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Indonesian Confrontation World Naval Ships Forums Archive

Indonesian Confrontation

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#104 Yesterday, 23:43 harry.gibbon Admiral Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Merseyside Posts: 2,824 Re: Modern Navy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [quote=johnny07;154652] Quote: Originally Posted by INVINCIBLE Regarding action stations in Borneo, in Albion in 1966 the only people we had to protect ourselves against were the Scots Guards. When we brought them out of the jungle they went berserk, they smashed the place up even the chapel. In complete contrast when we brought the Gordon Highlanders out they were filthy and shattered but after about twenty minutes they were dressed in their white highland dress wearing their kilts and performing highland dancing on the flight deck. The ghurkers(spell check) were great as well they had their own sort of rum and we used to swop ( in the POs mess ). I would have expected nothing less from my former regiment (whilst a cadet in ACF) and that of my uncles who served in Gordons in WWII. Re; Indonesian Confrontation:- I think this conflict is deserving of a thread of it's own, reflecting/recounting the activities of members of the RN/RM. If it is originated then we can ask the Mod's to move relevant posts from this thread to that! Little h Harry, Thanks - entirely agree this subject is well worthy of a new thread. I have a few dits to add but I am very much hoping that members of the forum can add their experiences here. Over the period of Confrontation, from December 1962 to 11 August 1966, many members of the forum must have served on ships out there. I was in Centaur during 1964 but did not really appreciate what exactly was going on and there was very little in the newspapers. when we got back to UK hardly anybody knew what was going on out in the Far East. They were all too interested in big changes at home in 1964/5.

I too shall be adding to your thread INVINCIBLE. My time in the theatre was from the beginning of 1964 to mid 1966. I have advised at various different times across a number of threads, that I was part of a small team based in Singapore and attached to the RANCD at a site on the Yu Chu Kang road. The first half of our linguists course took place during the last quarter of '63 in London, alongside members of the 'I' Corps. The second part of the course was completed in Nee Soon Barracks where we were at first billeted, but we soon got ourselves moved to HMS Simbang, formerly RNAS Sembawang until we qualified. We were then moved to RAF Seletar until our wives and family, having been called forward, duly arrived and 2 of the 4 member linguist team become Married Accompanied. The two single guys remained accommodated at Seletar. We had a non-linguist CRS(S) in overall charge of our activities. Several of the boats which comprised the Singapore based Submarine Sqdn became platforms for our activities (;);) say no more) and this gave us plenty experience of life in 'A' boats and subsequently in the sole 'O' boat which laterly joined the Sqdn. Two of our number, the two Senior Rates, were awarded BEM's for the work carried out. To avoid duplicating previous posts, I shall search them out and add them as links to a subsequent post. However I shall start by including an extract from a post in the Obituaries Forum regarding one of my former skippers who had some responsibilities regarding the Naval activities for a time during the Confrontation; ___________ Extract:- [B]Vice Admiral Sir Roderick Macdonald[/B]; [I]As a newly promoted Captain, Macdonald was appointed Commander Naval Forces Borneo in 1965, during the final stages of the "Confrontation", when forces from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Malaya prevented President Sukarno from extending Indonesian rule into Sarawak, Sabah, and Brunei. The Navy's task was to guard the land force's flanks, rear and lines of communications for thousands of miles along a coastline of mangrove swamps, jungle and river estuaries. Macdonald was third in command as Director of Operations Borneo, but in his superiors' absence he had operational control of five brigade headquarters and a tactical air force as well as the naval units. He was appointed CBE in 1966. Roderick Douglas Macdonald, always known as Roddy, was born in Java on February 25 1921. [/I] ____________ NB; Interesting to note that he was born in Indonesia or the former Dutch East Indies. Little h

I too will try to contribute. I remember the day it kicked off for us in Singapore. I was Communications Fleet Pool at the time kicking my heels in the MSC [Main Signal Centre] in the Singapore Naval Base. My good lady was very very heavy in labor when the crash postings came in to supplement Ship's Radio Staffs and my great oppo Bert Duffy who wasn't detailed joined a Sweeper in my place. This meant I stayed where I was and he spent three months off Borneo and Sarawak. Another of my oppos joined the Brown jobs up in the Jungle operating forward Communications. Later I was to join the RFA Fort Rosalie shadowing the Grey Ghost of the Borneo Coast "HMS Albion", we laden 8K tons plus of ammunition. Later still I was to join the Barboat "Barbain" and venture into Indonesian waters to salvage a cargo vessel [ex US Libertyship now under Greek colours] who had run aground in the north of Sumatra. But that is another story. My brother-in-law was there during this time with 29 Cdo RA and spent some time up in Kuching but I think most of the what we would call action was placed upon the shoulders of the Army and Royal Marines. Dave H

