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HMS Hermes 1953-1986 World Naval Ships Forums Archive

HMS Hermes 1953-1986

Posts 1 to 50

Musch has been written about the Happy Hermes, my father took command of her in 1966 following a major refit. They sailed soon after for the middle East and later Far East. Sixteen years later he was to despatch the Happy Hermes South on a much more dangerous mission to the South Atlantic. Here are a few pictures but if anyone from those days is really keen to see more, I presented three huge albums of the best of the best of that commission's pictures to the National Martitime Museum as part of the Lewin colection. They are accessible to the public on request.
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There are many stories about the Hermes Commission, I would love to hear from anyone who was there at the time. I plan a web site about my father's career and your stories of servibg with him are key to its success. These pictures are for you.
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I had nearly 4 great years on the Happy Hermes (1975-78.) Being on small ships previously, I was certainly not very happy about getting a "Big ship" as my last draft. I was at Vernon when I was told the bad news that I had the Hermes. I went straight over to the Divisional Office and put in for D by P. My D.O. Recommended my request as he had the Bulwark. I joined the Hermes at Istambul (?). I enjoyed it as soon as I joined. My D by P came through and I turned it down. When It was near to my discharge (1978) I was asked if I wanted to sign on. I asked if they could guarantee that I could spend the time on the Hermes. This, of course, could not be guaranteed. So I said no. When I saw the Hermes leaving Plymouth for the Falklands, I had a srong feeling that I wanted to be on it. Dave Blackwell (A.B.)

Good for you Dave, I hope you enjoyed the pictures, altho before your time she is still the same fine old ship. If youwant to see more try asking the NMM for acess to my father's albums. I wonder if you remember him? he was always very strong on support for the seamen branch. All best wishes, tim

Obviously I have heard of your Father. I think he visited us one day when I was on the Naiad (70-72). I couldn't be positive.

Hi I am just new to this site and am looking up info about the Hermes which my father served as a chef on, I'm not too sure what years at the moment, he is from Dublin and his name is Martin "Barry" O Toole. Just wondering if it rings any bells with anybody???

hi to all of you the site looks great. I am trying to find any info on able seaman Richard Faughey who was on the Hermes when she sunk in Ceylon in April 1942 he was my great grandfather i know nothing about him so i anyone has any info it would be gratefully received. I have some photos and postcards of him and his shipmates along with a some of the ship. I hope someone can put me in the right direction. cheers Rich

Post your photos Rich. Let's see them mate. And welcome to our site. I changed your Hermes title to capital letters. It is another quirk in the software that needs fixing. One must go back into 'advanced', and change it to capitals a second time.

Hi Rich You say you have no info at all so this record from the CWGC site might be of help. [url]http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2111562[/url] Regards....Bob

:D Hi thanks for the info and the link there is so much i want to find out is there anywhere i can find out what he on the ship etc thankyou Rich ps the photos an stuff should be on by the weekend

Well done Rich let's have the photographs and stuff as you put it, and we will see what we can do for you. Bob.

Here are some of the photos and postcard of my great grandfather and his shipmates, finally got time to upload them.If anyone can help with any info i would be very greatful Rich
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Great photos Rich Which one is your Grandfather? Regards....John

Hi john My great grandfather is in the top left pic and in some of the others

I have hundreds of pictures of the next Hermes which I will post again sometime but also a few very grainy shots of the sinking which I will look out and post. tim

I recently found these pictures sent to my father by Hermes Captain Lyn Middleton who commanded her during the Falklands campaign when my fathjer was CDS. During the commission of 1966-7 My father commanded Hermes and Capt. Middleton was a young pilot. Note the reference to the "puff of smoke" in his letter. As usual, there are no captions on the back of the pictures so if you know anyone or can add detail of the day I would be very pleased to hear from you. Tim
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Just been catching up on missed threads over the holiday period; i only use my computer for work. Reading the "Future of the RN" thread I noted some debate from Paddy and others on maintainence at sea in carriers or other ships. In the mid-sixties when my father was captain of Hermes he wanted to get the ship home from Australia in time for Christmas to give maximum leave. To complete their planned maintainence schedule ahead of time he steamed the ship on one set of engines while the other was stripped, rebuilt and restored before swapping over and doing the same with the other. They came home all the way non-stop and were home in time. To my belief, this was the first time such an ambitious engineering endeavour had been attempted away from the RAC support (anyone know different?) and possibly the last, has anyone knowledge of it being repeated? tim

