Lt.Cdr. (X) I.A. Robinson (In Command) 29/09/1969Lt. (SL) (X) J.M. Lang (1st Lt.) 02/06/1969
"We trained hard - but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganised. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganising, and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralisation."......attributed to Gaius Petronius, AD 66
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HMS KIRKLISTON was a 'Ton' class minesweeper that was built by Harland and Wolff and laid down on Monday 2nd February 1953 - on my sixth birthday as it happened but unbeknown to me at the time! She was launched on Thursday 18th of February 1954 and completed on Saturday 21st of August 1954. In August 1956 she was renamed KILMOREY as tender to Ulster division RNR (Royal Naval Reserve). July 1960 she reverted back to KIRKLISTON again. During 1962-64 she was the first of fifteen to be converted to a minehunter. Her sweep reel aft was removed and she then had active rudders fitted, as well as minehunting sonar installed in the hull. This conversion enabled her to carry out minehunting as her primary role as well as minesweeping and patrol duties etc. In October 1964 KIRKLISTON became leader of the 1st MS (Minehunting Squadron). In the autumn of 1969 she sailed from Singapore to Hong Kong as half-leader and part of the 6th MCMS (Mine Counter Measures Squadron). They were still known as the "Blackfoot Squadron" as depicted by the funnel badge. On Sunday 15th of February 1970 the name was appropriately changed to the "Dragon Squadron" with a ceremony that included a dragon dance. (Click on the "Ditty Box" to view photos) I served on her from Tuesday 14th October 1969 to Wednesday 31st March 1971 as the ship's radio operator in charge of the tactical side of communications; she was based at HMS TAMAR, Hong Kong. KIRKLISTON was my favourite ship; having a small ship's company of around 40 helped make for less bureaucracy and more accountability.
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It was like a big happy family most of the time with everyone getting on well together as a team. Definitely a "happy ship" and am so glad that I had the opportunity to of served on her, especially being based in Hong Kong during the early seventies. It was magic! The ship's voice call-sign was appropriately named DRAGON; the unofficial name ROADRUNNER was used for sports etc. The 'roadrunner' logo was painted on the ship's paravanes which were towed astern to cut the mines moorings. As well as being responsible for the tactical side of communications, I was also the "ships postman" and "welfare-secretary". I also became one of the ships "cinema operators". A much more interesting and varied life, we used to work and play hard - at 100% capacity - always. We had trips to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the island of Penang, doing exercises most of the way. One of the major exercises was off Sattahip, Thailand, and was with the Americans in preparing them for battle in Vietnam. The "mother ship" was the USS CATSKILL. The Americans were generous in allowing us to go onboard Catskill of an evening, after a hard days graft, and help ourselves to their fresh milk and beef steaks in the canteen! A custom they had that we enjoyed very much was having 'MidRats' (Middle Watch Rations) which consisted of a cooked meal between midnight and 04:00 for those on duty! As much as I liked "Pussers kye" (hot chocolate) which we used to have as our only refreshment during the middle watch, there's just no comparison with a big juicy steak! We completed the exercise off Sattahip several days early. After having a well deserved banyan (barbecue) on the beach we proceeded to recover some live mines which remained off of the east coast of Malaya since the second world war. Unfortunately there were a couple of mishaps. One of the crew (Lew Hoad) had his thumb sheered, back aft on the sweepdeck, whilst a mine was being hoisted onto the USS CATSKILL. There was quite a large swell and we were bobbing up and down like a cork in water, as opposed to the USS CATSKILL, which was more stable due to her size and weight. After the mine had started to be lifted, Kirkliston dipped down in a trough and then immediately rose on a crest of a wave which was higher than the mine dangling on the davit. The consequence being that the stern of our ship hit the mine with the crew members thumb sandwiched in between. He was flown to the Philippines, courtesy of 'Uncle Sam', where I understand the hospital were able to save his thumb. Later we were having another go. John Lang, the Jimmy, was standing on the after end of the sweep deck when they heard an alarming sound from the hawser, just as we were going down and the Catskill was going up. John just had time to shout "Clear the sweepdeck". The next he knew was being dragged out from under the mine which had crashed onto the deck when the hawser snapped. The mine hit John in the back throwing him onto the deck and thankfully landed across the wire holding the second mine. He must have been unconscious for a few seconds as he certainly did not remember the actual incident itself. If that other mine had not been hanging over the stern he would not be with us today. We had a ships dog that was called Pan Yo (I understand the name meant "friend" in Chinese); unfortunately one day whilst the ship was reversing out of harbour Pan Yo disappeared. Unhappily, bloated carcasses of dogs were a common site in the harbour of Hong Kong. For those of you who may not know, the name Hong Kong means Fragrant Harbour. Besides minehunting and minesweeping exercises as far away as Singapore and Japan, we also exercised and showed the flag around the numerous islands of Hong Kong and the New Territories. From free brewery runs ashore (San Miguel) to rounding up stray cattle; making paths over inaccessible territory by blasting with explosives to installing electrical generators in remote villages. This was all part of our daily lives in the "Dragon Squadron". It was a sad day when I had to leave KIRKLISTON on Wednesday 31st March 1971. This was premature due to my daughter, Lynsara, being seriously ill at the British Military Hospital in Kowloon and was medically evacuated back to the UK, where I'm glad to say she was then correctly diagnosed and made a full recovery. At the end of 1971 KIRKLISTON and her sister ships were replaced by five other similar ships; they then sailed back to the UK. In August 1972 KIRKLISTON joined the 1st MCMS. During 1973 she was refitted in Gibraltar. September 1982 she joined the 2nd MCMS. On Monday 2nd December 1985 Kirkliston sailed from Portsmouth on her final voyage to Rosyth, flying her paying off pennant. A few days later she finally paid off. KIRKLISTON was then sold on Sunday 20th of October 1991 to be 'broken up' in Bruges during 1992. A sad fate that has inevitably come to the majority of the other "wooden walls" of her class. (Click on the "Ditty Box" to view photos) One of her sister ships, HMS BRONINGTON, has been preserved and is now berthed at Birkenhead,. She is open to the public. BRONINGTON was previously commanded by HRH Prince Charles in the mid 1970's. These days, GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) has superseded wood for making minehunters. |
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