Admirals All

Flag Officer Aircraft Carriers, 1962

Vice Admiral F. H. E. Hopkins, C.B., D.S.O., D.S.C.

Flag Officer Second-in-Command

Far East Fleet

Rear Admiral (now Vice Admiral)

J. P. Scatchard, C.B., D.S.C.

Flag Officer Aircraft Carriers, 1963

Rear Admiral D. C. E. F. Gibson, D.S.C.

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At the Commissioning Ceremony Iinvited you—the Ship's Company ofH.M.S. Hermes — and you — thefamilies and friends—to keep in closetouch throughout the commission, toencourage and help one another andthereby share fully in the progress ofthe ship and her squadrons in whatI confidently expected to be a success-ful and happy commission. Well, ithas been successful and happy; andnow, by means of this foreword, Ihope I can address the same audienceto convey to you my thanks andappreciation, hoping that this bookof the Commission will serve you as apermanent reminder of worthwhilework well done.

I look back on these two years as the most

Foreword

rewarding in my experience since Ijoined the Navy—never mind how many years ago. Your cheerfulness, hard workover the thousands of miles we have steamed together, response to each newchallenge, acceptance of change, uncertainty and disappointment and evident pridein your aircraft and your ship have warmed my heart and made the responsibilityof this command seem light.

This spirit, and the harmony and sense of purpose which have nurtured it, isno more and no less than we expect in this fine service of ours. Take it with youwherever you may go now, insist on it, but never take it for granted; it is the envyof others and it is the strength of the Royal Navy.

'I served with you in Hermes' is a password which will always open my frontdoor; I hope you will use it and that I, in my turn, may use it on you.

Meanwhile, may God go with you and prosper you.

Captain W. D. O'Brien, D.S.C., R.N.

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tries out the catapults

Jetty—storing ship was a little morefrenzied, arrester gear trials (pull-outs)were carried out, we embarked anchorand cables followed by anchor andcapstan trials, more and more fuel wastaken on and the flight-deck was sand-blasted yet again. The first basin trialscame at the beginning of April as thebarber's shop re-opened. Visiting partieswere constantly being shown round theship; F.O.A.C. walked round and was`pleased and surprised at the state of theship', and finally on Good Friday we were`In Routine' and the refit had ended.

The first deck landing

NarrativeH.M.S. Hermes re-commissioned on 24thApril 1962, after refitting in Portsmouthdockyard.

resembled a battlefield'

However, for most of us the storybegins much earlier. The bulk of the newcommission joined during the cold anddreary winter in D Lock : the heating wasindifferent, there were holes everywhere,we had no rudders and the flight-deckresembled a battlefield. In JanuaryF.O.A.C. joined briefly to hoist his flagbut soon transferred to H.M.S. Victorious.

. . . the dock was flooded . .

During this early unreal period all thewinter sports flourished, and Daily OrdersTombola was started. The ship's companybuilt up steadily, the dental surgery re-opened, our Chinese laundry came backinto operation in February and the RoyalMarine Band joined in March. The high-lights of this time were visits to breweriesand the B.B.C. recording of 'SportingChance' made in 4F Dining Hall. Then,on March 9th the dock was flooded andwe were afloat again.

The pace quickened perceptibly now aswe were towed round to Middle Slip

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Commissioning Day, 24th April 1962

The ceremony of Commissioning Daytraditionally marks the beginning of atotally new phase in a ship's life. Wives,sweethearts, parents and families camedown to the ship, all delighted to beonboard and have the chance of seeingthe ship. It was undoubtedly a familyaffair with its simple religious ceremonyin the hangar, followed by the Captain's

address in which he invited our guests tofeel their close association with Hermes.The Royal Corps of Signals and MessrsVickers Armstrongs presented some veryfine silver to mark the occasion, and mostof our visitors stayed to see the fiveimpressive commissioning cakes cut fortea.

Everyone present was aware that the

second commission of Hermes had startedand the day symbolised the growingfeeling that this was our ship and we nowbelonged together.

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First fixed-wingdeck landing

First Divisions

`Our families joined us by tug'

. .. Old Bentley . .

. catapulted over the front end'

The ship was due to sail the followingday but we were delayed by fog andeventually left harbour on the 26th rathergingerly. Everything seemed to work aswe found ourselves at sea for the firsttime. It was a first time for many things,Divisions, R.A.S., fixed-wing deck land-ings, and the first run ashore at Weymouthby courtesy of the Engine Room Depart-ment who had trouble with the lube oilsystem. 0.A. Tarry's old Bentleyprovided some light relief as it wascatapulted over the front end, and thenwe were back to pre-wetting trials,A.B.C.D. exercises, noise ranging offPortland and the like before anchoring

at Spithead. Our families joined us by tugto come up harbour with us at the closeof the first trials period.

