Rank: Stoker Petty Officer K19731 Regiment: Royal Navy HMS Locust HMS Panther Died: 1969 Age: c74 Parish: Beer
Charles Loveridge was born in Beer on 20 April 1895, one of the five children of Tom Loveridge, a carter, and his wife Clara. In the 1911 census, Charles was recorded as an agricultural labourer, as was his elder brother, Lewis, and the family lived at Bovey.
Charles joined the Royal Navy on 26 July 1913, and signed on to serve for 12 years. He was 5ft 6½ ins tall, with black hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. After training at Devonport (HMS Vivid), he joined HMS Locust as a Stoker 2nd Class on 8 December 1913. Locust was a B-class destroyer based at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys, with a crew of 63.
While still serving on HMS Locust Charles became a Stoker 1st Class in July 1914, just days before the outbreak of war, and an Acting Leading Stoker in September 1917. After a short spell in Plymouth at HMS Vivid, he joined another B-class destroyer, HMS Panther, as a Leading Stoker. He was still on Panther when the war ended in November 1918.
Charles remained in the Royal Navy after the war, and retired as a Stoker Petty Officer in April 1929. He died in 1969.
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