Hereunder a link to a full listing of all armed services involved in this fraca. It is lengthy; but scroll down for all naval units who took some part-I was quite surprised at just how many there were. jainso31 [url]http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Borneo/units.html[/url]

[QUOTE=harry.gibbon;154839]I too shall be adding to your thread INVINCIBLE. My time in the theatre was from the beginning of 1964 to mid 1966. The first half of our linguists course took place during the last quarter of '63 in London, alongside members of the 'I' Corps. The second part of the course was completed in Nee Soon Barracks where we were at first billeted, but we soon got ourselves moved to HMS Simbang, formerly RNAS Sembawang until we qualified. We were then moved to RAF Seletar until our wives and family, having been called forward, duly arrived and 2 of the 4 member linguist team become Married Accompanied. The two single guys remained accommodated at Seletar. We had a non-linguist CRS(S) in overall charge of our activities. Several of the boats which comprised the Singapore based Submarine Sqdn became platforms for our activities (;);) say no more) and this gave us plenty experience of life in 'A' boats and subsequently in the sole 'O' boat which laterly joined the Sqdn. Two of our number, the two Senior Rates, were awarded BEM's for the work carried out. Little h[/QUOTE] Harry, Most interesting – we may have overlapped briefly in Singapore/TERROR in ’64. I have a photo of an 'A' boat off the Borneo coast in her special camouflage, which I must go and find. So you must have been one of those Sneaky Beaky Specials who had privileged access to that locked compartment onboard [I]Falmouth[/I], which the rest of us were never ever allowed to enter. A story of the Indonesian Confrontation which I like, was told me by Doug Littlejohns, he was serving in the commando carrier [I]Albion[/I] in December 1965. She was on her way back to Singapore from Labuan, after completing a turn on patrol off the Borneo coast (the old grey ghost of the Borneo coast) when an Indonesian gunboat had the temerity to attack her. The gunboat closed in fast and opened fire with 40mm guns at close range (yes against a commando carrier!!). The captain of [I]Albion[/I] was the famous Godfrey Place VC, who had been decorated for his daring attack on the German battleship [I]Tirpitz[/I] during World War II. A reckless captain, he ordered full ahead and turned to engage. [I]Albion[/I] swiftly rammed and sank the Indonesian gunboat. The captain was then very popular with the ship’s company because [I]Albion[/I] had severely damaged her bow, which required docking in Singapore naval base for repairs. The carrier was out of action for several months. Didn’t please their Lordships but at least the lads were happy! I wonder if any members of the forum were in [I]Albion [I] at the time? Incidentally Doug Littlejohns went off to USA to act as an adviser to Patrick Robinson and made a lot of money as naval adviser on naval simulators and naval video games.

Have now found the photograph I have of HMS Alliance in camouflage paint during the Indonesian Confrontation. There must be quite an exciting story to be told about those covert operations, unless they are still covered by the official secrets act. The photograph (from 'Safeguarding the Nation the story of the modern Royal Navy') & copyright belongs the RN Submarine museum.
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Quoted from the 'Modern Navy' thread [QUOTE=Nobby_N;154306]....... Invincible asks about material in print. There is a book by Nick van der Bijl titled [I]Confrontation: The War with Indonesia 1962-1966 [/I](Pen & Sword, 2007). It is written predominantly from an army point of view, but there are index entries for Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal Malaysian Navy. The sub headings are: ADIZ policing, Far East Fleet, guardships, intelligence gathering, 6th Minesweeper Squadron, Naval Party Kilo, naval task force challenges 12 mile limit, Tawau Assault Group, and transporting of troops, and numerous ships are listed by name from the three navies. Some of the entries are brief, amounting to no more than a mention on one page, but the context tells you why they are there. And those sub-headings may stir some memories. Centaur is mentioned but only to say she was there. I plead an interest because I made the index for that book. Cheers - Nobby_N[/QUOTE] There is also stuff in it about 'Intelligence gathering' And no I don't get royalties - I did get a free copy though. Nobby_N

