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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 20, 2020 20:07:13 GMT 12
Some interesting details in this article from the Evening Post dated 3rd of August 1944
IN SERVICE AGAIN
H.M.S. ACHILLES
REFIT IN GREAT BRITAIN
(Special P.A. Correspondent.)
LONDON, August 2
Equipped with all the latest devices for war at sea, H.M.S. Achilles, whose role in the Battle of the River Plate is part of New Zealand's naval history, is again on the war-path after a refit in Great Britain. She has emerged from the refit thoroughly modernised. Her new commanding officer is Captain F. J. Butler, M.B.E., who is a man with a grudge against the Japanese because they bombed and sank the Empress of Asia and H.M.S. Devonshire while he was convoying those ships to Singapore in 1941. He volunteered to return to the Pacific theatre in order to "pay off the scores."
The Achilles has an almost entirely new ship's company, of whom 90 per cent are New Zealanders, all with wide war experience. When she returned to Britain to refit after an absence of more than four years, the Achilles, then commanded by Captain W. Gronow Davies, D.S.C., had steamed 246,000 miles in this war. It was the first time she had seen England since her encounter with the Graf Spee. She bore also a scar caused by a Japanese bomb in the Pacific. She had been bombarding Munda aerodrome with an American squadron when ten Japanese aircraft had taken off to retaliate. But six were shot down before they reached the squadron, and though the Achilles was nit by a 550lb bomb, not one of the remaining four Japanese aircraft returned to their aerodrome, all being shot down too.
LUCK HOLDS GOOD.
The bomb hit the Achilles fairly and squarely, and one of her guns, which took the full force of the explosion, was split, while a turret was smashed and 13 men killed. Miraculously, five men came out alive from that turret. If the bomb had fallen three feet on either side of the gun the Achilles would now be resting fathoms deep off Guadalcanal, because her magazines would have gone up. But the Achilles has the reputation of being a "lucky ship," and certainly her luck held that day. After repairs, she made a fast voyage to England to refit. She arrived with salt-crusted funnels, having had only "two smells" of submarines, though many were reported about her course at different intervals.
Her blue paint—which covered even the decks—indicated that she had been serving with the United States navy, because it is camouflage suited to the blue waters of the Pacific. She was welcomed to Britain by the New Zealand High Commissioner, Mr. Jordan, and Mr. S. R. Skinner, naval liaison officer. Mr. Jordan addressed the assembled ship's company, all of whom, with the exception of a very few, are now serving with other units. Soon after the Achilles' arrival she was visited by Mr. A. V. Alexander, First Lord of the Admiralty.
FEW ORIGINALS LEFT.
One of the few original New Zealanders still with the ship is Commander H. B. C. Holmes, R.N., of Masterton, who is second in command. He was in the Ajax at the River Plate. Later he served in an anti-aircraft cruiser for two years. He saw the N.Z.E.F. being evacuated from Greece and was in a battle north of Crete in May, 1941. New Zealand executive officers in the Achilles include Lieutenant-Commander L. King, D.S.C, Wellington, Lieutenants H. Boyack, Auckland, P. W. C. McCallum, Tokomaru Bay, J. S. Pringle Eltham, F. S. Phillips, Gisborne, and T. B. Hogan, Hastings.
Lieut.-Commander King won his D.S.C. in H.M.S. Onslow when Captain Sherbrooke Avon the V.C., and Lieutenant Boyack saw the Scharnhorst sunk while he was in the Jamaica. Lieutenant Phillips served in H.M.S. Keppel in the Battle of the Atlantic. Other New Zealanders are:—Fighter direction, Sub-Lieutenant T. E. Hale, Blenheim; engineer, Sub-Lieutenant W. H. Gregory, K.N., Wellington; accountants, Paymaster-Commander L. J. Black and Lieutenant-Paymaster J. M. Fletcher, Auckland; Lieutenant Paymaster, G. H. L. Davies, Lower Hutt; wireless officers, Lieutenants L. B. Carey, Wellington, and C. S. Sharp, Auckland.
