Things have changed

Until finding RR a couple of weeks ago I've not kept up to date with RN current affairs.

However reading about the ship and manpower (peoplepower) cuts that are currently happening made me think.

1964 Straits of Malacca 7 carriers in line astern with surface and submarine escort. The tonnage and man power must have been near the total of todays Navy.

Carriers Ark, Eagle, Victorious, Albion, Bulwark, Triumph (heavy repair) and one other Hermes??

Can someone confirm the other??

 

An Old sea Dog from the Ganges Dorset Div. told me it was the Victorious ...... Please don't quote me ...... He was shitfaced at the time & called me a sprog ....... Sigh ....

Moo!

 

NATO Exercise November 1955. EAGLE lead a long column of ships up Trondheim Fjiord, certainly more than 7 carriers plus all sorts of other NATO ships. At the time some one said "You will never see the like of this fleet again. How true.

 

In 1955 we had more ships in one class than we have in the Whole of the Navy now.

 

7th may have been HMAS Melbourne which was an ASW carrier at that time. Not sure Triumph really counts as she could no longer operate aircraft - indeed her last deck landing was also the last axial-deck landing in the Navy in December 1955 before paying off for conversion to Heavy Repair Ship after 2 years as Cadet Training Carrier with 3 Sea Balliols.

One of their pilots had his cabin decorated with framed Admiralty Warnings for 'calling the wire'.

Going back, Triumph arrived East in 1945 just too late for VJ-Day but was in HK in 1950 when N Korea invaded the South and her Seafires were among the first UN aircraft in combat in the Korean war.