3 January 1867 : Born at 512 Commercial Road, Portsea, Portsmouth, son of Engineer Peter Greetham RN and Rosina Ann Greetham (nee Nibbs)
 

1 February 1867 : Charles’s birth registered by his father
 

1874 : Peter Greetham retires from Royal Navy
 

March 1881 : Census shows Charles, aged 14, staying with his maternal grandparents, John T Nibbs (66-year-old retired master baker) and Ann Nibbs (70), at 510 Commercial Road, Portsea. No other residents are recorded at that address
 

1 July 1882 : Chamberlain’s Portsmouth Directory of 1887-88 lists Charles as an engineer student from this date at HMS Marlborough, the RN School of Engineer Students at Portsmouth (Marlborough, launched 1855, was a 1st rate used as a training ship for engineers from 1878. She became a receiving ship in 1890 and   was renamed Vernon II in 1904)
 

1 July 1888 : Charles joins HMS Asia as Royal Naval Assistant Engineer in an acting capacity. Asia was flagship of the Admiral Superintendent at Portsmouth from ca 1862 to 1905. (Asia was a 2nd rate 84, 2,289bm, 197 x 52ft, launched at Bombay Dockyard 19 January 1824. Became guardship in 1828.  Sold 7 April 1908 to Merveille, Dunkirk)
 

1 October 1888 : Begins training at RN College, but borne on the books of HMS President
 

14 May 1889 : Navy Lists show him serving from this date with the troopship HMS Orontes, which was engaged on the run to India
 

1 June 1889 : Greetham’s Passing Certificate as Engineer lists him as serving with HMS Royal Adelaide from 17 May 1889, joining the Orontes on 1 June as an Assistant Engineer, no longer in an acting capacity. His later Passing Certificate as Chief Engineer confirms him as an Assistant Engineer with the Orontes from 14 May, but confusingly still shows he was with the Royal Adelaide from 17 May to 31 May (Orontes was an iron steam troopship of 4,857 tons, 300 x 442ft; 3-4pdr; Launched Laird 22 December 1862.  Lengthened in 1876 to 5,600 tons. old 3 July 1893 for breaking up on the Thames). (Royal Adelaide had been a 1st rate 104, 4,122 tons, 198 x 54ft.  She was launched at Plymouth Dockyard in 1828 after nine years on the stocks. She became a depot ship in July 1860 and was eventually sold for breaking up in 1905)
 

1 August 1891 : Previous service on Passing Certificate shows him with Orontes and at RN Hospital, Malta, from this date until 23 January 1892
 

24 January 1892 : Passing Certificate lists him as serving with HMS Inflexible until returning to Orontes.  Again, there is a conflict between this and the information on his later Chief Engineer’s certificate
 

2 March 1892 : Passing Certificate of Qualification for Engineer is signed at Malta. Also confirms he can swim
 

1 April 1892 : Posted to battleship HMS Collingwood in the Mediterranean, where the ship served from November 1889 to March 1897 (The Collingwood, 9,150 tons, measured 325 x 68ft; 4-12in, 6-6in. Launched Pembroke Dock 22 December 1882; sold 11 May 1909 to Hughes Bolkow, Dunston)
 

1 March 1893 : Promoted to Engineer, a rank later changed to that of Engineer Lieutenant
 

22 June 1893 : Collingwood is in the 1st Division (Starboard) when HMS Victoria (Vice-Adm Sir George Tryon) is rammed and sunk by HMS Camperdown (Rear-Adm A H Markham) off Tripoli, Syria.The fleet of 11 warships had weighed anchor and left Beruit at 10am that day, heading for Tripoli. The accident occurred just after 3.30pm  following Tryon’s order for the two columns of ships to reverse direction by turning inwards, towards one another.  (A well-known photograph of the Victoria just about to disappear below the waves was taken from the Collingwood)
 

8 February 1894 : Passing Certificate of Qualification for Chief Engineer is signed at Malta while Charles still serving with the Collingwood
 

14 February 1895 : Joins battleship HMS Sans Pareil, which had been in the Mediterranean since February 1892.  She served there until April 1895 when she was paid off into the Fleet Reserve at Sheerness as portguard ship and tender to Wildfire.  (The Sans Pareil was 10,470 tons, 340 x 70 ft; 2-16 3in, 1-10in, 12-6in,  9-6pdr. Launched Thames IW 9 May 1887; sold 9 April 1907 to Ward. She, too, had been part of the Tryon's fleet when the Victoria was sunk)
 

18 October 1895 : Posted to battleship HMS Inflexible, then portguard ship at Portsmouth She was reduced to Fleet Reserve in October 1897 and Dockyard. Reserve in November 1901  (The Inflexible, 11,880 tons, measured 320 x 7 5ft; 4-1 6in MLR, 8-4in. Launched Portsmouth Dockyard 27 April 1876; sold 15 September 1903  to Ward, Preston)
 

11 September 1896    Lent from HMS Victory to the twin screw special service vessel HMS Seahorse in lieu of a chief engineer. The Seahorse was on surveying  duties (The 670-ton Seahorse was launched by Laird on 7 July 1880.  She  measured 160ft x 26ft and was armed with one 12pdr.  She was sold  on 1 May 1920)
 

21 January 1898 : Posted to the new second class cruiser HMS Doris (Capt R C Prothero) (Doris , 5,600 tons, had been launched at NC&A (Vickers) at Barrow on 3 March 1896 and was completed in November 1897. She was quickly sent to the Cape as flagship)
 

5 February 1898 : Charles makes out will leaving all his estate to his wife, Grace Florence Maud Greetham, who is appointed executrix. Address given as  83 Queen’s Road, Portsmouth.
 

