HMS DARING Newsletter – October 1967

DARING has now completed three months of the foreign leg of her General Service Commission. Her first port of call was Gibraltar towards the end of July. Here the strained relations between England Spain over this corner of British territory did little to dampen the spirits of the DARING sailors ashore. Many of them crossed the border into Spain and spent evenings wandering round the traditional haunts of La Linea, eating the local food (anything for a change from General Mess!) and quaffing the excellent Spanish sherry at about 3d a glass. For the stronger stomach ‘Fundedor’ the local brandy came in very handy. It was fiesta time in Spain and La Linea was alive with o blaze of fairy lights, a blare of contemporary music and the happy, jostling mass of the Spanish population. Many of the younger senoritas made a pretty site in Spanish traditional dress. A fun fair was in full swing although a chair-ride in one of the whirling roundabouts was not best calculated to settle an English stomach full with the modest excesses of a very good run ashore.

On the Rock itself there was plenty to occupy the ships company for the whole of the two-day visit. Swimming from one of the several good beaches on the Rock was very popular and an onlooker would have had little difficulty in picking out the stark white torsos of the English sailors from the deeper expensive tans of the genuine holiday-maker or resident. The cableway to the tip of the Rock was a new feature, which attracted even some of the Gibraltar veterans who were accustomed to a more energetic route to the top. DARING's Soccer teams also had their first airing in the sort of heat, which they must come to expect; despite the searing temperature, they still managed to put up a creditable performance. When DARING finally sailed, there were quite a few men on board who wished that our visit could have been slightly longer. Probably the most so affected was one of the Chief Petty Officers who had got married on the Friday and had only had time for an eighteen hour honeymoon, with his English bride.

Since the Middle East War in June had resulted in the closure of the Suez Canal, DARING now set course for South Africa en route to her ‘East of Suez’ station. Rather to the surprise of the ships company, the temperatures did not increase appreciably as she moved South just out of sight of the West African coast, in fact the sky clouded over the nearer we got to the equator and on the day of the Crossing-the-line ceremony there was a pleasant cooling breeze blowing over the whole proceedings. The Court of King Neptune was convened with the full ceremonial, which traditionally accompanies this custom of the sea. Novices were duly tried and summarily punished at the bands of the bears in their pool. The Chief of Underwater Police and his fierce-some looking assistants scoured the ship for any skulker’s attempting to escape justice or even injustice. The Captain and the Officer-of-the-Watch, although no longer novices, were not allowed to escape the attentions of the Court and suffered the inevitable consequences of incurring their displeasure.

Apart from these mere light-hearted ways of passing the time on passage every opportunity was taken to exercise our role as a fighting ship. It was therefore not such an unusual sight to see DARING steering alone in the South Atlantic with all her exposed personnel wearing helmets and gasmasks while her guns blazed away at an imaginary enemy.

Simons Town is the main naval port of South Africa. DARING arrived there at the beginning of August, which is wintertime in that part of the world. Despite this, the climate was extremely pleasant; it was not too hot during the day yet the air was fresh and invigorating. At the end of every working day, the ships company appeared to disperse in all directions to enjoy the blessings of the land. Most of them went off to sample the delights of Cape Town, which was only an hour’s train ride away. Table Mountain provided an impressive backdrop to the city on one side, while on the other the long sweeping Cape rollers pounded almost unceasingly on the shore. The most vivid impression that was gained of South Africa was of the extreme hospitality and friendliness of the inhabitants. Some people were lucky enough to be invited ‘up country’ into the interior of this vast country. Here one could recapture what the earlier settlers must have felt when they first set about opening up these huge virgin tracts of land.

As in Gibraltar, one of the highlights of the DARING’s visit was the wedding of one of the ships company. This time is was the Navigating Officer who married a South African girl he had met in England. It will be difficult for DARING to maintain this high average of a wedding a visit. Once again the local wines and food, particularly the seafood made any run ashore an almost certain success even before it began. DARING sports teams had a full programme of matches with local sides and distinguished themselves both on and off the playing fields. It was a sad day for nearly everybody when DARING slipped away from the wall at Simons Town and again continued on her way East. It had been a hectic and memorable visit during which the ship motto had been “If you can’t stand the pace….. double it!”

