THE LOWER DECK is the official Newsletter of the WARSHIPS & “THE LOWER DECK” MARINE CORPS MUSEUM (International), G.P.O. Box 3949, Sydney, N.S.W. 2001 AUSTRALIA and is issued free every four newsletter of the months to members and friends of the Museum, Veterans Associations, WARSHIPS & MARINE CORPS MUSEUM libraries, and ships and shore establishments of the Royal Australian Navy. (International) All material in this Newsletter is COPYRIGHT and cannot be Number 20 May 1999 reproduced in any way without the written permission of the Museum and contributors. Newsletter Editor: Paul Morrison (after-hours phone) 02-47321423 Photograph Credits: The photographs on page 1 and 20 were taken by Museum photographer Brian Morrison. The Museum was established in 1963 and is a non-profit organisation manned by volunteers. If you would like to help in our on-going efforts to preserve Naval history we would be most happy to hear from you. Accounts of Naval service, photographs, and other items would be greatly appreciated and would find a welcome place in the Museum. All items would be treated with the utmost care and respect.

COVER: British General Service Medal with Bar: YANGTZE 1949. The Medal was awarded to Ordinary Seaman G. H. Andrews R.N. who served in the destroyer HMS CONSORT at the time of the Incident. It is on display in the Museum’s medals cabinets along with other medals spanning more than 150 years of Naval history. In one of his letters to the Museum, ‘Andy’ Andrews recalled that, “Later in my Naval career after I had transferred to the Submarine Service, I had the good fortune to be drafted to HMS/M THOROUGH in th the 4 SUBMARINE SQUADRON when she was based in Sydney at HMAS PENGUIN in 1953-55. I have many wonderful memories of my In this issue: time in Oz.” 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE YANGTZE INCIDENT

-2- -3- that were lost or requisitioned by the Navy are all listed along with war- MUSEUM NEWS time details. The three books were donated by Richard Daniels who also donated a HUDDART PARKER officer’s cap badge.

Recent Acquisitions by the Museum Special Mention An item recently acquired is a 19th Century ROYAL NAVY RATINGS CUTLASS manufactured by E. Thurkle & Son, Soho, London. The Our friend in New Zealand, Bill Martin has kindly donated some more edged weapon is on display along with a photograph c.1900 of young items relating to his Naval service. Bill served in the Royal New Zealand British seamen practicing Cutlass Drill. The cutlass was a weapon used Navy in the post-war period including the Korean War. His story was for close fighting during the boarding of enemy ships and by Naval told in the May 1996 Newsletter (A Sea-Faring Tradition) which also Brigades ashore. They were widely used in the Navy throughout the 18th included his father’s sea-going service in World War 1. Bill has kindly and 19th centuries but became obsolete prior to World War 1. sent more photographs of his time in the Navy, cap tallies from several R.N.Z.N. ships as well as a 100 WON Note taken from a North Korean prisoner when he was serving in HMNZS TAUPO during the Korean The Museum Library War. Bill’s ‘Crossing the Line’ certificate is on display and this will now Some of the recent books acquired for the library are: be expanded to include some of the other items he has kindly sent. THE LIST OF THE OFFICERS OF HIS MAJESTY’S ROYAL Peter Flahavin is an Australian Historian who specializes in the MARINE FORCES ON FULL AND HALF PAY WITH INDEX 1830. GUADALCANAL and SOLOMON ISLANDS CAMPAIGN 1942-43. This book which was printed nearly 170 years ago is of historical Peter has visited Guadalcanal on several occasions, photographing the interest in that it has distant links with the European settlement of old battlefields and retracing the war. On a recent visit to Guadalcanal in Australia in 1788. Included in THE LIST are three officers who served January of this year, we asked if Peter could help the Museum. We have with the British Marines in the First Fleet. These are William Dawes a number of original items on display relating to the Guadalcanal who was Engineering Officer, Headquarters Staff, New South Wales Campaign but there was one small item of historic interest that would Marine Corps Detachment 1788, James Meredith, Company add greatly to the display. The small item we were after was a piece of Commander, and Watkin Tench, Company Commander. In June 1789, barbed wire from Edson’s (Bloody) Ridge. The Ridge commanded the Lieutenant Tench led a small party of Marines and convicts, discovering U.S. Marines defence perimeter and was the scene of one of the the rich farming and grazing lands of the Nepean River, near present-day bloodiest battles fought on Guadalcanal. This battle, a major turning Penrith where the Museum office is located. point in the Campaign was fought in September 1942 when the Japanese tried to