HMS Thermopylae (photo courtesy: NMRN) I had previously been on HMS Devonshire from 1964 to 1966, but after six months on a WWII converted destroyer, I thought I was joining a cruise liner. Later, I was on the Thermopylae after…
Continue Reading →HMS Devonshire (photo courtesy: NMRN) HMS Devonshire was in Malta in 1979. I went ashore and got talking to a couple of pensioners from the UK. The lady asked if I was off the "lovely ship in the harbour?" I…
Continue Reading →Robert Cross, HMS DevonshireThe electrical mess deck on HMS Devonshire, when the dockyard paintersrefused to paint over these. This was a fantastic day, at the time in 1971, she was the largest warship toget that far up the Thames to…
Continue Reading →Fran Wright, Fleet Photographic Unit As duty photographer, I was assigned to cover a VIP visit in 1982 from Countess Mountbatten of Burma to HM Dockyard Portsmouth, accompanied by veterans from the HMS Kelly Old Comrades Association. In time-honoured tradition…
Continue Reading →HMS Repulse (Photo Courtesy: NMRN) There were many amusing stories that came out of this of course. One famous story of a foreplanesmen bringing the boat too shallow, when asked by the Captain why he was so much off depth,…
Continue Reading →Nigel Turner, HMS Fife Picture taken onboard HMS Fife, a D20 County Class Destroyer. I joined on the 4th of March 1972 and stayed on her for just over 18 months. This was my first seagoing draft since joining the…
Continue Reading →Nigel Turner, HMS Beagle I joined HMS Beagle (straight after leaving HMS Fife) joining 15th October 1973 at Chatham and served on her for 14 months. I was one of two chefs on board and soon realised that on a…
Continue Reading →Nigel Turner, Falklands War Much about the Falklands War is already documented. At the end of the hostilities I put an idea to the Captain about making a celebratory cake and presenting it to the Islanders. The cake was made…
Continue Reading →Paul Vassay, HMS Alliance The first story on Alliance was January 1968, whilst heading back to Gosport from exercises in the channel, we were racing Ambush back to base. We had a racing trim on, stern lower in the water…
Continue Reading →During my time in Blake and Walrus I was a Surgeon Lieutenant RN. I was supposed to have put my pussah’s grip on Artemis - but she went glug glug alongside the wall in HMS Dolphin (1971), hence my first…
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