february 1998 inside the thefr b connectioh n merlin · afpaa centurion fnpp(acs)2c, centurio, n...

Naw Newsjoker Jackwinners -and anotherchance toscoop

~~-'l?*3fL^L ^aBt• * fe?~

FEBRUARY 1998 7Op

INSIDE THEMERLIN

^Your exclusivecutaway viewof the Navy'snew helicopterDouble-page pull-out

THEFR BH CONNECTION

BRITAIN'S operationalaircraft carriers areheading for a Gulf ren-dezvous - carrying withthem a strong signal toIraq and a valuable extradimension to the forcesgathering in the region.

HMS Invincible was due in theGulf as Navy News went to press,increasing the pressure on Iraqover the arrangements for UnitedNations weapons inspectionteams.

And just days earlier sister shipHMS Illustrious sailed fromPortsmouth, working-up as she madeher way towards the Mediterraneanand a planned meeting withInvincible in March.

Invincible and her RFA support FortVictoria have been away from home forfive months, including a high-speed cross-

• Pictured from the flight deck ofHMS Invincible, supply ship RFA FortVictoria follows the carrier throughthe Suez Canal, en route to the Gulf.

ing of the Atlantic before Christmas, butboth ship and ship's company are in goodshape, according to her CommandingOfficer, Capt James Burnell-Nugent.

Speaking to Navy News from the RedSea, Capt Burnell-Nugent said: "The shiphas coped very well - we have had a longperiod in the Mediterranean, including

Coventryin Gulfrescue

WHILE enforcing UN sanctions against Iraq, HMSCoventry - pictured on Armilla patrol - went to theaid of casualties on board a Cypriot tanker off Oman.

A medical team from the Type 22 frigate were air-lifted by the ship's Lynx helicopter to help two of thetanker crewmen suffering from carbon monoxidepoisoning. The casualties were flown hospital inFujairah, where they were reported to be recovering.

periods at anchor, so the ship is in jollygood shape.

"As for the ship's company, moods andopinions come and go, rather with thepolitical mood.

"They were all keyed up after the high-speed transit of the Atlantic and the flur-ry of political activity just beforeChristmas, but then it all went a bit flatover Christmas itself.

"It looked like we were going to spendanother month in the Mediterranean, butnow we are on the way to the Gulf it hasbecome more interesting."

The carrier will meet up with Armillapatrol ships HMS Coventry andNottingham for exercises, and will thenexercise alongside the American forces

• Turn to back page

YOUNG READERS CLUB p28-29 • ENCORE FOR DOLPHIN p27 • MOTORING p32-33 • SPORT p35-36 • RNA p 23

2 NAVY NEWS, FEBRUARY 1998

End of Cumberland gap Govt praisefor medical

"35

PRAISE for the Defence Secondary Care Agency (DSCA) hascome from Defence Secretary George Robinson for its work inproviding effective tri-Service medical cover.

matches that of the National

k<

>»

• »*-..'!

IU.

• This new picture of HMS Cumberland shows her back in business after completing the trials and work-up whichfollowed her first major refit. The Type 22 Batch III frigate was in DML hands at Deyonport for a year, during whichall her weapons and sensors were refurbished, and the junior rates' accommodation improved.

Recognising the difficultiesfaced, Mr Robertson said:"Government values very highlythe Defence Medical Services, andthe vital role they play in supportof our operational units. I rank asparticularly successful their sup-port to the C-in-C in both Bosniaand Northern Ireland."

Minister for the Armed Forces,Dr John Reid, has endorsed pro-posals by the DSCA for a review toensure Agency-manned hospitalunits can deliver care which at least

ReluctantKent atbreakersTHE FORMER Royal Navydestroyer HMS Kent has arrivedin Bombay to be broken up. Butthe County-class ship's last jour-ney was not without incident - shewent adrift from the Russian tugAgat as it towed her across theBay of Biscay.

The ship was quickly recoveredand taken into the Spanish port ofVigo where the tow lines werereadjusted.

HMS Kent entered service in1963 and latterly, until 1993, wasused as a harbour training ship inPortsmouth.

Talks OV6P Malaysian company pulls out of deal to buy destroyerminimummilitary ageBRITAIN is negotiating "anoptional protocol" over UNproposals which, if implement-ed, would raise the minimumage of military service to 18.

Other nations are conductingsimilar negotiations before agree-ing to ratify the Convention of theHuman Rights of the Child, whichcontains clauses aimed at keepingchildren out of armed conflict.

Britain's minimum age for mili-tary service is 16, but youngrecruits are kept out of front-lineunits until they reach 18.

A Ministry of Defencespokesman said: "The Govern-ment wishes to ensure nothing willdetract from the capability andeffectiveness of the ArmedForces."

He also said reports that MODwas seeking exemption from anyminimum pay legislation was spec-ulation, but that the Ministry wasaddressing the question as to howthe introduction of a minimumwage would affect the Services.

Transfer ofcommand

COMMAND of the Type 23frigate HMS Sutherland has beentransferred from Cdr MartinHarriman to Cdr James AnthonyMorse for the sake of an internalinquiry.

A Ministry of Defencespokesman said an internalinquiry required the participationof Cdr Harriman, and his com-mand had been transferred toanother officer during the inquiry.

New archiveA WORLD War II archiveShadow Over Devonport has nowfound an official home atPlymouth Naval Base Museum.The collection of recordings, pho-tographs and video tape forms apermanent memorial to the livesand experiences of women livingin a closely knit community affect-ed by war and other changes.

CAVALIER: FAR EASTPLAN CALLED OFF

Health Service. The review is dueto be completed in the spring.

Training shipscuppered incash crunch

SHORTAGE of funds has forcedthe Marine Society to pay off oneof its two training ships, the JonasHanway.

The former Royal Navy inshoresurvey vessel has been returned tothe Ministry of Defence fromwhom it has been on long-termloan.

The 240-year-old MarineSociety, the oldest public maritimecharity in the world, will continueto operate its other ship, the Earlof Romney, to provide basic sea-going training for young people.

Yeovilton winsenergy award

THE ROYAL NAVAL air stationYeovilton has become the firstMinistry of Defence establishmentto win an Energy EfficiencyAccreditation Award since thescheme began five years ago.

The award was presented toYeovilton by the President of theInstitute of Energy, Prof. JohnChesshire, at a ceremony spon-sored by PowerGcn at theDorchester Hotel, London. It wasreceived by Yeovilton's energymanager, Brian Clarke.

Frigate sunkfor pleasure

AUSTRALIA has sunk one of herold frigates as an "adventure play-ground" for divers.

The paid-off ship HMAS Swanwas scuttled in 30 metres of clearwater in Geographe Bay in thesouth of Western Australia. TheSwan, whose design was based onthe British Whitby class, waslaunched in 1967.

BRITAIN'S LAST wartime destroyer will not after allgo to Malaysia. Star Cruises, the company whichsubmitted the only bid to buy HMS Cavalier has with-drawn its offer to the ship's owners, South TynesideCouncil.

Star Cruises' decision fol-lows five months of negotiatingthe removal of the ship fromdrydock at Hebburn to PortKelang near Kuala Lumpur - amove which has been stronglyopposed by the veterans of theHMS Cavalier Association.

The company has told theCouncil that the deteriorating eco-nomic situation in the Far East andthe continuing opposition to theirplan were factors in their decision.

South Tyneside Council says it isstill committed to the disposal ofthe vessel and will now contactother organisations in Britain whopreviously expressed an interest inthe ship, but no money.

A council spokeswoman said:"The withdrawal of Star Cruises isvery disappointing. Perhaps nowthose who orchestrated the cam-paign to block the sale can come upwith some positive proposals toallow the council to proceed withthe sale of HMS Cavalier, whichcould still be sold for scrap value ifno firm offers are received."

She denied reports that thecouncil had received £50,000 as anon-returnable deposit from StarCruises. "We are the smallest met-ropolitan borough in the countryand we just cannot afford to main-tain the ship, but we would love tosee her in a permanent home andwould welcome any help the HMSCavalier Association can give."

The Association sees the StarCruises withdrawal as a reprievefor the ship, but recognises that thebattle to save her is far from over.

"We have got to go on with ourcampaign to save the ship, perhapseven more so now," sardAssociation president, RearAdmiral John Hervey.

He said the Association wouldapproach South Tyneside Councilto try to work with them to find apermanent home for the destroyer."We will be asking the Govern-ment to take some sort of initiative.We're prepared to work with themvery hard to save the ship and per-haps to raise some of the moneywhich is going to be needed for herlong-term upkeep."

The Association is plan-ning a rally in TrafalgarSquare in April which wouldculminate in delivery to 10Downing Street and to theMinistry of Culture a petitionpleading for Governmentsupport.Meanwhile, the campaign has

become more complex with thecreation of a new fund-raisinggroup - The Friends of HMSCavalier Trust, who have an ambi-tious appeal target of £1.7 million,the estimated cost of setting up andmaintaining the ship as a touristattraction at a British port.

Last year the CavalierAssociation raised a £20,000 fight-ing fund, donations to which maybe made through transfer to bankaccount 00446158, sort code 11-08-18. The Friends of HMS CavlierTrust are asking for donations to besent to them at 7 Miz Maze, Leigh,Sherbourne, Dorset DT9 6JJ.

• Letters - page 7.

NAVY NEWS, FEBRUARY 1998 3

UNCOLLECTED SALVAGE MONEY DATES BACK TO 1983CREW members involved in the folllow-ing salvage operations may not havereceived payment as they could not betraced by the payment authorities.

Claimants should write to Mrs J,Heal,AFPAA Centurion, FNPP(Acs)2C, CenturionBuilding, Grange Road, Gosport Hants PO13

Assistance by RMAS9XA.

Lochalsh Ferry.Cockchafer/Criccieth/Cairn, Dec 1988.

Cruise ship Europe and mv Inchon Glory HMS Peacock, April1992.

Tanker Seastar HMS Plover, April 1992.P&O Pride of Winchester, RMAS Bustler/Powerful Aug 1992.mv Danlca Green RMAS Salmoor/Collie, helo crew HMS

Gannel, diving team, salvage officers, May 1993.

mv Mercs Horana HMS Brilliant, Mar 1989.mv Atlas HMS Hermione, Mar 1989.Yacht Sprint HMS Artk Royal, Jul 1990.mv Halina RMAS Criccieth, Nov 1990.World Hitachi Zosen HMS Campbetown, RFA Gold Rover, Apr

1992.MT Fair Play HMS Hecate, Soberton, Oct 1989.mv Drasterious HMS Hermione, RFA Olna, Jun 1989.Eastern Falcon RMAS Sealyham, Capable, Mar 1989.

fv Emily Jane RMAS Faithful, Sep 1987.mv Ebn Majid HMS Osprey, Euryalus, Edinburgh. Alacrity,

Argonaut, Galatea, RMAS Kinbrace, Jul 1986.fv Ocean HMS Anglesey, Jan 1986.mv Antrim Princess RMAS Rollicker, Dec 1983.Hermes RMAS Capable, Sealyham, helicopter crew and ground

maintenance team, harbour launch CY4 and lighters 1406 and1409, Jun/Jul 1994.

Our Holly Anne HMS Shetland, Mar 1991.

Riverssold toBrazilFOUR more River-class minesweepers are to be soldto Brazil when they come to the end of their RN ser-vice this year.

\

IN BRIEFHMS ARUN took time out fromher busy patrol routine to host SeaCadets from County Antrim andCounty Down during a Sea Day inBelfast Lough, She presented acheque for £150 raised by theship s company to the RUCWidows Charity of NorthernIreland.

Q Q QTHE ROYAL Hospital School'sBand and Choir will give a galaconcert at PortsmouthGuildhall on March 8 in aid ofthe LordMayor's MeridianTrust. Call 01705 824355 fortickets at £5.

a a aTHIRTY-NINE years after theintroduction of the RadioSupervisor, the last professionalqualifying course graduated fromthe Communications Faculty atHMS Collingwood. Future sourcebranch communicators will attendthe Petty Officer CommunicationsOperator courses, starting in June.

Q Q Q

WINNER of HMS Drake FoodService Dept's annualChristmas Cake competitionwas Mr Tony Wade with LCHJan Fiander as runner up. Allentries were donated to localold people's homes andschools.

The vessels - HM shipsArun, Blackwater, Itchen andSpey - are to join three othersnips of the class transferred tothe Brazilians in 1995.

All but Blackwater had beenRNR ships, but now all four aremembers of the Northern Irelandsquadron, in which they will besucceeded by Hunt-class vessels.

After the latest transfer, onlyone of an original 12 River-classvessels will remain in RN service -HMS Orwell which is a trainingship for Britannia Royal NavalCollege Dartmouth.

Star dates innew season

THE ROYAL Star & GarterHome for disabled ex-servicemenat Richmond opens a season ofconcerts on February 21 at7.30p.m. with a brass band recitalconducted by Donald Hoskins.For further details call 0181 9488865.

stealerTV presenter Carol Smiliewith (left) Cpl BuglerKevin Tullet and BuglerMark Hill at the openingof the Boat Show at EarlsCourt.

The RN stand (in whichNavy News had a corner)was its most impressiveand imaginative yet, - agiant Trident submarinehousing a range ofhands-on electronic gad-getry and a monstervideo wall.

It was later visited bythe Princess Royal andher husband Capt TimLaurence, here talking toits proud QIC, Lt CdrMark Warlow.

Watch out for it again atthe Birmingham BoatShow, at the NationalExhibition Centre fromFebruary 14-22-Pictures: PO(Phot) JonGarthwaite.

Drop in in the OceanTHE DUKE of Edinburghpaid an informal visit toHMS Ocean - taking theopportunity, as CaptainGeneral of the Royal

Marines, to view theNavy's first purpose-builtamphibious helicoptercarrier.

Appropriately enough, he

arrived by helicopter atWalney, before transferringto a Range Rover for theshort journey to Buccleuchdockside and up the ship'sramp directly into the vehicledeck.

There he was met by HMSOcean's commanding officerCapt Bob Turner and GECGroup managing directorBrian George.

During a short tour thatincluded the hangar, aircraftlift, flight deck and bridge,the Duke met a number ofthe ship's company, includ-ing the Heads of Departmentwho updated him onprogress with the ship,which can carry 12 troop-carrying helicopters and upto 12 Lynx helicopters.

She can also act as a land-ing pad for Chinook hell-copters and 12 Sea Harrierstrike aircraft and carriesfour assault landing craft.

The Duke, seen here talk-ing to HoDs (left to right) CdrFrank Sherlock, Cdr FrankBrazier and Cdr DavidMarsh, returns to Barrow-in-Furness with the Queen forthe formal naming ceremonyon February 20.

Blowing hotand cold forCornwallHMS CORNWALL leavesMonmouth off West Africa this

After a visit to Stavanger,Norway, the Type 22 frigate hadearlier paid a routine five-day callat Newcastle, when 1,300 localpeople toured the ship in the spaceof two and a half hours.

Queues had formed long beforeshe was open to visitors and after-wards an impromptu concert wasgiven in the hangar by the localBritish Legion Male Voice Choir.

The ship hosted a highly suc-cessful Careers Forum, invitinglocal headmasters and careersadvisors on board to a presenta-tion by members of the ship's com-pany and Naval Recruiting person-nel. Several groups of Sea Cadets,schoolchildren and potential offi-cers candidates were also wel-comed on board.

On departure, many of the crewtook the opportunity to invite theirfathers and sons to sea for the pas-sage to Devonport - despite therough weather. She's off towarmer climes now, anyway.

Plymouth to relieve HMSmonth (see page 2).

They shouldn't doit to a vetter...THE DEFENCE Vetting Agencylast month started a new processof self-evaluation - putting theboot on the other foot, for once.

"What image does the DVAconjure up for you," it asks in asurvey of its customers.

"Do you think of a profession-al, confidential service providingthe necessary reassurance that thepeople who have access to sensi-tive information are trustworthy?

"Or do you think solely of menin raincoats asking embarrassingquestions?"

If you are not a regular cus-tomer of its services or have notbeen vetted but still wish to makeyour views known, contact theDVA head office on 0171-218-6804 and ask for a questionnaire.And be honest.


Draftv... The Medical Branch

Are you fit forpromotion?

THIS MONTH'S Draftyarticle is going to take alook at some currentmedical issues. Firstly,there is one generalissue that needs to beaired.

Leadership course criteriaare clearly explained inChapter 4 of BR 1066 but, as areminder, it is a requirement tohave completed a leadershipcourse for confirmation as aleading rate and for promotionto chief petty officer.

On receipt of a draft order for aleadership course, preparationtime is all-important and divisionalofficers must ensure that two maincriteria are met - confirmationthat ratings have successfullyundertaken a timed 2.42km run,and that they are in medical cate-gory P2 and fit for the course.

NoticeThis must be completed 14 to 28

days before the course starts.Despite this statutory requirement,too many ratings are reported asbeing unable to undertake leader-ship training up to and within 48hours of the course.

Additionally, ratings are arrivingat RNSLAM incapable of achiev-ing the timed run on the first day!While it is recognised that individ-ual problems do exist, it should beborne in mind that it is .NDD'sresponsibility to mange courseattendance. Thus, the message is

CTCRK1

"MA Eyepop reporting for training!"

that if you must comply with the 14to 28-day rule on reporting eachrating's ability. Those capable ofpassing and not able to get on anearlier course will not then be heldup unnecessarily by those who holda booking but are clearly not readyto attend. Now for the currentmedical issues.

FORCES HOLIDAYS^ FREE 1998 BROCHURE OUT NOW $

Generous DISCOUNTS on PackageHolidays & Flights Worldwide.

SELF-DRIVE holidays & SHORTBREAKS Incl. DISNEYLAND PARIS.

Special RN PRICES on FERRYCROSSINGS &Le Shuttle.

(ALSO FOR SERVICE LEAVERS. RN RESERVES & FAMILIES).

Joint Service DCI J27/97, issuedlast year, explained how most med-ical technicians, across the Serviceswere to become subject to leadService arrangements and that oneService will be responsible for therecruitment and provision of a par-ticular specialisation to all threeServices and for the co-ordinationof all manning aspects of eachcareer employment group.

The groups affected are phar-macy technicians and physiothera-pists (now Army led) and radiogra-phers and laboratory technicians(now RAF led.)

The Army will also be the leadService for operating theatre tech-nicians but the RN will continue toprovide for its own needs for theforeseeable future.

Now ten months into the transi-tional process, medical techniciannumbers in the RN are graduallydeclining and requests for Servicetransfer continue to trickle in. Forthose medical technician sub-branches remaining under RNresponsibility, operating depart-ment practitioners numbers areexpected to improve during 1998,with a healthy training pipeline inprocess, and the small number ofregistered mental nurses appearrelatively stable. The few remain-ing health inspectors however, arethe subject of a single-Servicereview, the results of which areexpected shortly.

Commando MAsFor many reasons it has been a

long and difficult struggle toachieve full 'commando trained'MA manning within the RMC. Aparticular irritation to those whojoin the RN as MAs is their lack offoreknowledge that service in agreen uniform is a likely option.

One area that has hitherto beenuntried is to target young schoolleavers at the recruiting office tojoin specifically as RN CommandoMAs. This new approach has beengiven the green light by DNR andshould be in force by earlyFebruary.

New recruits will firstly be askedto pass a two and a half dayacquaint with the CommandoTraining Centre and if successfulwill begin with basic training atHMS Raleigh followed by the AllArms Commando Course. Oncompletion, the successful entrantswill be entitled to wear the covetedgreen beret. Professional medical

training will begin at the JointService Medical Training Centrenear Aldershot.

This is the future approach.There is, however, still a require-ment to target those MAs alreadyserving. Only volunteers for com-mando training will be accepted -the recent short-term requirement(out of necessity) to draft non-vol-unteers compulsorily has now beenstopped. There is a requirement,for regeneration purposes, to iden-tify and produce MAs within theRN who have some basic level ofmilitary experience so that theymay undertake a more closelyassociated military role in anyfuture crisis or conflict. As a conse-quence, MAs will be drafted toCTCRM to undertake basic mili-tary awareness training and onlythose who subsequently volunteerto take further training will beplace on the commando course.Combined with this continuing RNapproach, the Royal Marines havealso agreed, as a short-term pallia-tive, to allow up to 18 marines toundertake full RN MA training.

The first of these volunteersbegan training last September.They will remain as GD Marineswith the award of an MA adqualand will then be drafted for a peri-

od of up to three years to an RNMA commando billet. Thereafter,they will be given the option toreturn to full Marine duties or totransfer into the RN medicalbranch.

QARNNSFinally, following the Defence

Costs Study, and to reflect changesin the employment of female per-sonnel in the RN, it has been con-cluded that integration of theMA(Q)s and MA branches withinthe RN could be the most appro-priate course of action.

MA(Q)s should be given theoption of either transferring to theRN MA structure or remaining inthe QARNNS structure until thebranch fades out. Terms of Servicefor those MA(Q)s with a sea ser-vice liability who opt for transferwill remain unchanged except thatthey would become eligible for20E.

Originally planned to com-mence on April 1, 1997, the inte-gration is still awaiting formalapproval, but if it is given, all newentrants and re-entrants wouldautomatically join the RN MAstructure. The DCI is expectedshortly.

Ocean's landing craft hit the beaches

34-36 Verulam Rd, St Albans, Herts. AL3 4DE, England.Tel: 01727 865112

it d * itii i H'jint ( /-ins; ( ///V/t tif\:t d cvnirttlty mi iitp with Riwil .N an

Please send your orders to:-The Business Manager

NAVY NEWS.HMS NELSON. Portsmouth.

Hants PO1 3HHTel: 01705 826040 Fax: 01705 830149

See Coupon tor Credit Card payment

CREDIT CARD NEWS

The above Credit Cards will not be accepted on orders of less than £5.

Please debit my card

My order is attached for

Cardholders Name:

Cardholders Address:....

. Tel:.Number Switch Issue No.

inn M inmii i ITExpiry Date Cardholders Signature Amount

THE ROYAL MARINES marked the acceptance of four newlanding craft with an Impressive beach assault atMarchwood.

After a brief ceremony at Vosper Thornycroft Southamptonshipyards, the guests, Including the head of the Royal Marines,Major General David Pennefatner, saw the four new LCVPs(Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel) conducted the mock assault.

The 15-metre long craft, which are destined for the Royal Navy'snew Landing Platform Helicopter HMS Ocean, offloaded troops,vehicles and equipment at the military port.

The craft have already been put through a series of demandingtrials in temperatures ranging from minus 30 to plus 40 degreesCentigrade. The Mark V LCVPs are made of aluminium and cancan each carry 35 personnel and nearly two tonnes of equipment.

• One of the four new Mark 5 LCVPs which have been handed over to the Royal Marines. With an operating speed of fust under 20knots they are almost twice as fast as similar craft that are currently In Service. Picture: Vosper Thomycrott


Shios of the Roval Naw No 507

Watchingover fishand menA LTHOUGH the/\ Royal Navy's Island-

A- ^class offshore patrolvessels were built to protectfish, they are also chargedwith protecting people.

HMS Lindisfarne proves thepoint, combining the roles ofpatrol ship and search and res-cue (SARj platform.

The Christmas period saw herstanding by as Duty FisheryProtection Patroller, at sea at theend of December and again earlyin the new year.

But the weeks before that sawher involved in two rescues.

Lindisfarne is one of six Island-class ships, built by Hall Russell atAberdeen and commissioned intothe Navy in 1978.

Based on the design of a largetrawler, Lindisfarne and her sisterscan be kept at sea in all weathers,and the class is used to patrol tothe edge of Britain's fishery limits,

up to 200 miles from the coast,throughout the year.

Her primary role is to enforceBritish and European fishery legis-lation, and alongside SAR respon-sibilities she also has an environ-mental pollution control role.

Lindisfarne spent the first sevenmonths of last year undergoing anextensive refit at Rosyth inScotland, rededicating in July.

After post-refit trials, shake-down and training, the shipreturned to her home port ofPortsmouth to resume FisheryProtection Squadron duties.

Since her return to the squadronlast October, Lindisfarne has car-ried out more than 70 routineinspections of vessels from fivenations, two of them resulting insuccessful court prosecutions forillegal fishing.

She was instrumental in twoSAR operations, on both occasionsreaching the vessel in distressbefore other rescue organisations.

Home waters - HMS Lindisfarne sails from Portsmouth Harbour.

Trawler landed honour

Facts andfigures

Class: Island-class off-shore patrol vessel (OPV)Pennant number: P300Builder: Hall Russell,AberdeenLaunched: June 1,1977Commissioned: March 3,1978Displacement: 1,260tonnes, full loadLength: 59.5 metresBeam: 11 metresDraught: 5.2 metresShip's company: 38 (sixofficers)Machinery: Two Ruston12RKC diesels, one shaftSpeed: 16.5 knotsRange: 7,000 miles at 12knotsArmaments: One Bofors20mm Mk 3 gunCountermeasures: ESM'Orange Crop; interceptCombat Data System:Racal CANE DEA-1action data automationSensors: Navigation:Kelvin Hughes Type 1006;l-band

[~V3R A name with so many historical echoes, HMSrH Lindisfarne has featured little in the annals of the

JL Royal Navy.In fact, the current offshore patrol vessel is only the

second ship to bear the name of one of the cradles ofBritish Christianity, an island off the Northumberlandcoast.

The first Lindisfarne, an Isles-class trawler built byCook Welton and Gemmell, was authorised in 1942,making her debut for the Navy in June 1943.

She spent much of .her time with the Plymouth-based

Escort Group C.She was allocated to the Western (United States) Task

Force and accompanied Force B at the Normandy land-ings on June 6,1944 as part of Convoy FWL 39, winningthe name's sole Battle Honour.

After the war, she was used for wreck disposal on theeast coast, operating mainly from the ports of Harwichand Sheerness.

In early 1950s she was employed in anti-submarineand seaward defence work before being scrapped atDover in the spring of 1958.

Normandy. 1944

To order black and whitepostcards of the 'Ships of

the Royal Navy' seriesplease contact Sarah

Geary on 01705826040

AIRCRAFT OF THE ROYAL NAVY No 16

• The 'mighty metal monster' - a Barracuda II with an anti-submarine Mk III In the background.

Fairey BarracudaALTHOUGH widely unpopular amongthose who had to fly It - and those withan aesthetic sensitivity who had to watchIt fly - the Fairey Barracuda Is remem-bered with some affection as a result of adaring and successful attack on one ofthe world's most powerful warships ofWorld War II.

In April 1944, 42 Barracudas flying from twoaircraft carriers, HM ships Victorious andFurious, put the German battleship Tirpitz outof action by dive-bombing her in a Norwegianfiord. For the loss of three of their number theymade 15 direct hits with 500 and 1,000lbbombs. Five more attacks by Barracudas weremade on the Tirpitz during that year, thoughwith somewhat less success.

The successful raid brought the Barracudato public notice for the first time, yet the air-craft had been in service for over a year, see-ing Its first action In support of the Salernolandings in September 1943.

Designed to replace the biplane Swordfishand Albacore, the three-seat Barracuda firstflew at the end of 1940, but production wasdelayed - among other reasons to make wayfor more urgently needed aircraft. It was notuntil January 1943 that the first aircraft, Mk Us,reached a squadron - 827 based at RN air sta-tion Stretton in Cheshire.

Only 30 Mk Is had been built before the Mk IIarrived with the more powerful Rolls-RoyceMerlin 32 engine replacing the Merlin 30. Mk II

production totalled 1,688, while output of ananti-submarine variant, the Mk III, reached 752.

The Barracuda V - whose prototype wasdesignated Mk IV - was powered by the Rolls-Royce Griffon engine, had squared wing-tips,strengthened airframe and greater fuelcapacity. Too late to see front-line service, the30 Mk Vs built - or converted from Mk Us or Ills- were confined to post-war training tasks.

Barracudas served with 22 Naval AirSquadrons, and apart from the Tirpitz raids,took part in attacks on Japanese Installationsat Sabang, Sumatra during 1944. Althoughdesigned to carry torpedoes, It seems theBarracuda never used the weapon in action.

However, the type had the capacity for ahigh payload and could carry a wide assort-ment of stores, Including mines, depth-charges - and undenting pods to be occupiedby paratroops (see page 6). Heavily ladenBarracudas had to be assisted by rockets intake-off from small escort carriers

After the war the Barracuda went quickly outof front-line service - but in 1947 took an extra-ordinary curtain-call. In December of that year,815 NAS was re-formed in Northern Ireland,taking over 12 Barracuda Ills from 744 trainingsquadron; thus the Barracuda flew on until1953.

Barracudas were powered by engines rang-ing from 1,200 to 2,020 hp, with maximumspeeds from 228 mph (Mk II) to 253 mph (MkV). All variants had twin machine-guns In therear cockpit.

bg dea

A selection of former MOD propertiesfor sale to former and servingmembers of the armed forces

with special military discounts.For more Information

telephone: 0171 940 2300


Letters

(FjQg'lPA ([FLORIDA 65^» pglVg'3

Tri-p/anetrip-up

REGARDING your item in arecent issue about the "only flyingSopwith Triplane" being based atYeovilton.

Allow me to point out that thisSociety built a Sopwith Triplanefrom the original plans for theShuttleworth Collection inBedfordshire.

Powered by an original 130 hpClerget rotary engine and finishedas an aircraft of No. 8 Sqn RNAS,our Triplane has flown regularly atOld Warden since 1992.

As far as I am aware, it is theonly authentic Sopwith Triplaneflying in the world. - C.Page,Northern Aeroplane Workshops,Rawdon, West Yorks.

I AM a member of the NAWand worked on the aircraft whichwas built over a period of 17 years.Sir Thomas Sopwith gave the pro-ject his blessing provided thedrawings were followed in everydetail.

He also said that the aircraftshould be classed as a late produc-tion model and take the next num-ber off the production line.

Dixie's propellor and instru-ments are all original. She is paint-ed in the correct colour of theperiod and carries the markings ofNo 8 Sqn. - A.W.Hodgins, Leeds.

Boyhood ofRaleigh

IT WAS with great personalinterest and memories that I readthe article on HMS Raleigh(November issue), which I enteredon January 17, 1940.

Your report giving the commis-sioning date as January 9 con-firms my belief that I was one ofthe early arrivals.

How well I remember the huts,not to mention the sloping paradeground!

My class had an excellentinstructor, CPO Dick Warren,who put forward my name as acandidate for an RNVR commis-sion, which, after service in HMSBrilliant, I was granted in 1941,thereafter serving in corvettes.

One wonders how many othersurvivors there are from that entrywhich I recall included drafts fromSouth Wales and Merseyside. -E.S.Jones, Surbiton.

People podsnever poppedfor the SBSTHE IDEA of mounting people-carrying pods beneath the wings of Harriers (Decemberissue) is interesting. However, I do not believe it is original.

Time to putathleticsback ontrack'ATHLETICS reaches new low' ? This headline in Navy Newsrecently shocked me as it must have done others. The Navy hasalways been the Cinderella of Inter Services athletics, but not tobe able to field a full team in the Navy's home port of Portsmouthis abysmal.

When serving in Illustriousin about 1949 I remember oneof our pilots recounting how,during the later stages of thewar, a similar proposal wasmade for mounting podsbeneath the wings ofBarracudas, in order to dropmembers of the SBS on clan-destine missions.

I particularly appreciated histhinking when he said that thepilot might have been ordered toLet go Starboard Watch ofMarines' and then 'Let go PortWatch"!

I understood him to say that theidea was scrapped before anyonewas actually dropped! - MajA.J.Donald, Horndean, Hants.

Actually, the experimentalBarracuda pods were intendedfor the dropping of paratroopsand the Airborne ForcesExperimental Establishment didcarry out successful live drops.Each of the pods carried, sittingin tandem, two men who werereleased through pilot-operatedtrapdoors. The idea was aban-doned because it was recognisedthat it imposed an unacceptablestrain on the paratroopers, whowould be closely confined forlong periods. One Barracuda flewwith an air/sea rescue lifeboatunder its fuselage - but the typenever appears to have carried atorpedo into action. - Ed.

Loyaltycheck

WITH REFERENCE to thearticle in the December issueabout the last of the 'Loyals', Iwas surprised that no mentionwas made of the Royal NavalAuxiliary Service.

Loyal Chancellor and LoyalWatcher (which although being ofthe same class are not of the samemark, Chancellor being some-what older and differing in somedetails from Watcher), togetherwith the other units of this classwere vessels of the now disband-ed RNXS, from where crewswere drawn as required.

The Royal Maritime AuxiliaryService's manning responsibility

was to provide, from time to time,a contingent of two to carry outroutine shipkeeping duties along-side when the vessels were not inuse.

With the demise of the RNXSthese two vessels were trans-ferred to the Inshore TrainingSquadron together with the fourRNXS units of the Archer class.

The remaining vessels wereeither transferred to the RMASor disposed of.

The last visible vestiges of theRNXS can still be seen in theform of the only black-hulledArcher-class vessels currently inservice with the Inshore TrainingSquadron.

These are HMS Example,Explorer, Exploit and Express,transferred with their Loyal- classpartners. - J.A.Nicholas, Poole.

I write as a reasonably success-ful athlete of the pre-war years,1935-38. More recently, in theearly sixties, I was chairman of theRN AA when we had as our presi-dent none other than the First SeaLord, Admiral of the Fleet SirCaspar John.

There was no question then ofnot fielding a full team but only ofplacating those who failed to qual-ify.

It might be a solution to ask theCommandant General RoyalMarines to spearhead our revival.The CTC Royal Marines have wonthe RN Athletics Cup six years insuccession. One can only admirethe motivation and support whichthe Royal Marines as a Corps soenthusiastically give to all Navysport.

The pundits will say that themodern sailor/Wren will not giveup their weekends to compete. Ifthis lamentable state of affairs istrue, then we must revert to a mid-week fixture list but this will makeit more difficult to arrange goodopposition.

Good opposition is what wemust have. If we cannot overcomethe difficulties and field a fullteam, then the Navy must reluc-tantly retire from the Inter Servicecompetition. This too would beabysmal.

Remember, a full team providesmore opportunity in numbers forour people to represent theirService than any other sport. Toachieve this, it needs the enthusi-astic support of all commandingofficers. I am sure that the athleteswill respond - and really, we haveso much talent. - J.R.Gower,Bath.

LETTERS to the Editorshould always be accompa-nied by the correspondent'sname and address, not nec-essarily for publication.

avy News

• HMS Thracian, captured by the Japaneseafter the fall of Hong Kong, at Yokosuka in1945 - note the radar mast.

No.523 44th yearEditorial and Business address: Leviathan Block, HMS

Nelson, Portsmouth, Hants, PO1 3HHEditor: Jim Allaway

Deputy Editor: Anton HanneyAssistant Editors: Dominic Blake and Mike Gray

Business Manager: Anne DriverTELEPHONES

Editorial: 01705-294228/724163 Fax: 01705 838845(Mil. PNB 24163)

Advertising: 01705 725062Distribution and accounts: 01705 724226

Additional direct lines to all business departments:01705-826040 (24-hour service)/291525

Fax: 01705-830149

Martyr toearly RDF

THE ARTICLE entitled Allin a name' in the October issueis of great interest to the manyfriends of Pat Strathy who wasthe Canadian RDF officer inHMS Ajax and one of her fewcasualties as a result of a scuf-fle with some units of theItalian fleet in the Med inOctober 1940.

There is a Strathy Road in Ajax,Ontario.

Before the war, ProfessorE.F.Burton, head of the PhysicsDepartment at the University ofToronto, started to work with theAdmiralty on the development ofthe new and very secret RDFequipment.

In one of his courses he had asmall but very bright group of stu-dents, of which he apprised theAdmiralty after the outbreak of warin 1939. Being extremely interestedin this gold mine of potential talent,the Admiralty began moves towardcorralling it into the Navy beforethe Air Force got them!

Pat Strathy was one of those stu-dents and in early 1940 he joinedthe Navy and proceeded toEngland to work with theAdmiralty on the development ofRDF. He joined HMS Ajax afterher repairs following the Battle ofthe River Plate to oversee theinstallation of one of the first RDFsets in an RN ship and then tomake it work. In mid- 1940 Ajaxjoined Force H in Gibraltar and onOctober 13 he was killed by achance shell which removed theRDF hut.

