were not needed in an emergency,made about 100 jumps.

At Mombasa, we helped the localYacht Club retrieve and relay itsmoorings, and were admirably re-warded by being taken in a largeboat to dive on the seaward edge ofthe coral reef outside the harbour.Both there and at Hong Kong weenjoyed some wonderful diving inthe clear water; the coral and fishfulfilled a diver's dreams.

Don't forget the diver!

The Sub-Aqua Club.

THE SHIP'S GUNNERY team found thedice loaded against them at the startof the commission. Our `P.C.T.' atFraser Gun Range was curtailed bypoor visibility and a temperamentalgun - the same rather unusual typethat we have in VIC'. Moreover,when we staged our first shoot onboard, we found that one of thebenefits of the refit was that thecommunications between the G.D.P.and the rest of the system had been

Gunnery Department

removed. The popular view was thatthis was because our Gunnery Officerneeds no mechanical or electrical aidin making his wishes known at anyrange; his loyal department hotlycontests the libel.

Over a series of shoots on the FarEast station, all the snags have beensorted out; we have had nine A.A.shoots at sleeves towed by trustingaircraft, and in the last four baggedsix sleeves. We had a go at a Pilot-less Target Aircraft in Decemberand gave it a hot time; we couldcertainly do better now. There havealso been three surface shoots topractice our guns against fast smallcraft, and these too were reasonablysuccessful. The ship's programmehas been too full to fit in more.

Our landing parties were exercisedat Portland and many lessons werelearned; one of the platoon (we allknow who) failed to replace his tin-hat after putting on his respirator,and promptly received a bag of wetflour on his bonce. The partiesstood by at Singapore to help theDockyard Police during the strike,but were not called out. On the wayto East Africa, further training onthe flight-deck, to prepare them tobe landed by helicopter for anti-riotduty, provided entertainment for theremainder of the ship's company.

We must not forget our mostlethal weapon. The Coston Gunnershave fired 260 rods during our

59

various R.A.S., all with notable ac-curacy. One shot almost reeveditself through the block, while onanother day, thinking perhaps to dothe job all by himself, the gunnerput the rod through the waitinghose. Despite an initial round ofapplause, this feat was decreed notto be `a good thing' - a section ofhose had to be replaced.

As for ceremonial, our salutingguns have fired 178 rounds - therehave been no complaints about thecounting - and, after much bully-ing, cajolery and pleading, the de-partment has formed a creditableceremonial guard from the juniorseamen.

A strike Carrier is not, perhaps,the ideal billet for a gunnery rating,since he is mainly born for com-munal duties, (guess who is the Din-ning Hall Officer) but a good com-petitive spirit has been fosteredbetween the gun's crews - especiallyonce the sleeves started falling.

Congratulations to C.P.O. Wardon completing the marathon pro-motion race from P.O.

Now, those of you who are leavingcan forget all about our 3" 50Mountings; a few of us remain topass on the message to the new com-mission.

Neptune's Minstrels.

Royal Marine Band1T MAY BE TRUE TO SAY that the RoyalMarine Band has been more seenthan heard onboard - a Buccaneertest-running its engines on deck is

stiff competition for a mere 18 musi-cians - but our engagements havebeen many and varied, and someof the most successful were `awayfixtures' - away from the noise.

Beating Retreat is always popular,nowhere more than at Dar-es-Salaamwhere the Band was almost mobbed-in appreciation, of course. Duringa concert programme beforehand,even a football net failed to keep thecrowd at bay, and after a dashingperformance by the percussionist,Mne. Jones vanished under anavalanche of excited children.

The Dance Band Section has beenin great demand and has its ownniche in a corner of the Quarter-deck; in a rather different form ittook its place in the orchestra pit forthe Christmas Panto. The orchestraenjoyed itself and so it seemed didthe audience.

