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NAVY NEWS, MAY 1994
ONYX FLAG FLIES AGAIN
Somewhere under the rainbow Searching for that elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is HMS Charger, pictured in Loch Lochy during her Easter deployment to the Western Isles! Despite frequent bad weather and gales which followed the Fast Training Ship throughout her deployment HMS Charger transitted both the Crinan and Caledonian Canals and visited several west coast ports during her two-and-ahalf weeks at sea. This provided valuable navigation training for her embarked Liverpool University students. Under the command of her new CO, Lt Cdr Paul Haycock, HMS Charger also made a brief rendezvous with her sister ships Archer and Smiter in Oban and carried out a highly-successful winchex with a Sea King from 819 Sqn based at Prestwick.
When the submarine HMS Onyx returned to the UK from her record 117-day patrol during the Falklands War in 1982 a traditional skull and crossbones flag was flying proudly from her fin. Now that Onyx has been preserved at Birkenhead the RN Submarine Service have made a duplicate skull and crossbones for the submarine to fly on special occasions. Andy C r a m m o n d , who served in HMS Onyx during her record patrol, and who lives almost on the submarine's doorstep, in the Wirral, was invited to present the "ensign." The tradition of flying a skull and crossbones goes back to the dark days of the Second World War when submarines, returning from patrol, would fly the flag with various symbols indicating what successes they had while at sea.
Picture: RO Dean Woodlord.
Match of the day
While HMS Beagle carried out her Dover Straits Survey several members of the ship's company took a well-earned break to revive an old Hydrographic Squadron tradition — playing football on the Goodwin Sands! Situated 15 miles east of the Kent coast, the Goodwin Sands are only exposed at ex-
ceptionally low tides so the team had to be quick off the mark for their kick-around. Lined up for the traditional team photo are, from left, AB(SR) David Ratley, LWTR Ken Carey, Lt Graham Turnbull, Lt Andy Waddington, AB(SR) Simon Block and LS(SR) Jack Hawkins.
Battle Ensign returns During the building of the extension of Portsmouth Cathedral two years ago and the subsequent refurbishing of its interior, HMS Hawkins' smoke-stained Battle Ensign, worn during the Normandy Landings and which had been laid up in the Cathedral since 1971, was removed for safe keeping. As it seemed likely that former members of HMS Hawkins' ship's company who were in the area for the forthcoming D-Day celebrations would like to see the Ensign again, arrangement was made for its prompt return. It now hangs again in its original position in the Naval Aisle with several other items of naval memorabilia.
Argyll guard for Queen HMS Argyll's recent stay in Bermuda coincided with the visit by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at the end of their tour of the Caribbean.
BAPTISM AT SUEZ Father Nick Woodcock, Chaplain to Captain F2, is pictured above conducting the service of baptism of two members of HMS Cumberland's ship's company. Nick joined Capt Scott Lidbetter and HMS Cumberland in Gibraltar to provide some spiritual guidance and moral support during pre-Armilla training and having survived the many smoke canisters of the FOSF NBCD team, he arranged for the foggy conditions and poor visibility to be lifted so that the ceremony could be held on the port bridge wing as the ship approached the Suez Canal. LWEM(R)s Matthew Colwill and Michael Mainwaring were baptised in the traditional Navy fashion with water from the ship's bell, with CCWEA Steve Martin, CWEM(O) Allister Woodward and LWEM(R) Dave Matthews stepping forward as godparents.
During the second day of her visit the Type 23 frigate paraded a guard in the capital, Hamilton, where the Queen is pictured talking to Cpl Davy Kelly, piper for Argyll's Royal Guard, who was on secondment from the ship's affiliated regiment, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Also pictured is Guard Officer, Lt Cdr Mark Deller, the ship's Flight Commander. Before returning to the UK last month HMS Argyll had been deployed on the AUTEC Range in the Bahamas for ASW Tactical Development and Reet Trials and had also called in briefly at Cape Canaveral.