[QUOTE=Nobby_N;154987] There is also stuff in it about 'Intelligence gathering' Nobby_N[/QUOTE] Do tell Nobby!!! which service or was it civilian? Little h

[QUOTE=INVINCIBLE;154913]Harry, Most interesting ......... ........... So you must have been one of those Sneaky Beaky Specials who had privileged access to that locked compartment onboard [I]Falmouth[/I], which the rest of us were never ever allowed to enter. [/QUOTE] INVINCIBLE, Indeed so, however in my time on her, given that 'everything was secured away' a number of ships crew did visit said sanctum. Little h

[QUOTE=INVINCIBLE;154930]Have now found the photograph I have of HMS Alliance in camouflage paint during the Indonesian Confrontation. There must be quite an exciting story to be told about those covert operations, unless they are still covered by the official secrets act. [/QUOTE] INVINCIBLE, During the Confrontation the very first boat our team did an 'operational patrol' in was the Alliance, she was however, not draped in the paint job as in your pic. I think that exciting would not best describe the activities of such operations, rather, they might better be describedd as interesting, routine, yet fraught with difficulties and a smattering of let me say - uncertainty tainted with concern!!!;) Little h

[QUOTE=harry.gibbon;154988]Do tell Nobby!!! which service or was it civilian? Little h[/QUOTE] Nearly all mentions for intelligence gathering operations are army Intelligence Corps, and concern interrogation of prisoners, keeping ears to the ground in the villages. The author himself, Nick van der Bijl, was army intelligence and was involved in prisoner interrogations in the Falklands. Here is an extract: Quote ... several Brit.. warships were brought out of retirement and a second carrier carrier task force built around HMS Eagle was despatched to the Far East, as was the guided missile destroyer HMS Kent. In total the ... fleet in the region numbered 80 ships, which included the aircraft carrier ...Centaur and ... Bulwark. It was the greatest naval assembly since the Korean War and consisted of a third of the Fleet. Commonwealth warships operated openly in Indonesian waters off Sumatra. ... one commentator wrote: 'In the early stages of the campaign, it was apparent that some ships had not digested that this was not a peacetime Casualty Exercise or Gun Exercise but a genuine war... By the New Year of 1965 a strategy had emerged to detect, capture or deflect Indonesian incursions by dominating the Straits of Malacca, Straits of Singapore and territorial waters outside the internationally recognised 3-mile limit. Intelligencve was vital in identifying likely landing points, with signals intercepts a crucial element to pinpointing Indo.. naval and merchant ship intentions. ... there was a fair amount of action with fragile sampans fighting back with vigour against heavily armed patrol boats and minesweepers... Interrogations by naval officers usually proved more successful than by Special Branch because the latter had little knowledge of naval matters. unQuote there is a material about Naval Party Kilo involving local river boats 'kotaks' and LCAs and pleasure cruisers, naval pinnaces and stores tenders commanded by Leading Seamen, or RASC corporals. They were patrolling Sarawak coast and rivers. As I have said the book is mainly about the army deep in the jungle and also 'Operation Claret' across the border into Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan) My own memories are of Blackpool ferrying Marines and Gurkhas to quell the Brunei rebellion at the start of the troubles, and also laying off at Labuan. There were parties from Blackpool that went up rivers in the local longboats, but I had nothing to do with that. We didn't stay for the statutory 30 days so no Borneo clasps. We did get the offer of the P.J.M., whether that was for Confrontation operations in Blackpool of for sitting safely in Terror in 1959-60, or both, I know not. Sitting in HMS Terror [I]did[/I] count because of the Malaysian anti-Communist Emergency which was still in its final phases in those years. Anyway - I've got one. Nobby_N

There are some navy related pictures - I'll scan them and post them next week. a picture of the harbour jetty at Labuan, another of HMS Picton, and another of sailors cleaning their small-arms, and another of Royal Marines on a commandeered launch. Some of the pictures and the weaponry wouldn't have been out of place in Korea 12 years earlier. Nobby_N

[QUOTE=Nobby_N;155138]There are some navy related pictures - I'll scan them and post them next week. a picture of the harbour jetty at Labuan, another of HMS Picton, and another of sailors cleaning their small-arms, and another of Royal Marines on a commandeered launch. Some of the pictures and the weaponry wouldn't have been out of place in Korea 12 years earlier. Nobby_N[/QUOTE] Nobby, Well done - much look forward to your pictures. I have very few from when I was out there in 64. There was a great picture taken during a FOTEX with four carriers steaming in line ahead. Unfortunately I have not got a copy but it left quite an impression on me as a teenager having only recently joined the Service. At that time the Royal Navy seemed a very powerful Navy.

