Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Once we were in the Black Sea, we were then instructed that we were there to spy on the Russians (hence why the Radio Operators were taken onboard in Malta). We were then briefed as to why we were about to carry out this mission, that the Russians had been denying that they had and were using "Nuclear Powered Patrol Boats". Shortly after this we had picked up their radio calls that they were doing their "Sea Patrols" and testing their Nuclear Boats out. This would give the Russians the greatest power any Country in the world could have at this time, in the 1960s. It would allow them to conquer and cripple our Naval defenses with their "Nuclear Powered War Ships" especially at War Time.

After about 16 days at sea, we were still doing underwater " Radio Surveillance" when the Russians had picked us up on Sonar. They then dropped " Scare Charges" - which is International Recognition to Surface- which we did, and we returned to Malta Harbour on the surface. We stayed in harbor for about a week and then we were told that we were going back to the Black Sea again, and to try to get more Intel about what capabilities the "Nuclear Vessels" had. After about 11 days of collecting " Highly Confidential Intel" the Russians picked us up on Sonar again, and this time a Radio message came through advising us that there would be no further "warning" and we were told to leave immediately.
I should point out that this was "The Cold War Time", so we surfaced straight away and again headed back to Malta Harbour, but this time the Russian Ship followed us to ensure we knew that they meant business this time. After re-stocking with provisions back in Harbour, we then headed back to England on surface all the way.

Arriving back onshore, I was advised that I had passed all my Stage 3 Sea Training and I was now a "Submariner". This would have been one of the proudest moments of my life, as I was now accepted into the "Elite" part of the Navy. This is now 1969 and at that point the Royal Australian Navy would have only had about 200 fully trained Sub-Mariners and they had now taken 2 Submarines into their fleet. They were HMAS Oxley and HMAS Otway. I must say now that I felt very honored to be able to serve my Country on both Surface Ships and Submarines, to be called upon at any time to protect Australia in a Wartime situation. As my Submarine training was now completed, I was then posted back to Australia and posted to the Australian Submarine HMAS Otway. Another Submarine that I served on was HMAS Onslow, (this is the Submarine that is open for inspection in Darling Harbour) which also the Surface ship HMAS Vampire was by its side for many years. Having served on both of these vessels, was very nostalgic to go back onboard as a civilian for a look. (This bought back many memories, both good and bad).

I was onboard HMAS Vampire when it escorted HMAS Sydney into "Saigon Harbour Vietnam" in 1966. We stayed in harbor for about 3 to 4 weeks, whilst unloading Troops, provisions and machinery for the Vietnam War. We were ordered to drop " One Pond" Scare Charges every 2 to 3 minutes for 24 hours a day at the front of HMAS Sydney. HMAS Derwent were at the rear of HMAS Sydney doing the same security measures. This was to stop any infiltration by the Viet Con to our Australian Troops. As this was the height of the Vietnam War, and even though this was a very " controversial war" we all had a job to do and that is what we were all trained to do - protect our Australian Troops.

Within the confines of a Submarine, you have 68 Submariners onboard in total.
We all had no other choice but to be respectful to each other and work as a team,
disregarding whether you were and Officer or an Able Seaman we all stood side by side. That is what I enjoyed mostly, because as a Submariner we were all taught a lot about discipline at sea, we were all equal.

In 1974, after serving on most Surface ships and all of the Australian Submarines at the time, I had served my 9 years that I had enlisted for in the Navy. (At the time I enlisted you had to enlist for 9 years, now you can enlist for 6 years).
As I had married and I had 2 sons, my eldest Son was due to commence school, I felt that I needed to give then some stability in their lives having a dad living at home and not away overseas most of the time.

I advised the RAN that I wished to enlist for the Naval Reserves for the next 9 years, and having said that it meant that if war broke out I would automatically.
be called back to serve.

I am pleased that in 1967 I had to go to England to complete my training as a Sub-Mariner, as it gave me chances to visit countries I would never have seen, be it in War or Peace Time. It is now a privilege to be able to say that I am and Ex-Serviceman and a Veteran of the Royal Australian Navy.

My hope in writing my story, (to be held in trust by the Virtual War Memorial Australia Website) is that one day both my sons, Mark and Graeme and my Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren may read my story, as I've never told it before to anyone else but my wife Carole.

I was then posted to HMAS Carpentaria in London (this was at Australia house in UK), and this would then attach me to HMS Dolphin at Portsmouth England allowing me to stay and train to become a Submariner in the Royal Australian Navy.

At Submarine Training School we got down to business straight away, and first up was that I had to do an " Escape Training Course". This was an essential part of being accepted, and if at any point you did not pass any section of the course then you were sent back home to Australia, and there wasn't a second chance at all.

The Course consisted of the following testing: -

1 x Free Ascent from 30 Feet.