Hi Tim Yes I know different and one which predates the above. In 1946 whilst part of the British Pacific Fleet, Implacable suffered a most unexpected major defect to her main propulsive machinery, namely the failure of the adjusting block of the Port outer H.P. turbine. Subsequent examination revealed that part of the collar had become detached and fouled the pads. The repair required the ship to be stopped in enemy waters for a number of hours whilst 'a repair job that no naval engineer would have dreamed of undertaking in normal circumstance without bringing the ship into dock'. That is the very brief account, those who have knowledge of what would be involved and the conditions in what the repair was carried out will read more into the above, and be glad they weren't there. On completion the repair drew forth a signal from Admiral Bernard Rawlings Cdr of the British Task Force operating off the coast of Japan in which he stated 'I should like to pay my tribute to what must be the most unusual feat of engineering and a task of unprecedented magnitude to be undertaken by a ship's staff at sea'. Mik

Mik, I take it you mean 1945 by referring to "enemy waters"? I just had a scan through "They Gave me a Seafire" by Commander "Mike" Crosley who was CO of 880 Squadron - alas, he makes no mention of "Implacable" being stopped. Simon

Checking up on www. Naval-History.net/ 6th.July 1945 left Sydney to join Task Force.... Quote:- after departure,machinery defect made reduction in speed necessary. Detached for repair which was completed without need to return to Sydney. 16th July;- rejoined Task force.

Glad to see that someone is awake out there and saw my deliberate mistake!! Sorry about that folks, yes I should have bashed the 5 and not the 6, so 1945 is correct - had a 'senior moment' caused by the cold weather here!! I've managed to scan the reports now and hopefully they'll appear at the bottom of this e-mail Mik Ah - slight problem, may appear later!!

Mystery solved, didn't look in the right folder - try again. Well two out of the three uploaded OK but the third one and the best one didn't. Will try as a separate one. Mik
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Sorry folks, it doesn't want to play Mik

great stuff, so now we know of one other! anyone got any additional contenders for major refurbs at sea? One minor one that comes to mind was when he was captain of Urchin, '61/2, and en route to Norway the main condensor inlet pipe ruptured due to rust, a perrenial problem with wartime ships. Rather than run up a bill in a Norwegian yard or return home he swung the ship about and steamed on Northwards at a gentle pace sternward taking the inlet pressure off while the blackgang patched the pipe with concrete. A repair that outlasted the ship. tim

There seems to be no end to the ingeniuty of highly motivated, skilled men when properly led. We can add courage to that mix for the damage control teams that kept their ships afloat under dangerous circumstances. Fred

Ach, turns out Crosley did mention it in his book. Damn my eyes!! "That evening, 3 July 1945, the ship did a 'Dasher' and began to bounce up and down in time with one of the ship's propellers. We soon came to a dead stop. After an hour we began to move once more, but this time the rythmic bouncing changed to a harsh vibration. This was so severe that the paint on my cabin deckhead flaked off and, in spite of its spring attachment, the bulb filament disintegrated. "At dinner that evening, 'Chiefy' Holt-Wilson told us that one of the main thrust blocks had melted and the vibration was because his engine room staff had locked the offending propeller shaft. As we were trying to make a speed of 20 knots to keep up with the rest of the BPF, the cavitation effects of a 20 foot diameter stationary prop dragged sideways through the water at that speed could be heard by a Japanese submarine for 20 miles. It was also vibrating our soup plates off the table. Things were getting serious. Without ourselves and [I]Indefatigable[/I], the other two carriers-[I]Formidable[/I] and [I]Victorious[/I]-of the BPF would hardly impress the Americans with their 13 carriers. Chiefy said that he would have to try to fix it at sea. Failing that, it was back to Wolloomaloo docks in Sydney." Simon

Hi Simon Are you sure about the 3rd July as I have it from another source - Neil McCart - that Implacable left the anchorage at Manus on the 7th and it happened after that. I put it around the 8th or 9th. Mik ps Glad that I'm not the only one having 'senior moments'!!

Its possible that Crosley was recounting the time when the problem occured, the evening of the 3rd July. Naval History Net records that Implacable was deployed with the US 3rd Fleet from 6th July and that, after departure, a machinery defect made reduction in speed necessary. She was then detached for repairs and rejoined the Task Force on 16th. I'm not sure of the exact date of the repair though!