Medical personnel include Surgeon Commander E. R. Harty, Dunedin; Lieutenants J. R. Addison, Wellington; A. W. Deberry, Christchurch. .. The Rev. C.,F. Webster, R.N.Z.N., is chaplain. Commissioned warrant and warrant officers include: Gunner, L. H. R. Russell. New Plymouth; engineer, T. G. E. Hallin, Auckland; electrician, W. R. Ellis; and schoolmaster, R. B. Waddell, Auckland.
Captain Butler, who joined the Royal Navy in 1915, served in H.M.S. Lion in the last war (Admiral Beatty's flagship), together with Commodore Lake. He was in the Repulse when the Prince of Wales toured South Africa and South America, and later served in the Revenge as commander. After commissioning in H.M.S. Sheffield as second in command, he was appointed to command H.M.S. Danae in November, 1940, and was engaged in convoy work from the Indian Ocean to Hong Kong. He was en route from Penang when the Japanese declared war.
Captain Butler was engaged in several actions with the Japanese, and evacuated 4500 women and children from Singapore. He was also sent twice with the Danae to Penang, on the coast of Sumatra, to evacuate servicemen, nurses, women, and children. Making two trips, he took off 617 persons the first time and 327 the second.
There is an amusing story attached to this. When the garrison at Penang first wirelessed the commodore for assistance its signal said: "Bells ringing in Penang."' And the commodore replied: "The butler will attend." Subsequently Captain Butler escorted convoys in the Persian Gulf before returning to England in charge of a gunnery school. He was keen to return and settle accounts with the Japanese.
Before the Achilles left England Mr. Jordan and Mr. Skinner spent a night aboard, and next morning attended a service on the quarterdeck conducted by Mr. Webster. Mr. Jordan addressed the ship's company and wished them the best of luck on behalf of the people and the Government of New Zealand. When he left the ship's company lined the decks cheering while he and Mr. Skinner boarded a motor launch.
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Post by pepe on Mar 20, 2020 20:30:03 GMT 12
Very informative article and some great crew background provided.
The correspondent must have been English given they keep referring to HMS Achilles rathe than HMNZS...
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 20, 2020 21:04:32 GMT 12
I was surprised to read it was painted blue while in the Pacific. I never knew that.
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Post by errolmartyn on Mar 21, 2020 9:45:17 GMT 12
I was surprised to read it was painted blue while in the Pacific. I never knew that. Part of our Blue Water Navy! Errol |
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Post by rone on Mar 21, 2020 16:32:29 GMT 12
I am certain I am correct, but here goes. Schoolmaster R.B.Waddell was in later years an Electronics teacher at Seddon Memorial Technical College, Auckland. He made NZ's first TV receiver, converting a 6" Occilloscope(sp) to receive pictures instead of radio waves. He was the man responsible for teaching the original TV Servicing technicians the ins and out of TV sets. These were kitset TV's supplied by PYE Radio. So in a way Ron Waddell is the father of TV in NZ.
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Post by 30sqnatc on Mar 23, 2020 20:49:48 GMT 12
I was surprised to read it was painted blue while in the Pacific. I never knew that. Part of our Blue Water Navy! Errol They painted it with water colour - outrageous  |
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Post by TS on Mar 24, 2020 13:55:58 GMT 12
When they say Blue it is not a bright blue but dark blue. USS Texas was repainted in the Pacific colour.
Although it has faded some what in the Video.