storm the Ridge and capture the nearby airfield. THE ADELAIDE STEAMSHIP CO. LIMITED 1875-1925, HUDDART PARKER LIMITED 1876-1926 (both books were issued for the 50th With the approval of the Government authorities, Peter was able to Anniversaries), and HUDDART PARKER LIMITED 1939-45. The retrieve two 270mm (10.5 inch) strands of barbed wire from the Marines books give the histories of the two Australian shipping companies as outer defence perimeter. The barbed wire from Edson’s (Bloody) Ridge well as their involvement in World War 1 and World War 2. The ships will soon be on display along with a photograph of the barbed wire and -4- -5- and its position on the Ridge, and a map of the Ridge showing the defence lines as they looked in September 1942. THE YANGTZE INCIDENT, 1949 What’s Happening in Australian Waters The Royal Australian Navy’s newest minehunter, NORMAN was In April 1949, the Chinese Civil War fought between the Nationalist recently launched at ADI Limited, Carrington (Newcastle). The week forces of Chiang Kai-shek and the Communist forces of Mao Tse-tung prior to the launching, Museum members travelled to Newcastle to was drawing to an end. The Nationalists were in retreat and in this photograph the ship (see page 20). This is one of several visits we have atmosphere of confusion and uncertainty, a Royal Navy frigate, HMS made to the shipyard, taking photographs of the various stages of the AMETHYST1 was despatched up the Yangtze River to the British construction work on the minehunters. NORMAN is the third of six Embassy at Nanking to protect British citizens and other nationalities. HUON Class minehunters being built for the Navy. She was to relieve another Royal Navy ship, the destroyer HMS CONSORT. A Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS SHOALHAVEN Funny Naval Signals was originally intended to be sent as a relief but at the last moment was replaced by the AMETHYST. The frigate HMS LONDONDERRY was ‘shadowing’ a Soviet warship th in the Atlantic during the Cold War – On 19 April, HMS AMETHYST departed Shanghai for her voyage up Russian Warship: the Yangtze to Nanking. Lieutenant Weston, the ship’s First Lieutenant YOU ARE LAGGING BEHIND. RECOMMEND YOU CONNECT A (Executive Officer) in a later report wrote, “Large painted Union flags WASHING MACHINE TO THE SHAFT OF YOUR SHIP. had been made and placed ready for display; ammunition had been got HMS LONDONDERRY: up; and it was decided to close up at action stations before proceeding through areas where the Naval Attache, Nanking, had signalled the I AM ONLY RUNNING ON WASHING MACHINES AT THIS Communists were concentrated.” To add to these precautions and to help SPEED. MY MAIN ENGINES ARE STILL IN RESERVE. identify her as a neutral warship, a Union flag was painted on her hull and the Union flag as well as the white ensign flew at the jack staff. In 1985, the Museum was assisted by Commander John Kerans, -7- DSO., RN (Rtd) who temporarily commanded in 1949 the frigate HMS At this time, the destroyer HMS CONSORT2 too was preparing to leave AMETHYST. Commander Kerans kindly helped us with a project we Nanking for the coast. Ordinary Seaman Terry Hodgins, just a month were working on concerning the Royal Navy in the post-World War 2 period. In 1997, the Museum was fortunate to obtain a Medal with Bar: 1. HMS AMETHYST (F116) was a modified BLACK SWAN Class sloop later modified YANGTZE 1949 and it was decided to prepare a project on the Yangtze after World War 2 to an anti-aircraft frigate. She was built by Stephen & Sons Ltd, Glasgow and commissioned into the Navy in 1943. Technical details are – Displacement: 1,450 tons, Incident in which HMS AMETHYST was involved. The project now Length: 299.5 feet (91 metres), Main Armament: 6 x 4-inch (102mm) guns, 8 x 2-pounder includes two large volumes of photographs, first-hand accounts, original pompoms, Speed: 19 knots, Complement: 192. World War 2 Service: In 1943, AMETHYST items etc. which have been kindly sent to us by the members of the carried out escort work in the Mediterranean. In 1944, she was on anti-U Boat patrol in the Atlantic and in January 1945, as part of ESCORT GROUP 22, she helped sink U-482. Later -6- that year and serving in the Pacific, she was present at the surrender of Japanese forces at Rabaul, New Britain. AMETHYST was broken up in 1957. FOUR SHIPS ASSOCIATION who were involved in the Incident. Some 2. HMS CONSORT (D76) was a C Class destroyer built by Stephen & Sons Ltd, Glasgow of these accounts appear in this Newsletter. and commissioned in 1946. Technical details are – Displacement: 2,550 tons, Length: 363 feet (111 metres), Main Armament: 4 x 4.5-inch (114mm) guns, 4 x 40mm anti-aircraft guns, various smaller calibre anti-aircraft guns, Torpedo Tubes: 4 x 21-inch (533mm), Speed: 33 knots, Complement: 186. World War 2 Service: CONSORT was launched in October 1944 short of his 18th birthday