More about Joseph Mellen

Joseph Mellen was the son of Mr Henry and Mrs Bessie Mellen of 10 Dens Brae, Dundee and later 15 Erskine Street, Dundee. In October 1915 he signed on as a Trimmer onboard the Union Castle Line ship York Castle but failed to join the ship on sailing. He volunteered to join the Royal Naval Reserve at the Customs House in Dundee in December 1915. After initial training at the Naval Barracks in Portsmouth he was drafted to HMS Halcyon, an elderly cruiser used as the Base Ship in Great Yarmouth. He served in the Minesweeping Trawler Island Prince. From there he was drafted to HMS Pontefract, a Paddle Minesweeper based in Dover and administered by the Base Ship HMS Attentive III. On 14 February 1918 he was marked as “Run”, a notation made when a man was absent from his ship without permission. Joseph Mellen’s body was recovered from Millwall Dock, on the Isle of Dogs in London, on 21 March 1918 and the notation was cancelled because his date of death is registered as 14 February 1918 when he was judged to have drowned. He is buried in the East Plaistow Cemetery, East London.