Description
Object description
British cadet served with Royal Naval College at Eaton Hall in GB, 5/1943-1/1946; served aboard HMS Frobisher and HMS Devonshire in West Indies and GB coastal waters, 1/1946-9/1947; midshipman served aboard HMS Birmingham in GB coastal waters and Indian Ocean, 9/1947-12/1948; midshipman and officer served with Royal Naval College, Greenwich in GB, 1/1949-4/1949; officer served with Submarine Service and with HMS Dolphin, Gosport in GB, 5/1949-1/1951; served aboard submarine HMS Toredo in Mediterranean, 1/1951-3/1953; served with X-class midget submarines in GB coastal waters, 1953-1955; staff officer served with Submarine Service, Royal Navy in GB, West Indies and Canada, 1955-1958; commanded submarine HMS Tireless in GB coastal waters, Atlantic and North Sea, 5/1958-8/1959; served as staff officer with Royal Navy attached to Royal Australian Navy in Australia, 1959-1961; commanded submarine HMS Amphion in South Africa and the Far East, 1961-1962; commanded submarine HMS Artemis in GB coastal waters, 1962-1963; staff officer served with Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in GB, 1963-1965; commanded submarine HMS Osiris in in GB coastal waters, North Sea and Atlantic, 3/1965-5/1967; student with Joint Services Staff College, Latimer in GB, 5/1967-11/1967; staff officer served with Ministry of Defence in London, GB, 1967-1970; commanded submarine HMS Repulse in the Atlantic, 7/1970-11/1973; staff officer served with Fleet Headquarters in GB, 1973-1976
Content description
REEL 1 Background in GB, 1929-1943: family; education. Recollections of period as officer cadet with Royal Naval College at Eaton Hall in GB, 5/1943-1/1946: background to joining Royal Naval College and reasons for joining Royal Navy; selection interview; preparations for start of course; description of Eaton Hall; cadets settling into naval life; daily routine; learning to fly De Havilland Tiger Moth; changes to uniform during time at college; seniority among cadets; pattern of training. Aspects of period as officer cadet aboard HMS Frobisher and HMS Devonshire in West Indies and GB coastal waters, 1/1946-9/1947: visit to Annapolis, US; sleeping arrangements; duties and classes undertaken; non-naval pursuits; content of naval history lessons; experience of air raids during Second World War; eave; voyage around GB and to Norway aboard HMS Devonshire including through minefields; role as understudy on officer's watch; story of drunkenness during visit to Nelson's Dockyard, Antigua.
REEL 2 Continues: appointment to HMS Birmingham. Recollections of period as midshipman aboard HMS Birmingham in GB coastal waters and Indian Ocean, 9/1947-12/1948: character of ship; duties; discipline and punishments at and leave from Royal Naval College; Women's Royal Naval Service members at Royal Naval College; discipline and punishments aboard HMS Birmingham; leave allowance; story of improperly dressed sailor; visits to Gibraltar and Aden; ports visited around Indian Ocean; attendance at Independence Ceremonies in Burma, 1948; ashore in Madras, India; voyage to Calcutta India; recreational activities; background of shipmates; naval etiquette training; return to GB, Aspects of period as midshipman with Royal Naval College, Greenwich, GB, 1/1949-4/1949: uniform allowance; visits to nightclubs in London; supply of meals; stories of balloon in the Painted Hall and moving cannon; courses undertaken; story of reprimand for ringing chapel bell.
REEL 3 Continues: further details of courses undertaken; reasons for wanting to join Submarine Service including visit to submarine HMS Truculent at Chatham; relations among a submarine crew members; stories of motorcycle accident and uniform exchange with Royal Marine officers. Aspects of period as midshipman and officer with Submarine Service, Royal Navy in GB coastal waters and Indian Ocean, 5/1949-9/1950: appointment to submarine HMS Andrew; description of interior of submarine HMS Andrew; seasick crew member; appointment to submarine HMS Sirdar; latrines; involvement in 1950 film 'Morning Departure'; role and duties; pros and cons of submarine service; watches; voyage from South Africa to Singapore; earlier rendezvous with a submarine; duties onboard HMS Andrew and HMS Sirdar including issue of rum ration; reason for rum ration and it's eventual withdrawal; further details of duties; details of amphibious course undertaken.