recalled, “My most vivid memories of Nanking whispered the words, ‘The balloons gone up’, before clattering down the were of night guard duty on the coal yard, the contents of which steps to the Canteen below. That was to be the last I ever saw of him and presented a fortune to the locals; the inter-football tournament played on it fills me with great sadness when I think of that moment.” a pitch made stone hard by zero temperatures; and most of all, the Onboard HMS AMETHYST and only a short time before, Telegraphist ‘Nanking Follies’. The latter was a concert produced by Surgeon Jack French was, “Coming off the morning watch and no sooner had I Lieutenant Mark Bentley to entertain the ship’s company and also, on got to the washroom, when Action Stations was sounded. Fortunately, one memorable evening, the staff of every embassy and consulate based we only came under fire from light small arms fire and within half an in Nanking. hour, I was able to go down to the mess and have breakfast. It was “When CONSORT was in harbour, as we obviously were at Nanking, thought that it was just someone being ‘trigger happy’ and the ship my ‘part of ship duty’ was as the ‘Captain’s Flat’ sweeper which made proceeded on up-river, but with at a greatly increased speed. Shortly me responsible for the cleanliness of the area outside the Captain’s cabin after 9.00 a.m. we came under fire again but this time it was by heavy as well as the very large trophy cabinet. I enjoyed the responsibility artillery fire.” because it was mine alone, with the added bonus of having a close ear to AMETHYST was now entering a narrow section of the river where there all that went on in the skipper’s cabin. I also developed a friendship with were islands and sandbanks and Jack French recalls, “It was unfortunate the Captain’s messenger whose job it was to beat a continuous and well- that this occurred just as we were negotiating the bend in the river worn path from the Wireless/Transmission Office to the Captain with the around Rose Island, with the wheel hard a-port and salvoes hit both the signals received from here, there and everywhere. The messenger’s Wheelhouse and the Bridge, killing or wounding the crews that were name was Ordinary Seaman Chris Hutton who was destined to die in the manning those positions. By the time that anyone had regained their Yangtze Incident and whose death affected me more than any other. senses, it was too late to prevent the ship from running aground into “On the day in question, 20th April 1949, spirits were high as the weather thick mud at high speed.” had started to get considerably warmer and, best of all, we knew that Able Seaman Raymond Calcott remembered that, “We came to Action AMETHYST would soon be arriving to relieve us as guard ship. Our Stations and the Union flags were unfurled and hung over the side of the thoughts were on getting back to Hong Kong and, for some, the even ship. We were taking hits from astern on the starboard side. The only happier thought that it was the end of a two and a half year commission gun which could bear on the targets was X gun, but this was soon put out and they would soon be on the way home to their families. Among these of action.” were Chief Petty Officer Gurney, Petty Officer Morton and Leading On the bridge of AMETHYST, Able Seaman Donald Redman was, -8- -9- Seaman Moir, none of whom would still be alive at the end of the day. “Standing next to the Captain, Lieutenant Commander Skinner, record- “It was a day that dawned bright and clear, and I was busy polishing my ing every course alteration he was calling and the time. This was the trophies when Chris Hutton, carrying his clip board, tore past me usual practice in narrow waterways. Everything was going fine until a without a word and went straight to the Captain’s cabin. The very fact shell splashed across our bows. The Captain shouted, ‘I do believe that he hadn’t knocked on the door before entering set the alarm bells someones firing at us! Action stations! Raise the Battle Ensign!’ We ringing for me and this was confirmed when he quickly emerged and then received a direct hit forward of the bridge and I knelt down to record the Captain’s instructions. Suddenly we received a direct hit on and therefore saw no war service. The C Class destroyers were ordered in 1942 and only the the bridge and I was unconscious. As a result of this shell the Captain first batch with “CA” names saw any wartime service. CONSORT was broken up in 1961. was mortally wounded, Ordinary Seaman Driscoll and a Chinese Pilot would say we were about the last of the swimmers to leave the ship. As killed outright, Lieutenant Berger (the Navigation Officer), Signalman the Leading Telegraphist was not a strong swimmer, a Petty Officer, Roberts and myself were badly wounded.” Seaman and myself jumped in either side of him, to assist him by Leading Signalman