大象传媒

Chapter 2 - 鈥淗MS Trinidad鈥�

On my return from leave, I was drafted as a member of the pre-commissioning party to a new Colony Class Cruiser that was being built in the Naval dockyard at Devonport. This class of ship had a displacement of some 8,000 tons and a speed of 32 knots. The main armament consisted of :- four turrets of triple 6 inch guns, four turrets of twin 4 inch guns, 36 close range weapons and two sets of triple 21 inch torpedo tubes, one Port and one Starboard. The total crew complement was about 800. Her name was 鈥淗MS Trinidad鈥�, although she was known in the dockyard as 鈥楾he Monument鈥�. The reason for the name 鈥楾he Monument鈥� was due to the continual air raids by the Luftwaffe which often caused damage to the ship, and in consequence the repairs to that damage delayed her completion. However she was finally completed and fully commissioned on the 3rd October 1941.

It was when we moved into our accommodation aboard that I realised that being an Engine Room Artificer (E.R.A.) had many advantages, the main one being, that although my rank was only that of 鈥楰illick鈥� (Leading Hand), I enjoyed the privileges of a Chief Petty Officers Mess. These included, a private and enclosed mess, a 鈥楳essman鈥� (Steward) to dish-out our meals at a serving hatch and to wash up the dishes afterwards. Finally we were allowed to take our Rum ration neat, whilst other Ranks had Grog (one part rum and two parts water). Because of these privileges, I never experienced the lack of privacy or that of being on a rota for the allocation of the day to day duties of collecting the mess rations, serving out and washing up afterwards, as was case in the lower rating鈥檚 broadside messes.

When the ship had her full crew complement she sailed out of Plymouth, up the Irish Sea and into Scapa Flow, via Greenock, and from there carried out, over a brief period, 鈥榳orking-up鈥� exercises to mould her crew into an efficient fighting force. After this we spent Christmas day in 鈥楽capa鈥�, the menu is shown in the Appendix. It was then the 鈥淭rinidad鈥� was given her first task, a Russian Convoy to Murmansk, code named PQ 8. This first convoy was to be a trip into unknown territory and a baptism of enemy fire for most of us. This experience ultimately brought to the fore, how dependent we were on one another. This knowledge was to 鈥榳eld鈥� the ship鈥檚 company into a well disciplined fighting force.

The PQ 8 Convoy left Hvalfjord in Iceland, on the 8th January 1942, and this first escort duty was to prove demanding to say the least, with us as escort destroyers we had the 鈥楽amali鈥� and 鈥楳atabele鈥�. This Convoy attracted the full attention of the German Air Force plus several attacks by the enemy 鈥楿鈥� boats that were operating in the Barents Sea. Fortunately the time of year was winter, and with little or no daylight this, coupled with absolutely appalling weather, gave us a few short periods of respite from attacks. Our only serious loss was the destroyer 鈥淗MS Matabele鈥�, she was hit by a torpedo fired from a German 鈥楿鈥� boat which was lying in wait at the mouth of the Kola Inlet. It is sad to say there were only two survivors from her total crew of 200. One Merchant ship, the 鈥淗armatris鈥�, was damaged during the convoy but made port eventually.

Ultimately we arrived and anchored in the Kola Inlet on the 17th January. We were looking forward to standing down from almost continuous Action Stations since passing Bear Island, and it was thought that we would be allowed to have a nice quiet time until we departed on our way back to Iceland. Little did we realise that being only 15 to 20 miles from the Russian / German front line meant daily air attacks and of course more Action Stations! The often foggy conditions gave us a feeling of security, but a report from one of our aircraft told us that our masts were visible above the fog bank and the air attacks were being aimed accordingly. No wonder we had a number of near misses and our moments of mental relaxation and feeling of security, thinking we could not be seen, were shattered!

The returning Convoy which we escorted, QP 6, left on the 24th January 1942, and all the ships in the convoy arrived at Loch Ewe, Scotland, on the 2nd February, including the 鈥淓mpire Redshank鈥� which had been damaged when attacked by aircraft on the 31st January. During the return journey from Murmansk we had several attacks by aircraft and submarines but they lacked the determination of those on the way up to Murmansk. We assumed this was due to the merchant ships no longer carrying vital supplies to Russia.