Pre-wetting trials

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Despite vague forebodings about theweather in the Bay of Biscay our passagesouth was delightful in warm sunshineand light winds. For many of the Ship'sCompany, the quick run ashore atGibraltar was their first run 'foreign' andeverybody enjoyed the break from a busyseagoing routine. Admiral's Divisionsfollowed—the principal sufferers werethe Chinese laundrymen who had totackle the huge pile of whites thrust atthem at the last moment.

After Gibraltar the real work started.Our first solids R.A.S. was followed byday and night flying off Sardinia and thenin the Malta Exercise Areas. 814 managedto maintain their morale during adifficult period of limited flying, and weadded fresh jargon to our vocabularies asHisepts, Losepts, Casexes and Divbangswere carried out in profusion. Eventuallythe arrester gear started to play up and

Buccaneer trials in Lyme Bay

Hermes hoisted Admiral Hopkin's flagon 10th May, and the Commander-in-Chief came to have a look at us. Thenback to sea for the Buccaneer trials inLyme Bay—a nice compliment to a shipnewly refitted—and our first taste ofnight flying. Two more quick days inPortsmouth followed and we were finallyoff on 25th May. All our squadrons werenow embarked—the Scimitars of 803,Wessex helicopters of 814, the Gannets of849 B Flight and 892 with Sea Vixens; afinal fling of D.L.P.s in Lyme Bay and weheaded south to the Mediterranean andthe sun.

. . . secured alongside Parlatorio Wharf'

`Admiral's Divisions, followed'

we operated with an ever-diminishingnumber of wires before entering GrandHarbour. The squadrons had alreadydisembarked for Hal Far as we securedalongside Parlatorio Wharf for our firstS.M.P.

It was hot. The first issues of Timers'seemed only to emphasise the heat, butonce away from the ship the heat wasforgotten as the beaches and bays wereexplored, favourite swimming spots estab-lished and the more energetic began rockclimbing, cycling and training for ourfirst Athletics Meeting. It was a time ofbanyans, departmental 'runs', camping inSicily by M.F.V.—and the contrast thatwas to become so familiar between anagreeably hot sun ashore and unpleasantsticky conditions onboard. The AthleticsMeeting, when we were able to welcomeMrs O'Brien as our guest to present theprizes, came at the end of our stay, bywhich time Malta had secured its usualplace in the affections of one more ship ofthe Royal Navy.

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We sailed with an unexpected increasein complement. The squadrons hadcarried out a beach reconnaissance atKalafrana, and a group of Wrens wasenticed to come and watch their recoveryat sea. Regretfully we sent them backashore at Marsaxlokk before movingSouth East with our planeguard, Dunkirk,bound for the North African coast andthe El Adem bombing range.

First lady 'arrested'

`Regretfully we sent them back'

. a group of Wrens was enticed to come . .

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. a mixture of cultures .. .

The squadron weaponry was directedby part of the C.B.G.L. Section, a partthat had been put ashore to be swallowedup by the trackless barren desert. We werejoined by the submarine Tiptoe for Casexeswith 814, and then R.A.S.-ed Dunkirkbefore she left us for a quiet life at Corfu.Scorpion became our planeguard and wemoved further east; the intensive flyingfinished with a long-range strike on ElAdem, flight re-fuelling being used onboth legs of the strike.

.. directed by part of C.B.G.L. Section . .

Our official visit to Beirut was noweagerly anticipated, and towards 0900 wemoved into the harbour to secure along-side what must have been the wrong sideof the mole. When the last gun hadboomed its formal salutations and thelast dignitary had made his number,Hermes, Scorpion and Tidereach swarmedashore.

We were enthusiastically received. Anextensive programme of hospitality hadbeen arranged and bus tours to nearbyhistoric remains laid on by millionaireMr Catoni. He, among other things,owned a fleet of air-conditioned cars. TheSt. George's Club threw open its portalsto all ranks and we responded splendidlyby drinking the club out of beer for thefirst time in its history!

The ship's official cocktail party washeld on the first night and after animpressive 'Beat Retreat' by the R.M.Band a large proportion of hosts andguests ventured ashore to sample thenight life. It was indeed fabulous, but inthe words of the Commander's memo`only for the very rich'. There was nopublic transport, every move had to bemade by taxi—a terrifying and expensiveexperience. The cost of food andentertainment was high and beyond thepocket of most of the Ship's Company.

Beirut itself was a remarkable city: itwas a mixture of cultures, Armenian,Turkish, French and Arabic. Open-fronted shops stood side by side withmodern blocks of offices and flats; themarkets were stuffed with exotic fruitsof superb quality (pax the dreaded `dog'),all grown in the fertile plain. The trafficwas unforgettable--the grinding of metalbeing drowned only by the horns of theswarming cars converging on a bottleneck.

The thousandth deck landing Children's Party, Beirut

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