After the pleasure of South Africa, DARING was employed on patrol off Beira. To break the monotony of many days at sea a variety of competitions and amusements were arranged by the ships company. These included a pulling regatta (racing round the ship against the clock in the ship’s whaler), tug of war, small arms shooting, indoor games, knock-outs and a fishing competition to mention but a few. The fishing competition was worthy of special mention as there are a great many keen and expert fishermen in DARING. The ship was stopped in an area known to provide excellent fishing, lights were rigged over the ship’s side and the optimists stood by with assistants poised to gaff their haul. Not one fish was caught. Furthermore not one fish was caught (worthy of mention) for many days thereafter despite all the crafty subtlety (including dynamite) displayed by the fishermen. To round the Beira Patrol off before proceeding to Mombasa, a ships company concert was held on the fo’c’sle one evening. This provided an opportunity for the more extroverted of the ships company to perform for the entertainment of the rest. Many and varied were the acts, although after some weeks without sight of the fairer sex, those containing terylene haired ‘beauties’ of well padded proportions were best received!

Then we arrived in Mombasa. Here was an opportunity to get some rest and recreation after the long spell of duty at sea. Perhaps the most attractive thing about Mombasa at this time of year are the miles of glorious deserted sandy beaches. A reef about a mile offshore takes the full brunt of the Indian Ocean breakers and renders the beach itself safe from sharks. Palm trees fringe the sand, swaying gently in the cooling breeze, while the hot sun and soothing sound of breakers on the distant reef complete the idyllic holiday picture. DARING’s sailors were there to relax and it cost them very little. European and American holidaymakers had flown thousands of miles to be there too and it cost them quite a lot. Apart from the beaches there is a variety of entertainment to be had in Mombasa. Sailing, skin-diving, deep-sea fishing, riding, shopping, sightseeing and safari trips into the game reserves are all available. However the majority of the DARING sailors ashore preserved their energies on the beaches during the afternoon and really ‘went to town’ in the bars and nightclubs during the night.

A second period on Beira Patrol was followed by a visit to Diego Suarez on the northernmost tip of Madagascar. This ex French colony has been independent since 1960. Diego Suarez itself shows many signs of French colonial development in the layout of the town, the street names and the buildings; apart from that, however, the French influence appears to be disappearing fast. The European population is now extremely small and is comprised almost entirely of the French staff of the Naval Base together with two regiments of the French Foreign Legion and their families. A very good sports field, friendly matches between the two navies resulted in a win for the French at Soccer, but a victory for DARING at Rugger. The Foreign Legion snipers rifle team had a perhaps predictable win in a shooting competition, although DARING marksmen were by no means disgraced. Good hospitality was shown to the visiting teams by their French hosts.

Apart from the sports field, there was also good swimming from a beach near to Diego Suarez. For the historian or the ordinary sightseer, there were many relics to be seen of the Allied landings in Diego Suarez in 1942. In the evenings, the night spots were well supported by the DARING and the local dance hall fairly shook to a mixture of contemporary dancing and local Malagasy rhythms, all performed with great enjoyment and a fair amount of ‘know how’ by countless representatives of the Royal Navy partnered by a wide and cheerful selection of dusky maidens.

After Madagascar, DARING once more headed south for the inevitably quiet routine of the Beira Patrol. This is a job which we feel really earns us our run ashore by the time we have spent nearly three weeks continuously at sea. Shortly, after another spell at Mombasa, we will be sailing on eastward to the Far East and the delights of Singapore and Hong Kong. This deployment will also give us an opportunity to operate with other fully worked up units of the Far East Fleet and thus match skills with them, at sea professionally, and ashore, on the sports fields.

HMS DARING Newsletter – April 1968

The fish are so unafraid in Gan. They dart and swim around the reefs in the glass-like water with complete disregard for the wondering human eyes, which admire their fantastic colouring and gorgeous variety. DARING stopped at Gan to refuel and top up with a few non-essential provisions such as 100 cases of beer. (Did I say non-essential?). Apart from those of us that were lucky enough to be able to explore the reef with a mask and flippers, the ship also landed a Soccer team to teach the local RAF team a thing or two about the game. (We should have won but their Ref was set on a draw).

Many of the ships company had never visited the Far East before, so Singapore was their introduction to the Orient. The island itself is about the same size as the Isle of Wight and is of a remarkably similar shape; there the resemblance ends. One could talk for hours about Singapore but this letter is about DARING, so you will only hear about some of our activities as they impinged on Singapore. If you want to fill in the gaps, read a good guide-book about Singapore, remember what you can of the British sailor and the let your imagination run riot in the nicest possible way.

We arrived in Singapore to the sound of our own gunfire as we took the opportunity to shoot at some real aircraft towed targets after our long period away from such facilities on the passage out and on Beira Patrol. We had a busy days gunnery, during which we once managed to frighten a target into falling into the sea before we had even opened fire.

