22 NAVY NEWS, NOVEMBER 2010


Belfast masts unveiled


THE installation of two replacement masts on HMS Belfast has been completed two weeks ahead of schedule, and the new kit has been officially unveiled by the Duke of Edinburgh. The cruiser’s fore mast and main mast, dating from a refit in 1957, had become dangerously corroded, and new 20m structures were needed.


The replacements were built


at the Severnaya Verf shipyard in St Petersburg, and were a gift from the Russian government and marine industry in recognition of Belfast’s role in protecting convoys to Russia during World War 2. The project was overseen by UK


engineering company Houlder, who surveyed the ship and produced a plan for the removal of the old equipment and installation of the new which enabled the ship to remain open to visitors. At the unveiling ceremony Prince Philip unveiled a bronze memorial plaque, then met veterans of the Arctic Convoys – described by Winston Churchill as “the worst journey in the world.”


The mast project has been


dedicated to the Allied and Russian seamen who served in the campaign to keep supplies getting to the Eastern Front, and HMS Belfast is one of the few surviving ships which sailed on the convoys. Merchantmen


and warships


made the long journey to and from Archangelsk and Murmansk in temperatures as low as minus 30°C, carrying four million tons of supplies, including more than 5,000 tanks, 7,000 aircraft, nearly 5,000 anti-tank guns and 743 million projectiles for use by the Soviets.


A hundred Allied merchant


ships were lost, totalling 604,837 tons – 87 were lost in convoy, the remainder sailing independently or were in Russian ports. The shipping loss rate of 7.5 per cent made the Arctic Convoy route the most dangerous of World War 2.


In human terms, 1,944 Royal


Navy sailors and 829 civilian mariners died in the icy waters.


Love


Southsea and raise funds


ROYAL Navy people are generally good organisers,


and pretty


versatile too, as a rule. But even matelots find it difficult to be in two places at once, however good the cause. So while Cdr Rex Cox, Commanding Officer of HMS Manchester,


is clearing the


Caribbean of drugs smugglers (see page 2), his wife has been taking a leaf out of his book and organising a raft of charity events back in Portsmouth. Fergie Cox said the successful Fish Ball on HMS Severn, Cdr Cox’s last command, three years ago was typical of her husband’s thorough administrative skills. “He even organised most of our


wedding, in St Ann’s Church in the Dockyard,” said Fergie. “I just had to pitch up in a


frock...” But now Fergie has


● Reservists from HMS Cambria visit Dragon in build on the Clyde


Welsh reservists confront a Dragon


NAVAL reservists from HMS Cambria in Wales travelled


north to meet a dragon. Welsh folklore is littered with legends of dragons, but this one is very real – one of the fleet of Type 45 destroyers built by BAE Systems on the Clyde which will form the backbone of the British air defence capability for decades to come.


for Scotland to visit the ship as she nears completion and prepares to be accepted into the fleet. Dragon is the fourth of a class of six ships which is rated as amongst the most powerful and advanced air defence warships in the world.


The party, from Barry, headed


Cdr Simon Cottam, Commanding Officer of HMS Cambria, who led the trip, said: “This was a hugely enjoyable visit for those members of the ship’s company lucky enough to attend this oversubscribed trip. “The ship is hugely impressive in both scale and power, and she is going to be a fantastic addition to the Royal Navy’s surface fleet. “For us, she also offers a great


opportunity for training onboard an active warship, which benefits reservists and regulars alike. “I know a lot of people are already looking in their diary for a chance to spend time onboard her.”


varied programme in which the Welsh reservists participate. With force


key role for the RNR, Cambria ● Former Manly-type tender Pride of Bristol Manly pursuits


by the Bristol Channel Group of the old Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (RNXS), whose volunteers formed a group on the demise of the service in 1994 and which now exists as the Old Comrades Association of the RNXS. They felt their years of service – not only in the RNXS but also the RN, the Merchant Navy and the RFA – gained at sea could be put to use for the good of the local community, so in 1994 they formed a charitable organisation the Pride of Bristol Trust. The Trust bought Messina, and she is now used to provide free or heavily-subsidised youth training in maritime aspects of safety at sea, first aid, fire fighting, ship/boat


ROYAL Naval Reservists in the West Country are getting their first taste of the sea aboard a former Manly-class vessel. The Pride of Bristol started life as HMS Messina, a 24-metre Fleet tender which had at one time been used to train Royal Marines officers in coastal navigation. She is now owned and operated


handling, husbandry and the like. Under-privileged and special


of having a purpose-built vessel readily available, and frequently arrange for new-entry recruits to take part


in one of the more ‘interesting’ sections of British coastal waters, the Bristol Channel. As the Trust is a charity, hiring


funds, and a number of naval groups, the Ganges Association, Ark Royal Association and others, have organised functions on board. Further information on training and charter can be obtained from Stan Hammond, PBT, 3rd Floor, 65 Coronation Road, Bristol, BS3 1AS, tel 0117 9637869, e-mail scr.hammond@hotmail.co.uk or see the trust’s website at www. prideofbristoltrust.co.uk


the vessel for diving, fishing, clay- pigeon shooting and other voyages raises funds. Social events also augment


in weekend exercises


needs groups are primarily catered for, with school and cadet forces following on. RNR officers soon saw the benefits


The write stuff


KINGSTON University Press is running a writing competition to celebrate the 125th anniversary of SSAFA Forces Help.


