Royal Divisions in H. M. S. Ocean
Visit of H. M. Queen Visit to Bergen
(Article extracted from the ships magazine – written by "TAS")
1st May, 1957, dawned as an overcast, cloudy day – not the sort that any of us on board had hoped for. We wanted a beautiful sunny day – one which would show our ship to the best of advantage to all spectators who would be coming to see us commission H. M. S. Gambia for a Home/East Indies General Service Commission Why were we so keen? Well here was history in the making, for years the Kings’ and Queens’ ships had gone down to the sea at the beginning of their commissions from the ports ‘down south’, and so all the natives of the north of England and over the border had, in general, been unable to have their families with them to see their ships commission. All that has changed now and GAMBIA was to be the first of a long line of ships to commission and be based in Rosyth. In GAMBIA’S case though, the decision had been made slightly too late for the Drafting Authorities to do much about it and so we were to have 25% Northerners and 75% Southerners. Being a northern ship had its advantages because the Dockyard rightly regarded us as their ship and had given us an excellent refit. To mark the occasion, the Admiral Superintendent had decided to allow any of the workpeople who had helped in the refit to come and watch the Commissioning Ceremony.
By 1100 the weather had decided to brighten and onboard all was a flurry. The remainder of the Ship’s Company who had just joined were settling in and finding therir way around. On the jetty too, work was proceeding apace, the area around the port quarter and stern being completely cleared. Flat-topped railway trucks were positioned on the track, which ran conveniently close to the ship, and they provided a good view-point for the spectators. Just beside the brow, leading onto the Quarterdeck, several rowsof chairs had been placed for the V. I. P’s.
Immediately after dinner the ship’s company started to muster on the jetty and were ranged facing the ship around the port quarter and the stern. Also on the jetty was the Bluejacket Band (including one Wren) of H. M. S. Fulmar. Onboard, on the Quarterdeck, facing the jetty, was the Royal Marine Guard under the command of Captain P. J. Waters, R. M. and on top of the Y turret were the ship’s ceremonial buglers. At the gangway was the Officer-of-the-Watch with the piping party, and right-aft was the Commander – Commander R. F. Tibbatts, D. S. C.
Whilst the ship’s company were falling in, the spectators had arrived and were taking up their places. All our hopes that a large number would come were realised and every place of vantage was filled to capacity. At 1355 the Admiral Superintendent, Rear-Admiral P. D. H. R. Pelly, D. S. O., arrived and was greeted on the jetty by our Captain – Captain E. T. L. Dunsterville, R. N. Shortly afterwards, the Commander called the parade to attention and reported to the Captain at the gangway that the ship’s company were present and ready to commission the ship. The Captain and the Commander then took post on the Quarterdeck facing aft, and at 1400 the signalman reported "Four bells, Sir" The Officer-of-the-Watch, Lieutenant T. W. A. Blundell ordered "Make it so" As the first bell was made, the commissioning pendant was broken at the foremast, ans as the National Anthem was played, the ensign at the gaff was slowly lowered and that at the ensign staff was hoisted.
H. M. S. GAMBIA was in commission once again. As soon as the Colour ceremony was over, Rear-Admiral Pelly walked up the gangway to be met with full ceremony, and to be the ship’s first visitor and guest after the commissioning.
No commissioning would be complete without a service being held to ask God’s blessing for the ship and all who sail in her. So immediately after the parade had been dispersed a service was held on the boat deck conducted by the ship’s Chaplain, the Reverend K. P. Evans, M. A. It was an impressive and moving ceremony and one which many of us will never forget. The form of service was one which had been passed down through the ages and requires the response "We fear nothing" from the ship’s company on several occasions. GAMBIA’S ship’s company responded as if they really meant that they feared nothing.
After the service the Captain addressed the ship’s company. Then visitors were shown around the ship and entertained in the various messes. The finale to the day’s proceedings was a "Beat Retreat" on the Parade ground of the Dockyard by the band. They gave a magnificent performance and it seemred a fitting climax to a truly great day.
The evening of Commissioning Day seemed an anti-climax to the excitement of the day, but this feeling was not to last long as the following pages will tell you. We had in view at the time, the visit of Her Majesty The Queen to the Home Fleet, our work-up, several exercises and of course our departure for foreign waters. To some it may have seemed an almost impossible programme, but as a senior officer once said "Magic Gambia can do anything with Chief Magician Dunsterville leading her."
