‘Farewell, we’ll meet again’
THE arrows and their crossbow are still discernible, the name HUNTER still legible, the final resting place of a British destroyer – lost off Narvik nearly 70 years ago – has been discovered by the Norwegian Navy. Lying 300 metres (985ft) beneath the surface of Ofotfjord, half a dozen miles west of the Arctic port, Hunter entombs more than 100 men, killed when the ship clashed with German destroyers in these narrow waters on April 10 1940. Hunter had charged into Narvik with four sisters, determined to oust the Germans who had occupied the town the day before. They caught the enemy by surprise and raised hell for the first hour or so, but as the Kriegsmarine responded, so Hunter was crippled by the German destroyer George Thiele which pummeled the British warship at close range. From 30kts, Hunter crashed to an immediate halt in the middle of the fjord at the mercy of the German guns. She was probably already doomed, but ill-fortune now conspired with German gunnery. In the chaos of battle, HMS Hotspur suddenly found Hunter dead ahead. Unable to avoid her sister, she sliced into Hunter with a sickening crunch which echoed around the fjord. The mortally-wounded Hunter now began to sink rapidly. Her siren howled one last time as the boilers died and around 6.45am on that fateful Wednesday, the destroyer sank. Of her crew of 145, 108 were killed. And there she has lain undisturbed and unlocated for more than six decades until HNOMS Tyr was surveying the fjord, looking for mines as part of major winter war games, Armatura Borealis (see the centre pages). After 14 fruitless hours of searching, her echo sounder picked up the hull of a sunken vessel on the bed of Ofotfjord and she sent down her robot mini submarine to investigate. The crystal-clear pictures the craft sent back confirmed the wreck was the Hunter. Hunter was one of two British destroyers lost in the first Battle of Narvik. HMS Hardy was also wrecked; her Commanding Officer Capt Bernard Warburton-Lee received the Victoria Cross posthumously for his leadership that day. Sixty-eight years later, Warburton-Lee’s last battle cry was hoisted aboard amphibious assault ship HMS Albion – Continue engaging the enemy – as A procession of Allied warships,
four British – HM Ships Albion, Bulwark, Cornwall and RFA Mounts Bay – and one Norwegian Coastguard vessel – NOCGV Andenes – formed a line and sailed past the wreck site, each ship paying her respects by casting wreaths into the icy waters and pouring a tot of rum over the side. As the force left Ofotfjord behind, the Aldis lamps flashed into life as a final tribute: FA R EW E L L W E ’L L M E E T A G A I N. “Finding HMS Hunter was a poignant moment and being able to pay our respects along with our Norwegian and Dutch allies is particularly fitting to those who lost their lives,” said Major General Garry Robison RM, Commander of the UK’s Amphibious Force. “It was a very moving ceremony. Sadly, we were not able to bring over the three veterans that served on HMS Hunter. But we shall certainly take the opportunity to let them have the films and the photographs of that ceremony.” Former seaman Fred Ward (pictured, right, in his RN days), now aged 88, is one of those survivors. “I have mixed emotions about the events of over 68 years ago and the loss of so many fine friends,” he said. “I now have a great sense of relief knowing the final resting place of my comrades and our ship. My only sadness is that I wasn’t able to attend the ceremony to pay my own personal tribute.” Fellow former shipmate Able Seaman James Renshaw, today 89, added: “I lost 100 friends and ‘family members’ when she went down. “Not a day has passed that I have not thought about her and the people we left behind.” Covered in oil, Hunter’s survivors trod water in the bitterlycold fjord until they were picked up by the Germans. They were eventually repatriated – but only after signing an agreement not to take up arms against the Third Reich again. The Norwegians had spent several years trying to find Hunter’s wreck; now they have discovered it, it will be officially marked as a war grave. Hunter was not the only loss of the ill-fated Norwegian campaign honoured by today’s sailors during