1899 : Doris is still the flagship of Rear-Adm Robert H. Harris who takes her on a series of the East and West Africa coasts. He is aware of the deteriorating political situation with the Boer republics and spends much of the year preparing his squadron for the conflict which he fully expects. Doris is anchored in Simons Bay when war breaks out in 1899.  A  naval brigade is landed from the Doris, Powerful, Terrible and Monarch. Charles is not part of this brigade, but the Cape Colony bar to his Queen’s South Africa   Medal shows that he served ashore.  Some engineer officers assisted at Capetown with the transports. He may also have been involved in the setting up of the guns, or in fitting one of the Doris’s searchlights to a military train, although short-term dockyard work did not qualify for a Cape Colony clasp
 

5 December 1899 : Doris assists in rescue and salvage operations after the S.S. Ismore  runs aground on the Western Cape shore
 

19 December 1899 : Doris anchors at Durban where Gen Sir Redvers Buller had recently arrived. She lands two 4.7in guns for service with the Natal Field Force, although they were manned by officers and ratings from other ships
 

January 1900 : Two more 4.7in guns are landed at East London.
 

3 March 1900 : Captured Boer General Cronje arrives at the Cape and is given the Admiral’s quarters aboard the Doris before being taken to St Helena
 

1 June 1900 : A landing of cavalry from the Doris at Kosi Bay is cancelled and the ship returns to Port Elizabeth to offload surf boats before going to Simons Bay on 11 June
 

September 1900 : Doris visit Delagoa Bay for the first landing and, after cruising off the Natal coast for a short time, returns to Simons Bay on 4 October
 

January 1901 : Adm Harris hears of the grounding of the cruiser HMS Sybille in Lambert’s Bay. On arrival in the Doris, he realises the Sybille is a total  loss and, after   supervising the start of salvage operations, returns to Simons Bay. Doris then sails immediately for Mossel Bay to counter a Boer thrust towards Port Elizabeth; returns on 16 February
 

15 April 1901 : Doris sails for Plymouth to pay off as Adm Harris had been allowed to keep the ship on station longer than was normal so that he could return in his own flagship. On arrival at Devonport the officers and men who had served ashore  from the Doris and Barrosa parade through the streets before attending a dinner in their honour
 

28 August 1901 : Charles is posted to the torpedo school at HMS Vernon
 

1 June 1903 : Joins second class cruiser HMS Pallas, then on the North America and West Indies station. (The Pallas, 2,575 tons, measured 265 x 41ft; 8-4.7in, 8-3pdr; launched Portsmouth Dockyard 30 June 1890.  Sold July 1906 at Bermuda)
 

13 March 1905 : Posted to third class cruiser HMS Pandora, which since the previous year had been at Portsmouth with only a nucleus crew.  She remained in reserve until she was sent out on special service in 1908 (Pandora, 2,200 tons, 305 x 362ft; 8-4in, 8-3pdr; launched Portsmouth Dockyard 17 January 1900.  Sold 7 October 1913, Ward, Morecambe)
 

28 November 1905 : Joins submarine depot ship HMS Thames, commanded by Capt Edgar Lees, Inspecting Captain of Submarine Boats.  The Thames was  fitted as floating workshop; complement 187.  She was moored with the powder and quarantine hulks high in Fareham Creek, Portsmouth, because submarines were a new and uncertain weapon. Charles’s duties include service in subs (Thames was a second class cruiser of 4,050 tons, 300 x 46ft; 2- 8in, 10-6in launched Pembroke Dock 3 December 1885. Depot ship 1903. Sold 13 November 1920 and renamed General Botha, training  ship at the Cape; reverted to Thames 1942 as accommodation ship. Scuttled 13 May 1947 in Simons Bay)
 

18 April 1906 : After conversion at Portsmouth, HMS Mercury is commissioned as a depot ship and takes over as Captain (S), at that time still Capt Lees
 

19 April 1906 : Charles is posted to Mercury.  Navy List shows him for duty with subs (During his time in general service he had gained much experience  working with torpedoes) (Mercury was a despatch vessel; second class cruiser; 3,730tons; 300 x  46ft; 10-64pdr. Launched Pembroke Dock 17 April 1878. Depot ship 1906.  Sold 9 July 1919 to Forth Shipbreaking Co, Bo’ness)
 