"TAS"
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(Article extracted from the ship’s magazine – written by "Steve")
"Commissioned 1st. May – In a state fit for the Queen by 22nd May"That is good going in any navy, and, when we look back at that part of the commission, one of the evolutions (for it was an evolution) to be really proud of.
However, an evolution is always well executed when there is something good to come at the end, and in this case it was the Review of the Home Fleet in Cromarty Firth by H. M. Queen on the 27th and 28th May. Her Majesty, accompanied by H. R. H. the Duke of Edinburgh, was seeing her Home Fleet together for the first time during her reign.
Gambia joined the remainder of the Home Fleet off Invergordon on the 21st May and then commenced a week of intensive rehearsals in preparation for the "Big Day".
The day came – a beautiful one with "Royal Weather" as one of the newspapers said – and Gambia found herself in a flat calm sea and clear blue skies following the lumbering flat tops as ‘Tail-end Charlie‘. The fleet had formed into two columns, the port column consisted of Superb, Agincourt, Alamein and Barosse, and the starboard column of Ark Royal, Albion, Ocean and Gambia. The C-in-C., Home Fleet, flying his flag in Apollo, was in the centre.
A bank of sea fog, which hadn’t receivedthe buzz about the Royal Weather, caused the fleet to alter course to Starboard to avoid it. It was, luckily, verylocal, and at 11.30 Britannia hove in sight with her escorting destroyers Duchess, Diamond and Corunna. The fleet closed range to 2½ miles and fired a co-ordinated Royal Salute. Immediately the two columns wheeled outward, increasing speed to 21 knots, then forming into single column, manned and cheered ship, passing the Britannia at a distance of half a cable.
Here is an extract from the Glasgow Herald:
"Aboard the Gambia the bugles shrilled the Royal Salute, and as the cheers rolled across the short intervening distance the Queen smiled and waved while Prince Phillip saluted. They were standing on the saluting platform forward of the bridge and the Queen was hatless and wearing a dark blue coat".
The fleet then formed up to escort Britannia into Cromarty Firth at a speed of 12 knots. On passage,the submarines Artful, Trump, Subtle, and Springer passed through the column on opposite course manning and cheering ship. The final salute came from 71 aircraft of the carriers and R. N. A. S. Lossiemouth. Flying in perfect formation the Sea Hawks and Sea Venoms displayed the Quenn’s cypher of E II R, and the Wyverns and Gannets followed in diamond formation. Considering the different speeds of the various aircraft their timing and co-ordination were perfect.
Royal Divisions in H. M. S. Ocean
Next day was divisions day – Royal Divisions. Most of the officers and Ship's company were ferried across to H. M. S. Ocean, the training squadron carrier, to be inspected on the flight deck by Her Majesty. The Queen, accompanied by Price Philip, was slowly driven in a Land Rover around the assembled divisions. Some characters were even lucky enough to be presented. They were Colour Sergeant N.H. Overington, C. P. O. J, C. Reader, M. A. A. J. K. Burger, P. O. M. E. J. Henderson, E. R. A. 2 H. A. T. Rollason, Ch. El. F. Hall, Ch. Tel. S. R. Harding, and S. C. P. O. (V) A. F. Wales. That evening, after a reception in Britannia, Her Majesty was entertained in the hangar of the Albion by a combined Home Fleet Concert Party. Gambia was well represented by hey own Skiffle Group aptly named "The Gambits". It is of interest to music lovers to know that a recording of "The Gambits" was played over the B.B.C. Light Programme and over the European network including the Iron Curtain countries of Eastern Germany and Bulgaria. Their efforts were described in about six different languages. On Wednesday forenoon we said goodbye to Her Majesty and displayed our loyaly and affection by falling in on the Quarterdeck to give three cheers as the Royal Barge passed. The scene is best described by this extract from Daily Orders.
Note 1. The following has been reported to the Captain as fact by Captain (D) 4. After passing Diamond the following conversation took place in the Royal Barge.
The Queen. "Now we’ll go over to the Gambia".
C-in-C H. F. "But your Majesty, they have already cheered and fallen out."
The Queen. "Still we’ll go over."
C-in-C H. F. "But Ma’am, you won’t be cheered."
The Queen. "Oh yes I will."
And she was, with a "tiger" for good measure.
"Steve"
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Monday, 22nd July, 1957, was a clear bright morning. Smoke was rising straight from the jumble of summer houses on the mountain sides, and the popping engines of sturdy Norwegian boats could be heard for a long way over the still water, as Gambia steamed up the Bergen Fjord. This was to be a familiar sound for the next week for, at 0800, we arrived at Bergen, and secured in an alongside berth at Skoltergrunnen Kalen.
