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Image Not Available for HMS EXCELLENT
HMS EXCELLENT
Image Not Available for HMS EXCELLENT

HMS EXCELLENT

Date1928
Object number00036208
NameCap tally
MediumCloth
DimensionsOverall: 30 x 380 mm
ClassificationsClothing and personal items
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from John B Kiley
DescriptionHMS EXCELLENT a shore establishment of the Royal Navy near Portsmouth specialising in naval gunnery. John Berchmans Kiley arrived in Portsmouth on 12 April 1928 on the last cruise of HMAS MELBOURNE. He remained in port to crew the new HMAS AUSTRALIA which departed Portsmouth on 3 August 1928 for Australia.HistoryJohn Berchmans Kiley was born on 29 January 1910 and joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1925. He began his naval service on HMAS TINGIRA, a ship for boy sailors moored at Rose Bay in Sydney, where he trained for 15 months. He served on HMAS SYDNEY for around 12 months before joining HMAS HMAS MELBOURNE on its last voyage to England in 1928, returning home on the new HMAS AUSTRALIA in the same year. John undertook four years of training at HMAS CERBERUS studying a range of gunnery courses. Kiley reached the rank of Leading Seaman, and to his great disappointment was invalidated out of the navy around 1930 due to respiratory illness.