HM Training Ship: HMS Vindictive

[tim lewin]

Here is a snap from mid 1939 of the training cruiser HMS Vindictive in which officer cadets from RNC Dartmouth had their first taste of life at sea.
tim

[ken harrow]

Hello Tim,
My father was an Acting P.O. at that time, he joined the ship in Jan '39 and left in Aug '39 and joined "Boadicea".
According to his diary, places visited were Barbados, Tortola, Antigua, St Lucia and San Juan (Porto Rico).
Nearer home were Douarnenez and Brest (France), Reykjavik (Iceland), Guernsey, Bangor N.I. Campbeltown, Oban, Kirkwall and Douglas I.o.M.
Regards Ken.

[tim lewin]

I know that my father was deeply impressed by the qualities of the senior POs in Vindictive and the RN in general, it was the deep-seated seamanlike skills of these men that held the Navy together in a time of rapid mobilisation; You can be very proud of your father's role in this. I bet Boadicea was a bit of a shok after the comforts of the training cruiser! was he there for Dunkirk and the terrible scap that nearly saw her lost? She had a very hard and active war ending up being sunk by arial torpedoes with very heavy losses just prior to D-day, clearly the French Coast was not lucky for the Queen of the Britons!
all very best
tim

[ken harrow]

Thanks for reply Tim, Yes, father was still in "Boadicea" when she was severely damaged by Stuka's off St Valery, supporting the evacuation of the 51st Highland Division, her Saviour being a blanket of fog which descended.
Initially taken in tow by "Ambuscade", then Tug "Krooman" to Pompey.
Next draft, Auxiliary Patrol Vessel "Pessac".
Regards, Ken