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- HMS Leopard's 2nd Commission
HMS Leopard's 2nd Commission
- By Robby G
- Published 05/7/2008
- HMS Leopard
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Rating:
Part 2
East Coast & Tristan da Cunha
Our first port of call on this part of the cruise was to be Port Elizabeth . Here many of our number visited the ADDO game reserve to shoot "big game"- with camera's of course. There was a complaint that the animals were so used to being photographed that they struck poses making the whole thing look so unnatural.
Next it's East London and it was here that saw our motor racing enthusiasts at the local races.. This, together with the dances organised by the South African equivalant of the UK's RNVR, ensured that a good time was had by all.
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On to Durban to be greeted traditionally by the "Lady in White" singing to us from the jetty. Here we would like to pass on a little information to a couple of "ANON" ratings. The reason they had a large stretch of beach to themselves, whilst hundreds of people were crowded on a much smaller stretch, was that the people were using the section of beach protected by shark nets and life-savers, whilst the ratings were swimming in the "Sharks Only" part ! We were admirably entertained by the Missions to Seaman, they gave us numerous dances and extended much private hospitality.
Mombasa will be remembered largely because of the woodcarvings which were on sale in practically every shop, bar, cafe and market stall in the town. The place will also be burned deep into the memory of a member of the side party who was lowered gently into the water whilst working on a stage and the shocked into what was probably a world record shattering swim to the Med-Ladder by cries of "Shark" from the upperdeck.
Our French-speaking ratings had a chance to practice their art at our next port of call. Diego Suarez, the French Naval Base in Madagascar offered us fishing trips, swimming and sports fixtures against the French Navy. Ashore in the evenings we had some riotous times with the French foreign Legion, Army and Naval rating stationed locally.
Mauritius gave us the opportunity to meet a large contingent of our fellow countrymen who were standing by the building of a wireless station on the island. Here the RN Families Club gave us open house and many were the busloads of feted matelots who returned to the ship in the early hours of the morning. There was swimming to be had at the palm fringed beaches and wonderful scenery for those who went on organised bus trips.
At all the ports we visited we returned the hospitality extended to us by throwing open the ship to visitors. Mauritius undoubtedly took greatest advantage of our offer to come aboard and look around.
From Mauritius we returned to the Cape and Simonstown and preperations for exercise CAPEX. We also returned to what had by this time become "Home Ground", I refer of course to the "CATS", "DARYLS" and the "NAVI'S DEN".
For three weeks we were busy exercising with units of the South African Navy including ships Transvaal, Good Hope Vrystaat. We had also been joined by our relief on station HMS Jaguar and the submarine Amphion, luckless target of many CAPEX anti-submarine exercises. A team of "Model Flyers" from Portland provided us with targets for our A/A shoots and one or two humorous moments. It was during this period that someone told those SA newspaper reporters that, amongst many other wonderous things, that we could have sunk the Bismark single-handed. This news may have impressed the South Africans but not half so much as it must impressed the Admiralty who obviously had no idea of our tremendous potential. As the Russian Fleet didn't immediately surrender we can only assume they do not read South African newspapers. (In the photograph are the Liverpool lads, George Penrith, Jim Evans, and Brian Waltham)
Then, as we were leaving Simonstown for yet another phase of CAPEX we received an Operational Immediate signal to return to harbour. There was volcanic activity on the small remote island of Tristan da Cunha. It meant working into the early hours of the morning loading all the usual gear peculiar to emergency relief operations and getting the ship ready for the voyage.
We sailed for Tristan da Cunha at 4am on the 10th October.
During our passage the situation changed radically. The Islanders had been taken off Tristan by two small fishing vessels. They had the been transfered to the Dutch Liner, Tjsadane, diverted from South America. We met her in the growing dusk when she was 24 hours from Tristan. There was a brief flashing of signal lamps and she disappeared in the murky dusk, carrying her bewildered refugees to Capetown.
Leopards mission was now changed. She was now to salvage valuable equipment on the island and destroy documents and equipment which could not be moved.
