大象传媒

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

"My service in the Royal Navy commenced in December 1940, when I was commissioned as Sub Lieut RNR on three months probation before being promoted Lieutenant. My first appointment was to the Anti submarine training base H.M.S. Nimrod in Campbeltown, Mull of Kintyre in Arglyllshire for a two week course in Naval routine and anti submarine warfare.

The training was pretty hectic from early morning to late at night and included working with a training submarine, manning the anti submarine detection gear or asdic as it was called, after a full day at sea rest was all that was required, which was just as well as there was nothing to do except sit in the wardroom or go to bed.

My first appointment on arrival in Harwich was to a naval trawler HMS Greenfly as First Lieut. and the first job we did was lonely and unpleasant. It involved guarding a position which in peacetime was occupied by the Shipwash light vessel. Our job was to watch for German E boats which had a habit of lying in wait for approaching convoys on passage to the Thames or the South coast. As our good luck would have it we never encountered them, which was just as well. Our armament of one four inch gun and two machine guns carried on sponsons on each side of the lower bridge, our anti submarine equipment, was of no value against E boats which had torpedoes and considerable other armament. We would have been no match for them, especially as they usually hunted in pairs .

Soon after my arrival in Dovercourt, from my training course in Campbeltown, Argyllshire, a demonstration was given of a line throwing gun, used to fire over a ship in distress, as a prelude to securing a breeches buoy to the vessel to effect their rescue. It was also used to fire a line to a ship which was being prepared for towing. In charge was a chief petty officer, the trial of this equipment was being watched by a large crowd of naval personnel, including Wrens from the base. The line was to be fired into the river Stour and, after a brief introductory talk, the chief petty officer turned facing the river and fired the gun. The gun misfired and exploded into his body, almost blowing him in two and he was dead before his body hit the ground. This was almost my introduction to life on the base.

The result of the inquiry into this tragedy I never did find out. Soon after it occurred we were away at sea on convoy duty, but I believe it had a deep effect on the people who observed the loss of the C.P.O's life and was a sign of how short life could be in this time of war.

The short period I was in Greenfly we did no convoy work, this commenced when I
was promoted to command HMS Swordance

On one Northbound convoy we came under bombing attack, one of the Northbound colliers was struck aft and severely damaged, the engines put out of action, but it was believed it was possible to salvage her. I was instructed to tow the vessel, if possible, to the Humber which was the nearest port. A line was fired aboard and after a struggle a tow line was connected and we commenced to tow. Unfortunately the damaged vessel's steering gear had been disabled, with the rudder in the hard to starboard (Right) position. This made it virtually impossible to tow in a straight line, the vessel being towed was anywhere except dead astern where it should have been.

By now the rest of the convoy had gone on its way Northwards and we were alone with our troubles. We towed all night and in the early morning a signal was received from the stricken vessel that it was sinking. The weather was reasonable so I put the Swordance alongside our friend and took off the crew. None of them was hurt in the bombing and there were no injuries when they disembarked into Swordance. The ship sank about an hour later. We reported the position to the Admiralty and proceeded on our way North where we disembarked our passengers.

Whilst berthed in Dovercourt, during our rest period, word was received that eight ships had stranded on the Haisbrough sands, off the Norfolk coast.
The set of the tide in this area was unpredictable and in view of the absence of navigation aids, which may have helped the enemy, the passage of convoys both North and South was extremely hazardous.

Watch was kept on the Radio Telephone but there was little we could do. Fortunately the weather was not severe and although some lives were lost most of the crews were saved, although I believe most of the ships were a total loss.
This was, as far as I know, the only occasion that ships were lost in the area in this way.

The reason for the disaster could have been accounted for by the uncertain movement of the tidal streams plus the usual slow speed of the convoys, also the strength and direction of the wind could have had an effect .

The last voyage of HMS Swordance was with a small convoy, from Loch Linnhe near Oban, North about to the Firth of Forth. As senior officer of the small number of trawler escorts (Three) I was responsible for getting the ships under way and escorting them up through the Sound of Mull, past Tobermory and out into the Atlantic. A lot of the ships were not familiar with the area and the close work involved, so, until we got clear of the narrow waters, great care had to be taken.

Once clear of the Sound of Mull the next narrow waters were the Minches, a channel between the mainland of Scotland and the Outer Hebrides. The next landfall was Cape Wrath and, after rounding that the next hazard was the Pentland firth, which is the channel between the mainland of Scotland and the Orkney Islands.

Once through the Pentland Firth, and having been on the bridge in excess of fifteen hours, the convoy in two columns and proceeding South at eight knots, I turned in fully dressed ready to be called at a moments notice. We expected to be joined by a ship leaving the Moray Firth and, the weather being clear, we did not expect any problem. The ship should have been steaming slowly South until it sighted us and joined. However it was steaming slowly North, the weather closed in to dense fog and, before the officer of the watch could call me, this ship appeared at close range. The officer on duty went hard to starboard to avoid this ship and was struck by the leading ship of the convoy. The bow of the ship penetrated the starboard side of Swordance to within three feet of my bunk bed.
In the few seconds it took me to get out of my bunk my feet were in inches of water, it was obvious we were badly damaged, the other ship drifted apart and we lost sight of it. The ship's crew were mustered at lifeboat stations and the other escorts were informed by Radio Telephone of the position. It was quickly obvious that the ship was going to sink, so I ordered the crew to abandon ship. The lifeboats were lowered and manned, the ship's papers and code books accounted for, all hands were accounted for and, thirty minutes after the collision, HMS Swordance sank.

A tragic end to a happy ship."

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