During our brief periods in port and not being required for 鈥榮teaming鈥� duties, we E.R.A. 5th Class were expected to complete our note books with details, including drawings, of the various auxiliary machinery and engineering parts of the ship. We worked in pairs and I teamed up with a fellow E.R.A., Geoff Bates, from St Helens. As a result Geoff and I became good friends, pooling our knowledge and generally helping one another. Very quickly we were ready to take our Auxiliary Watch Keeping Certificate, comprising, detailed knowledge of Capstans, Steering Gear, Evaporators, Generators, Aircraft Catapult, High and Low Pressure Compressors, etc., all of which we passed with a Commendation. This resulted in us both being recommended as C.W. Candidates (Commission & Warrant - i.e. Candidates for possible promotion to Officers).

Each junior E.R.A. was attached to a Chief E.R.A., my 鈥榤entor鈥� was the Senior Chief, named Wilcocks. He was about forty years of age and had been recalled from retirement. He originated from Cornwall and I found him a man of few words but a brilliant Engineer and I learnt a great deal whilst working under his guidance. I recall one occasion, when he had given me a special job of work to do and left me to get on with it. On his return he asked was the job done, I replied, 鈥淵es Chief,鈥� was it right he asked, my reply to him was, 鈥淚t鈥檚 near enough.鈥� He quickly said, 鈥淲as it right鈥� I said, 鈥淵es Chief鈥� to which he replied, 鈥淭hen it鈥檚 near enough!鈥� It was an attitude to work that I always remembered, perhaps after all the old saying, 鈥淚f a job is worth doing, then it is worth doing well!鈥� was true.

On the 10th March 1942, after a spell of Patrol duty between the Faeroes and Iceland, known as the Black Patrol, we sailed to meet a convoy from Loch Ewe, Scotland, this was one of the largest so far, 20 Merchant Ships in all. Off Reykjavik the convoy assembled and set sail for Russia on the 20th March, and was code named PQ 13 (this figure of 13 was to be an important and significant number to us in the future). On the 24th March the convoy was progressing well, but by the 27th March it had been widely scattered by extremely heavy weather, with the wind gusting to speeds in excess of 100 m.p.h. I recall that our ship was doing about 60 revolutions on the Engine Room Telegraph Revolution Counter, which would normally have given us a speed of 8 to 10 knots and yet the ship was virtually 鈥榟ove-to鈥� and making no headway. I ventured to look at the sea, from the lee side of the upper deck, and the troughs between the 80 to 100 foot waves looked like very wide, long Avenues and they were causing our ship to roll to an angle of 42.5 degrees.

Each roll was so extreme that the ship stayed heeled over for quite a while, until we thought she could not possibly come back onto even keel again. Sure enough, slowly the ship heaved herself back, only to heel over just as much over onto the other beam. This severe storm affected the convoy so much that the merchant ships were dispersed over an area some 150 miles long, to the South of Bear Island.

The widely spread convoy was eventually rounded up into two smaller groups, but some of the 鈥榮tragglers鈥� could not be found. This made it impossible for the escorts to give protection to all of the ships, and as a result a German aircraft sighted and sank two of the 'stragglers' on the 28th March, these were the 鈥淓mpire Ranger鈥� and the 鈥淩aceland鈥�. Later on the 28th March, the German H.Q. in Norway received a report from that German aircraft, and as a result sent a signal to three German Narvik Class Destroyers, Z 24, Z 25 and Z 26, which were at sea. This class of German ship was more like a British cruiser for size and fire power, they had a main armament of 5.9 inch guns.

The German ships, on reaching the reported position where the merchant ships had been sunk, picked up 61 survivors. The movements of the convoy seemed to have been learned from those survivors and consequently the merchant ship 鈥淏ateau鈥�, another 'straggler', was found by the Germans and sunk on the 29th March, 7 of the crew being rescued. The three German destroyers continued to look for the main Convoy, but instead were first found by the 鈥淭rinidad鈥� using her long distance Radar (which incidentally the Germans greatly under estimated for the purpose of both detection and gunnery ranging). Intelligence reports to our ship had already warned us of a possible attack by the German Warships, so we were fully prepared and had been just short of first degree of readiness for some little time.

