Royal Navy Requests

This is something I run into every once and a while and try to move things forward, or at least re-learn what I knew. Rather than continue to have to re-learn every time, I figured I'd post what I knew here so I or others can reference it in the future.

In the year before the official US entry into WWII, there were several Royal Navy ships that came to American ports for repairs following war damage. Needless to say, helping a country during war when we were professing to be neutral was highly "questionable," to say the least. The US Navy needed to track costs, but in a way that was more secure.

Thus became the "Work Request," where repairs to foreign ships were classified in a system that did not mention name or nationality, stripping all but a numeric identity from all correspondence. I first came across this with Work Request 126, for HMS Warspite, which was repaired at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. I've seen them much higher, so it appears that the Navy kept the system in place throughout the war, likely as a convenient system to continue to track work on foreign ships.

Jerry Leslie mentioned that there are different terms the US Navy used over time and we know that the Royal Navy had their own nomenclature. A memo Jerry referenced, dated September 3, 1941, uses the term "British Advisory Repair Mission," or "BARM" for short. In July of 1942 this is changed to British Admiralty Maintenance Representative, or BAMR. The Royal Navy, for their part, organized their forces working with North American under groups referred to as the "British Admiralty Delegation" with a special group focused on repair (BADR).

The ones I know for sure:
Work Request 104 - HMS Liverpool - Mare Island Naval Shipyard 1941
Work Request 126 - HMS Warspite - Puget Sound Naval Shipyard 1941

These additional listings come via Sean Hert, Roger Torgeson, and Rick Davis:
WR101 HMS Delhi (1941 - Brooklyn Navy Yard)
WR103 HMS Illustrious (12-41 - Norfolk Navy Yard)
WR109 70FT MBT XPT 10-19
WR128 HMS Dido
WR129 HMS Formidable
WR137 HMS Furious
WR149 HMS Cathay
WR151 MS Alcatara
WR164 HMS Firedrake
WR170 HMS Caradoc New York NY October 1941
WR171 HMS Queen Elizabeth, Norfolk NY, June/43
WR173 HMS Royal Sovereign, Philadelphia NY, Sept 1943
WR176 HMS Indomitable (1944- Norfolk NY)
WR177 HMS Glasgow (1/8/42 - New York NY)
WR178 HMS Durban
WR179 HMS Penelope (10/5/42 - New York NY)
WR181 HMS Newcastle (21/11/42 - New York NY)
WR182 HMS Nigeria
WR186 HMS Phoebe New York NY - 15 June 1943 WR187 HMS Argonaut, Philadelphia NY November/43
WR188 HMS Ajax, New York NY 5 March 1943 WR191 HMS Celandine (K 75)
WR196 HMS Burnham
WR196 HMS Burnham
WR212 HMS Avenger
WR216 HMS Biter
WR219 HMS Dasher
WR224 HMCS Eyebright (K 150) (ex. HMS Eyebright)
WR227 HMCS Arrowhead (K 145) (ex. HMS Arrowhead)
WR230 HMS Burwell
WR231 MS Carnavan Castle
WR242 HMS Devonshire
WR257 CAP des PALMES (June 1944 Mare Island Navy Yard)
WR258 HMS Churchill (I 45) -ex USS Herndon (DD 198)
WR280 HMS Arethusa (11/12/43 - Charleston Navy Yard)
WR283 ?? - March 1943 Mare Island/Hunters Point & Bethlehem Steel Oakland CA
WR289 HMCS Fennel (K 194) (ex. HMS Fennel)
WR290 HMCS Bittersweet (K 182) (ex. HMS Bittersweet)
WR292 HMS BAZELY (BDE-2), Boston Navy Yard May 1943
WR298 HMCS Caraquet (J 38)
WR299 HMS Guysborough
WR314 HMS Dido (6/11/44 - Philadelphia Navy Yard)
WR329 HMCS Collingwood (K 180) 11.15.43
WR341 HMCS Dunvegan (K 177)
WR343 HMS Uganda Charleston Navy Yard, October 1944
WR344 ??? early 1944 Mare Island Navy Yard or Terminal Island US Naval Drydock
WR358 HMCS Arrowhead (K 145)
WR359 HMCS Snowberry (K 166)

Below is a list of known numbers that we don't know the ship of, submitted by Rick Davis. Note that the numbers aren't sequential by date of work start:

Request 186, arrived 16 January 1943 - (probably a cruiser) New York Navy Yard
Request 262, arrived 11 January 1943 - New York Navy Yard
Request 269, arrived 13 February 1943 - Boston Navy Yard
Request 272, arrived 29 December 1942 - Boston Navy Yard
Request 305, arrived 3 July 1943 (main engine repairs) - Boston Navy Yard
Request 326, arrived 20 September 1943 - Boston Navy Yard
Request 342, arrived 28 October 1943 - Boston Navy Yard

Still Unknown:
HMS Manchester (Philadelphia Navy Yard)
HMS Orion (1941 Mare Island Navy Yard) HMS Argonaut (1943) HMS Birmingham (Norfolk Navy Yard, July-November 1944)