The official War Zone started just south of Ascension Island and for us in the Merchant Navy we started earning a war bonus. Vessels were staged for leaving Ascension in some sort of order that they may be required. The Royal Navy ships went down first along with their replenishment vessels, followed by the 'invasion fleet' with the assault ships and passenger liners with the troops, along with their support vessels. The RN ships were fully stored with ammunition etc. Their support ships had their first resupply and we were carrying the next lot.
When we left the anchorage at Ascension we went on to 'war' watches. This meant that no longer did I have the bridge and wheelhouse to myself during the day, and just a lookout and myself at night. Now there was a gaggle of people to keep me company! There were four lookouts, one on each side looking ahead, and another two looking astern, one on each side. There was a signal/radio man, a couple of messengers and odds and bods that I'm not sure what they did, other than stop me walking from bridge wing to bridge wing easily! The bridge kettle also seemed to permanently on.
It was the day after we left for the South that I had my biggest shock. It was a beautiful day, flat calm and one of those days where you would normally hang about on the bridge wing soaking up the sun. I was on the 12 to 4 watch just doing the normal things when suddenly one of the forward look outs screams out the bearing of a low flying aircraft to st'bd!! I very nearly had to go and change my trousers as it was such a shock and so unexpected. However we had had reports of ships being bombed by transport planes from Argentina rolling bombs out of the rear ramp. However I was reassured when the bit of training we had kicked in and I dashed over to the wheel, (I can't remember now whether we were in autopilot as we normally would be, but as we were in a war zone I suspect that the wheel would have been manned), banging the general alarm button on the way. I gave orders to alter course to aim the ship directly at the threat and waited for developments. The Lt. Cmd and the Captain were still on the way up when this massive plane passed right over head, seemingly at just above mast height. It was an RAF Nimrod reconnaissance plane!! It gained height went round us again and waggled its wings before heading off to Ascension. It took my heart a little longer to calm down, but it was reassuring to know that we were being watched over.
Nimrod plane from just after the conflict as it is rigged for in flight refueling and has sidewinder missiles under the wing for self defense.
As we headed further south the weather got colder and rougher. Ships were arriving but obviously no landings had taken place as the political and diplomatic battle was still ongoing. As there was nowhere for us to wait in a port or an anchorage we were directed to an area of ocean to the north of the Falklands and just outside of the TEZ (Total Exclusion Zone). It was originally designated the TARA (Tug and Rescue Area). That is one thing I found we had to get used to very quickly; everything was referred to by their initials and never using full words. It took ages to understand what the hell they were talking about half the time!). It was later re-designated the TRALA (Tug, Rescue and Logistics Area). In this big circle of sea we were given a 5 mile radius bit to remain in at all times. This is where the boredom started, just going up and down trying to find the most comfortable direction that reduced the rolling and pitching in the sometimes heavy seas. This wasn't always possible and I remember being called out of my bunk in the evening to go and try to capture some 1000lbs on wooden skids that had broken loose and were careering around the tween deck, threatening to punch a hole in the ship's side. A gang of us managed to lasso them one by one as they slid past, and get them lashed up securely.
Luckily the first skirmish of the Falklands Campaign was the retaking of South Georgia on 26th April. We were ordered to head further south and ended up anchoring of Stromness whaling station, in Stromness Bay on the north coast of South Georgia.
The whaling stations on the island are marked in red. Leith, just north of Stromness in the whaling station where the Argentinians went ashore to remove all the scrap and raised the Argentinian flag. An event that was the spark for the whole conflict.
Whilst here the weather was often dense fog, but I well remember one occasion that we received a message that an inbound helicopter was coming to us. We had no helideck, and as can be seen from the photos we had lots of masts, derricks and aerials that made working with helicopters challenging. It was dense fog at the time, we couldn't even see the heavy lift derrick midships. We could hear the helo and it got closer and closer and eventually we could see it just off the port bridge wing. It slowly drifted closer and closer until in had one wheel on the rail. The door opened and a couple of sacks were thrown out and they departed. This was our mail!! We were used to getting mail once or twice in a three month trip, but when we were a Navy party I was receiving mail from the UK two days old!! That just shows the importance given to mail and morale. The helo was only very small, as Westland's Wasp from HMS Endurance I seem to remember. She was the RN ice patrol vessel.
Whilst at anchor we had several vessels come along side us so we could transfer our stores to them. I remember some of the requisitioned Hull trawlers coming alongside. The five had been taken on as minesweepers etc and were manned by RN crew.
HMS's Junella, Northella, Farnella and Pict taken from HMS Codella.
we also transferred cargo using helicopters using long lines so that they could remain above the masts etc but still hook on to pallest etc to lift them to other ships. We also had the RFA Blue Rover alongside.