Onboard, apart from rehearsingand providing `Music while youRAS', the Band spends its timepushing buttons for the Radar Dis-play Tote. We take it as a compli-ment that the R.Ps leave in a bodyin August and we remain in chargeThe First Lord, Lord Carrington inspects the Ceremonial Guard at Singapore.

6o

- that's our story anyway; our turncomes in November.

One day stands out in our memo-ries. We took our instruments withus to visit the 29th Pack Mule Com-pany on the border in Hong Kong.It was a day of surprises, none big-ger than when our tour of the campended at a paddock where three sad-dled ex-Jockey Club race horseswere waiting for the future Adjutantsof the Royal Marine School ofMusic. One member, who shall re-main nameless, swears he was incontrol all the time and had it in theright gear, but, after seeing him jet-tison hood and prepare to abandonship as his mount took off and head-ed straight for the fence, we werenot sure who was driving. A fewminutes later, the bar opened, notto close for twelve hours; during thistime we played a programme and fora dance. The ceremonial Guard ofHonour in H.M.S. TAMAR at 0800next morning for C-in-C found usa little tender; an incautious sidedrummer could have wrecked thewhole Band, and many heads amplyfilled their white helmets.

Now we are to be based in H.M.S.TERROR until the docking periodis over and we can get back to ourBig Drum (alias 984) again.

Beating Retreat with the U.S. Marines at Yokosukaand on the Flight-deck.

Commander's

OfficeTHE HAPPY, smiling faces you see inthe picture belong to the Command-er's Office Staff, past and present.Consisting of two Commander'sAssistants, the Chief Gunnery In-structor, two Seamen Scribes and amessenger, we like to think that wehave contributed in a small way, tothe smooth running of the shipduring the Commission.

We are the people who compose,type, duplicate and bombard youwith, Daily Orders, VICTEMS,RASTEMS and 101 other memos,and we have used about a quarterof a million sheets of paper doingso.

We usually work by day, but have,on occasions, been known to burn themidnight oil. At Dar-es-Salaam, forinstance, we were rudely awakenedat 0300 to produce MILTEM 1/64(we are still waiting for - MILTEM2/64), and a ` welcome aboard'pamphlet for 45 Commando, whowere due to embark first thing in themorning. We found out at 0800 thatthe whole thing was delayed by 24hours. A few muttered curses wereheard, but we bore the blow bravely!

The staff go on draft duringAugust to quiet numbers new, andwe all sincerely hope that our newplaces of work will not vibrate quiteas much as the Commander's Officehas done onboard VIC.

Regulating StaffA few vital statistics:

An interesting fact is that a check with the Ship's Pay Office showsthat one third of the `Wage Bill' has been donated to the Exchequer by anobviously appreciative Ship's company; we thank you on behalf of theChancellor.

Heard at the Reg. Office door:M.A.A., having sent for a rating, asks, "Are you Grog?""No, Master," comes the snappy catch answer, "I'm GREEN."

TOTAL OF STAFF, excluding very illustrious Divisional Officer, ... 9.Combined ages, excluding very venerable Divisional Officer, ...... 313 years.Total length of service, excluding ancient D.O. (joined B.C.) ...... 158 years.Annual wages, excluding D.O. who pays the MOD(NAVY) ...... £9,400.Total of Badges RED, ................................................... 24.Number of LONG SERVICE AND GOOD CONDUCT MEDALS, 6(A mere 90 years service)

The Unofficial

Division

ChineseJOINING ON THE 22ND SEPTEMBER,1963 for his second commission inVICTORIOUS, K. P. LAU hasrendered yeoman service to theShip's Company, as Number One ofthe Tailoring, Shoemaking andLaundry Lions.

The tailors' shop has been situatedin the forward pocket, and manysuits, both uniform and civilian,had been produced. Apart fromthese, repairs have been done, andmany items such as towels, under-wear, shirts, car coats and dressinggowns have been sold. This servicehas been very welcome to the major-ity, and quite a large proportion ofthe Ship's Company will be flyinghome wearing suits with the K. P.Lau trademark inside. In additionquite a number of wives and sweet-hearts will be wearing Cheong Sam,made by K. P. Lau.

