English seaman in the Royal Navy. Born 24 May 1871 in Lowestoft, Suffolk, and died 22 February 1947 in Yarmouth, England. Worked as a labourer before joining the Royal Navy, initially training on the school ship HMS 'Impregnable' from 12 April to 16 April 1887 with the rating "Boy 2nd Class", and then on the training ship HMS 'Lion' from 17 April 1887. On 20 January 1889 he then joined the crew of HMS 'Orlando' which was the flagship of the Australian Station. Dack, in contrast to naval records, records that he joined the crew of the 'Orlando' on 7 March 1889 at Sydney, as "Boy 1st Class". The progress of his naval career includes rating as "Ordinary Seaman" 24 May 1889, "Trained Man" on 10 November 1889, and as "Able Seaman" on 24 March 1890. He then served on the surveying ship HMS 'Dart', which he joined at Sydney Harbour, from 9 May 1890 to 3 April 1892. He went on to serve on the HMS 'Pembroke' 4 April 1892 to 30 September 1892, HMS 'Hotspur' from 1 October 1892 to 8 May 1893, and HMS 'Mersey' from 9 May 1893 to 24 January 1895, before leaving the navy by purchase. See Records of the Admiralty, The National Archives (ADM/188/196/140761).
Dack, Frederick, 1871-1947
Dack, Frederick, 1871-1947: Pacific journal and photograph album
Date: 1 Jan 1890 - 3 Jan 1891
By: Dack, Frederick, 1871-1947
Reference: MSX-9428
Description: Volume comprised of two separate works - a journal account and a photographic documentation. The first is a written account on 207 pages by the Ordinary Seaman Frederick Dack describing his naval experiences aboard the HMS 'Orlando' and the HMS 'Dart' in 1890-1891. The account commences on 1 January 1890 when Dack, who joined the crew of the HMS 'Orlando' at Sydney after travelling from England on the Orient Line's 'Iberia' the previous year, describes both life on board and on shore at Sydney. Departing from Sydney on 6 January, the account goes on to describe the sighting of Stewart Island and entering Milford Sound on 11 January, arrival at Port Chalmers on 12 January and at Akaroa the following day. The voyage continues to Lyttelton Harbour on 16 January, Wellington Harbour 21 January, White Island on 25 January and Auckland the following day. Preparation and participation in the Auckland Anniversary Regatta is described. The expedition departs from Auckland on 18 February and after calling at Russell in the Bay of Island, heads for Tasmania, arriving at Hobart on 25 February, and from there to Melbourne via Bass Strait on 15 March. Dack served on the HMS 'Orlando' until 8 May 1890 when he joined the crew of the survey ship HMS 'Dart' and left Australia for the Pacific on 22 May 1890. The journal then gives an account of visits to a number of Pacific Islands and closes with a final entry dated 3 January 1891 after the ship has returned to Sydney. The second, commencing backwards from the lower boards of the volume is a photographic work created by the hydrographic surveyor Lieutenant Boyle Somerville aboard the HMS 'Dart'. Photographs depict shipboard life aboard the HMS 'Dart' as well as capturing views and scenes from the lives of the local peoples of Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, Norfolk Island, and other Pacific Islands. Also includes a portrait of Victor Doucere and four portraits of unidentified Māori women. Source of title - Supplied by Library Quantity: 1 volume(s). 0.03 Linear Metres. Physical Description: Mss, holograph, printed matter and photographic prints. Volume half-bound in black leather with marbled paper boards, edges and endpapers, 183 leaves of ruled unwatermarked laid paper, 24 x 18 cm; includes 139 photographic prints mounted on 81 pages, with 79 blank pages between the two sections of the volume.