The main event for DARING during the time in Singapore was the period spent in the Dockyard for docking and repair of essential defects. This entailed the ship’s company moving ashore en masse to live in the very pleasant accommodation provided by HMS Terror in the Naval Base. It made a welcome change for everyone to live ashore in spacious airy living quarters all within reach of the many base facilities, such as a large swimming pool, the nine hole golf course (at which sport many DARING novices tried their hand for the first time) and the Far East Fleet Sailing Centre, not to mention the excellent facilities for various social activities at the Armada Club. Remember Tiger Tops?

While the money lasted, many of us took the road into Singapore City itself to sightsee during the afternoons and meander around the nightspots during the evening. Nearer at home, Sembawang Village was thought to have a lot to offer in the way of shopping or as an enjoyable eating and drinking run ashore. However, each man to his own taste and there was enough variety in Singapore to suit everyone.

The fog and drizzle of an English November drove about a dozen of the DARING wives in England to pack their bags, park their children and climb into an aeroplane bound for Singapore. They were, of course, joyfully received by their husbands, but one could not forget those less fortunate of our loved ones at home, who were too tied by their jobs, family or finances to take advantage of the extremely reasonable terms offered to dependents by the Ministry of Defence for an air passage to be with their husbands in the sun.

The DARING sports teams were hampered by bad weather in Singapore, because although it didn’t rain very much, the tropical cloudbursts had an uncanny habit of occurring at a time and a place when a match had been arranged. The Soccer and Rugger teams however had a most enjoyable training period up at Fraser’s Hill, north of Kuala Lumpur in Malaya. Here, high up in the blue of some magnificent scenery, they were able to get fit on lots of exercise and plenty of cool fresh air.

Christmas is a family affair. For many of us therefore, Christmas Day in Singapore without our families was tinged with sadness. By now, we were living back onboard DARING with the comforts of Terror behind us. A naval Christmas in a ship away from home is something, which has to be experienced to be understood fully. We drank in the festive spirit, we sang carols, we visited each other’s mess-decks and we also drank and sang there. The youngest man in the ship (16 years old) was dressed in the Captain’s uniform and, wearing sword and medals, did Rounds of the ship with the officers. We ate chicken and Christmas pudding with rum butter and then some of us slept while others continued with the festivities according to their habit and their capacity. It was a good day, but however much each man enjoyed himself he knew that the proper place to spend Christmas was at home.

There is an atmosphere of excitement and romance in Hong Kong, which is difficult to convey to anyone who had not been there, but which, is no doubt the reason why so many tales of adventure and mystery are set there. DARING herself was unfortunately not involved in any adventure or much mystery during her visit to Hong Kong in the early part of this year. She left Singapore for the last time on the 27^th December to arrive in Hong Kong on New Years Eve.

The first impression you get of Hong Kong when entering the beautiful harbour is of the wonderful setting that surrounds the skyscraper and other buildings of the Colony. The heights of the Peak and the Gap on Hong Kong Island on one hand are nicely balanced by the blue-green mountains of the New Territories on the other. Aircraft landing at Kai Tak airport on the only runway, built for a mile out into the harbour, must have a difficult job in some conditions avoiding the surrounding hills. The next idea in the minds of most sailors arriving in Honk Kong (and DARING was no exception) is to get ashore as soon as possible.

DARING was alongside the North Arm in the small basin, which is all part of the Naval Base, HMS Tamar. This berth must qualify as being one of the best berths for any run ashore in the world. Hong Kong is at your doorstep. The magic of the Orient beckons. When you leave the ship, if you turn left you are in the stimulating turmoil of the Wanchai area, and if you turn right, you are in Victoria one of the most exclusive areas for practically anything, under the sun. If you want to cross the water to Kowloon, then the Star Ferry is also at the Dockyard gate. Should you want to admire the view from the Peak, then the Peak tram is only five minutes walk from the ship (straight on past the Hong Kong Hilton). Taxis are numerous and not expensive and the same goes for the Rickshaws. It is all there in Hong Kong and you don’t have to look very far for anything. DARING was there at the centre of things for just about a month and again we leave you to imagine what it was like.