Pat had many friends from hisstudent days at the University ofToronto, including some CanadianRaleighites who were then in train-ing at HMS Raleigh for servicewith the Royal Navy. The news ofhis death came as a shock to us alland made us aware of the sacrificeswe would all have to make beforethe war ended. - A.A.Macdonald,Willowdale, Ontario.

I Trials ofThraciaiI WAS interested in the letterconcerning HMS Thracian(December issue). I enclosea picture taken of her at(presumably) Yokosuka

she paid off. How it came tobe there I have no idea.

It looked as if she was

rather than as a [being fitted with the largeand, 1 believe, very success-

ful Japanese torpedo tubesand no guns that I can see.

Strangdy.her Japaneseradar mast at the stern wasvery similar to that fitted toHMS Skate, a three-fun-nelled sister to Thracian, inthe OVEmswortn^


THE OLD SEVERAL readers have written to disillusion D.Francisover his claim to have been the first Boy GuardCommander (December issue).

D.Rowbotham, of Scarborough, was an instructor at HMSBruce and recalled when PO Boy Brydon was GuardCommander for the King's Birthday Review in 1949;M.H.Starkey of Fishguard and W.H.Smith of Stafford were sohonoured at HMS Ganges in 1957; and M.J.Austin of Hartwellreported to George VI himself when he Inspected the wartimeboys establishment on the Isle of Man in 1945.

At first sight this picture sent In by Eric Wilding ofBasingstoke goes back even further:

"As a Junior Electrical Mechanic at HMS St Vincent No 43Entry 1961/62 I was instructed to perform the duty for the 'lastof the Old Guard'. All of us juniors under training were dressedas a Royal Marines Guard of Honour of the 18tn century, withmuskets and drums, for a pageant or tattoo."

Letters

Cavalier

Lost in the ice,or maybe notYOUR article on Sir John Franklin (December) stated thatJames Ross 'first pinpointed the magnetic North Pole'. This hadbeen done decades before during many magnetic surveys. WhatRoss achieved was to be the first European to visit the magneticNorth Pole.

Ross's Victory was not 'lost' but abandoned when he found the ice offthe east coast of the Boothia Peninsular prevented his sailing north afterthree winters. Also not 'lost' was the supply ship Breadalbane. Its positionwas well marked by many witnesses and when it was 'found' by aCanadian expedition they were in possession of its exact location.

As for the position of the missing Franklin expedition ships, HMSErebus and Terror, I have several times walked over the ice and coastlineof Victoria Strait and have studied the few hydrographical surveys of thearea.

This has led me to the conclusion that the ships are probably very closeto the spot beneath where they were crushed in the ice in 1848. At thatposition the ice pouring down the McClintock Strait collides with thenorth-west coast of King William Island and surveys show that a relative-ly deep basin has been carved into the seabed as a result.

Within a few miles to the south the bottom of the strait shelves sharplyup to just a few fathoms and no wreck sunk in the basin could be drivenalong the sea bottom and up a severe slope in that (or any other) direc-tion. Any suggestions that the ships were simply abandonee to drift south-wards cannot explain why the ships' companies left the safety of the ves-sels in the April (ie, during the end of winter) nor the chaos that existedat the scene of the landing at Back Bay on King William Island.

Clearly, after 20 months in the grip of the ice, the ships were finallycrushed and sank at great speed (the Breadalbane took 15 minutes to dis-appear in much less mobile ice). However, the 'experts' still continue tobelieve Inuit tales of ships being sunk to the south-west and east of KingWilliam Island and that is where a number of futile searches have beencarried out. - Lt E.C.Coleman, Lincoln.

cafor 'informeddebate'REGARDING Admiral Hervey's letter (January issue) concerning HMS Cavalier, theNational Historic Ships Committee has never discussed the Mary Rose and is unlikelyever to do so for, as Admiral Hervey knows, NHSC deals only with vessels which are "sub-stantially intact".

Admiral Hervey suggests themaking of lists is irrelevant. NHSCis proud to have created the data-base to provide the first, compre-hensive National Register ofHistoric Ships. 1,000 ship namesare already recorded and a further1,500 expected (which shows thenumber of larger historic vessels inpreservation in the UK).

When that list is completeNHSC will be able to assess andevaluate, objectively and impartial-ly, and then highlight the vessels ofthe very greatest historic, heritageor technological significance.

The true through-life costs inproperly maintaining large ships aspermanent exhibits (somethingthey were never designed to be)are only being revealed as historicships seek Lottery funds. (The costof moving Cavalier is reported tobe around £500,000, with annualcosts of running an appropriatevisitor centre with Cavalier as themain attraction at £325,000).

Have the supporters of Cavalierprepared a conservation conceptto meet the Heritage LotteryFund's requirement to "clearlydemonstrate value for money interms of heritage merit and publicbenefit"? Does a ten-year businessplan, including recurrent majormaintenance as well as ship hus-bandry exist?

Any bid will be made as HLFfunds reduce but applicationsincrease. Does Admiral Herveyreally believe an unknown numberof ships, competing - haphazardly -for the same funds, with the realrisk that few will succeed becausehistoric ship enthusiasts cannotagree a broad concensus on whichhistoric ships are the most impor-tant, is the best way ahead?

An informed debate is needed(and NHSC will initiate it) but itmust be conducted with accuratefacts. - C.G.Allen, Secretary,NHSC, Portsmouth.

THE NHSC claims it gave nothought to Mary Rose. Of course,it is up to Capt Allen and his com-mittee how they choose to inter-pret their terms of reference.

But, as a Portsmouth resident,he must be well aware that all thepromotional literature issued tovisitors by Flagship PortsmouthTrust invariably describes MaryRose as an Historic Ship.

Therefore, she will be regardedas such by the public. And theTrustees of the National HeritageMemorial Fund, when/if they lashout another £29 million on her, willdoubtless be under the impressionthat they are doing somethingimportant for Historic Ships.

So, any huge amount of new

money, needlessly put into MaryRose, has to be to the detriment ofother Historic Ships being pre-served or coming up for considera-tion. Because it would be impossi-ble for the NHMF trustees not tothink of the money they have spenton her, when mentally balancingtheir books.

Thus, NHSC certainly ought tohave a view about that £29million,whether asked for it or not. Moreparticularly, since they may beestablishing Government prioritiesbetween ship and ship in thefuture.

Moreover, failure to state thisview is bound to be interpreted bythe public as a green light for MaryRose to get the extra funds. Fundswhich could be spent much betterelsewhere, as we have suggested.

As to their list, we accept thatNHSC needed facts, and thatGovernment interruption of fund-ing delayed the research work.

All the more reason for beingsuspicious about HMG's futureintentions. If they really mean todo more for historic ships, once thelist is complete, they should bestarting to lay aside the moneynow. The list may well become agood guidebook of historic ships.But the acid test will be: has itsaved more of them? - RearAdmiral J.Hervey, Alverstoke.

BLDG 271 RAFBrampton, Huntingdon, PE18 SQL,GPTN:x 7834/x 7936 BT: 01480 436655 fax: 436653

For all travel, flights, ferries, holidays, car hire and insurancesee the Forces Discount Brochure.

RN - A R M Y - RAF - RN

Contact one of our operators atSERVICES TRAVEL CENTRE Ltd based at RAF Brampton.


People in the News

• LMEM Steve Rowden.

Drake teamhelps schoolwith securityA SIMPLE idea put intoaction by HMS Drake hashelped increase security atthe base's namesake school.

Drake Primary School inPlymouth asked the NavalBase if it could help provideplastic name badges so thatofficial visitors could be moreeasily recognised.

WO Pete Theobald ofCaptain Fleet Maintenancewas happy to oblige, anddirected LMEM SteveRowden, among others, to pro-duce the badges.

The idea was sparked whenSteve Coleman, chairman ofthe school governors, visitedPlymouth Navy Days and sawSteve Rowden making badgesfor visiting children.

• Lt Bryan Richards.

Safe pairof handsSAFETY knowledge gained by aNaval officer and applied to a ser-vice-wide policy has been reward-ed with a commendation.

Lt Bryan Richards joined theChief Environment and SafetyOfficer (Navy)'s department inOctober 1994 to share his special-ist Navy occupational health andsafety experience.

He is the primary author ofMOD(N) Health and SafetyManagement (BR9147), whichforms the cornerstone of a coher-ent Navy-wide safety managementsystem.

The document is recognised asan example of best practice byboth the Chief Safety Officer(MOD) and the Health and SafetyExecutive, and has been adoptedby all RN commands.

i Family trio - (from left) Rachel, Russell and Adrian Piner at HMS Nelson.

Trio maintain link

Specialday forfamily

MALCOLM Hooper was aproud uncle - and dad - ata passing out parade atHMS Raleigh.

WO Hooper was attendingthe passing-out parade of hisniece, WWTR SamanthaDennett, who had just com-pleted her basic training.

Joining Mac was his daugh-ter Joanna, who is currentlyunder training at BritanniaRoyal Naval College,Dartmouth, as a Midshipman

I Supply Officer."It was fantastic that Joanna

and I could be here to supportSamantha on her special day,"said Mac (45).

"The Royal Navy is atremendous career for youngmen and women, and I'mthrilled that both the girls havefollowed me into the SeniorService."

Mac joined the Navy as aradar operator in 1967, latertraining to be a submariner.

He served on HM sub-marines Revenge, Swiftsure,Sceptre, Sovereign andTrenchant, and served abroadin Naples.

He is currently BuildingController and IT Manager inPlymouth Naval Base.

THREE members of thesame family are currentlywith the Royal MarinesBand Service at HMSNelson.

And the three - Adrian,Rachel and Russell Piner - arecontinuing a proud family tra-dition which stretches as far

back as the 18th century.Corporal Adrian, a drum and

bugle instructor, is involved in thetraining of his younger brotherRussell at the old detention quar-ters, now the RM School of Musicin Portsmouth.

Their sister Rachel - one of thefirst women to join the band ser-vice - is a musician playing clarinetwith the RM Band, Portsmouth.

Their father Alan, currentlyserving as a Corps of Drumsinstructor with the Royal Navy ofOman in the Gulf, was a bugler inthe RM Corps of Drums for 40years, joining in 1953, and hisfather clocked up 47 years in theRM Artillery - the tradition goesback more than two centuries toJohn Pitcairn, a Marine who servedwith Capt James Cook.

And the echoes of the pastextend to numerous pieces of drumand bugle music written by Alanwhich is still played.

"I'm very proud of the fact thatthey are following the family tradi-tion," said Alan.

The newest recruit appears tohave just as promising a career ashis predecessors.

"Russell's doing well," saidAdrian, known as AJ.

"All three of us were in theRoyal Marines Light InfantryCadets Marching Band in Gosport.

"There have been quite a fewmembers of the cadets who havejoined up over the past 13 years -in excess of 20, which isn't bad."

RN studentwins prizeA NAVAL officer has won secondprize in an engineering competi-tion.

Lt Helen Ashworth (24), a stu-dent at Southampton University,won the prize in the Queen's SilverJubilee Competition for a projectentitled "An Investigation of theFoot Action in BreaststrokeSwimming".

Helen received £450, a com-memorative decanter and areserved place at a conference.

• These RN students were well-prepared when it came to anopen-air course photograph - they were studying weatherforecasting at the RN School of Meteorology andOceanography. The four under brollies at the back - Acting POLynne Keeling, LW Debbie McKee, Acting PO Steve Murphyand LA John Brooks - were all on the PO's qualifying courseat RN air station Culdrose. Seated in front are Cdr AndyRobinson, in charge of the school, flanked by two instructors,WO John Keeling (left) and Lt Cdr Peter Tunnicliffe.

• Cedric and Elizabeth Dickens.

Sailor fell forpretty Wren

CEDRIC Dickens fell for a pretty Wren dur-ing the war - and recovered from his bruisesto marry her.

Cedric (81), the great-grandson of novelistCharles Dickens, and his wife Elizabeth returned toPortsmouth Naval Base on their Golden Weddingfor old times' sake.

Cedric was cycling back to his ship, HMSBleasdale, in 1942 when a pretty Wren driving atruck behind him caught his eye.

He looked over his shoulder, wobbled in a tramtrack and fell off. Elizabeth stopped to help, gavehim and his bike a lift back to the ship - andromance blossomed. They married in January 1948.

Their visit included a wander down MemoryLane - or rather, Short Row, where they first met.

Ark's civic link is maintained

12 MONTH GUARANTEE SHIPS PORTHOLE CLOCKSIN HEAVY CAST BRASS

Every clock and barometer is set in a heavy brass casing that hasbeen cast in solid brass and painstakingly machined and polished

to a beautiful finish. All products come with 5mm thick bevelledglass. We can engrave ships name on dial, cost £5.

Mounted on a mahogany plinth £81Mounted on a mahogany plinth £83Mounted on a mahogany plinth £74Mounted on a mahogany plinth £76Mounted on a mahogany plinth £57Mounted on a mahogany plinth £59

BUILT IN UK

6in Porthole clock £716in Dial Porthole barometer £73Sin Dial Porthole clock £64Sin Dial Porthole barometer £663'/,in Dial Porthole clock £513'/,in Dial Porthole barometer £533'/iin Dial clock and barometer on mahogany plinth £112Sin Dial clock and barometer on mahogany plinth £138

Postage and packing, add £5 (UK) and £20 (overseas) bRoyal Mariner, Dept NN, B. Cooke & Son Ltd., Kingston Otwarvatory,

58/59 Market Place, Hull HU11RH ••B

^Telephone 014*2 233454/224412, Fax 01482 219793 LajSU

A CIVIC affiliation which datesfrom World War II was strength-ened when the Lord Mayor ofLeeds paid a visit to HMS ArkRoyal in Portsmouth.

The people of Leeds raised £9.7million in a week in 1941 to replaceHMS Ark Royal III, which wassunk off Gibraltar by a U-boat.

The link was formalised in 1972when the Freedom of the City wasgranted to the officers and men ofArk Royal IV.

Current Lord Mayor, Cllr LindaMiddleton, was given a presenta-tion and tour of the ship by com-manding officer Cdr MalcolmLewis, which included fire andcasualty exercises.

The party also took the oppor-tunity to see the Navy of old with avisit to HMS Warrior 1860, cour-tesy of CO Capt David Newberry.

• Special guests - Lord Mayor of Leeds, Cllr Linda Middleton(left) and Lady Mayoress Mrs Kathleen Thompson with CdrMalcolm Lewis, Commanding Officer of HMS Ark Royal.


People in the NewsHome Club resident honoured after 40 years

THE DODSWORTH

• Len Fuller with son Charles.

A briefencounterMOD COURIER Len Fullerdashes around the world - andoccasionally manages tobump into his two youngestsons.

He just missed his third sonJames, a Royal Marine with 40Cdo, in Jordan last autumn,although they did manage tomeet up in Brunei in April.

But a routine trip to Cyprusfor Len a Fleet Air Arm veteranbrought him a surprise reunionwith his youngest son Charles,a lieutenant in the Navy.

Seeing two Sea Kings from814 Naval Air Squadron on theground at RAF Akrotiri, Leninquired at the NAAFI, to findthat Charles was there andcould manage 20 minutes withdad before returning to HMSInvincible, which was just offCyprus.

• Cheers - David Watts, Home Club general manager (left), Lt Col Andrew Noyes (second left) and Cpl Bugler Bob Waterhouse (right)salute Clement "Sticks" Dodsworth at the newly-named bar. picture- PO(PHOT) Jan Brayiey, HQRM

Called to the barA FIXTURE in the RoyalSailors' Home Club inPortsmouth has been hon-oured with the renaming ofanother fixture.

The former Balcony Bar is now

known as the Dodsworth Bar tomark the 40th anniversary ofClement "Sticks" Dodsworth tak-ing up permanent residence at theclub.

And Sticks himself was kept inthe dark about the move until the

• Close watch - POWEA Lees (left) and POME A Badkin keep an eye on the progress of HMSChatham's Executive Officer, Lt Cdr McCree.

Ships row for fitness..NEW sports equipment has spurred one of thesmaller ships to blaze a trail in a Fleet-wide fitness-competition while on an informal five-day visit toPortugal.

HMS Shetland now has a Concept II rowingmachine and other gear, thanks to the RN and RMSports Lottery, and the offshore patrol vessel imme-diately entered the Fleet rowing competition - thefirst small ship to do so.

More than half the ship's company - 20 people -rowed 1,000m each in a time of Ihr ISmins and53secs, with S/Lt Paget clocking the fastest leg at3mins ISsecs.• STERLING efforts by HMS York's LPT RichyGray should help keep the ship's company of thedestroyer fighting fit.

Richy used all his ingenuity to bring in a widerange of equipment - including a Power Jogger, AirStepper, Versi-climber and a specially-balancedweights machine - making it "the best-equippedgym in the Fleet".

And he negotiated use of extra space in the Type42's stretched hull to squeeze all the gear in and give

gym equipment users a bit of elbow room.The ship's company has responded to his "All

Heart" initiative, with 40 per cent of them 'keepingfit' on a regular basis.

...and wealthA 'RACE' against their own frigate in the SuezCanal netted the Petty Officers' mess of HMSChatham more than £500 for charity.

Participants used rowing machines on deck tocomplete the 101-mile transit in 10hrs 21mins,raising £532 for All Saints Hospital Children'sDevelopment Centre in Chatham, Kent.• HMS ENDURANCE called on most of the ship'scompany for the Macmillan Challenge relays - 112people took part in a 100km machine row as the shipsailed down the River Plate in South America or a100-mile deck run, in varying sea states.

Fastest rower was Capt Jonny Norman RM,fastest runner was AB(SR) Brookes - while theMacmillan cancer relief charity gained over £250.

• Wow! - PO(EW) David Beattiespots some starfish duringHMS London's NATO StandjngNaval Force Atlantic deploy-ment. The Type 22 frigate hastravelled from'the iceberg-scat-tered seas off Newfoundland tothe tropical heat of the WestIndies - a total of 33,000 milesduring the seven-monthdeployment. Highlights includ-ed the recovery of an "aban-doned" yacht in the Bermudatriangle - she had slipped hermoorings a year before - and adisaster-relief exercise on' theisland of Vieques.

new sign was unveiled at a specialceremony by Royal Marines Corpssecretary Lt Col Andrew Noyes.

Sticks (86) joined the Royals inJuly 1927 at the age of 14 years and11 months, and by the time he hadcompleted his 23 years service hehad risen to the position of DrumMajor.

He served in a number of shipsand establishments, including afour-year commission in HMSRamillies during the first part ofthe war, then worked outside the

forces for a number of years.He became a permanent resi-

dent at the club, close to the NavalBase in Queen Street, at the end of1957. He is now one of only eightwho live in, as the club provideshotel services for serving and ex-service personnel and their fami-lies.

Lt Col Noyes, representing theCommandant General RoyalMarines David Pennefather, pre-sented Mr Dodsworth with a bottleof port.

• Lt Cdr David George.

David comesdown to earthafter 33 yearsA PILOT is hanging up hisflying helmet after almost33 years in the Navy.

Lt Cdr David George hasamassed more than 5,500 flyinghours in his log book, taking inWessex and Gazelle helicopters.

David, holder of the AirForce Cross for Valuable Servicein the Air, joined the Navy as anartificer apprentice in 1965.

Five years later he had com-pleted his helicopter flyingtraining on Hiller andWhirlwind aircraft, and after aWessex conversion course hedid a tour of duty as a "Jungly"pilot with 847 and 848 NavalAir Squadrons in the Far East.

He then did two years asSAR pilot on the old Ark Royalbefore becoming a flyinginstructor with 705 NAS - andan early member of the Sharkshelicopter display team.

Further SAR work meantDavid flew the last operationalaircraft from the Ark Royal.

His final position was asFirst Lieutenant of RN air sta-tion Culdrose.

LOUISBERNARD

SUPPLIERS OF UNIFORM AND MENSWEAR FASHIONTO THE ROYAL NAVY AND ROYAL MARINES

THROUGHOUT THE UK AND GIBRALTAR

Stockist of:-

ADIDAS • LACOSTE • BURBERRYSLEVI STRAUSS • TIMBERLAND

RALPH LAURENAND MANY MORE MAJOR BRANDS

INSTANT CREDIT AVAILABLEFOR ALL YOUR REQUIREMENTS

V*<,Call usat ourHead Office:

\

40 Cornwall Street, Plymouth,Devon, PL1 1LP.Tel: 01752 669845Fax: 01752 250187

Tel: 01705 736529Fax: 01705 872107

<*" * Subject to status • Licensed Credit Brokers


NEW

RECRUITSINTRODUCING OUR NEW RANGEOF ESSENTIAL PARAPHERNALIAFOR THE EQUIPMENT FANATIC

Winter Warmers.....in Stainless SteelBAKKUS FLASK AND CIGAR TUBES

Hand-made black 'napa' hide carrying-case holds two stainless-steel tubes.One is a ball-top spirit flask, the othertube will take up to a'corona' size cigar. Thetube is air andwatertight. The case isembossed with theRoyal Navy Crown£32.99 UK£33.74 Surface Ma,Abroad

And there's more inStainless Steel...

HIP FLASK

Traditional stainless-steel6oz spirit flask features acaptive top (means youcan't lose it). Because it'sstainless it's very tough andwill delight yourdescendants in years tocome. Branded with theRoyal Navy Crown£16.99 UK£17.74 Surface Mail Abroad

Outdoors.,

Close Share...

MONOCULAR TELESCOPE

8x magnification weighingin at only 62grams &branded with the RoyalNavy Crown. Made fromAluminium, with afocusable eyepiece....in everyway a professional tool.Easily pocketable... for anyoutdoor event, concert andtheatre or even simply towatch the birds! Smallnylon carrying caseincluded.

The Ideal Travel andGrooming accessory. ThisNeat Nirkel plated compactset, complete with integralmirror is beautifullyengraved with the RoyalNavy Crown... A must forthose who like to travellight.

lail trt^vi K< ; [»; ijfl i M ' j| j

Two pairs of teak chopstickswith silver plated handlescomplete with a pair of heavysilver plated 'rests' and engravedwith the Royal Navy Crown-presentation boxed.I18.99UK(2 pairs)£19.74

ORDERS TOThe Business Manager, Navy News,

HMS Nelson, Portsmouth PO1 3HH.TEL: 0170S 826040 FAX: 01705 830149

Cheques payable to .Ynrv News to accompany orders. For orders outside theUK payment can be made by Cheque/International Money Order in £

sterling and drawn on UK bank. Or for payment by Credit Card/Switch/Solo, UK & Abroad, please use coupon on page 4

\ 'I ' : • • " ' •

v;. t"

, ,V -!

Ice patrol - HMS Leeds Castle is pictured in front of the Nordenskjold Glacier in South Georgia.

Ship heads homeA RARE visitor to the UKreturns next month.

Falkland Islands PatrolVessel (FIPV) HMS LeedsCastle has been deployed inthe South Atlantic for threeyears - making the incumbentthe only vessel to spend so longaway from home waters.

The last six months of thedeployment has seen a side rangeof activities, demonstrating thecapabilities of the 1,400-tonne ship.

A ten-day period of operationalsea training in September put theship's company through theirpaces, demonstrating their abilityto deal with fire, flood, air and sur-face attacks, towing operations,boarding vessels and salvage work.

Normal patrol duties were thenfollowed by Exercise Purple Strike,a week-long exercise in whichLeeds Castle embarked 50 soldiersfrom the Duke of Wellington'sRegiment, which virtually doubledthe ship's company.

A break in Montevideo gave alla chance to shop, eat steak and

• Eyes right - The Governor of the Falkland Islands, RichardRalph, takes the salute as the ship's company of HMS LeedsCastle march past under the command of Lt Phil Dennis, theship's Gunnery Officer. Picture: SAC ROSS ruiy (RAF>.

enjoy some fine weather, then itwas back to business and a fog-bound passage to South Georgia toresupply the garrison, transportmembers of the British AntarcticSurvey, and do some sight-seeing.

Despite the isolation of theSouth Atlantic patrols, Leeds

Castle hosted several visitorsincluding the Commander BritishForces Falkland Islands, BrigadierCampbell, the Roman CatholicBishop to the Forces, the Rt RevWalmsley, the Provost Marshal(Army), Brigadier Fulton, and theCommander Joint Operations, Lt

Gen Sir Christopher Wallace - hisfirst visit to an RN warship sincehis appointment.

Another visitor bearing gifts wasKent Messenger Group journalistJohn Pontifex; HMS Leeds Castleis affiliated to Hastings, a townserved by the Kent Messenger sta-ble, and John brought gifts fromthe ship's namesake castle.

December saw the ship's compa-ny parade the White Ensignthrough the streets of Stanley tocommemorate the anniversary ofthe Battle of the Falkland Islandsin 1914, when Admiral Sturdeedefeated a German squadronunder Admiral Graf von Spee.

Leeds Castle also exercised withHMS Brave, the Falkland IslandsGuard Ship, before heading toPunta Arenas in Chile, where theship's company hosted a Christmasparty for orphaned children.

Leeds Castle was due to handover to HMS Dumbarton Castle asNavy News went to press, and herpassage home is due to take her toBrazil and the Canaries beforearriving in Portsmouth next month.

Royals lend a hand

• At your service - two members of the Royal Marines help out in the snowin Devon before they set off for Norway.

Training put to good useTHE ARCTIC came to the Royal Mar-ines when blizzards hit Dartmoor.

Men of 42 Commando had beenpreparing for the snows of Norway,but ended up helping locals in thesnows of Devon - and practisingtheir newly-acquired driving skills.

Training exercises in Scotland andNorth Wales have helped membersof 42 Cdo build up stamina and skills

for a deployment which will takethem from Norway to Spain - bring-ing the logistical headache of twodifferent sets of kit and equipment.

More gear than usual - enough forthree months - must go in fewer con-tainers, and the unit will also be tak-ing along new Marines from CTCRMto experience some of the most test-ing conditions in the world.

Adventures inthe Highlands

HIKING, riding, biking and driving were the challengesenjoyed by members of the ship's companies of HM shipsCromer and Inverness during a period of maintenance.

The group completed a tough 35km walk which took inthe top of Cairngorm, as well as other low-level walks.

Horse-riding near Kingussie, 4x4 off-road driving andmountain-biking in Glenmore Forest completed the five-day expedition, which was blessed with fine weather.

Accommodation was in the Joint Services ScottishRecreation Centre at Rothiemurchus, near Aviemore;further information on prices and facilities is availablefrom managers Doug and Meg Blair on 01479 861288.

If anyone is keen to organise an adventurous trainingexpedition, Lt Cdr Kenealy, the Fleet Recreation Officer,can assist and advise on financial support and prepara-tions; his number is Portsmouth Naval Base 24426.

Distress code fadesMORSE Code is no longer the official internationallanguage of distress.

From January 1, the 165-year-old system wasreplaced by the Global Maritime Distress and SafetySystem (GMDSS), an automatic system using satel-lites and radio.

Most major commercial and military fleets havelong abandoned Morse, and the busy Coastguardstation at Lee-on-Solent in Hampshire has notreceived a single Morse distress signal in two years.

But some countries will continue to recognise thecode - Australia is not due to abandon it until nextFebruary, the date set by the International MaritimeOrganisation.

The Navy will continue to teach Morse code forsignal lamps - when ships are within sight of eachother it is still an effective and relatively secure formof communication.

There is also the need to understand Morse incase a Naval ship picks up a distress signal.

Safety first at OspreyCIVILIAN drivers at HMS Osprey have, completedanother year of accident-free driving in vehicles from carsto coaches, ambulances to articulated lorries.

The Portland drivers, who received certificates from theRoyal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, also com-pleted a course in emergency (blue light) driving tech-niques held in conjunction with the police.


PL? B©(^Bw©[}© B© QF@[rD©ff®cpm©(o] nnn

Ship is outafter longstretch

RFA SIR Bedivere is virtuallya new ship after more thanthree years in Rosyth.

The 30-year-old landing ship(logistic) entered the Scottishfacility in July 1994 for her ship'slife extension programme.

Now, about to emerge from theBabcock yard, she is 12 metres longer,her accommodation has been altered,she has new engines and propulsionsystems and other equipment has beenupgraded.

The extra space in her longer hullgives more room for crew accommo-dation and embarked troops, plusspace for ballast tanks and pumps andstore rooms.

Her flight deck has been lowered adeck, her bridge has gone up a deck,and the accommodation block hasshifted forward by ten metres.

These modifications, along withextensive replacement of steel in thehull itself, have pushed her displace-ment up from her original 5,770tonnes to 6,700 tonnes.

She has two new engines, Stork-Wartsila turbo-charged diesels, and

her bow thruster has been replaced bya new unit giving twice the power.

Her weapon fit and communica-tions facilities have been improved,and a new control and surveillance sys-tem has been installed, linked to anelectronic management system on thebridge.

The strengthened bow doors arenow hydraulically-operated,while the stem ramp, which stilluses chains, is hydraulicallysecured.

A 25-ton crane has replaced the old20-ton version, and the ship is nowready to operate Merlin helicopters onthe aft flight deck and Chinooks on thevehicle deck.

Two of her lifeboats can be replacedby small landing craft.

Sir Bedivere has also become a"stealth ship" - her superstructure,including funnel, have beenredesigned to reduce her visibility onthe radar screen.

After sea trials, the ship is expectedto be back with the Royal FleetAuxiliary by the middle of the year,rejoining her sister ships Sir Geraint,Sir Percivale, Sir Tristram and SirGalahad.

• All aboard - RFA Sir Tristram loads on British Army vehicles at Antwerp in Belgium.

New craft willboost core rolePLANS are being developed for two new vesselsto be built instead of extending the lives of land-ing ships Sir Geraint and Sir Percivale.

The ALSL (Alternative Landing Ship Logistic) pro-ject team, based at Abbey Wood, recently joined RFASir Tristram as she freighted British Army armouredvehicles from Marchwood, near Southampton, toAntwerp in Belgium — a routine task for LSLs

Team leader Charles Irvine said such visits werevaluable: "It's very useful to meet the people on board,to get a cross-section of the views of the actual opera-tors - they're not always the same, hut if we put themall into the melting pot, we hope to come up with theright answer."

Mr Irvine said the new ships would be built to com-mercial standards to meet current and future legisla-tion on safety standards.

Also with the team was Lt Col Chris Maneneott,

Royal Marines project advisor, who spoke of the typesof amphibious requirements which were being exam-ined.

"We're looking at these LSLs in operations withNATO, but perhaps more in the US style, unloadingtroops and vehicles further offshore.

"Facilities such as alternatives to the Mexiflotes,and a sheltered landing craft launching position aft,are being considered."

Along with the modernised LSLs already in service- Sir Tristram was stretched and rebuilt after sustain-ing damage in the Falklands War in 1982 - the newships will play an important part in one of the Navy'sthree core strategies, that of amphibious warfare capa-bility.

They will take their place alongside the three othernew amphibious units scheduled to join the Fleet -HM ships Ocean, Bulwark and Albion.

WE WONTLEAVE YOUSTRANDED

The RNBT helps past and present Sailors,Royal Marines and their dependants.

Established in 1922, the RNBT has helped about half a million Naval

people and their families over the years. Today, the RNBT gives

almost £2 million each year to meet a wide variety of needs and

provides a residential home for old Sailors and Royal Marines.

For more information or advice please call: 01 705 660296

VTY THE ROYAL NAVAL) \ BENEVOLENT TRUST/ \CELEBRATING75YEARS

.nevolent Trust, Castaway Hyiord Avenue, Portsmouth 45O2


Rover has a team of Military Sales specialists and a telephone hotline.

So while you're doing your duty, you won't have to worry about paying any. For moreinformation call +44 181 410 8427.

Helping HandsNAVY NEWS, FEBRUARY 1998 13

In briefRun ashoreFIFTY sporting types fromHMS Illustrious ran a circuitaround the Fountain LakeJetty to raise cash for theship's chosen charities.

The event was so success-ful that the CO, Capt StephenMeyer, decreed it should beheld every week!

Excellent jobSTUDENTS from the RNSchool of Leadership andManagement at HMSExcellent have been busyhelping local charities.

In the six weeks up toChristmas, a number of groupsvisited the residential unit ofAvenue House in Hilsea,Portsmouth, tidying gardens, rais-ing flower beds and building apond and pagoda.

to SpainTHREE RN personnel fromPortsmouth cycled 550miles across Spain to raisecash for KGFS and theRNLI.

CPOPTMal Badham fromHMS Collingwood and Lt CdrJim Drury and WOPT EvansTurner from HMS Excellentteamed up for the ride.

They were supported byHMS Dryad's Dave Stephensand took just four days tocomplete the trip from Bilboato Tarifa, raising £1,200.

Divers dateDIVERS from Horsea Islandwill be pounding the streets ofPortsmouth next month toraise cash for a cause which isclose to their hearts.

The POs from the DefenceDiving School will be running inthe Portsmouth Half Marathon onMarch 8 to raise enough money tosend PO(D) Billy Birch and hisyoung son to Eurodisney.

The pair are doing well after anoperation to transplant a kidneyfrom father to son.

Asthma aimANOTHER fund-raiser whohas signed up for thePortsmouth Half Marathonis Band Cpl Pete Curtisfrom the RMSOM.

An asthma sufferer himself,Pete aims to raise cash forresearch into the condition tobenefit those more seriouslyaffected than himself. For asponsor form, call Cpl Curtison HMNB Portsmouth 26224.

Giddy heightsTWELVE staff from 820Squadron at RN air stationCuldrose raised £1,718 for theChildren's Ward at TreliskeHospital by cycling 10,000ft upto the snow line on Mount Fuji.

The team, led by PO GaryTaylor, took time out from theirdeployment with HMS Illustriousto complete the arduous ride.

As if that were not enough,POs Adam Seaborn and JohnFeheley set themselves the chal-lenge of a 1,000,000 metre'round-the-world row on theship's exercise machine duringthe deployment!

Pedal powerIF A GRUELLING mountainbiking challenge on March28 and 29 or a cycle toParis from September 3 to6 appeals to you, contactthe Royal British Legion on0171 973 7200.

Raffle nets£1 I l l ,000for SSAFA

THE SERVICES charity SSAFA Forces Help is £100,000 better off after gatheringin the proceeds from their 20th national draw.

Men and women from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force helped to ensure that 1997 wasanother record year for the charity, with around 80,000 tickets in their annual three-car draw beingsnapped up by serving members of the Armed Forces.

Representatives from all threeServices were on hand whenChannel 5's showbiz correspondentJulia Bradbury drew out the luckywinners in London.

AB Stephen Mabbutt from HMSSt Vincent, Cpl Darren Williams,Welsh Guards and the RAF's SACCharlotte Williams watched as theTV star plucked the winning namesfrom a giant military drum.

The top prize of a Land Rover

Discovery TDi was won by BrianMcPoland of Merseyside, a Rover213 went to Michael Lambourne ofOxfordshire and a Rover Metro waswon by Ray Dilley of Bedfordshire.

PrizesThey will be presented with their

prizes by sponsors NatoCars ofBridgwater and Rover GroupMotors. The 27 runners-up prizesincluded a holiday, TV and a stereo.

SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors,Airmen and Families Association)Forces Help is a national casework-ing charity helping current and for-mer members of the Armed Forcesand their families and has support-ed people aged from nine months to90 years old.• Right: Channel 5's showbiz cor-respondent Julia Bradbury withAB Stephen Mabbutt and CplDarren Williams.

ARGYLL ARRIVALS Bond movie is a hit with KGFSWHEN a delegation from HMS ARGYLL visited the children'sward at Derrifbrd Hospital, it was very much a family affair.

The visit was to present £400 raised by the ship's company, and Argyll'sCO, Cdr David Wolfe, was accompanied by his wife Yvonne and sonDominic, and PO Wayne Seal, his wife Janet and baby son James. Bothboys were born on Argyll Ward at Derriford Hospital.

HMS Argyll has strong links with Derriford -last summer Ward SisterBarbara Biggs and some of her staff spent a families day at sea with Argylland met other members of the ship's company whose children where bornat the hospital. The ship has now deployed to the Mediterranean.

A PREMIERE of the new James Bondmovie Tomorrow Never Dies attended by300 naval personnel and their familiesraised over £3,000 for KGFS.

Revenue from ticket sales for the screeningat UCI Port Solent near Portsmouth was boost-ed by a raffle organised by 4th FrigateSquadron Chaplain, the Rev Mike Brotherton.