Ferrett was at his action station on the flagdeck, pushing him as we swam. Needless to say, by the time we reached the just below the bridge, “A shell hit the wheelhouse within feet of me. The bank, I felt in need of a rest. As they were still firing at us I got down Coxswain (Acting Chief Petty Officer Nicholls) was wounded and as he behind a Carley float to regain my breath before clambering up the steep fell dragged the wheel to port, with the result that before anyone had the eight feet high bank. chance to react, the ship was aground. “During this time, the Gunnery Officer was calling for volunteers to take “There was nothing I could do there so I went below where there were the Whaler back to the ship to collect more wounded and I volunteered already some wounded and dead colleagues. I helped the Doctor to help man the Whaler. I can still remember that on the way back a (Surgeon Lieutenant Alderton) and Sick Berth Attendant (Thomas bullet whizzed by, just above my head. We had to approach the ship by Baker) both subsequently killed, with the wounded. The Doctor told me the port bow, as it was the only part that was shielded from the gunfire. to apply a splint immobilising the Coxswain’s legs, which I did, As we approached, the Fleet Electrical Officer asked if there was a obviously not very well, because when I later visited him in hospital in Telegraphist onboard the Whaler. Upon my affirmation, they tossed Hong Kong, he was unaware that it had been me, because he remarked down a rope and literally hauled me onboard. This was to begin five or that some idiot had put a splint which was absolutely useless on his legs. six sleepless days and nights onboard the ship. It was not until the first Reunion in 1979 that I confessed that I was the “My biggest problem came with the closing down of the ship’s engines ‘idiot’ concerned.” to conserve fuel. I had to revert to using the emergency receiver and Although himself badly wounded, Lieutenant Weston now took transmitter – becoming bathed in sweat, which made writing difficult command from the mortally wounded Captain Skinner. “Evacuate. Until and my hand sliding off the key, and the fact that there was no air circul- nightfall. Keep a steaming party on board and get a dozen volunteers to ation, which caused the transmitter to overheat and consequently blow help the wounded off. Get the rest ashore under cover till dark. Then the valves. Eventually we ran out of valves and a couple of times it bring them back and we’ll refloat the ship.” necessitated ‘flashing-up’ (starting the ship’s engines) to clear a message of great importance.” Leading Signalman Ferrett remembered that when the order came to evacuate the ship, “I started to swim and it was unnerving to see the -11- -10- Hearing of AMETHYST’s desperate situation, HMS CONSORT now proceeded at full speed, flying seven White Ensigns and three Union splashes of machine gun bullets sweeping across the water towards me. Jacks. She reached AMETHYST at 1.45 p.m. on the 20th and eased Someone near me went under, whether from being hit or giving up I will speed to 16 knots. never know. I only made the shore myself because the occupants of a Carley raft waited for me to catch up. Once on the bank we sheltered for Boy Seaman John Brewer recalled that “Action Stations” were sounded some time until the firing died down again.” at approximately 1300, whereupon I took up my station in the Fire Control centre for our weapons. Once all checks had been made, Telegraphist Jack French was another who made the dangerous swim to Ordinary Seaman Hutton who was later killed in the action asked me to the shore but not before, “In a situation such as this, it was our Depart- relieve him by listening on the earphones, but to return them to him on ment’s responsibility to burn our Secret Publications and to break up the order ‘Stand To’. Eventually this order was given at approximately into pieces our Crypto-equipment. As this took considerable time, I 1330 and shortly afterwards we opened fire with 4.5-inch broadsides Number 8 dress, steel helmet and protective anti-flash gear. I was fairly backed up with 40mm Bofors and 20mm Oerlikon.” confident I would survive whatever was in store. Stoker Mechanic Tom Flanagan reported to his Action Station on “My first doubt arose when, much further down the river, I happened to Forward Damage Control. “It seemed no time at all before we were glance astern and saw giant spouts of water gushing skyward and getting steaming towards AMETHYST’s position and I recall looking upwards ever closer to where I was standing. All of this gave me the uneasy to see the ship’s seven Battle Ensigns straining horizontally against the feeling that we would soon be told it was time to leave the protection of wind. Within minutes of spotting AMETHYST aground on a mud bank our gun turret. I do know that on every run between the turret and