During the whole of the voyage to Tristan the landing operation was being planned and the various parties detailed for specific tasks.
When we arrived at the island, plans swung smoothly into operation for embarking personal belongings and valuable stores. Houses were systematiacally and carefully stripped, and salvaged articles transferred to the ship. Then came heavier gear such as generators and Met. equipment, which became our deck cargo.
There were two unpleasant tasks to perform. One was the destruction of all alcohol on the island to prevent it being a source of trouble to the master of the TRISTANIA whose crew would be using the island as a base for as long as possible. The other was the destruction of the dogs and fowl on the island. The cattle and sheep could be left to fend for themseves, but the dogs would either starve slowly or turn wild, savage the other livestock and be a danger to any subsequent attempts to land on the island. Similarly the fowl would have had a long and painful death.
Two dog escaped. TRISTAN and CUNHA. These dogs are firm favourites on board, except perhaps with the Buffer, who claims they are too fond of walking on freshly painted decks and performing their natural functions in the wrong places, and with the owners of numerous miscellaneous articles, i.e. shoes, caps, photographs, etc., with which Cunha is very fond of supplementing his diet.
The volcano itself was an amazing sight. Even while we were there it was growing steadily. it was a single mound of hot ash and rock about 300 to 400 feet high. At irregular but frequent intervals great clouds of of sulphurous gases and smoke burst into the air. At night it was most spectacular. Red hot ash and boulders rolled and bounced down it's sides leaving glowing scars which were visible twenty miles away.
The thirty six hours we spent off the island was in the middle of five days of fine weather; most unusual for that time of year. Had it not been fine and calm we would not have been able to land at all as there are no quays or jetties.
The beach that was used for the landings was christened "Hicks Beach" after the Captain, but as the ship was weighing anchor to leave the island the volcano gave a large belch and Hicks Beach along with the Crayfish Canning Factory was swallowed up with lava, to cheers of all on the fo'cstle. ( this event was related by Brian Waltham).
During the passage back to Capetown the ship was more like a Mississippi gambling river-boat than a warship. There was a mammoth raffle, tombola, entrance fees to cinema shows of films salvaged from the island and the "Grand Auction" of things ranging from transistor radios to long week-ends. When we arrived at Capetown we were able to present Mr WILLIE REPETTO, the Chief Islander, with the sum of £235, together with a Leopard crest and a tattered Union Jack which had flown on the island to the end.
The islanders were resettled at Calshott near Southampton, England. HMS Leopard was made custodian of the Ensign that HMS Magpie gave to them, until such time, if ever, that the islanders return to Tristan da Cunha.
The following information was retrieved from Kew Public Records Office, concerning the payment to Shipwright Blount for photographs/films taken privately by him 13 October 1961 at Tristan da Cunha.
Register No.CNI.254/61 Minute Sheet No. 1
1. It will recalled that HMS Leopard was, sent to Tristan da Cunha at the time of the volcanic eruptions on the island. While the ship was engaged in clearing-up operations, a member of the crew, J.J. Blount took a 100 35mm photographs of the scene. These were forwarded to CNI by the Commanding Officer, HMS Leopard for publicity purposes.
2. CNI distributed the pictures to the Press media who were keen to obtain the shots which were not available from any other source.Enclosed are cuttings of the pictures published in the times The Daily telegraph and the Daily Express. A selection of pictures were also published in the London Illustrated News and the Sphere. Both the National geographic Society eagerly sought copies of the prints.
3. These type of pictures make excellent publicity for the royal navy and CNI is anxious that this type of individual enterprise should be encouraged were ever possible, particularly in those units where Naval Photographers are not available. He therefore proposes that Shipwright Blount should be given some tangible recognition for his efforts in form of an ex gratia payment. CNI suggests, that, in this case, a payment of £10 would be suitable reward.
4. If the proposal is approved, it would appear for the payment to be met from the £400 List for Special services under Vote 1. Head of GF 1 Branch is requested to submit for approval accordingly.
A. Wallis
Chief of Naval Information
By Nobby G:
My, my, weren't they generous, I estimate that at todays rate that would equate to about £300, I bet the Times would have paid that for one photograph.