The top prize, 17 James Bond videos, went

to Miss R. Harris of Hilsea, second prize wentto Mrs S. Ranee of Drayton (a Samsonite brief-case full of Bond gadgets) and the third prize(a commander's cap signed by PierceBrosnan) was won by Charge Chief D. Kilbeyfrom HMS Richmond.

The eight runners-up who received prizesincluded AB M. Edwards from HMS Illustriousand Cdr A. Forsyth from HMS Nelson.

Collingwood championslocal children's charities

• Cdr David Wolfe and PO Wayne Seal return to Argyll Ward atDerriford Hospital where their sons Dominic and James were bom.

HMS COLLINGWOOD'S tireless work onbehalf of children's charities produced somespectacular results at the end of 1997.

Their efforts on behalf of the BBC's Children InNeed Appeal in November raised £5,500 throughsome weird and wonderful events.

They ranged from a St Trinian's tuck shop, char-ity auction, rowathon, beans in the bath, blindfold-ed car driving challenge, a Haka display, a shop-ping packing service at Asda, a variety show anda raft race.The proceeds were handed over to theBBC at the Bournemouth International Centre and

the presentation was broadcast on live TV.Sailors from Collingwood also brought smiles

to the faces of youngsters in the children's wardat Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, whenthey delivered 15 boxes of goodies, collected asthe entry fees to the establishments 'It's AKnockout' competition.

And two Christmas concerts by Collingwood'svolunteer band raised another £677 for TheRainbow Centre in Fareham, which helps childrenwith cerebral palsy, and the Children Say charityfor deaf youngsters.

Royal Navy Gibraltar stages 'mini' Navy DaysGIBRALTAR'S mini Navy Days attracted hun-dreds of visitors and raised over £2,000 for KingGeorge's Fund for Sailors.

With the full support of the other components of theGibraltar garrison, the RNG's Maritime Festival includ-ed a host of water-based activities which helped to

highlight the Navy's continued presence there.A 'Mission Impossible' hostage rescue by clearance

divers, RIB excursions to the ships in the harbour anda raft race were the highlights of the day.

Stalls and games helped to boost the final figureraised for KGFS to £2,200 and a cheque for thatamount was presented by festival co-ordinator

Surgeon Cdr Gio Sidoli, to Capt Richard Lord,Commanding Officer RN Gibraltar.

The organisers said the event surpassed all theirexpectations and that they were particularly gratefulto local organisations such as Sheppard's, Peralta'sand Saccone and Speed for their generous contribu-tions.

• The Grand Raft Race in progress with the Gibraltar CustomsRIB and HMS Ranger in the background. Picture: cpi Km Jones

• Gibraltar Clearance Diver Element attacks the hostage position during the exciting 'MissionImpossible' display at the Maritime Festival. Picture: cpi Kev Jones


Penfriends

Would you like aNaval Pen friend?

A ten word advertisementin this column costs from as

little as £9.WRITE MESSAGE HERE /MAX WWDS)

HOW TO ADVERTISE: Simply write your message (10 Words), enclosecheque/PO for £9 and send to: 'Penfriends', Navy News, HMS Nelson,Portsmouth PO1 3HH. Replies to your box number will be forwarded ondaily. (Payment by credit card/switch please use coupon on page 4 )HOW TO REPLY: Any person who writes to an advertiser must use astamped envelope bearing the advertisers box number clearly in thebottom left hand corner. The letter should then be enclosed in asecond envelope and addressed as above. We cannot guarantee thatunstamped letters will be redirected.

Name:....Address.

Tel:ATTRACTIVE 5ft 6in female (19)seeks male, 19-25. G.S.O.H. BOXFEB 1LIVELY BUBBLY BLONDEwould like to write to sailor. BOXFEB 2ATTRACTIVE BRUNETTE, 25,intelligent and single, seekspenfriends 28-35, photo if poss.BOX FEB 3VIVACIOUS Valentine, single,5 "5". long hair, green eyes, funloving. BOX FEB 4ATTRACTIVE FEMALE, 35,seeks tall serviceman for fun andfriendship. Photo appreciated. BOXFEB 5FEMININE EDUCATED lady, 29,seeks caring officer and gentlemanfor friendship and romance. BOXFEB 6TWO gorgeous young ladies seekofficers, 25-35, for correspondence.BOX FEB 7FUN-LOVING 40s female seeksmarine/sailors for penfriends. BOXFEB 8BUBBLY FEMALE, blonde, blueeyes, 39, seeks sailor for genuinefriendship. BOX FEB 9BLONDE FEMALE, 25, lookingfor friendship or romance. Pleasereply. BOX FEB 10BRUNETTE divorcee seeks RoyalNavy / Royal Marines penfriends forfriendship / correspondence BOXFEB 11LONELY MALE, 57, looking formature, serious, lasting, relationship.TLC. BOX FEB 12HONEST Yorkshire gentlemanneeds similar lady, 35-50, forstimulating friendship. BOX FEB 13CLAIRE, 27, 5ft 2in, brown hair/eyes, seeks male for friendship/relationship. BOX FEB 14NURSE / YACHTSWOMAN, fit50. seeks senior rate or above,correspondence/friendship. BOXFEB 15MOTHER, 38 years, seeks penpal.Enjoys theatre, cinema, walking,letter-writing. BOX FEB 16ANN, 27, 5ft Sin, blue eyes blonde,likes pubbing, clubbing, football.Seeks friendship/relationship. BOXFEB 17SWEDISH / AMERICAN blondeseeks handsome marines/sailors forpenfriends. BOX FEB 18AMANDA, caring, petite redhead,22. seeks genuine penpal (22-28).BOX FEB 19SOCIABLE 33-year-old divorcedmum. vibrant. GSOH, likesoutdoors. Seeks similar. BOX FEB20

FEMALE SO, divorced, would likemale penfriends of similar age. BOXFEB 21KAREN 18, seeks single malepenfrinds aged 19-22. BOX FEB 22

PERSONALPENPAL MAG for adults, chooseyourself a new penfriend from over500 photos. APPROVAL copy fromMATCHMAKER, (A 10) ChorleyPR7 4BS, or ring 01257 480155(24hours).EX F.A.A ASIAN MALE. Early40's 5'11", lecturer. LivingAustrailia. Seeks slim female partnerto 35 yrs. Small child welcome.Assistance Visa/Air fare. Resume,Photo. T. Paul. PO BOX 610,Geraldton 6531, Western Australia.

STUDIO 2Sauna — Aroma massage — Shower.

Mon-Fri 9.00am-midnighl.Sal lO.OOam-midnighi.Sunday 1 lam-11.30pm.

Book your appointment or eall in to visit us198 Keyham Kuad, Plymouth

(opposite St Levans Gate) 0VB01752559955 tkJ

Visiting service tel: 0831 526664.

NOTICEAll advertisements

submitted for entry into theNavy News Pen Friend

column are subject to copyapproval, Navy News

reserves the right to makeany amendments which itconsiders necessary or to

edit copy which is in excessof 10 words.

FOR SALEFOR SALE: Officers WilkinsonsCeremonial Sword includingscabbard, knot and case. VGC. £550ovno. Gieves and Hawkes NOS's andMess Dress uniforms. Striped forLtCdr, to fit 38" chest, 30-32" waist.Good condition, £195 each ovno.Tel 0585 479382

See Page 20 for lowcost 1998 Navy

News Calendar Now

Only £4.50 UK £5.25Surface Mail Abroad

Get wise on DCIs

Shortage in chargechief MEAs bringspromotion changesA SHORTAGE of ChargeChief Marine EngineerArtificers throughout theFleet is to result in theintroduction of a selec-tion system for promot-ing chief petty officers tothe rate of CCMEA.

At present MEA chargechiefs are among the few mid-dle managers in the Navy who,despite needing stringent qual-ifications, are promoted on aroster basis and not by selec-tion.

In the past there have been suf-ficient CCMEAs of the right quali-ty volunteering to take the neces-sary qualifications in GeneralService, while in the SubmarineService previous shortages wereeased by bounties and extra pay.

However, the Fleet-wide short-ages which have arisen prompted areview which concluded that thepresent system could no longerguarantee sufficient advancementcandidates of the right quality.

After November this year,CPOMEAs will be promoted toCCMEA by a selection system sim-ilar to that for weapon engineer

'Why not give them all a scratch-card and pick the winners?'

artificers. Selection boards to pickCPOs to attend the CCMEA qual-ifying course at HMS Sultan, willbe held in Centurion Building.

Until next November, volun-teers will have the opportunity topass the CCMEA provisionalexamination and to be advanced

under the present rules. Those whoqualify before the first selectionboard results are announced willbe advanced to CCMEA by roster,while those qualifying after thefirst board results will be advancedby roster after those selected atthat board. DCI RN 200/97

Collingwoodtakes onnew radartraining jobA NEW operator trainer forthe upgraded Type 909 radarfitted in Type 42 destroyersand aircraft carriers has beenestablished at the weaponsschool at HMS Collingwood,moving 909 training from theSchool of Maritime Oper-ations at HMS Dryad.

The GEC-Marconi trainer atCollingwood provides a combinedoperator and maintainer facility. Itis a personal computer based sys-tem which controls simulatedradar returns.

Forty pre-programmed scenar-ios gives a combination of targets,jamming, chaff, clutter and ship'smotion to produce realistic soundand vision effects. DCI RN 170/97

Le Shuttledirect. . .UNITS with their own travel bud-gets can now set up their ownaccount with Le Shuttle followinga Ministry of Defence agreementover new booking procedures forusers of the Channel Tunnel.

DCI GEN 261/97

This regular feature givesgeneral information aboutnew Defence CouncilInstructions affecting con-ditions of service. If theyapply to you, study the full,original text.

Our luckywinners

WINNER of the £500 prizein our Find the Joker com-petition which ran in theSeptember to Novemberissues of Navy News is MrC. Richards of Blyth, North-umberland.

He spotted the figure ofJack hiding amid the editorialcolumns of pages 10, 17 and37 in successive editions.

Mr Richards also spottedthe Joke statements by Jack inthese successive editions:

September - Nelson's lastsignal at the Battle of Trafalgarwas 'Get stuck in'. (It was infact 'Engage the enemy moreclosely').

October - Sir Walter Ral-eigh introduced the bicycle toBritain from America.

November - The liner Titanicwas sunk by a German U-boatin 1915. (She hit an iceberg in1912).

Mr Richards' reply was thefirst to be drawn at randomfrom correct entries. Winnersof our £20 runners-up prizes:

Janette Shepherd, Helston,Cornwall; R. G. Cook, Selsey,W. Sussex; A. Sharpies,Southport, Merseyside; G. R.Coney, Shaftesbury, Dorset;Harry Edwin Coxell, Rochdale,Yorks.

Prizes of £10 went to:G. E. Boswell, Bognor

Regis, W. Sussex; Mrs MurielJohns, Wallasey, Merseyside;David Thompson, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset; Jack E.Lilley, Cockermouth, Cumbria;F. R. Minchin, Paignton, S.Devon; P. G. Clarke, NorthWalsham, Norfolk; C.E. Friend, Hythe, Southamp-ton; Mrs S. Greensmith, Tilton-on-the-Hill, Leicester; T.Tusow, Wilmslow, Cheshire;John Chiverell. Bath,Somerset.

Our competition continueswithout the hidden Jack figure.

HAVE YOU MISSED US'Back copies available from 1980.

Ring Anne Young

PORTSMOUTH (O17O5) 826O4O

Navy News • The Paper that lives up to its name!

Find the JokerFIND THE JOKER in Navy News for three editions - and win£500. There are also £10 cash prizes for each of ten runners-up,and 20 £5 consolation prizes to be won.

All you have to do this month is spot the joker in one of the follow-ing three statements by jack on naval matters. Two are true. Oneis wildly inaccurate. Just mark the box next to the untrue state-ment.

• ^H ^H ^H ^™ ^™ ^" " HM HH1 MM MM ^" ^HB ••• ^BH mfm ••* ••• ^B B^B •••• •••• •"• ••

Which of these three statements is NOT true:

J The mae west, the slang term for the lifejacket worn byBritish fliers in World War II, was so named as its curveswere reminiscent of those used to good effect byHollywood's blonde bombshell, Mae West.

_i The Plimsoll line was painted on the lower decks of Britishwarships to mark the point beyond which casual shoescould not be worn.

Q Capital ships is a term used by navies to denote the mostimportant vessels in their fleets.

If you can fill in this coupon as well as the ones in our December andJanuary editions, you have a chance of winning a £500 cash prize.The names of the winners will be selected at random from those whogave correct answers in the three editions.When you have completed all three original entry forms, send themtogether in one envelope to:

Find the Joker, Navy News, HMS Nelson, Portsmouth, Hants, PO1 3HH

They should arrive at Navy News no later than April 15,1998. Entries with all three correct answerswill be entered in a prize draw conducted at Navy News offices. Winners will be announced in theMay edition ot Navy News. The first name drawn will receive a prize of £500. There will be a prize of£10 for each of the next ten correct entries drawn, and a further 20 consolation prizes of £5.The judges' decision will be final. No correspondence will be entered into. Navy News employees ortheir relatives may not enter.

NAME

ADDRESS

..TELEPHONE

Rotary command torun ona rota?


TI HE MINISTRY of Defence has confirmed that astudy has been conducted into how all threeServices operate their helicopters.

But the MOD will not yetcomment on news media spec-ulation that the study commit-tee has recommended that allthe Armed Forces' helicoptersbe gathered under a single, tri-Service command for opera-tional purposes.

Ministers are expected to makedecisions soon on the recommen-dations of the committee, con-vened under the auspices of theAssistant Under Secretary (FleetSupport).

Media reports in January fore-saw a tri-Service helicopter com-mand being held in rota by theNavy, Army and RAF. Any suchmove would change the role ofFlag Officer Naval Aviation,although informed sources say thatthe Lynx helicopters currentlyequipping destroyers and frigateswould not be included in a tri-Service command.

Repair and "deep maintenance"of Armed Forces helicopters isalready operated on a tri-Servicebasis through the DefenceHelicopter Support Agency at RNair station Yeovilton, and recentlyhelicopter training also became atri-Service responsibility.

Planned reductions in operatingcosts by the Naval Aircraft RepairOrganisation could mean up to 200redundancies at NARO's repairyards at Fleetlands, Gosport andAlmondbank, Perth.

Chief Executive of NARO,Stephen Hill, said in a letter toemployees' unions that the organi-sation had been asked to reducecosts by 20 per cent over two years,and this would mean job losses.Details will be made clear by theend of April.

The helicopters of all threeServices, and NATO, are repairedby NARO, Almondbank specialis-ing in transmission and hydraulics.

Trainingstops for706 Sqn

AS reported inSeptember, 706 Naval AirSquadron hands overresponsibility foradvanced flying trainingto 810 Sqn this month.

The decommissioningceremony will be held atRN Air Station Culdroseon February 27, withFlag Officer AviationRear Admiral TerryLoughran as guest ofhonour.

All past and presentmembers of 706 areinvited to the decommis-sioning party, at a costof £10 a head, at theFalmouth Hotel - call theD e c o m m i s s i o n i n gOfficer on 01326 552531for details.

706 Sqn has beenteaching aircrew for theFleet Air Arm for 52years. Previously dis-banded, it has been res-urrected twice to carryon this task. The mergerwith 810 comes with theintroduction of theMerlin helicopter and theresulting reduction inthe Sea King fleet.

• THIRD of 44 new multi-mission Merlin helicopters accepted by the MOD at GKN Westland,Yeovilton. The full fleet is expected to come into service in 2001

Essay prize'Carrier 2000 - A Consideration ofNaval Aviation in the Millenium'is the title of an essay prize com-petition offereed by the Fleet AirArm Officers Association.

Entries of 5-10,000 words to theDirector Naval Historical Branch,3-5 Great Scotland Yard, LondonSW12HWbyMay31.

Of It^ememhejs Someone Special tfti&

VALENTINE'S DAYVALENTINE

BALLOONSDELIVERED

0181 363 26700181 482 35870181 372 4659V Belgian Chocolates*

* Single Fresh Rose »

* Cuddly Toys *

V Chocolate Body Paint*Order Now!

FREE VALENTINE'STEDDY

4? VALENTINE ALERT!O.K. So you're hard. You're tough. You're a professional.

But do you really need more trouble than you can handle?

GET WISE. SEND A VALENTINES CD CARD TO THE ONE YOU LOVE.I a/j 7 1 - GNE TOUR DETAIIS TO OUR OPERATOR, « 2-KOItDYOuftMES^INMiimVWijOo»« 3. 50,0 yrjou CD T0 (gg^ IN m QR ^

y BE DISCREET. BE ANONYMOUS. -DISGUISE YOUR VOICE EIHIRONICA11Y

J|AKCOMB>1 SW'llCWEYO/'- WHHPERIT. SHOUTrT. SlNGIf.

fmr.

Delivered 13th February

WHERE IS CUPID GOING?HE IS OFF TO JOIN

THE SPORTS LOTTERY

IT IS CHEAPERTHAN BUYINGROSES

V HAPPY

VALENTINES DAY

f RN RM SPORTS

OTTERY

lie in to

AND ITfOULDBE

mL£CALL; 0700 900 9001|MOHItlllkM-8PMISAVSUH 9AM-5PM

IIRTHDAT / MOTHERS DAT/1 OTHER CO CARDS ALSO AVAILABLE

/[ Roses are red, Violets are blueDon't let your loved one forget you!

Send your partner the best lingerie this Valentine's Dayby requesting our FREE high quality lingerie brochure

Tel 01423 520973 or writeDe-Maine AttractionFREEPOST, NEA3162

Harrogate , N Yorks HG3 2BR

When replying to these advertisementsdon't forget to mention Navy News

—Jletcher's Jreesias—|All year round by post from Quernsey

Don't forget Valentine's Day, February 14and Mothers Day, March 22

Our own Guernsey freesias to any address in the UK. Boxedand with a messasge of your own on a card

20Freesias

£9

40Freesias£12.50

80Freesias£19.00

12 Carnations1 20 Freesias£16.50

All prices include postage & packing

Phone: 01481 48185Fax: 01481 48582

or write to us:Fletcher's Freesias, Box 433,

Guernsey GY1 3ZFCheques & Postal Orders accepted

(Please note: a 50p surcharge will be added to Credit/Debit card orders)

The 9dealCupids gift

Say it with JlowersValentine...

(VALENTINES WEEK ONLY ORDER VERY EARL?)Note: For wks 4-16 Feb please add £6 per 12 roses, £11 per 24 roses,

£6 Bouquet special, £6 Rose bouquet40 Frees/a Fern plus 1 Rose £15.95

12 Roses Red/Pink (large) £13.8524 Roses Red/Pink/Yellow/(large) £18.5012 Carnations Redfink Mixed £12.5040 Frees/a Mixed with Fern &4.7SBouquet Carnations, Freesias, Fern 30 Flowers f 16.50Bouquet Roses Carnations, Freesias, Ferns - 30 Blooms £17.50Bouquet Spray Carnations, Freesias, Fern • 20 Blooms £11.50Bouquet Roses, Spray Carnations, Freesias, Ferns • 50 Blooms £22.50

Please use this as an order form

(^telephone Hotline O1481 467O8 )

NB: Peak Period - Flowers may be used from other sourcesFlamingo, Bas Capelles, St Sampson

Guernsey, C.I. GY2 4WBTel: 01481 46708 Fax: 01481 43406

Visa Access, Amex Accepted(Please Incl. exp. date) Cheques POs payable 'Joys Roses'


cni\. ' J_LI>. "| iV..».II •V^A .- .T 'J] ^-

Viva beaucoubCombined Obs?

"Oh, right -1 thought he wanted a wee!"

HTowards unebetter entente

'Bonsoir Jack - comment ca va?''Eh?'"Ow is it going, mon brave?''Oh. Right. Er - tres bien, mon old mucker. And vous?'Pas mal, pas mal. Ecoute - nous avons un language

probleme ici. Let's parler Franglais, hein?'Til have a go, mate. Urn ... Voulez vous, promenade,

avec moi, ce soir?''Magnifique! Where to?''Au pub, naturellement!''C'est alright par moi! Nous n'avions pas de probleme

there, Jack!'

(Dix minutes later)

'Un rouge vin pour I'homme avec le rouge pompomand un grand veer de beer pour moi, patron. Andprenez one pour votre self... Alors, mon ami, vous avezun point about le lingo. Comprenez vous what is unacronym?'

'Un acronym - bien sur, Jack. Un sigle. Le NATO, leSTANAVFORMED, le EU et tout ca?' '_ 'Vous etes spot on. What about this one then -FRUKUSSOPLANT? Try parlaying that when vous avezhad un few.'

'Merde! C'est terrible, vraiment... Mais qu'est-ce quec'est, ce FRUKUSSOPLANT? What means it?'

'Search moi, mate. Somethin' about us all doing lameme chose together . . . Listen - got une piece depapier? Bon. Vous et moi, we'll write some nouveauxones we can all comprenez. Nos officiers, ils sont tousthick comme un plank when it comes to les acronyms,n'est ce pas?'

'Absolument! C'est une bonne idee, ca!''C'est particulierement important avec les sub-

marines. Pas de room pour mistakes dans un nukequand on est trois hundred metres sous I'Atlantique.'

'Non! C'est un business trop serieux! A bas tous lesofficiers!

'OK. Now then - ou est la plume de ma tante? Nouscommencons right away. Got to be tres careful none of'em come out rude. Lots of ours do. What about sub-marines then, pour starters?'

'D'accord. Les sous-marins ... Excusez moi unmoment - je vais telephpner mon oppo a ALGASM!'

'Yeah, right... II est going to be un long nuit, je crois.'

Avec apologies a Miles Kington, qui a ecrive dans 'Let'sParler Franglais One More Temps (Pingouin edition1984 - avec mon lousy salary je could not afford lehardback) et je quote: "En 1982 il (M.Kington) etaitdans le thick de la guerre de Falkland. Oui, il a eu uneannee tres exciting comme interpreteur officiel deFranglais pour le Task Force. En 1983 il a ete awarde leDistinguished Diction Medal pour ses services linguis-tiques. Oui, il etait avec le SAS dans leurs assauts surGeorgia de Sud, deguise en beret, stripey jersey etpaquet de Gauloises." Quel load de vieux cobblers. -Ed.

A ship and a gardento remember 1982

SHOWN here for the firsttime are three computer-generated images of the

design for the £1.6 millionFalkland Islands MemorialChapel at Pangbourne College,Berks.

Winner of the Royal Instituteof British Architects competi-tion, as announced in lastmonth's issue, was theReading-based Crispin WrideArchitectural Design Studio.

The brief required a buildingthat would be both a chapel inremembrance of those whodied in the war of 1982 and alsoan assembly hall and place forthe performance of music forthe college, with seating for550. It should be completed inthe year 2000.

The shape has a nautical feelto it, evoking a ship's hull, andwill be set back from the adja-cent parade ground in a clear-ing at the edge of the woods.

A memorial garden is alsoplanned within a circularwalled enclosure on the site ofan existing submerged water-tank. A channel set in the topedge of the wall will surroundthe visitor with the sound ofrunning water, while its innersurface will carry the names ofall those who died.

The garden's circular form isderived from similar memorialsat Fort Stanley and San CarlosWater and will incorporatelarge stones and flora donaltedby the Falklands people.

J First quadrant of the RNsection of the NationalMemorial Arboretum atLichfield, Staffs has almostbeen filled, says Cdr DavidChilds, the project's director.Full report next month.


Enduranc will aidcruiseliners

DETAILED surveys carried out by HMSEndurance on South Georgia will help in thepreparation of improved charts for use by

the growing number of Antarctic cruise ships visit-ing the island's colonies of seals and penguins.

The ice patrol ship, her two landed to help a BAS field assis-

• Under lowering skies, a survey party from HMSEndurance conducts levels and data work in SouthGeorgia. Lett, an uncertain response from one of thenatives - a baby elephant seal, and (below) some of thevisitors begin a colourful fun run on Boxing Day led byCapt Johnny Norman (in red wig).

Lynx helicopters, and her surveymotor boat, the James Caird,have been conducting the work inharbours, and harbour approach-es to the north of the island.

In addition, Endurance hasbeen helping scientists andresearchers in the area. Her air-craft lifted building supplies tothe British Antarctic Survey baseon Bird Island - and the ship'schief steward, CPO Deacon, was

tant in establishing a station forthe tagging and tracking of furseals.

The Lynx helicopters gaveLeeds University professorStephen Mobbs access to some ofthe most remote and exposedparts of South Georgia to set upweather stations. A camera crewfrom the BBC's Natural HistoryUnit also used the ship's aircraftto simulate the flight of anAlbatross.

Endurance spent Christmas atthe old whaling station atGrytviken, members of the ship'scompany attending a ChristmasDay service conducted by theSurveying Squadron chaplain,Ned Kelly, at the church there.

While in South Georgia, nineRoyal Marines from the shipbraved blizzard, glaciers, crevass-es and a snowfield to make thedifficult, 29-hour crossing ofSouth Georgia in the footsteps ofAntarctic explorer Sir ErnestShackleton in 1916.

After leaving South Georgia,Endurance visited Punta Arenas,Chile, for a stand-off of severaldays. Earlier in the deploymentthe ship had also visited BuenosAires, and was given a warm wel-come by the Argentinian peopleand navy.

'Super7 minehunter launched

SECOND of an enhanced batch ofSandown-class minehunters, HMSPembroke, goes down the slipway atVosper Thornycroft's Southamptonshipyard.

Like her predecessor, HMS Penzance,launched last year, the Pembroke has big-ger engines, enhanced air conditioning, amore powerful crane for deployment ofunderwater vehicles, and a bigger, better

decompression chamber for divers.Design changes have also included

accommodation for female officers and rat-ings.

The ship was sponsored by MrsStephanie Gretton, wife of Vice AdmiralMichael Gretton, Supreme AlliedCommander Atlantic's representative inEurope.

Other guests at the launch included Rear

Admiral Peter Spencer, Director GeneralSurface Ships and Controller of the Navy;Portsmouth North MP Syd Rapson; and theHigh Sheriff of Hampshire, Lindsay Fox.

There have been eight sea-going shipsof the name, from the 17th to 19th cen-turies, starting with a 28-gun vessel in1655. In addition, a number of old shipswere renamed Pembroke as base ships atChatham.

calls made Irom phone boxes may be subject to an 18p per minute surcharge

ChangeServices!

You can make massive savings on yourNational and International phone calls usingan AGGIE'S Pre-paid Calling Card from anyphone.

Compare the price of a ten-minute call:

UK National Off Peak Peak

BT Payphone £1.40 £1.40BT Charge Card £2.00 £2.00

AGGIE'S Pre-Paid 40p 60p

Start saving now - call free on

0800 036 3880/ESTON'S (Reg. Charity 238748) hasmilies for 120 years and is providing th

association with:

i/w.primustel.com/uk

http://www.primustel.com/uk

Oçt)ons

One year on, the new close links between the RN and the French MarineNationale go from strength to strength. We report on the results so far of theMaritime Letter of Intent, which lately included a two-week training period foiL Coy, 42 Commando Royal Marines with their French counterparts, the 2ndRegiment d'lnfantrie Marine, at their camp near Reims, and say -

J1N ;,

-

p4.

I

S.

7'i - --

-

fr't' , -

I

- '-

-

THE

NEW snlsnts codlals btwssn the Royaland the F.mbch hu cl~*h~up An

~MVY insd opwatlona - just a yasr after thesigning of an historic UarItlnw Letter of lrnt.Last nicvvth w, r.pusl.d on plans few the WA aver coee-

binid dspioymsnt betwsan the Royaland Ruu navIsNeanedills lb.proa.s of co-opsraeon bstwsui lbsRN

11w10s ( bess ..ost sscoixiglng say FII Si.Jr SI'

0w$erhIsFrasdi oomsqw1t,AW

Moel of ii haso in lbs slid.ci opaoi andissicid.riedvso in p*~. lb. .IiMg of. FrsVP(iUS -dOperedng Prooewss proloool 10. AM~ooiaioni hi.-

AW-,gym

ground and I abesdy prow" vidi10 in ooa1wd epsiedon.on thi WaitAM~most

:lilsonkb And drill

Tb .p.li 12 on0w -____-UW mvjbl ouSIsn.10z-iasrdsas.

ab*ty to woàtogether beyond lb. 1w-mail *wcier of hlnlbcurusser MAYO u.rolsssAMo, a usrtesof 2$ my~- ewdes.baashownthe as10uI.

ty and wuingauss ci both navlss 10 Icr Pibikia oppo.ti.êties ThIs hI even ors vlder* wIll lb..cange of sialsosunks t apesalonli Piklthg-PS ' k_g_ and FSLevais.-which cii b.rs*d iuis yw

_______ROM~ bsiwssn RagOM~Situwbs.s hisOR~hive shod.vli,wIth blisleili sasidess, apes.-

hand vWts m.sdngs andabi siclangasalruwdilg-wiN tobiad Iliuo, Ciisnis10ns n's wosssIweslil In' an oi% szcltwlg.bsn0w two .1.110 and lot omsi

W

n' docpffis tssbass i.wnaSvsV progtesssd inRN iwnunem"Involved wIth lb. owamm.Icid MsyP1wwe -.ops&IIy In 11wiiN-airbw ww-

tui* Sold. efisre Ow MesimseWeisle Cm"gIINS cywI seedits I'M~..quivalsMMw bumIn do..docuslion.

Sbesbig of Idess on towedWayp.e.lv, andI*w frequency*mys so.ws his pi1mlied svsn cioair hfr*big and em paty o4 dsvsloplog non doctilns andow~toebmiqu...

Fleet suppoil is Ste hIleet him lobe MO~In thenew.uo.blbg grouppbvdwL It 1.101 by Naval 5uppoil C~.~andSis FrnchNavli thai that thIs need,

qiMission Isthe Iulw.An Anglofrendi Suppu.1 Sub rill

hasIoc...dondo~pslvMIsMto.and ratS m~me.andhamadsindw0pi.lon svs.. sparse pabcy and eswIuli supply.PIydrographlcoc.ograçthk cooperation hasbeen atrsnglb-

sited by tims lotmiNom ala laint wvvkkng group which hascon-car*al.d on mdng~**andFrench M'Ess have b.sn.noyWig

isdi othe(s company-as laci.., In tImes. ures by LA4Plot)Sieve 1cis ciatwo.~ tilinln pedod forICoy, 42 Coowiththe 2nd RIMAat liii. esiep nssr

11. -

-

4111. _

-:

I

I -

1

lbw

hip

!P

01

'C

I

n the year since the signing by Ministers of theUK/France Maritime Letter of Intent, the growthof the already considerable 000peratanbetween the Royal Navy and the MarineNationale has been most encouraging.

In 1997 we participated together in six majorand 28 minor exercises; we now haveStandard Operating Procedures for our ships inthe Atlantic and are working closely on procuremerit projects. research and developnient andsiieraI personnel exchanges.1998 will see even closer inks between our

navies and we have recertly agreed ares of measures to p ncpzsed mompr

jr j ç' ,,Crk

Admiral Sir Jock Stater, Fprc Si Lord icChief of Naval Sta'1Amiral Jean-Charles Lefebvre, L- C d EL

:i y d

I kk '5

-

p

; .-. -- ---- '-2-- L

-

-'1-- z -1t -

wmew art

w ---4 r

'- - - -' - -

-- '

-T-

___

*w tor~

--wa

-

-

_

p

!

- - - - -

" rim tn;.r. Ld'tderianf d. aim~ Ls'adm.taut a,, tu. thhaag ioi* up troa, an RFA £am

4t

E

9-1

I

At Your Leisure

Invasion scare1803 - thewider pictureTRAFALGAR, the most famous and most strate-

gically significant victory in the age of sail, wasnot an isolated event.

It was the culmination of a campaign that began as soonas war with France was resumed in May 1803 - a warwhich aimed ultimately at the invasion of Britain.

To this end, Napoleon attempted by ruse and elaborately dis-guised manoeuvres to bring his scattered and blockadedsquadrons together for long enough to give him command of theChannel, which he fondly believed was all that was necessary toensure a successful landing.

And so the period offers a perfect demonstration of the work-ings of seapower, and reveals that, however great a genius onland, Napoleon never really grasped the principles of British mar-itme defence, gleaned as it was from over 200 years' experience.

This is not to say that the invasion threat was treated lightly.The Campaign of Trafalgar (Chatham £30, published in associationwith the National Maritime Museum), goes some way to explainthe paranoia that gripped the nation in those days - making thepoint that for those who have lived through the Cold War, over-estimating the capacities of a feared enemy has likewise been aneveryday experience.

The nightmare was fed by a printselling industry that becamean eager, if unwitting, extension of the French propagandamachine.

The illustration (right), though grossly exaggerated (the inva-sion barges that would have been used were half this size) is oneof the more realistic images to have confronted a panicky public.

You have to bear in mind, though, that Britain was in the throesof the first industrial revolution - and continuously being pre-sented with novel and ingenious inventions.

In many of these pictures can be seen the genesis of the imag-inative - and often highly prescient - science fiction later pro-duced by Jules Verne and H.G.Weils.

Although some of the rumoured devices belong to the world ofsci-fi, on the other hand the anti-invasion operations included thefirst use of such futuristic weapons as torpedoes and rockets.

A C u r , , , - i VIEWof flic FRENCH FLAT-BOTTOM BOATS, intrnHptl .10 (•<»»•<•>• ilioirTKOOrS.for the INVASION

Great raids point tothinking smal

From the earliest times,'politics by other means'has often been conductedwith small actions by elitetroops in pursuit of limitedgoals.

ET YOUR 19

CaleiREDUCED

PRICE£4.50UK

£5.25 SURFACEMAIL ABROAD

Protect in

environmenwhat the RoyalNavy is all about,

as superb"*- j.portrayedyear's calendar

Actual Size:-Icngth 37.6cm .v width 28.5cm

Please send your orders to:

The Business Manager,Navy News,

HMS NELSON, Portsmouth,Hants PO1 3HH

Cheques payable to Navy News to accompany orders.For orders outside the UK payment can be made by

Cheque/International Money Order in £ sterling and draon UK bank. Or for payment by Credit Card/Switch, UK

Abroad, please use the coupon on page 4.

Tel: O17O5 826O4OFax: O17O5 83O149

Among the Great Raids inHistory (Spellmount £19.95)many, of course, have beenmade from or on the sea.

Drake at Cadiz, John PaulJones off Britain, Gunther Prien atScapa Flow, the BritishCommandos at St Nazaire and theCanadians at Dieppe - all theseare included in this selection edit-ed by Samuel Southworth.

And Fritz Heinzen argues that

combat in the future may well relyless on knowledge gleaned fromthe great battles of the past as onthe lessons of character, imagina-tion and daring learned from thegreat raids.

Since Western attitudes mitigateagainst taking (and inflicting) largenumbers of casualties in militaryoperations, the raid is a logical wayto respond - and the future devel-opment of non-lethal weapons willmake the use of raids more attrac-

tive still.And as countries will find more

effective countermeasures to mis-sile or aircraft raids, by improvedhardening of targets (includingputting them underground) or bydeveloping stronger air defencesystems, the only attack optionavailable in some cases may be thecommando-style raid. It is ananalysis that may well dictate thefuture direction of warfare

-JFA

IT MUST take an odd, child-like cast of mind to qualify forthe job of scriptwriter on theJames Bond movies. Everyplace you pass through, thequestion will arise: what sort ofinteresting violence might Ivisit on this piece of land-scape?

What would be an exciting wayto demolish that bit of architec-ture? A densely-packed Taiwanesemarket, for instance, crammedwith ramshackle buildings, satisfy-ingly smashable goods and flocksof jittery fowls - well, obviously,Bond must be chased through it.

But what if he's chased by a low-flying helicopter? Ahh, the may-hem. More disturbingly for navalaudiences, the creators ofTomorrow Never Dies have alsowondered, Now what would be anoriginal way to sink this frigate?The answer turns out to be via theuse of a sort of remote-controlledBlack & Decker multi-blade thesize of a Volkswagen.

Something else to worry about.In fact this is the most Navy-ori-ented Bond yet, including aglimpse of Bond in hisCommander's uniform, with bothHMS Westminster and HMSDryad getting a mention in the-credits. (There are also a couple ofglimpses of Navy News - let us knowif you spotted it and where and therewill be a small prize for the first cor-rect answer - Ed).

