Reprinted from The Packet, November 6, 2015
by Lester Green
Urias (Roy) Smith, both July 24, 1892, was the sixth oldest child of Mary and Joseph Smith. The exact date he joined the Royal Naval Reserve is not known because no record of his engagement papers can be found at the Newfoundland Archives.
Roy (Urias) Smith, formerly of Gooseberry Cove, and his wife, Janet (Baker) in Boston.
He was re-assigned to HMS Calypso and on Sept. 23 was sent overseas. stationed to Pembroke Naval Base, Chatham, England. He joined HMS Orotava at Glasgow on Nov 19, 1915. The Orotava was an armed merchant cruiser that patrolled the waters of the Northern Atlantic.
In February, 1916, he was re-assigned to the Naval Base at Pembroke where remained until May 26, 1916.
He was transferred to Presidential III at Chatham on May 27, 1916, and remained at the base in Chatham, England until Jan.31, 1917.
His Navy papers suggest he was demobilized on Jan. 17 but re-mobilized the next day and re-assigned to the same naval base. He served two more assignments on this base Feb. 1 to Oct. 30, 1917, and from Oct. 31, 1917, to May 12, 1919. His records indicate that he spent about two years attached to this naval base.
He would spend another four months in Chatham but his next two assignments were the Vivid III on May 13, 1919, and Vivid I during the summer of 1919.
His final assignment with the navy was his transfer home to HMS Briton on Aug. 2. He was released from the navy on Sept. 19 and free to return to his hometown Gooseberry Cove. He had served approximately five years in His Majesty’s Service.
For the next four years he remained in Gooseberry Cove where he met and married a school teacher, Janet Baker, who had come to the area from Fogo Island. They were married Sept. 12, 1023, at Gooseberry Cove.
Shortly after their marriage they moved to Massachusetts and slowly lost contact with the Smith family after the death of his mother at Gooseberry Cove. Family members tend to agree that Urias and his wife did not have any children.