Crew recollections add lived experience to ship chronologies

A captain's recollection of HMS Diana identifies one of the last West Country crews associated with Devonport before central drafting. His praise for the officers and ratings adds a judgment about the ship's company to its service record. A young rating's recollection of joining HMS Decoy gives a different view of shipboard life. At sixteen, he struggled aboard with his kit and mistook the quartermaster's outstretched hand for a greeting instead of a request for his draft papers. He later remembered laughing about the mistake with the experienced sailor involved.