the we came under heavy fire ourselves and received several hits from shell locker I felt at the mercy of the Chinese who could be seen clearly armour-piecing shells. on the river bank. When suddenly there were no more shells to lift and “We were told to get down to the Seamens mess deck which was badly load the figure of Chief Gunnery Instructor Robinson appeared and holed just above the waterline. As well as plugging the gaping hole with ordered two of us below. I only discovered that my companion was Boy hammocks we put out a number of small fires that were filling the air Seaman Benny Bound when we landed in a tangled heap on the steel with dense black smoke. I was glad to be ordered to return up top where deck of the magazine, the two of us having been thrown from the ladder some of us were put to work feeding amunition to a Bofors gun which following a tremendous explosion. had been firing without pause since the start of the action. It was a nerve “We immediately started loading shells on to the hoist and in the racking task as it required hoisting a box of shells on the shoulder before confines of the magazine it was thankfully impossible to see what was sprinting along the open deck whilst being pursued by a stream of going on above and that the ship was turning to make another attempt to bullets. Not all of us were lucky enough to come through unscathed.” haul AMETHYST off the mud bank on which she was trapped. Having Another who found himself assisting with the Bofors guns was Leading run the gauntlet once I must surely have questioned the sanity of anyone Seaman Ron Howell. “My own action station was the Transmitting who could not see it was a hopeless task, but ours is not to reason why Station in charge of the 275 Gunnery Radar but due to the vast expanse and I continued to assure the Good Lord that I would follow the Path of of the river and its low lying banks, there was insufficent illustration on Righteousness if only I was spared. I remember very little about the the screens to direct the guns on to target. The result of this was that remainder of the action except that it was obvious the ship could not -12- -13- when we eventually engaged the well-concealed enemy gun batteries, all survive any more direct hits.” our guns were firing over open sights on bearings given by the Director. In the running battle with the Chinese shore batteries which was to last Being surplus to requirement in the Transmitting Station, I found myself, for more than two hours, CONSORT took heavy damage and casualties. along with other shipmates working as Gun Loaders for the crew of the Ordinary Seaman ‘Andy’ Andrews was one of the lucky ones. “At this starboard Bofors. As the gun hardly stopped firing throughout the action time as a young man of 18 I had just been promoted to Ordinary it was strenuous work.” Seaman. My Action Station was as a communications number in the Ordinary Seaman Terry Hodgins’ action station was in Y Gun and, “I Transmission Station for Gunnery Control. I remember relaying the was one of the loaders whose job it was to hump the heavy 4.5-inch information I received from the Director Layer that he had the shells between hoist and gun turret before popping them into the breach ‘AMETHYST in sight’, and my next order was to pass the message for without dropping any. I thus found myself at my battle station clad in ‘All guns to open fire’ on the Communist shore batteries. “A message later came over my headset that the forward guns were not On 21st April 1949, the heavy cruiser HMS LONDON3 and the frigate receiving ammunition fast enough and I was ordered by the Gunnery HMS BLACK SWAN4 also engaged the Communists in an attempt to Officer to leave the Transmission Station and go to the forward free the AMETHYST. Again the ships were driven off with heavy magazine to ‘give them a hand.’ I became convinced that I have a casualties. John Dunstan serving in HMS BLACK SWAN recalled the Guardian Angel when I later discovered that approximately two minutes closing stages of the bloody battle, “Most of the fire went on LONDON, after I left the Transmission Station, it received a direct hit from a high which then passed us at full speed and we followed. A shell exploded on explosive shell that penetrated the bulkhead exactly where I was -15- standing and the whole crew there were killed.” her bridge wounding her Captain. The Admiral onboard realising that Leading Stoker Tom Flanagan learned, “there is no truth in the saying with 15 miles still to go before we reached AMETHYST, the ship would that ‘you never see the one that hits you’ because I distinctly saw a large be reduced to a blazing wreck, and so decided we must withdraw. Word hole appearing in the ship’s side, then heard the ear splitting noise of an came from the bridge of BLACK SWAN, ‘LONDON is off, she is explosion before experiencing the feeling that I was melting from the turning down river and we are both returning to Shanghai.’ The time was feet upwards. I tried to stand erect and when I couldn’t, I crawled to the about 1130. BLACK SWAN had seven casualties, some serious, bulkhead door only to find I couldn’t get over the lower sill. It was then I thankfully none fatal.” (LONDON suffered 72 casualties including 13 realised that I was in serious trouble and that it was the bits hanging dead and 14 seriously wounded, of whom two later died). from what was left of my legs that were preventing me from getting through the door. I heard myself shouting for help and suddenly I could At 1600 on that same day, a Royal Air Force SUNDERLAND Flying feel the hands of Petty Officer Radio Electrician Akhurst carrying me to Boat was able to land on the river near AMETHYST and bring a doctor relative safety. Petty Officer Akhurst was killed instantly only minutes and much-needed medical supplies. Able Seaman Calcott recalled after later when he returned to his station, by the full force of another armour landing, “the SUNDERLAND came under fire and had to make a rapid piercing shell. He saved my life and I will never forget that. 3. HMS LONDON (C69) was a LONDON Class heavy cruiser built by Fairfield Ship- “The wardroom and stairwell were awash with blood, not only from building and Engineering Co. Ltd, Portsmouth and was a sister-ship to HMAS wounds previously sustained, but from the effect of another shell that SHROPSHIRE. She was commissioned into the Navy in the late 1920s. Technical details are- Displacement: 9,850 tons, Length: 633 feet (193 metres), Main Armament: 8 X 8-inch -14- (204mm) guns, 8 x 4-inch (102mm) guns, Torpedo Tubes: 8 x 21-inch (533mm), Speed: 32 knots, Complement: 650. World War 2 Service: In May 1941, whilst on convoy duty HMS penetrated the wardroom and caused further carnage. When Surgeon LONDON took part in the hunt for the German battleship BISMARCK. In September of that Lieutenant Mark Bentley arrived at my side he explained that he would year she carried a British delegation to Archangel in Northern Russia for a meeting with the have to amputate immediately to give me any chance of survival even Soviet Government in Moscow. The remainder of 1941 and much of 1942-43 was spent on convoy duty in Arctic waters. In 1944, and now operating in the Indian Ocean, LONDON though his drugs and instruments had been blown to bits earlier. I took part in operations against the Japanese, including the escorting of Allied carrier groups learned from him later that he had used a straight razor in cutting attacking the Dutch East Indies. On 31st August 1945, Vice Admiral Hirose, I.J.N. through my ankle joints to sever what was left of my feet. I must have surrendered all Japanese military forces on Sumatra in a ceremony held onboard LONDON. passed out from the shock of it all because I awoke in the semi-darkness The ship was broken up in 1950. 4. HMS BLACK SWAN (F57) was a BLACK SWAN class sloop later modified to a aware that someone was lying alongside me. It was Stoker Selwyn Rose frigate. She was built by Yarrow & Co. Ltd, Glasgow and was commissioned in 1939. who had lost his left hand, and on my other side was Stoker Bill Davies Technical details are similar to HMS AMETHYST. World War 2 Service: In April 1940, whose hands and arms had been peppered with shrapnel.” Having done BLACK SWAN took part in the ill-fated landings of Allied troops in Norway. In 1943, as part of ESCORT GROUP 37 and with the help of a corvette, BLACK SWAN sank U-124 in her best to help AMETHYST, HMS CONSORT was forced to retire the Central Atlantic. The following year (1944) she was on convoy duty in the Mediterranean. down-river to Shanghai. She was broken up in 1956. departure, but fortunately the Doctor (Flight Lieutenant Fearnley) was ship but it was in the interests of this political game played by them to able to disembark from the plane with much needed medical supplies. keep AMETHYST a captive. Such a situation would embarrass the “That night it was decided to get the wounded ashore in order to get British Government which was supportive of the Chinese Nationalists. medical assistance for them. A Chinese doctor had come aboard from The ship’s complement now that the wounded had been removed, was the shore, having seen our predicament and he organised two sampans to down to less than half – 73 officers and crew. Ordnance Artificer take the wounded ashore. At midnight it was decided that one able Trevor Leighton Rees was one of those who stayed. “After the battle, I bodied person should go with every five wounded in a sampan and I was was part of the burial party. The dead were lashed up with a 4-inch shell the first to volunteer. Having arrived ashore in pitch darkness between us and slid on a duck under an ensign into the river. During the 101 days I we unloaded the wounded. kept the two forward guns