RN Destroyers: C Class (1943) - World Naval Ships Forums Archive (Page 7)

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RN Destroyers: C Class (1943) - World Naval Ships Forums Archive (Page 7)

RN Destroyers: C Class (1943) (Page 7)

Posts 301 to 350

Regarding the nick name of Carron of Dirty 30. She gained that wonderful title due to her being rather tired looking while in Devonport Dockyard being converted to a Training Ship in 1956. I was half of the R.P. compliment, yes only 2 of us and the other was called A.B. Smith. "B" gun deck became the Midshipman’s Charthouse and with only about a third of normal compliment, 2 mess decks were for the trainee's from Dartmouth. As a result of the "undersize" crew, normal ship appearance was not possible until well clear of the dockyard. Once operational, she looked as good as any member of the best navy in the world.

Official visit of Carron to Hastings 14th to 18th June 1956. Saturday evening the weather turns to sea state force 6 and made conditions impossible to use any boat. Onboard were 30 Young teenagers, schoolchildren and 3 teachers stranded with the ship at anchor. All passengers spent the night onboard, thanks to both the Midshipman's and Cadets mess being empty. Much fun? was had while the ships company had to sling hammocks and demonstrate how to get in and stay in them, before everyone settled down for a stormy night at "Sea". I wonder if anyone knows of any resident of Hastings who may remember the event or was actually "Pressganged" that day.

Not a bad picture for a ship called "The Dirty 30".
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Thanks for posting a first class photo, Phil. Best wishes

In 1960 I was leaning over a handrail in Rosyth dockyard looking at the old destroyers and stuff that was there when along came the most beautiful ship I had ever seen. It was freshly painted and gleaming. I learned it was the Caesar, that had just finished a long refit and modernization and was being prepared to sail out to the Far East. I thought how lucky the chaps on board her were to be going out there on a ship like that. I always wondered what that commission was like.

Good morning Jonny, Caesar was my 2nd ship, as you rightly recalled she was in Rosyth having completed a refit. Most of the new crew joined together, we all met up in the Union Jack Club London to be transported by overnight sleeper. In command was a four ring skipper (Capt Corbett) recently deceased, plus a Cdr (E) Cdr (L) Sin Bosun and a 2 n half Comms Officer, think the jimmy was also 2 n half. After commissioning we did the workup at portland. Sailed for the Far East as Captain D 8th Destroyer Squadron. Can't say it was one of my best ships, but had a few good runs in the far east, Singapore, Hongkong, Japan, Australia/Tasmania. We did have a very good football team managed by Cdr (L). Sin Bosun was a good hand (Robby Roberts). Did a total of 18 months in the far east then flew home from Singapore. Derek (Bunts)

Thanks for that Derek, Those destroyers really looked the part did'nt they.

I would agree with you there Johnny, (obviously), but perhaps the Emergency Wartime classes were not so formiddable looking as their successors (Battle and Weapon classes). And, for me, [B]all[/B] destroyers looked the business.;) Sandy.

I believe the RN emergency destroyers of the "S" to "Cr" classes to be the best looking destroyers ever built - by any navy. They certainly had a more balanced appearance than the "Battle" (no main guns aft), "Weapon" and "Daring" (both with funnels through the masts) classes. I also think that, by the 1950s, the appearance of many had been completely ruined by conversion to those unsightly frigates (no main guns at all).

[URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbdjD9jSjS8[/URL] Here is a clip of Consort (was it really Consort? think not) trying to defend Amathyst in ther Yangtse incident. tim

I think "CONSORT" may be my first ship Tim, HMS TEAZER. She also starred in "The Bulldog breed" with Norman Wisdom. She really was a bit of a "Luvvie".:rolleyes::D Sandy.

Thanks Sandy, they were remarkably lucky to get out of that nasty situation; we know the damage to the ships, does anyone know how the other side was affected?

[quote=Destroyerman;10057378]I think "CONSORT" may be my first ship Tim, HMS TEAZER. She also starred in "The Bulldog breed" with Norman Wisdom. She really was a bit of a "Luvvie".:rolleyes::D Sandy.[/quote] I think that TEAZER not only played the part of CONSORT - also CONCORD! MAGPIE stood in for AMETHYST on the move and firing her guns. I wouldn't mind a tot for each time I've watched the film. I was still at school when my Dad took me to Plymouth Hoe to join the crowds who cheered AMETHYST into Guzz. I'll never forget it. Best wishes

Alick, You must have got that Tuesday off school as well. What school did you attend? I was at St Budeaux Foundation School which was next to the Blue Monkey pub. The old church in the school grounds was where Sir Francis Drake was married. We did'nt go to the Hoe but went down to the Jetty where we were taken on to the ship, then next door to be shown over the Vanguard.