Did the Navy just give these pics away or did they sell them on?
East Coast & Tristan da Cunha
Our first port of call on this part of the cruise was to be Port Elizabeth . Here many of our number visited the ADDO game reserve to shoot "big game"- with camera's of course. There was a complaint that the animals were so used to being photographed that they struck poses making the whole thing look so unnatural.
Next it's East London and it was here that saw our motor racing enthusiasts at the local races.. This, together with the dances organised by the South African equivalant of the UK's RNVR, ensured that a good time was had by all.
On to Durban to be greeted traditionally by the "Lady in White" singing to us from the jetty. Here we would like to pass on a little information to a couple of "ANON" ratings. The reason they had a large stretch of beach to themselves, whilst hundreds of people were crowded on a much smaller stretch, was that the people were using the section of beach protected by shark nets and life-savers, whilst the ratings were swimming in the "Sharks Only" part ! We were admirably entertained by the Missions to Seaman, they gave us numerous dances and extended much private hospitality. Mombasa will be remembered largely because of the woodcarvings which were on sale in practically every shop, bar, cafe and market stall in the town. The place will also be burned deep into the memory of a member of the side party who was lowered gently into the water whilst working on a stage and the shocked into what was probably a world record shattering swim to the Med-Ladder by cries of "Shark" from the upperdeck.
Our French-speaking ratings had a chance to practice their art at our next port of call. Diego Suarez, the French Naval Base in Madagascar offered us fishing trips, swimming and sports fixtures against the French Navy. Ashore in the evenings we had some riotous times with the French foreign Legion, Army and Naval rating stationed locally.
Mauritius gave us the opportunity to meet a large contingent of our fellow countrymen who were standing by the building of a wireless station on the island. Here the RN Families Club gave us open house and many were the busloads of feted matelots who returned to the ship in the early hours of the morning. There was swimming to be had at the palm fringed beaches and wonderful scenery for those who went on organised bus trips.
At all the ports we visited we returned the hospitality extended to us by throwing open the ship to visitors. Mauritius undoubtedly took greatest advantage of our offer to come aboard and look around.
From Mauritius we returned to the Cape and Simonstown and preperations for exercise CAPEX. We also returned to what had by this time become "Home Ground", I refer of course to the "CATS", "DARYLS" and the "NAVI'S DEN".
For three weeks we were busy exercising with units of the South African Navy including ships Transvaal, Good Hope Vrystaat. We had also been joined by our relief on station HMS Jaguar and the submarine Amphion, luckless target of many CAPEX anti-submarine exercises. A team of "Model Flyers" from Portland provided us with targets for our A/A shoots and one or two humorous moments. It was during this period that someone told those SA newspaper reporters that, amongst many other wonderous things, that we could have sunk the Bismark single-handed. This news may have impressed the South Africans but not half so much as it must impressed the Admiralty who obviously had no idea of our tremendous potential. As the Russian Fleet didn't immediately surrender we can only assume they do not read South African newspapers. (In the photograph are the Liverpool lads, George Penrith, Jim Evans, and Brian Waltham)
Then, as we were leaving Simonstown for yet another phase of CAPEX we received an Operational Immediate signal to return to harbour. There was volcanic activity on the small remote island of Tristan da Cunha. It meant working into the early hours of the morning loading all the usual gear peculiar to emergency relief operations and getting the ship ready for the voyage.
We sailed for Tristan da Cunha at 4am on the 10th October.
During our passage the situation changed radically. The Islanders had been taken off Tristan by two small fishing vessels. They had the been transfered to the Dutch Liner, Tjsadane, diverted from South America. We met her in the growing dusk when she was 24 hours from Tristan. There was a brief flashing of signal lamps and she disappeared in the murky dusk, carrying her bewildered refugees to Capetown. Leopards mission was now changed. She was now to salvage valuable equipment on the island and destroy documents and equipment which could not be moved.
During the whole of the voyage to Tristan the landing operation was being planned and the various parties detailed for specific tasks.
