my time in the royal navy part 2 1974/77

after leaving hms blake in sept 74 (after i left she went on a 6mth tour of the far east ) i went to royal airforce base honington in suffolk for 6mths went there because there were navy buccaneers jets based there,enjoyed a quality 6mths there







remember well they had loads of bands playing there deffo remember cozy powell playing & pans people

I'm waiting for the worlds most famous......

march 75 till september 77 i joined hms penelope leander class frigate based in plymouth my time onboard her she was a trials ship for the seawolf missle system the forward 4.5 gun was taken off so was the wasp helecopter she was laid down in 1961 as hms coventry a type 12 frigate,but during building the plans were changed to a leander class & she was renamed penelope.
she was launched in 1962.
propulsion is by two steam turbine engines producing 30,000 shp & speeds in excess of 28 knots.
ships company 13 officers 45 senior rating & 150 junior ratings.
when compleated in 1963 she had the standard leander armament consising of a twin 4.5"gun turret,anti-submarine mortars,helicopter launched antie-submarine torpedoes & two 40mm bofors guns.
in 1966 she beacame a trials ship.
during her 1972 refit she was again modified to become the trials platform for the seawolf missle system,firing trials started in 1976 & complete at the end of 1977.

pre refit picture





we spent most of our time between plymouth and fishguard wales as that was where the navy firing range was,but we also went to tenby liverpool newcastle (where i got stabbed in the thumb still got the mark) rouon gibraltar skye antwerp brenam rotterdam jersey the mull of kintyre rothsey .

madmark wrote: I'm waiting for the worlds most famous......

give me time

during aug 76 we were guard ship for the queen on her tour of scottish islands


far right the queen & im where the F is

hms penelope we also had the puppet which was presented to the ship





and the zippo lighter which ive still got

me in newcastle



and the ship in devonport plymouth

Excellent stuff Sir!

Quality gold, love it

seawolf missle








loved my time on there & also loved my time in plymouth had some fantasic nights out there saw some great bands sex pistols x 2 the clash x 2,alex harvey band,the troggs,frankie miller,but missed about 6 times whilst i was away some band called ac/dc

madmark wrote:Excellent stuff Sir!

thank you

Ma! wrote:Quality gold, love it

thankyou

friedalive wrote:seawolf missle

Wow

left penelope left the navy sept 77 really enjoyed it,herd in 82 that blake was being broken up heres 2 pics i found






how sad.

next i herd of penelope she went in again in for refit & she was in the falklands war in 82 she was the last ship to be fired on but came home intacked,

the 80s penelope





in the late 80s she was sold to the Ecuadorian Navy & was decommissioned on 19 March 2008, after 17 years in the Ecuadorian Navy.shes now awaiting the scrapyard

Ma! wrote:

friedalive wrote:seawolf missle

Wow

we were allowed to go up on deck everytime it was fired,the target was being towed by a plane,once it hit a 4.5 gun shell ,we used this missle system alot in the falklands war

At least you've got some cracking memories and more importantly pictures to remind you of the good times...
Now Captain , about that famous person........

madmark wrote:At least you've got some cracking memories and more importantly pictures to remind you of the good times...
Now Captain , about that famous person........

the queen ,and ive kept all my cap tallys

friedalive wrote:march 75 till september 77 i joined hms penelope leander class frigate based in plymouth my time onboard her she was a trials ship for the seawolf missle system the forward 4.5 gun was taken off so was the wasp helecopter she was laid down in 1961 as hms coventry a type 12 frigate,but during building the plans were changed to a leander class & she was renamed penelope.
she was launched in 1962.
propulsion is by two steam turbine engines producing 30,000 shp & speeds in excess of 28 knots.
ships company 13 officers 45 senior rating & 150 junior ratings.
when compleated in 1963 she had the standard leander armament consising of a twin 4.5"gun turret,anti-submarine mortars,helicopter launched antie-submarine torpedoes & two 40mm bofors guns.
in 1966 she beacame a trials ship.
during her 1972 refit she was again modified to become the trials platform for the seawolf missle system,firing trials started in 1976 & complete at the end of 1977.

pre refit picture





we spent most of our time between plymouth and fishguard wales as that was where the navy firing range was,but we also went to tenby liverpool newcastle (where i got stabbed in the thumb still got the mark) rouon gibraltar skye antwerp brenam rotterdam jersey the mull of kintyre rothsey .

Mr Grimsdale... Mr Grimsdale..

just found this forgot i had it,got it off ebay yrs ago it went on the 6"gun of my 1st ship if i remember rightly it only cost me £20,i get all my old ships pics off ebay never payed more than £5 for a picture

That's Awesome mate some nice memrobilia

Crad wrote:That's Awesome mate some nice memrobilia

thanks

Captain, excellent stuff, thanks for sharing

TONYSOUTH wrote:Captain, excellent stuff, thanks for sharing

thanks glad to

Fantastic!
Thanks Captain