the juncture of the Euphrates and Tigris, allowing the Admiralty to recall Ocean for other purposes. She was accordingly stationed at Suez, Egypt, to assist in the defence of the Suez Canal, arriving there on 29 December. She anchored in the mouth of the southern end of the canal on 29 December and remained in that area until mid-January 1915, when she proceeded northward up the canal. On 3–4 February, she and the armed merchant cruiser Himalaya supported ground troops against an Ottoman attack on the canal in the vicinity of El Kubri. Later on the 3rd, after the Ottoman attack at El Kubri had been defeated, Ocean was sent to Deversoir to provide artillery support to the garrison there, but Ottoman attacks were insignificant. By the following day, the Ottoman assault had broken down completely. Ocean transferred to the Dardanelles in late February 1915 to participate in the Dardanelles campaign. On 28 February, she took part in an attempt to suppress the Ottoman defences in the Dardanelles led by Admiral John de Robeck; the battleships Albion and Triumph led the operation, and were tasked with neutralizing the repaired fortress at Dardanus, while Ocean and Majestic supported them by engaging batteries of mobile field guns that had proved to be troublesome in previous attempts to neutralise the Ottoman defences. Ocean initially attempted to locate guns that had been active in the vicinity of Sedd el Bahr, before moving on with Majestic and coming under fire from several Ottoman batteries, including howitzers around Erenköy. The British battleships eventually silenced the guns, but only temporarily; as soon as the ships moved on to other targets, the guns opened fire again. In the meantime, Albion and Triumph had approached Dardanus but they came under heavy fire from Ottoman guns on the European side of the straits, including the fortress at Erenköy, and were forced to circle to avoid taking hits. Unable to engage Dardanus under these conditions, the ships instead opened fire on the guns at Erenköy, which initially seemed to be effective, as the Ottoman fire slackened. Ocean and Majestic approached in an attempt to attack Dardanus, but they too came under renewed, furious fire from Erenköy, and de Robeck again ordered a withdrawal. The only success came after the four battleships withdrew from the straits and a landing party from Triumph went ashore and disabled several light guns. The inability of the British and French fleets to neutralize the mobile field guns convinced the Allied command that the only way forward would be to make a major amphibious assault to clear the guns by land.
She supported the landings at Sedd el Bahr on 4 March. These consisted of two companies of Marines, each landing at their beach. Ocean was tasked with supporting the northern company that landed at Sedd el Bahr. The southern group, tasked with capturing the coastal town of Kumkale, came under heavy fire as soon as they went ashore. The northern group encountered similar resistance, but Ocean's gunners, more experienced from their operations of Basra the previous year, proved to be more effective than the other ships. Nevertheless, both companies were forced to withdraw, in large part because they were too small to break through the Ottoman defences. Another bombardment followed on 6 March; Ocean and the battleship Agamemnon were tasked with covering the powerful superdreadnought battleship Queen Elizabeth while she engaged the Ottoman artillery batteries. After a day's bombardment, the British sent in minesweepers to try to clear the minefields blocking the strait, and Ocean, Majestic, and several destroyers were tasked with protecting them. Despite the heavy bombardment, the Ottoman defenses were largely intact, and even concerted firing from Ocean and other ships could not suppress the guns or their search lights. Early on 7 March, the British were forced to withdraw.
On 18 March, the Anglo-French fleet mounted a major attack on the Ottoman defences; Ocean joined ten British battleships and one battlecruiser and four French battleships for the operation. The plan called for the battleships to enter the narrows and suppress the fortresses while minesweepers cleared paths in the Ottoman minefields. At the same time, transport ships outside the straits would conduct a demonstration to convince the Ottomans they were going to land troops; the Entente commanders hoped this would tie down the Ottoman mobile guns. The British ships initially succeeded in inflicting heavy damage on the fortresses, but the battleship Formidable and then the battlecruiser Inflexible began taking serious damage from the coastal batteries. The French battleships also began to take damage, and the battleship Bouvet struck a mine and exploded. Later in the day, Irresistible was disabled by a mine in Erenköy Bay. Once it became apparent that the ship could not be saved, all of her surviving crew was taken off by destroyers except for her commanding officer and some volunteers trying to keep her afloat. Ocean was sent in to tow her out, but she ran aground during the attempt, and, after freeing herself, found it impossible to take Irresistible under tow because of the shallow water, Irresistible’s increasing list, and heavy enemy fire. Ocean then took off the remaining members of Irresistible's crew and left the abandoned battleship to her fate; Irresistible sank unobserved by Allied forces, at around 19:30.
While retiring with Irresistible's survivors aboard, Ocean herself was hit by an artillery shell fired by Seyit Çabuk, an Ottoman Army gunner, and struck a drifting mine at around 19:00. Her starboard coal bunkers and passageways flooded, her steering jammed hard to port, and she took on a list of 15° to starboard. She came under fire from shore and began taking hits, which flooded her starboard engine room and prevented steering repairs. The destroyers Jed, Colne, and Chelmer came alongside and took off her crew (and the survivors from Irresistible) at around 19:30. She then drifted into Morto Bay, still under fire, and sank there unobserved by Allied forces at about 22:30. When destroyer Jed entered the bay later that evening to sink Ocean and Irresistible with torpedoes so that they could not be captured by Ottoman forces, the two battleships were nowhere to be found. Having survived the sinking of HMS Ocean, he would then serve with Ark Royal II from 19th March until 22nd September 1915, before being posted to Endymion where he served until 12th February 1916. He would then serve ashore until he was posted to HMS Crescent on 16th March 1918, remaining with her until 18th February 1919. He would then be demobilised on 21st March 1919.
Wellstead would subsequently rejoin once more on 10th January 1921 being awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal on 4th September 1921 whilst serving with the 10th Royal Marine Artillery Battalion. He would be discharged for the final time on 22nd May 1925 having completed his period of engagement.