[QUOTE=Nobby_N;155137]Nearly all mentions for intelligence gathering operations are army Intelligence Corps, and concern interrogation of prisoners, keeping ears to the ground in the villages. The author himself, Nick van der Bijl, was army intelligence and was involved in prisoner interrogations in the Falklands. Here is an extract: Quote ... several Brit.. warships were brought out of retirement and a second carrier carrier task force built around HMS Eagle was despatched to the Far East, as was the guided missile destroyer HMS Kent. In total the ... fleet in the region numbered 80 ships, which included the aircraft carrier ...Centaur and ... Bulwark. It was the greatest naval assembly since the Korean War and consisted of a third of the Fleet. Commonwealth warships operated openly in Indonesian waters off Sumatra. ... one commentator wrote: 'In the early stages of the campaign, it was apparent that some ships had not digested that this was not a peacetime Casualty Exercise or Gun Exercise but a genuine war... By the New Year of 1965 a strategy had emerged to detect, capture or deflect Indonesian incursions by dominating the Straits of Malacca, Straits of Singapore and territorial waters outside the internationally recognised 3-mile limit. Intelligencve was vital in identifying likely landing points, with signals intercepts a crucial element to pinpointing Indo.. naval and merchant ship intentions. ... there was a fair amount of action with fragile sampans fighting back with vigour against heavily armed patrol boats and minesweepers... Interrogations by naval officers usually proved more successful than by Special Branch because the latter had little knowledge of naval matters. unQuote there is a material about Naval Party Kilo involving local river boats 'kotaks' and LCAs and pleasure cruisers, naval pinnaces and stores tenders commanded by Leading Seamen, or RASC corporals. They were patrolling Sarawak coast and rivers. As I have said the book is mainly about the army deep in the jungle and also 'Operation Claret' across the border into Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan) My own memories are of Blackpool ferrying Marines and Gurkhas to quell the Brunei rebellion at the start of the troubles, and also laying off at Labuan. There were parties from Blackpool that went up rivers in the local longboats, but I had nothing to do with that. We didn't stay for the statutory 30 days so no Borneo clasps. We did get the offer of the P.J.M., whether that was for Confrontation operations in Blackpool of for sitting safely in Terror in 1959-60, or both, I know not. Sitting in HMS Terror [I]did[/I] count because of the Malaysian anti-Communist Emergency which was still in its final phases in those years. Anyway - I've got one. Nobby_N[/QUOTE] Nobby, Thanks for the extract and your own input. The contribution made by our team is clearly still unreported, which makes it all the more successful I guess. Re; The boats which comprised the resident Submarine Sqdn in Singapore:- It appears that their various activities and/or that of some of the passengers they may or may not have carried (to wherever), seem to have selective reporting. The involvement of the unit to which our team were attached seems also to remain unreported, as does the existance of the site within which we operated whilst ashore. I have however made reference to both issues in the Comms thread on previous occasions. Little h

