Espana Levante Submariners

My time as submariner, by (Keith) Chopper Gane

Going under

I was serving on H M S Londonderry as an A.B UC3 based at Ireland Island Bermuda- HMS Malabar - in 1962/64 showing the flag around the Caribbean while catching drug and gun runners. We were alongside at the time when an O boat moored up behind us and on it was a fellow UC friend of mine who invited me down for a tot (well, gulpers anyway). He explained how daily routine worked onboard which was:

0730 call the hands, breakfast then turn to from 0900 to 1100 scrubbing out the accommodation passageways, heads and bathrooms.

Then it was up spirits lunch and head down if not on watch. This impressed me as you did the specialist job you were trained for in the sound room when dived on a boat which was most of the time unless you were transiting to a specific place and then you would remain on the surface and keep a watch on the helm or lookout.

Unlike GS as a sailor where you spent days on end scrubbing paintwork all day, so I thought submarine life is for me and put a request in to volunteer for submarines.

The captain, at the table, asked me why I wanted to be a submariner, so I told him my reasons. His reply was that he thought I was too scruffy!! Maybe he should have said not scruffy enough! But if I was still keen, to request again in 6 months which I did, and it was granted

Guzz and my first boat

On our return to the UK in 1964 I was drafted to Dolphin 2 where the fast patrol boats were stationed in WWII. Coxswain Card was in charge of the Admin and Coxswain Georgie Richardson was our class instructor.

Upon qualifying the course, I was drafted to S/M Auriga in 65 in refit at Devonport. Taff Evans was the group coxswain who used to give out your leave pass at the local pub opposite the main dockyard gate but only if you, being a part 3, bought him a pint till our Ratler Morgan arrived as our resident coxswain for the commission.

We were all on LNRA so most of us all lived ashore in Aggie Weston’s opposite the main gate. On Sundays we all used to go up to The Albert Inn for a game of darts and beer on the slate in blank weeks. Albert, the landlord, supplied free cheese wedges and pickled onions which were well received as our Sunday lunch.

On commissioning I was designated to read part of the commissioning ceremony (see pic). We eventually sailed to the Far East stopping off at Aden which was under curfew at the time and also Muscat, where we tied up alongside a Tribal class frigate so that we could all go for a shower onboard where I met another mate of mine called Stinky Hum (very appropriate).and was invited for up spirits in his mess which turned out as a discarder as being plied with a lot of 2 and 1.
We went for lunch where I promptly honked up all over the dining hall.

Not a very good calling card for our crew!

During our stay we also played football against the locals. We eventually arrived at Singapore to stay for the next 18 months.

Singers, booties and my first hook

When we arrived in Singapore I took my part 3 exam on HMS Medway the landing craft base for Division 7.

During my time there we carried out covert intelligence gathering with the SAS and SBS onboard as the Indonesian/Malaysian crisis was on. I remember as the scratchers Dicky at the time whilst on a covert patrol, I was on the casing helping to get out the canoes and a 6 foot something SAS sergeant was standing behind me. On pulling out the canoe my elbow caught him under the chin and knocked him on his back I quickly scarpered back down and shut the torpedo hatch.

After picking up the patrol of special service lads, there was a knock at our J/Rs mess; standing there was the giant SAS Sergeant with a grim look on his face asking for me. I just shit myself when confronted and he said with a grin “you’re the only person ever to put me on my back but I will let you off this time” Phew!!!
When we came back from the patrol all of the crew who were not duty went for a sods opera up in H M S Terror canteen and when the canteen shut our skipper decided to Hi Ho up to the officers swimming pool where he in the lead jumped off the diving board followed by the rest of the crew. Waiting on the other side of the pool were the naval patrol who dragged the skipper out while he was bitterly explaining who he was, and they just replied, “yeah alright and pigs can fly!!”

What a laugh and how brilliant

Later on, in the commission I put in to do a shallow water diving course, but the Jimmy said “no I’m recommending you for your Killicks course”, so I flew home after one year in Singers to Dolphin and started the course.

On completion I was to be P. O Dave Sommers UC1 gofer in the sonar classroom and I always remember his advice was that the best way to achieve promotion was to put in for a coxswains course when eligible and it is with great thanks to him that I made coxswain.