Next door to the tailors' shop isthe cobblers' shop, managed by acheerful Chinaman, one CHINGMAN HONG, who has producedfootwear of all shapes and sizes fromsandals to half Wellingtons, Ladiesshoes to football boots. It is allegedthat he recognises everyone by theirright foot, a drawing of which hekeeps in his order book.

Down in the bowels of 6K, work-ing under extremely hot conditionsare the Laundry Crew, led byCHOW JACK YUK. Everyone inthe Ship's Company has two laundrydays each week, and it says muchfor the Laundry Crew, that on onlyone occasion have they failed tomeet this schedule. (They had 3days leave in Hong Kong). None ofus would willingly work in suchconditions as this willing band.

As always, there have been com-plaints, but these have been amicablysettled by K. P. LAU. We wish himwell in his next commission, and aresure he will continue to give as gooda service in the future as he hasgiven in the past.

Bosn's PartyBrooms, buckets and brushes and scrubbers supplied,O iling at sea they took in their stride.S ewing of canvas caused them no dismay,N or did replenishment when underway.Splicing, of course, was the test of their craft,Passing of tows, they did this fore and aft.

A nything anywhere, that was their aim,R igging for parties was child's play they claim.To sum it all up, they are really quite keen,Yes, the Bosun, his Mate and the rest of the team.

But to give them a hand with these jobs so many,

They still call for help from our Side Party - Jenny.

SPIKE

Executive Department

Foc'sle Division.

Foc'sleSTRICTLY SPEAKING, Flat Tops don'thave Foc'sles, but we do sport aflourishing cable deck. Here are itsvital statistics;

Length 104 feetBreadth 76 feetSize of cable 2¾ inchesLength of cable 518¾ fathomsWeight of anchor 8.15 tonsDepth of water 18 inches!

Perhaps to the layman (otherwiseknown as Waffoo), this may notseem so very formidable; not so tothe Division which has to repaint themonster every time we have a bit of`sea'.

T h e

Division's

mathematicianassures us that 93 n.miles 200 yds.were scrubbed during the past year.In fact, it would be true to say thatmost of our Division are more athome with a paint-work scrubberthan with a marline spike. However,we do have our bit of climbing when

64

we paint under the round-down, andthere's always Si for getting`bronzey'.

We haven't anything veryspectacular to report, but perhapsthat's a good thing. Though therehave been mutterings of "Give methe boats", there is no doubt thatthe majority have enjoyed the com-mission. Ask those who have beento the Commander's Table to recounttheir novel experience ashore.

Top DivisionDivisional Officer Lt. C. Buckle.Captain of Top P.O. J. Blunden

'TOP' IS A MIS-NOMER, `Waister'would be better since the Division'sresponsibility covers the centre partof the ship but excludes the Island,mast and `Tops'. However, an abilityto climb is handy for those who findthemselves doing the underside of theangle and similar overhangs - evenwhen aided by the mechanical aids ofchariots and Symonds' platforms.But very little climbing is requiredfor scrubbing the 630 feet of passageways! The pure seaman has beendisappointed by the fact that we onlyhave one boom and one rarely usedaccommodation ladder.

For those who are not aware of thefact, Top is also the proprieter ofthat well known spot 4G Port, sohandy for Goffar firms, goofing,illegal ditching of gash and for the

Top Division.

reading of Warrants.Of the Seaman Divisions we claim

to have won more games of sport,had more successful advancementexaminees and more winners ofWarrants (non-travel type).

