Sidney Daniel Claypitt – Royal Navy, H.M.S. Vivid

Petty Officer Sidney Daniel Claypitt – Royal Navy, H.M.S. Vivid  

Birth and Family Background

Sidney Daniel Claypitt

Sidney Daniel Claypitt was born in 1882 in Mumbles, Glamorgan, the eldest son of Roger Daniel Claypitt and Mary Howells, who had married in 1881 in Swansea. Although few census records survive from his early childhood, the Claypitt family appears to have remained in the Swansea area during Sidney’s formative years.

Naval Enlistment and Early Service

Royal Navy Registers of Seamen’s Services

As a young man, Sidney enlisted in the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy Registers of Seamen’s Services record that Sidney first saw service on board HMS Impregnable, the Navy’s major training establishment for boy seamen at Devonport. His career progressed steadily through various ships and establishments, and by 1917 he was serving aboard HMS Hecla, a depot ship supporting destroyer flotillas engaged in vital wartime operations.

Marriage and 1911 Census

In 1910, while serving at sea, Sidney married Bessie Elise Gaylard at Crownhill Holy Trinity Church, Plymouth.

1911 Census

The 1911 Census records 28-year-old Sidney, then a Leading Seaman, aboard HMS Indefatigable, a first-class battlecruiser docked in the Prince of Wales Dock Basin, Keyham, Devonport. 

1911 Census

Meanwhile, Bessie, aged 22, was living at 19 William Street, Plymouth, working as a laundress.

H.M.S. Vivid During the First World War

H.M.S. Vivid

During the First World War, Sidney was assigned at times to H.M.S. Vivid, the large Royal Navy shore establishment at Devonport. Serving as the main administrative base for sailors of the Plymouth command, Vivid was also a major training centre providing instruction in gunnery, torpedo work, signals, engineering, and seamanship, and functioned as the depot for the crews of destroyers, cruisers, depot ships, and auxiliary vessels operating from Devonport. Because many thousands of sailors passed through its divisions, the establishment was frequently affected by outbreaks of illness, and the severe waves of pneumonia and influenza in 1917–1918 claimed numerous lives. Sidney was among those who became ill while serving with H.M.S. Vivid.

Later Service and Death

British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records

Sidney Daniel Claypitt
Ford Park Cemetery, Plymouth
credit - finndagrave

By 1918, Sidney had risen to the rank of Petty Officer. He died on 2^nd June 1918 from pneumonia while serving with H.M.S. Vivid.  British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records state that Sidney is buried at Ford Park Cemetery, Plymouth.

His widow, Bessie, continued to reside at 19 William Street, the home they had established during Sidney’s years of naval service.