Of course, a Bond picture suc-ceeds or fails according to theappeal of both its villains and itswomen. As regards the former,Jonathan Pryce as a a gleefullydemonic media tycoon anxious forbusiness reasons to get WW3underway, plus a Peter Schmeichellookalike intent on dismantlinganyone who has displeased hisboss.

As for the women, we've cer-tainly come a long way since thedays when Bond heroines wouldmerely squeal in something briefand pink while waiting to be res-cued. Here we have (though notfor long) the formidable TeriHatcher from TV's Superman,plus martial arts expert MichelleYeoh, who leaves even more dis-abled hoodlums and henchpersonsin her wake than 007 himself.

The announcement "JamesBond will return" appears at film's-end. Given past form it seems asafe bet that some star of 2035, asyet unborn, will indeed be actingout the ritual of receiving the sum-mons to HQ, followed by theregretful leavetaking from someadoring partner, the provisioningwith a new line of killer gadgetsand the adventuring forth to extir-pate the latest threat to nationalsecurity.

More wholesale destruction inStarship Troopers, a reprise of

every army action movie evermade: the buddies, the battles, theheroic sacrifices. Only the enemyhas changed. The Bugs are a raceof king-size winged and scaledcreepy-crawlies from outer space,with a tendency to advance enmasse, resulting in some bizarrelygruesome combat scenes.

Incidentally, armed forces of thefuture, it appears, will be fully inte-grated not only by gender but bynationality as well. 'So Bugsbeware.

- Bob Baker.

• Michelle Yeoh stars as WaiLin in the latest Bondfilm, Tomorrow Never Dies.


At Your Leisure

TSAR TURN IN LONDON, 1008r~I~"lHREE hundred years

ago, one of Russia'sJL most succesful rulers

spent four months inEngland - to study ship-building.

On April 2 an exhibition,Peter the Great in England,1698, opens at the Queen'sHouse, in the grounds of theNational Maritime Museum.

Peter spent most of his time inLondon - and in particular at theRoyal Dockyard at Deptford, hop-ing to bring back some of ouradvanced technologies to Russia,for which he had just created anavy.

At that time, England was oneof the most powerful countries inthe world. The economy was in ahealthy state and the Royal Navyruled the seas.

Peter's yacht, with his 'GreatEmbassy' embarked, anchorednear London Bridge on January 11and was greeted by King WilliamIII. The Tsar - a giant of a manstanding 6ft 7 inches tall - dis-cussed mathematics, navigationand astronomy with EdmondHalley and the first AstronomerRoyal, John Flamsteed, at theRoyal Observatory at Greenwich.He avoided protocol whenever hecould, preferring to visit placesthat interested him, including theRoyal Mint (then in the Tower ofLondon), Woolwich Arsenal andChatham and Portsmouth dock-yards.

He tried to maintain an incogni-to, 'Peter Mikhailov' - but his com-manding presence and ofteneccentric behaviour made thisimpossible. The Tsar and hisentourage were anyway a rowdy,boisterous bunch who seem tohave made a habit of leaving a trailof devastation in their wake.

They damaged both theinstruments and thebuildings at the

Observatory - and comprehensive-ly trashed Sayes Court, where theytook up residence. Carpets werestained, paintwork chipped, win-dows broken, chairs burnt, pic-tures torn and the garden tram-pled.

The magnificent hollyhedges were flattened afterthe visitors discovered awheelbarrow, unknown inRussia, and proceeded torace it into them . . .

Sir Christopher Wren's bill forthe damage is among the exhibits.Others include a large Victorianpainting, showing a fanciful andexaggerated scene of Peter andWilliam III at Deptford and twoship models, presented by Williamthat are now part of the Central

An exhibition at the National Maritime Museum

9Above: East India Company's Yard at Deptford, c.1660. Toescape the crowds, Peter stayed at Sayes Court, Deptford. At thefoot of the gardens a door opened directly onto the dockyardwhere he spent much of his time studying shipbuilding.• Left: Peter the Great at Deptford by Daniel Uaclise (1806-70). Thislarge painting shows Peter and William III in the dockyard - a fan-ciful and exaggerated image that says more about how theVictorians viewed history than the actual event.

AUTHORSLet us Publish Your Book

Most subjects consideredincluding Religion.Biography,Children's Stories, Poems,Fiction and First Books

AVON BOOKS (NN),1, Dovedale Studios,

465, Battersea Park Road,London SW114LR

Naval Museum collections in StPetersburg.

The Royal Transport, the mostadvanced and fastest schooneryacht then in the Navy, will bedwarfed by the elaborate dockyardmodel of the Royal Sovereign,which has not been seen in the westsince 1698. Peter was very proud ofthese gifts, which represented thecutting edge of ship design.

HP BOOKBINDERS: Establishedprofessional service locating outof print titles on allsubjects. No obligation or SAErequired. Contact: 22, Fords Close,Bledlow Ridge, Buckinghamshire.HP14 4AP. Tel: (01494) 481118Fax: (01494)[email protected]

"HMS. GANGES (The final farewell). . video. Ideal birthday /surprisepresent. Documentary includes allaspects of GANGES beforedemolition. One tear-jerking hour ofnostalgia, produced by JOHNDOUGLAS author H.M.S. GANGES(Roll on my dozen!) & H.M.SGANGES (Tales of the T.R.O.G/S.)S.A.E. details Douglas Hse, PenmarthRedruth. Cornwall TR16 6NX

HMS CENTAUR1943 - 1972

By Neil McCart'T'he latest in the series detailing the careersA of the Royal Navy's post-war aircraft

carriers. This volume follows the Cenlaur from the builder's yard to the breakersyard with detailed accounts of each of the vessel's commissions. Foreword by Rear-Admiral Steiner, the Centaur's list commanding officer. 125 illustrations, some incolour. Hardback with ful l colour laminated dust jacket. Price £16.95 plus p&p.1SBN0951953893

Also Available:HMS EAGLE 1942-1978 (Hardback) £18.95 plus p&pHMS ALBION 1944-1973 (Softback) £13.95 plus p&pPlease add £ 1.30 p&p UK & EU t£.^.50 overseas). Payment by sterling cheque, postal order, or byVISA/MASTERCARD. Telephone orders welcomed." From FAN PtBLICATIONS. 17 WymansLane. Cheltenham. Glos CL51 9OA. Tel/Fax 01242 580290 Or order from good bookshops.

The exhbition continues until 27September. The museum is alsoorganising an international confer-ence, Peter the Great and the West:New Perspectives, on 9-11 July.

This will be hosted by eminentlecturers from Russia, the UK andthe USA who will explore the wayPeter made Russia a Europeanpower and the relevance of hislegacy today.

• HMS RoyalSovereign, byWilliam Vande Wide.On comple-tion, she wasthe biggestship in theNavy.

When he leftLondon inMarch 1698,Tsar Peterthe Greatwas given amodel of herby KingWilliam III,which heproudly dis-played in hisoffice in StPetersburg.

This model,which hasnot sincebeen seen inthe West, willbe on displayat the exhibi-tion.

Entrance to the Exhibition is £5(adults) £2.50 (children) whichalso give entry to the NationalMaritime Museum and the OldRoyal Observatory. Tickets arealso valid for a second visit within12 months. For further informa-tion call 0181 312 6745. The regis-tration charge for the conference is£60, with £35 for the conferencedinner. Call 0181 312 6616.

NAVAL-MARITIME BOOKSOur free monthly rstotntftn always offer an• 1*1 mi.M.In avuJ * Illfciii ...I.. ,J1.., fcumi n.ipnTOfeswig ana non-repetitive setecttori uom ourlnnjB Block of sccunoH iu books on al a^p^cts ofNaval, Mercantile 1 Seafaring Activities.

Send for one now.GERALD LEE MARITIME BOOKS

73 Clay hall Avenue, Word, Essex,\ HJ5 0PM T«VFa» 0181 550 7317

BOOKFINDING SERVICE.Out-of-Print titles. Naval and maritimebooks and all other subjects. Detailsfrom Barlow Moor Books, 29Churchwood Road, Didsbury,Manchester M20 6TZ.

Telephone: (1161 434 5(1Ka\: (1161 44S 2-l'M

NAVAL AND MARITIMEBOOKS BOUGHT AND SOLDLARGE STOCKS - MONTHLY CATALOGUES

SHOP OPEN 10-4 (SATURDAY 10-1)

SEND FOR FREE CATALOGUEFrank Smith Maritime Books,

98/100 Heaton Road., NewcastleUpon Tyre, NE6 5HL

Telephone: 0191 265 6333

NEVER . . .Buy a new Naval Book or Videobefore checking our prices first -which include delivery to your door.Send today for our FREEcatalogues:

Maritime Books, Lodge HillLiskeard, PL14 4ELTel 01579343663Fax 01579 346747

PUBLISH YOUR BONWRft

The Pent/and PressEdinburgh Cambridge Durham USA

Established publisher welcomesbooks in all subjects.

Write lor details or send your manuscript to:Michael Mclnally

Portland Press (NN), 1 Mutton Close,South Church, Durham DL14 6XB

Tel: 01388 776555 Fax: 01388 776766

THE NATIONAL HEROESby D.G James

Hilarious tales of matelots in the1950's 240 pages of humour, love

and the Suez crisis£6 inc. p+p from:

Castle of Dreams, 8, Pease Street,Darlington DL1 4EU

BOOKS ON SHIPSAND THE SEA

Send for free lists of used andantiquarian books from our huge stock

on Naval & Merchant ShippingN. Fisher Nautical

Huntawood. St Helena Lane, StreatHaaaocks, Suseex BN6 8SD

Tel/Fax: 01273 890273

HMS PUMA. F34A BOOK IS BEING PRODUCED.

Officers and Ra t ings uho \S_TWJin HMS Puma please contact:

Mr C Caoke.ld /lulines Street,

Hurliin Hill. KriMnl HSS VTY

NEW AUTHORSPUBLISH YOUR WORKALL SUBJECTS CONSIDERED

Fiction. Non-Fiction. Biography.Religious. Poetry. Children*

AUTHORS WORLD-WIDE INVITEDWrite or send your manuscript to

MINERVA PRESS2 OLD BROUPTON ROAD, LONDON SW7 3DQ

/"FOOTSTEPS" >vThe Life of a Dorsetshire Foot

Contains much interesting informationon the Foot families farming in theMappowdcr area in the 18th and 19thcenturies.Additionally the author describes biscareer in the Royal Navy from 1846 to1995 in which he highlights manyamusing incidents. Many serving andretired naval officers and ratings willrecognise the events and incidentsdescribed.Available at the local bookshops ordirect from the publisher:L G Foot, 15 Westborn Road,FAREHAM HantsPO16 7DH

(Email: [email protected]) at

V £14.95 plus £2.05 p&p J


At Your ServiceOver to You Calling Old Shipmates

Wartime blue caps: Les Kennedy, sec-retary of the Wivenhoe and ElmsteadRNA. is putting on a naval photo and mem-orabilia display in July to raise money forthe KGFS and branch welfare funds.Although he has several items of Navaluniform, he needs the Second World Warblue sailor's cap and blue Wren's cap.Contact Les at Oar Taghna, BrightlingseaHall, Church Road, Bnghtlingsea, EssexCO7 ORZ, tel 01206 303101.

Stamps: Geoffrey Schofield is a found-ing member of the only American branch ofthe RNA, and is now lifetime Vice Presi-dent. He knows of a scheme where hospi-talised veterans process stamps as part oftheir therapy. RNA members are invtted tocontribute by sending stamps - any coun-try, old, new or used - to Geoffrey at 3534,Purdue Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90066.

HM ships Prince of Wales andRepulse: Arthur Nicholson is researchingthese ships and wants to know the namesand whereabouts of the helmsman of thePrince of Wales on December 10, 1941and the observer or telegraphist-air gunnerof the Walrus flown by U C.R. Batemanfrom the ship to Singapore on the sameday. He would also like to contact relativesof Admiral Tom Phillips and his son, CdrJerry Phillips, Lt Cdr R.F. Harland (HMSPrince of Wales), Fit Lt Tim Vigors (453Son RAF). Terence Black RN and Robin A.Kilroy RN (in Singapore on December 10,194f), Paymaster Lt W.T. Blunt (Prince ofWales) and Admiral Michael GoodenoughHe would also like to find the 1966 RNreport on the dive on the two ships, andtwo back numbers of the RN diving maga-zine. Vol 12, No 3 (Winter 1965) and Vol14, No 1 (Spring 1967). Contact Arthur at240, Laurel Heights Place, San Antonio,TX 78212. USA, by phone on (210) 736????, or by fax at (210) 735 8411.

William Eric Brown: Can anyone helpCatherine Stewart leam anything moreabout her father? William Eric Brown (bomCheshire on January 27, 1906) joined theRN on September 11, 1924, and served innumerous ships and establishments,including HM snips Pembroke, Lowestoft,Dublin, Yarmouth, Hawkins, Cambrian,Frobisher, Royal Oak, Vivid, Drake andOrion. Mrs Stewart is particularly keen tohear about any ports of call, and in particu-lar his service in HMS Ramillies (Feb 1937to July 1938V Resolution (Jury to October1938) and Pembroke (October 1938 toMarch 1939). William, by that time amechanician first class, died aged 36 whenHMS Cornwall was sunk by Japanesebombers in the Indian Ocean on April 5,1942. Contact Mrs Stewart at 50, SloanStreet, Ground Left, Edinburgh EH6 8RQ.

HMS Venomous ship's bell: TheLoughborough Sea Cadet Corps is seekingthe whereabouts.of the bell of V and W-class destroyer HMS Venomous, affiliatedto Loughborough in 1942 and broken up in

REUNIONS at SEA

Reunions Dinners at sea in aprivate Dining room on a 3day cruise to Spain.Or, If you prefer why not aweekend in Normandy withor without a visit to D Daybeaches.

Seaunions26 Bath Lane, Fareham

HantsPO160DHTel/Fax 01329 281590

Charlestown in August 1948. The unitwould also like information on the ship'sbell of destroyer HMS Quom, sunk offNormandy in August 1944 - it is believed tobe in a beachhead museum. The unit isaffiliated to the Hunt-class MCMV of thesame name. Does anyone have informa-tion on the subsequent career of JoshPantling. gunnery instructor at HMSExcellent during the last war? Any help toR.J. Moore, 99, Holywell Drive, Loughbor-ough, Leics LE11 3JX, tel 01509 266164(home) or 01509 233433 (office).

HMS Holly, a minesweeper trawler, wasadopted by Royston in 1942. The RoystonRNA would like to hear from anyone whoserved in this ship, and any informationabout her. Contact S/M H. Moss, 119,Garden Walk, Royston, Herts SG8 7JW.

HMS Kent film: Can anyone help MikeTemple trace an RN recruiting film made inGibraltar in 1974? Mike featured in the film,and saw a copy which was sent to the ship.Bob Holness was involved, and the direct-ed was Peter Ferris. Any info to Mike at 12,Birkdale Close, St Stephens, Saltash,Cornwall PL12 4DQ, tel 01752 846496.

Beatrice Jessie Goodwin: Does any-one remember Beatrice, bom inBirmingham in 1922, and lived at 11,Windmill Street, Valetta, Malta. She died in1952. Anyone who knew her or workedwith her is asked to write to 22, HillcrestRoad, Purtey, Surrey CR8 2JE.

Fall of shells: Mr J. Marsden wishes toobtain a photo showing the fall of shellsaround a battle practice target on RangeLL, west of the Orkneys, dunng shoots faybattleships 1941 -45. Can any members ofthe target marking party from the DunluceCastle or any former member of a ship'sgunnery department assist? Contact MrMarsden on 0151 722 2740.

HMS Hermione: Steve Brotherton ofthe Hermione Association visited the NavalCemetery at Kalkara in Malta, and saw thegraves of two sailors who served inHermione. If the families of Fredrick Striplin(21), died 9.12.1902 or W.C. Hook AB, died6.12.1902, would like details, contact MrBrotherton at 37, McCarthy Close,Birchwood, Warrington, Cheshire WAS6RS, tel 01925 824504. Anyone withHermione memorabilia who could lend it tothe association should also contact him.

HMS Cavalier Association now has asite on the Work) Wide Web. Anyone con-cerned with saving this last example of aWorld War II destroyer can find out more athttp://www.rimscavalier.u-net.com

Black Sea and Constantinople: R.Gibbons' grandfather was a Royal Marineon the Emperor of India in 1919, whichwent to the Black Sea and Constantinople.He was also on the Benbow which bom-barded Sirmama and went to Izmed. Hehad vivid memories of massacres andatrocities at the time. Can anyone help withbooks or information on these expeditions?Contact R. Gibbons at 53, Rydens Way,Old Woking, Woking GU22 9DG.

HMS Garland: G. Massey wants toknow if anyone knows the history of HMSGarland, which had her stem blown off andwhen repaired was acquired by the PolishNavy. Mr Massey's father was coxswain ofthe ship. Contact him at 7, Redwood Drive,Great Sutton, South Wirral L66 2YA, tel0151 2001886.

James Brander: Mrs Brander wouldlike to know more about her brother-in-lawJames Brander, who joined HMS Ramillieson September 9, 1940, and who died ofpneumonia on November 27. He wasburied in Ismalia war cemetery in Egypt.Contact her through Mr D. Allardice, 20,Carmichael St, Dundee, Scotland.

Guy Williams: Does anyone rememberGuy, a coder in HMSGoodall, a frigatesunk by U968 on April 29, 1945? Survivorswere picked up by HMS Honeysuckle -were you one of them? HMS Goodall wasin company with ships RA66, HMS Anguilla

Personalised ChairsOur Commordore chairs are versatile, lightweight andeasy to stow, giving comfortable informal occasionalseating on deck or at home. At just £24.95, includingpersonalisation with a name of message of up to tenletters, they make excellent presents. Choose from:

Frame flashes Canvas colours8270 Natural 8257 Lemon8274 White 8258 Royal Blue8275 Black 8261 Natural8276 Mahogany stain 8263 Navy blue8277 Teak stool 8264 Black

AuthenticBosun's CallsRegulation British-made Naval calls expertJy engraved with Name, Rank and Numberor a message to a girlfriend etc. In presentation box with matching 50" neckchain,historical notes and a guide to piping. Beware non-functional and untuneable imitations.

2131 Gold-plated call £27.511 2121 Silver-plated call £24.952111 Brass/Copper call £19.95 2101 Nickel-plated call £19.95

Engraving £2.20 per line (up to 18 letters and spaces - capitals and numbers count astwo). Up to four lines (two each side). We also supply unengraved standard nickel callsat £14.95 (ref 2102).

Top Quality Ship's BellsOur ship's bells are manufactured in the finest tradition - sand-cast

in solid brass and hand-finished to a beautiful sheen. Thespecification and design is tightly-controlled to meet maritime

requirements, the 8" and 12" sizes being DoT approved andcertificated for commercial use.

5081 4" Brass Ship's bell £17.955083 6" Brass Ship's bell £39.95

\ 5105 8" Brass Ship's bell £110\ 5106 12" Ship's bell (no bracket) £295

Engraving - eg vessel name, port and constructiondate, or achievement accolade. 4" bells: £1.20 per letter6 & 8" bells: £1.65 per letter. Larger bells on request.

Postage and handling on alt orders (UK mainland. N. Ireland and Scottish Islands) £2.95TO ORDER call 01932 253333 or fax 01932 241679 with your credit/debit carddetails or post (cheques also welcome) to:

Dept NN.The Ferry Point, Ferry Lane,Shepperton-on-Thames, Middlesex,TW17 9LQ, England.

and HMS Honeysuckle while on convoy tothe Soviet Union. There |s also a photp ofGuy and two shipmates in Boston, Maine,taken in December 1943 - are you in it?Contact Alan Ellacott, West Killatown, StNeot, Liskeard, Cornwall PL14 6LQ.

HH ships Esk, Express and Ivanhoe:From September 1940 to September 1946more than 230 mariners were buried on theGerman islands of Pelfworm andSuederoog. The islanders are mounting anexhibition and need photographs, docu-ments, ship models, maps etc, and theywould like to hear from survivors or veter-ans, to invite them to a commemorativeceremony in June. Contact Ms BrigittaSektel, Amt Pellworm, Postfach 80. D -25847 Pellworm, Germany, tel 04844/189-33; fax 04844/189-11.

Singapore tunnels: Does anyoneknow of the underground tunnels built bythe British prior to World War II inSingapore? The tunnels were driven fromdifferent points leading to the dockyard.They have been temporarily sealed to pre-vent unauthorised entry, ft is intended toexplore the tunnels when adequate infor-mation and plans have been collated.Contact Clarrie (Jim) Gibson, 18, Fish DamLane, Monk Bretton, Barnsley, Sth YorksS71 2PX, tel 01226 234485.

HM ships Worthing, Wessex,Bagshot and Broadwater: Mr R. White isresearching the Bangor-class minesweep-er HMS Worthing, and has uncovered fur-ther connections between three warshipsand the town of Worthing, the memory ofwhich he is hoping to revive. Wessex wasa W-dass destroyer, 1943-50, adopted byWorthing borough during Warship Week in1942; Bagshot was a Hunt-classminesweeping sloop, 1939-45, adopted byWorthing Rural District Council duringWarship Week 1942, and Broadwater wasa Town-class destroyer torpedoed inOctober 1941. Any survivors from theseships is asked to contact Mr White at TheEridge, 53, Coleridge Crescent, Goring-by-Sea, Worthing, West Sussex BN12 611).

HMS/SS Orbita: Does anyone haveany details or photographs of this shipwhen she was an armed merchant cruiserbetween 1915 and 1918, cargo and pas-senger ship 1919-1940 and troopship1940-1950. Please contact Norman Johns,The Old Chandlery, New Rd, Instow,Bideford, Devon EX39 4LN, tel 01271860578.

AB Harry Eggledon, HMS Versatile:Can anyone help Carol Potter find outmore about the death of her grandfather,Harry Eggledon, on May 13, 1941, whileserving in HMS Versatile? Mrs Pptter canbe contacted at 22, Farthing Gr,Netherfield, Milton Keynes MK6 4HH.

HMS Sheffield 1951-52: Would any oldshipmate be able to send Norman Jones acopy of HMS Sheffield's Cruise ofAmericas r95(-5P? Norman lives at Rat10, Woodlands, N/casMe Rd, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 6QA, tel 01782 878469.

HMS Aurochs, May 1958:Postgraduate student wishes to contactcrew members of HMS Aurochs who wereserving during May 1958 when the subma-rine was involved in SEATO exercises inthe Philippines. Please write to AndrewRoadnight, 65, Spring Lane, Kenilworth,Warks CV8 2HD.

Lt Dennis Tucker, RNVR: Ruth Gentryis hoping to contact or find information onLt Dennis Tuckert RNVR, stationed inPortsmouth during the summer of 1949.His date of birth would have been around1925. Not much to go on - but do youremember him? Any help gratefullyreceived by Ruth at 236, Ranch Glen PlaceNW, Calgary. Alberta T3G 1G1, Canada, ore-mail [email protected]

Search for books: Mr G. Evans hasbeen trying unsuccessfully for years to geta copy of trie book Through the Waters orthe paperback version Flagship to

ReunionsFEBRUARY

RN and RM Gunnery Associationreunion dance on February 7 at theNautical Club, Bishopsgate St, BirminghamB15 1ET, tel 0121 643 7786.

Tamworth Fleet Air Arm AssociationAGM at 2000hrs on February 24 at theRNA, Victoria Rd, Tamworth, Staffs.Contact Bernard Allkins on 01827 287283.

MARCHLanding Barges reunion in March has

been cancelled through lack of support. Fornew date see MAY.

RN Communications Association willbe holding their AGM at the Nautical Club,Birmingham, on March 7. All RN, ex-RN com-municators ranks and ratings welcome.Details from Geoff Ferguson, 4, MountPleasant, Back Rd, Calstock, Cornwall PL189QL, or Sam MacFartane on 01634 684817.

North Russia Club reunion is on March 7at Neath Constitutional Club, South Wales.SAE for enquiries to Mervyn Williams, 87,Olive Rd, Coxford Rd, Southampton SO165FT, tel 01703 906402. Phone direct foraccommodation: Conway Guest House(01639 642364) or Victoria Guest House(01639636233).

HMS Duke of York Association will holda mini-weekend at Babbacombe on March13-15. For details contact Mr R. Draper, RoseCottage, 103, Orchard Park, Elton, ChesterCH2 4NQ, tel 01928 725175.

HMS Glory Association will hold areunion on March 21. For full details contactPeter Warde at 91, Dinglederry, Olney. BucksMK465EU, tel 01234 711611.

HMS Loch Fada reunion is on March 27-28; more than 100 in touch - if you would liketo join them, contact Bob Harris can be con-tacted at 12, Alandale Rd, Sholing,Southampton SO19 1DG, tel 01703 391848.

Gibraltar Senior Rates 1978-80 reunionat HMS Nelson WO, SR and SNCO's Messon March 28, 1998. Contact Barry Cookings(01329 8351%). Terry Foley (01329 311186)or Dave Wells (01705 819723).

Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (NWArea) reunion and buffet at the RNA, Park RdEast, Birkenhead on March 28. Details fromthe Mersey Unit, c/o 39, Sycamore Ave, OakAvenue Estate. Upton, Wirral L49 4QJ.

HMS Undine-Urchin Association incompany of Ursa-Ulster reunion on March28 to April 1; four nights half board atPortsmouth Royal Sailors Home Club.Anyone interested contact Stan De'Ath, 28,Main St. Sewstem, Grantham, Lines NG335RF. tel 01476 860833.

Murmansk, written by Mr Evans's late lite-long friend Robert Hughes.

If anyone has a copy for sale or dispos-al, could they contact Mr Evans atEdgecoombe, 24, Orchard Rise, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey KT2 7EY, telephone0181 9426917.

HMS Vemon mine: Last year PeterPurkiss bought a small wooden replica of amine at the auction in aid of KGFS. On thbase of the mine is the legend Wardroom,•HMS Vemon-23rd June 1966. Does any-one know the history of this object? If so,please contact Peter at 57, LongfordCrescent, Bradway, Sheffield S17 4LJ,telephone 0114 236 7165.

Tom Cheshire: Bryan Maher is trying totrace a Naval friend from his service days.Tom Cheshire was stationed at HMSFulmer/RAF Lossiemouth in 1974 - wouldhe or anyone with knowledge of his where-abouts contact Bryan, who served in theRAF, at 30, Stationhead Rd, Lochgelly, FifeKY5 9EG, telephone 01592 782071.

Arthur (Tim) Riley: Ted Collier, of theHMS Peacock Association, is looking forthe family of LS Arthur (Tim) Riley, who waskilled at the age of 28 in a swimming acci-dent in Malta in 1948 whilst serving in HMSPeacock. He also served on board HMSBarham. Contact Ted at 8, Aston Lane,Remenham Hill, Henley on Thames, OxonRG9 3EL, telephone 01491 574241.

Trincomalee - HMS Shah(7):Confirmation sought, for squadron history,of name and other relevant information ofthe East Indies Fleet escort carrier thatsailed with task force out of Trincomalee inlate March (?) 1945. A few hours out shewas crippled by complete mechanical fail-ure and had to be towed back by escortingcruiser HMS ?, whose Marine Band playedWings Over the Navy as they re-enteredTrincomalee Harbour. The carrier had sixphoto recce Hellcats of 888 Squadron onboard in addition to its own fightersquadron, no ? If you recall anything at all,please contact M. Smith at 28, AshwoodDrive, Humberston, Grimsby DN36 4TX,tel 01472 816440.

Sinking of HMS Itchen: On September23, 1943,1-IMS Itchen. after rescuing sur-vivors from HMCS St Croix and HMSPolyanthus, was herself sunk and onlythree survivors from all three ships wererescued. Mr E. Rumpf is researching theincident, and would like to know if anyonecan tell him the names of the survivors, orshed any more light on the incident. MrRumpf lives at 244, Lapwing Drive,Bricktown, New Jersey 08723-6808 USA.

Sydney street evangelist: Does any-one have any recollections of Sydneystreet evangelist Frank Jenner between1943-1960, who accosted sailors with hisfamous question "If you were to die tonightwhere would you go?" Anyone who canhelp is asked to wnte to Raymond Wilsonat 30, Wisdom St, Connells Point, 2221NSW, Australia.

All changeat dockyard

DAYTIME TV's interior designshow Change That is coming tothe historic dockyard inPortsmouth Naval Base verysoon.

If anyone has any tatty furni-ture that needs a free designmakeover, call Dan or Nick on0171 462 9900 (office hours) or0990 200 502 (24 hours) andleave a message.

APRILLoch Quoich Association reunion will

be held at Leamington Spa on April 3-4, opento all Loch-class shipmates. Details from R,Morrison, 12, Garden Ave, Cardenden,Lochgelly, Fife KY5 OEA, tel 01592 721707.

HMS Kenya Association will be holdinga reunion at Torquay on April 3-6, covering allcommissions from 1940-62. Contact W.J.Boardman, 35. Holmleigh Rd, Childwall.Liverpool L25 2SA, tel 0151 487 0093.

HMS Westcott Club reunion and AGMwill be held at the London Welsh Club. GraysInn Rd, London on April 5. Details from C.Fairweather, Stable Cottage, West Bergholt.Colchester CO6 3JQ, tel 01206 240614.

HMS Crossbow reunion will be in theBurns Suite of the Union Jack Club,Waterloo, London on April 17 at 6.30pm.Dress informal, partners welcome. Enquiries •to Barrie Edmonds, 129, Churchgate,Southport. Merseyside, tel 01704 214232.

HMS Cossack Association (L03 and057) will be held in the Burlington Hotel atEastbourne from April 17-19. Details fromGeoff LJIley, 7. Crowland Close, Ipswich,Suffolk IP2 9BB, tel 01473 682836.

HMS Barie reunion will be held on April18 at the Edgbaston Palace Hotel,Birmingham, tel 0121 452 1577. For fulldetails, contact Sam Pearsall, tel 0121 4306924 or Ted Mailings, tel 01933 353972.

HMS Ladybird (Sasebo, Japan) 1950-53reunion is at the Angel Hotel, LeamingtonSpa on April 18. Further information fromTerry Cooper at 28, Hopgrove Lane South,Malton Rd, York YO3 9TG, tel 01904 425883.

846 Naval Air Squadron will be holdingtheir 11th annual reunion on April 18 at theApollo Hotel, Birmingham. For details contactTed Billingham. 9, Micklegate, Brewood,Staffs ST19 9JF, tel 01902 850517.

HMS Tartar 1939-45: Next reunion ofCommunication Branch is on April 19 at theNorthwick Arms Hotel, Evesham at noon.Details from F. Fisher on 0115 981 1676.

Roger Party of the RN Commandos willbe holding their annual reunion between April20-24 at the Grand Hotel, Llandudno - allwelcome. For further information nng KenBarry on 01702 340775

HMS Vindex reunion lunch will be on April22 at the Union Jack Club, London from 1100to 1600. Guests from sister ships Nairanaand Campania welcome. For details contactChris B. Tye at 5, Begonia Ave, Gillingham,Kent ME8 6YD, tel 01634 232884.

HMS Redoubt reunion at the VictoryServices Club. Apnl 22. Contact Sam Morley at113, The Ridgeway, Northaw, Herts EN6 4BG.

HMS Mlddleton (L74) Associationreunion is on April 24-25 at the RNA Club,

HMS Unicorn Association is seekingSherstone, Luckie, Steanton, Slater,Wilson, Hughes, Todd, Forsyth, Stewart.Nelson, Palerymom, Williams, Hare,Baker, Jones, RM Wnght, Keagan. Bell forCharlie Heald and Snelgrove, Maskrey,Brunswick, Brothers, Abbott, Hammond forLes Wilkinson, telephone 01442 255821.

HMS Ceylon Association would like tohear from Argyll and SutherlandHighlanders, trooped in HMS Ceylon toPusan, Korea. Please contact DavidPalmer at 33, Mayhall Rd, Copnor,Portsmouth PO3 5AU, tel 01705 663527.

HMS Hardy 1969-71: Mr J. Sheldon islooking for shipmates of the 1969-71 com-mission. Please ring 01705 343612.

HMS Gannet 1957-59 RNASEglinton): Jim Stroud has now locatedJimmy Stewart and would like to locate anyof the following: Billy Herridge, GeorgeHogan, Charlie Hogan. Bamey Curran,Snirsh Clarke, Figgy Duff and DougyKayes, all 719 Squadron. Contact Jim at26, Heol Dewi. St Davids, Dyfed SA626NY, tel 01437 720873.

Geoff White: Dave Jones would like tomake contact with Geoff, a school-mate ofhis who joined up with him at HMS Gangesin 1962. They both went to school inBerkhamsted. Contact Dave at 17,Lansdown Gardens, Chillerton, Isle ofWight PO30 3HJ.

Officers' Cooks at Guzz: Where is the"A-Team" nearly 50 years on - they occu-pied a prefab as a mess right next to thecoal dump in Devonport Barracks. WallyDuddington, Lofty Butt, Johnny Bland,Brum Gould, Pete Street, Taff Strong, JanShort and Jock Kerr - where are you? Ifanyone would like a get-together for a bit oflamp-swinging, contact George Murray at84, Green Rd, Stubbington, FarehamPOM 2HB, or telephone 01329 663632.

John Hains: Were you one of the manysenior rates entertained at his home byJohn and Marjorie in Sydney? Taff Beckwas one, and he says John is not in thebest of health these days, and would bemuch cheered to hear from some of his for-mer visitors. John, now nearly 85, and hislate wife Marjorie entertained two seniorrates from every British andCommonwealth ship to visit Sydney sincethe war. John, now remarried, can be con-tacted through Taff Beck on 0161 761 6584- make his day!

HMS Spuming 1942-44: Ken "Guns'Higham is in touch with Ginger Newton andTaffy Joe Johns, who served in HMSSpurwing in Sierra Leone from 1942-44 -are there any others still out there whoserved with Lt Cdr Chris Draper, known asthe Mad Major as a result of a spectacularflight under one of the Thames bridges.Guns, who got the nickname from takingout his frustration on the bush-fowl with his12-bore, lives at 1, Beck Ave, Carverton,Notts NG14 6JG, tel 0115 965 5719.

HMS Shippigan: George (Nobby) Hall,of the Bangor-class fleet minesweeperHMS Shippigan of the 16th Flotilla, is seek-ing ex-ship's company. George was a stok-er between February 1944 and May 1946,and he also did firefighting at DonibristleHis home town was Stockport, but write tohim at 6/a Tango Place, Henderson,Auckland, New Zealand.

HMSWhitesand Bay: Geoff Nightin-gale of the HMSWhitesand BayAssociation is still trying to find BasilMoody, Nick Carter and Ken Butcher, orany other shipmates. Contact Geoff at 268,Galley Hill, Gadebridge, HemelHempstead, Herts HP1 3LD, telephone01442263405.

Electrical and Radio ElectricalArtificer Apprentices, Series 14: TomMarshall is hoping to arrange a reunion ofthose who completed training in December1955 at HMS Collingwood. Please phone01705 731792 or write to Tom at 174,Locksway Rd, Southsea, Hants PO4 8LE.

Trawlers: Gerald Toghill, an ex-Jaunty,

would like to hear from any ex-trawlermen,particularly from World War II, as heresearches RN trawlers (RN built, requisi-tioned, hired, purchased etc) as a hobby.Contact Gerald at 12. Main RdWestonzoyland, Bridgwater TA7 ODZ. tel01278691664.

HMS Raleigh stokers' training classNov 1950 to June 1951: David Bishop isseeking any memorabilia, photos etc, whileon parade, in class, or any taken in themess; all photos returned by registeredpost - what about a call from old class-mates? Phone 01983 811207 or write toAbbey Lodge, Quarr Rd, Binstead. Isle ofWight PO33 4EL.

HMS Woodbridge Haven: DavidBishop is still seeking any ex-shipmates ofall ranks, branches and commissions - 60in touch so far. If there is sufficientresponse a reunion can be held later thisyear. For details contact David on 01983811207 or Steve Conroy on 01903 751035.

HMS Belvoir: D. Wray has a phototaken on HMS Belvoir some time in 1943 or44: three people he can identify as Moor,Russell and Watson - can you rememberbeing in the frame with these three?Contact Mr Wray at 21 Oa, Wellmeadow Rd,Catford SE6 1HS, tel 0181 698 2420.