[QUOTE=Nobby_N;155138]There are some navy related pictures - I'll scan them and post them next week. a picture of the harbour jetty at Labuan, another of HMS Picton, and another of sailors cleaning their small-arms, and another of Royal Marines on a commandeered launch. Some of the pictures and the weaponry wouldn't have been out of place in Korea 12 years earlier. Nobby_N[/QUOTE] Here they are. I thought I had posted them a couple of weeks ago, but failed to hit the 'Submit' button. The title page of the book they came from is the first picture, so here they are with acknowledgements... The photo of the local 'long boat' is of an army patrol but those same boats were were used by ships providing similar patrols. Nobby_N
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I think most of us in the RN probably served out Far East at some time or another during this conflict. The excellent link in Post 4, shows what a lot of ships got up to, and my ship AJAX was in the thick of it. However, that was the 1st commission - I joined her June 1965 as 2nd Commission, still Leader 24th Escort Group but now under command of Captain A.G. Tait. However, whilst we "were there", and whilst we certainly did patrols and intercepted several "kumpits", apparently we ended up 2 days short of qualifying for GSM, and lord knows how many days short of PJM medal entitlement.......however we were out there June 1965 - December 1966. In the early days (early for us), we used to enter and exit Singapore Naval Base at full Defence Stations....the reason given was in case the straits had been mined. What difference us being at Defence Stations made, escaped me then, as it does now. On Patrol.........we also operated Defence Stations.....until it impinged on our betters that it would probably be unlikely that we need the 4.5" to deal with a Kumpit. However, one night, Malacca Straits maybe, we did "play" with an Indonesian ex-Russian Skory Class Destroyer. The first, and only time, I have ever been at Action Stations for real. Eventually, full Defence Stations were modified so that we Gunnery Rates manned the 40mm Bofors instead, decidedly of more use against kumpits. The ship used to patrol at night, fully darkened, going slow ahead, when a "contact" was spotted on radar, or visually, we "upped revs" after it. So we always had "early warning" of impending "action". The kumpit was closed and the occupants "invited" to come onboard. The invitation being backed up by 40mm trained on it, a GPMG on top of Bridge (though might have been Bren not "Gimpy") and an assortment of crew armed with SLR and/or Lanchester SMG. The "guests" were placed under armed guard on the Flight Deck, and we RV'd with Malaysian Police Launch who would waltz them off for interrogation. In Singapore Naval Base, when "Duty Ship" we had to operate a Night Harbour Patrol........this was a large, 40ft HLD (Harbour Launch Diesel), an open boat, tiller steered, with a single screw and a the tiller kicked like a mule at high revs and you needed both hands to even hold it on course. Again. it was a case of mostly idling, or stopped, unless we spotted something to investigate, or poodled around doing routine "laps" of the area. We were armed with a Bren (or "Gimpy"), the stoker had an SLR, and I as coxswain. a 9mm Browning pistol. As stated above, it took both hands on tiller to steer, so quite how I was supposed to use a pistol escaped me! :confused: Just a few memories, of what for me was the best commission, in the best and happiest ship, I ever served in.:)

Scurs, Nobby, Harry, Many thanks - lots of good interesting stuff above. I think one of the pictures is the same as the one below from John Pimlott's book on British Military Operations 1945 - 1985. The book has some good pictures but just an over view of most operations carried out in that period. It does not have the details above and I wonder if other members of the forum can also contribute material on Indonesia, Borneo and Malaysia.
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Hi All, tks for the memories, I too served during the confrontation on HMS Agincourt. darken ship up and down the Malacca straight, remember on one occasion got an immediate signal to proceed at top speed to intercept an Indon missile vessel infiltrating Malaysian waters, we think they chickened out in the end. By the way I got my PJM last saturday, seems a long time ago. Derek (Bunts)

Congratulations on the PJM Derek. I hope people realise that you have to inform, usually the British Legion, or the RNA or other ex-service organisation where you were and when. And then be prepared to travel to the nearest place where they hold the award ceremony. I had to make a two hour journey to the Wirral, where the Malaysian Military Attaché was doing the honours. It is not only for Confrontation duties, but also just for serving in Malaya or Singapore during the long anti-communist Emergency. It is their way of saying thank you for their Independence. Nobby_N

Also a sad time for some sailors. My sailor friend, W Bunting. asked me if I could find out where one of his pals was buried. All I had was his name A/B Petty and was serving on HMS Ainse. H.M.S. Aisne patrolled the Malaca straits Jul 65 to Dec 65. This is what I found out. A/B Petty, was killed in a refuelling accident, 12th Oct 1965. He was buried at Pasir Panjang or Ulli Pandan cemetery Singapore then in 1970 was moved to the newly built Kranji Military cemetery Singapore. and with a bit of luck I managed to get a picture of his gravestone courtesy of Tony Beck. The second picture shows Grave number 14: Plot: 12. Row: A. Bill then told me what happened. We were standing on the fore deck waiting for the gun line to be shot across from the refueller. The projectile which carried the line came over the ship it glanced off the barrel of the forward gun hit the deck and bounced up and embedded itself into A/B Petty’s head just behind his ear, there was nothing we could do to save him. We placed his body in a body bag and stored him in the freezer until we reached Singapore, where he was taken ashore and buried. We were not allowed to attend his funeral. Just shows how dangerous a routine job, can sometimes be.
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Digging around in my old album and came up with pics of the 'fleet' in the Stores Basin Sembewang Dockyard...pics taken from the quarterdeck of Royalist in 65....ships include Fearless..Queenborough....the Leander I think was Charybidis(memory is waning)......
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It is hard to make out , but i think the the type 15 , is H.M.S GRENVILLE. You have caught a lovely image there of the stores basin, :) cylla

