Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, EVII awarded to Petty Officer 1st Class C.J. Phillips, Royal Navy who later saw Great War service aboard HMS Agamemnon with whom he was present during the bombardment of the Turkish Forts in the Dardanelles in February and March 1915, and then supported the main Gallipoli landings on 25th April 1915. He would still be aboard when Agamemnon damaged the Imperial German Navy Zeppelin LZ-55 (LZ-85) on 5 May 1916 at Salonika with a shell from a 12-pounder and forced it to crash-land.|
Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, EVII, (157805 C.J. PHILLIPS. P.O. 1CL. H.M.S. PEMBROKE..)
Condition: Good Very Fine
Charles James Pembroke was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk and joined reh Royal Navy on 15th November 1890 as a Boy 2nd Class, then joining Ganges on 20th November 1890 and being advanced to Boy 1st Class on 19th November 1891 before joining Impregnable on 27th March 1892. He would then serve with Collingwood on 8th February 1893 until 19th February 1893, then Cruiser from 20th February 1893 until 10th April 1893 and then Edinburgh from 11th April 1893 until 23rd January 1894 being promoted to Ordinary Seaman on 12th October 1893.
He would return ashore to Victory on 24th January 1894, remaining there until 13th February , when he would transfer to Centurion. He would remain aboard Centurion from 14th February 1894 until 31st March 1897 being advanced to Able Seaman on 1st May 1897. Next he would return ashore on 1st April 1897 remaining there until 1st November 1897, before transferring to Excellent where he would serve until 28th May 1898, he would then join Vernon from 24th May 1898 until 25th February 1899, being advanced to Leading Seaman on 11th February 1899.
Returning ashore he would serve with Pembroke from 26th February to 2nd June 1899 and then Medusa from 3rd June 1899 until 4th December 1899 being promoted to Petty Officer 2nd Class on 16th August 1899. He would then serve from Polyphermus from 5th December 1899 until 31st May 1900 being advanced to Petty Officer 1st Class on 1st April 1900, and would then serve aboard Gleaner from 1st June 1900 until 25th October 1901.
Returning ashore to Pembroke from 26th to 29th October 1901, he would then serve aboard HMS Andromache until 22nd May 1903, before serving with Vernon from 24th May 1903 until 4th June 1904 before returning to Pembroke from 5th June to 8th September 1904, before transferring to Leander from 9th September 1904 until 31st July 1905, he would then return ashore to Pembroke from 1st August 1905 to 19th February 1906, then Saphire II from 20th February 1906 until 31st May 1906, before returning to Pembroke from 1st – 30th June 1906, :Leander from 1st July 1906 to 4th March 1907, Sapphire II from 5th March to 30th April 1907, Blenheim from 1st May to 29th May 1908, Vernon from 30th May to 12th September 1908.
He would then return ashore with Pembroke being awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal on 22nd October 1908, before on 31st October 1908 he would move to Acton. Promoted Acting Chief Petty Officer on 4th November 1908 he would remain with Acton until 3rd February 1909. He would then serve with Dido from 4th February 1909 until 9th December 1910 being advanced to Chief Petty Officer from 4th November 1909 to 9th December 1910. He would serve with Acton from 10th December 1910 to 23rd September 1912.
He would serve with HMS Agamemnon from 24th September 1912 to 11th July 1917.
After the First World War began in August 1914, Agamemnon was assigned to the 5th Battle Squadron in the Channel Fleet and was based at Portland. With other ships, she covered the safe transport of the British Expeditionary Force, under the command of Sir John French, to France. On 14 November, she transferred to Sheerness to guard the English coast against the possibility of a German invasion. She returned to Portland on 30 December and was employed in the defence of the southern ports of England and patrols of the English Channel until February 1915.
In February 1915, Agamemnon was ordered to participate in the Dardanelles Campaign. She departed Portland on 9 February, and joined the British Dardanelles Squadron at Mudros 10 days later. That was the second day of the opening bombardment of the Ottoman Turkish forts guarding the entrance to the Dardanelles, and the ship immediately joined the attack. She also took part in the subsequent bombardment of the inner forts later in February. Agamemnon was hit by seven 9.4-inch (240 mm) shells in ten minutes on 25 February and was holed above the waterline, suffering three dead.
She supported the small amphibious landings of 4 March and participated in another bombardment on 6 March 1915. She came under heavy fire from Fort Hamidieh on 7 March, taking eight hits from large-calibre shells; one of them, allegedly a 14-inch (356 mm) round, blew a large hole in her quarterdeck and wrecked the wardroom and the gunroom. She also took several hits by light shells that day, and, although she suffered damage to her superstructure, her fighting and steaming capabilities were not seriously impaired.
The ship also participated in the main attack on the Dardanelles forts on 18 March. This time, a 6-inch (152 mm) howitzer battery opened fire on Agamemnon and hit her 12 times in 25 minutes; five of the howitzer shells hit her armour and did no damage, but the seven that hit outside her armour protection did considerable structural damage and temporarily put one of her 12-inch (305 mm) guns out of action.
On 25 April, Agamemnon supported the main landings as part of the 5th Squadron, and after that she patrolled to protect Allied minesweeping and netlaying vessels operating in the Dardanelles. In action against Ottoman field batteries, she took two hits between 28 April and 30 April, and she provided fire support for Allied troops during a Turkish counterattack on 1 May. Agamemnon bombarded Ottoman artillery batteries on 6 May prior to the Second Battle of Krithia.
Agamemnon was withdrawn to Malta later in May to undergo a refit and returned to the Dardanelles in June. On 2 December, the ship joined the protected cruiser Endymion and monitor M33 in bombarding the Kavak bridge, destroying several spans of it and interdicting Ottoman communications to the Gallipoli Peninsula.
With the end of the Dardanelles Campaign in January 1916, British naval forces in the area were reorganized, and Agamemnon became part of the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron, which was renamed the Aegean Squadron in August 1917. Under both names, the squadron was dispersed throughout the area to protect Allied-held islands, support the British Army at Salonika, and guard against any attempted breakout from the Dardanelles by the German battlecruiser Goeben and light cruiser Breslau. Agamemnon spent the remainder of the war based at Salonika and Mudros, alternating between the two bases with her sister Lord Nelson; Agamemnon was based mostly at Mudros, Lord Nelson mostly at Salonika. While carrying out these duties, Agamemnon damaged the Imperial German Navy Zeppelin LZ-55 (LZ-85) on 5 May 1916 at Salonika with a shell from a 12-pounder and forced it to crash-land.
After his service aboard Agamemnon, he would serve with Implacable from 12th July to 23rd August 1917., then returning ashore with Pembroke from 24th August 1917 to 18th January 1918 and then ended his service with Actaeon on 17th September 1919.
Phillips would earn a 1914-1915 Star trio and a Silver War Badge for his wartime service.
