大象传媒

This article was written by Dick Turner for the H.M.S. Hood Association web site www.hmshood.com It tells the story of how Dick joined the Royal Navy, his early service in H.M.S. Hood and his service during World War 2.

Part 1: Joining up and H.M.S. Hood

I was born at Wilton, near Salisbury on 10th January, 1918 and fulfilled my boyhood ambition when I entered the Royal Navy on 3rd February, 1936. Initial training followed - 8 weeks of "square bashing" followed by 8 weeks' mechanical training in all the various types of machinery we were likely to encounter once we were posted. Following this the group that I had been through training with were arranged into classes of 32 men to await posting to a ship. I was assigned to Benbow class. In due course we were told that at least 3 of the classes were to be drafted to HMS Hood. Thus it was that on 7th September, 1936 I joined Hood.

I stayed together with most of my mates from training for over two years in Hood and when I finally left at least 70 of them were still on the ship.

Normally my day station was in the Hood's middle engine room. She had three engine rooms in all. As a junior Stoker my duties usually involved tending various machines and making sure that they were working correctly. The machines included:

路 Dynamos which were used to generate electricity for use throughout the ship.
路 Carbon Dioxide machinery which was used for making ice and cooling the ship's magazines.
路 Evaporators which were used to make fresh water from seawater. Demand for fresh water was never ending in a ship like Hood. Not only was it used for the boilers but also for the day to day needs of the crew of over 1,000. Water was needed on board for everything from drinking to washing.
路 Many hydraulic systems

Hood had 24 boilers arranged in four groups of six boilers each. The boilers were normally cleaned in a 21-day cycle. There was a special team for this work. One set of 6 boilers would be closed down for maintenance and the ship would operate on the other 3 sets if we were at sea. The normal "economical cruising speed" was 12 knots and Hood would make this speed on 3 sets of boilers without any difficulty.

Progression from Stoker 2 to Stoker 1 came through training and familiarity with the various machines. Your Divisional Officer would occasionally grade you in a book that formed part of your records. The grades ran "Superior", "Very Good", "Good", "Satisfactory" and "Unsatisfactory". I was fortunate enough to be graded "Superior" throughout my time in the Navy. To progress to Stoker 1 You had to take a test, although I cannot recall anyone ever failing it.

Being such a large ship it was impossible to mix socially with many of the crew so you tended to find yourself with a small group of close friends. I remember three or four shipmates in particular with whom I share many runs ashore - "Taffy" Thomas, Charlie Scrammell and "Kab" Calloway. I also had a friend in HMS Barham, Howard Blake, whom I had known from my school days. When Hood and Barham berthed at the same port I would meet him for a drink whenever possible. Howard was in signals in the Navy but later joined the Fleet Air Arm as a Pilot Officer and eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. I stayed in touch with him during the war and for a while afterwards but then, unfortunately, we lost contact.

Howard's achievement of joining the Fleet Air Arm had been am ambition of my own but I was told that the Navy has invested too much time and money training me to release me to the FAA.

In the quieter off duty moments in Hood I used to try my hand at swinging Indian clubs on the Boat Deck. I also remember many swimming races taking place along the side of the ship. I was fortunate enough to get myself onto the crew of one of the cutters and we used to compete in the 3-mile races. The less formal races were arranged between groups within Hood. A crew of Stokers would take on a crew of Seamen or Marines. More serious races were between Hood and other ships. I never managed to get myself onto an inter-ship team though.

The Spanish Civil War dominated political events during my time in Hood and I well remember the time when we raced from Gibraltar to the North Coast of Spain. There had been an incident between the British merchant ship "Thorpehall" and some of General Franco's Insurgent ships. Hood was ordered north to try to ensure that there was no further trouble. British merchant ships were making regular runs from St. Juan de Luz to the Spanish Port of Bilbao which, at that time, was still in the hands of the Loyalists. Although Franco had not declared a blockade he had his suspicions about the cargo the merchantmen were carrying and his ships would sometimes challenge one of the British vessels. Some of the crew in Hood shared Franco's suspicions about the cargoes being run but we were there to ensure freedom of passage of the British ships on the high seas.

We got up to St. Juan de Luz just as another small convoy of British ships was being assembled. One of the merchant Captains, known to the men in Hood as "Potato Jones", indicated that he was going to make the run to Bilbao. Sure enough there was an incident as "Potato Jones" approached the port of Bilbao, but Hood's presence seemed just enough to tip the balance against the Insurgents taking action and Jones managed to get through. Bilbao itself fell to the Insurgent forces fairly soon afterwards so that was the end of that situation.

Our next journey took us to an event that stands out in my mind as the highlight of my time in Hood. From the tension of Northern Spain, we steamed back to home waters to attend the King's Review of the Fleet. On the way back to Portsmouth we were taught to cheer the naval "Hurrah" rather than the "common Hurray".

During the review itself I manned the ships side about the Quarterdeck. After the Review I was lucky enough to get 7 days leave which cemented my memory of that time!

During my last 12 months in Hood I was an Auxiliary Watchkeeper - again in the Middle Engine Room. Duty as an Auxiliary Watchkeeper was a stepping stone to further promotion so men who wanted to progress would volunteer for such duty. It involved a different pattern of working shifts or "watches". An Auxiliary Watchkeepers worked in teams of four. Each team of four was divided into two pairs and each pair did 12 hours on and 12 hours off. We would be responsible for whatever equipment had been allocated to us by the Engineering Officer of the Watch. To qualify as an Auxiliary Watchkeeper we had to undergo a period on training. This entailed working with existing crew on Auxiliary watches for a period of about 3 months. Following this you had an examination and, if successful, you would gain your Auxiliary Watchkeeping certificate.

Whilst on Auxiliary Watches in Hood I remember the Lieutenant (E) in charge of the watch was Lieutenant Louis Le Bailly who later progressed to the rank of Vice Admiral. After the war he wrote a book "The Man around the Engine" about his wartime experiences - including his time in Hood.

After our return from England to the Mediterranean Admiral Blake was taken ill with a heart attack and was taken off the ship under medical supervision to convalesce.

Blake was replaced by Andrew B Cunningham who was later to be widely regarded as the foremost British Admiral of the War. Cunningham was initially posted to Hood on a temporary basis until Blake recovered his health. Unfortunately, Blake never recovered sufficiently to resume a post at sea and "ABC" remained the Admiral in Hood for the rest of my time in the ship.

There was also a change of Captain a few months later. Captain Pridham was left us and was replaced by Captain HTC "Hookey" Walker - so named because he had lost his left hand and wore a hook in its place. This of course was the source of much speculation and rumour in the crew. I heard it said that he had a gold hook for Divisions on Sunday but if he did I never caught sight of it myself!

On 10th January, 1939 we sailed for home at the end of Hood's commission. This happened to coincide with my own 21st birthday and I always considered getting home was the best present that I got. The real bonus of reaching that age was that I no longer had to attend the 0700 gym sessions on the upper deck. How fit we all were in those days!

By the time I finally left Hood on 29th November, 1939 I had earned myself a few nicknames: "Nutty" which was attributed to my taste for nut chocolate as well as "Tiddly" and "Blue".

On leaving the ship I went straight to a course held at the Mechanical Training Establishment at Pitt Street, Portsmouth which, if I were successful, would see me become a Leading Hand Petty Officer. The course lasted three months and included a month each on: reciprocating dynamos; carbon dioxide equipment; and hydraulic systems. At the end of the course I took an examination and, having passed, became Leading Hand Petty Officer.

Dick鈥檚 story continues in Part 2: Wartime service after leaving H.M.S. Hood

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