HMS Bonaventure: Derek Wyattserved on the Bonny, a midget submarinedepot ship, from 1943-46, and would like toget in touch with old shipmates toexchange information or photographs. Hewill be in England next month and would behappy to contact anyone then. Derek livesat 348, Chestnut Hill Court, Apartment no31, Thousand Oaks. California 91360,USA, telephone 818 991 6644, fax 818 9918829.

HMS Lightning: Jack Gould would liketo contact any survivors of HMS Lightning,especially ex-torpedomen B. Daniels, J.Fenby and H. Roy, October 1942 to March1943. Mr Gould is at 114, Elm Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex SS9 1SQ.

HMS Cossack: All boy seamen whojoined HMS Cossack in Hong Kong during1947, among whom were 'GyraBartholomew, 'Ginger' Frampton, 'Ginger'Godfrey, 'Knobby' Hall, Dave Maytum. illShowell and 'LG' White. Ptease contactGeoff Lilley, 7, Crowland Close, Ipswich,Suffolk IP2 9BB, tel 01473 682836 to meetup at a reunion in April.

HMS Glasgow 1954-56: Seeking•Frenchie's Fighting FX Men" of the 1954-56 commission - a welcome awaits you allon the messdecks of the Old Boys'Association. Come on and show your FXtrophies. Contact S/M Allan Mercer, 89,Royal Ave, Widnes, Cheshire WA8 8HJ.

HMS Crane 1942-61: 'The last of thebirds' - three ex-flyers, now strictly waders,from 1957-59 commission, seek any ex-Cranes for lamp-swinging, and a possiblereunion. Contact Tony "Nutty A- Nuttall on01159526363.

HM Submarine Ultimatum (P34) 1943-44 in the Med: J. Wade is in contact withnine ex-crew, including skipper Kett, and ishoping there will be another reunion thisyear with a few more of you in attendance.Contact Mr Wade on 01509 230050.

Aircraft Artificers: Roy "Pip" Hipkinwould like to contact the following toarrange a reunion: Tom Knight, JohnSmith, Colin Moore, B.J. Clements-Jewery,Mick Woods, B.D. McKee, Jan Hamley,M.F. Leech (Fred), B.L. Chambers (Chas).Contact Roy at 12, Florence Rd. Watton-on-the-Naze, Essex CO14 8HP, tel 01255673744.

Ted Cranfield: Ted's wife Marion ishoping to organise a surprise birthdayparty lor him in March, and would like tocontact Peter Pearson (HMS Ganges1953, then living in Woolwich), Peter Evans(HMS Alert 1956-7, now possibly living inDover) and Ken "Aggie Haggar (HMSLondonderry 1961-62, Chiswick). Anyinformation to daughter Emma on 01708553087.

Leamington Spa. Contact Mike Alston at 6,Belmont Park Rd, Maidenhead, Berks SL66HT, tel 01628 629655.

HMS Decoy (D106) final commissionannual reunion is at the New ContinentalHotel, Plymouth, on April 24-26. For detailsring 01274 684799 (Bradford).

HMS Lance Association reunion is at theCivil Service Club, Great Scotland Yard,London SW1A on April 25. Details from JimBennett, 111. King Charles Rd, Surbiton,Surrey KT5 8PQ.

Fast Minelayers Association (SouthWest) will be holding a reunion at the ExeterWhite Ensign Club in South St. Exeter at11 am on April 25. A warm welcome to thosewho served on: Abdiel, Apollo, Ariadne,Latona, Manxman and Welshman. ContactGordon Ferris (01803 833740) for details.

MAYCaptain Walker's Old Boys Association

34th annual reunion; Battle of the Atlanticmemorial service, May 1-3, Merseyside.Contact secretary P. Marsh on 0151 7222080 for details.

HMS Peacocks (F96 and P239) reunionat Leamington Spa on May 1 -3. Details fromTed Collier, 8, Aston Lane, Remenham Hill,Henley-on-Thames, Oxon RG9 3EL, tel01491 574241.

HMSTenby Association seeking ex-ship's company of the minesweeper J34 andfrigate F65 for reunion on May 1-4. Furtherinformation from Phil Rowe on 0161 7477325 or e-mail [email protected]

V and W Destroyer Association reunionand AGM from May 3-10 at the WesthillHotel, Jersey. 114 booked so far. Contact C.Fairweather, Stable Cottage, West Bergholt,Colchester CO6 3JQ, tel 01206 240614.

HMS Volage 1944-46 reunion May 4-8 atthe Province of Natal Hotel, Weymouth.Contact Lofty John Mills on 01243 542158, orwrite to Lulworth, Fontwell Ave, Eastergate,Chichester PO20 6RU.

HMS Royal Arthur Association 11thannual reunion is on May 7-10 in Skegnessfor shipmates from Skegness and Corsham.Details from Mick Holness on 01227 361961.

HMS Consort Association reunion is atthe Trecam Hotel, Babbacombe, Torquayfrom May 8-10 Further details from JohnBrewer, 31. Legis Walk, Plymouth, DevonPL6 7DE, lei 01752 783064.

HMS Ceylon Association reunion is atthe Trecarn Hotel, Babbacombe, Torquayfrom May 8-10. Details from David Palmer,33, Mayhall Rd, Copnor, Portsmouth PO35AU, tel 01705 663527.

Landing Barges reunion in March hasbeen cancelled through lack of support. They

will now meet at Blackpool from May 8-11 atthe Seafield Hotel. Tel 01253 346469.

HMS Diadem Association reunion is atthe Queen's Hotel, Clarence Parade,Southsea on May 9; up-spirits at 18.30hrs,reunion dinner 19.30hrs. Details from PeterBumand, 17, Greystone Ave, Bognor Regis,West Sussex PO21 SEA, tel 01243 864680.

HMS Swiftsure Association, cruiser andsubmarine, buffet lunch reunion on May 9,noon to 17.00, in Watford. Details from DavidGeorge, Mullion, Shipton Green, Itchenor,Chichester, Sussex PO20 7BZ, tel 01243512998.

HMS Emerald Association reunion atthe Union Jack Club, London, on May 9.Details from Colin Houktey, Church House,West St, Flamborough, E. Yorks YO15 1PH,tel 01262 851279.

HMS Bedfordshire: A memorial serviceis to be held on May 11 for the RN trawlersunk oft the USA by U-558. Details fromPatrick Griffiths, 46, Chitton Drive, StoneyCreek, Ontario L8J 1M2, Canada.

HMS Attacker, 879 and 886 Squadronsand Ship's Company: Reunion on May 14 inBirmingham. Details from R. Phillis, 243,Kempshott Lane, Basingstoke RG22 5NB, tel01256321678.

HMS Orion Association 1934-49 reunionon May 15-16 at Blackpool, and September17-18 at Plymouth. Details from Grant West,28, Stretton Rd, Great Gten, Leicester LES9GN, tel 0116 259 2171.

851 Squadron FAA- HMS Shah reunionwill be held at the FAA Museum, Yeovilton. onMay 16. Details from Frank Ott. 20, PetvinClose, Street, Somerset BA16 OSX, tel01458442047.

Hovercraft Society crews reunion is onMay 16 at Stokes Bay Gosport and EastCowes. Isle of Wight, including buffet lunchand formal dinner with guest speakers -details from Brian Russell, 24, Jellicoe Ave,Gosport PO12 2PE, tel 01705 584371.

HMS Lookout (G32) reunion in Burnleyon May 23. Details from Buck Taylor, 24,Grave Rd, Uppermill nr pldham OL3 6JR.

HMS Concord reunion at Bridlington onMay 29-31. Details from Doug Leeson on01793729293.

OCTOBERHMS Plymouth (all commissions)

reunion will take place on October 3. An after-noon reception will be held on the shipberthed in Birkenhead. followed by anevening association meeting and reuniondance at the Police HO in Liverpool. ContactHarry Banks, 5, Sturdee Rd, OkJ Swan,Liverpool L13 4BA, tel 0151 220 9666.

NAVY NEWS. FEBRUARY 1998 23

Roval Naval Association

SEARCHON FORRIG-GUNRELICSTHE NAVAL Armament Museum at Gosport isappealing to veterans to help locate old gun compo-nents which at one time the RN had stored in theirhundreds, but which now are very rare.

The museum, which

PICTURE PUZZLEPICTURE Puzzle competition winner in our Decemberissue is Mr K. J. R. Clark of Whitchurch, Hants.

He identified the cruiser HMS Southampton and correctlygave her last major task before World War II as taking KingGeorge VI and Queen Elizabeth on a visit to Canada in thesummer of 1939.

Mr Clark's reply was chosen at random, and he receivesour cash prize of £25. For £30 this month, name the aircraftcarrier in the picture - and the two navies in which sheserved.

Complete the coupon and send it to Mystery Picture, Navy News,HMS Nelson, Portsmouth PO1 3HH.

Coupons giving correct answers will go into a prize draw to estab-lish a single winner. Closing date for entries is March 15. More thanone entry can be submitted, but photocopies cannot be accepted.

Do not include anything else in your envelope: no correspondencecan be entered into and no entry returned. The winner will beannounced in our April edition. The competition is not open to NavyNews employees or their families.

MYSTERY PICTURE 36

Name.

Address.

My answer.

museum, which isundergoing major redevelop-ment as part of Portsmouth'sheritage millennium project, isasking veterans if they know ofany wartime gunnery artefactswhich are not in museum dis-plays.

Principal curator, Peter Russell-Jones, told Navy News that apartfrom the two 15in Naval guns atthe entrance to the Imperial WarMuseum in London, there werealmost no large calibre guns sur-viving, especially Sin and 16inweapons.

"At one time there were250 15in guns in store, butthey've been cut up forscrap," he said. "It seemsthat this country is quickerthan anyone in beatingweapons into plough-shares."Among items salvaged by the

museum is what the staff believeto be the only working example inthe country of the breech-block ofa 15in Mk 1 gun. It was rescuedfrom a scrapyard and restored.

"The trouble is, only wartimesailors trained in gunnery arecapable of recognising suchitems," said ex-Navy veteranWilliam Adnitt (76) who is a vol-untary helper at the museum."Who today would know what theHolman Steam Projector was - orwould recognise it, if one stillexists?"

He said the museum wasappealing to all ex-Naval person-nel, especially those working indockyards and shipyards, to be onthe look-out for large, wartimegunnery artefacts. However heavyand cumbersome, transportarrangements will be made andpaid for by the museum.

Any information will be wel-comed by Mr Russell-Jones andMr Adnitt, who may be contactedat the museum at Priddy's Hard(tel. 01705 502490).

Remember TheGood Old Navy

Branch NewsBletchley

A fund-raising campaign whichended with a gala social, raised£545 for the Children in Needappeal.

The branch works closely withBletchley Park Trust which runs thehistoric Enigma code-breakingcomplex, and encourages ship-mates to visit the museum. Toursand refreshments at the RNA Clubcan be arranged by callingShipmate Daniels on 01908377349.

ThurrockTwenty members of the ship's

company of the visiting Americandestroyer USS Peterson wereentertained at the branch's annualsocial evening and dance.

The young sailors found somedifficulty in downing a tot, but thebuffet and free beer proved verypopular.

Hospitality was returned whenmembers of the branch were invit-ed on board the Peterson at herTilbury berth. They were presentedwith a ship's plaque before leaving.

Oldest ex-rating is 103BILL WRIGHT, who joined the Royal Navyin 1910, was visited by these members ofhis branch, Bromley, to celebrate his 103rdbirthday as the oldest member of theRoyal Naval Association.

Bill's shipmates joined the Mayor for theevent at Cranbrook Lodge, Penge, where he is aresident.

Bill joined the Navy at the age of 15 and com-pleted his training in HMS Impregnable,Devonport. He served in destroyers duringWorld War I, including HMS Valorous.

He left the Service in 1924, but at the age of 45was recalled for World War II, again serving indestroyers.

He signed up with the RNA somewhat late inlife - just a few months ago, but according tohis branch shipmates he's still sprightly and asmentally agile as any of them. He's looking for-ward to reminiscing with them again when heattends this month's meeting.

FKEEBROCHUKf

Wright & Logan

20, Queen Street, Portsmouth. P01 3HLTEL: 0170S 829555 / FAX: 01705 861694

Deal & WalmerThe branch organised an 'appre-

ciation dinner' for long-term mem-bers who have difficulty in attend-ing the usual meetings.

Among them were foundermembers, Shipmates Mick Spicerand Jim Pidwell. The after-dinnertoast was proposed by ShipmateRick Ashby, the response comingfrom Shipmate Spicer on behalf ofthe guests.

Southend-on-SeaOver 400 shipmates displaying

47 standards attended the annualPearl Harbor parade and serviceorganised by the branch.

After a service in St Mary'sChurch, the salute at the march-past was taken by Capt G.Corcaron USN. With him were theNaval Regional Officer, Comm-

odore Kit Carson, branch chair-man Stan Horner and the Mayor.

Besides RNA members, theparade included a US MarineCorps Colour Guard, a detach-ment from the destroyer USSPeterson visiting London, mem-bers of the US Air Force, SeaCadets of TS Impregnable, andColchester Sea Cadets band.

City of GlasgowMembers attended a service in

Glasgow Cathedral for the dedica-tion of the bell of the SecondWorld War cruiser HMS Glasgow.

The bell was bought from theMinistry of Defence by the ship'slast Commanding Officer when thecruiser went to the breakers yard.On his death the bell wasbequeathed to the city and will nowbe on display at the cathedral.

Soon after Christmas, members

of the branch visited ErskineHospital for the care and convales-cence of ex-Service people. Theytook tea with the patients, and onbehalf of the branch ShipmateFrank Halliday presented a £100cheque towards funds for aplanned building extension.

CheshuntShipmates mourn the death of

their chairman and vice president,Shipmate Ron Joy, who was alsopresident of No.l Area.

.He was editor of the Area bul-letin, and produced a broadsheetfor overseas members.

Ron had served in minesweepersand was welfare officer of theAlgerines Association and presi-dent of the RNA branch in Malta

GC. He was a founder member ofWehvyn Garden City branch, andat various times was also a memberof Mill Hill & Edgware, Edmontonand Camberwell branches.

The branch annual dinner dancewas attended by 110 shipmates,guest of honour being the Rev.Martin Banister, Vicar of ChristChurch, Waltham Cross. He wasgiven a special presentation, andhis wife a bouquet.

Those present included thebranch president, ShipmateHarold Chalkey, and chairman,Shipmate Norman Surridge. Thetoast to the guests was proposed byShipmate Vic Everest, the replycoming from Shipmate SylviaPugsley.

During the evening, ShipmateJames (Spud) Murphy was namedShipmate of the Year.

Liss & DistrictThe branch standard will be

dedicated at 1500 on Sunday, May24 at St Mary's Church. After theservice there will be a parade , fol-lowed by a social evening at theRoyal British Legion Club. Thosewho plan to attend should contactShipmate Eric Hartley, 23 InwoodRoad, Liss GU33 7LZ (01730895470).

No.9 AreaThe Area has suffered a double

loss with the deaths of its presidentand secretary, Shipmate ErnieSmith of Boston branch, and itschairman, Shipmate Brian Ford-ham of Bourne.

Ernie was also a member of theNational Standing Orders Comm-ittee. Shipmate Bob Johnson is act-ing as Area secretary until theannual general meeting.

Association honours atfuneral of Beryl, MBE

PETER Digney, standardbearer of Portsmouthbranch of the RNA, at thefuneral at Portchester lastmonth of Beryl TullettMBE, secretary to threesuccessive Editors of NavyNews, who has died at 78.

Said present Editor JimAllaway: "On her own initia-tive Beryl compiled a uniquedata base of World War II shipassociations and responded

to countless requests forinformation about reunionsand former shipmates - andso brought a great amount ofjoy to Navy people in all fourcorners of the world. Even inthe last year of her life shewas still helping us out on apart time basis."

She is survived by her hus-band Les, treasurer ofPortsmouth branch of theNormandy Veterans Assoc-iation.

HAS YOUR SERVICEBEEN RECOGNISED?COMMEMORATIVE MEDALS FOR:

• COMBATANT SERVICE

• SEA SERVICE

• AVIATION SERVICE

• ARMY SERVICE

• FOREIGN SERVICE

•VOLUNTEER SERVICE

• NATIONAL DEFENCE

For Information send a STAMPED self addressed 3'/4* x 8/$" business envelope to:Service Commemoratives - P.O. Box 4, Hinckley, Leicestershire LE10.3ZT


NoticeBoardNew Year Honours

NAVAL recipients of awards in theQueen's New Year Honours List:

KCB - Vice Admiral John Hugh Dunt.CB - Vice Admiral Michael Peter Qretton,

Rear Admiral David John Wood.CBE - Commodore Anthony James

Hunter Burbridge, Commodore Richard JohnNorman Hibbert.

MBE - Lt (Local Major) Kenneth RichardAllison RM, Lt Cdr Nicholas Jeremy Burton,WOMEM(L) Michael Keith Cooke, Lt CdrBrian Hugh Douglas Cuming, Capt BadenJames Curtis RM, WO(OPS)(MW) RobertDean, Capt (Acting Major) David CampbellDOW, RM, CPO(C) Ian Thomas Driver, Lt CdrNicholas John Hammond. WOMEM(M) DavidHarris, WOMEM Peter Brindley Hooson, UCdr (Acting Cdr) Peter Reginald Lewis, U CdrDuncan Neil Matthews, LWETS (CatherineDiana McWilliams, Lt Cdr William RobertNewby-Grant RD, RNR, WO(RS) Stephen

Dererk Parry, Mne David Stephen Perkins,WOMEA(ME)(S) Alan Trevor Reynolds, UCdr Duncan Charles Simmonds, WO(M) JohnSnoddon, Lt Cdr Leslie Taylor, WO1 WilliamWeston RM.

Awards to members of the ship's com-pany of HMY Britannia:

CVO - Commodore Anthony John ClareMorrow (on Dec. 11 in addition to HonoursList).

LVO - Cdr Jeremny Jonathan FrankBlunden, Cdr Simon Charles Martin.

HVO - Capt David Charles Cole,WOfWTR) Robert Ernest White.

RVM (Silver) - LAPO(SEA) Michael JohnBennett, LALS(M) Patrick Bryan Caws,APOMEM(M) Gary Edward Charman, LAC-POSTD Steven John Hope, PO(M) AnthonyIngram, POSTD David Christopher Rowe.MUSN1 John Zopara Leo Wright RM.

Promotions to ChiefACTING CHARGE CHIEF ARTIFICER

AUTHORITY was issued by CommodoreNaval Drafting in January for the following tobe advanced to Acting Charge Chief Artificer:

ToACCMEA: P.G. Simpson (Turbulent).To ACCWEA: D.A. Chilton (Drake CFM).

P. Murphy (CFM Portsmouth), S.R. Williams(Cdre MFP). A.M. Evans (Intrepid), I. Tilbury(SSA Bristol), G.S. Adamson (Collingwood).R C Bateson (Collingwood), K.E.P. Canning(SSA Bristol), M.J. Switalski (Drake CFM),H.S. Whttcher (CFM Portsmouth), G. Davies(Collingwood).

To ACCAEA: G.M. Holland (RNASCuldrose), SA Hancock (810 Sqn B Flight).

To ACCCT: S.C. Bush (Brave), M.K.P.Ryan (Beaver), W.P. Chadfield (JSSUOakley). J.A. Gilbert (JSSU Oakley), T.S.Stallworthy (JSSU Oakley). AD. Tunnidiffe(JSSU Oakley), N.A. Wainwright (JSSUOakley), I. Holmes (Boxer), NJ. Cory (JSSUOakley), E.V. Spiller (DISC), P.M. Dodd(JSSU Oakley).

CHIEF PETTY OFFICERAUTHORITY was issued by CommodoreNaval Drafting in January for the following tobe promoted to Chief Petty Officer:

OPERATIONS (SEAMAN GROUP)To CPOfEWXO) - C.W. Jeanes (Dryad),

M.S. O'Shaughnessy (Dryad), AJ. Paddy(Dryad). I.D. Pain (RN Gibraltar).

To CPO(M) - M.R. Plater (Dryad), J.H.Cousins (Nelson), D.L. Bradbury(Monmouth), M.G. Cooper (Somerset), T.D.Colloff (Illustrious).

To CPO(R) - R.J. Mullen (Dryad), F.C.Calder (London), D.J.G. Heasman(Marlborough).

To CPO(S). AD. Edwards (Edinburgh).

OPERATIONS (COMMUNICATIONS)REGULATING AND PT

To CPORS - M.E. Tarbuck (Brave).To CPOWRS(U) LJ. Hanna

(Collingwood), K.A.J. Smith (Fleet CommsPlym).

To MAA - SJ. Fletcher (Northumberland),

T.S. Turner (RNAS Culdrose), J.D.Williamson (Warrior), P.J. Drummond(2SL/CNH), R. Hastings (Newcastle).

SUPPLYTo CPOWTR - D.C. Bale (Cumberland),

PA Dunwell (MOD CNS/ACNS).To CPO(FS) - L. Butterworth (RNAS

Yeovitton), A. Kilbum (2SL/CNH).MARINE ENGINEERING MECHANICTo CPOMEM(M) - P.M. Dowbakin

(Sultan).FLEET AIR ARM

To CPOAEM(R): N.C. Kyle (810 SqnSea).

To CPOACMN - C. Taylor (RN Gibraltar),RJ. Yeomans (DHFS). I.S. Thompson (814Sqn). P.S. Thompson (Loan DERA ADAC).BJ. Sandoe (RNAS Culdrose).

To CPOA(METOC) - S.N. Clayton(Excellent), G.D. Smith (Cincfleet), D.S.Truscott (LN DERA Wnfrith).

SUBMARINE SERVICETo CPOMEM(M)(SM) - P.D. Brebner

(Sceptre), TV. Peters (Neptune NT), S.G.Hobos (Drake CFM). PJ. Hawman (Talent).J.D. Pope (Drake CFM), H. Holmes(Vengeance Port). E.G. Wood (Sovereign).

To CPOCOXN(SM) - R.K. Bartlett(Sovereign).

CPO ARTIFICER/TECHNICIANCommodore Naval Drafting has been

notified of the following advancements toChief Petty Officer Artificer/Technician whichwere made by Commanding Officers:

To CPOMEA: M.D. Ranby (Liverpool).To ACPOMEA: J.R Cairney (CFM

Portsmouth), A.G. Compton (Sultan), S.Cullen (Victorious Port), P. Guzdek (DrakeCFM), HJ. Lewis (Cumberland), R.J. Love(Neptune NT), P.S. Quinn (CFM Portsmouth).

To CPOWEA: M.J. Ahem (Neptune CFS),L.G. Bennett (Sheffield), MA Camp(Atherstone), A.J. Chapman (Drake CFM).D.N. Jenkins (Hurworth), N.M. Jones (Boxer).S.K. Jones (Intrepid), W.S. Lord (CFM

Oiuv chosen the right home -

don't choose I lie to puv For it

Few things are as frustrating as getting stuck with the wrongmortgage. That's why we invest time in getting to know you before

- giving you any advice. As Financial Planning Consultants we willwork with you to find you a mortgage that fits your own veryindividual needs. So call us todaySteve (Bud) Abbott, MLIA (dip) (ex Petty Officer) orGary Jackson, MLIA (dip)

0113 242 2212Together we'll find the right mortgage for you.

Allied Dunbar, Canal Wharf, Leeds, LSI 1 5DB

YOUR HOME IS AT RISK IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON A MORTGAGEOR OTHER LOAN SECURED ON IT. Suitable security and adequate life cover may be requiredbythekiMfcr.Aslicensedcn^ilbrokcrs,wecanprovidefurtherdetailsonrequesl.Allied Dunbar Financial Advisers Lid is a member of (he Allied Dunbar andThreadneedle Marketing Group and is regulated by the Personal InvestmentAuthority in relation to the life assurance and pension products of Allied Dunbarand the investment products of Threadneedk.

ALLIEDDUNBAR

THE ASSOCIATION OFROYAL NAVY OFFICERS

PatronHer Majesty The Queen

ARNO, the Officers' Charitable and Social fellowship, is open to all Serving andRetired Commissioned Officers of the RN, RM, WRNS, QARNNS and theirReserves.

Formed in 1925, ARNO's primary purpose is to assist Members includingHonorary Members (the widows of former members) with grants and bursariesfrom the proceeds of its assets which exceed £2 million, wherever there is a need.

Today the financial advantages of membership comfortably exceed the annualsubscription (£10 per annum or £150 for Life) and include: * AutomobileAssociation Membership at less than half price in many cases * House PurchaseGenerous cash payments with mortgage and with Life Assurance, and competitiveconveyancing costs. * Legal, Financial and Medical Consultations at free orfavourable rates * Trade Discounts in a wide range of services including insur-ance, travel, hotels, clothing and hirewear, car hire, medical, jewellery and manymore. A List of Members and a high quality interesting colour Year Book areissued, and ARNO organises 'Regional Social Functions and Group Holidays *A list of members worldwide who would like to exchange homes for holidays *Mail redirection * Swords and uniform items for sale * an ARNO credit card._For mcmbcnhi£ •|>|>IiciitioD_form] J>kajc_comj> 1*1* the followingTo: LT CDR IM P COOMBES RN, ARNO, 70 PORCHESTER TCE, LONDON W2 3TPPlease send me details and a membership application form:

AppointmentsCapt J. W. A. Clayden, to

serve in the rank of Commodoreand to be Commodore, HMSSultan. March 18.

Capt J. C. Rapp, to be COHMS Cornwall and Captain F2.May 23.

A/Capt C. A. Snow, CO HMSCoventry. May 24.

Cdr S. M. Turner as CO HMSVigilant (Port). Nov. 19, 1997.

Lt Cdr M. C. Jones as COHMS Quorn. Dec. 9, 1997.

Lt Cdr S. J. Kenny as COHMS Newcastle. May 7.

Portsmouth), GJ. Maskall (FSU-01), A.G.Proctor (Beaver), DJ. Read (SSA Bristol).

To ACPOWEA: PJ. Sloman (RH Haslar).To CPOAEA: C.W. Boucher (801 Sqn), J.

Davies (RNAS Culdrose), S.P. Cass (RNASCuldrose}. S.W. Holland (819 Sqn), R.A.Harries (702 Sqn Osprey).

To CPOCT: G. Leaver (Boxer).To ACPOCT: M.E. Peters (Boxer), I.D.

Saunders (SCU Leydene).

PointsTHE FOLLOWING list shows the total pointsof ratings at the top of each advancementroster for petty officer and leading rates inJanuary after issue of B13s.

Intermediaries (Int) indicates that person-nel can be advanced before they are eligibleto receive merit points or before the rostercan be adjusted to take account of them.This means that personnel are advanced in"basic date" order. Dates shown against "Int"rosters are the basic dates of the top eligiblepersonnel.

The number following the points (or basicdate) is the number advanced in January.

It should be noted that the November1997 award of C281 merit points are notapplied to the rosters until February 1, 1998.

CCMEAML - 79 (27.6.97), Nil; CC-MEAEL - Int (7.10.97), Nil; CCMEAMLSM -Dry, Nil;

CCMEAELSM - Dry, 1; CCWEAADC -Dry, 6; CCWEAWDO - Dry, 5; CCWEAAD-CSM - Dry, Nil; CCWEAWDOSM - Dry, Nil:CCAEAM - 227 (1.9.95), 1; CCAEAR - 150(1.9.96), Nil; CCAEAWL - 350 (1.1.95), 1.

PO(EWXO) -294 (16.11.93), 1; LS(EW)-Int (16.1.96), Nil; PO(M) - 108 (14.3.95), Nil;LS(M) - Int (12.9.95), 1; PO(R) - 421(9.6.92), Nil; LS(R) - 93 (14.3.95), 3; PO(S)-130 (14.2.95), Nil; LS(S) - 385 (16.3.93), 1;PO(D) - 559 (9.6.92), 1; LS(D) - 698 (7.6.91),Nil; PO(MW)(0) - Int (10.6.97), 1; LS(MW) -Int (11.3.97), Nil; PO(SR) - 340 (15.6.93), Nil;LS(SR) - 208 (14.6.94), 1; PO(SEA) - 571(14.1.92), 1.

POCY- 489 (13.10.92), Nil; PORS - 567(24.9.91), 1; POCO - 183 (11.10.94), Nil;LRO - 323 (10.5.93), 1 (See last paragraph);POPT • 453 (13.10.92), Nil; RPO - 573(10.3.92), Nil; POMEM(LKGS) - Dry, 2;LMEM(L)(GS) - Int (11.11.97), 8; POMEM-(MKGS) -465 (4.11.92). Nil; LMEM(M)(GS)-233 (14.12.93), 3; POWEM(O) - 101

DeathsU Cdr Graham Redlearn, FONA staff.

Dec. 20.Lt Roderick Craig Tapp. Jan. 17.CPO(EW) Philip McGregor, HMS

Illustrious. Dec. 31.POWEM(R) Richard Ivey, RN Gibraltar.

Jan. 6.AMEM1 Michael Sines, HMS Cardiff.

Jan. 1.Mne A. G. Smith, 45 Cdo. Jan. 2.Mne David W Vallance. CTCRM. Jan.

10, after collapsing while jogging during train-ing.

Sir Donald Murray KCVO, CMG servedin RM Commandos in WWII, includingNormandy (wounded), Walcheren and Maascrossing 1945 in which he lost a leg. JoinedForeign Service. Ambassador to Libya 1974-76, Assistant Under Secretary for Asia 1977-80, Ambassador to Sweden 1980-84.Became Kent chairman of SSAFA 1985 andlobbied over war widows pensions. Aged 73.

Prof. Jim Hirst DSC. Wartime service inRNVR included command of ML 557 inMediterranean (Elba landing 1944), HDML1246 (Adriatic), ML 480 (mine clearance,Trieste 1945), ML 155 (southern Norway).After war became international authority onplant biology and pathology. Aged 76.

Wandy Swales, served RM NationalServiceman (Libya, Greece, Mediterranean).Only National Serviceman to be member ofGuard of Honour at 1953 Coronation. Latercommissioned into Parachute Regt, TA,afterwards resigning to join RMVR. RejoinedPARA TA, becoming 2IC 4 PARA. Resignedin 1978 to become private in UDR until 1983.In 1982 became cnief-of-staff for OperationRaleigh. In 1987 founded own non profit-making company Swaletreks (later TrekforceExpeditions) to support science, conserva-tion, social projects in Third World. Aged 64.

Desmond Albrow, served as rating inWWII in MTBs and HMS Belfast (Pacific).After war became journalist with YorkshireObserver, Manchester Guardian (1951),Daily Telegraph (1956), Sunday Telegraph(1961, retiring as assistant editor in 1987).Editor of Catholic Herald 1966-71. Aged 72.

George Kidd, maintainer in FAA in WWII.Undefeated world lightweight wrestlingchampion 1950-76. In 1965 voted GrampianTV Personality of Year for his chat snowWednesday People. Aged 72.

Beryl Tullett. For 25 years from early1970s, Editor's secretary Navy News. Dec.30. aged 78.

Lt Cdr John E. S. Wallis. served 1939-73, joining as rating and becoming Boy Tel.Ships: Victory, Hawkins, Afrikander, Mercury,King George V, Duke of York, Trafalgar,Mauritius, Victorious, Sea Eagle, Forth.Founder member and life president ofGanges Association.

F. T. P. (Bertie) Boucher, ex-POTel,served 1932-45. Ships included HMS Tartar.Aged 83.

Angus Shaw Darroch, ex-POREG,served 1951-76. Ships included: Ariel, RintCastle. Member of Regulating BranchAssociation (93). Dec. 19, aged 61.

NAVY NEWS looks back through its 40 years agopages to recall some of the Februaryheadlines of past decades ...

THE TIME OFYOUR LIVES

THE ROYAL Naval Gunnery School at Chathamclosed, its task being taken on by the CentralGunnery Training School, HMS Excellent, andHMS Cambridge.

HMS Royal Oak was not, after all, to be raisedfor scrap, the Admiralty decided. Navy News said:"It must be very gratifying to those relatives whoobjected to the raising to find that the Admiralty hadsecond thoughts."

30 years agoREDUCTIONS in manpower originally to be carriedout by 1976 were being brought forward by threeyears. Second Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Frank Twiss,said there would be no redundancies lor a coupleof years" and many officers and men would not beaffected at all. It was expected that 16,000 wouldbe cut from the Navy's strength in five yearsinstead of the expected eight.

Lt Terence Knott RM received the Military Crossin the final list of awards for action in Aden. Lt Knott,of 45 Cdo, was cited for the MC for his bravery dur-ing a helicopter-borne assault on enemy firing fromcaves.

20 years ago

• HMS Bulwark - speculation about her futureended, it was reported in February, 1978.

THE RN as part of NATO needed the newly devel-oped cruise missiles to overcome the USSR's over-whelming advantage at sea, said Capt G. R. Villar,writing in the new edition of Jane's WeaponSystems.

Weeks of speculation about the future of thecommando carrier HMS Bulwark ended with theannouncement that after two years in "preservationby operation" she was due to rejoin the Fleet.

(7.3.95), 11; LWEM(O) - 106 (6.3.95), Nil;POWEH(RHGS) - 273 (1.3.94), Nil;LWEM(RMGS) - 253 (14.12.93), Nil;POCA(GS) - 621 (21.6.90), Nil; LCH(GS) -434 (27.9.92), Nil; POSTD(GS) - 757(23.4.90), Nil; LSTD(GS) - 303 (17.6.93), Nil;POSA(GS) - 396 (8.3.93), Nil; LSA(GS) -348 (22.10.92). Nil; POWTR(GS) - 449[14.12.93), 2; LWTR(GS) - 349 (9.7.93), 2;POMA - Int (14.11.95), 5; LMA - Int(11.7.951,4.

MSMKO) - 646 (19.12.91) Nil;I)-589 (7.11.91). Nil; POfTSXSM)

- 357' (10.6.93), Nil; LSfTSXSM) - 412(19.1.93), Nil; PORS(SM) - 590 (11.2.92),Nil; LRO(SM) - 319 (8.6.93), Nil;POMEM(L)(SM) -Int (13.12.96), Nil; LMEM-(L)(SM) - Int (29.7.95), 4; POMrInt (11.11.97), Nil; LMEM(N(3.7.96), Nil; POWEM(R)(SM) '- 486(3.11.92), Nil; LWEM(R)(SM) - 821 (25.6.90),Nil; POSA(SM) - Int (8.10.97), Nil; LSA(SM)- Int (17.4.96). Nil; POWTR(SM) - 220(2.7.94). 2; LWTR(SM) - 306 (30.11.93). 2;POCA(SM) - Int (9.1.97), Nil; LCH(SM) - 845(29.7.90), Nil; POSTD(SM) - 693 (2.12.90),Nil; LSTD(SM) - 1415 (16.6.87), Nil.

POA(AH) - 958 (2.5.89), 5; LA(AH) - 506> POA(METOC) - Int (272.97),(8.11.91 , Nil;

1; LA(METOC) Int (2.10.95). Nil;

Norman J. F. (Shiner) Wright. ex-POGM.Ships: Queen Elizabeth, Wren, Cygnet, Gore(N. Atlantic 1944-45). Member of RBLTilehurst branch.

Desmond Samuelson BEM, enlisted inDurban, S. Africa 1939. Ships includedDEMS. Nov. in Durban.

Alan Craig, survivor of sinking of HMSCossack (LO3). Member of HMS CossackAssociation. Dec.

A. Critchley. ex-SB PO. Ships includedHMS Comet (1956). Member of 8thDestroyer Association. Jan.

Das (Stagg) Beveridge, ex-AB, memberof Algerines Association (HMS Seabear1945-47). Oct 17.

ASSOCIATION OF RN OFFICERSCapt C. R. I- Argles. Ships: Daring,

Venus, Ganges. Lowestott, Chichester.Eagle, Dido, Royal Arthur, Sheffield.

Major M. H. Denver RM.Surgeon Lt Cdr P. R. French RD, RNR.Captain (I) G. M. Nines BSc. Served

HMS Caledonia. HMNB Plymouth.Lt Cdr R. K. Hudson DSO, DSC. Ships:

Hardy, Exmouth, Exeter, Terror, Drake.Cdr (E) C. F. Locke. Ships: Mercury II, St

Angelo. Forth, Dolphin.Cdr (S) P. G. Nelson. Ships: Phoenicia.

