Barry joined the Royal Navy at the age of 15 and served on a number of ships culminating in the Royal Yacht Britannia. On leaving the Navy he joined the Royal Navy Auxiliary Service, a voluntary organisation which was disbanded in 1993 at the end of the Cold War. Barry then joined the Maritime Volunteer Service and also volunteered on the Steamship Shieldhall. From there he joined the team on HMS Medusa in 1998. Medusa is a Harbour Defence Launch built in 1943 and is part of the National Historic Fleet. When Barry joined the vessel, her condition was in decline, and he helped return her to sea-worthiness. He took the engineering lead, getting everything working again, and, at sea, manning the engine room. Medusa is operated by telegraph between the bridge and engine room; the engineer has to monitor this and operate the engines in response. It’s a demanding job as any error in a tight manoeuvre can be disastrous. Medusa took part in the 2005 fleet review with Barry running the engine room.
Immediately after the review, she began a 5 year refit funded by the Heritage Lottery. The engines were lifted out and moved to a workshop. Barry led the volunteer effort stripping and rebuilding both engines to a high standard, only to have his work undone when the engines were damaged by a fire at the workshop. It would have been easy to give up at that stage, but he stuck with it and motivated others to do so as well. The refit was completed in 2010 and the vessel launched and rededicated by Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal. At this time Barry moved from the engine room to the deck side and became a watch officer; while on watch he was in charge of the vessel. When not at sea, Barry was a key figure in maintaining the vessel and could do anything from rope work through painting to fabrication of parts.
Over the last eight years Barry has been the vessel’s cox’n, a responsible role as the senior crew member. Barry allocates crew roles and trains the crew in their duties. As the most experienced helmsman, he is on the wheel for entering and leaving harbour. Operating Medusa involves close team work and trust between the skipper, cox’n and engineer. Barry is faultless in his helm work.
The Medusa team has also played a part in saving RML497, a Fairmile launch now at Hartlepool, as well as helping the Coastal Forces Trust and the Royal Navy Museum with the new “Night Hunters” museum at Priddy’s Hard, Gosport. Barry played a full role in both projects.
At 87, Barry is still a very active member of Medusa’s crew and is regarded by everyone as the father of the vessel; he has been with her for more than a quarter of a century. It is very appropriate that this service and dedication is recognised by this lifetime achievement award.