When I passed my 2 courses, I was drafted to Astute as a Killick UC2. Not a lot happened on her other than a mini munity on the jetty which I helped to calm down as the Killick of the forward J/Rs mess. It was one of the brothers Rowe who was the coxswain

Astute again

After 18 months I put in for Petty Officer and UC1 course which I passed successfully and was drafted back to Astute again. The boat was then sent to open SM2 Division and berthed alongside a Landing craft at Devonport. We were the only submarine based there at the time. I do remember on S/M Astute having a jolly to Hastings where my mother in law lived which was interesting!

We also had a local school onboard to show round with the local press. Another trip was to Malta where we did a self-maintenance period in which a few of the crew flew their wives over thanks to the R.A.F.

Jo Joseph our coxswain designated a hotel for the crew where we stayed with our wives I remember my wife saying it was like staying in a knocking shop!!

In our time off, knock out football matches were played against a few skimmer ships that was in at the time. At half time, crates of beer were supplied for our team while the skimmers were on fresh oranges which resulted in some of our players who over indulged honking up during the second half.

Needless to say we never did win a game

Under the ice in a Nuc’

Then came the SHOCK AND HORROR I was drafted to S/M Dreadnought in Faslane and not Devonport, my home port. I found it really hard to adapt and never ever took my BSQ although I was pestered by the Jimmy to do so.

As the UC1 the most exciting bits were a sneaky up the Barents Sea where we got pinged and charges were dropped so we high tailed it out at great speed.

The other exciting time was under the ice to the North Pole where we surfaced on the 3rd March 1971 (see pic) being the first Brit boat to do so.

My son was born on the 5th March on the way back and I was given 24 hours off to celebrate. We clipped our propeller at some stage whilst under the ice which meant we had to keep the revs down otherwise her tail used to waggle like a ducks arse which was dodgy as we never had an egg beater to get us out of trouble if we lost the propeller!!

While on the boat I did manage to get off for my shallow water diving course at HMS Drake which meant I had a month back at my home port. My diving skills were put to good use as Dreadnought went to Gibraltar in Oct 71 where I did a bottom hull search of the boat which was a daunting experience swimming beneath the reactor compartment and hearing the main coolant pumps running.

Whilst in Gib we were the 1st boat to be presented with the new Dolphin submarine brooch. All the crew had to clear lower deck to the jetty for the presentation of our Dolphins by the flag officer, after which we were able to get rid of the sausage on a stick!

Anyway, Nuc boats were not my cup of tea and Geoff Marshall the Coxswain encouraged me to put in for my Coxswains course and my request was granted by the C.O so I was back at Dolphin after a year which was unheard of on Dreadnought as it’s a one-off boat. Dave Tull the chief stoker had served at least 8 years onboard!!

I did my Coxswain's course in Nov 72 (see Pic) with left to right Black Smith, Jack O’Sullivan, Me and at the back Andy Verdi, Dicky Dawson, Jo Alford is in the front.

I did my makey-learny sea time on Oberon when I was confronted with another mini mutiny while alongside at Dunfermline where we had gone for a jolly. I was able to control it by having all the hatches shut which helped me pass the course with flying colors, so becoming the youngest coxswain since WWII as advised by drafty in Dolphin Admin

Cox’n on Andrew

My first boat as Coxswain was S/M Andrew in 75 where I relieved Coxswain Ray Upstall who had just brought the boat out of refit (a tough act to follow). Andrew was one of last A boats to have a 4-inch gun.

Most of our time was spent down Portland doing work ups with General Service including a bit of Perisher running but we did have a couple of jollies to Manchester then up the Manchester canal to Birkenhead where we adopted an underprivileged children’s school. It was on one of these jollies that we had an engine holding-down bolt crack which meant that the engine head had to be lifted.

On replacement the chief stoker Badges Duckett used his index finger to line up the holes and had it promptly chopped off; As the doc I had to administer the medical skills for which I was trained for which included sitting on Badges lap in the bathroom washing the grease off with Swarfegar and some stokers peering over the door laughing and saying the coxswains going to be sick!! Going to be sick!!

It was a while later when there was a knock at the mess door and there was a stoker presenting a match box to me with a Union flag drawn on it and I was asked if we could do a burial at sea of the chief stoker’s finger which we did from the top of the fin!

On another visit we were instructed to pick up naval cadet officers at Dartmouth to encourage them to join the S/M service. Our Captain decided to enter Dartmouth Harbour mouth at periscope depth and then surfaced in front of the cadets on the jetty who were well impressed.

Once they were onboard, we went out dived and started to snort. After the short snort period the captain then decided to have a planes failure and off we went to the bottom. I was on the helm at the time and was ordered starboard 30 and full astern which I did on the telegraphs but nothing happened!!