Sole Bay, Pembroke, Royal Arthur, Warrior,Rooke, Dolphin, Collingwood, Osprey.

Swop draftsLCH Forshaw, 2S Stbd Mess, HMS York,

BFPO 430 (deploying March), will swop forany Portsmouth/Plymouth ship not deploying.

LRO(G) N. Bell, MHQ Plymouth.Richmond Walk, Plymouth (mil. ext 2130),drafted HMS Edinburgh, March. Will considerany Plymouth draft, deploying or not.

LSTD Short, 3S Mess, HMS Edinburgh,BFPO 277, deploying April. Will consider anyPortsmouth ship deploying or not, orPortsmouth area shore establishment

LCH Bailey, Main Galley, HMS Neptune(from Feb. 2). Will swop for shore draft inLondon, Portsmouth or Plymouth areas.

MEM1 Barrow, 3H Mess. HMS York,BFPO 430 (deploying March), will swop forany ship not deploying.

AL'LOM(EW) Naden, 3P Mess, HMSNewcastle. BFPO 343, on WIGS deploy-ment, will swop for any 03/DS'CVS notdeploying (due to resettlement and job inter-view reasons).

CH1 Williams, 2K1 Mess, HMS Fearless,BFPO 283. Will swop for any Portsmouthship not deploying until after March/April.

OM(UW)1 fa. J. Baxter (2050/2031 EDStrained), HMS Sutherland, BFPO 398,deploying Sept. Will swop for any PortsmouthType 23, although any Type 23 considered.

POWEM(O) G. A. Mills, Drake CFM,HMNB Devonport ext 67300, drafted HMSIron Duke, May. Will swop for any Devonportship.

LCH Tomllnson, SEP Mess, HMSInvincible, BFPO 308, drafted HMS Drake.April 7. Will swop for any Portsmouth draft.

LCH Malam. Main Galley, HMS

POA(PHOT) - 911 (6.2.90), Nil; POA(SE) -765 (24.10.90), Nil; LA(SE) - 160 (7.9.94)Nil; POACHN - 431 (25.10.92), 4;POAEM(M) - 259 (21.4.94), 2; LAEM(M) -446 (17.12.92), 1; POAEM(R) - Int (20.3.97),Nil; LAEM(R) - 562 (27.3.92), 2; POAEM(L)- Dry, 2; LAEM(L) - 364 (25.2.93), Nil; POAC

POW(R)-416 (7.2.93), Nil; LW(R) - Dry,Nil; POW(RS) - 662 (3.12.91). Nil: LWRO708 (12.3.91), Nil; POWPT - 637 (11.6.91),Nil; RPOW - 526 (10.3.92), Nil; POWCA -Dry (15.6.95). 1; LWCH - Dry, Nil; POWSTD- 851 (16.7.90), Nil; LWSTD - 525 (20.2.92),Nil; POWSA - Int (1.8.95), Nil; LWSA - Int(5.12.96), Nil; POWWTR - 410 (26.3.93), Nil;LWWTR - 278 (28.2.94), Nil; POWWTRfG) -Int (11.7.97), Nil; POW(METOC) - Dry, Nil;LW(METOC) - Dry, Nil; POWPHOT - 283(5.10.93), Nil; POWAEMfM) - Int (20.3.97),Nil; LWAEMfM) - Dry. Nil; POWAEH(R) -Dry, Nil; LWAEM(R) - 657 (14.12.90), Nil;POWAEM(L) - Dry, Nil; LWAEM(L) - Dry, Nil;POWETS-831 (15.11.90), Nil; LWETS-422(22.9.92), Nil.

LWTEL - 545 (3.12.91), Nil; POWWA -409 (10.3.93), Nil; LWWA - 549 (30.10.91),Nil; POWDHYG Int (14.12.95), Nil; POWD-SA - Int (9.6.97), Nil; LWDSA - Int (25.7.96),Nil; POEN(G) - Dry, Nil; LEN(G) - Dry, Nil;

Capt P. D. Nichol Ships: Howe,Corunna, Finistree, Pembroke, Daring,Bermuda, Mercury, Loch Lomond, Warrior,Royal Arthur, London, Excellent.

Lt G. E. Perren RNVR.Lt Cdr L T. Summerfield HMS Uva,

RNAS Ford, and MAS Nos. 740, 801, 738.Lt Cdr (E) H. C. Whitehouse Ships:

Jackdaw, Colossus, Bambara, Heron, RNAYFleetlands, RNAS Ford.

ROYAL NAVAL ASSOCIATIONLI Cdr (E) Harry Milne, president Looe.

Joined as boy artificer 1938. Ships: Howe,Ceylon, Magician, Eagle, Reclaim (Russianconvoys, Normandy landings, Suez, Korea).

Sid Coffey, president S. Liverpool. Ex-CPO TASI, served 1927-53. Survivor HMSSpringbank. Dec. 17.

Harry (Polly) Pollard, Newark. Served1952-77. Ships: Newfoundland, Forth,Russell, Modeste, Delight, Rhyl, Upton,Rothesay. Nov. 17, aged 61.

John Woodcock, No.1 Area secretaryand founder member, life member, life vicepresident and former treasurer Uxbridge.Also secretary HMS Vigo Association.

Jim Roalf. Margate. Ex-CERA1. Ships:Truetove, Loch Fyne, Diamond.

Roy Sykes, Huddersfield. Ex-L/Sto.Ships: Cleopatra, Birmingham. Dec. 30, aged

RATINGS seeking to swop drafts mustensure that the requirements of BR14,article 0506, are met.

In particular they should normally: beon or due the same type of service - ie,sea or shore; have similar time to serve incurrent draft; be the same rate; and be ofsimilar experience.

A rating on sea service will not be per-mitted to swop with another on shore ser-vice. All applications for swop drafts areto be made on Form C240 to NDD,Centurion Building.

Endurance, BFPO 279 until July 99 (two-mancabin). Will swop for any Portsmouth areadraft, preferably not a ship deploying -although will consider anything.

POWWTR Harvey, MOD DFS(CIS),Gosport (moving to Ensleigh, Bath, March(tel. 93816 8012). Will swop for Portsmoutharea draft.

CH1 Green (01874 676269). drafted HMSCampbeltown, June. Will consider anyPlymouth Type 22 deploying.

MEM Hellier. HMS Marlborough. BFPO333, will swop for any Devonport Type 23deploying or not. Swop must be T23 trained.

POMEM(L) Bamlett. c/o WO Wallace,HMS Sultan ext 2183, drafted HMSSomerset, June 16. Will swop for anyPortsmouth Type 23.

POWEM(R) Davies, HMS Raleigh ext41373, drafted FOSM, Northwood Ops (PVbillet), Aug. 25. Will swop for any Devonportshore base.

PONN - 278 (11.1.94), 1; POMA(Q) - Dry,Nil; LMA(0)-Dry, 1.

PO(AWW) - Int (17.12.96), Nil;LOM(AWW) - Int (6.5.97). 3; PO(AWT) - Int(2.10.97), Nil; LOM(AWT) - Int (9.9.97), Nil;PO(UW) - Dry, Nil; LOM(UW) - Int (9.9.97).4; PO(EW) - Int (24.7.97), Nil; LOM(EW) -Int (30.7.97), Nil; PO(MW) - Int (15.7.97), Nil;LOM(MW) - Int (14.10.97), Nil; PO(C) - Dry,Nil; LOM<C) Int (15.8.97), Nil; PO(SSM)Int (25.11.96), Nil; LOM(SSM) - Int (1.5.96).Nil; PO(TSM)-lnt(11.7.96). 1; LOM(TSM)Int (13.12.96). 2; POfCSM) - 400 (8.6.93),Nil; LOM(CSM) - Int (27.11.96), Nil;PO(WSM) - 256 (1.3.94), 8; LOM(WSM) -555(30.1.92), 5.

The basic dates quoted for female ratingsin the following categories, which have noexamination for the next higher rate, areapplied in accordance with 8R1066 Chapter22:

POWTEL - 685 (28.4.93), Nil.The number of B13s issued in the female

categories are those advanced from thefemale shore roster.

All RO(T)1 and RO(G)1 ratings who havepassed for the higher rate who have com-pleted or are yet to complete the cross-trained LROOC have been transferred to thecross-trained LRO advancement roster.

Lionel Howe, standard bearer Thurrock.Ships included HMS Wishart. Aged 74.

Edith M. (Paddy) Cook, Kingston uponThames and wife of branch vice presidentRear Admiral Bill Cook. Ex-2/O WRNS,served 1941-49, including Avonmouth, HMSAerial and as PA to C-in-C Portsmouth(Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fraser). Aged 74.

Brian E. Fordham, chairman No.9 Areaand life member and treasurer Bourne. Ex-RM, served 1945-48. Dec. 22. aged 69.

Ernie Smith, Boston and president andsecretary No.9 Area-

Patrick Harris MBE, High Wycombe, Ex-RM and 50 years instructor at TS Jaguar,High Wycombe.

Reg Elms, president and founder mem-ber Hunstanton. Dec. 28, aged 77.

Sidney Gilbert Brown, Ferndown.Served 1941-46. Ships: Eagle, Emerald.Dec. 18. aged 76.

Ron Tipple, Seaford, served 1937-45.Ships included HMS Illustrious. Dec. 10,aged 79.

Albert Wanstall, S. Ontario. Ex-PO/Sto,seved 1939-45. Ships included HMS RoyalSovereign. Dec. 8.

Ted Rogers, vice president, life andfounder member Shrewsbury. Ex-FAA,served in New Foundland. Dec. 29, aged 76.

Harold Sewell, standard bearer WestHam. Ex-DEMS gunner. Jan 2.

OM(AW) Condie, 3HZ Mess, HMSCumberland, BFPO 261, will swop for anyPlymouth shore draft or non-deploying seadraft before Aug.

POfEWKO) draft - LS(EW) Pepper (duerate in March), tel. 0410912085 or 01752607394. Drafted FEWSG. June. Will swop forany Plymouth ship deploying or not and willconsider any other Plymouth area draft.

POWEM(R) Bradley, 6H Mess. HMSInvincible, BFPO 308, drafted HMSCollingwood. Will swop for Northwood.

LOM(AWT) Smith, 3HZ Mess, HMSCumberland, BFPO 261, deploying Sept. Willconsider any Type 22.

CH Seaman, Ajax Galley. HMS Raleigh,drafted 814 MAS. May. Will swop for anyPlymouth ship deploying or not.

LWWTR T. Thomson, UPO, HMSExcellent, ext 7152, will swop for any Gosportdraft.

OMC1 Eaton. 2KP Mess, HMSWestminster, BFPO 426, will consider swopfor any Devonport ship, preferably Type 23.

A.LOM(AWT) McKelth, HMNB Ports-mouth ext 23228/22362, drafted HMSMontrose, April 1. Will swop for anyPortsmouth Type 23.

PO(M) Honeychurch (Type 23 trained),HMS Marlborough. BFPO 333, will swop forany Devonport type 23.

LS(S) Dell (2031/2050 trained). HMSWestminster. BFPO 426 until April 99. Willswop for Devonport ship deploying or not.

AB(M) Gay, HMS Shetland, BFPO 385,will consider any Portsmouth ship.


Accommodation

Jf leet ClubMorice Square

DevonportPlymouth PL1 4PG

Telephone inquiries only Plymouth 01752 562723

All booking requirements in writing only, enclosing £5 depositon each Family Room. Enclose a S.A.E. for your receipt.ACCOMMODATION: For Service Personnel, their familiesand dependants plus ex. serving personnel and R.N.A.members who may be visiting the Plymouth area.FUNCTIONS: We cater for all types of functions at verycompetitive prices. Ships Functions, Mess Parties, WeddingReceptions, Reunions of ships, past and present, we offer anideal facility.

ASK FOR QUOTATION, CONTACT THE MANAGERWITHOUT DELAY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT

SUPPORT YOUR CLUB

ROYAL SAILORS'HOME CLUB

NOTICE... NOTICE... NOTICEThe 134th Annual General Meeting of the Royal Sailors'

Home Club, Queen Street, Portsmouth, will be held in theballroom of the club on Tuesday 10 March 1998 at 1130.Commanding officers are requested to allow Committee

representatives to attend. ALL MEMBERS WELCOME

Ex RN REPRESENTATIVE

Mr M Baker is willing to continue in office. However,applications are invited from all ex-RN/RM members toserve on the Management Committee as the ex-Serving

representative. Nominations with proposer and seconder,plus pen picture, to be forwarded to the Administration

Manager at the Club before 20 February 1998.

IS'ing and

>nnel and the!

Iff

Province Of Natal Hotel5, Greenhill, Weymouth, Dorset DT4 7SR

a gift after World War 2olidays and short breaks for all\, RM, WRNS or QARNNS5, families and close relatives.

ife swimming and fine sands.the shops and station.

*AII rooms en-suite with tea and coffee facilities and colour TV

"Lift to all floors *Resldents bar "Children and Pets welcome

*Double, Twin and Family rooms available*We cater for small ships re-unionsGroup booking discounts available

For more information Tel: 01305 784108 of Fax: 01305 770575Registered Ctwrity No 226446

ADVERTISING RATES• (excl. VAT)

DISPLAYFull Page £2,010

Half Page £1,110

Quarter Page £625

S.c.c £12.50

CLASSIFIEDLineage 80p per word~ Trade minimum 30wds.

For Sale, Minimum lOwds.

Penfriends see page 37Box number £2.75

Discounts, Colour Rates, Technical Detailsavailable on request.

Tel: 01705 724226 For„/„//„,«/«,

^53^Sssfflft

Garian House Holiday FlatletsSelf-catering flatlets, near sea and shops. Fully equipped. Colour TV, fridge,

cooker, linen, etc. Ideal for a visit by family or girl friend.

MINIMUM 2 PERSONS OR CHARGE FORCharge f WEEKLY JULY & AUGUST £70per I WEEKLY OTHER MONTHS £60person | NIGHTLY (Out of holiday season) £10

I Deposit: £10 per person - Monthly lets, reduced ratesALL WITH OWN BATHROOM AND TOILET

Guests, who anticipate a late arrival should inform the management(01705-733581)

S.A.E. please giving dates and numberMR CURTIS, 70 FESTING GROVE, SOUTHSEA, PORTSMOUTH 733581

Hampshire Court Hotel29/31 Hampshire Terrace, Southsea PO1 2QF

Delightful listed building, 1823. Central for seafront,stations, city centre, ferry ports etc. Private car parking

Tea/coffee making facilities, colour TVs in all rooms + fullEnglish breakfast

Prices from £16 per person per night

Telephone (01705) 823522

COMMENDED

PORTSMOUTHEVERLEY GUEST HOUSE

01705 731001

•OWN KEYS - NO RESTRICT1ONS"H/C, TEA/COFFEE, CTV & SKY TV ALLROOMS"ENSUITE AND FAMILY ROOMS • COTS' UNRESTRICTED PARKING

"11TH YEAR SAME OWNERS'SPECIAL RATES 1STNOV- 31ST MARCH 1998 £14.00 P.P.P.N.

INCL FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST (MIN BOOKING 2 DAYS)S^ 33, FESTING ROAD, SOUTHSEA, HANTS. PO4 ONG ^>

AA

HOTELPLYMOUTH HOE

Lockyer St, PL1 2QD *Telephone: (01752) 227311

Elegant Victorian Building with 22Bedrooms - 5 Ground Floor. Nauti-cal Flavour Cocktail Bar. Colour TV,Radio, Tea/Coffee/ Telephone allrooms. Most en suite. Large carpark. Navyv News Readers 10%Accommodation Discount. AllCredit Cards accepted.

Brochure & or Booking contact:Lt. Cdr. Alan Jones RNR (Ret'd)"A 'Personal Service' Comfortable Hotel"

PLYMOUTH HOESmall friendly Guest House

overlooking the Hoe and Seafront.All rooms CTV, Tea/Coffee, C.HMostly ensuite. Sky T.V Lounge.Parking. Courtesy pick up fromStations. Credit cards accepted.

From £28 double £15 single.Tel: 01752 660675

Edgcumbe Guest House50 Pier St. West Hoe, Plymouth ?U 3BT

SHROPSHIRE COURTGUEST HOUSE

33 Granada Road, SouthseaFriendly family run, 2 mins, from sea andentertainments. Close to ferries, Navalbase, shops, etc. Own keys, Satellite TVall rooms, no restrictions, B&B. Holiday orshort stay. Ample private car parking

Mrs Pat Green (01705) 731043

ALBATROSSGuest House

51 Waverley Road, SouthseaHants PO5 2PJ (01705) 828325

Prop Ann BakerCar Park on premises

You are guaranteed a friendly welcome inthis home from home in Southsea. Eachbedroom has been decorated with a nauticaltheme and has all the atmosphere of thegreat Naval traditions of this area. There arealso cable TV's, private washing facilities, leaand coffee, and full central healing ineach room. Special rates for winter months.

PLYMOUTHAdjacent to the Hoe and Park. Friendly

family run Guest House offers you awarm welcome and personal service.

Facilities include residents lounge. TV,Radio. TeaCoffee. Licensed. Central

Heating all rooms. From £13pp.THE FIRS 13. Pier Street. West Hoe.

TEL: 01752 262870

SOUTHSEARED TUBS GUEST HOUSE

52 WAVERLEY ROAD, SOUTHSEAWarm and friendly run Guest House, ideallysituated for the Naval Base/shoppingcentres/Continental Ferry Port/beachesetc.Ovm keys, no restrictions, colour T.V. inall rooms & C.H. Holiday or short breaksJUNE & TERRY (01705) 832440

THE ELMS Guest House48 Victoria Road South, SouthseaA small, friendly, family run Guest Houseoffering B&B (overnight or weekly rates).

Close to Naval base, station, shops andnightlife. Colour TV, tea/coffee

facilities in all rooms. Some roomsen-suite. Own keys, limited parking.

Paddy and John (Joe) ErskineTel / Fax Portsmouth (01705) 823924

PLYMOUTHOsmond Quest Mouse

42 "Pier Street, "West ttoe.

*- 01752 229705Bed and Breakfast from f 14-£18.00

Seafront. Courtesy pick-up fromstations. 4 poster bed. All rooms

N. CTV. Tea/Coffee making. /^\^ Some En-suite. Parking. /3fa

AUSTIN HOTEL3 CLARENCE PARADE

SOUTHSEALicensed

Welcomes the Royal NavyAll rooms bright and modern

Colour TV in all rooms, centralheating, seafrpnt position.

No restrictionsDiscount allowed for Serving

PersonnelTelephone Portsmouth 821785

LADY HAMILTON21 The Hard, Portsmouth

Ye olde alehouseReopened after more than

70 yearsFree house and B&B

if special rates naval personnel ~tr.Tel: 01705 870505

PLYMOUTHMOUNTBATTEN

3 Crown CommendedTel: 01752 563843 Fax: 01752 606014

Royal Fleet Club & Naval Basewithin walking distance.

* All Rooms CTV, Tea/Coffee& Phones. Mainly En Suite.

* Free Parking * Bar* Credit Cards Accepted

52. Exmoulh Road. Stoke, Plymouth. PL I 4QH

Canterbury Bell\Guest House

29 St Simons Road,Southsea, Portsmouth

Modem, Comfortable En-Suiteaccomodation. All rooms have

Satellite TV, Tea/Coffee makingfacilities & are centrally heated.

Private car parking. Studio Flats areavailable for self-catering. Rooms

from £15 p.p. per night.

Phone/Fax Catriona Randall onv (01705)351277 >

WEYMOUTHPHILBEACH GUEST HOUSE

11 Waterloo Place, Weymouth DT4 7PDYards from beach, short walk to RNAClub. All rooms CTV, T/making, B&B

evening meal. Reasonable rates.Warm welcome.

Jean and James Barnett01305 785344

Members of Weymouth RNA

The DorcliffeLicensed Guest House

42 Waverley Road, Southsea, PO5 2PPComfortable, friendly. Licensed Guest

House Ideally situated. BB & EM variedmenu. All rooms colour TV, tea/coffeefacilities. En-suites available. Dogs

welcome. Special weekly rates.

Tel: 01705828283

fl garden Moid,Soutdsea

SpecialWinterBreaks

For Naval Personnel£32 per room

(one or two persons)Central for alt Southsea amenities andentertainments. Quality en-suitebedrooms, Satellite TV's all rooms,tea/coffee facilities, lounge, private carpark

if Attractive Bar ifif Delightful restaurant *

Clarence Road

Southsea

PO5 2LQTel: 01705 833018

HADDINGTON HOUSE - PLYMOUTHElegant Victorian G/F Holiday Flat, S/C with

off road parkingClose to Dockyard/Torpoint/City Centre

Up to 4 persons from £89 per weekContact: Adrian Budd (serving 1IMS Beaver)

Flat 2, 40 Haddington Road, Stoke,Plymouth I'I,2 1RR

Telephone: 01752 767730

THE GRAND HOTELPlymouth

Accommodation & Full English BreakfastOff Season (November—March)£20.00 per person in a double/twin

Special Discounted Rates offered for 1 night or morebetween Thursday — Sunday

Built in 1879 with 77 bedrooms and convenientlysituated on Rlymouth Hoe

NAVY NEWS NOTICETO READERS

The publishers of Navy Newscannot accept responsibility for

the accuracy of anyadvertisement or for any losses

suffered by any readers as aresult. Readers are strongly

recommended to make their ownenquiries and seek appropriatecommercial, legal and financial

advice before sending any moneyor entering into any legally

binding agreement.

Telephone:

(01752)661195

ETB

5 Crowns commended

J GREAT CANAL HOLIDAYS! V

LUXURY TO ECONOMY - GREAT FUNBrochure from

Middlewich Narrow/boats52, Canal Terrace, Middlewich

Cheshire. CW109BD\ Tel 01606 832460 r

ROOMS TO FILL?Navy News reaches 1/2 a

million people every month.

To Advertise

Tel 01705 724226& ask for Glen

SOUTHSEASOLENT HOTEL

14-17, SOUTH PARADE(Opposite the Pyramids)TEL: 01705 875566

Special rates for all service personnel andFamily £22.50p.p. in full ensuite double or

twin-bedded room.* 4 crown seafront hotel* Colour TV, tea/coffee facilities* (fames rooms - Full size snooker table* Ideally situated near all local attractions

and its nightlife.

To Advertise Ring Linda on 01705 725062

GOSPORT 'CHERRY TREES'

15 Linden Grove, Alverstoke.

etb 1 crown. All rooms H/C, tea

making, English breakfast,

children welcome. Close

harbour, Haslar, Dolphin Sultan.

£13 p.p Lin or Steve Cell, Tel:

01705 521 543

"Aggies" Rosyth

Your chance to takethe pressure out of service

life for a few days"Aggies" Rosyth is designed with naval

personnel in mind and is as well equipped

as any small hotel with two family units and

two double rooms with en-suite bathrooms;

restaurant; lounge; coffee bar; multi-gym;

snooker room; laundry room; a meeting

room and a chapel.

Call now on 01383 413770, to book

some time at "Aggies" Rosyth the next

time you're ashore.

The Royal Sailors' Rest

Rosyth, Ferry Toll Road, Rosyth,

Rfe KYI I 2XF.Serving the Royal Navy, since 1876


Gib craftexercisewith US'tiddler'

GIBRALTAR Squadron patrol vessels HM shipsTrumpeter and Ranger have been conducting exer-cises with an unusual visitor to the Mediterranean -the American coastal defence ship USS Sirocco.^ ^ Small by the standards of US

Serviceschool'sjubilee

PAGEANTRY accompaniedthe celebrations to markthe 25th anniversary of StChristopher's School,which teaches children ofService families inGibraltar.

The pageant was per-formed by pupils of allages before an audiencewhich included the Comm-ander British Forces,Commodore Sym Taylor.

The school auctionedfruit and cakes brought inby the children to raise£600 for the CoWorkers ofMother Teresa. ,

warships usually seen abroad,the 334-ton Sirocco was in theMed for six months and tookthe opportunity to visitGibraltar for training with theRoyal Navy.

She conducted officer of thewatch manoeuvres, ship handlingexercises and boat cross-trainingwith the British vessels. Trumpeterand Ranger also exercised with theType 42 destroyer HMS Birming-ham, in Gibraltar for principalwarfare officer training.

• The Mount - the buildingwhich until last year was home toGibraltar's most senior militaryofficer - was gifted to the peopleof Gibraltar during a visit to theRock by John Spellar, UnderSecretary of State for Defence.

Built in 1773, The Mount wasthe home of Flag OfficerGibraltar, and then of theCommander British Forces.However, the building has beenunoccupied since Maj-Gen SirSimon Pack left the Rock lastApril.

Coins Outside

They've taken the lawinto their own hands

(SUBSCRIBE TO

\J-

FOR A LIMITED PERIOD ONLY YOU CAN TAKEOUT A 6 MONTHS' SUBSCRIPTION TO THISAWARD WINNING PAPERFOR JUST £6 (UK) !!!£7.75 Surface Mail Abroad

Calling Navy News Subscribers !!Did you know that by quoting yourunique subscriber number, you are

entitled to 10% OFF any of NAVY NEWSOWN promotional items advertised ,

throughout the paper

The above offer also applies to CURRENT SUBSCRIBERSReturn the Order Form with remittance or call our

Credit Card Hotline on

(O17OS) 826O4OORDER FORM

PLEASE FILL IN THE FORM BELOW IN BLOCK CAPITALS

FORMER submariner John Cassey and ex-WrenSusan Ball took the law into their own hands to builda career for themselves outside the Navy.

For several years John hadhad an interest in the law, sowhen he left the Service as aCRS in 1993, he undertook aBachelor of Laws degree -using distance learning duringhis first year and attendingWolverhampton University asa full-time student to completethe three-year course.

He worked hard, and it paid off- with a prize for the best studentin Company Law as well as a 2:1result which placed him third outof 120 candidates. And in 1996, atBournemouth University, hepassed the Legal Practice Coursewith a commendation.

Now he is a trainee solicitor withGray, Purdue & Co. ofWaterlooville, near Portsmouth -where Susan is also working. Sheleft the WRNS as a petty officerafter eight years service andenrolled as a night-school studentof law at Staffordshire Polytechnicas well as working by day as a per-sonal assistant to the managingdirector of a manufacturing firm.

For as little as£14 a year you

can receive NavyNews, delivered

to your doorevery month

SUBSCRIBER PRIVILEGES• 1st to see the latest Navy News from around

the world.

• 1st to receive special offers.

• Your copy is delivered to your door, hot off

the press.

To: Navy News Business Manager, HMS Nelson,Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, PO1 3HH. Name:..

Yes I would like a\ 11 year

(lick as appropriate)

I2year I 1 3year [ J6mnlhs

Address:.

Subscription rates: (Navy News is published monthly)UK: 1 year - £14.00; 2 years - £25; 3 years - £36.50Overseas surface mail: (including Republic of Ireland, Europe, Canada,USA, & Australia) 1 year - £17.50; 2 years - £30.00; 3 years - £43.00

Payment by Cheque/Switch/Solo or International Money Orders in £Sterling and drawn on UK bank is enclosed OR complete the CreditCard option below(Credit Card orders must be over £5.)

N^ber I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

Visa/Access/Mastercard/Delta/Switch/Solo.

Exp Date Issue No(Switch) Amount: £..._Signature of Cardholder: »

Postcode:.

Tel:

Due to administration costs, u refundcunnot be given if the subscription is

cancelled durina the first vear.

i John Cassey and Susan Ball - they've become legal eagles.

Like John, she enrolled full-timefor the final two years of thecourse, gaining her degree in 1992.She joined Gray Purdue to com-plete her articles before beingadmitted as a solicitor in 1995 andlater obtaining a partnership in thefirm.

"I specialise in employment lawand civil litigation and thoroughlyenjoy my new-found career," shesaid.

John has also been giving volun-tary help to Portsmouth CitizensAdvice Bureau with contentiouscases that fall outside the LegalAid system. He has this tip forService people with a problem:

"Gray Purdue do £5 fixed-feeinterviews with Service men andwomen, and if they mention theForces Discount Brochure, theyreceive a ten per cent discount ontheir final bill."

and they're not all at seaWHEN David (Rusty) Steelleft the Navy almost five yearsago he felt that his future, quiteliterally, was on the land.

The former submarine coxswain- with 23 years' service under hisbelt - decided to study rural estatemanagement, and gained a BSc(Hons) in the subject at the Seale-Kayne faculty of PlymouthUniversity.

The four-year course includedexperience as an assistant landagent with the Defence Estatesorganisation, helping to look afterthe Army's Salisbury Plain trainingarea.

He is now looking for a job witha firm of chartered surveyors or alocal authority, where he can com-plete his professional qualificationas an Associate of the RoyalInstitution of Chartered Surveyors.

David Garnett, a formerCPOMEA, has become the firststudent at Warsash MaritimeCentre - and possibly in Britain -to pass his National VocationalQualification Level 4 in merchantvessel engineering.

• David Steel i David Garnett < Pat AllerstonHe was presented with his cerifi-

cate by George Angas, the Dean ofthe centre, near Southampton.

David, who spent 17 years in theRN, now has a sea-going job withBergesen dy ASA, and has com-pleted two, four-month trips whichhave taken him to the Gulf,Singapore, Thailand and thePhilippines.

• Still at sea almost 50 years afterjoining the Royal Navy, formerCERA Pat Allerston is finallyabout to hang up his steaming bats(or boots to the uninitiated).

Pat (63) retires next month fromhis job with Flagship Training Ltd,a joint venture by shipbuildersVosper Thornycroft, GEC Marconiand Procord Ltd to carry out for-eign and RN crew training.

Pat recently completed crewtraining on board the Omanicorvettes AI-Amwaj and Al-Mu'zzar, buil t by Vosper atSouthampton.

He started work for the compa-ny as a technical author when heleft the RN in 1975, his Naval ser-vice having included spells with theAustralian and Malaysian navies.


We'll

• Memories - HMS Dolphin in the days of submarines. In the foreground is the original part of thebase - Dolphin 1 - with the old walls still visible in the curved bastion behind the waterfront ward-room. Three diesel-powered patrol submarines can be seen in Haslar Creek alongside the jetty, atthe other end of which, surrounded by yachts, are the grey-roofed offices originally designed for theUpholder class. The white-roofed building at a skew in the middle of the picture is the SubmarineSchool, next to the famous submarine escape training tank. The playing field beyond the submarineschool marks the limit of Dolphin 2 - beyond that is the Royal Hospital, Haslar.

Despite the comings and goings, HMS Dolphin is still a busy Navalestablishment - and will be until the White Ensign comes downand Dolphin reverts to Fort Blockhouse. MIKE GRAY reports.

till here!DON'T fall into the

trap that severalpeople have made

when they bump into CdrJohn Prime, commandingofficer of HMS Dolphin.

The gist of the conversationusually follows the "not muchto command there now, isthere?" line.

They are wrong - HMS Dolphincontinues to be a busy Naval estab-lishment, and that is how CdrPrime believes it will continue untilthe traditional home of theSubmarine Service is decommis-sioned in the autumn and the sitereverts to its historic name, FortBlockhouse.

"There is still a Dolphin, andthere will still be a Dolphin untilSeptember 30," said Cdr Prime.

"The First Submarine Squadrondeparted Dolphin on September30, 1993, and when they left, it lefta huge vacuum here.

"But since then we have neverbeen busier - we have 1,200 peo-ple here today.

"What we also have here is thesubmarine escape training tankand the RN Submarine School,which does all the training of sub-mariners after their initial trainingat HMS Raleigh.

"Also on site we have theSubmarine Museum, the JointService Adventure Sail TrainingCentre, the Hornet Sailing Club,the Dolphin Volunteer CadetCorps and the Sea Cadet Corpsoffshore sailing organisation,including the TS Royalist.

"We also provide accommoda-tion for the Institute of NavalMedicine at Alverstoke, and over-flow accommodation for the RoyalHospital, Haslar.

"The Royal Hospital's businessis secondary care, and we aredeveloping into the centre formedical training. It makes sense tobe adjacent to each other andmaybe in the future for the sites toamalgamate, but right now eachhas its own commanding officer.We work together, but we are notyet a unified establishment."

The Defence Cost Studies 15analysis, dealing with the centrali-sation of defence medical training,brought the first of the new lodgersto Dolphin with the establishmentof the Army's rapid-deployment 33Field Hospital - a containerisedmobile hospital - which went oper-ational in January last year.

33 Field Hospital can provide 50beds plus full medical supportalmost instantly, and has a fullcapability of 200 beds.

Following them in were the firstelements of the Royal DefenceMedical College (RDMC), whose

Historyon loan

AS THE establishment runsdown, homes have to be foundfor much of the heritage gath-ered over the decades.

All of it is valuable, in finan-cial or sentimental terms, andinterested parties have alreadymade bids for some items.

The curator of heritage,Bridget Spiers, said a commit-tee was considering whereitems will go, effectively loan-ing them out on behalf of theRN trophy store.

"We've got paintings, etch-ings, lots of rather nice silver-ware, and in the church thereis a plaque made up of six Delfttiles given by Dutch sub-marines which served here inthe war," she said.

Among the treasures are theWyllie paintings in the ward-room dining hall, and the JollyRoger made for Lt Cdr DavidWanklyn VC, the most decorat-ed submariner - the flag wascompleted just after Wanklyn'sHMS Upholder left on patrol in1942 and never returned.

• If I wasn't a gunner... Dolphin staff fire the guns on the SalutingBattery, the main saluting platform for the Portsmouth area.

commandant - currently a RoyalNavy surgeon commodore - willtake over joint responsibility, withan RN commander commandingthe joint support unit for the FortBlockhouse site.

"The Submarine EscapeTraining Tank (SETT) will remainhere as a landmark on the Gosportskyline for the foreseeable future,"said Cdr Prime.

"The Submarine School will,on current plans, move toHMS Raleigh, in a gradualtransfer between 1999 and2000, with the RDMC takingsome of the space vacatedby the School.

"There is a requirement foraccommodation on the Gosport,peninsula so we are in effect a full-scale barracks with 750 spaces forofficers and ranks."

The Submarine School is nowmanaged from HMS Raleigh, butthe school's training is done atDolphin, which helps account forthe 350 students, from juniors tobrigadiers, including foreign visi-tors, who are attending courses onsite at any one time.

One of the priorities of this yearwill be the orderly transfer of con-

trol from the RN, culminating inthe decommissioning ceremony onSeptember 30.

"I'm responsible for decommis-sioning Dolphin as a unit and thetransfer of HMS Dolphin as a siteto the Director Medical TrainingOrganisation," said Cdr Prime.

"It's not a case of a steady run-down, last one out turn off thelights, that sort of thing.

"It's like a Hong Kong in minia-ture - at midnight on September30 I transfer ownership to the newowner.

"But as it won't be an HMS anymore I have to decommission onthe day, which makes it slightlymore interesting."

Several tasks carried out byDolphin are being distributed toother establishments.

Some 80 per cent of Dolphin isseafront, and control of the jettiespasses to the Queen's HarbourMaster on behalf of the Naval BaseCommander, Portsmouth.

The future of the historicSaluting Battery is also currentlybeing determined to see how theoldest firing guns in the RoyalNavy - the converted artillerypieces date back to the 19th centu-ry - can continue to boom out theirmarks of respect.

To beat any genuine quote on printed or embroidered garments

For a set of leaflets or a faxedor written quotation, contact-

Staf^ScreenCo-op Buildings, Walbottle, Tyne & Wear NE15 9RY

Tel: TYNESIDE (0191) 229 0226Fax: TYNESIDE (0191) 229 0255

ll All major Credit Cardsaccepted


your messages.It was great t<

-!_„ dnat a

ofvour jokes, youprinted on this pag

is a pnAll <

interested in

more about the

Bedfordshire .

JOLLYJOKES

THANKS TOEVERYONE FORYOUR JOKES,

KEEP 'EM COMING!

Son: I don't want togo to school, the chil-dren keep bullying meand making fun of me.

Mum: You've got togo, you're the head-

master!Rosie Moscrop

MEMBERS YOU CAN WIN A FANTASTICMODEL OF THE MERLIN HELICOPTER!

Merlin is the new mufti-mission helicopter produced for theRoyal Navy. You can win one of 3 fantastic Merlin modelsdonated by prime contractors Lockheed Martin ASIC in thissimple colouring competition.