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Post by aerofoto on Mar 27, 2020 7:01:55 GMT 12
Just a bit about the ACHILLES .... and her 4 other sisters .... 3 of the 5 of which had NZ connections during WW2 .... There were 5 light cruisers among the ACHILLES class - AJAX
- ACHILLES
- LEANDER
- NEPTUNE
- ORIONIf I recall my naval history correctly .... 3 of these ships had RNZN connections throughout WW2, but, I think AJAX, NEPTUNE, and ORION were the only members of these 5 sisters that served under the HMS (rather than HMNZS) banner. Jack S.HARKER authored the folowing superb books about the 3 ships of this class with NZ connections .... - "WELL DONE LEANDER"
- "HMNZS ACHILLES"
- "ALMOST HMNZS NEPTUNE"Here's capsule histories in regard to each of these 5 sisters .... HMS AJAX HMS AJAX was laid down on February 7th 1933, launched on March 1st 1934, and commissioned on June 3rd 1935. Her motto was "Nec Quisquam Nisi Ajax" .... "None but Ajax can overcome Ajax". She served as part of RN West Indies, Pacific, and South Atlantic squadrons prior to the outbreak of WW2 .... and served with distinction in the South Atlantic in particular during the Battle of the River Plate (alongside HMNZS ACHILLES and HMS EXETER in persuit of the German pocket-battleship ADMIRAL GRAF SPEE on December 13th 1939). She then served in the Medeiterranean/at Crete, and in support of the North African campaign .... as well a participating bombardment of Gold Beach prior to the D-Day invasion, and later in the Agean during the re-occupation of Greece. She was decomissioned during February 1948 and scrapped during 1949. HMS AJAX history .... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ajax_%2822%29HMS/HMNZS ACHILLES HMS ACHILLES was laid down on June 11th 1931, launched on September 1st 1932, and commissiomed on October 10th 1933. Her motto was .... "Fortiter in Re" - "unyielding in action". She was transferred to the NZ division of the RN during 1937 (in company with HMS LEANDER) .... and was assigned to the Falkland Islands during October 1939 as part of the RN South Atlantic squadron where she served with distinction at the Battle of the River Plate (alongside HMS AJAX and HMS EXETER in persuit of the German pocket-battleship ADMIRAL GRAF SPEE on December 13th 1939). She returned to New Zealand during February 1940 and from where she then undertook trans-Tasman convoy escorts, and later joined the ANZAC Pacific squadron after Japans entry to WW2 and serving with honouyrs at Guadalcanal between 1942 and 1943, then at Okinawa during 1945, both in conjunction with Australian and US forces. She was returned to the RN during 1946 and decommisioned on September 17th 1946. She was then sold to the Indian Navy and recommissioned on July 5th 1948 .... as INS DELHI. During 1956 she starred as a prop in the British Vista-Vision movie production "THE BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE" of 1956. In 1968 she was present at the granting of independence to Mauritius (in Company with HMS TARTAR), and was decommissioned for scrapping on June 30th 1978. Her "Y" turret was presented as a gift to the New Zealand government and is currently on display at the entrance of Devonport Naval Base in Auckland, New Zealand. HMNZS ACHILLES HISTORY .... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMNZS_Achilles_%2870%29HMS/HMNZS LEANDER HMS LEANDER was laid down on September 8th 1933, launched on September 24th 1931, and commissiomed on March 24th 1933. Her motto was "Qui Patitur" .... "Who suffers conquers". She was transferrd to the NZ division of the RN during 1937 (in company with HMS ACHILLES). During WW2 she served in both the Pacific and Indian Oceans (sinking the italian raider RAMB off the Maldives .... and capturing the Vichi-French freighter CHARLES LD near Madgascar and Marituius) .... in search of the German raider PINGUIN. During June 1941 she was trnsferred to the Mediterranean .... and then back to the Pacific during 1943. On July 13th 1943 she participated in the Battle of Kolombangara near the Solomon Islands (in company with US forces) .... which resulted in the sinking of the Japonese cruiser JINTSU .... and during which action she was extensively damaged. Though repaired in NZ she was effecively out of the remainder of WW2. She was returned to the RN on August 27th 1945 and involved in the Corfu Channel Incident of 1946. She was decommmissioned during February 1948 and scrapped during 1950. HMNZS LEANDER HISTORY .... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMNZS_LeanderHMS NEPTUNE HMS NEPTUNE was laid down on September 24th 1931, launched on January 1st 1933, and commissiomed on February 12th 1934. Her motto was "Regnare est servire" - "To reign is to serve". Although never transferred to the NZ division of the RN she was operated by a predominantly NZ crew. During late 1939 she was assigned to the RN South Atlantic squadron and participated in the search for a German raider (then believed to have been either the ADMIRAL SCHEER or ADMIRAL GRAF SPEE .... it was the GRAF SPEE), but, was too distant to participate in the River Plate action of December 13th 1939 (in company with HMS AJAX, HMS EXETER, and HMNZS ACHILLES) .... but .... was stationed at Uruguay following the River Plate action which trapped the GRAF SPEE within the netral port of Montevideo, and resulted in its later scuttling. She participated in the battle of Calabria on July 9th 1940 and during which she was "the ship" which first sighted the Italian fleet .... resulting in a famous signal reading "enemy battle fleet in sight" .... not communicated since the Napoleonic naval wars. Later leading leading the cruiser squadron assigned to FORCE K during 1941 .... to intercept and destroy German and Italian convoys en route to Libya .... she struck 2 Italian mines during the evening of December 19th/20th 1941 .... and struck a 3rd mine (which wrecked her propulsion and steering gear) whilst reversing out of the mine field .... then later struck a 4th mine which resulted in her promptly capsizing and sinking with the loss of some 737 of her crew. Other accompaying vessels were also similarly damaged by mines and unable to render assistance. Of 30 survivors from NEPTUNE´s entire crew all but 1 persished and whom was recoverd by an Italian naval patrol .... some 5 days later. HMS NEPTUNE HISTORY .... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Neptune_(20)HMS ORION Her motto was "  ?" - " ?" HMS ORION was laid down on September 26th 1931, launched on November 24th 1932, and commissiomed on January 18th 1934. During 1940 she was transferred to the Mediterranean and participated in the bombardment of of Bardoa, and at the Battle of Calabria during June 1940 .... and sank the Greek freighter ERMIONI which was ferrying supplies in support of the Italian defence of the Dodecanese Islands. Later during 1940 she escorted Malta bound convoys .... and also undertook trooping .... and in March 1941 participated in the Battle of Cape Matapan. She was damaged during an attack on a Crete bound Germnan convoy on May 22nd 1941 .... then suffered extensive damaged by bombing on May 29th 1941 during the evacutation of Crete. From mid 1942 she was engaged as a convoy escort .... to Africa and the Indian Ocean .... and was returned to the RN Mediterrnean cruiser squadron from October 1942 where she was once again engaged in conyoy activities, and in support of the inavasion of sicily during 1943. She then participated in the Normandy Landings during the June 1944 D-Day invasion .... where she earned the distinction of firing "the very first" shells. Following WW2 .... she was then involved in the Corfu Channel incident (in company with HMS LEANDER) during 1946. She was decommissioned during 1947 .... and scrapped during 1949. HMS ORION HISTORY .... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Orion_(85)Mark C AKL/NZ |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 27, 2020 9:56:11 GMT 12
All served under HMS.
HMS Achilles and HMS Leander were attached to the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy up till October 1941 when the Royl New Zealand Navy formed and they were transferred to that new force, and renamed with the HMNZS prefix.
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Post by davidd on Apr 15, 2020 11:44:02 GMT 12
Typical that there was no mention of the dockyard explosion in the UK in (early?) 1944 which almost saw her scrapped. Several men were killed, and the ship was severely strained, and consideration was given to writing her off there and then. Anyway, she was given a reprieve and eventually was completed and returned to the fleet. I don't think this explosion was revealed to the world at large until after WW2. Somebody with easy access to a reliable history of this ship could add the date of explosion.
David D
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 15, 2020 12:17:37 GMT 12
Wow I did not know about that David.
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Post by davidd on Apr 15, 2020 13:22:23 GMT 12
Dave, have just located the details of the dockyard explosion I was looking for. Date was 22nd June 1943 (the ship had arrived in UK in April), location was Portsmouth dockyard. To quote S D Waters "The Royal New Zealand Navy" [1955], page 362): So my guess at date of explosion was quite a few months astray!
"The Achilles spent more than fourteen months in Portsmouth dockyard, refitting and rearming. On 22 June 1943 a violent explosion occurred in one of her main fuel tanks, killing and injuring many dockyard hands and causing considerable structural damage to the ship. The tank had been emptied and cleaned in April and workmen were making moulds in the double-bottom fuel tank, preparatory to erecting two bulkheads in the compartment.
