Age to join the Navy

[iwccc]

KGarrard, Thanks for your help.  Can't believe how young some of them were when they went to sea.  I now see that my grandfather was about 22 years of age and I believe he had to be older to be a cook.  I am now leaning on the idea that he must have heard rumblings about war coming and decided to join up quickly.  I believe that London at the time had unemployment and many were starving.  Maybe he decided that it would be a guaranteed feed!!!  His girlfriend (later wife) also served at the Woolwich Arsenal - perhaps they decided to both do their bit? 

[iwccc]

HMac, Thank you for your input.  I had not realised before that cooks were taken on at an older age.  He was a cooks assistant - hopefully the cook could produce a good meal as in the time I knew him as my grandfather he could not boil water?  Also he could not swim!!!!  He went down a couple of times in ships and he always said that others could see his blonde hair bobbing on the water and that they pulled him out by his hair!!   He was at the landing of Gallipoli close enough for people on his ship being shot. He offered to man a cutter but the captain insisted he stay on board and help bandage the wounded and make lots of cups of tea -- good old English tea, fixes everything!!

[LizzieL]

Was there a lower age limit? I have relatives who joined the Royal Navy as boys in the 1860s aged 14.

Martin

My guess would be school leaving age, it was when my son joined at 16 in the 1990s.

In the 1930s my father left school at 14, but couldn't join the Navy until he was 16.