royalnavalairservice

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The graphic sections of Sunday New York newspapers on July 13, 1919 had pictures of R-34 at MIneola: Evening Star., July 13, 1919, image 65 chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1919-07-13/ed-... New-York Tribune., July 13, 1919, Page 4 chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1919-07-13/ed-... The [New York] Sun., July 13, 1919, Section 5 Pictorial Section, Image 59 chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030431/1919-07-13/ed-...

See also

According to Wikipedia, HMS Imperieuse was formerly HMS Audacious, "the lead ship of the Audacious-class ironclads built for the Royal Navy in the late 1860s." In 1914, she was towed to Scapa Flow to be used as a receiving ship (a ship that is used "to house newly recruited sailors before they are assigned to a crew" - also from Wikipedia). A post on Rootsweb says that HMS Imperieuse was used as a depot ship for trawlers and tugs. At various other times in her career, she was also known as HMS Fisguard and HMS Victorious.

A Sub-Lieutenant C. G. Ashton appears in RNAS appointments in Flight, 17 August 1916.

Given that the RFC and RNAS were amalgamated on 1 April 1918, it may also be worth noting that a Captain Cecil George Ashton of the Royal Air Force appears in the CWGC database. According to this record, he was born in Australia and was the son of Rossi and Blanche Ashton, of Kingsmount, Kingswear, Devon. He died on the 14 February 1919, aged 34, apparently of natural causes (influenza?). The CWGC entry doesn't make this clear, but it is highly likely that his father was the illustrator George Rossi Ashton, the brother of the artist Julian Rossi Ashton.

A Temporary Lieutenant Cecil George Ashton of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (seniority 1 April 1917) appears in the Navy List, October 1917, p. 526z (via the Internet Archive).

A Captain C. G. Ashton appears in the unemployed list in the Monthly Air Force List, February 1919, p. 3451-3453 (via the Internet Archive).

His RNAS and RAF records are both available to download from the National Archive.

RNAS - reference ADM 273/23/481 Cecil George Ashton
discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C9...

The RAF records for a Cecil George born 15th January 1857 are held under reference AIR 76/12/139
discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=D8...

That obviously doesn't tie in with him being 34 in 1919 so I wonder if thats either a typo or in fact that there were two Cecil George Ashton's.

There are then Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve records for a Cecil George Ashton under ADM 337/122/330
discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=D8...

I couldn't find him on the 1911 census, but on the 1901 census for England and Wales, the 16 year old Cecil G, born Melbourne Australia, was recorded at 3 Northacre Mansions, Hampstead. This was the household of his parents, Rossi, (aged 45 and a Newspaper Artist and Entertainer from Penzance, Cornwell) and Blanche, (aged 43 and from Melbourne, Australia). As well as Cecil G, they have another son Gerald R, (aged 13 and from Melbourne, Australia).

By the time of the 1911 census, Rossi and Blanche have moved to The Anchorage, Elmcroft Crescent, Golders Green, London. Rossi is now describing himself as a Variety Artist.

His son Gerald R is now sharing a house at Hampstead and describes himself as a Head Clerk and Assistant Manager for a Concert Agency. His birthplace is now given as Victoria, Australia.

From a biography on Julian Rossi Ashton, there is this on Cecil's father, George Rossi.

His brother George Rossi (b.1857) studied at the South Kensington School of Art and became a black-and-white illustrator for the London Graphic. In 1877-78 he represented the Illustrated London News at the Kaffir war and next year joined Julian on the Illustrated Australian News in Melbourne; together they covered the capture of the Kelly gang at Glenrowan. He was among the first sketch-artists of the Bulletin, drew also for the Australasian Sketcher, the Illustrated Sydney News and the Picturesque Atlas of Australasia, and was art editor and artist for Victoria and its Metropolis. In 1886-88 he was a member of the Art Society of New South Wales and the Australian Artists' Association (Victoria). In 1893 he returned to England where he continued to illustrate for various papers and toured music-halls with a lightning-sketch routine. He published Australasian Sketches (London, 1895). He had married Blanche Brooke, daughter of George Coppin, and settled on the River Dart with his wife and two sons.
adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ashton-julian-rossi-5073

There is a Gerald Rossi Ashton whose name appears on the list of newly commissioned officers published in the London Gazette on the 2nd March 1915, effective 31st December 1914.
www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29086/pages/2115/page.pdf
www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/30199/pages/7488/page.pdf

However there is no obvious Medal Index Card for him - the nearest is a Temporary Second Lieutenant C G Rossi-Ashton, who served with the South Lancashire Regiment.

Its in the London Gazette of the 19th June 1917 we get a possible explanation for the absense of a Medal Index Card. The announcement then is that he is promoted from Lieutenant to Temporary Captain in the Indian Army General Reserve of Officers.
www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/30138/pages/6052/page.pdf