[quote=johnny07;10057601]Alick, You must have got that Tuesday off school as well. What school did you attend? I was at St Budeaux Foundation School which was next to the Blue Monkey pub. The old church in the school grounds was where Sir Francis Drake was married. We did'nt go to the Hoe but went down to the Jetty where we were taken on to the ship, then next door to be shown over the Vanguard.[/quote] Well, Johnny, I have propped up the bar in the Blue Monkey, on occasions in my past. I lived at Roborough village, 100 yards outside the Plymouth boundary in those days, so I went to Tavistock Grammar School. We used to run cross-country each week past Crowndale Farm, where Sir Francis Drake was born and his statue is just outside the school gates. His second marriage was to Elizabeth Sydenham at Combe Sydenham in Somerset. I lived a few miles from there for over twenty years. We digress from C Class destroyers but so what... Best wishes

[quote=al1934;10057651] ............We digress from C Class destroyers but so what... Best wishes[/quote] From a C man Alick, you're forgiven.;):D It's sometimes that little diversions in a thread contribute to their interest.;) Sandy.

Sandy, If Sir Francis had been around today he would have chosen a C for his many exploits, who would'nt. :)

Amen to that Johnny.;) Bless 'em all. Sandy.

I was on Cavendish 62/64 commish when she was Captain D 25th Escort Squadron, and the mix was very much the same, Type 15 and Leander for A/S work Battle Class as early warning Radar Picket and CA as gunship. The system seemed to work well as far as I can remember.

[quote=johnny07;10057662]Sandy, If Sir Francis had been around today he would have chosen a C for his many exploits, who would'nt. :)[/quote] As a confirmed CA man I hasten to recognise the facility that the CO's provided who were fully employed in the Far Flung while the CH's, stand fast CHARITY who went out East after a CH bonked COMET while exercising with the 1st DF on her way to station after a UK refit, ponced around in the Med. I think that I am correct that only the CA's experienced the horror of the Russian convoys and that CASSANDRA for her troubles in replacing CAPRICE on the screen after the latter had received storm damage, was fished and had her bows blown off.

Can any of you CA "Ancient Mariners" give any details on the Torpedos Tubes that were fitted on the Iron Deck, i.e. when they were removed, how many Torpedo's, where stowed etc. I remember a Portland Navy Day visit around 58 or 59 when I was a nipper,:rolleyes: a CA Class fired a dummy Torpedo - would love to know what ship it was

[quote=DAVID HARPER;10058561]Can any of you CA "Ancient Mariners" give any details on the Torpedos Tubes that were fitted on the Iron Deck, i.e. when they were removed, how many Torpedo's, where stowed etc. I remember a Portland Navy Day visit around 58 or 59 when I was a nipper,:rolleyes: a CA Class fired a dummy Torpedo - would love to know what ship it was[/quote] CAs were originally fitted with 8 x 21" torpedo tubes (2 sets of 4). I served onboard CARRON and we had one set of 4 tubes left, just for'ard of the after deckhouse, which we had to fire periodically, to keep the TAS officer happy. I later served onboard CARYSFORT and her tubes had been removed, which gave more space for defaulters to muster. Best wishes

[quote=DAVID HARPER;10058561]Can any of you CA "Ancient Mariners" give any details on the Torpedos Tubes that were fitted on the Iron Deck, i.e. when they were removed, how many Torpedo's, where stowed etc. I remember a Portland Navy Day visit around 58 or 59 when I was a nipper,:rolleyes: a CA Class fired a dummy Torpedo - would love to know what ship it was[/quote] David, I can remember when HMS TEAZER fired her torpedo in Portland harbour during Navy Days 1958. I can still remember the swish that accompanied the launch. TEAZER was an S&T class destroyer during the war and was modified to a Type 16 frigate in 1956. The hull line was still destroyer type though, with focsle deck and iron deck. Perhaps (dare I suggest it), as a nipper you may have been mistaken on the class of ship?:rolleyes::o Sandy.

I recommend a relatively new book "'C' CLASS DESTROYERS" by Cdr David Hobbs MBE RN, available from Maritime Books. All we need to know and a lot more besides! Best wishes

Thanks to Alick and Sandy for your prompt replies. My fisrt Ship was the Caprice, as I knew the CA class had Torpedo's at one time I assumed it was a CA Class ship that demostrated the firing. The ship was inboard of Q pier, 1st Berth on Right Hand Side, opposite was a Capital Ship - A Cruiser or even Vanguard, I remember seeing a crane amidship. Would be great if you can remember the name. Cheers Dave