On the same page as the aforementioned passage, Crosley wrote "On 25 June we steamed out of Manus yet again and, taking on a few replacement Seafires and Fireflies from Ponam, we set course for the South. We were making our second rendezvous with Admiral Vian who was coming up from Sydney in [I]Formidable[/I]. We planned to give [I]Formidable[/I] and [I]Victorious[/I] ([I]Indefatigable[/I] was delayed in Sydney) a shake-up which they would long remember." I'll stick with someone who was there! :) Simon

Hi Simon Regretably I can't upload the best report of the repair as it is too big. If I can I will try and type it out offline and paste it in that way. On the question of the date of the repair I think we'll have to leave it open for discussion. I take note of your comment but I think I am correct in stating that Neil McCart bases his research on the ships log. Because of the censor all the reports made at the time don't give the date it all happened. Either way at least we do know that it was sometime around the middle of 1945!!! Mik

Hooray - at last and after much key bashing here is the 'technical' report!! Mik From ‘The Institute of Marine Engineers – The Naval Engineering Review’ AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER BREAKDOWN. Whilst forming part of the British Pacific Fleet force proceeding to join the American Third Fleet in the assault on Japan HMS Implacable experienced a most unexpected major defect to her main propulsion machinery. The adjusting block of the Port Outer H.P. Turbine failed, and subsequent examination revealed that part of the collar had become detached and fouled the pads. The adjusting block was of the Mitchell type and the collar was severely scored on the ahead side. The shaft collar at the forward end of the bearing had borne against the cheek of the brass – the rotor having moved aft some 3/16ths of an inch – and the dovetailed whitemetal at the forward end of the forward brass had run, the collar in this region being almost black. Apart from the repair to the damaged part, it was necessary to determine how far round the bearing lubricating system the portions of the whitemetal had travelled, and the extent of the damage, if any, which they had caused to other ‘bearings’. This necessitated locking the shaft in question, an operation only possible by temporary stopping the ship and, in order to release some additional Engine Room Artificers whom it was thought might prove useful in undertaking the necessary examinations and repairs, the opportunity of this compulsory stop was utilised to lock the Starboard Outer shaft too. There followed the lifting of the pinions and their bearings from the damaged unit, a tricky job to tackle as the ship was again underway and rolling heavily, the examination of main gear wheel bearings, cleaning out lubricating oil drain tank sited immediately beneath the main wheel, and the examination of the thrust bblock sump. Gauzes were fitted to all bearings and oil pumped round for eight hours, with frequent changes of gauze, until the system was thoroughly clear. The declutching of the H.P. turbine provided a slight test of mechanical ingenuity and human patience, due to the coupling having seized, but eventually it was possible to again stop the ship, unlock the shafts and, leaving them to trail, get underway once more. All the Port Outer H.P. Turbine bearings were found to require replacement by spares, a job which was proceeded with by the ship’s staff and, thanks to the excellent condition of the spares carried, presented little difficulty; slight bedding and cutting of oil grooves being all that was required by way of mechanical skill. The L.P. Turbines were examined and found to be in good condition. Then came the question of how to repair the damaged collar which had caused the failure of the adjusting block, and originated the defect giving rise to so much work of a routine and examination character as had already been accomplished. The shaft turning motor was rated for one hour of continuous running only, moreover it drove through the gearing which it was desired to keep trailing and so any assistance which might have been derived from the steady revolution of the damaged collar had to be ruled out. Instead the old fashioned but so often unavoidable method of file and stone had to provide the solution. The collar had an outside diameter of approximately 17.5 inches and inside diameter of 8 inches and, by the time score marks were finally cleaned off, some eight thousandths of an inch had been removed by the use of what the Naval Stores describe as “Stones Rub”, useful for sharpening a scythe or garden shears but hardly up to the requirements of a job such as that in hand. It was noticed that another piece of metal seemed about to break away from the collar and this was removed and the sharp edges thus left filed up. When the whole job was completed it was within two thousands of an inch true – not a bad performance under the circumstances. The conditions under which the engine room staff engaged on this work had to carry on where decidedly trying; the temperature never fell below 120 degrees F, and for some of the period it stood at 130 degrees F. Thus it proved necessary to carry on by means of relays and when the one actually working collapsed, another recently revived took has place and so on for some 36 hours. Those who bore the burden of this task were Warrant Engineer H. Cass, R.N.; Chief Engine Room Artificer S. Williams, and Engine Room Artificer J. Slade, and their summing up of the business was that it had proved a “very good experience” and caused them to feel more than ever appreciative of the sound practical training which they had received in earlier days. They also paid tribute to the manner in which Captain (E) A. D. McGlashan, R.N., the Squadron Engineer Officer who had been flown to Implacable to supervise the work, had handled the situation and given practical evidence of that invaluable asset – Tact. Commanders (E) D. S. Holt Wilson, D.S.O., R.N., and D. A. Williams, R.N., who had directed the work were able to report the defect completed in time for the whole British Force to keep their rendezvous with the Americans and Admiral Sir Bernard Rawlings, commanding the British Force, signalled “I should like to pay my tribute to what must be the most unusual feat of engineering and a task of unprecedented magnitude to be undertaken by a ship’s staff at sea.”

