This service record of Frederick Lewis Dibblee junior is from the Public Records Office at Kew.
| From | To | Ship, etc | Promotion | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/1888 | 06/1890 | RN College Greenwich | 09/1888 | 2nd Lt., Lt | |
| 07/1890 | 04/1892 | RMA Division | |||
| 04/1892 | 08/1893 | HMS Triumph, battleship 3rd class | Guardian Queenstown, Ireland | ||
| 08/1893 | 03/1894 | RMA Division | |||
| 03/1894 | 03/1896 | HMS Wye for Ascension | Erected telephone between George Town and Green Mountain 1896 – Penelope, coastal defence ship borne for service at Ascension | ||
| 03/1896 | 01/1897 | RMA Division | |||
| 01/1897 | 03/1897 | Benin Expedition HMS Malacca | Present at capture of Benin City. In command RM battalion after Capt. Byrne wounded 18/02/1897 | ||
| 03/1897 | 06/1901 | RMA Division | 06/1897 | Capt. | |
| 06/1901 | 06/1902 | HMS Prince George, battleship | Channel squadron – captain Arthur C Clarke | ||
| 06/1902 | 01/1903 | RMA Division | |||
| 01/1903 | 02/1908 | Naval Intelligence Department | |||
| 02/1908 | 09/1911 | HMS Egmont, cruiser | 12/1909 | Brv. Major | Malta dockyard 06/1911 |
| 09/1911 | 07/1912 | RMA Division | 09/1911 | Major | |
| 07/1912 | HMS Illustrious | ||||
| 07/1912 | 07/1913 | RMA Division | |||
| 07/1913 | 08/1913 | HMS Good Hope | |||
| 08/1913 | 06/1914 | RMA Division | |||
| 06/1914 | 02/1917 | HMS Marlborough, battleship | 09/1916 | Brv. Lt. Col. | at Battle of Jutland 31/05/16 |
| 02/1917 | 06/1919 | RMA Division | |||
| 06/1919 | 07/1919 | HMS Imperieuse | German interpreter SNO afloat, Scapa | ||
| 07/1919 | 07/1920 | RMA Division | |||
Retired on account of medical unfitness (chronic nerve deafness)
Died 27/10/1937
1902: German, Drawing. A very clever officer & particularly good in cyphering & decyphering code. Liable to fits of depression when at sea.
1908: A very hard working officer, painstaking & very reliable, he is accurate in his work to a very marked degree & a very highly finished draughtsman, & as he combines brains with the latter accomplishment, he is a valuable officer in a department where frequently points can be made clear by diagrammatic treatment.
There is an interesting point here. The service record has specified German as a skill back in 1902. Frederick Dibblee's Ship Certificates include a report of his behaviour on various ships. HMS Marlborough has two certificates (presumably two tours). The first, covering 2 June 1914 to 2 Sept 1915, says "Major Diblee's knowledge of German has been very useful during the war". (I sympathise with the fact that people can't spell Dibblee correctly!) The second covers a longer period, including the Battle of Jutland, but only says "[he has conducted himself] entirely to my satisfaction". Then Frederick Dibblee spent a long time at RMA Division, before his last job, on HMS Imperieuse, as German interpreter SNO afloat, Scapa. The timing is what is interesting. The German fleet was at Scapa Flow after the Armistice. On 21 June 1919, their German commander ordered all the ships to be scuttled, as he was concerned that the British would appropriate the fleet for their own use (see Scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow in Wikipedia). I assume that this meant all Germans serving in this fleet now had nowhere to live, which must have meant a chaotic time while the British sorted out accomodation, etc, as these sailors were POWs, with rights. Hence the hasty recall of Frederick Dibblee for interpreting duties.
From the journal of the Royal Marines, May 7, 1897:
© Jo Edkins 2012 - Return to Early Dibblee History index