Incidentally, in case anyone wondered what we were doing in Hong Kong, DARING was the official Guardship. There were practically no bomb incidents or riots or civil disturbances of any kind while we were there, although there was a small riot while we were visiting the Philippines (so the agitators had presumably been impressed by our presence). While in Hong Kong, DARING also spent some time at sea exercising with the two minesweepers, which are based at HMS Tamar. While at sea, we patrolled the islands surrounding Hong Kong in an attempt to discourage the flood of illegal immigrants to the Colony from the Communist mainland: on this occasion we had the Hong Kong water police onboard.

Our long spell in Hong Kong was punctuated by a week away at Subic Bay in the Philippine Islands. The purpose of this deployment was to get in some intensive weapon training for the Main Armament, using targets and ranges made available to us by the United States Naval Base at Subic Bay. The Americans were in Subic Bay in some force and it very soon became evident to everyone that they were very much on a war footing. With Vietnam only about 600 miles away, the base at Subic Bay was the main forward secure operating base for the United States forces. Their ships were coming in to store, repair and return to their war stations with a very quick turn around. It gave one a slightly disturbing feeling to be alongside ships and talking to men who had just come back from an operational theatre where they had been firing their guns at a very real enemy. We went to sea most days and did a lot of shooting at all sorts of targets often with most satisfying results for the guns crews and the maintainers who had been working long hours to bring the armament up to the highest point of readiness.

We struck up a very friendly and close liaison with several American destroyers while in Subic Bay, so much so that after we left there was a noticeable shortage of RN sailor’s caps onboard and a compensating number of American caps! The Americans at all levels were also very generous with their hospitality at the various excellent service clubs in the base area. Outside the base was the satellite town of Olongapo. This town is rapidly gaining the reputation of being one of the most notorious towns in the Far East, but under the benign influence of the DARING sailors who ventured over the border, the town appeared more amusing than disreputable, although one had to hang on to one’s wallet fairly carefully. An incredible number of bars, which cater almost exclusively for the American sailor, offered a wide range of entertainment. The influx of English faces and accents appeared to make a welcome change for the inhabitants, who seemed a very friendly and happy-go-lucky people.

After the week in the Philippines, DARING turned north again, bound for Hong Kong. For about ten days most of the ships company were taking the opportunity to buy all that remained on their list of Far East “rabbits”. The ship’s sports teams also had plenty of exercise during the whole visit. The Soccer team, in particular, had a very successful period, winning seven out of eight games.

Having left Hong Kong, DARING picked her way carefully between some of the many beautiful Indonesian islands and then set course for the fourth continent to be visited during the commission – Australia. After a brief fuelling stop at Darwin, in the Northern Territories, where there was hardly time to go ashore, the ship, bound for Brisbane, skirted the northern coast of the vast continent. This trip will be remembered by many of the ships company as one of the most interesting scenically of the whole Far East period. For the last thousand miles of the journey DARING was inside the clear waters of the famous Great Barrier Reef, a fantastic chain of coral reefs and islands which stretch in a huge arc about 50 miles off the coast of North East Australia.

Brisbane, the third city of the Commonwealth of Australia, is also the third largest city in Metropolitan area in the world, coming after Los Angeles and Tokyo. DARING’s berth was some miles up the Brisbane river towards the centre of the City. The trip up the river was very interesting and to many reminiscent of some of the upper reaches of the Thames. The river was not wide, and attractive looking houses backed right down on to the water. The gardens and trees were very green and made a pleasant backdrop for the many sailing dinghies scudding up and down the river, their gaily coloured sails weaving patterns on the water as they scattered out of the way at the mighty DARING’s approach.

It was in Brisbane that we first came in contact with the apparently unlimited supply of Australian hospitality. There were many Australians who just rang the ship and invited sailors to come ashore for a drive, a swim, a drink or a meal. Forty of the young sailors were invited to go on a day trip down to the fabulous beaches of Queensland’s Gold Coast, about sixty miles from the City; apart from the surfing, the attraction of this trip was that forty young ladies were also provided with the buses. Many friendships sprang up on this day that were to last for the whole five days of the visit and longer if the number of men still writing to Brisbane is anything to go by. The whole ship’s soccer team and a few supporters as well were invited out for a weekend to the homes of the players and supporters of a local team, who we had just managed to beat. The only complaint that most people had about Brisbane was that five days were not long enough. During our time there we did what we could to repay the hospitality of the city by opening the ship to visitors and also giving a children’s party to a local orphanage.