Hmm, it would seem Crosley is wrong as Winton in "The Forgotten Fleet" also states that "Implacable's" woes began on 6th July. I do know and admire Neil McCart's work (I have his excellent book on "Oriana"), but then again I've noticed in several books once one historian makes a mistake, one of more others always copy it. In this case I'll put my scepticism aside and agree that 6th July is the date in question! (How kind of me you say :p). Simon

[QUOTE=tim lewin;31561]Just been catching up on missed threads over the holiday period; i only use my computer for work. Reading the "Future of the RN" thread I noted some debate from Paddy and others on maintainence at sea in carriers or other ships. In the mid-sixties when my father was captain of Hermes he wanted to get the ship home from Australia in time for Christmas to give maximum leave. To complete their planned maintainence schedule ahead of time he steamed the ship on one set of engines while the other was stripped, rebuilt and restored before swapping over and doing the same with the other. They came home all the way non-stop and were home in time. To my belief, this was the first time such an ambitious engineering endeavour had been attempted away from the RAC support (anyone know different?) and possibly the last, has anyone knowledge of it being repeated? tim[/QUOTE] Hi Tim, I was on Hermes for that run. I think your Dad's aim was to get us home quickly as we had effectively done two carrier deployments with only a ten day R&R in Pompey to restore and SMP in the middle. Aden withdrawal being the reason. As always he had his ships company at heart and on return to Pompey he personally went to CND to see that his ships company got the drafting preferences they wanted. Mostly successful except for the clankies who historically used to volunteer for the next commission knowing that it meant a good period in Home Port whilst refitting. Unfortuneately having done two deployments it meant she was due out again and sailed one month later east of Suez. It was a record at that time [and I believe still is] 11,800 miles at 18 knots whilst carrying out a full maintenance and our tankers were on time when we needed. Thus when she arrived home she was ready to go again. This is all recorded in Tony Dyson's book "HMS Hermes 1959-1984".

Dear Dave, spot on; you must have some private memories of that commission; in return for forwarding you the chapters from Richard Hill's book that cover Hermes will you tell me your yarns for my web site, when i get the time to devote to it? Not that in Tony Dyson's book he refers to the "perfect circle" as being the result of a steering defect; we both know that it was actually the result of needing to stay in the same place with wind over the deck during the Aden crisis and that as with everything else, most of the time, the steering worked perfectly throughout! All very best and thanks again tim

Dear Dave, just to get you going; A junior watch-keeping officer told me this one long after and in a comfortable retirement in Thailand. Young lad, just promoted to watchkeeping and given the opportunity to be on the bridge for the first time. Taken up to the door, told what to do , when to be there etc. and given the trick beginning at midnight, told not to be late and to make himself known on entry. Turns up that night, right time, and taps on the door to bridge. All is quiet, flying over for the day, most of the ship snugged down while she trogs her way across the Indian ocean. No answer. He quietly opens the bridge door and enters. Pitch black night, dim glow of instruments, cant see a thing after brightly lit passageway. "is there anybody here"??? asks lad. "Well, I'm here for a start" says Cap'n dad. "Thanks mate" says lad, "You can eff-orf now, i'm your relief" "Well, then, that my cue to leave" says dad. "Over to you gentlemen. Exits bridge. It was 10 mins before anyone could stop laughing enough to tell the young chap who he had been speaking too. He's probably in his sixties now, i wonder if he still enjoys a pint over this. maybe you remeber who it was? Now your turn... Do you remember midshipman Leigh Merrick driving the crane over the side "It was facing the wrong way sir, and both ends look the same"! He's a retired captain now.