[QUOTE=brian james;160736]Digging around in my old album and came up with pics of the 'fleet' in the Stores Basin Sembewang Dockyard...pics taken from the quarterdeck of Royalist in 65....ships include Fearless..Queenborough....the Leander I think was Charybidis(memory is waning)......[/QUOTE] HI Brian Great pictures. thanks. My memory is fading too, but is that not the NZ ensign flying from your ship ?? That was first flown 20 June 1968 ?? Brian

[QUOTE=CYLLA;160769]It is hard to make out , but i think the the type 15 , is H.M.S GRENVILLE. You have caught a lovely image there of the stores basin, :) cylla[/QUOTE] Indeed it is Grenville F197. Jack.

[QUOTE=CYLLA;160769]It is hard to make out , but i think the the type 15 , is H.M.S GRENVILLE. You have caught a lovely image there of the stores basin, :) cylla[/QUOTE] Yes.Confirmed it is Grenville F97 - Launched 1942 . Dave H

You may be right Brian .....Also in the background is a carrier fitted with 984 poss Victorious or Hermes...Isn't it awful when your memory is 'blank' It would be nice to nip down the road and purchase a new RAM!!!

Hermes I should say, Vic has a much smaller gap between radar and funnel.

Clevewyn...Thankyou...I think also the Aussie River Class astern is HMAS Derwent but cannot remember the RFA opposite....or the ship alongside!!! and I have 'unravelled the 'mystery' of the Leander astern Tis HMS Ajax....

[QUOTE=brian james;160736]Digging around in my old album and came up with pics of the 'fleet' in the Stores Basin Sembewang Dockyard...pics taken from the quarterdeck of Royalist in 65....ships include Fearless..Queenborough....the Leander I think was Charybidis(memory is waning)......[/QUOTE] Brian, a very familiar scene in Sembawang RN Dockyard in early sixties. I was an RMN apprentice in the dockyard area where I could see RN,RAN and RNZN ships come and go, patrolloing Malaysian Water during the Indonesian Confrontation.This is where my passion for the Leanders, Rothesays, Cathederal and Cat Class starts. My apprentiship lasted only for three months when I requested to change branch to seaman. Posted to Sakra Island ( a tiny island off the Singapore Coast) on completion of my RP3 Course. Sakra is a coastguard outpost whose task is to report all sea movements in the area. From this experience, I know that every inch of Malaysian Water was patrolled by warships of United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia to keep the Indonesian out of our water. I know we owe a lot to you all.

[QUOTE=brian james;160860]You may be right Brian .....Also in the background is a carrier fitted with 984 poss Victorious or Hermes...Isn't it awful when your memory is 'blank' It would be nice to nip down the road and purchase a new RAM!!![/QUOTE] Hermes it ain't guys, she was in long refit in Devonport until mid 1965 and we didn't make the Far East until 1966. Dave H

Talking to a few ex Shipmates.......Boys I have to apologise...I was in Singapore on Royalist in 63...64... 65..(I think)....and was on Blackpool in 66 when I took this pic..... Memory does need jogging...I will dig a few more out and maybe get the dates right!!!

No need for apology Brian, it was long ago and far away.

You are so right Clevewyn.....No excuse..but I wish I could just refresh my RAM..!! LOL........Cheers...