The first busy morning was taken up with official calls but, as the afternoon was a make and mend, we were soon ashore sightseeing in Bergen,. Gambia’s berth was in the old part of the town, above which rose the walls of Bergenhus Fort, and the first houses and shops we saw had all been built from Norweigan pine over two centuries ago. Near these houses is the cathedral, which has an English cannon ball embedded in its wall – a relic of the day in 1665, when a British fleet, led by the Earl of Sandwich, unsuccessfully attacked a Dutch merchant fleet in Bergen Harbour. Now, the inner harbour teems with fishing boats and, at the head of the harbour, in a large open square, is the fish market. Past the fish market ( an evil smelling place in the forenoon when the fish are brought in, but reduced to flowers and vegatables later) the character of the town changes, the cobbled roads change to tarmac, the small wooden-walled shops to large gleaming department stores, and the narrow streets to broad dual carriageways divided by grass beds. This is the centre of modern Bergen, and the main shopping centre. Although there were no spectacularly cheap goods available, most of us came home with several ‘rabbits’, and not a few baby seals (stuffed ones, fortunately!).
There was plenty of sight seeing to be done in Bergen, and most of us managed to go up the Floyen funicular railway, and have a panoramic view of Bergen from the top, 1050 feet above it all. After some refreshments in the first-class restaurant at the top, we could either walk in the pine woods nearby, and take the winding path down, or do it the easy way in one of the two brightly coloured cable-cars. In the town, there was enough to occupy our time, with free cinemas every night, a free sight-seeing tour each forenoon, a dance every night and, of course, the introduction to Norwegian lager. The most enjoyable part of the entertainment, as always, was the invitations to private homes, and many of us were well looked after thoughout the visit by Norwegian families.
Out of town, the most populat trip was to Edward Grieg’s home, "Troldhaugen", alongside the beautiful Nordas lake. Grieg lived here with his wife Nina for many happy years, and composed some of his best known works amid these serene surroundings. Both his house and the small one-room bungalow by the side of the lake, which he used as his studio, have been kept exactly as he left them, and are visited by many hundreds of music-lovers each year. Somehow one can begin to understand the lonely, rugged, yet peaceful grandeur of his music after seeing the place which inspired it.
During four afternoons, the ship was open to visitors, but the number of visitors was not very great, probably because many Norwegian families were away from Bergen on their summer holidays. On the fifth afternoon a children’s party was held and this proved a great success. Some 150 children, of all sizes, attended. Some very appreciative comments were heard later, after a party of sailors had made a collection on board and taken a suitcase full of sweets and chocolates to the local hospital, for those children who could not come to the party.
On Thursday, 25th July, the Captain, the British Consul, Miss I. Strong, O. B. E., and, representing the Norwegian Navy, Commodore Sorenssen, laid wreaths on the British War Memorial. This was in the Mollerdal cemetery, which provided a very peaceful and beautiful situation for the simple but impressive ceremony that was held.
A Royal Marine Guard was paraded and, after a short service, nine of Gambia’s ceremonial buglers sounded the Last Post and Reveille perfectly, and with a most moving affect.
Although our Royal Marine Band had not permanently joined, and had in fact only just formed up, they came with us to Bergen where they performed sterling service. Besides playing on board for entering and leaving harbour, for official calls, at the Captain’s dinner party, and for the church service on the quarterdeck, they had three engagements ashore. They performed two ‘Beat Retreat’ ceremonies in the middle of Bergen, and gave a light musical concert in the city-centre bandstand. Each of these performances drew large crowds, and were thoroughly enjoyed.
Throughout the visit, the electricians had been working furiously to prepare for floodlighting the ship and, on Friday and Saturday evenings, the Port side was bathed in shining light. From the other side of the harbour, it was a lovely sight and and made an impressive finale to the visit
Almost before we had learnt to say ‘tak’ and ‘skol’, rather than ‘ta’ and ‘cheers’, the ship was again under sailing orders. During the last forenoon (Sunday 28th July) Church was held on the quarterdeck, and several local British residents came on board for this, but an hour after the Service, the quartedeck had become a mass of wires again, as Gambia made a sternboard from her berth. Amid many last minute waves, we steamed slowly out of Bergen harbour. Then came a pleasant four hour trip down the fjord in the summer sunshine, with a colourful Norwegian ensign alongside each bungalow being dipped in salute as we passed, as if to say "Will ye no come back again?". We wish we could . . .
Lieutenant R. K. Arthur.
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