12 November 1906 : Capt Lees relieved by Cmdr (later Capt) Sydney S Hall as Inspecting Commander of Submarine Boats
 

January 1907 : Navy List shows 19 submarines attached to Mercury
 

1 April 1907 : Charles promoted to Engineer Commander and reappointed for duty with submarines (Holland class, early A-class and B-class)
 

July 1907 : By this date Mercury is specifically allocated the Portsmouth (Home Ports) submarine flotilla, separate from the Thames which mothers the fleet submarines. Mercury has the five Holland boats, A1-6, A11-12, B1, B4 and HMS Hazard attached
 

9 November 1907 : Charles joins second class cruiser HMS Astraea on the China Station. (Astraea 4,360 tons; 420 x 49ft; 2-6in, 8-4.7in, 8-6pdr.  Launched Devonport Dockyard 17 March 1893.  Sold 1 July 1920 to Castle; resold and broken up in Germany)
 

1909 : Navy Lists show Charles as an officer qualified in submarine boat duties
 

12 April 1910 : Posted to HMS Repulse, but borne on the books of HMS Victory at Portsmouth. The Repulse, which had undergone a refit in 1906-07, joined the 4th Division HF Devonport in April 1909 until replaced by the Majestic as parent ship of the battleship group in August 1910.  She was towed to Motherbank in 1910 and was sold the following year for  £33,550.  (Repulse was a 14,150-ton battleship, 380 x 75ft; 4-132in, 10-6in, 16-6pdr; Launched Pembroke Dock 27 February 1892. Sold 11 July 1911 to Ward, Morecambe)
 

1 March 1911 : Posted to storeship/destroyer depot ship HMS Tyne (complement 172). She was serving with the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla, Home Fleet. Charles also listed for duty with TBs (Tyne was the ex-Mariotis, 3,560 tons, 320 x 34ft; 1-24pdr.  Launched by Armstrong in 1878 and purchased on 8 March that year. Foundered  15 November 1920 in a gale off Sheerness while on the sale list)
 

10 May 1913 : Joins cruiser HMS Natal in the Grand Fleet. (The Natal was an armoured cruiser of  13,550 tons, 480 x 732ft; 6-9.2in,  4-7.5in, 2-12pdr, 28-3pdr.  Launched Vickers Maxim, Barrow,  30 September 1905)
 

Spring 1914 : Home Fleet, including the 2nd Cruiser Squadron (Natal, Shannon, Achilles and Cochrane), cruises the west coast of Spain. On its way  home, 2CS is invited by the French government to visit Brest
 

15 June 1914 : Natal visits Norway with 2CS
 

20 July 1914 : Natal takes part in the Fleet Review with 2nd CS
 

1915 : Natal’s canteen committee decide to use some of the money sent from Natal State in South Africa to buy a silver commemorative medallion  for every member of the crew. (The people of Natal had remained loyal during the South African War and in 1905 they contributed towards cost of building the cruiser. When hostilities were declared in 1915, they raised money for ‘comforts’ for the crew. Gifts of food and clothing were sent, followed  later by money)
 

30 December 1915 : While lying at anchor with her squadron in Cromarty Firth, Natal is rent by a series of    violent explosions.  Flames belch from her and within five minutes she becomes a blazing wreck, soon capsizing.  There are visitors aboard on board at the time, including children and Navy nurses, who had been invited    to watch a film show. Over 400 officers and men, more than half the ship’s company, perished with her. A subsequent inquiry decided that faulty cordite was to blame. Charles was ashore supporting his engine room football team and was  therefore among the survivors who witnessed the catastrophe from the Fleet playing fields (See They Called It Accident, by A. Cecil Hampshire)
 

1 January 1916 : Newspaper reports give early details of the tragedy and list Charles as one of the most senior officers to survive. Memorial service attended by Admiral Jellicoe and other flag officers held aboard HMS Shannon close to the partially submerged wreck of the Natal. Wreaths dropped on the water
 

25 January 1916 : Charles is posted to HMS Redoubtable. Redoubtable was the former battleship Revenge, renamed 2 August 1915 as a ‘bombarding ship’ with 4-12in and 6-6in. Drawing up to 29ft, she was very unsuitable  for coastal work in shallow water & minefields, but figured in several operations and was afterwards very useful in carrying out firing trials in the Thames, on which subsequent long-range bombardments were based.  Afterwards replaced and subsequently paid off.  Tender to HMS Victory 1 January 1918 to February 1919 and then placed on the sale list. (She was 14,150 tons and 380 x 75ft; originally armed with 4-132in, 10-6in, 16-6pdr.  Launched  Palmer 3 November 1892.  Sold 6 November 1919 to Ward)
 

7 January 1918 : Final posting to HMS Victory where he was on miscellaneous duties as one of the assistants to Eng Rear-Adm William G Mogg, who was on general staff duties at the Portsmouth base
 

6 August 1918 : Promoted to Engineer Captain and retired
 

29 November 1924 : Dies in the Bristol registration district   (GRO Ref: 6a 18)
 

17 January 1925 : Probate granted to Greetham’s widow, Maud