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Capt. John Treasure Jones (15 August 1905 – 12 May 1993) became a well-known media figure in the mid-1960s following his appointment as the last Master of the famous Cunard liner, RMS Queen Mary. He has been described as one of the 20th century's most distinguished mariners, in war and in peacetime.〔Michael Grey in Lloyd's List, 16 May 2008〕 His forebears were men of the sea, who had captained sailing ships, and he elected to follow in their tradition.〔 His maternal grandfather Capt Henry Williams, b.1840 had captained a sailing ship and three of his maternal uncles, Jack, James & Henry, were Master Mariners.〕 He was born on 18 August 1905, at Cuckoo Mill Farm at Pelcomb Cross, outside Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire. His father, Shrewsbury Treasure Jones, was a hay & corn merchant and ran the small 45 acre farm as a side line. 〔 There was a tradition of maintaining a record of the branches in the family tree by giving the sons the surnames of these previous generations as an additional Christian name. So the sons of Shrewsbury Treasure Jones (b.1872) were : Hugh Treasure Jones, John Treasure Jones (b.1905), Robert Whittow Jones (b.1907) and Henry Devereaux Jones (b.1909). Since these names were not part of the surname, they were not written with a hyphen .〕 In 1917 he gained a scholarship to Haverfordwest Grammar School but did not complete his formal education as the possibility of employment on a ship came along, just a week before taking his final examinations. ==Early years at sea== In 1921, not yet 16, he signed on for a four years apprenticeship with JC Gould Steamship Co Ltd of Cardiff. He first joined the SS ''Grelgrant'', a 4,785 ton tramp ship, and later transferred to SS ''Grelhead''. Outward-bound they delivered coal from the South Wales coalfields to bunkering stations around the world and returned with cargoes of grain. Having completed his apprenticeship, he attended Nautical School in Cardiff. He then joined Hall Bros of Newcastle in 1926, serving first on the tramp ship SS ''Ambassador'' and then on SS ''Caduceus''. In August 1929 he joined the White Star Line as a Junior Officer first on SS ''Euripides'' out to Australia and then on SS ''Delphic''. The Great Depression set in and shipping fell on bad days. In November 1930 the Company sent him to do twelve months Reserve training in the Royal Navy, after which he was laid-off. In November 1932 he managed to obtain employment as an Assistant Superintendent Stevedore with Rea's Ltd, working with the Leyland Line ships at the Canada and Huskisson Docks in Liverpool. The Leyland Line was sold to T&J Harrison Ltd and the job petered out. In July 1934 he returned to sea with the Blue Funnel Line, in SS ''Machaon'' and then SS ''Rhexenor''. In 1937 he joined the Cunard White Star Line and his first liner, the 16,243 ton liner RMS ''Lancastria'' and by the time the war had started he was Senior Third Officer in the 26,943 ton RMS ''Britannic''. 〔 MV ''Britannic'' and her twin sister MV ''Georgic'' were advanced ''Motor Vessels'' using diesel propulsion rather than the conventional SS/''Steam Ships'' using multiple expansion steam engines.〕 He had joined the Royal Naval Reserve as a Probationary Midshipman in 1923. On completion of his apprenticeship in 1925, aged 20, he did six months training as a Midshipman in HMS ''Hood'', followed by HMS ''Velox'' and HMS ''Ajax''. In August 1929, at 24, he was promoted to Lieutenant RNR. In 1930-31 he served six months afloat in the Aircraft Carrier HMS ''Glorious'' and four months in the Destroyer HMS ''Viscount'' on the Mediterranean Station.〔He was serving as a Lieutenant RNR aboard HMS ''Glorious'' at the time of the collision with SS ''Florida''.〕 In August 1937 he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander RNR. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Treasure Jones」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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