[QUOTE=brian james;161160]Talking to a few ex Shipmates.......Boys I have to apologise...I was in Singapore on Royalist in 63...64... 65..(I think)....and was on Blackpool in 66 when I took this pic..... Memory does need jogging...I will dig a few more out and maybe get the dates right!!![/QUOTE] Brian If she is flying the NZ white ensign, then it was after June 1968. Are you sure it was not the Blackpool 1968-69 trip up the Far East ? ( I was there for that one !) Brian

A few pics from the Confrontation ...Pic1 Royalist Pic2..Blackpool....Pic3..Fort Charlotte..Pic4..Raffles Hotel...Pic5 Sembewang Bars..Pic6..Main Gate...Pic7..Dance of the Flaming A..'s Bugis St....Pic8.Ark Royal leaving...
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That last one is the Vic Brian, HMS Victorious. That would make the carrier in #21 the Vic instead of Hermes as I first thought, photo`s appear to be taken about the same time.

Great photo of Blackpool Brian. I guess that was from your time in '66. All the Type 12s are photogenic. There are a good number more of B'pool - some good ones from when she was HMNZS. And a couple I posted too from the 1962-63 commission. Nobby_N

Yeah Nobby I think we 'borrowed' the Wasp from Ajax for the photoshoot.....

A few more of my Confrontation pics Pic1 Belfast and Yank destroyers..Pic2 Royalist..Voyager ..and unknown Type12....Pic3 Aerial Stores Basin..Pic4..Sembewang Bars...Pic5..Mull of Kyntyre and Ickford ?...Pic6 Mull entering...Pic7 Belfast...Pic8....Dock Aerial...Pic9...Sembewang's famous 'Banjo Stalls'..Pic10..Brit Club.....
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Pic 6 is HMS Manxsman, fast minelayer.

Many thanks for the interesting photos, but unless her camoflauge was better than I thought, in your post 35...isn't that carrier actually the modernized Victorious? DFO ;) Did the Indonesian Navy come out at all during this? As I recall their biggest ship was a former Sverdlov; interesting "match" to Belfast but target practice for Fleet Air Arm! I am not sure exactly when she joined the Indonesian Navy; did they have her during this?
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[QUOTE=designeraccd;161402] Did the Indonesian Navy come out at all during this? As I recall their biggest ship was a former Sverdlov; ...... did they have her during this?[/QUOTE] Yes indeed they were out and about at sea, we saw/heard them but they didn't see or hear us!!!!;);) say no more:) The Sverdlov was renamed the 'Irian'. They also had some Skory class. I have been reading a PDF report on a seminar held by the RAF Historical Society. Participants were senior RAF brass involved in the operations plus other senior people, who were also in Singapore during the period. There are many references to the part played by the Army, Navy, Marines & SAS/SBS, including also Australian and New Zealand armed forces. Here is a link to the report on the proceedings:- [url]http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/documents/Journal%2013%20-%20Seminar%20-%20Confrontation%20with%20Indonesia.pdf[/url] Little h

Did the Indonesian Navy come out at all during this? As I recall their biggest ship was a former Sverdlov; interesting "match" to Belfast but target practice for Fleet Air Arm! I am not sure exactly when she joined the Indonesian Navy; did they have her during this?[/QUOTE] They did in 1963 when I was on Barbain - we were flying the Red Duster and doing a salvage job on the North Coast of Indonesia when we were boarded by the Indonesian Navy, searched and sent on our way. A bit scary to say the least at the time. It weren't the Sverdlov just a mere gunboat. Dave H

From my memory the Irian (former Ordzhonikidze of Buster Crabbe fame) was out and about with the inexperienced Indon crew burning the boilers out on her. She was sitting on the mud in Surabaya Hbr astern of us when Blackpool was there .............

Confrontation Pics from HMNZS Santon and Hickleton ..The last pic is Hickleton's dog the "Hickleberry Hound"...
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A few photo's of H.M.S. Woolaston, some in camaflague (confrontation) colours, & one of Wooly ships dog. Some of these are in the sweeper section threads, but they probably belong here.
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Anyone know what colours they used for the camo?

The two that look black & white were a shiney black & a matt black. Can't remember which was used fwd or aft. The last pic was battleship grey (normal navy grey) & a shade of green which worked quite well at night.

Thanks, makes me wonder if the green was the deck green the RN were using at the time. Wouldn't have been much else in the paint locker to use.

It was like different shades of grey. The dockyard painters in singers told us there was green in it to make the darker shade. Nobody could see us after dark when it was darken ship, except for the Russain spy trawler which was anchored in Singapore Straits, we always seemed to pass it close at arms length away. We were often flashed by merchant shipping for having no navigation lights on, they had picked us up on radar, to which the ships reply was British Man of War.

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