Quarterdeck DivisionOUR COMMISSION really started a fewdays before the commissioning cere-mony when the protective hard-board was lifted off the Quarterdeckand feverish activity was noticedaround the `back end' to make goodthe ravishes of a year in dockyardhands. This was the first of manysuch times since when the lastmember of the hook-rope party hasdisappeared through one door justas a visiting dignitary has appearedthrough another. There have beenslip-ups in the drill - as when theguard and band plus a bucket ofsoapy water; paraded for an Ameri-can Admiral we were not amused!

For the first time ever, the tow aftgear was laid out and used to towSALISBURY off Aden. The towwent without a single hitch, probablybecause at the time the QuarterdeckOfficer was sunbathing in SALIS-BURY watching the evolution froma safe distance.

We were represented in bothship and departmental sport by awide selection of sportsmen, fromathletes to marksmen, and had goodsport ashore too. We have alwaysmanaged to produce a line of un-

healthy hangovers at the Command-er's Table after a good run ashore.

About two thirds of the totalDivision passed through the part ofship at one time or another. Ournet was spread throughout the shipin almost every special party, andmany a white face appeared to fill inhis passport application - the un-seens who help to look after us in

their various necessary and excellentways.

At the time of writing, the nextdraft chit remains a mystery to mostof the Division, but one thing iscertain, we will all thoroughly enjoyour leave as we look back on a lot ofhard work and fun - the battle ofthe RP against the rest will remainunresolved.

65

"S and S" Officers and Senior Ratings.

Supply and Secretariat Department

P.O. Cook (S) M artin and hisMombasa tiddler.

Stores(S), Stores(V) and Writers.

Officers' Cooks and Stewards.

This is the department which sits inthe offices......

The Captain's Office, for instance,where they busy themselves endless-ly with mysterious paperwork andAffairs 0f State, but have yet foundtime to help over sixty compas-sionate leave cases and prepare onehundred and fifty one warrants.

Or the Pay Office; they work outwhat you are worth on payday andhave recorded your gifts to a grate-ful exchequer (mulcts) of over£3,000.

Or again the Cash Office - whichactually handles the filthy stuff; theypaid you £ 1,000,000 in cash, and, ifyou didn't spend it straight away,changed it into some other currencyup to 16 times! They helped youspend a small fortune in Honkers.......and looks after the stores ...

The Naval and Air stores; has45,000 items on the ledger - youwant it, they ain't got it. But whatdid you do with 2,946 gallons ofTeepol? You also used 18,083 torchbatteries; looking in dark corners forthose 1,058 paint brushes presum-

Cooks (S).

Christmas puds . . . . . . and cakes.

P.O. Cook (S) Thwaites with 5 Messsupper.

ably. The Flying clothing/B.R. sec-tion provides the aircrew with allthey need in the air - and `A Guideto Heaven' to be on the safe side.

The Victualling Stores, providedyou with 500 tons of spuds, 404,544sausages, over ½ million eggs and391,876 tots (and much more be-sides).. . . . . . and cooks all your grub . . . . . .

We haven't worked out how manychips you get from 500 tons ofMurphy's. They also made all thosecakes, and even caught some of thefood themselves. All in all you atenearly a ton each in 12 months!. . . . . . and looks after those who liveat the end that rattles . . . . . .

230 cabins, Wardroom, BridgeMess and A.C.R.B. Like the Wind-mill, we never close... No! Not an-other cocktail party!. . . . . . in fact, which serves you all .

Some of us are even staying onuntil November to make sure thenew commission gets the same com-prehensive service to which you areaccustomed.

Captain's wife cutsthe Commissioning cake.

"Take 50 lbs. flour,40 lbs. butter, 36o eggs . . . "

One day's victuals.

Meat . . . . . and Drink for the Wardroom.

Major

68

P.E.C.

Rev. A.B. O'Ferrall, B.A.