1 x Free Ascent from 60 Feet

1 x Free Ascent from 100 Feet.

This was done with only a Life Jacket on. The tank was in 4 levels and stood 100 feet high, filled to the brim with cold salt water. You entered the tank through a door at each level into the escape chamber. To make sure that you did not hold your breath as you ascended, (as the grave danger was that if you did your lungs would burst) the RAN set up safety divers in the tank as you completed each escape, check out your skills or in case of an emergency.

After completing and passing at the lower levels, we were then trained and tested at 100 feet in an Escape Suit, this training was imperative as this would be your only chance of escaping from a Sinking Submarine. After passing these sections I then needed to get a posting to an English Submarine to be able to do my "Part 3 Sea Training", as Australia was still waiting for the arrival of their first Submarine, HMAS Oxley in late 1967. HMAS Oxley was built in Greenock Scotland, and it took approximately 2 years to build, but this all happened after I had to complete my training for Submarines and why it had to be done in England.

I was then posted to HMS Ocelot (a British Submarine) which is situated at HMS Dolphin, this is the English home base for submarines. Immediately we left to head off to the North Sea, we were on the surface for about 2 to 3 days before I experienced my " First Dive" in a Submarine. I was very nervous and excited at the same time. As a submarine starts to dive it goes down nose first, roughly at about a 45-degree angle. The main Ballast Tanks start to fill up with water to make the submarine dive, the noise is extremely loud, and then you hear the gushing of water all around the submarine. We first went to a depth of 100 feet and leveled off for about an hour, then we descended again to about 180 feet. At this point it is so quiet and still and we would have been travelling at about 10 to 12 knots, it was then that my nerves settled down and I knew that I was going to enjoy this experience for my lifetime. (And I did).
We continued to do general maneuvers, checking and testing the Sub. This was all part of learning to be familiar within our environment as Submariners. We were out to sea for about 3 weeks before heading back to port, after restocking with provisions we were told that we were heading out to try out the "Ice Breaker". As we headed through the North Sea into the Artic Sea, the ice was getting thicker. At about 8 feet thick, we were told this was where we would break through. At the point of impact with the ice, the Submarine shook, and I could say that it would have been like the same experience of being in a car accident. The Ice Breaker was like a large triangle from the front up to the Conning Tower and down to the back of the Submarine. It has large "Saw like Teeth" on it and each tooth was approximately the heigh of a Car Tyre and about 2 to 3 inches thick. There were about 50 of these teeth between us and the ice. When the ice broke, and we then surfaced we then went up to the Conning Tower for a look, but you could not stay too long as it was extremely cold. Looking around you was just all white, and many years later I have been able to tell the Grandchildren that Pop has visited the North Pole.
We then all went back into the submarine and started to dive back under the ice into the sea and diving back through the ice was a strange experience as the ice was scraping on all sides of us and was a little daunting at the time too. We had to dive to about 120 feet and then travel underwater for about 2 to 3 days before we could resurface to be completely free from the ice on the surface. We then travelled for about 2 days on the surface on our way back to port.

We then stayed at base to restore all our supplies and checks, before we headed back out to sea for the Mediterranean Sea, again to do maneuvers and then into the Harbour at Gibraltar. From there we headed to Sicily and stayed about 2 days there. Our next stop after heading off was Malta and at that point we had 4 "Radio Operators" come onboard and we were told that they were "Russian Linguists" and it was then we were told that we were headed for the Black Sea.
We had to dive in the Malta Harbour and as they had underwater gates, they opened then up for the Submarine to pass through at a depth of about 200 feet. We then headed to the Black Sea underwater, which took us about 2 days.

In 1965 and the Vietnam War had started, so decided to join the Forces and that's when I decided to join the RAN. I then served on surface ships and was onboard HMAS Vampire when we escorted Australian Troops onboard the HMAS Sydney.
We had to stay on watch beside the HMAS Sydney for Security reasons, we had Naval Divers on board, and they would do continuous underwater checks of both ships did not have any Exploding devices attached to the hull of each ship.
To deter this happing, we were ordered to drop Depth Charges into the water every 10 minutes. This was one of the many tasks we had to do during the 15 days we were in Vietnamese waters. I was posted to various surface ships, going to the Far East, Maylasia and Vietnam.

in 1966 Australia was in the process of including Submarines (O Boats) into the Navy
I served on most of the RAN Ships up until 1967, when I was approached my one of my Officers about joining Submarines. It was explained to me that I would have to go to England to do the "Escape Training Course", needed to become a Submarine. So, for two and a half years I lived and trained in the UK All Australian Submariners had to do this training, just before moving to UK I married, and the Australian Navy made arrangements for all families to have accommodation, as we were all came under the Australian Defence Forces whilst living there.