Suicide and our Armed Forces

[j.sabourn]

On one of our foreign trips which was to Gibraltar I was ashore during the day and bumped into one of the ex leading divers off the vessel Iwas on. He had been moved and promoted to Coxn of a minehunter stationed at Gib.after all the greetings etc. finished up in a pub on the High Street where he promptly finished up slightly tipsy and the last I saw of him he was walking over the bonnets of cars stopped in the High Street .The next day some of his new shipmates came to see me to thank me for getting him back to normal . Apparently with his promotion came visions of grandeur and he was a little dictator , when a shore naval patrol had picked him up for disturbing the peace he was formerly disrated and back to his previous rank. His mates came on board to thank me for getting him back to normal. I thought it was just a normal,get together. JS

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Our N.S.W Vindi group went aboard a Russian foxtrot sub on display in Sydney about 25 years ago, no way would I ever contemplate going to sea in a sub after seeing the lack of space.
Des




Russian Foxtrot Sub103 (Small).jpg

[j.sabourn]

Des one of my big disappointments during the war was not getting a Mickey Mouse gas mask , I was just that little bit too old. My sister 5 years my junior got one and remember kicking up about it. JS

[happy daze john in oz]

In one of our pubs we had a customer who sailed in subs.
He was just over six feet tall, but slim.
'How do you manage in such tight spaces he was often asked,
You just have to do what you can he would say, bunks were the biggest problem, bit on the small size.

[j.sabourn]

Would maybe have fitted into one of the tubes John. Empty of course and not pressureized .JS

[Keith Tindell]

Gosport Submarine museum has HMS Reliance where you can go aboard, and they batten down and put the red light on to give you an idea what it was like when running under, they even have mock depth charging noises at the same time.When they were fully loaded , every space was for stowage, and hot bedding was normal. But if you want to see real cramped conditions, you can go aboard Holland 1, i believe John Sabourn was involved in the recovery of her, she was WW1 vintage.

[j.sabourn]

Most warships have those same red lights Keith on my 3 days trials on a soon to be HM vessel . It was something else which had to be tested . It was like waking up in a brothel , not that I ever have mind you. JS
The Hollande 1 sank of its own accord before the war in 1913 on passage from Liverpool ( where she was built ) to Portsmouth which she never reached .There were only 3 of a crew on her and there were no fatalities . Think she was being towed at the time but could be wrong. JS

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hit a gigantic storm sailing from Bluff to Timaru in NZ's South Island on the Kaimai, I don't think we surfaced until we were alongside, the following month her sister ship sunk off Timaru when she took a huge wave over her stern into her after accommodation, the doors to the well deck where blocked by a container. That would have put me off from sailing on a sub.
Des

[j.sabourn]

Ref. To #2 and the Hollande 1. Ray McCrohon a member on this site who if he has noticed mention of the submarine in Question maybe if so inclined could add further to the explanation of the Hollande 1 as he was master of the ship at the time as was relieving John Ritchie the permanent master there . He would of had more contact with the the navy higher ups than me , if he remembers how we refound her on the fish finder . It was quite a time before she was recovered as it was the time of the recovery of the Mary Rose nigh on the main harbour in Portsmouth.
When talking about divers in another post a few days ago did anyone read the story of Buster Crabbe who was the best known of his era . A headless body was found later in the harbour and it was assumed he had been examining the bottom of a Russian warship on a courtesy visit and had met some of his opposite numbers who were already there to welcome unwanted visitors . JS

Just had a quick look on the Google and he was born in 1909 has the same birthday as me and died in 1956 and was a Russian Cruiser he was examining the bottom paintwork of. ???!!! JS

[Keith Tindell]

I remember that incident with Commander Crabb, Kruschev i believe was visiting Portsmouth with the Russian naval vessels. Crabbs headless body was recovered a few days later. There has always been a mystery on whether he was diving officially , or off his own back. Was there another diver with him ?, unusual not to have a dive mate etc. He is buried in a churchyard in Portsmouth, and the story was of someone unknown always plants a bunch of flowers on his grave on the anniversary of his death.