"Fourteen workmen were killed and many others injured by the explosion, twelve being sent to hospital. The fuel tank in which the explosion occurred and three other compartments were almost completely wrecked. A number of bulkheads were collapsed or badly distorted by the blast. The deck above was blown upwards six or seven feet, the platform deck was torn away from the ship's side, and the shell plating bulged outwards over an area of about thirty feet by ten feet. A number of watertight doors were blown through their frames. Besides those killed, a considerable number of workmen, injured or stunned, were trapped in the damaged compartments. They were rescued by members of the ship's company assisted by other workmen. Dense smoke at first prevented access to the seat of the damage. Two ratings, equipped with breathing apparatus, tried to get through by way of the stokers' mess deck, but were overpowered by smoke and one had to be hauled out by means of a lifeline. The smoke was finally dispersed by water spray."
Then follows more than a page of details of the heroic work carried out by the NZ ratings (W D Dale and E Valentine, both RNZVR, plus Engine Room Artificer William Vaughan, RN, of Durham, UK, born 1909, so no spring chicken), as well as details of other heroic deeds carried out by two UK civilians, known only by their family names - "Rogers", a dock worker, and "a sixteen-year old lad named Baxter, who had been boiler cleaning". Three other RNZVR ratings (two Stokers 1st Class, A W Clarke [Irish-born] and H E Stow, and Leading Supply Assistant J O Brittain) also greatly assisted in rescuing dazed workmen from another compartment a little later. All the NZ ratings named here were born between 1918 and 1922. None of the second group were decorated.
The story of the feats accomplished by the first three ratings are covered in some detail, and make stirring reading.
David D
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 15, 2020 14:50:53 GMT 12
Thanks David.
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Post by madmac on Apr 15, 2020 16:17:21 GMT 12
If memory serves me right, HMNZS Achilles by Harker gives the explosion as a worker who was off sick, had his oxy set turned on dock side and it leaked into the tank for an entire day.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 15, 2020 17:09:20 GMT 12
Actually this wartime article from the Gisborne Herald dated the 21st of February 1945 does mention the dockyard explosion and deaths.
BACK TO DOMINION
H.M.N.Z.S. ACHILLES
TWO YEARS’ ABSENCE
ALMOST REBUILT
(P.A.) AUCKLAND Feb. 20.
Quietly and unannounced, H.M.N.Z.S. Achilles glided into the Waitemata recently and back to her old home berth at the Devonport naval base. She had been nearly two years away. Girded afresh for the Pacific war, the cruiser, which played such a gallant part in the defeat of the German pocket battleship Graf Spee in the early days of the war, is now a much better equipped ship than when she last left here. In relation to her size H.M.N.Z.S. Achilles is as well equipped as any ship in any Pacific fleet and more modern in equipment than most. Fundamentally, the Japanese have only themselves to blame for any damage they suffer as a result for it was a force of Zeros which caused it.
Away back on January 5, 1943, in the Solomons one 500lb. bomb connected with the cruiser and the Achilles’ twin 6in. gun turret aft disappeared. A large scale refit was indicated and a visit to a British dockyard ordered. An unfortunate accident there prolonged the process, a gas explosion for’ard killing 17 and injuring nearly 100 dockyard workers.
This mishap turned the repair and refit job into what amounted nearly to a rebuilding of the cruiser. Into the shell of the old Achilles was built all the lessons learned in theatres of naval activity in this war — and they have been plenty. The reborn ship is built to order for the type of fighting the Pacific theatre has developed.
New Commander
The crew is in large measure the same as earlier manned H.M.N.Z.S. Leander. 85 per cent New Zealand and the remainder largely Imperial men with their wives and families in the Dominion. She has a new commander, Captain F. J. Butler, M.B.E., R.N.. whose last seagoing command was H.M.S. Danae. On leaving H.M.S. Danae Captain Butler was appointed captain of the gunnery school at Devonport. England, and served there until he took over H.M.N.Z.S. Achilles.
Captain Butler is enthusiastic about the ship and the crew. Both had settled down well, he said in an interview, and he was sure they would give a good account of themselves in action.
Speaking of gunnery in general, Captain Butler said a complete change-over to the most modern equipment was taking place and it was thus H.M.N.Z.S. Achilles had benefited.
Among officers manning H.M.N.Z.S. Achilles are men of the widest battle experience, men who were with her at the battle of the River Plate and subsequent Pacific actions, other men who were with Royal Navy ships on Russian convoys and in the Mediterranean and Atlantic actions, and also who have served in submarines.
