Description
Queen’s South Africa, no bar, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Daniel Keohane, Royal Navy, Irishman from Castlehaven, County Cork, Ireland. Served 1899-1921.
Daniel saw a lot of service in his 2 decades of time in the Royal Navy.
Starting off the freshly 18 year old Sailor took part in the Boer War, spending 3 years on HMS Monarch.
During WW1, he served on the Armed Merchant Cruiser Caronia, aka RMS Caronia of the Cunard Line in North America, followed by HMS Glory in the Dardanelles part of the Gallipoli Campaign.
Serving out the rest of the war on HMS Devonshire also in North America.
However he made his mark on history after World War 1 had just finished, when he joined HMS Concord.
By order of the British Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour, the ship Concord was given the task of transporting the soon to be legendary Pianist, Composer and Patriot of Polish Independence, Mr Ignacy Jan Paderewski to Poland in order to form the Second Polish Republic, where he became the 3rd Prime Minister and signed the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, this was deemed to safest way to get him there in order to avoid travelling directly through Germany.
On 22nd December 1918, they took on board Ignacy with his wife, and Major Zygmunt Iwanowski of the Polish Army in France at Harwich.
The next day they reached Copenhagen, where they added the Officers of the British Military Mission, Colonel Harry Wade, Commander Henry Rawlings and Lieut Roy G. Langford as well as future Polish Secretary of the Artist Sylwin Strakacz (Ignacy made him his Personal Secretary that year).
They were dropped him off with his party at Danzig (aka Gdansk) on 25th December, the arrival of Paderewski set in motion the ignition of the Polish Uprising, knwon as the “Greater Poland Uprising” or the “Poznan War”.
Also entitled to the WW1 Victory Medal, and later the Naval LSGC during 1921.
QSA Officially impressed: “D. Keohane, A.B. H.M.S. Monarch”
1915 Star Officially impressed: “203335. D. Keohane. A.B., R.N.”
BWM Officially impressed:”203335 D. Keohane. L.S. R.N.”
Daniel Keohane, was born on 4th May 1881 in Castlehaven, County Cork, Ireland.
Joined up with the Royal Navy aged 17 on 12th February 1899, shortly after becoming of age and turning 18, he became an Ordinary Seaman (Ord) and joined HMS Monarch, serving on board through the Boer War at the cape from 4th November 1899 until 9th December 1902.
During this period he was advanced to AB (Able Seaman) on 1st October 1900.
After finishing out the Boer War he continued on to his later to be long career.
At HMS Donegal on 25th September 1905, he was advanced to Leading Seaman.
Spent a year on Empress of India from May 1906 to May 1907, followed by HMS Commonwealth from May 1907 – May 1909.
He was then on the Pomone from 19th Aug 1910 until 26th January 1912.
With the upcoming World War 1, he saw the following varied ship postings:
HMS Impregnable, 13th June 1914 – 2nd August 1914
HMS Vivid I, 3rd August 1914 – 17th August 1914
AMC (Armoured Merchant Cruiser) Caronia, 8th August 1914 – 5th February 1915
The RMS Caronia, was a Cunard Line Transatlantic Steam Ocean Liner, at the start of WW1, the Admiralty requisitioned her to be an Armed Merchant Cruiser. She was then stationed off New York on Contraband Patrol (having been put on the Boston Route earlier that year).
HMS Glory, 6th February 1915 – 10th April 1916
He transferred over the Glory, when his old ship the RMS Caronia was also stationed in the North America region at the time.
He went over to the Dardanelles, to take part in the Gallipoli Campaign in May 1915, arriving there in June.
She got to shoot her guns when she joined the Battleship Prince Goerge in Early October shelling Ottomon positions to aid the Army in Gallipoli.
At the end of 1915 the ship left the region to join the Suez Canal Patrol before returning back to a refit in Portsmouth, when he was discharged
HMS Vivid I, 11th April 1916 – 31st October 1916.
HMS Devonshire, 1st November 1916 – 21st July 1917
At this time the Devonshire had gone on to transfer to the Atlantic to protect allied shipping in December 1916, based at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda on the North America and West Indies Station.
HMS Vivid, 10th October 1917 – 16th Nov 1917
HMS Devonshire, 17th Nov 1917 – 13th Apr 1918
Still serving at Bermuda on protection duties.
HMS Vivid I, 14th Apr 1918 – 5th June 1918
HMS Concord, 6th June 1918 – 9th May 1920
With the war soon coming to an end, the Concord protected the North Sea with Harwich Force.
However once the war was finished the ship visisted the Baltic Sea, where her duties included a courtesy visit with HMS Cardiff to Copenhagen, Denmark in December 1918 and took part in liberating British Prisoners of War from Danzig on 25th December 1918 and then from Stettin on 1st January 1919.
One interesting occurrence, was that they had on board a man called Ignacy Jan Paderewski, the Polish Pianist and Composer, who was best known as a Statesman who was soon to be 3rd Prime Minister of Poland who was Prime Minister and Foreign Minister when he signed the Treaty of Versailles, ending World War 1 in June 1919.
At the time he was a member of the Polish National Committee re-organising the Polish State after 123 years of partitions, HMS Concord had taken him on board to drop him off at Danzig (now Gdansk) on his way to Poznana and Warsaw. Once he landed he formed the first Cabinet of the newly re-born Poland which on 26th January 1919 organised their first elections.
Further details on his time here:
HMS Egmont, 10th May 1920 – 30th June 1920
HMS E
HMS Concord, 9th April 1920 – 20th Feb 1921
HMS Vivid I, 21st Feb 1921 – 4th July 1921, when discharged to shore pension, also being awarded the Naval LSGC on 13th April 1921.
After his discharge he was living for a time in London during 1921.
However not satisfied with having done all that time in the Royal Navy, he signed on with the Merchant Navy, noted as “Previously in the Navy” about this time, his papers being stamped at the MM Office in Cardiff on 18th June 1924.