I

use the picture above as a guide.

All you have to do is produce your own colour drawing of aMerlin. You can use the picture above as a guide. Send yourcompleted picture to:

The Gang Plank Club'Navy News. HMS Nelson, Portsmouth. PO1 3HH.

Competition doses March 12th 1998.

The senders of the best three entries, in the view of the judgeswill each receive one of the Super Merlin Models.Sorry we can't return your pictures.

A

Captain Plank's Joke:Two goldfish were sit-

ting in a tank, oneturned to the other

, and said: "Do youknow how to drive ,

— this thing!"

HEARTY greetings!Hope you're not toocold, it's pretty chillyon the high seas,even me parrot iswearing his woollysocks.

Hope you get sacksfulof Valentines, I'm hop-ing that Technocat willremember to send me acard.

Don't eat too manypancakes, I like to eatmine with oodles ofthick, black treacle andlashings of tar, can'tunderstand why nobodywill eat mine!

I get jolly lonely onthe wheel at this time ofyear so keep my spiritsup by sending me lotsof letters.

TOP GREEN TIPTHE FOLLOWING is a recipe for a cake with a dif-ference - a cake for birds!

Food is hard to find in the winter months when theground is often frozen hard and spring is still over amonth away.

You can help by following this simple recipe; then sitback and see how many different breeds you can spot asthey rush to try this tasty treat. Don't forget to ask agrown-up to help you.

ingredient with one partmelted fat, beef suet isbest but vegetable fat or fatfrom a roast will do.

Fill a container, such asan empty yoghurt pot orhalf a coconut, and hang itin the garden, or wait untilit has set and tip it out ontoa bird table.

INGREDIENTSi Mixed bird seed• Nuts and dried fruit> Cheese or cheese rindi Chopped bacon'Oats> Dried cakeMix two parts of the dry

Where in the World am I?CAN YOU guess the coun-tries being described? Thereare no prizes but give your-self a big Plank pat on theback if you get them right!

J Country 1: Berlin is the cap-ital of this European country,famous for its Bratwurst andSauerkraut. Famous composersJS Bach and Ludwig VanBeethoven were born here, andthe Rhine and the Elbe are well-known rivers. The currency hereis the Deutschmark.

Q Country 2: I am now in acountry 40 times the size ofEngland, where the capital cityis Ottawa and the nat ional lan-guages are English and French.The national flag consists of ared maple leaf on a whi te back-ground, sided by two red bands.

This country borders on fourof the Great Lakes, Ontario.Huron. Erie and Superior, and

you wil l see buffalo, deer, bearsand beavers.

Q Country 3: My destinationis a country famous for theGreat Pyramids and the GreatSphinx, need I say more?

It is also home to the longestriver in the world, the Nile.Eating out is an adventure initself, if you can read an Arabicmenu! Mulikhiya is a type ofsoup flavoured with garlic andserved with rice and Falafel areballs of fried broad beans mixedwi th herbs. The most festiveperiod is Ramadan, the ninthmon th in the musl im calendarand the month of the r i tua l fast.Happy travels!

QUIZ ANSWERS

:£ Ajjunoo -epeueo '-Ajjunoo -Aueuuao : \.

TECHNOCATTECHNOCAT hasbeen having a cosmictime on theInternet;he's found <i<:the website forsome veryexcitinginforma-. ltjrtion onspace shuttles, spacestations and the lat-est flight to the moon.If you want to hookup to all the hot newsabout astronauts andstuff, search underNASA or go tohttp://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/.where you will find infoon Lunar Prospectorwhich has gone oft tothe moon to look forwater. There's evenanswers to questionslike: 'How do astro-nauts go to the loo?!!'

February birthdaysPatrick Fry, Jonathon

Rogers, Rosemary Anrupe.Adam Brown, Emma Price,Jonathon Scully, AnnabelleLoveday, Matthew Bragg,Edward Goates, Jennifer

Fox, Jamie Goddard, SeanTobin, Aaron Currie,Andrew Waterfield

Competition winnersThe winner of the Beauty

and the Beast Competitionwas Patrick Fry.

Congratulations, we hopeyou enjoy the show. The tenrunners up who each receive

a Beauty and the Beastbaseball cap are Claire

Spivey, Imogen Napper, LJCWhiteley, A Mickey,

Samantha Quinn, ZaraRoberts, Carriena Jeffrey,

Barnaby Webb, Luke Mortonand Ashley Cole.


Do you know... what's happening in Nagano, Japan?WELL, it's a very impor-tant month in the calen-dar for anyone who'sexpert at playing sport Inthe snow, because theWinter Olympic Gamesare being staged InNagano, Japan, fromFebruary 7 to 22.

Did you know... the WinterOlympic Games will cover 68events from seven differentsports? These includebiathlon, bobsleigh, curling,ice hockey, luge, skating andskiing.

Did you know... Skatingand skiing are divided upInto different sections?These include speed skating,short-track and figure skat-ing, and in skiing, crosscountry, ski jumping, Nordiccombined, alpine, freestyleand snowboardlng.

Did you know... There willbe four new events which will

be contested for the veryfirst time at this year'sWinter Olympic Games?

Curling will be making itsdebut with two tournaments,one for men and one forwomen. Women's ice hockeyis also featuring for the firsttime with a tournament thathas six nations taking part.

Last, but not least, snow-boarding will be making anappearance with competi-tions for both men andwomen. Let's hope Britaincan bring home a fewmedals!

Membership Application FormPlease enroll me as a member of Captain Plank's new club. I enclose a postal order/cheque (payable to Navy News) for £3.25.

Name Address

PostcodeAge BirthdateSpecial interests: Sport Q Music rj Film/TV Q

Friends FH Reading r~\ OtherDo you have any brothers of sisters? Yes/No Names/Ages

Who does this copy of Navy News belong to? Parent FH Grandparent F"] Other

Send your completed form, together with postal order/cheque for £3.25, to: Captain Plank's Club,Navy News, HMS Nelson, Portsmouth PO1 3HH. If you would like any further information beforeapplying, call 01705 826040 or 01705 733558 (24-hour ansaphone)

1

This feature is sponsored by

LOCKHEED MARTIN

R E C R U I T E N TAND BUSINESS O P P O R T U N I T I E S

We have current vacancies In the UK,with Blue Chip companies for:

Naval Architects, CBT Engineers/TrainingOfficers, Aircraft Technical Instructors.

Technician/Engineers with experience in Flight. Simulation, Aircraft Systems, Radio/Radar

Engineers, IT & Software, Weapon Systems, Sonar, NetworkSystems.

Tel No: 01935-412288/424865Fax No: 01935-411755

E mail: [email protected]

ADVERTISE YOURBUSINESS TO PROBABLY THE BEST TRAINED

WORKFORCE IN BRITAIN TODAYPhone

GLEN or LINDA on.01705 725602

NAVALSUPPORTCOMMAND

MINISTRY OF DEFENCENaval Support CommandProfessional andTechnology Officer1 Full Time Post - Naval Bases andSupply Agency HMNB PortsmouthA Professional and Technology Officer (PTO) in the Electro/Mechanical Engineering specialism, is required in theEngineering Division of Estate and Engineering ServicesOrganisation (EESO) at HMNB Portsmouth. The work of thisDivision concerns the procurement, installation andmaintenance of functional machinery and training equipmentin Naval and Civilian Establishments in and aroundPortsmouth Naval Base. The work of the post holder willinvolve the preparation of drawings and specificationsnecessary for the procurement and installation of functionalmachinery and training equipment. Applicants must have asound Engineering background with recent design experiencein a relevant field, preferably with a working knowledge of IEEWiring Regulations (Edition 16 plus NES 503), anunderstanding of Project Management and procurementprocedures and a current full driving licence.This post is reserved therefore only UK Nationals can apply.QUALIFICATIONS: The minimum qualifications required areONC/BTEC/SCOTVEC (NC) or equivalent in an appropriateengineering subject and at least 4 years recognised formaltraining which could include up to 3 years full time study plusat least one years post-training practical experience. Ex-Service personnel without formal qualifications who have atleast 4 years technical experience in the rank of CPO andequivalent would be equally welcome to apply.SALARY: Starting salary will be £11,919 to £19,045according to qualifications and experience, with opportunitiesfor advancement to the top of the salary scale currently£21,214.INTERESTED AND QUALIFIED? Please write for anapplication form enclosing an A4 stamped, addressedenvelope to: Miss C. Lintern, FS (Pers) Recruitment, Room 7,Block D, Ensleigh, Bath BA1 5AB. Ref: PTO/NBSA/12/97.The closing date for return of completed applications is20/2/98We are an equal opportunity employer and are fullycommitted to equal opportunity policies. The Ministry of £Defence positively welcomes applications from suitablyqualified individuals, irrespective of racial origin, sex ordisability.

We are a leading supplier ofnew-technology water treatmentproducts and require a selfmotivated person to help meetdemand in the MOD andother public sector markets.A technical background would beuseful but is not necessary.Full product training will beprovided.Excellent earning potential forambitious person.

Please phone

01653698016Mike Martin

for more information

UNIQUE BUSINESSOPPORTUNITYLong established LuggageLeathergoods & Saddlery

business for sale.

Excellent central position InNorth East Hampshire town.Upper floor could provide

two bed flat.High turnover - High Profit

Leasehold

SHREDDINGKKANCHISK

OPPORTUNITIES• Proven business system

• Low investment• Advertising

& Local support• Tremendous Growth

Potential.To find out more, call

0845 6010551(local rate)

THE SAME DAYC.V. COMPANY

Ready to move on?Ring

01753890243Job Search & CVs

for all Ranks ofService Personnel

WORLD CREWSCREW WANTED

We are always needing crew for yachts sailing UK

Charter. Deliveries. Racing. CruisingPower & sal, amateur & professional

We also purjfcJiMOBS AFLOAT"

All you need to know atxxjt working on both yachts& cruise ships, lists over 300 companies offering

employment afloatPHONE/FAX 01202 431620

or write

* * * * * * * *

OIL RIGSThe Essential Guide •

FOR ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED INWORK OFFSHORE ON OIL RIGS ANDDOESN'T KNOW WHERE TO START.

PACKED FULL OF ALL THEINFORMATION YOU WILL EVER NEED

ABOUT OIL RIGS.• ;>•<>< >/vS ton o •

01253 869808

Aerospace TechnicalAuthors required. Yeovil areacontact John Biggs 01305262186

CURRICULUM VITAE• Specialists In C.Vs• Convert Service Docs to civvy Jargon• Individually Tailored by Human

Resource Professional• Quality Comes as Standard

REDE SERVICES82, Langdale Close, Estover, Plymouth

TEL/FAX: (01752) 700659

WANT A 2nd INCOME? | CONSIDER YOURNEXT CAREERPart-time without involving your

present job. Ideal for husbandand wife teams. Free training and

support from ex RN colleague.Call

01737507712

INTERNATIONAL COMPANYOFFERS LIFETIME INCOME.

ENTREPENEURS FROM ALL RANKS.CALL THE INFORMATION LINE ON

0171 241 788 EXT: 255THEN CONTACT IVAN JONES ON^ 01539444469

JOB VACANCY NOTIFICATION

SAFETY EQUIPMENT WORKERMINISTRY OF DEFENCE

ROYAL AIR FORCE STAFFORD

JOB SPECIFICATION : To carry out the maintenance and repairof all types of safety and survival equipment including aircrewequipment assemblies.

QUALIFICATIONS AND/OR EXPERIENCE : Should have recentexperience of working on the above equipment and haveundergone training to Q-SE-BE standard.

LOCATION OF JOB : RAF STAFFORD

PAY : £209.27 per week plus £52.77 productivity bonus

HOLIDAY : 174 hours annual holiday plus 10.5 days public andprivilege holidays per annum.

OTHER BENEFITS : Non-contributory pension scheme-flexibleworking conditions. This is a fixed term appointment for 12 mthsinitially

LAST DATE FOR APPLICATION : 14th FEB 1998

MAY BE REQUIRED TO WORK SHIFTS.

CONTACT NAME:Mrs D Rimmer, Civilian Recruiting Officer,

RAF Stafford, Beaconside, Stafford, ST18 OAQ.TEL:01785 223161 EXT. 7483 or 7394.

• Royal Air Force Stafford Is on equal opportunities employer and welcomesapplications from suitably qualified Individuals Irrespective of racial origin,

sex or disability.

Wanted UrgentlyAt present we have vacancies at various Naval Establishments in Portsmouth andsurrounding areas for the following positions on short and long term contracts:

0 Writers with past experience in the U.P.O or the registry.

• Service Stores personnel. • Stewards.

0 M.E.Ms. • Seamen. • Chefs.

OfficeAngels

If you are available for employment please forward your CV to:Sally Haines, Branch Manger or Jo Bromwich,Assignment Assistant at: Office Angels,5-7Arundel Street, Portsmouth PO11NB.Tel: 01705 877 799 Fax: 01705 877 780

30 FEBRUARY 1998, NAVY NEWS

Education

ISIS SCHOOLS EXHIBITIOOVER half a million pupils are currently being educated in more than 2,000

independent schools in the UK. Why do so many parents choose a private

education? To find out, visit the ISIS Schools Exhibition at the BIC, Exeter

Road, Bournemouth on Saturday, February 21,1998 from 10am until 4pm.

The schools taking part willrepresent the wide range offeredby ISIS: boarding, day, singlesex and co-educational, townand country schools, coveringthe age range from three to 18.

They will cater for childrenof the highest ability, but theneeds of the average and slowlearners will not be overlooked.

fi

For information contact: Colin Barham, ISIS South &West, "Skippers", Shipton Lane, Burton Bradstock,

Dorset DT6 4NQ. Tel: 01308 898045.

Most of them have not thrownoverboard the traditional valuesof discipline, competition, hardwork, style and good manners onwhich much of their reputationsdepend. ISIS exists to provide a

ST DUNSTAN'S ABBEYSCHOOL PLYMOUTH

DAY AND BOARDING SCHOOL FOR GIRLS 2>/2 -18

if High Academic Standard•& Dyslexia Unit* Drama A Speciality•£ Single Bedrooms

Telephone for a prospectus: 01752 201350A C'harirv providing auali!\ fducation far children.

fttfisttrfd Charily number 3O67J6

service to parents who mightotherwise find it difficult tolocate and pinpoint the rightschools for their children.

Colin Barham, the ISIS South &West Director will be in attendanceal the Exhibition.

"Our schools exist only becauseparents want them; they complementthe maintained system by providingchoice. Independent means fees, butthere are ways of finding help," saysColin Barham. "Independent schoolsare the principle providers of board-ing, which offers the complete edu-cational experience for children ofall ages. All independent schoolsbelieve in a strong sense of commu-nity and the importance of activitiesbeyond the classroom. Their excel-lent facilities and dedicated staffenable them to offer a full range ofactivities to the highest possible stan-dards."

uccess startsSi A N T O N Y ' S ~ L E W E S T O N

S h e r b o r n e , D o r s e t D T 9 6 E N

Open MorningSaturday 28th February

10.00am ~ 1.00pmPREPARATORY SCHOOL

CATHOLIC INDEPENDENT PREPARATORY SCHOOLFOR BOYS AND GIRLS 3-11

BOARDING PROVISION FOR GIRLS FROM 7

• Specialist M<-hing including French from age 3• Excellent facilities for An, Music and Games

• Loving, happy and safe environment• Sleepovers for 1 or 2 nights a week• Outstanding provision for early years

Sherbornc, Dorset DT9 6ENTel: 01963 210790

SENIOR SCHOOLCATHOLIC INDEPENDENT BOARDING,

FLEH-BOARDING & DAY SCHOOL FORGnus 11-18

• Excellent Academic Achievement• Acclaimed for our happy atmosphere

• High Standards of individual care• Superb Sixth Form Tuition

Sherborne, Dorset DT9 6ENTel: 01963 210691Fax: 0196} 210786

e-mail: [email protected]

St Anttmy'i-Leu'eaon Scbvalis a Charitable Trust for Ibt purfxxc of e

dvertismgCHOOSINGA SCHOOL?

VISIT A FREE

ISIS SCHOOLS' EXHIBITION.BIC

Exeter Road

BOURNEMOUTHSat 21 Feb '98, 10-4pm

WESTLANDSports & Social Club

YEOVILSat. 7 Mar'98, 10-4pm

the representative* of many Independentboarding and day school* for 3-18's.

Free advice on entry requirements, location,scholarships, and early planning

duc

BURSARY ASSESSMENT DAYFOR BOARDERSMonday 9th March, 1998

The Duke of Kent School is an IAPS

co-educational school for 160 children aged 7-13.

Set in beautiful grounds and offering suberb

facilities, we provide a caring and happy

environment for each of our pupils, with an

emphasis on personal tuition and individual

development.

If you would like to find out more about

us, telephone or write to the Headmaster, Mr

Roger Wilson at the address below and make an

appointment to come and visit us.

DUKE OF KENT SCHOOLEwhurst, Cranleigh, Surrey GU6 7NS

Tel: Cranleigh (01483) 277313 Fax: (01483) 273862.

\ft 4rTRINITY SCHOOL

RYDE SCHOOLwith

UPPER CHINEBOYS AND GIRLS 3 -18

Promoting achievement within a happy and caring environmentWeekly/Full Boarding or daily places availableOutstanding academic resultsGood Icacherrpupil ratioStrong music, sport and dramaThriving Nursery, Pre-prep and Junior DepartmentsLarge Sixth Form offering a wide range of options

For a prospectus or an appointment to see the school,please contact the Headmaster

Ryde School with Upper Chine, Queen's Road, Ryde, Isle of Wight,PO33 3BE Tel: 01983 562229 Fax: 01983 564714

EmbleyParkSchool

A SHOWON SHOW"

VISIT OUR STANDAT

ISIS, BOURNEMOUTH

BOYS and GIRLS 3-18DAY, WEEKLY & FULL

BOARDING

ROMSEY, HAMPSHIRE

Tel: 01794 512206

Fax: 01794 518737Rcfisurtd Charity wtainj to educate children

Easy Access Junction 2 M27

BOARDING AND DAY SCHOOLFOR BOYS AND GIRLS

PREPARATORY 3-11 SENIOR 11-18

A well disciplined friendly, caring environment withindividual attentionExcellent academic opportunitiesChris Ban Ethos16 Advanced Level subjects plus NVQ and GNVQ offeredOne residential member of staff for every 10 boardersBursaries available for service children

For farther details please contact Mrs Collins 01626 774138

TRINITY SCHOOLBUCKERIDGE ROAD • TEIGNMOUTH • DEVON • TQ14 SLY

TEL (01626) 774138

Trinity School is a charitable institute for the education of childrenMember of ISA-Reg. Charity No 276960 - Accredited by ISJC

GRENVILLE COLLEGEBideford, Devon, EX39 3JR

Co-educational Boarding and Day School2th. -18 years (boarding from age 8)

* Caring and friendly environment

* Staff ratio 1:9

* Excellent academic record

* GCSE, AS, A-level and GNVQ courses

* Dyslexia Unit - 28 years' experience

* Sixth Form Study Centre

* Superb location for outdoor activities, close to sea and moors

* Extensive grounds * Strong sporting tradition

* Stabling and exercise rides for resident pupils' ponies

* Substantial Service bursaries - where Boarding SchoolAllowance Is payable, we guarantee your contribution Isonly 10% of fees

Tel: 01237 472212 or Fax: 01237 477020Registered Charity No306718

NewlandsAn education for life

Day & boarding for girls and boys 2'h -18 years

* Fees in line with the BSA

* A high percentage of

FORCES boarders

* One 21 acre campus

* High academic standards

ISA 1996 Best GCSE Results

* Quality art, drama & music

* Strong sporting tradition

* Our DYSLEXIA Centreoffers specialist teaching

* Supportive caring familyatmosphere

Travel and escort arrangements include airports. Fareham,Romsey, Aldershot, Maidstone and Victoria Station.

Tel: Susan on (01323) 490000for a brochure or to arrange a visit. Fax (01323) 898420

Newlands School, Eastbourne Road, Seaford, E. Sussex, BN25 4NPNewlands provides education for boys & girls. Reg. Charity No. 297606


Property & MiscellaneousSAILING SOON?We successfully LET and MANAGEproperties throughout the South with ourcaring but professional service. Ring todayfor friendly competent advice on all aspectsof Letting. Telephone Fareham (01329) 234441Chichester (01243) 780094Woolston (01703) 445899

— Parkinson Fair-lie Robert-

We let and manage large& small homes in and

around Portsmouth

MARINE ARTISTANY SHIP, SCENE OR

SETTMQ PROFESSION ALLYPORTRAYED

IAN FRASER (ex RN)37A Chilwell Road

Beeston, Nottingham NG9 1EH

PhotoGrapn TOOil Painting

. A photographkof yourself in" uniform or

your ship can'be transformed into

a beautiful oil painting.

Full Details: 15A, Walliscote GroveRoad.Weston-Super-Mare

Somerset. BS23 4UJ.

Quote NN for 10% Discount.

Imperial ArtsArtist who specialises in

Marine & Military paintings,all in oil and canvass spread,

framed or unframedWrite or phone on:

88 HighcoteThe Courts Ope

HullHumberside HU6 9SX

0958 963226

Navy News NoticeTo Readers

The publishers of Navy News cannotaccept responsibility for the accuracyof any advertisement or for any losses

suffered by any readers as a result.Readers are strongly recommended to

make their own enquiries and seekappropriate commercial, legal and

financial advice before sending anymoney or entering Into any legally

binding agreement.

Classifieds01705 724226

REGIMENTAL TIES, blazerBadges. Cuff-Links, Buttons,Medals, Cap Badges, Militaria.£1.50 for list. Cairncross (Dep. NN),31, Belle Vue St., Filey, N. YorksYO149HU.

LOST TOUCH with friends orcolleagues from your service days?We are dedicated to helping you getback in touch. Forces ConnectAssociation, 57 Norwich Close,Lichfield, Staffs.WS13 7SJ ( SAE ).

THOUSANDS OF NAUTICALSOUVENIRS. Memorabilia, flags,sextants, logs, clocks, telescopes,lights, models, chronometers. AlsoMaritime items wanted. NauticalAntique Centre, Harbour Passage,Hope Square, Weymouth. Tel:01305777838

PROPERTYMANAGEMENT

SPECIALIS SIN THEHOMES OF RN PERSONNEL

A full and comprehensiveservice which Includes

attention to the smallest detail

Tracey MackenzieTEL: 01705 861550 / FAX: 01705 818081

263, Fawcett Rd, Southsea, Hants.

-FRAMED COLOUR PRINTS —From own original paintings

Over 400 availablePrint laminated with canvas texture film

to resemble an original oil paintingsizeSW lor £35pkisPiPFor ll«t please send SAE to:

SEART 5, THE CHASE, GOSPOHT,HANTS PO123TO

JVew Photo'sfrom Old!

Using a computerisedprocess, we can Invisibly

repair your cherishedphotographs without

damaging your originalimage.

Repairs from: £19.99Enlargements from: £6.00

Quantom imagingJreepost TK2O77 (no stamp rea)

Surrey. TW2O 8BRTEC- Of 784 «0607

YOUR SHIP

OR YOURSELFpainted by

HOWARD MALE, B.A.(Fine Art and Painting)

Reasonable Rates - Full Details from143. Halfmoon Lane, Herne Hill

London SE24 9JY

PURE NOSTALGIAOwn an individually hand-builtwaterline presentation model of yourship, perhaps long gone but neverforgotten. Any H.M. vessel or R.F.A.from 1920 onwards, in various sizes.

Contact lor further details:Ron Hughes,

Model Shipwright,Feldemore, Bacton, Stowmarket

Suffolk, IP 14 4LF01449 781741Companion of the

Royal Institution of Naval Architects

Navy NewsOwn Products

II you are not satisfied with one of

our own products sold through

this paper, simply return it to us

unused within 14 days and we will

replace it free of charge

or issue a full refund

(including postage)

This guarantee does not affectyour statutory rights.

WORCESTERSHIREMEDAL SERVICE LTDFull size and miniature medals suppliedand mounted for wear or display. Send

for a full list of miniature medals,emblems, clasps, etc. SAE appreciated147-149 Golden Cross Lane, Catshill

Bromsgrove, Worcs. B61 OJZTelephone 01527 835375

Access/Visa welcome

LOST YOUR MEDALS?

WE CAN REPLACE THEM NOW - WW1 TO PRESENT DAYIN FULL SIZE AND MINIATURE

WE MOUNT MEDALS TO WEAR - COURT OR SWING STYLEPROFESSIONALLY SEWN

DO YOU QUALIFY FOR THE GENERAL SERVICE CROSS,VOLUNTARY SERVICE OR MARITIME SERVICE MEDAL?

SAE FOR DETAILS & REPLACEMENT MEDALS LISTTOAD HALL MEDALS

NEWTON FERRERS. Nr PLYMOUTH. DEVON. PL81DH.Tel 01752872672. Fax 01752872723.

e-mail [email protected]

ENGRAVINGService Available

GLOSSOP TROPHIESi^-^Manufacture Pewter Tankards. Trophies. Goblets and

Hip Flasks! Tankards engraved with Badge Crest from £5.50 + VATf, SEND FOR OUR FREE CA TALOCUE

TEL: (0114) 2765554 FAX: (0114) 2750377' GLOSSOPS TROPHIES. 86 BROAD STREET. SHEFFIELD 52 4LE

BOSUNS STOR^Nautical Gifts

Maritime artifactsfor everyone!

Brass ware • Decorative ropework• Ships Wheels • Bells with Lanyards

• Clocks & Barometers• Nautical decor • Casual clothing

• Headgear • Key fobs• Hooks & Hangers

• Ships-in-bottles • Drinks ware• Telescopes & Compasses

and many more gifts to choose fromPersonalised Teddy Bean for all occasions

21 Nautical slogan bears to chooseAdmiral - Cabin Boy or have your own

nautical bear personalised(kit bags and all).

Casual clothing personalised withhundreds of stock motifs to choose from.

Available to make up own motifs.No order too small.Mail Order available

Happy ValentinesContact:- Christine 4 Margaret

Bosuns Store &Torpolnt Teddy Bear Co.

3, Harvey Street- Torpolnt -

Cornwall - PL11 2BU

, 01752 815050/813812

TORP01NT TEDDY BEAR Co.*

Fnmed Wire BKian 15x5). C12.XWhlteGiuntleti £19.00mite Cotton Gloves Pilr...£330HavylBlKkBenti&ll-B £7.00Any Auoclttion Win Bent B*)gt C 4JOR.H t Nml DMilon Tlei £8.55BlK* C/ip-o/1 Ties £4.50RNButtona: Ltrge£t.60, SmtllC 1.50

.£20.00Whiter Btoutont, AftckMnyRNAJRU'FAA'FM Aun ....rltvy blue r-/wck Jumpers •PNA/RUfAA'FAA AMI £12.00White PwfSfwfv*RNAPUmPSATAA/FAAAisn £11.75SMMffMrto Mny, Ony, FAAfAA Aun .. ft 4MScreen Printed SweitthlrtHme otts,illbtdget £M.50Bosuns nil t Chtin £12.00

HIMOfficer* Cap Bado*s £11-DOGold SwordKnol C23.OOLeather Sword Belts £70.00Sword B»flS E3O.OO

tUprlett Include PtPDrivt,Slaw,CHdhtm,linci.OL2STJ

Te//Fax: 01706 846648yflHIrnontJirt

ATTENTIONWE WILL BE IN ATTENDANCE AT

NUMBER 4 AREA RNA. ANNUAL

WEEKEND AT TORQUAY,

ORDERS PLACED NOW MAY BE

COLLECTED AT THIS REUNION.

ENAMEL BADGESTie Slides, Cuff Links,Stick Pins, Etc.Made to order atcompetitiveprices.Min. Order100 units

TIES, BADGES &PLAQUESBy Mail Order

SHIPS/SQUADRONS/REGIMENTS/CLUB

HM Services and custom-made for Clubs,Bands, Choirs, etc.

Blazer buttons, medals, ribbons &sundries

Please send SAE for listsTHE HERALDIC CO. (GB) NN

Over Briar, Beech Well Lane, EdgeEnd, CoMord, Glos. GL16 7HA

Tel/Fax: 01594 832200

EMBROIDEREDSweaters, SweatshirtsPolo shirts, Badges

PRINTEDTeeshlrts, Sweatshirts,Badges, Coffee mugs

And lots mon, all from one supplier

BFPO Ux-frw serviceStnd foe our ntw pricf m:

Reynold Sports51/52, High Street, Lincoln, LN5 BAP

Tel: 01522 513333Fax: 01522 530383

TRAVELINSURANC

40°/< STREETPRICES

DIRECTSTREETPRICES

DIRECT

die FbwtertrsFOKMEKLY CORIVO PRODUCTS

WENTWORTH (SHEFFIELD) LTDTankard House, 25 Leadmill Road. Sheffield SI 3JATel: 0114 27256764 0114 275 4168 fit 01142726651

WALL SHIELDS OFROYAL NAVY SHIPS

Hand painted on wooden base 6in x Tin£23.50 + £1.40 UK Postage.

REDUCED PRICES given for orders of 6 or moreSPECIAL PRICES given for 10, 25, 50 and 100

CRESTED TIES TO YOUR OWN SPECIAL DESIGN(minimum 36)

Specialist experience over 85 yeanC.H.MUNDAY LTD

Oxford House, 8 St Johns RoadSt Johns, Woklng, Surrey GU211SE

Telephone: 01483 771588 Fax: 01483 756627

'S(THE ORIGINAL NAVAL TAILORS)

WALL PLAQUESHAND PAINTED ON OAK BASE ANY DESIGN

£23.50 +£1 JO UK POSTAGEQUANTITY DISCOUNTS FOR SIX OR MORE

BADGES WIRE OR SILK. ANY DESIGN OR QUANTITY

TIM CLUB, REGIMENTAL OR YOUR OWN DESIGN

MEDALS MIN OR FULL SIZE (STATE REQUIREMENTS)CAP TALLIES, BLAZER BUTTONS

Send SAE for quotes and price list49 DEREK AVENUE, HOVE, SUSSEX

BN3 4PE. TEL: (01273) 416138

HMS RFA & RNA WALL SHIELDSHandmade to order

£21.20* Inc UK postage•add £1.45 for optional motto/trtl« scrollUp to 40% discount with quantity orders

C&ABEHARRELL187, Victoria Av*nu», HuB, HU53EF

Trf/Fix: 01482 213398PteaM tend SAE for Brochure

FLEET BADGES1918-1998

Authentic ColouredHeotstoted • Framed

5mxSh.£9M 8* x 8*.-£14.50UnlramedPrints: 5*x4».£4.X

All prices Include UK postageAJ.LAW

4, Old Station Conleiu, Skafusbury RoadHtnarUge, Sominel BAS OPU

Tel: 01963 364172

REGIMENTAL SUPPLIES wPOBOX45

BECKENHAMKENT

BR31GJTel: 0181 325 5193

Medal* - full size and miniature,mounted for wear.

Blazer badges, buttons, tiesand heraldic wall plaques

LOST MEDALSREPLACED IN RECORD TIME

FULL SEE * MINIATURE3 DAY MOUNTING SERVICE

WRITE OK PHONE FOR QUOTATION

RAYMOND D. HOLDICH

7 Whttconb StreetLondon WC2H 7HATEL 0171-930 1979FAX 0171-930 1U2

GETPROMOTION!

T-SMrts, Sweatshirts, Polos,Rugby Shirts, Hooded Tops,Singlets,Baseball Hats, Ties,EmbroideredBadges and Jumpers,^Pennants, Mugs,Sports Bags and Holdalls,Jog/Track Suits & Shell Suits

AS PROMOTIONS12. Avenue Industrial Estate.Justin Road. London, El 8SU

Telephone 0181-523 3283Fax 0181-531 7298

PRINTED1 bcoohur. EMBROIDERED

0800 435 463Couchebebe

POBoxS SWANMORESOUTHAMPTON SO322UW

01189810222101189810222

CUMMERBUNDS/TIESShips crests. 6" 8" 12"

Cap Tallies.Printed T shirts

All made to order.

Ross Art Embroidery7 Wall Road. Gwinear. Hayle.

Cornwall TR27 5HA..,/: 01736 850724

CAP TALLIESANY SHIP

— MANY IN STOCKFor comfrehiiuivi Itil pitost itnJ SAE

SHIPS BADGESSILK/WIRE SHIPS BADGES AND

TIES FOR ASSOCIATIONSSPECIALIST BADGE SUPPLES

l,tUDCOVn,LONGWZU.aiUt,UaTOLTEL/FAX.- Oil79337967

32 FEBRUARY 1998, NAVY NEWS

INCrBovcrl

ROVERS AT PRE-INCREASE PRICESPrices increased on 21st DecemberBut we've reserved 32 carsat prc-increasc prices...

HurryTIt's your lastchance to buyat these prices

ROVER 100 ASGOtS 3 & 5 door, Most ColoursROVER 214 3 & 5 door, Most ColoursROVER 214s 3 & 5 door, Most Colours

ROVER 414s 5 door, Most ColoursROVER 416s 4 & 5 door. Most Colours

£6,495rom £9,995

from £10,495from £12,545from £13,195

Choice of 12Choice of 8Choice of 6Choice of 3Choice of 3

All prices on the road & ready to drive away•

iange

Viking RoverHigh Street, West End, Southampton, Hampshire

Tel: (01703) 473773

Mon-Sat 8.30am - 6pm, Sun 10am - 4.30pm

Not all motorists are the sameOnly some will get up to £30 off

RAG breakdown cover

Navy News readers can benefit fromspecial membership rates.

0800 581 077Please quote reference GE0008/NV0001Offer also available to existingRAG Members - call 0990 722 722

This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other RAC offer.Discounts only apply to certain service levels.Prices include Insurance Premium Tax at the standard rate on VATexempt insurance and joining tee if applicable.All oxtails correct at the time of publication.Fun membership details in RAC Terms Of Membership.

Rover-BMW linkproduces a gem

byGlynn Williams

[OVERS havetraditionally had areputation for

sophistication, a touchof class, and the latestgeneration are betterthan ever as they moveupmarket under theiroup's ownership by

The link is steadily beingunderlined, such as with thesame style sports alloy wheelsbeing fitted to the products ofthe two brands.

One of the gems is the newRover 200, which boasts crisphandling and neat performancefrom a range of engines topped bythe variable valve control powerplant fined to the flagship MGFsport scar.

But you don't need to go that farfor lusty performance, for the 1.6-litre 16-valve version producing11 Ibhp is capable of sprinting from0-60mph in less than 10 secondsand on to a top speed of HSmph.

That sounds good for a car withmanual transmission, but the sameperformance parameters apply tothe new automatic withcontinuously variable transmission- known by the initials CVT.

Thanks to Viking Rover at WestEnd, Southampton, I was able toexperience what a surprisinglylively machine this is, and the

• The Rover 216 GSI - an automatic star.

LSouth wick.

FREE ASFREETt-FREEPICBT4INOGftEXCEUDIRECTHIRES!REQUIK

^3^^-MOTORCYCLETRAINING

fc District Rider Training SchemeSESSMENT LESSONEORY TRAINING:K-UP SERVICE*RT 2 TRAINING TO TESTDUP TRAININGENT I*SS RECORDACCESS SPECIALISTS

<ES AVAILABLE IFED

PORTSMOUTH 380857

(TRAINING SITE NEAR HMS DRYAD)

CAR FACTSMODEL: Rover 2160S!PRICE: £16,450 (Inc automatictransmission)ENGINE: 1.6-litre 16-valve pet-rol injection producing 111 bhpTRANSMISSION: Continuouslyvariable automaticPERFORMANCE: 0-60mph - 9.8sees; top speed - 115mphINSURANCE: Group 7.

degree of sophistication that canbe found in what many wouldconsider to be a "small" family car.

The model was the five-door 216GSi, which sells for £15,500 in aluxurious standard trim whichincludes leather upholstery,electric sunroof, seven-spokeluxury alloy wheels, and a CDautochanger in the in-carentertainment package.

An alarm and immohiliser helpprotect the treasures.

Automatic transmission is anextra £950 option, while airconditioning adds another £695,but the results really complete thebig car feel.