REEL 4 Continues: torpedo and submarine course undertaken at HMS Vernon; attending gunnery course; volunteering for submarines; claustrophobia among submariners; seasickness among seamen; navigation flight. Aspects of submarine training as officer with HMS Dolphin at Gosport in GB, 9/1950-1/1951: description of HMS Dolphin; process of escape from a submarine; submarine escape training; learning to touch type; process of making a submarine attack including calculating speed and target's movements; recreational activities; discipline onboard submarines; mine laying; training cruise; loss of HMS Affray and opinion of safety of submarines.
REEL 5 Continues: buying of uniform at Gieves and Hawkes in Portsmouth; clothing worn; role during voyage to Malta. Recollectons of period as officer aboard submarine HMS Toredo in Mediterranean, 1/1951-3/1953: description of submarine; problems with cockroaches; involvement in exercises; navigation; shooting; methods of hiding a submarine; story of exercise with Royal Marines; Christmas 1952; involvement in beach reconnaissance in Egypt; period attached to First Sea Lord as Flag Lieutenant; story of talk with policeman; visit of a HMS Sanguine's captain's niece; duties as navigation officer; navigational equipment; composition of crew.
REEL 6 Continues: leave in GB. Aspects of period as officer with X-Class midget submarines in GB coastal waters, 1953-1955: details of XE 9 and crews; operational use of submarine; description of exercise in River Clyde; involvement in films 'Seagulls Over Sorrento' and 'Above Us The Waves'; story of request from submariner to stop diving; involvement in building of third group of Stickleback-class midget submarines in Barrow-in-Furness; attitude towards midget submarines; night dive; forms of attack; message received from the Mayor of Morecambe on launching of X 52 Shrimp; involvement in building of third group of Stickleback-class midget submarines; explosion aboard HMS Sidon; transport of midget submarines by train; launch of Venezuelan Navy frigate; methods of attack including details of wet and dry chamber; layout of midget submarines; attendance at the Coronation Review, 15/6/1953; appointment to Chatham. Aspects of period as staff officer with Submarine Service, Royal Navy in GB, West Indies and Canada, 1955-1958: details of submarine HMS Auriga including recent re-fit; trials off Shetland Islands including sight of Russian fishermen.
REEL 7 Continues: story of April Fool's Joke; description of commanding officer's qualifying course attended including process of attacking a target, firing different types of torpedo, laying mines, visit to HMS Royal Arthur, details of sheerlegs, results and intensity of course; use of periscope; awaiting first command; posting to and details of HMS Maidstone at Portsmouth; tour of West Indies; exercises with Royal Canadian Navy off Nova Scotia; role as staff officer of operations. Recollections of period commanding submarine HMS Tireless in GB coastal waters, Atlantic and North Sea, 5/1958-8/1959: character of submarine; accommodation; exercises en route to Gibraltar including details of and problems with submarine snorkel.
REEL 8 Continues: return to Portsmouth including broadcast of radio interview; rejoining of fleet at Cadiz, Spain; period at Lisbon, Portugal including visit from wife; service of women onboard warships and submarine; christening of daughter onboard; voyage to Hamburg, West Germany; role as captain; daily routine and duties while in harbour; daily routine and duties whilst at sea; relationship with and rotation of crew; physical activity and fitness onboard. Aspects of voyage aboard SS Stratheden from Tilbury, GB, to Sydney, Australia, 1959: accommodation; daily routine; activities onboard; visit to Lisbon, Portugal; voyage through Suez Canal and Red Sea; visit to Bombay, India; route taken to Melbourne; story of photo taken at Melbourne; reception on arrival in Sydney. Aspects of period as staff officer with Royal Navy attached to Royal Australian Navy in Australia, 1959-1961: accommodation; avoiding barbecues; character of HMAS Watson including tactical training.