" Sailors and Marines line up on HMS Albion as they prepare to lay wreaths to the men of HMS Hunter Picture: Surg Lt Cdr Anthony Dew, HMS Albion
" (Right) Hunter’s ship’s badge, still clearly identifiable after nearly seven decades below the water and (below right) a cluster of .5 calibre machine-guns point forlornly skywards on Hunter’s wreck Video stills: Royal Norwegian Navy
Armatura Borealis. Bound for northern Norway to take part in the exercise, HM Ships Bulwark and Cornwall and RFA Mounts Bay sailed over the wrecks of aircraft carrier Glorious and her escorting destroyers Ardent and Acasta. The trio were returning to the UK as British forces pulled out of Norway when they were pounced on by battle-cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau about 180 miles west of Harstad. All three were sunk in a twohour battle, although Acasta severely damaged Scharnhorst with a torpedo hit and both German ships were damaged by shellfire. Of Ardent’s and Acasta’s ship’s companies, only one man survived from each destroyer; barely 40 men were picked up from HMS Glorious. On a freezing February day in 2008, Bulwark’s ship’s company mustered on the flight deck as the assault ship’s senior rating, Executive Warrant Officer Russ Williams, dropped a wreath into the ocean and the ship’s chaplain Tim Wilkinson led a service of remembrance. ! Heroes of the Royal Navy, page 12
NAVY NEWS, APRIL 2008
23
And farewell to Ginger too CLEARANCE divers honoured the last wish of one of the doyens of their branch when they cast the ashes of Arthur ‘Ginger’ Bryant over the spot where his comrades lay. The White Ensign on HMS Chiddingfold was lowered to half mast, Flag Alpha – ‘I am conducting diving operations’ – hoisted and the minehunter’s crew lined the upper decks over the wreck of battleship HMS Barham. Here, 66 years before Ginger had been one of 450 men rescued when the battleship was torpedoed by U331 in the eastern Mediterranean; 861 comrades were not so fortunate. Chiddingfold’s dive team embarked in the ship’s RIB as the Still sounded over the water and Dvr Moger scattered Ginger’s ashes before Lt Paul Hursthouse laid a wreath on the spot – all in accordance with Ginger’s will. When Barham sank, Ginger was a 20-year-old leading seaman who had been bombed, torpedoed and shipwrecked once before. He would subsequently serve in the Atlantic and Arctic on convoy duties. It was only post war that he became a diver, subsequently being called upon to dive on the wreck of the submarine Affray. In the mid-50s Ginger was in charge of the diving training centre on Horsea Island – a job which was interrupted by the Suez crisis; he headed to Egypt to salvage wrecks at Port Said. He retired from the Senior Service as a chief petty officer in 1966 and ran a pub in Essex for the next 15 years , where his diver’s helmet and boots enjoyed pride of place. He also swam regularly – he took his final dip at the age of 86 last summer.
Remembering today’s dead DOCUMENTARY makers are hoping family and friends of those lost in Iraq and Afghanistan will help them complete a three-hour film. The BBC has commissioned the programme to honour the lives of the fallen through words, photographs, video footage and interviews with comrades, friends and relatives. The programme makers intend to feature every serviceman and woman who has died in either conflict. If family members, friends or former colleagues feel they can contribute in some way – there is no obligation to be involved in the actual film and conversations would be in confidence – they can contact Rachel Noar or David Brindley at Minnow Films on 0207 741 0105 or by email: david@minnowfilms.co.uk or rachel@minnowfilms.co.uk. Serving personnel should seek permission from their COs if they wish to contribute.
BLACK SWAN CLASS 1943
Replica representative model, measuring 10.5”, hand cast in metal and hand painted, presented on a wooden plinth 12” x 3” with brass nameplate and hand made gift box. HMS BLACK SWAN, FLAMINGO, ERNE, IBIS, WHIMBREL, WILD GOOSE, WOODCOCK, WOODPECKER, WREN, ACTAEON, ALACRITY, AMETHYST, CHANTICLEER, CRANE, CYGNET, HART, HIND, KITE, LAPWING, LARK, MAGPIE, MERMAID, MODESTE, NEREIDE, OPOSSUM, PEACOCK, PHEASANT, REDPOLE, SNIPE, SPARROW and HMS STARLING (PICTURED)
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