[quote=DAVID HARPER;10058701]Thanks to Alick and Sandy for your prompt replies. My fisrt Ship was the Caprice, as I knew the CA class had Torpedo's at one time I assumed it was a CA Class ship that demostrated the firing. The ship was inboard of Q pier, 1st Berth on Right Hand Side, opposite was a Capital Ship - A Cruiser or even Vanguard, I remember seeing a crane amidship. Would be great if you can remember the name. Cheers Dave[/quote] Try good old Google. There's a YouTube film of Portland Navy Days 1959 at [URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbJaXEx1Z8o[/URL] but only the last two minutes are actually of the Navy Days. You may recognise yourself? Best wishes

Alick [Al1934] I was away from the forum when you kindly uploaded your last batch of excellent photo's of Carron taken during 1960, so I have only just seen them!! So a belated many thanks for letting the forum see such a superb batch. :):)

[quote=astraltrader;10058799]Alick [Al1934] I was away from the forum when you kindly uploaded your last batch of excellent photo's of Carron taken during 1960, so I have only just seen them!! So a belated many thanks for letting the forum see such a superb batch. :):)[/quote] Thanks for your comments, Terry! You see what happens when you turn your back for a moment - it all changes... Best wishes Alick

Great thread guys the ca class were a beautiful looking destroyer however I always thought the weapons had the edge on them

Thanks Alick, nice to see Weymouth on the film clip but the short clips of Portland didn't reveal any memories. Must have been 1958 or even 1960.

[quote=ludsie;10058822]Great thread guys the ca class were a beautiful looking destroyer however I always thought the weapons had the edge on them[/quote] Sorry but that sort of comment indicates pure envy. Anyway, CAs rule here. You could always start another thread for weapons... Best wishes

[quote=Big Al;10058202]I was on Cavendish 62/64 commish when she was Captain D 25th Escort Squadron, and the mix was very much the same, Type 15 and Leander for A/S work Battle Class as early warning Radar Picket and CA as gunship. The system seemed to work well as far as I can remember.[/quote] Hi Big Al , you must have been on the Cavendish same time as me , I joined her in Gib (where she was doing a re-fit ) straight from Raleigh some time in '62 and stayed on her till '64 . I was an MEM

I was on HMS Caesar for its 1960-1962 commission, and am trying to put that time together as it happened. I remember that we went to Portland to work up, and left the UK from Portsmouth, having visited Brest in France on a Nato exercise, where I was privilidged to see the Battleship Jean Bart in all her glory. During the 8th Destroyer deployment we went to - Gibraltar Singapore Hong Kong Tokuyama and Kobe (Japan) Paulo Tioman Darwin, Geelong and Hobart in Australia Paulo Langkawi Chittagong (now in Bangladesh) Andaman Islands (India) Batti Malv Sandakan (now in Sabah) We also had a month in floating dry dock, and about 3 months in the regular dry dock at Singapore. We took part in Fotex 62, ammunitioned and stored ship at Christmas 1961 in Hong Kong and went off to fight the Indonesians (a no show). We also caught a few pirates. My problem is dates. Obviously we went to Singapore and Hong Kong more than once, and the dry dock times are also hazy to me. If anyone can help with dates. or photos of that commission, I would be well and truly grateful. cheers Melvyn

Good Morning Mel. I was on Caesar at the same time as you, remember visiting all places listed, have a few photo's will try to dig them out, could send by email. I was a bunting onboard. Derek (Bunts)

Hi Derek That would be great. You can find me at melvyn(at)melbpc.org.au. I agree with your earlier comment that the Caesar was not a particularly happy ship. For myself I just loved being on a destroyer and having a very interesting life. I have no photos of that time, but I do have the original commissioning program, with the list of all the commissioning crew. Can you put any dates to the places mentioned, in particular the floating dry dock time when we were in DSA, and the time in Terror. cheers Melvyn (Jack Dusty)

Melvyn and Derek, I recommend you look at Cdr David Hobbs' book "'C' Class Destroyers, published by Maritime Books (see my post # 73). Pages 23-30 are all about CAESAR, with great photos, and will answer some of your memory gaps. The book also covers CH, CO, CR and CEs. While on the subject of CA's, Jim Davidson has a fantastic website for CARYSFORT at [URL]http://www.hmscarysfort.co.uk/[/URL], which is probably the only comprehensive CA Class website run by ex-ship's company. Worth a visit! Best wishes

Thanks Al I just ordered what was evidently the last copy, so am looking forward to getting it. I have a copy of "The Royal Navy in Australia 1900-2000" which has some great photos but not much information. And in my post on where Caesar went I forgot to mention Aden on the way out to the Far East. So many places I have been to are now in countries that I never heard of back then. I must be getting old :eek: Thanks to Derek and Al for your help cheers Melvyn

There is yet another book on C Class Destroyers by Harold Cox plenty of information and photo's etc. Dave