If the five days we had in Brisbane were not long enough for most people, the three days spent in Sydney were certainly not. At our berth at Garden Island, opposite the famous bridge and controversial Opera House, we met other units of the Far East Fleet. HMS Devonshire, Triumph, Zest, Euryalus and Dido had been in Sydney for over a week before we joined their number. Out time in Sydney was very largely taken up by the arrangements for our inspection by Captain “D” in HMS Dido. Captain “D” and his staff officers descended on us and went through every department of the ship in a friendly but thorough inspection of our whole organisation. The ship herself had been carefully preened and polished over the previous few weeks and by inspection day DARING positively gleamed; a fact which did not go unnoticed by the other ships in company! With inspection successfully behind us, many got a chance to venture ashore into this refreshing and busy metropolis and also to visit some of the fantastic surf beaches for which Sydney is world famous. The Royal Navy’s departure from Sydney on this occasion was quite spectacular as the six ships formed up in line ahead and steamed out of the harbour in formation.

We then had a most interesting few days operating with several Royal Australian Navy ships as well as the RN ships which had been in Sydney, (less HMS Triumph who was on her way back to Singapore) but we were also joined by HMS Cavalier. A total of eight destroyers made a fine sight as we manoeuvred and exercised together on the way down to the anchorage at Jervis Bay. Perhaps the most impressive evolution for those who like throwing stones into the sea was when all ships in line abreast simultaneously fired their anti-submarine weapons and churned the depths of the blue Australian waters into spouting geysers of white foam.

Having said goodbye to all the other ships in company, DARING next proceeded to Melbourne, where we berthed at Williamstown Naval Dockyard for nearly three weeks. The purpose of the visit was to allow the ship to do an assisted maintenance period with the aid of a Fleet Maintenance Group detached from HMS Triumph. It was Moomba time in Melbourne. “Moomba” is Aborigine for “lets get together and have fun!” and was the theme for Melbourne’s annual fortnight’s festival. Although DARING arrived towards the end of the festivities the theme of “Moomba” seemed to carry on for the whole of the visit. Melbourne was our first real opportunity to have long enough to get a fair idea of the Australian way of life. Many of the ships company took the opportunity to take a few days local leave and see something of the surrounding country and the interesting wild life for which Australia is famous. The one thing that was immediately significant was the drought in the area, which was fast becoming one of the worst for many years., and which had turned many gardens into dust bowls and nearly all the grass in the city into a dead brown colour. We also seemed to get socially better organised than we had had the opportunity to in either Brisbane or Sydney; as an example no less than four Beauty Queens visited the ship at one time or another. These were Miss Dahlia of Tasmania, the Melbourne Moomba Queen, Miss State of Victoria, and finally the newly crowned Queen of the Pacific, who had the rather catchy name of Baby Santiago. Baby, who was also Miss Philippine Islands, came to DARING one day to ensure a fair tot at the daily rum issue on the fo’c’sle and she later toured the ship.

On the 25^th March, DARING finally, and some thought reluctantly left the Australian shores that she had been frequenting for the last month and headed out on the long stretch across the Indian Ocean to the island of Mauritius. Our last real sight of Australia was of King Island, whose inhabitants had specially requested that a Royal Naval ship pay them a visit as it was so long since they had seen one. Unfortunately the sea was too rough off King Island to do more than send our motor boat on one turbulent trip to the jetty where the First Lieutenant exchanged greetings with the locals on behalf of the Captain and ships company.

HMS Cavalier and HMS Troubridge joined us for the three thousand mile trip to Mauritius so we were able to pass away some of the hours on passage by manoeuvres and exchanges with our companions. The Officer-of-the-Watch of DARING on one occasion won five shillings off each of his opposite numbers in Troubridge and Cavalier on the outcome of the Oxford and Cambridge boat race. He collected his winnings during a mid ocean rendezvous and fuelling with the RFA Plumleaf which had come down from the Persian Gulf especially to fuel us.

Mauritius unfortunately was still in a state of tension following the inter-racial riots after Independence, which she had been granted in late March. Although to the casual observer ashore it was hard to imagine the deep feelings of hatred and brooding violence, which apparently exist, and which flared up on more that one occasion, there was still a dusk curfew in force. Those of us who went ashore during the three day visit found the island a beautiful and picturesque place; after the drought of Melbourne everything appeared refreshingly green and there was a delightful profusion of tropical flowers and fruit for less than a penny each. The main attraction of Mauritius, because of the curfew, was of course the very lovely beaches, which are gradually putting Mauritius on the map as a tourist attraction.

The ship has now done a vast circle since the first newsletter was written because our next port of call is Mombasa in Kenya, where we left you last time. DARING is planned to arrive back in Plymouth in July 1968!!! By the time we arrive home, we will have dealt in twelve different currencies.