Unbeknown to all in the control room, including the cadets, the electrician in the motor room switchboard who had been sitting on the bench had slipped off. He was halfway down the engine room plates trying to crawl back to the switch board which he did eventually but not before the boat grazed the bottom.

On our return to Dartmouth I asked a cadet “are you going to volunteer for boats” in which he replied, you must be joking not on your life!!

A failed operation!!

Another interesting experience was when I was officer the watch dived as I had a bridge ticket. We were off the coast of Plymouth when I heard a loud scraping noise on the hull, so called captain to control room; he surfaced the boat to find a fishing boat’s otter board wrapped round our 4-inch gun.

A close shave thankfully and not the outcome as appeared in the Fictional TV series on 29/08/21 about a Trident S/M, “Vigil” where a fishing boat gets dragged under by the S/M.

The final 4ins firing on an A boat

A very interesting exercise was to fire the gun as if going into action. We would be at diving stations, at periscope depth, both planes hard to dive. We then blew all main ballast, reversed the planes and bobbed to the surface like a cork. On the surface we would open the wardroom hatch to let the gun layer out, who was the chef, along with gun loaders and fire the 1st shell ideally in under 30 seconds from dived. (A one-off experience).

That gun is now at the S/M museum.

Our final paying off Jolly was to London where we moored up alongside H M S Belfast. As it was Andrew’s last trip before scrapping, the captain had a cocktail party onboard for all the ex C.Os.

On another day we were invaded by some beautiful daringly clad model ladies who draped themselves all over the engine room for a photo shoot for the boys’ magazine Mayfair!! I do believe the Captain had some explaining to do after about the photo shoot.

On our arrival back at Devonport for final de-storing I was to find that half of my war store babies heads that had been stowed in the after ends were missing. In later years at a reunion I was told they had been taken ashore and exchanged for beer at the local pub. It was just as well I had been in the black victualing money wise as I would have had some serious questions to answer!

Lifesaving on Opportune

My next boat was S/M Opportune in 76 out of refit again!! and bloody workup then Perishers again but at least we were berthed in Devonport alongside H M S Forth.

One of my most memorable times was when we were on a major exercise when I had a call from the stokers mess that a stoker had just collapsed, so after investigating the symptoms I dashed off to the Goat shed (my office), thumbed through the medical bible and came to the conclusion that it was most likely a collapsed lung. I immediately told the captain he had to be air lifted off or he might die and the Captains words were “are you sure?” to which I replied “be it on your own head if he dies sir” so he ordered the boat to surface and the stoker was helicoptered off.

On return to Devonport I was told by the medical staff that I had saved his life and received a B Z.

A memorable time was when we went to Spithead for the Queens silver Jubilee 1977 review and I was luckily enough to be invited to go on the Royal Yacht Britannia to meet the Royals.

We all lined up in the dining room and waited to be introduced. When the Queen came past, I asked her if she had seen our submarines when steaming past for inspection from the Britannia and quick as a flash, she said “yes they were not in a very straight line were they?”

Admiral of the fleet Lord Mountbatten was a very interesting person to talk to as he was a big instigator in acquiring our 1st nuclear S/M Dreadnought. (see pic) 15

Back to skimming

I did 18 months on Opportune then went back to G.S as they tried to skid me to relieve coxswain Ollie Hard on an S boat coming out of refit in Barrow. I wasn’t having that after 18 months at sea so a chat with Drafty and he offered me the tank instructors job for 6 months only as they were short of coxswains. That was a no no so had a chat with G S drafty who offered me HMS Raleigh teaching the sprogs sailing then S/R’s mess manager which sounded much better than going back to sea for another 18 months so I slapped in to go back to G S.

Some gold rings tried to put me off leaving S/Ms, but GS Drafty was as good as his word and I got my wish to go back to G S

Good Oppo’s for life

I have enjoyed the comradeship and good friends that I have made in my time in diesel Submarines which are not quite the same as in Nucs or G.S. due to the amount of sea time they do today with not many jollies or foreign stations anymore.

At least “the grocer” as coxwains are affectionately known as, are not responsible for the victualing anymore which was a big headache!

Anyway, all submariners are buddies in boats! And I’m sure they have just as an exciting time these days in their highly technical piece of kit!!

I left the R. N .in May 1984 and now live in Spain.

We veteran submariners meet twice a year for the AGM and a get together (see pic) at The Show Boat in Benidorm thanks to the cousin of ex coxswain George Hockey who used to run the club.

All submariners are welcome to visit and join us.