RFA Blue Rover alongside our st'bd side. Our most popular request was for 4.5" shells. These are used by the Roayl Navy by their deck guns and were being used to bombard the Argentinian positions ashore, prior to any landings. Later, once troops were ashore we were getting requests for the army artillery shells too. You can see that the weather wasn't too clear on this day either.
At some stage there was a scare that Argentinian planes had the capability to reach South Georgia and attempt to bomb shipping so we were ordered to put to sea and hide in the icebergs! There were plenty of small icebergs to get amongst, but other that an echo on a radar it would be very easy to discern our ship from an iceberg as they have 4/5th under water so will drift very slowly compared with us! Still it broke the monotony.
We were soon back in Stromness Bay and here you can see the whaling station at the head of the bay. One night we received a message that a ship would be coming alongside to take on supplies from us. It had been snowing and as I was on watch I had to call the crew out to sweep the hatches so that I could open them up. They refused to turn iout. No amount of persuasion by me would get them moving so I had to call the Chief Officer. They wouldn't cooperate with him either so he had to call out the officers and others to rid the hatches of snow so we could get on with the work. The REME soldiers did everything else. I can not now remember what their problem was but it shows that not everybody was as dutiful and keen to serve as we may think in time of war.
Looking at the picture in close up you can see the tanks where the whale oil was stored along with fuel for the whale catchers and the base. You can also see one of the Hull trawlers alongside the small jetty there. There were catchers up on a slip and to the right the beach was littered with propellers for the catchers as they must have had many damaged when working in ice. The station and beaches were also littered with sea elephants.
As the landings at San Carlos were secured and the troops advanced it was our time to move up so that the supply lines were reduced. We returned to the TRALA and then one evening we assembled with some other ships, names of which I can not now remember, were put in a convoy and in darkness we made our approach to San Carlos Water. I was grateful for our training in convoy station keeping and we approached the entrance to San Carlos. It was a tense time and it was interesting to see how different people coped differently with it. I was on the bridge in the pitch black. as we approached the turn into the haven there were several reports of an enemy warship ahead. They had mistaken a patch of lighter rock on Fanning Head as it really did look like a warship until we moved further up and changed aspect. I have a memory of an explosion high in the sky as an Argentinian plane was hit by a missile but looking at the records there was no account of one being 'downed' at the time. We anchored in San Carlos, off the Cold Store that was used as the forward hospital just after the landings. It was Monday 14th June 1982. Later that day the Argentinian Troops on the Falkland Islands surrendered.
The land fighting had finished, but we were constantly getting air raid warnings as the Argentinian air force kept making dummy runs etc to the edge of the exclusion zone and then veering off. The speed of the planes meant that even with 200 miles to the edge of the TEZ we still wouldn't get much notice if they did enter.
A few days later we were ordered to move round to Port William, the bay next to Stanley Harbour. We anchored there, and there we remained for ages. Except we had one more trip back round to San Carlos to go alongside the tanker 'Scottish Eagle' that was moored there and received ships alongside to take bunkers. I must say our Capt. Lawton didn't do too much damage when he went alongside. We had watched several ships cause damage to both vessels as they tried to get alongside. Big ship masters were very unused to close quarters ship handing as they would normally have a pilot when this was required. Little did I think that in less than ten years I would be a pilot and chucking big ships around on the Humber for a living.
Once topped up we returned to Port William and a monotony of anchor watches and listening out on the radio. I did get ashore once to have a wander around Stanley for a few hours, and we often had small vessels come alongside giving stores, water etc. Most of these would be the Salvageman, Yorkshireman and Irishman of United Towing. As they were from Hull and to break the monotony I would put the ladder down and go for a cup of tea and a chat. This is when I heard that they may be recruiting. The traditional Merchant Navy was dying on its feet and it was only a matter of time before we were all made redundant. It was seemingly the sole topic of conversation aboard, which didn't make the time pass any quicker! I sent in my CV from the Falklands.
We also provided Rand R for people based around the islands who had no proper facilities such as pilots, rapier battery troops etc. They would come and have a hot shower and a night or two of a comfy bed and being warm with regular food and a few beers and a different face to talk to. Eventually we heard that we were to be relieved and the new crew arrived on 22nd August and the next day we joined the MV Norland for a five day passage to Ascension were we would transfer to a VC 10 for a flight to Brize Norton. The Norland was very beaten up, she had been acting as the ferry between Ascension and Stanley since the surrender and was looking the worst for wear. However the crew were great and looked after us well. There was even a concert party with a comedian and dancing girls for those aboard.
Message received on the MV Lycaon just before we left for home.
When we flew into Brize Norton there were no big welcome ceremonies as I'm pretty sure we were the last people to be relieved following the surrender. My eldest brother and his family lived close by and they cam to meet me. I can't remember how I got home, whether it was a hire car or what. Thus ended a great adventure, or so I thought.
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