Servicemen and women in creative and engaging ways. Anyone over 18 who has been touched by service may enter – a maximum of 2,500 words of prose or 40 lines of poetry – and there is a top prize of £500, with an entry fee of £3. The closing date is December 17. For details see http://fass. kingston.ac.uk/kup/competition/


conviction that to


portray


The project arose out of a it


the experience is


important of


protection now a The trip is just one aspect of a


reservists make regular trips to the MOD range at Rogiet Moor, near the Severn Crossing – a bleak, windswept site, far removed from the warmer climate reservists are often deployed to, but it allows skills to be maintained between mobilisations. Visits by two Type 23 frigates – HM ships Richmond and Montrose – plus survey ship HMS Scott to South Wales over the summer allowed Cambrians to undertake operational sea training; including force protection, fire- fighting, damage control training and counter-piracy techniques. Summer Divisions were held the National Assembly


outside


building in Cardiff, when the unit was inspected by the First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones, Cdre Steel (Commander Maritime Reserve)


and Cdre Miller (Naval Regional Commander). The unit was supported by


Royal Marines Reserves from Bristol, the Wales University Royal Navy Unit (URNU), Cardiff Sea Cadets, members of the Scott and Cambria Association and the Royal Marines Band Lympstone. In high summer 13 Cambrians hiked 55 miles along the Taff Trail from Brecon to Cardiff in a team- building exercise which also raised thousands of pounds for charity, while a more sombre visit was made to the village of Gavrelle, in northern France, liberated in April 1917 by the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division, which included volunteer reservists from South Wales – a link HMS Cambria has nurtured for the past two decades.


Cavalier wins Lottery award


WORLD War 2 destroyer HMS Cavalier has won the ‘Best Education Project’ in this year’s National Lottery Awards. The awards highlight the


country’s favourite Lottery-funded projects while also celebrating the difference such projects make to people and places across the UK. The veteran warship, restored and open to the public at Chatham Historic Dockyard, is also part of the National Destroyer Memorial, which commemorates the 143 British destroyers and 11,000 sailors lost at sea during World War 2. Joanne Creighton, director of


Remembrance in focus


A NEW exhibition at the Royal Marines Museum looks into the stories behind very personal acts of remembrance. Why Stay Silent? reflects the


fact that people remember loved ones or relatives in ways,


an officer who jumped


Royal killed in Afghanistan who wears his coat on cold days to the Marines who, in 1939, raised funds for a memorial to


from the mother of a different


overboard to save a comrade but was never seen again. Remembrance did not begin


with World War 1, and the exhibition includes the stories of others who pre-date the Great War. The exhibition will run at the


museum, located on the seafront at Eastney in Portsmouth, until October 2 2011. www.royalmarinesmuseum.


 co.uk


Award on behalf of all at the Historic Dockyard Chatham. “The award is a tribute to the


hard work and dedication of the education team in the delivery of innovative schools programmes, and the shipkeepers and volunteers for all they have done in restoring Cavalier.”


learning and visitor programmes, said: “It is a great honour to receive this National Lottery


The ship features in a range of educational programmes with a strong focus on students who under-achieve. Programmes such as Windows


into War and Living Literacy for Key Stage 2, Weapons of the Cold War for KS 4 and World War Two for KS 3 and 4, include sessions on board and/or visits to Cavalier to lend an air of authenticity and provide a hands-on experience. The latest addition is Crash Out on Cavalier – an overnight experience for youth groups. Following extensive restoration to the aft of the ship, up to 30 youngsters and six accompanying adults can stay on board, sleeping in bunks in two of the ship’s original mess decks.


A specially-designed cabin for disabled guests is also available.


– an idea teamed


up with friend Louise Whitmore to start a company called Love Southsea


initially


dreamed up by Louise’s father, who is ex-Navy. Love Southsea aims to “arrange


fun events with a charitable twist”, said Fergie, and four such events have already been organised, all with strong Naval links. A children’s Hallowe’en party sets the programme in train, with the Royal Maritime Club, formerly the Home Club, in Queen Street hosting the event on October 31. A Christmas market is to be staged on Saturday November 20 at the newly-refurbished Pyramids Centre, whose co-owner Simon Jervis is also ex-Navy. A Christmas Ball will be held


at Boathouse 7 in the Dockyard on Friday December 3, while it is back to the Royal Maritime Club for a children’s Christmas party on Sunday December 19. All four events are in support of Help for Heroes and the Falklands Veterans Foundation. For more information on see www.


times


lovesouthsea.co.uk or see the associated Facebook site.


and tickets,


Executed mariner is featured


A WORLD War 1 merchant marine captain trapped in a deadly catch 22 situation is being remembered in a new exhibition at Imperial War Museum North. North Sea ferry captain Charles


Fryatt had successfully averted a U-boat attack in early March 1915, but at the end of the same month U-33 stopped his ship, the SS Brussels, and prepared to launch a torpedo attack. In line with Government


instructions Fryatt set a course to ram the submarine, which was forced to crash dive – had he failed to take action he could have been liable for prosecution by his own government. Just over a year later, in June


1916, the Brussels was ambushed by destroyers and Fryatt captured.


Once his identity was confirmed by the gold watch given to him by the Admiralty after the U-33 incident, Fryatt was immediately put on trial by the Germans as a franc-tireur or guerrilla and executed by firing squad. The execution brought widespread condemnation, from the UK, the United States and across Europe, many describing the act as simply murder. Following the war, his body was exhumed and given a burial with full ceremonial honours in the UK, and amongst other accolades was the naming of a 3,400m mountain in Canada (a nearby peak is named after his ferry) while his widow and children were granted enhanced pensions and other forms of assistance. The free In the Spotlight exhibition runs until September 2011 –


north for details. see www.iwm.org.uk/


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