Rattray, 7th

H. M.S. VICTORIOUSOFFICERS

Gurkha Rifles

Captain

P. M. COMPSTON

Commanders

D.J. Bateman, Supply OfficerC.R.P.C. Branson, Executive Officer

A.E. Cadman, L.D.S., Senior Dental SurgeonK.A. Leppard, Commander (Air)

H.W.F. Lowman, A.M.I.Mech.E., Marine Engineer OfficerG.D. Palmer, A.M.I.E.E., Deputy Air Engineer Officer

P.A.T. Reeves, B.Sc., A.Inst.P., A.M.I.E.E., Weapons, Radio & Electrical OfficerD.W.G. Robotham, A.M.I.Mech.E., Air Engineer Officer (relieved May 1964)

J.E. Taylor, M.A., Senior Instructor OfficerD.G. Titford, D.C.Ae., A.M.I.Mech.E, A.F.R.Ae.S., Air Engineer Officer

P.F. Toal, M.B., B.ch., Principal Medical Officer ......

Lieutenant Commanders

Lieutenants

Surgeon Lieutenant Commander

F.R. Wilkes, M.B.E., M.B., Ch.B., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.

Chaplains

Rev. I.J. Vincent

69 Carrier-borne Ground Liaison Section

Rev. J.I. Sheehy

Captain D.C.B. Downe, The Loyal Regiment

G.B. Cross, Gunnery Officer J.G. Pope, Direction OfficerP.S. Davis, D.S.C., Lt.Cdr. (F) (relieved May x964) R.C. Prescott, First LieutenantK.H. Dedman, M.A. Lt.Cdr. (Operations) N.E.K. Provins, Explosives Accounting OfficerR.A. Duxbury, Flight Deck Officer R. Richards, Captain's SecretaryP. Greenwood, Assistant Flight Deck Officer T.A.W. Ritchie, Flight Deck Engineer OfficerP.W. Haines, Deputy Direction Officer (relieved October 1963)J.W. Hall, B.A., Deputy Electrical Officer N.E. Segar, S.A.T.C.O.D.T. Hanney,

Second Gunnery Officer P.T. Sheehan, Deputy Supply Officer

E.M.G. Hewitt, Signal Communications Officer D.R. Taylor, Flight Deck Engineer Officer

J.H.G. Howard, Fleet Work Study Team No. 15 G.G. Tordoff, B.Sc., Third Met. OfficerA.R. Knight, A.B.C.D. Office r H.A.A. Twiddy, BoatswainT.C.S. Leece, Lt.Cdr. (Flying)B.J.G.

Mackenzie-Williams, B.A., A.M.I.E.E.,K.D.O. Wake, A.M.I.Mech.E., A.M.I.Mar.E.,

984/CDS OfficerF.P. Mathieson, A.B.C.D. Office r (relieved May 1964)

Senior EngineerD.C.F. Watson, M.A., Second Met. Officer

P.G.W. Morris, A.C.R.O. M. Whyte, B.Sc., Education OfficerA.W. Wilcox, Senior Engineer (relieved October 1963)W. Norman, T.A.S. Officer

P.J. Perry, Mate of the Upper Deck S.R.C. Wornham, Navigating Officer

M.J. Pitt, Weapons A.E.O. F.G. Young, A.M.R.I.N.A., Shipwright Officer

T. Allison T.F. Eden J.E. HightonJ.W. Armstrong, D.S.M. D.P. Edwards D.H. HobsonB.N. Barrett G.A.J. Evans J.V. IssacsA.J. Bavin N.D.K. Evans

L.R. FinchP.S. JacksonR.S. James, A.M.I.Mech.E., G.I.Mech.E.R. Bradberry

I. Brannam W.M. Forbes J.H.T. JonesC. Buckle P.C. Gent D.A. KnowlesG.H. Caldwell R.E. Gibbons R.N. LanghamJ.M.R. Carlill T.J.Gowan, B.A. C.P. LawranceG.J.T. Creedy N.A.D. Grant M.St.J. Lines, A.M.I.Mar.E.M. Cudmore K.G. Hammerton G.R. MarrJ.H. Curry T.A.W. Harris K.T.W. Martin