my time in the royal navy part 1 1972/74

went for my navy interview and test when i was still at school got free travel and got payed to have lunch,i left school at 15 and joined straight up on the 13th june 1972,i signed up for boys service untill i was 18 then i signed up for 3yrs as 9yrs seemed to long,spent the 1st 6wks square bashing at HMS RALEIGH in plymouth devon,had a haircut the first day & i do remember 5 lads in my class left as they were home sick,anybody know where i am in this picture

straight after that i went to HMS PEMBROKE near chatham kent for my 12wks stewards training ideal for me as i only lived 40mins away,it closed down in 1983 and is now University of Greenwich at Medway,but the parade ground is still there

training over got my first draft HMS NEPTUNE Faslane Naval Base, situated on the Gare Loch, and the RN Armaments Depot Coulport on Loch Long, are the primary components of HMNB Clyde. The naval shore establishment at Faslane is HMS Neptune, Naval personnel appointed to the base who do not belong to a seagoing vessel make up Ship's Company. Both the Gare Loch and Loch Long are sea lochs extending northwards from the Firth of Clyde. The base serves as home base to Britain's fleet of Vanguard-class nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed submarines, as well as conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines, supported by the Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines.
well what a trip that was from my home to there a 16yr old lad on his own over 550 miles there,i use to remember getting 2 extra days hoils as i was so far away,i spent 6mths there,they filmed part of the spy who loved me there





everywhere i went during my time in the the navy i use to show my id card,but not there i remember having extra passes because of the submarines being there

my first ship HMS BLAKE march 73/sept 74 built by fairfield sb & eng govan
laid down 17/8/42
launched 20/12/45
completed 8/3/61
broken up cairnryan 1983
displacement 9,500 tons,12,080 tons full load
length 538 feet
beam 64 feet
draught 32 feet
aircraft 4 sea king helicopters
missle launchers 2 quadruple seacat
guns 2 6inch 2 3 inch 1 aa
main engines 4 parsons geared turbines 4 shafts
speed 31 knots
complement 85 officers,800 rating
when i joined her she was in dry dock we then went for sea trails in scotland the 6"guns were the biggest in the navy then & when they went off the ship shook



the 1960s version pre modified;-


modifed 1969;-

we were portsmouth based had some great trips on her scapa flow norfolk virginia 2 wks in new orleans then onto san juan perto where i met these two


and still got his autograph


liza who i was to shy to have my picture with,& i nearly ran a mile when she said to me"i want to marry you"




she asked me if i could see her in concert that night (well me & a few others)i went along and this is the concert poster

after that went to gibraltar nice 3mth stay then rouon gothenberg williamshaven & malta where i took this picture of the ship



a pic of me in my whites so it must have been on the way to the virgin gorda (virgin islands )



a pic of my badge


loved my time on that ship even started a website of her got over 200pics ive collected on there,i also run the facebook page we must have over 120 members all of which must be over 50 to have served on her as she went for scrap in 1983


mustnt forget the 4 sea kings we had i went up once on a trip



6" guns

part 2 of this i will put up next week

Nice one Cpt.
You had a narrow escape there with Liza Minelli. You could have been stupidly rich and if you really wanted to be totally insane you could have put kiss make up on her and pretended you were shagging Paul Stanley !!
Love the pic in Malta. Valetta is a great place. Did you see the George Cross in the cathedral ?

Victor Meldrew wrote:Nice one Cpt.
You had a narrow escape there with Liza Minelli. You could have been stupidly rich and if you really wanted to be totally insane you could have put kiss make up on her and pretended you were shagging Paul Stanley !!
Love the pic in Malta. Valetta is a great place. Did you see the George Cross in the cathedral ?

i sure did

Awesome Captain. ..
That S badge !!! Was it for speedway ?

Captain. I know it's predictable but so what

Crad wrote:Awesome Captain. ..
That S badge !!! Was it for speedway ?

no you fool steward

TONYSOUTH wrote:Captain. I know it's predictable but so what

Thanks for sharing Captain
Great pics and I am loving the stories

This is quality stuff Captain, keep posting!!

Andy im Flabbergasted ..!! Amazing stuff...!!! Thanks!! im gonna have to come back and revisit this stuff again and again

Strutter wrote:Thanks for sharing Captain
Great pics and I am loving the stories

thank you

Ma! wrote:This is quality stuff Captain, keep posting!!

thank you

Sour Mash wrote:Andy im Flabbergasted ..!! Amazing stuff...!!! Thanks!! im gonna have to come back and revisit this stuff again and again

thank you

this was taken in jan 74 on our way from portsmouth to new orleans this is the roughest weather ive ever known it was at least force 10 it was so rough the frigates didnt leave port with us





and one other thing in august this year in portsmouth we are having our reunion

I bet doing this thread brings back great memories of your time at seas I bet it was a bit different to a KISS kruise

Our own true hero. Well done andy

TONYSOUTH wrote:I bet doing this thread brings back great memories of your time at seas I bet it was a bit different to a KISS kruise

it was hard to remember 40 odd yrs ago

starchildmark wrote:Our own true hero. Well done andy

thanks

Wow, thank you for sharing all of this stuff, Captain. I'm impressed by the photos, but also a few other things:

1. You were 15 in 1972.
I'm jealous. I was 5 in 1972 and would love to have been 15 so I could remember the 70's better.

2. You've been to San Juan. My mom is Puerto Rican--the whole maternal side of my family is from San Juan and I've never been there. Some day.

3. And Liza Minelli.
'Nuff said.

Looking forward to more!