in good condition and stripped down large “After telling the men I would be back shortly, I made my way along the parts of the twin Bofors mounting. On another occasion I made a new shore and, luckily, after approximately twenty minutes I came across a rum funnel which was tinned with solder. Another job I took on was (Nationalist) army camp. I managed to explain who I was, and what I Acting School Master preparing the Boy Seamen. We managed to get required. I got back to the wounded with stretchers and bearers to carry the ship off the mud. There was a fair bit of clearing up and damage the wounded over the mountain to Chinkiang (held by the Nationalist control to do, and this was our major concern initially.” forces). A couple of miles into our journey I saw some white hats ahead, It was 31st July, and the 101st day of the ship’s imprisonment but Kerans so I halted the men and went ahead to investigate. I met Commander had a plan... It was a desperate plan but AMETHYST was in a desperate Kerans (R.N.), as well as a Chinese Naval officer, a Canadian doctor and situation – fuel was down to 55 tons, only enough for the long voyage to his assistant, and felt very relieved to hand over my charges. On arrival the coast. It would be a difficult if not impossible voyage with so few at Chinkiang I discovered that the skipper, Lieutenant Commander crew and only four officers – one of whom was a Royal Air Force Skinner and Able Seaman Winters had died during our journey.” Medical Officer! On 22nd April, Lieutenant Commander John Kerans took command -17- -16- Telegraphist Jack French remembered the escape, “As nothing short of a of the AMETHYST. Kerans had a distinguished Naval service having miracle. I am sure that most of us were of the frame of mind that we enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1932. He had China experience which was would not make the first half-mile. During our captivity, I had asked the to prove valuable in the months to come – having served on the China Captain if we could arrange a series of family favourites with the BBC Station in 1935 in the cruiser HMS CORNWALL and again in 1937-39 from the members of the crew to their families. By coincidence, when in the sloop HMS LOWESTROFT. He was present in Shanghai and we escaped, my turn had come up with ‘Cruising Down the River’.” other ports during the Sino-Japanese War and served temporarily in the During the escape which was under cover of darkness and at high tide, gunboat HMS LADYBIRD on the Yangtze River in 1937. After the war, AMETHYST’s Gunnery Control Officer, Lieutenant Keir Hett was he returned to the Far East serving in Security Intelligence at Hong Kong given a new duty onboard ship, Navigation Officer. He had joined the and in early 1949, he was sent to Nanking as Assistant Naval Attache. ship in June 1948 as a Sub-Lieutenant but during most of the ship’s Lieutenant Commander Kerans immediately realised the ‘political’ captivity, had served as Executive Officer. situation in which HMS AMETHYST was trapped. The ship was Ordnance Artificer Trevor Leighton Rees’ Action Station for the break- becoming a pawn in a game played by the Communists for propaganda out was, “At the top of the ammunition hoist under B gun, the only gun purposes The Communist Chinese could easily capture or destroy the we were able to man. There, I was in charge of ammunition supply and few inches shorter than my Mother had seen me when I departed for the would be near at hand in case emergency repairs should be needed.” Far East three years earlier. Because of her I began to lead a life as full Ordinary Seaman Gordon Wright’s Action Station was, “In the as my injuries would allow – even to the extent of becoming a 10 wheel-house when we made our escape. My friend and I, Ordinary handicap golfer.” Seaman Jack McClean were told to lay down on the deck in the Stoker Mechanic Bryan Loving who served in HMS AMETHYST, his wheelhouse until we were needed to work the telegraphs. Petty Officer first ship after basic training and who was one of the wounded, wrote a Frank said to me, ‘If anything happens to me Shiner, you get on this short piece, ‘Sixteen Months in the Navy’ on his return, for his old school wheel’, so I said to him jokingly, ‘It’s being so bloody cheerful that magazine. He finished the article with, “We are returning to eastern keeps you going’, but I was very apprehensive about our escape. waters in the very near future.” “Anyway, after seven hours we made it to the open sea, with tears For Ordnance Artificer Trevor Leighton Rees, “When I arrived home in running down my face. That was the longest seven hours of my life, Treorchy I was amazed by the welcome. Fog alarms were sounded off as which I will never forget. Nor will I forget my 20th Birthday which was my train approached. There was a concert and this was tied in with a on 28th July, three days before our