Her second-in-command, Commander B. C. Holmes, R.N., was born in Masterton, though he has served in the navy since 1917. Her crew has four unusual types. One is a native of Niue and three others Fijians, the first natives from that British possession to circumnavigate the globe as members of the navy.
Since the refit H.M.N.Z.S. Achilles has not seen action. The work was not completed in time for the cruiser to have a share in the first landing on the French coast on D Day, but she was sent to the Mediterranean to assist in the coverage of the second landing in the Marseilles area. That landing was unopposed and the assistance of the Achilles guns was not required. Some patrol and convoy work, including the escort of the ship which brought the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and their family to Sydney, made up the rest of her activities prior to her return to Auckland. The cruiser now takes up ordinary patrol and other duties as a unit of the Royal New Zealand Navy, taking part as required in the activities of the British Pacific Fleet.
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 24, 2020 19:37:20 GMT 12
Here is an article that marked the return to New Zealand of HMNZS Achilles after almost two years, published in the Evening Post on the 20th of February 1945
ACHILLES BACK
A REBORN CRUISER
EVERYTHING UP TO MINUTE
P.A. AUCKLAND, This Day.
Quietly and unannounced, H.M.N.Z.S. Achilles glided into the Waitemata recently and back to her old home berth at the Devonport Naval Base. She had been nearly two years away. Girded afresh for the Pacific war, this cruiser, which played such a gallant part in the defeat of the German pocket-battleship Graf Spec in the early days of the war, is now a much better equipped ship than when she last left New Zealand. In relation to size the Achilles is as well equipped as any ship in any Pacific fleet, and is more modern in equipment than most.
Fundamentally, the Japanese have only themselves to blame for any damage they suffer as a result, for it was a force of Zeros which caused it, away back in January, 1943, in the Solomons. A 500 lb bomb connected with the cruiser, and her twin 6 in gun turret aft disappeared. A large-scale refit was indicated, and a visit to a British dockyard was ordered. An accident there prolonged the job, a gas explosion forward killing 17 dockyard workers and injuring nearly 100. This mishap turned the repair and refit job into what amounted to nearly a rebuilding of the cruiser.
Into the shell of the cruiser was built all the lessons learned in the war, and they have been plenty. The reborn ship is built to order for the type of fighting the Pacific theatre has developed.
CREW MAINLY NEW ZEALAND.
The crew is in large measure the same as the earlier manned Leander 85 per cent. New Zealand and the remainder largely Imperial men with wives and families in the Dominion. She has a new commander, Captain F J. Butler, M.B.E., R.N., whose last seagoing command was H.M.S. Danae. On leaving the Danae Captain Butler was appointed captain of the Gunnery School at Devonport, England, and served there till he took over the Achilles.
Captain Butler is enthusiastic about the ship and crew. Both had settled down well, he said, in an interview, and he was sure they would give a good account of themselves in action Speaking of gunnery in general, Captain Butler said that a complete change-over to the most modern equipment was taking place, and it was thus that the Achilles had benefited.
Among the officers manning the Achilles are men of the widest battle experience, men who were with her at the Battle of the River Plate and subsequent Pacific actions and other men who were with Royal Navy ships on the Russian convoys and in Mediterranean and Atlantic actions. Also two have served in submarines. Her second in command, Commander B. C. Holmes, R.N., was born at Masterton. He has served in the Navy since 1917.
The crew has four unusual types. One man is a native of Niue and three others are Fijians, the first natives from that British possession to circumnavigate the globe as members of the Navy.
ESCORTED THE GLOUCESTERS.
Since her refit the Achilles has not seen action. The work was not completed in time for the cruiser to have a share in the first landing on the French coast on D Day, but she was sent to the Mediterranean to assist in the coverage of the landing in the Marseilles area. That landing was not opposed and the assistance of the guns of the Achilles was not required. Some patrol and convoy work, including escort of the ship which carried the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and their family to Sydney, made up the rest of her activities prior to her return to Auckland. The cruiser now takes up ordinary patrol and other duties as a unit of the Royal New Zealand Navy, taking part as required in the activities of the British Pacific Fleet.
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