When we arrived at the island, plans swung smoothly into operation for embarking personal belongings and valuable stores. Houses were systematiacally and carefully stripped, and salvaged articles transferred to the ship. Then came heavier gear such as generators and Met. equipment, which became our deck cargo.
There were two unpleasant tasks to perform. One was the destruction of all alcohol on the island to prevent it being a source of trouble to the master of the TRISTANIA whose crew would be using the island as a base for as long as possible. The other was the destruction of the dogs and fowl on the island. The cattle and sheep could be left to fend for themseves, but the dogs would either starve slowly or turn wild, savage the other livestock and be a danger to any subsequent attempts to land on the island. Similarly the fowl would have had a long and painful death.
Two dog escaped. TRISTAN and CUNHA. These dogs are firm favourites on board, except perhaps with the Buffer, who claims they are too fond of walking on freshly painted decks and performing their natural functions in the wrong places, and with the owners of numerous miscellaneous articles, i.e. shoes, caps, photographs, etc., with which Cunha is very fond of supplementing his diet. The volcano itself was an amazing sight. Even while we were there it was growing steadily. it was a single mound of hot ash and rock about 300 to 400 feet high. At irregular but frequent intervals great clouds of of sulphurous gases and smoke burst into the air. At night it was most spectacular. Red hot ash and boulders rolled and bounced down it's sides leaving glowing scars which were visible twenty miles away.
The thirty six hours we spent off the island was in the middle of five days of fine weather; most unusual for that time of year. Had it not been fine and calm we would not have been able to land at all as there are no quays or jetties.
The beach that was used for the landings was christened "Hicks Beach" after the Captain, but as the ship was weighing anchor to leave the island the volcano gave a large belch and Hicks Beach along with the Crayfish Canning Factory was swallowed up with lava, to cheers of all on the fo'cstle. ( this event was related by Brian Waltham).
During the passage back to Capetown the ship was more like a Mississippi gambling river-boat than a warship. There was a mammoth raffle, tombola, entrance fees to cinema shows of films salvaged from the island and the "Grand Auction" of things ranging from transistor radios to long week-ends. When we arrived at Capetown we were able to present Mr WILLIE REPETTO, the Chief Islander, with the sum of £235, together with a Leopard crest and a tattered Union Jack which had flown on the island to the end.
The islanders were resettled at Calshott near Southampton, England. HMS Leopard was made custodian of the Ensign that HMS Magpie gave to them, until such time, if ever, that the islanders return to Tristan da Cunha.
The following information was retrieved from Kew Public Records Office, concerning the payment to Shipwright Blount for photographs/films taken privately by him 13 October 1961 at Tristan da Cunha.
Register No.CNI.254/61 Minute Sheet No. 1
1. It will recalled that HMS Leopard was, sent to Tristan da Cunha at the time of the volcanic eruptions on the island. While the ship was engaged in clearing-up operations, a member of the crew, J.J. Blount took a 100 35mm photographs of the scene. These were forwarded to CNI by the Commanding Officer, HMS Leopard for publicity purposes.
2. CNI distributed the pictures to the Press media who were keen to obtain the shots which were not available from any other source.Enclosed are cuttings of the pictures published in the times The Daily telegraph and the Daily Express. A selection of pictures were also published in the London Illustrated News and the Sphere. Both the National geographic Society eagerly sought copies of the prints.
3. These type of pictures make excellent publicity for the royal navy and CNI is anxious that this type of individual enterprise should be encouraged were ever possible, particularly in those units where Naval Photographers are not available. He therefore proposes that Shipwright Blount should be given some tangible recognition for his efforts in form of an ex gratia payment. CNI suggests, that, in this case, a payment of £10 would be suitable reward.
4. If the proposal is approved, it would appear for the payment to be met from the £400 List for Special services under Vote 1. Head of GF 1 Branch is requested to submit for approval accordingly.
A. Wallis
Chief of Naval Information
By Nobby G:
My, my, weren't they generous, I estimate that at todays rate that would equate to about £300, I bet the Times would have paid that for one photograph.
Did the Navy just give these pics away or did they sell them on?