escape.” civic reception. There was a monster party in my home for which the On 31st July, at 0500 hours, HMS AMETHYST met the destroyer HMS local pub (The Lion) ignored the licensing laws. Lastly a tea party was CONCORD at the entrance to the Yangtze. She had sustained only one given by the neighbours.” hit on her escape. CONCORD signalled: ‘FANCY MEETING YOU On Tuesday, 1st November 1949, a ‘Return of HMS AMETHYST’ AGAIN’ and received the return signal from Kerans, ‘NEVER, NEVER Luncheon was held by the City of Portsmouth which was attended by the HAS A SHIP BEEN MORE WELCOME’. In a separate signal from relatives of AMETHYST’s crew while Lieutenant Commander Kerans Kerins to Admiral Sir Patrick Brind, Commander-in-Chief, Far East -19- -18- and the crew attended a reception at the Duke of Cornwall Hotel, which Station was sent the following message – ‘HAVE REJOINED THE Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser of North Cape and other dignitaries were FLEET SOUTH OF WOOSUNG, NO DAMAGE OR CASUALTIES. present. On 16th November, the City of London payed their respects to GOD SAVE THE KING’. Kerans and his crew when they marched through the city to ‘the Most of those who took part in the Yangtze Incident returned to the Admiralty Church’, St. Martin-in-the-Fields for a thanksgiving service. United Kingdom shortly after either on leave, or for those who had been This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the Yangtze Incident and the seriously wounded, to be pensioned out. members of THE FOUR SHIPS ASSOCIATION will meet again. Terry Stoker Mechanic Tom Flanagan spent, “A period in the British Military Hodgins wrote saying,“We have members coming from as far afield as Hospital in Hong Kong, where we received excellent care and attention. Australia, Canada and the United States.” John Parker who served in We were shipped home and it became a journey full of hope and heart- HMS LONDON is also expecting a “large attendance.” break. Later on a further amputation was necessary so that I could wear Recently, Tom Flanagan reflected on what his own ship, HMS an artificial limb more comfortably but when they wanted some more of CONSORT went through during the Yangtze Incident and in his words my left leg I decided that enough was enough. are perhaps reflected some of the experiences of the other three ships, “I arrived home for good on 5th September 1950, some 18 months after HMS AMETHYST, HMS BLACK SWAN and HMS LONDON. the Yangtze Incident, complete with two artifical limbs and standing a “CONSORT was in for a massive refit after the action. We lost her two forward guns with direct hits. The after guns, Y gun was put out of action, X gun was only able to traverse a part of her range, so was virtually useless. The only gun that was still firing and the most effective weapon, was the Bofors guns amidships. We lost our main steering with a direct hit on the wheelhouse, we could not use the amidships wheel, it was too exposed. So we were steering from the Tiller flat, with a line of men passing on the commands from the bridge. A direct hit on the bridge knocked out the bridge to all intent and purposes. We lost the Gun Director, the Gyro Room, the Wireless/Transmission Room with a direct hit. Several days after the action an unexploded shell was found on top of the boilers. “We had a great number of wounded in the forward part of the ship. As it was, we almost went aground a couple of times, first, when the bridge received a direct hit, secondly, with the misinterpretation of a steering If you have enjoyed reading this Newsletter, please pass it down the line command somewhere down the line. We hit the bank of the river, but at for others to read the time we were in ‘Emergency Full Astern’ on the engines, that some- how sucked us back off the bank, almost before we hit it.

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“We fought a 2 ! hour fight in a river, against an experienced army that had been fighting since 1934. In the early years against the Nationalists, then the Japanese, so they were seasoned fighting men. The maximum range for their guns was around 1,000 yards. The word sitting duck comes to mind for us. I am sure that it was only the speed of CONSORT that kept her in the fight for so long.” It could also be added, the professionalism and courage of the ship’s crew, and of the other three ships that were involved in the Yangtze Incident in 1949. Acknowledgements The Museum would like to thank all those who kindly gave permission for us to use extracts from their accounts in this Newsletter. We would also like to thank other members of THE FOUR SHIPS ASSOCIATION for their assistance with our project on the Yangtze Incident – in particular Don Redman (HMS AMETHYST Association), John Dunstan (HMS BLACK SWAN Association), Terry Hodgins (HMS CONSORT Association) and John Parker (HMS LONDON Association).