HMS_Peacock

This article comes to us from Jim Watson, who served with the REME at 16 Station Workshops, (Suez Garrison) from April 1952 to August 1953, and now lives in Toronto. Thank you Jim for sending it to include on the website.

Aye, Jock Marrs and Richard Woolley.
June 2005.

Soon after Colonel Nasser's army officers forced the abdication of King Farouk with their successful coup in July of 1952, Anthony Eden's British government felt it would be in their best interests to ‘show the flag’ in Suez, just in case the Colonel and his officers got ambitions beyond their mandate. The ship closest to the area at the time was HMS ‘Peacock’, one of 34 sloops of the Black Swan class serving around the world at the time. HMS ‘Peacock’ was a sister ship of her more famous partner, HMS ‘Magpie’ - famed for her celebrity commander, HRH Prince Phillip.

The ‘Peacock’ arrived in the Red Sea and it so happened that the captain was an old friend of my C.O. (Captain Layden) and invited him to assemble a party of REME to be on board during one of their 'flex the muscles' exercises. I was delighted to be among the selected group and we left late at night for the long drive - to ensure we would be on board when they weighed anchor at dawn.

On arrival, we were treated to large mugs of strong sweet navy tea - not exactly ‘splicing the mainbrace’ -- but no less welcome as we had been riding in the back of a Bedford three-tonner through the night. A Navy lieutenant filled us in on the drill for the day and it certainly had our attention - but WE weren't the target market that day. It was expected that Egypt's military would be watching the event with interest. We were warned that the ship would be 'throwing herself about a bit' and would be firing her guns just to make sure we got everybody's attention.

The icing on the cake was that a significant depth-charge barrage was to be part of the drill and it was planned to go on for some considerable time. My only experience with depth charges, up to that time, was courtesy of Ealing-Studios and Hollywood. Our group was 'over the top' with excitement and anticipation, but I was a bit put off by the, “throwing herself about a bit” comment. It brought up (unintended pun) memories of my passage through the Bay of Biscay on the Troopship ‘Lancashire’ just four months before.

The armament consisted of six 4inch guns, in addition to a significant complement of depth charge capability combined with an array of nasty looking pom-poms. The sloops of Black Swan class were noted for their speed and manoeuvrability, which made them favourite convoy escorts and sub-chasers in WWII.

None of us had the slightest idea of what to expect, so we were a bit pensive, as the ‘Peacock’ got under way and it wasn't very long before we were no longer left wondering. The display started with a set of salvos from the six guns, firing first in rotation and then in unison, it was an awesome display of ear-shattering power. I remember thinking: "if that is what four-inch guns sound like, what must the guns aboard the HMS ‘Vanguard’ be like?" I could not imagine.

The Peacock carries a crew of about 180 men and every single one of them has a duty to perform - looking after a bunch of bewildered land soldiers was not among them. We just stood there watching, with hands over our ears, as a large deluge some distance from us marked each shell's point of entry. But there was better to come. A klaxon sounded and the tannoy gave out some garbled message about depth charges. We knew enough to grab a handrail - we grabbed for dear life and just in time.

The ship keeled over to the right (sorry, ‘starboard’)and twisting and turning like a Jack Russell terrier evading the dogcatchers, she took off like a bat out-of-hell firing what looked like oil barrels over the side. This was followed by a long silence, “Duds" I thought - and the thought had no sooner entered my head when there was the most God awful explosion, which I was sure had occurred aboard the ‘Peacock’ ... followed by another ... and another. The concussive shudders going through the ship from below had me convinced that somehow the Egyptians had retaliated and had landed a direct hit. I also became instantly aware that we had not been given lifejackets.

My feeling of pending doom was added to as ratings were running everywhere, before returning to the Officer of the Day with the good news, "No damage to report”!! This was not totally reassuring as I continued to think, "What hit us?". The “Abandon ship!" order was not about to be given however, as it seems that when an attack ship releases depth charges the concussion comes right back at you through the water. So, I suppose any inaccuracy in the calculation of distance and depth at detonation could be just as lethal for you - as it is for the target.

When it was over and the acrid smell of gunpowder and cordite had disappeared from our nostrils and the Red Sea had calmed down, looking for all the world as though we were sitting in the middle of an enormous fizzing bowl of azure-blue Alka-Seltzer, we were left standing in our own silence, shaken-but-not-stirred. I actually felt exhausted from the sheer exhilaration of the barrage and if the EGYPTIAN MILITARY WASN'T IMPRESSED – I know a small group of REME Craftsmen who were ready to surrender to the Royal Navy that day on the Red Sea in the summer of 1952.

HMS 'Peacock'

The battleship had her own claim to fame, with two U-Boats
to her credit. In 1944 she sank the German submarine U394 in
the Barents Sea and later that same year accounted for U354 in
the Norwegian Sea - we were in good company.

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