Well, just to let you know the Army has it's share of funny moments too. As a young Lt. in charge of the Batallion Support Platoon during winter exercises where wind chill got down to minus 70 F at night, I was awoken at first light by the First Sergeant jumping up and down and yelling that the food was all frozen. How can that be, I said. Didn't we hook up extra heat generators last night? "Yes Sir, he said, but come with me." The truth revealed itself directly. A trooper, had put all the heating ducts into his sleeping bag. "Why on earth did you do that, Private.?" Sheepishly he replied. "I was cold, Sir." We all had cold chow until cookie could thaw out breakfast. Many a time we've all had a good laugh over this, but not that morning. Fred

dear all, thought you might like to share this fine picture of Hermes, 14 July 1970, think the location speaks for itself. tim
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Excellent pic Tim but are you sure that it was 'at night'? I realise the pic is a bit grainy but I can't see any steaming lights etc and wonder if it was taken into the sun which would produce the same effect. But it doesn't detract from it being, as already stated, an excellent pic! Mik

I agree with you Mik They took a similar photo of the Hermes when I was on it in 1975

Tim. I know that your Father had such a great and successful career. How many posts to this forum did he have to make to get to that rank!!!!!!!!

Much more than my total!

Nice one qpr!! Mik

Thanks Dave, if this forum had been around in 1998 you wouldn't have stopped him, he loved things like this. He was a real email enthusiast. I just found his lectures on Pedestal on ancient amstrad floppies in locoscript which I am trying to get re-programmed into Word on CD. I will see how they turn out and if any good anyone interested is welcome to a copy. I cant say about the pic of Hermes, day or night; it is in an oak frame with a little plaque giving the date, HMS Hermes and a tiny enamel crest. I took it out of the frame to clean the glass and decided to scan it at the same time. Glad you enjoyed it anyway. tim

I for one would be pleased to have anything that your Father wrote about naval matters, Tim

I was just thinking that you were up early, now i see its late! it will be a pleasure to share it. All best tim

Its very early in the morning going into Rosyth when the tide was at its lowest as they told us there would be "inches to spare" between the top of the tacan and THE BRIDGE yeh right,not sure about the date though we were inthe Med and alongside in Malta in April and I thought we came back from that trip paid off and eventually towed to GUZZ to go into refit for conversion to Commando carrier smashing photo still

Thanks for tghat Ian, it is of course poss the date refers to the presenting of the picture or a social event in the ship rather than the actual date of capture, they were obviously proud of it anyway to select it for framing! All best tim

Dear All, just to let you know that I have just found a box of 100's of pics of the '66 comission covering the Far Flung deployment etc. Most are pics of activities with the ship's company so if you were there you might be in one. I will begin scanning on monday but here are a few taken at random, most of these would have been album rejects at the time but they are irresplaceable now. I am dubious of the harrier, i think this is delivery of the first sea harrier for which there is celebratory paperwork so we can come back to this later. All the others have dates on the reverse so g/teed to be from the time. I have no idea who the poeple are so please add your own info and captions! When I say 100's i mean it. There are also loads of wartime 127s and a lot from Corunna in 1957 as well. All will be scanned eventually. They were just in the box at random, and its was a big box. And loads more, all of course unmarked, unlabelled and most with no date! tim
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You've got yourself a little goldmine there Tim

Hi Tim, That was my commission and I am somewhere in the Horseracing shot. Great one of your Dad - it looks typical of him - always somewhere around the ship talking to the lads - he used to visit us in the Main Communications Office every evening after dinner and check the incoming broadcast signal log. One evening I asked him if he had checked the whole log and he said "Yes - why?" - I explained that the RS of the watch had to check the log completely before going of watch and sign the last copy read so the work wasn't duplicated by the next watch - "I see, he said, Pen" and signed the last signal received. After that he signed the log every night with a smile and a wink "All signed POTTS" as he went back to the Bridge. Note - forget the Harrier shot - we never had any, only Gannets, Buccaneers [809 Sqn] and Sea Vixens [829 Sqn] - one Tiger Moth and an inverted Canberra compliments of the RAF during the Aden withdrawal - but those are stories we have visited before.:) Regards Dave H

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