Each of the Engine Room Artificers, who was not on Engine Room Duty, were allocated to specific action stations. As relatively junior E.R.A.s Geoff and I were posted to the damage control position at the 鈥楩lood Cabinets鈥� for the 鈥楶om-Pom鈥� and 鈥楽mall Arms鈥� Magazines. Until first degree of readiness was given, we were able to chat to each other and the post was a joint responsibility. However when first degree action stations were required, we had to separate and go to the deck below, one each side of a dividing bulkhead. The theory was that in this lower position, we were then protected by the ships belt of 4 inch thick armour plate.

When first degree action stations was 鈥榩iped鈥� over the loudhailer system, Geoff and I decided to toss a coin to choose who went where. On winning the toss, Geoff decided to choose the Marines Messdeck where the damage control H.Q. was situated, and there he would have company.

I went down alone into the Compressor Room which was forward of the dividing bulkhead, closing the access hatch above me. During the surface action with the German Destroyers I could hear and feel the broadsides being fired by our ship; 12 six inch guns and several 4 inch guns always shook the ship, to the extent that sometimes even light bulbs would jump out of their sockets. The reaction of our guns firing was such that it masked the impact of two German shells which hit the 鈥淭rinidad鈥� just below the 鈥淵鈥� gun turret (our ship鈥檚 gun turrets were identified by the letters, 鈥楢鈥� and 鈥楤鈥� were the forward guns and 鈥榅鈥� and 鈥榊鈥� were the after guns).

Suddenly our main armament stopped firing and I felt the ship heeling over to starboard as she turned sharply. This roll of the ship would expose the unprotected part of the port side of the hull below the armour 鈥榖elt鈥� to any incoming shells or torpedoes. It was then I felt, rather than heard, a massive explosion and the ships movement threw me against a bulkhead. I must have been knocked unconscious as I cannot recall any of my movements until someone was offering me a drink from a 鈥榝anny鈥� (a metal container rather similar to a saucepan without the handle), it was neat rum! I then realised I was sitting on the upper deck by the Aircraft Hangers, having no idea how I had got there. At a much later examination, in the sick bay, I was found to have luckily escaped with only bruises to my head and body.

Continuing the story of the action from the previous but one paragraph. Once the destroyers were spotted and identified as the enemy, previous ranging and targeting of our guns by radar, enabled us to fire our salvoes first with devastating effect and a close range action followed in very poor visibility of about 2000 yards. This resulted in the Z 26 being badly damaged by our twelve 6 inch and four 4 inch gun salvoes. The Z 26 was now unable to fire from any of their main armament was no longer a threat and it was later sunk, with a torpedo, by one of our destroyers, the German crew having already abandoned their ship. These German survivors had been picked up by one of their two remaining ships. I am not sure whether it was Z 24 or Z 25, all I know is that it was the only one of the three German destroyers which had escaped serious damage.

After the considerable damage inflicted by the 鈥淭rinidad鈥� on the Z 26, we fired three torpedoes at her, but due to icing up, only one left the 鈥楾ubes鈥� and that one, due to the control mechanism either being frozen or defective, it ran in a half circle to return and hit our ship on the port side below the armour plate, making a hole some 60 feet by 20 feet and the blast across the Marine鈥檚 Messdeck, also blew a hole about 10 feet in diameter on the starboard side. The impact of the torpedo killed 30 of our Crew, including my friend, Geoff. These events showed how fickle was the finger of fate, to decide on the mere tossing of a coin who would survive. This event was the beginning of a new attitude and outlook on life for me and it was later to remove the intense apprehension as to what the future may or may not hold for me.

A subsequent inspection found one twenty foot sheet of 4" thick armour plate in the forward boiler room gently resting flat on top of the steam pipes, the hole in the bulkhead was measured at inches narrower than the actual width of the plate, it had been literally squeezed through by the blast.

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