大象传媒

This is the story of my father's war, written shortly before he died in March 2004.

"Soon after the loss of HMS 'Swordance' a court of inquiry was held at the Admiralty into the sinking. It was soon ascertained that the lack of a compass on the bridge for the use of the officer of the watch was a contributing factor into the collision and subsequent loss of the ship. Also the ship did not have sufficient watertight bulkheads, which may have averted the loss of the vessel.

The finding of the board of inquiry was that no blame was attached to the officer of the watch or myself. The merchant ship was criticized for not proceeding in the direction ordered, namely to proceed. slowly south until the convoy was met.

To Scapa Flow

After the loss of 'Swordance' on 1 July 1942 I was on survivors' leave until my next appointment. On the 15 August I received orders to proceed to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Isles to take command of the 14th A/S group of trawlers. These naval trawlers were employed in patrolling and guarding, with their Asdic gear, the entrance to Scapa.

I arrived as ordered and found my office and quarters were on the HMS 'Dunluce Castle', which was anchored in the Flow. She was a depot ship with a variety of duties, storing the ships of the fleet, providing temporary accommodation for crews waiting for their ships and very often for survivors from the Russian convoys.

Skipper Lieutenants

The trawlers were commanded by ex-trawler men with the rank of Skipper Lieutenant. The ones in my group were mostly from Aberdeen, the salt of the earth, but as hard as nails and very difficult to control. My job was to arrange the patrols, deal with any repairs needed, arrange the periodic boiler cleaning, which had to be done in Aberdeen, arrange leave rosters and, on occasion, take command of one of the trawlers in an emergency.

Command of a trawler

On one occasion the wife of one of the Skipper Lieutenants was taken ill and I sent him on leave and assumed command of his ship. I could do this as well as my own job as they were on rest days: all I had to do was sleep on board and be available in case of emergency. The trawler was moored alongside HMS 'Dunluce Castle'.

The weather was, as usual, pretty bad. I was awakened by an unusual movement of the ship, got up, and, on going on deck, found we were adrift in Scapa Flow, which was full of anchored ships from destroyers and cruisers to battleships. It was a very unhappy situation to be in.

By now the officers and crew had been aroused and I gave orders for steam to be raised for the main engines and, awaiting this. which was going to take some time, I ordered the anchor to be dropped. This had the effect of stopping our drifting down the Flow.

Safely back to berth

Once steam was raised for the main engines we upped anchor and steamed back to our berth alongside 'Dunluce Castle', made fast, and as far as I know the question of our little voyage down Scapa Flow was never raised. It could, of course, have been very serious if we had collided with any of the anchored ships. Luck was with us and I was happy when the Skipper returned.

Unusual accidents happen in the best regulated of ships. One such happened on one of the 14th A/S group trawlers. A young seaman was detailed to clean a machine gun located on a so-called 'sponson', a half-circular nest below the top bridge. He had, while cleaning the gun, cocked the trigger so arming the weapon. He then unfortunately slipped and grabbed the gun trigger, which let loose a barrage of shots that went up through the bridge floor where the Skipper was working. Three bullets passed through his buttock, a fourth scorched a vital part of his anatomy and the poor fellow spent several weeks in hospital, on his tummy. The culprit responsible for his wounds was whisked away to a another ship in another base.

HMS 'Bandit'

The bleak period spent in Scapa was on occasion relieved by being required to perform duties outside of one's normal role. One of these was an interesting month spent in command of HMS 'Bandit', an Admiralty tug, a large and powerful vessel available for rescue services in the Atlantic or the North Sea.

The Captain of 'Bandit' had been without leave for at least six months, the excuse given being that no officer suitable to do the job was available. The officer concerned was in civil life a master mariner, like myself, and, before joining the Royal Navy, he was managing director of a towage company in Middlesborough. We met on occasion in 'Dunluce Castle' and I said that, if he could get permission from the Admiral commanding the base, I should be happy to relieve him for a month.

He got permission and, as I had an assistant who could manage for the time I would be away, I took over and my friend went on his well-deserved leave.

Towing targets

In the event we were never called on to provide a rescue service during my time on board. Our daily chore was to tow targets for the battle fleet shoots. This entailed towing an eighty-ton target mounted on a pontoon, height about eighty feet. We would proceed out of Scapa to the designated area with a spotting party on board to record the fall of shot for later analysis. Once in position - the target was towed with about 300 fathoms of towline - the signal would be given and the shoot would begin.

All that could be seen of the battleships was the fighting top at about twelve miles. It is hard to believe, but the 14 inch shells can be seen in the air during the firing. The spotting officer knew exactly when to look and, sure enough, I saw the shells straddle the target and bounce away across the sea for miles. On one occasion the first salvo shattered the top of the target which had to be repaired on return to port.

Massed destroyer shoots

These shoots were reasonably safe, the ones which were not were the massed destroyer shoots which always took place at night. The tug and target were on opposite courses to the destroyers, both proceeding at high speed. The danger can be imagined as the destroyers were using four-inch guns as well as pom poms, which were quite high calibre. The safety provided was a row of different coloured lights across the ship from stem to stern. In the event of the firing becoming dangerous, which it often did, the lights were switched on with the effect that the shoot was stopped.

Back to the 14th A/S

A very interesting month - but I was happy to hand back HMS 'Bandit' and resume my work with 14th A/S group. My friend was very grateful for his leave.

Scapa did not provide much to brighten the lives of its service personnel, except for the rare visits of ENSA in the form of concert parties, or, on occasion, a well know theatre star; one such was Tommy Trinder. Otherwise entertainment was home-grown.

The Admiral's cap

The following incident could have been serious, but in the event I believe lightened the lives of the matelots. The Admiral commanding Orkneys and Shetland was returning in his barge after visiting the fleet. Two of the barge crew, detailed to hold the barge alongside the quay, failed to do so. Just as the Admiral was stepping out of the barge it sheered away from the quay and, instead of stepping ashore, he stepped between barge and the quay.

In the next second all that was visible was his Admiral's cap. He was quickly pulled out of the water and was none the worse for his misfortune. I hesitate to think of what happened to his coxswain and barge crew.

Reluctant censor

One chore when based in 'Dunluce Castle', which I did not like, was the censoring of the ratings' outgoing mail. This had to be done every evening after dinner, and was normally done without comment. The one exception was the C of E padre who had a habit of commenting on the contents of some of the letters. The RC padre, one of the nicest men aboard the ship, pointed out how distasteful this was but this had little effect on this moron.

After fourteen months at Scapa in command of 14th A/S group (the trials and tribulations of which I have recorded elsewhere) my long awaited appointment arrived. My orders were to proceed to Smith's Dock, South Bank, Middlesborough, to assume command of HMS 'Kenilworth Castle' (a Corvette) on completion of building."

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