REEL 9 Continues: recreational activities; lectures given at HMAS Albatross; camping trips with family; relations with female members of Royal Australian Navy; pet budgerigar; parties in accommodation; building of chapel at HMAS Watson; return voyage to GB including journey through Egypt; duties at Faslane prior to sudden appointment to South Africa. Aspects of period commanding submarine HMS Amphion in South Africa and the Far East, 1961-1962: reason for appointment to submarine; exercises; activities during period in dock; near accident during exercise with South African Air Force; send-off from South Africa; character of voyage from South Africa to Singapore, Malaya, 12/1961; question of drinking at sea.
REEL 10 Continues: washing on deck and crossing the line ceremony, problems with and fixing of gyrocompass; handover of submarine and return to GB. Aspects of period as officer with submarine HMS Artemis in GB coastal waters, 1962-1963: visits to London during re-fit; working-up period; dealing with fires onboard; visit to sick children; dealing with submariners going sick on shore. Aspects of period as staff officer with Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in GB, 1963-1965: appointment; move of family to Dartmouth; duties assisting Commonwealth cadets; duties as housemaster including exercises; classes given on submarines; trips on yacht; weekends on Dartmoor; attending tactical course at Woolwich, 1/1965-3/1965. Aspects of period commanding submarine HMS Osiris in GB coastal waters, North Sea and Atlantic, 3/1965-5/1967: character of submarine.
REEL 11 Continues: communications with aircraft; attitude to rules; exercises with Royal Norwegian Navy; submarine class system; ferrying of Scots Guards; story of pistol competition with Danish Police; church attendance during voyages to and from Odense, Denmark; visit to Baltimore, US; story of stowaway from Baltimore, US; navigation through fog into Faslane; memories of navigation officer, Mike Flower; exercise in landing agents; testing of communication buoys including story of ill officer; exercises with Royal Canadian Air Force; promotion to commander; return to GB, 5/1967.
REEL 12 Continues: Aspects of period as student with Joint Services Staff College, Latimer in GB, 5/1967-11/1967: nature of course including visiting lecturers, family home and visits to armed forces. Aspects of period as staff officer with Ministry of Defence in London, GB, 11/1967-4/1970: role; superiors and location of office; story of visit to Greenwich on hovercraft; lecture given at Cambridge; trials attended on Malta; nature of work undertaken; nuclear engineering course undertaken at Royal Naval College, Greenwich; opinion of losses to Royal Navy and later visit of family to HMS Repulse; Polaris course undertaken at Faslane including details of Polaris missiles. Recollections of period commanding submarine HMS Repulse in the Atlantic, 7/1970-11/1973: character of submarine's crews.
REEL 13 Continues: warning upon taking command and effects on work; launch of HMS Repulse; history of the rum ration including its end and replacement; story of visit from General Andrew Goodpaster; visit of cadets from Rotherham; memories of medical officer; stand-offs with Soviet fishing trawlers; visit from Lord Carrington; aims of patrols and methods of achieving these; description of a typical patrol.
REEL 14 Continues: trials undertaken during patrols; dealing with a death onboard; methods of dealing with boredom; breaking of bad news; daily routine including cinefilm made of life onboard; duties; trick played on squadron commander; expression taken from 1959 film 'Ice Station Zebra' and used onboard; safety protocols; details of refit; story of photograph given of HMS Repulse's 1870 crew; flight in Hawker Siddeley Nimrod and other activities during refit.
REEL 15 Continues: details of Demonstration and Shakedown Operation in US; importance of remaining undetected; layout of HMS Repulse's interior including weapons carried; details of control room; duties of doctor including monitoring and maintaining environment; protocol for radiation leaks; protection from radiation; secrecy of Polaris. Aspects of period as officer with Fleet Headquarters in GB, 1973-1976: appointment, 11/1973: role and duties at Fleet Headquarters; meetings with VIPs; testing of firing chamber; submarine broadcasts.