The beauty of this kind ofautomatic transmission is thatthere are no gearchange jerks orlulls in response as can be foundwith some traditional automatictransmissions. Progression is

seamless, and the engine is alwaysat the right revs for instantresponse.

When you want to acceleratepositively for overtaking you canfloor the throttle and away shegoes. Driving in traffic is effortless.

But while the engine note issporty at such times, it is neverobtrusive however hard you drive,and in fact you can reallyappreciate the excellent CDquality.

Fuel economy is good and onlymarginally higher consumptionthan for the manual version -official test figures give the averagearound 36mpg, with 25mpg on theurban cycle, and nearly 50mpg onthe extra-urban test.

SafetyThis car is a roomy five-seater

too, and the leather complementsthe burr walnut finishings tor a realfeel of quality and solidity.

Safety has a strong emphasis,with standard features includingdriver's airbag, side-impactprotection beams, high-level braketight to deter rear-end shunts, andthe real boon of lap-and-diagonalinertia-reel seatbelts for all threerear seats.

This is a classic example of thebig car feel you can enjoy today.And if you don't believe me, tryone.

SAVE with the RN HOME PLANBig savings off UK prices when you order your next vehicle fromgenuine Concession - no-nonsense prices lower than UK List,convenience of leaving SCE to arrange everything on your behalf: Be&your next car, you'll want to know more about RN savings through SCI

FOR THE FULL STORY AND YOUR FREE COLOUR INFORMATION PACKSEND THE COUPON OR WRITE, FAX, 'FW3MF

CETHOTLINE UK 01367 241225(we 'II call you right back)

fax UK: 01367 242000

SCESCE LTD

PO BOX 177FARINGDON

OXONSN77EWUK

Name _TW«/Rank.

Addn

I am interested in: Chrysler O Jeep CD Kladi Mazda D Bower CD MG D USED CAR CD

Models (please specify)

RN Home Plan Tax Paid CD Export Tax Free CD Concession Price 2]

Please post to: SCE Ltd. FREEPOST. Faringdon. Oxon SN7 5BR. UK N28.


• Daihatsu Grand Move - space and size In a happy medium.

IREMEMBER how myarandfather loved hisMorris Minor, not for

looks or driving passion,but because in histwilight years he couldslide behind the wheelwithout cricking hisageing neck getting Innor have to haul hisweary body up gettingout.

Such details seem so often tohave passed the stylists by overthe years.

A small car, which is all manypeople want, so often means effortgetting in and out. A high car oftenmeans a climb, and if the verticaldimension is extended, so are allthe others, and the result issomething bigger than you need.

The latest generation of multi-purpose vehicles often tends to fallinto this category, and how oftendo you see just one personcommuting in a seven-seater whichcan be heavy on fuel and sits in acar park all day?

But there is a happy medium,thanks to Daihatsu - it's called theGrand Move, and while it is afraction of the size of the GrandEspace, let alone the GrandVoyager, it's a smart and roomywagon which takes up no morespace in the parking bays than theaverage hatchback.

And at £11,500 on the road itcosts about the same too.

MinimalistJapanese tax laws tend to make

their small cars rather minimalist,but the Grand Move is bigger thanthat.

It has high seats which you slideon to for excellent all-roundvisibility, yet more headroom thaneven Jeremy Clarkson needs tostretch in, plenty of elbow room,and shoulder room, and wideapertures for the four doors andtailgate make access easy andeffortless.

It is a full five-seater which whenfully occupied has as much luggagespace as many estate cars ana willcertainly take a folded electric

Move on -andmove up withthis budgetpeople carrierwheelchair behind the back seatswhich also fold down to double thecapacity.

All the seats also fold flat tocreate a sleeping layout, and thereare concealed stowage areas forversatility and security. Further

CAR FACTSMODEL: Daihatsu Grand MovePRICE on road: £11,500SEATS: RveENGINE: 1.6-litre 16-valvepetrol Injection producing88bhpECONOMY (manual): 28.5mpgurban; 44.8mpg extra urban;37.2mpg combinedTRANSMISSION: 5-speedmanual or four-speed autooptionPERFORMANCE: 0-62mph -12.3 sees; top speed - 103mphWARRANTY: Three-yearunlimited mileage mechanical;six years against rust-through.

flexibility is provided by standardroof rails.

In appearance and build theGrand Move is clean-lined,functional and neat, the interior iswell furnished, and standardluxuries include electric mirror-adjustment and metallic paint.

Safety is no luxury, and it isprovided at a high level in this

Daihatsu, with twin airbags,seatbelt pre-tensioners, side-impact bars, and central lockingwhich if engaged is released in theevent of an accident, with hazardwarning and interior lightsactivated.

And this car lives up to its name- it can move! The smooth andrefined 16-valve, 1,.5-litre engineproducing 88bhp can acceleratethe car from standing to 62mph in12.3 seconds, with a top speedpotential of more than lOOmpn.

ResponsiveIn some other "upright" wagons,

handling at speed can bedisconcerting, but the Grand Movefeels taut and stable, responsive tothe power steering, and the five-speed gearchange is slick and well-placed, as is the remote release forthe fuel filler flap.

A four-speed automatictransmission with power andeconomy modes is a £1,000 option.

This car even has speed-sensitive windscreen wipers, as wellas comprehensive instrumentationand a Pioneer audio system withremovable security facia.

If you want more there is aGrand Move+ at £13,500 whichadds air conditioning - a £600option on the Grand Move - andABS brakes, alloy wheels, heatedmirrors and a roof spoiler, as wellas electric windows all round.

Glynn Williams

Insurance agents BRADFORD & HATCHER LTD (established 1967) offer

Forces Direct

Insurance

How To Buy ACarSave!

as every modelin the Natocars1 range has a substantialdiscount. Save money because Natocarspass on all manufacturers' special offers infull - and dream up a few of our own! Savemoney by getting the best price for your partexchange. Save money with Natocars1

competitive finance plans, offering freeprotection insurance. Save money on carinsurance as we shop around for you, give anintroductory discount and fight the fight whenit comes to claiming. Save money bytalking about your needs using ourFREEPHONE tines or CALL-BACK facility.

having to go fromdealer to dealer, because Natocars offer over1,000 models from eleven manufacturers.Save time by shopping from your armchairusing our free comprehensive Car BuyingGuide and all the car brochures you need.Save time by getting an immediateresponse to all your needs from your personalsales contact. Save time by choosingNatocars1 direct factory supply facility, offeringa wide choice of stock for urgent orders orcustomer car build priority scheme. Savetime with our same day finance quote andclearance service.

Save Hassle becauseNatocars will sort out any problems, not you!Save hassle by letting us do all the factfinding, paperwork, progress chasing andcommunicating. Save hassle by keepingyour part exchange car right up to delivery of

your new one. Save hassle by having yourcar delivered to you - anywhere in the world)Save hassle with Natocars1 after salessupport whenever you need it.

Save, relax, enjoy!Freephone from: Germany 01 3085 9806. Holland 06022 9806.

Belgium 0800 14310. Cyprus 0809 1058.Telephone from other areas 01278 455555 or fax 01278 450396.

*RETAIL Moron

OurMembcriNp

-^ NATOCARSA Rewarding Experience aWaWaaM

Natocars Ltd • Wylds Road • Bridgwater • Somerset • TA6 4DG

MOTOR INSURANCEHOME & CONTENTS INSURANCE • KIT INSURANCE

'Exclusive schemes & preferential rates for H.M. Forces ** Specialist Rates for Young Drivers and High-Performance Cars *

* Fast & Efficient Claims Service ** 24 Hour Helpline *

* Monthly Payments *

FOR AN INSTANT QUOTATION & GUARANTEED SAVINGS CALL FREE ON

0800 068 0279Bradford & Hatcher Ltd.

Manor Court, 12 St Margarets St., Ipswich IP4 2AT. Tel: 01473 211951

<&> VOLVO GOODUWOJWOI «BCEDtSBEN2

Please send me the Natocars Buying and Price Guide, car brochures of my choice.

Tax Free Cars I I Finance Plans I I -

Tax Paid Cars I I Car Insurance |~~11

plus other information as shown

Rank InitialsSurnameAddress

Tel. - work:.home:.

Used Cars [H

Part Exchange I IAnticipated delivery date:For use in (Country):

Car DepositSavings Plan

I II 1"

. ext:_Fax:.

I am interested in: Make/Model.

TOCARSNATOCARS LTD-WYLDS RD • BRIDGWATER

SOMERSET 'TA64DOTel: 01278 455555- Fix: 01278 450396


Sport

Marinesmakeleaguedebut

ROYAL MARINES RugbyLeague officially exists as anassociation following aninaugural meeting atCTCRM last month.

It is a major step for the sportand puts the Royal Marines on thefirst rung of the ladder for recog-nition, and therefore funding.

Much of the early developmentof the game within the RoyalMarines has taken place at KMCondor in Scotland, and the unitclearly demonstrated the Corps'potential in their match againstScottish Students in December.

Fifteen players arrived for alight training session on the morn-ing of the match and were takenthrough some basic moves by MneMush Martin, who organised theminto their positions and psychedthem up for the game.

The first thing the RMs noticedwas that the students were overallmuch bigger than themselves, butafter the lack-off they attacked thestudents with some devastatingrunning and slick ball handling,and within one minute, MneShiner Wright went over the linefor a try, with the conversion beingslotted away by Martin.

In the 17th minute, the 'oldwork horse' and experiencedleague player C/Sgt Grainger (43)went over for a second try.

The students seemed shockedby the fitness and determinationof the RMs and further tries fromLt Cunningham, Mne Martin, andMne Si Board, one being convert-ed, gave a half-time score of 24-0.

At the start of the second halfthe students launched an all-outassault and, to their credit,pushed the RMs hard for the firstten minutes.

DeterminedBut the Royals had decided

that the students would not scoreand some determined tackling,much of it deep in their own half,wore the students down, givingRM control of the game again,with Mne Chadwick touchingdown in the corner. LtMiddleton was then rewardedfor an excellent game with a try.

Another try by Mne RobyRobinson at the end sealed anexcellent win for the RM 38-0.

Q ROYAL MARINES rugbyleague received a furtherboost when Leeds RhinosRLFC paid a visit to CTCRM.

The star-studded Super Leaguesquad were put through theirpaces on Lympstone's uniquefacilities and in return, the Rhinoscoaching staff organised trainingsessions for the Royal Marineswhich were of great benefit.

Commonwealth Cupvictory for RNRUA SUPERB double overteams from 'Down Under*gave the RN Rugby Unionteam a huge confidencebooster and the first inscrip-tion on the new Racal-spon-sored Commonwealth Cupwrites Lt Grassy Meadows.

The fixture against the RoyalNew Zealand Navy was thefirst ever in this country andcame 127 years after the RNfirst played New Zealand,when HMS Rosario took onAuckland XV in 1870.

The first giant stride in theCommonwealth Navy Cup triumphwas sweeping the Australians awaywith a 38-3 victory at the RectoryField Stadium, Devonport.

Five tries, two each from Mne MickCariton (45 Cdo) and Cpl MartynWooherton (CTCRM) and one for LtRoger Redwin (HMS Berkeley) withthree penalties, and two conversionsfrom Cpl Ian Vernor (Storehouse)completed the scoring.

PowerfulA powerful display by No 8 Bob

Armstrong (CTCRM) and good line-out ball from lock Mne Andy Perry(CTCRM) gave the RN backs, like the

ous LPT Russell Williamsh) on the right wing, the confi-

:lo slice through the oppositionwho were restricted to just one penalty

• Royal Navy scrum half Cpl Paul Livingstone leaves his Aussie counterpart grounded during theRN'S 38-3 Victory over the RAN at the Rectory, Devonport. Picture: Buy Charming, Plymouth Evening Herald.

But the whole Navy side can takecredit for their performance on a frostynight of fierce competitive action.

With the Kiwis beating the

Australians 12-9 (all penalties) the fuialgame in the series saw the RN facingthe RNZN (Hakar included) at theUSSG Portsmouth.

Although the weather could nothave been more different from theAustralian game, the power and confi-dence of the RN side was obvious for allto see, and proved too much tor theKiwis to handle.

The elements did not favour a spec-tacle of free flowing rugby but the largePortsmouth crowd, huddled together mpouring rain and gale-force winds,were warmed by a try from scrum halfCpl Paul Livingstone (CTCRM) andfive penalties from full-back Cpl IanVernor against two unconverted tries tosecure a 20-10 victory and theCommonwealth Navy Cup.

The competition proved to be agreat success, with warm comple-ments from both touring teams on theway they had been made so welcome.

Cdr Owen Young RNZN said: "Ithas been excellent and the hosting byall concerned has been first class.The RNRU thanks all those involvedin the tour.

Twickenham 'toocostly' for RAFFOR THE first time In many years, the RN Rugby Unionwill play the RAF outside Twickenham. This year'smatch will be played at the United Services SportsGround, Burnaby Road, Portsmouth on May 6 with a1900 kick off.

The reason given for the match not being played at Rugby HQIs that the RAF Is no longer able to afford the spiralling costsinvolved In competing at Twickenham.

The Army and Navy game Is It Is hoped that the atmos-not affected by the decision and phere will be similar to thatwill continue to be staged at In the West car park at

Q MIDI-SHIPS rugby champions HMS Cornwall welcomed theBarbarians on board tor lunch and a tour of the ship before theirCombined Services match at USSG Portsmouth.

The team spent three hours on board, visiting every mess deck, andhad lunch in the wardroom. Barbarians captain Nigel Redman (right) ispictured with Lt Cdr Colin Bostock (ship's Rugby Manager) and HMSCornwall's team captain PO Dave Honey.

Twickenham, with the next con*test scheduled for April 25.

dive Lambshead, the secre-tary of Navy rugby, hopes thatthe new venue for the RAFgame will generate new Interestand hopes that, with an eveningkick off, many people will wantto tailgate-party on the ground.

Twickenham on Navy/Armymatch day.

Details of car parking andand match tickets will beannounced In Navy Newsand promulgated throughunit physical training offi-cers as soon as they areavailable.

Athletes make their mark in the CountiesNAVY athletes competed In various Countychampionships just before Christmas.

In Lancashire, Mark Croasdale (CTCRM) continuedhis racing rehabilitation in tremendous style by stridingto victory over a scenic course at Leyland's WordenPark.

After good wins recently in the Dorset Three Peaksand Bournemouth ten miles, Mark returned to his north-ern roots to reclaim the title he last won in 1993. He wonby a huge margin of 44 seconds and said afterwards: "Itfelt really good today, that was the most comfortableLanes yet. After illness, I've based my training on scien-tific principles, with constant lab testing, and it's workingout superbly.'

In Hampshire, both men and women fielded a fullteam over a hilly and muddy course at Fawley. Therewas so much mud that Sally Donnelly was heard to say:"It makes it all worthwhile when you finish looking like achocolate drop!"

The girls did well over their four-mile course, Vicki-

Cross countryCaldicott Barr (Sultan) leading them home in 28th, SallyDonnelly (Haslar) 36th and Claire Mclaughlin 52nd. Inthe men's race over seven miles, Simon Sheard(CINCFLEET) was 35th, followed by Paul Davoile andJoe House.

CelebrationsIn Devon, the championships were held over a new

but very traditional course at Bicton and Chris Cook(539Cdo Sqn) ran well to finish 14th followed by BobChapman (Heron) in 28th who was also first veteranover 50.

Navy athletes had little time to recover from theexcesses of the new year celebrations before leagueaction was renewed over a very wet and windy first

weekend of the year. In the Westward League atBideford, Bob Chapman came 12th, clinching both theVeteran 45 and Veteran 50 age group categories, andPaddy Johnson (CTCRM) was 20th.

In the Hampshire League, bad weather and the post-celebration blues contributed to a poor turnout with onlythree runners struggling to reach Fawley, Paul Davoileran well to finish 42nd followed by John Gueran in 90thand Brian Howard in 213th.

Attention now shifts to the Command and Navy cham-pionships. The Portsmouth Command championshipswere taking place at HMS Dryad and the combinedPlymouth and Naval Air Command were taking place atHMS Raleigh as Navy News went to press.

The Navy championships return to Dryad on February4 for the first time in many years and the men's racepromises to be a corker with Mark Croasdale probablythe favourite, narrowly ahead of Dai Roberts (Individual)and George Roper (NAG). In the team race, the RoyalMarines will be hard to beat.

In briefCollingwoodhosts fencingTHE RN knockout fencingchampionships staged at HMSCollingwood saw a three-manteam from DNR emerge victo-riously.

Lt Mark Barton, Lt Al Richterand Lt Joe Pugh RM will now goon to represent the Navy in theInterservices.

The next day a full RNAFAteam enjoyed a resounding victoryover Southampton Institute, andtwo of the RN squad have notchedup domestic wins recently, withLAEM Mark Needham (Seahawk)winning the Cornwall CountySabre Championships and LtAdrian Olliver (SM2) winning theDevon Epee Championships.

BarbariansinPompeyTHE BARBARIANS face aCombined Services Selectat Burnaby Rd, Portsmouth,on January 31 with kick offat 1800.

The team will be touring HMSVictory on January 30 and willspend the morning of thematch coaching local youthteams at HMS Collingwood.

Free beer forRoyal rowersBREWERY giants Carlsberghave agreed to sponsor a RoyalMarines rowing team fromPlymouth.

Carlsberg's name will be embla-zoned on the team's shirts and thecompany has agreed to provide freebeer for a regatta on the Plym, butthe Royals are still looking for asponsor who would like their nameplastered on the boats themselves.

Anyone who is interested shouldcontact Coxswain Mark Anstis onPlymouth 205297.

• Mne Anon Walton, one oftwo RN boxen who has wonthrough to the ABA rationalquarter-finals at RAF Cosford.

ABA nationalsemi finalsTWO RN boxers have wonthrough to the ABA nationalquarter-finals at RAFCosford on February 5.

And If cruiserweight MneArron Walton (40 Cdo) andmiddleweight Mne Eric Forster(42 Cdo) win again they will gothrough to the national semi-finals (South) at HMS Nelsonon February 17 where they canbe sure of some very vocalsupport.

Tickets for the semi-finals, atHMS Nelson, priced £8, can beobtained by telephoning HMNBPortsmouth 24484 or direct on01705 724484.

SportNAVY NEWS, FEBRUARY 1998 35

NAVY INSAILING'SPREMIERELEAGUEROYAL NAVY yachtsmen competing in Australia'sSouthern Cross series achieved the best British rac-ing results since Edward Heath's successes withMorning Cloud back in 1979.

Skipper Lt Cdr Mike Broughton and his crew worked flat outto bring the chartered Marek 43 'Quest' up to speed before thenine race series began.

Despite facing 25 of the world'stop racing teams amongst theopposition, the RN were highlyplaced in the preliminary inshoreraces and they steadily improvedas the series went on.

By the seventh race, the crewwere on top form and achieved animpressive victory which madenational news headlines acrossAustralia.

But the Navy's toughest chal-lenge was to come in the ninth raceof the series, the infamous Sidneyto Hobart, which took them over600 miles south through the BassStrait and some of the roughestwater in the world.

The team's start at Sidney wasprobably the best of the 121-boatflotilla and put them in clean airahead such illustrious competitionas the Hong Kong owned and pro-fessionally crewed Maxi BeauGeste which went on the win thescries overall.

A 46-hour storm on routestretched the boat and crew to thelimit, and with a $25,000 depositriding on the yacht's mast, it wasalso a severe test of the skipper'snerves!

The crew spent most of thestorm on the rails being batteredby high seas, and at one point lostall their instruments, including theradio and GPS. By the time thestorm abated, 15 boats haddropped out of the race.

Bass StraitTo the team's relief, the weather

was calmer in the Bass Strait andQuest made excellent time to roundTasmania's Cape Pillar into StormBay among the first ten boats.

• Lt Cdr Mike Broughton and his team take Quest out of SidneyHarbour and (right) the crew spent much of the nine-race series onthe rail to balance the lively US-built Marek 43.

Agonisingly, the wind diedjust 45 minutes from Hobart giv-ing the the bigger boats theupper hand, but the team battledon and finished 19th, a fantasticresult for a non-professionalteam amongst the 'premiereleague' of international yachts-men.

After celebrating New Year'sEve with a huge party in Hobart,the team were back'in businessin the King of Derwent race onJanuary 2 and finished second tothe top Australian boat and linehonours winner Brindabella.

After the race Lt CdrBroughton paid tribute to the pro-fessionalism and hard work of allhis crew.

They were: Lt Matthew Reed(BRNC), CPO Tony Roberts(RNR), Les Hardy (Invincible),Cpl Dominic Mee (RM Poole), LtTim Ward (Faslane), C/Sgt KeithHenry (Stonehouse), Lt TonyRackham (HMS Itchen), Lt CdrClive Woodman (Raleigh), LtRussell Clarke (HMS Penzance),Lt Paul Methuen (London), S/LtDickie Eastwood (Cranwell), andPO Bob Day (Yeovilton).

Prison Servicelets the Navyget awayIN THEIR first gamesince their defeat by theArmy on December 2the RN football teamtravelled to NewboldRavel I to take on theEnglish Prison Servicein a friendly fixture.

Heavy rain and a strongwind combined to makeplaying conditions difficult,particularly for the keepers,and it was mistakes inthese areas that decidedthe game.

The Prison Service start-ed well and went a goal upin 20 minutes before WillFlint equalised with a goalthat owed more to a keep-ing error than the quality ofthe finish.

Own goalsThe second half saw a

better performance fromthe RN and they went aheadin the 50th minute when theopposition keeper punchedthe ball into his own netdirectly from a corner.

Jason White in the Navygoal showed extraordinarysolidarity with the keepersunion when he allowed afeeble shot to trickle overthe line for a Prison Serviceequaliser.

Dave Wilson settledthings for the Navy with theonly quality goal of thegame when he powered ina low shot in the 80thminute.

Coup for SouthAfrican touristsTHE RN CRICKET teamwon four and lost four on acricket tour to South Africa -but the wins secured them themain prize.

The team, managed by Lt CdrDavid Dalton and led by Lt CdrChris Slocombe, was invited tocompete in the annual SouthAfrican National Defence ForceAssociation competition, withother matches tagged on to allowthe team to acclimatise.

The three warm-up games didnot bode well - the team lost toWestern Province Defence XI atVredenburg, were pipped by theSouth African Navy XI atSilvermine, and comfortably beat-en by Goudini CC at a day-nightmatch.

But when it really counted, theNavy team were in unbeatableform.

Wins against the United CricketBoard of South AfricaDevelopment XI, the Orange FreeState & Eastern Province, and astroll against Gauteng C placedthe Senior Service on top of the

• Opening batsmen Maj RichardWalker and Lt Paul Snelling

group table and into the finalagainst Gauteng A - the Tuskers.

Again the Navy prevailed, thistime in a close match which sawthe touring side sneak home bytwo wickets, watched by ViceAdmiral Sir John Dunt, presidentof the RN Cricket Club.

The tour ended with a gameagainst a SA National DefenceForce (SANDF) Select XI, whichthe home side won by just 20 runs.

Major Richard Walker RM wasthe leading run-maker with a topscore of 96, closely followed byL/Cpl Sean Needham RM, whonotched up an 85.

Excellent all-round perfor-mances came from Marines AndyProcter and Greg Owen.

Lt Paul Snelling won a battingaward in the competition final forhis innings of 62, and RS BrendanRegan won a bowling award whenhe took 6 for 6 in a group match.

In between matches there wereplenty of opportunities to see thesights, including the cable car upTable Mountain and a trip toRobben Island.

They also took in the SouthAfrica v the Rest of the Worldmasters match at the Newlandsground.

The tourists were delighted withthe hospitality shown by CaptPierre Hamman and the SANDF -and grateful to the Sailors andFleet Amenities Fund and theSports Lottery for their financialsupport, not forgetting EDSDefence Ltd, who were majorsponsors of the tour.

Peak performanceNINE NAVY climbers traversed the highest mountainsin the Alps on a nine-day adventure training expedi-tion from Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth.

They followed the 'Classic Haute Route' first walked in1861, starting at Chamonix, stepping briefly into Italy anddescending under the north face of the Matterhorn toZermatt.

The team, led by CPOMEA Les Yeoman, climbed severalpeaks on route, including Pigne d'Arolla (3,796m) and TeteBlanche (3,725m).

The RN in bat in their second match of the tour, against the South African Navy at Silvermine

ROYAL NAVY RUGBY UNION

ROYAL NAVYVERSUS

ARMYat

TwickenhamSaturday 25th April 1998 KO 3pmMeet new and old acquaintances in the West Car Park

NOT JUST A RUGBY MATCH BUT A SOCIAL OCCASIONTickets £10 (Children £5)

also special rates for Schools and Sea Cadet Unitsfrom

RNRU Ticket Secretary 01705 724193 FAX 01705 725472HMS TEMERAIRE, Burnaby Road, Portsmouth PO1 2MB

Sponsored By Willis Corroon.CREDIT CARD HOTLINE O1705 865575


Frigates sailfar and wideD E V O N P O R T - B A S E Dfrigates HMS Montrose andHMS Argyll have both leftPlymouth for service overseas.

Montrose, commanded by CaptAdrian Nance, is on her way to theSouth Atlantic where she willspend seven months as FalklandIslands Guardship.

The ship will be calling atLanzarote and Rio de Janeirobefore relieving the Type 22frigate HMS Brave.

MediterraneanHMS Argyll, commanded by

Cdr David Wolfe, parts companywith her Sixth Frigate Squadronsister ship for a three-monthdeployment in the Mediterraneanand Northern Europe.

As part of the Standing NavalForce Mediterranean, HMSArgyll will take part in two majorNATO exercises and will be visit-ing seven ports in six countries.

Boyce to befirst Sea LordTHE PRESENT C-in-C Fleet,Admiral Sir Michael Boyce,will take over as First SeaLord when Admiral Sir JockSlater ends his active servicein October.

Admiral Boyce (54), became C-in-C Fleet in September last yearand as an admiral previously heldthe appointments of Second SeaLord, Flag Officer Surface Flotillaand Flag Officer Sea Training.

He joined the Navy in 1961.qualifying as a submariner fouryears later. His sea-going com-mands have included HM sub-marines Oberon, Opossum andSuperb, and the Type 22 frigateHMS Brilliant.

Great ScottTHE NAVY'S newest andlargest survey ship, HMSScott, sails from Devonportfor her first deployment thismonth.

Scott is now fully operationalafter three months of demandingtrials off the coast of Florida.

During her Atlantic passage theship encountered some very roughweather but her size and designenabled her to continue gatheringdata in conditions which would haveforced her predecessors to stop.

Duke refittedHMS MARLBOROUGH hasrejoined the Fleet with greatlyenhanced fighting capabilityafter a 13-month overhaul atDevonport.

Upgrades include the new Type23 command system, modifiedpropulsion and additional naviga-tion and surveillance radar.

Her rededication in Portsmouthwas the largest event of its kind formany years. Guests of honour wereLady Pamela and Admiral SirJeremy Black , and the ceremonyconcluded with a flypast by an RAFNimrod and a Lynx of 815 NAS.

Picture: LA(PHOr> Gary Davies

New crisis in the GulfContinued from P1

already in the Gulf.The carrier has a mix of Sea

Harriers and RAF GR7 Harrierbombers, and a number ofSea King helicopters, includ-ing four with Fort Victoria.

Capt Burnell-Nugent saidhis ship was familiar with UScarrier operations, havingexercised with the US Navyoff the east coast of Americain the autumn.

"Our top priority now ismaintaining standards of fly-ing competence. All aircrafttypes fly every day, particular-ly the Harriers which are fly-ing about 24 to 26 sorties aday, both day and night," hesaid.

"The rest of the day is builtaround the flying, with replen-ishments at sea, routine train-ing and so on."

A similar programme wasbeing employed by Illustriousas she headed for Gibraltar,where she will be joined byher first escort, HMSSomerset, and RFA FortGeorge.

There she will take on hercomplement of six RAF GR7Harriers - and it will be a test-ing time for their pilots, asthis is the first time that 3Squadron RAF, normallybased in Germany, hasembarked in an RN ship.

"They are very professionalpilots - we are just addingone more string to their bow,"said the Commanding Officerof Illustrious, Capt Stephen

• GULF BOUND: sailors from HMS Illustrious line the deck as the carrier sails from Portsmouth.The ship plans to rendezvous with her HMS Invincible in March.Meyer, adding that the pilotshad been practising dummydeck landings with the FleetAir Arm at Yeovilton.

The six FA2 Sea Harriers of801 Naval Air Squadron, cur-rently going through theirpaces out of RAF Wittering,are due to join the ship a weekafter the RAF planes.

Also on board are sevenSea Kings from 820 NAS andthree from 849B NAS.

"We are planning to relieveInvincible in the Gulf in earlyMarch, and the intention isthat Invincible will come backto the UK. But the situation inthe Gulf is very fluid," saidCapt Meyer.

9"770028"16705 • RFA Diligence departs forInverness and HMS Sandown.

the Gulf with Sandown-class minesweepers HMS Bridport, HMSPicture: LA(PHOT) Adrian Hughes

"It's important that we canbe considered a defenceasset rather than just a Navalsquadron.

"What we are giving here istotal flexibility, operations ofany size and shape. The mostlikely scenario is going toinvolve our Harriers, and I willbe giving priority to our fixed-wing opera-tions.

"This deploy-ment is impor-tant militarily aswell as political-ly-

"We have avery potent anddifferent capa-bility to that ofthe Americanforces - ourcombined Harriersquadrons willundoubtedly bean asset theUnited Stateswill welcomehaving.

"We have adifferent combination of air-craft - one of the challengesfor any air defence is dealingwith aircraft with differentweapons, different character-istics, at different heightsand so on. It all means agreater degree of difficultyfor Iraq in defending againstus."

Capt Meyer said hebelieved the threat to theship was "very low-key".

"We are there to be able toproject military poweragainst Iraq rather than being

"What we aregiving is total

flexibility,operations ofany size and

shape"Capt Stephen Meyer,CO, HMS Illustrious

on the defensive as to whatthey can put to us.

"Undoubtedly Iraq has air-craft and some small patrolcraft, but it is an extremelysmall threat. They do notpractice against shipping tar-gets."

The Chief of Defence Staff,General Sir Charles Guthrie,paid a visit to Invincible lastmonth, meeting personnelfrom the ship, from 800 NavalAir Squadron and 1Squadron, RAF.

J Armilla patrol ship HMSCoventry has been back onstation in the Gulf after theChristmas break - andhelped rescue two ill seamen.

The sailors had been over-come by carbon monoxidepoisoning on the Cypriottanker Ritas, and Coventrypicked up her Mayday signal.

The British frigate sent herLynx helicopter to pick up theunconscious seamen, whowere examined and treatedbefore being transferred tohospital in the United ArabEmirates.

They are reported to berecovering well.

G A separate RN taskgroup is also heading for theGulf on an exercise plannedlong before the present crisisover weapons inspections inIraq.

As reported in Navy Newsin October, the group - RFADiligence as the lead ship,with HM ships Bridport,Inverness and Sandown ofthe Third Mine Counter-measures Squadron (MCM3)will be exercising with Gulf

state navies andconducting aseries of portvisits.

They will bejoined there bysurvey shipHMS Herald,which will act ascommand ship.

The Sandown-class ships ofMCM3, based atFaslane, haveu n d e r g o n emodificationsfor work in thewarm watersand high tem-peratures of theArabian Gulf

and the Gulf of Oman, andare expected to be away forsix months.

Q HMS Westminster, thefirst Type 23 frigate to bedeployed on Armilla patrol inthe Gulf, returned toPortsmouth after covering34,750 nautical miles.

As well as supportingUnited Nations resolutionsagainst Iraq, she.took part inmany exercises and visited

§orts as far afield asingapore and Penang in

Malaysia.

Published by Navy News, HMS Nelson, Portsmouth, and printed by Portsmouth Publishing and Printing Ltd, The News Centre, Hilsea, Portsmouth, PO2 9SX

This is a spacer page to allow the following cutaways to appear correctly, just click on to the next page

Oçor

t,

®

i ;-

0

II i:i

yjTHE MERLIN is the most advanced antlsubmailn& anil-awlac.wiare helicopter In the world.

9u111 by Britain's GKN W.stland and Agusta of Italy, with aubsy,-lem integrated by Lockheed Marlin AM, the aircraft puts moredestructiveASWweapons in the hands of Its aircrew than thoseavail-able to the Captain of a frigate.The Royal Navy has already taken delivery of four Urftns and will

be operating a fleet of 4.4 by 2001. As well as Its main ASW rots, theversatile helicopter will also be used for search and rescue. casualtyevacuation and amphibious operations support.

41. Fixed horizontal tailpiane, star-board only2. TailpIan. 0-composite structure3. Ram radar warning antenna4. All-composite fin structureS. Tall navigation light6. Anti-collision beacon7. Four bladed al-composite tall rotor8. Rotor hub pitch change mech.-nism9. Final drive rigid-angle gearbox10. Tall rotor drive shaft11. Intermediate gearbox12. High-spied main rotor sweptblade tip13. Tail assembly hinge 101111,, wholetall unit folds to starboard for hangarstowage14. Communications antenna15.. Transmission shaft bearings andflexible couplings16. Fuselage Iailcone, conventionallight alloy17. Envlroranental control system airvent18. Crew toilet19. Starboard radar warningantenna20. Light stores stowage. fla-es andsmoke markers

21. Sponson mounied flotation bag22. Aft retracting main wheel23. Main wheel hydraulic lack24. Maintenance walkway25. Pressure refuelling connection.gravity filers on port side26. Light aHoy hull structure27. Rear underfloor fuel tank28. Sonobuoy dispensers, port andstarboard29. DippIng sonar winch supportStructure30. Rescue holstwinch31. Starboard Rolls-RoyceTurbomeca RTM-322 turbostieftengine32. Auxiliary power unit air Intake33. Auxiliary power unit34. Auxiliary power unit exhaust35. Centre engine exhaust36. Rotor head tall fairlngrcentreengine housing37. Centre RTM 322 engine38. Engin, output shaft with flexiblecoupling39. Main rotor blade root cutl tai"40. Fivo-bladed main rotor41. ComposIte main rotor hub42. Blade root attachment joint, fold-able for hangar stowage

I

I'

-'Iw4\\ç

( L '

-

~-N*wk

43. Blade root tension Ink with elsetomsrlc besring44. Lag damper45. Rotor head control swash platemechanism46. Main rotor power control unit47. Main gearbox46. Gearbox drive input from star-board engine49. Starboard engine air intake50. Three-man troop sist51. Crew escape hatch52. Forward underftoor fuel tanks53. Main cabin sliding door54. Boarding step55. DIpping sonar unit56. Sting Ray torpedoes57. Weapons pallet58. Sliding cabin door bottom rail59. Main fuselage skin panels withhoneycomb composite core60. Jettisonable cabin window panel61. Systems operators compartmentdoorway52. Miss" avionics rack

S.-,1 4

63. Display consoles. AcousticSystems Operator and Observer64. Main gearbox structure65. Engine fire bottles66. Transmission brakes67. Accessory gearbox68. Dual hydraulic pumps69. Generator70. Composite gearbox taking withwairway, slides forward for equip-mint access71. Main rotor blade leading edgeerosion sheath72. ComposIte stet'carbon fibrebled. spar pockets73. Honeycomb core trailing*M

C

199 9

rLA,

T

13

f -._j

jI

-

4'2j \, J\

1L ®k/

74. Glass fibre blade skin panels75. Gearbox co4npartm.nt venting airintake76. Rotor head control rods77. Artificial feel system actuators

N)

78. Communications antenna79. Cabin top walkway90. Avionics cooling exhaust81. Avionics equment racki portand starboard82. SIngis troop slat83. Batteryand -ound power socket84. Ventral radome85. Search radar scanner

0

86. Forward tlolation bag87. ~tit~* cockpit side windowpanels88. Circuit breaker panel89. First pilot's seat90. Omnè-~b~ low airspeeddata sensor91. Overhead control panel92. Second pilot's seat

Copyright Navy News 1998

93. Cockpit roof glazing94. Elactricafty heated windscreenpanels95. Windscreen wipers96. Instrument panel shroud97. Downward vision window96. Forward radar warning antenna99. Forward retracting now under-carriage100. Pilot head, port and starboard

'

february 1998 inside the thefr b connectioh n merlin · afpaa centurion fnpp(acs)2c, centurio, n...

Documents