Thanks rumrat. I found a copy in the National Library of Australia, and also at Biblio.com, which had 3 copies. I ordered one. Looking back after all these years I feel fortunate that, being born during World War Two; in 1960-1962 I served in a World War Two destroyer. The variable sleeping arrangements I had (hammock, mess deck, under mess table, passageway, under Y gun, storeroom, quarterdeck etc) at least gave me a taste of what it was like then. I agree that the CA class is the best looking of all destroyers, especially with the 8 x 4 torpedo tubes and 4 x 4.5 inch guns. cheers Melvyn

[quote=theblackpig;10066372]Hi Big Al , you must have been on the Cavendish same time as me , I joined her in Gib (where she was doing a re-fit ) straight from Raleigh some time in '62 and stayed on her till '64 . I was an MEM[/quote] Yes I flew out to Gib to join her as well. I was a Junior Seaman Gunner and went to St Vincent and Cambridge before joining her, and stayed aboard till she paid off in Pompey 64.

Hopefully you will like the following, taken on a cold, snowy day in 2013 and used as part of my photographic project. A small selection of photos taken onboard HMS Cavalier.... Danny
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Right I've managed to reduce them below the forum threshold which will hopefully now allow me to post some more: Okay so if I've loaded correctly and in the right order you should have on this posting 1. Machinery Control Room 2. Machinery Control Room 3. Main Galley 4. Operations Room 5. Operations Room 6. Operations Room leading to the Sonar Control Room 7. Ladder down to forward Magzine Danny
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Okay, final selection of photos - hopefully not too repeated and of course in the right section ... On this section: 1. Forward magazine Stateboard 2. A & B Gun racking 3. Mess deck above forward magazine - still untouched 4. Port Side Bofors 5. Starboard Side looking Forward from Seacat Deck. 6. Aft Section - Sickbay 7. Part of the bronze memorial to those lost at sea in Destroyers Danny
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Good photo's Danny. ;) I was really impressed with the bronze memorial. Was it even more striking in reality??

Great shots in your previous three posts Danny ... thanks for posting them. All in all she would appear to be in pretty good nick for a lady of her age ... a tribute to those who maintain her.

Great shots Danny, thanks for posting them. I recall visiting her at Brighton Marina and again at Hebburn. Alas, no camera to record the visits. A digital camera would have been ideal. My abiding memory of my tour around her was the distinctive smell in the bathrooms. A musty smell that I recall from a couple of ships that I served on, while in refit. I can smell it now;) Jim

[quote=siggy63;10078486]Right I've managed to reduce them below the forum threshold which will hopefully now allow me to post some more: Okay so if I've loaded correctly and in the right order you should have on this posting 1. Machinery Control Room 2. Machinery Control Room 3. Main Galley 4. Operations Room 5. Operations Room 6. Operations Room leading to the Sonar Control Room 7. Ladder down to forward Magzine Danny[/quote] Danny, great images, some of which haven't been published before. However, I feel compelled to correct the first two of your images. We never had a Machinery Control Room! The nearest to that was the "plates" in the Engine Room. (Or the Artificers mess at tot time).:D Glad to see a picture of the Stokers mess (above the fwd magazine). Were the decorative wooden covers still in place over the magazine hatches? These made our two messes "posher" than other messes. In the corner is the Jacobs "escape" ladder which led up to the Radio Operators mess. Once again, very many thanks for the evocative images.;) Sandy. (CAVALIER, last two commissions).

Hi Danny , Great images , But i believe No 1 and No 2 are of her Transmitting room [guns] And no1 being the "box 10 " and no2 being the " tallboy" I have a very good idea " scurs" will correct me if i am wrong , or any other fc2 on the forum . The white shell looks like a "star shell" practice cylla

Thanks for the great photos, Danny! I went onboard her in the '80's, when she was first alongside at Southampton but not much was open. I proudly showed my son around and we had a great day out. (I used up a complete colour film but, when I got home, I found that I had neglected to put a film in my pre-digital camera!!!) These photos help. Best wishes

Thanks for the corrections - I remember it had "Control Room" as part of the plate above the door - will bound to get back onboard this summer and will get full title - I do remember the MEO cabin was almost next door. The Bronze Memorial is very impressive - got some more pictures on my hard drive but got to shrink them to fit in with the 1.90Mb limit as the uploader keeps telling me off ........... Overall the volunteers have done a good job, I worked on her as a volunteer and Trustee for a few years after she first came to Chatham, of course my main professional work came within the Communications Sections but it was rumoured at the time that the Radio Hams were going to come onboard and whilst I have nothing against the Radio Hams, I do not like their instance on sticking new equipment where it not wanted so after cleaning the Wirleless Office up along with the MSO and flag decks and also acquiring 1 x 10" signal projector and 1 x 20" signal projector and a shed load of bunting, Jacks & Ensigns I bowed out ......... There is still so much to do and it still odd to see her in a vey light shade of Green .................... Danny
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