27th May 1941 - A Day to Remember.

[Leonard D]

Hello Gents, I would like to take a moment to pay tribute to those in the Royal Navy who participated in the hunt for and ultimate sinking of the Bismark on this date in 1941. Although there may well be a few surviving "Old Salts" most have now passed on and should not be forgotten, particularly those aboard HMS Hood who paid the ultimate price. My father, a 15 year RN veteran (1933-48) was a PO aboard HMS Rodney at this time.
Lest we forget.
Len.

[Ray6930]

Len
My Dad was on Rodney at the same time - sadly he is no longer with us but I have a few momentoes of his time on board, a couple of which appeared in the book on Rodney by Ian Ballantyne
Ray

P.S. I believe that I have got a copy somewhere of Rodney crossing the line certificate, which Dad helped produce, if you would be interested I'll try and dig it out

[Irv]

Hi Len,
My Ex father in law, Capt. R.V. Henry retd. was a marine on 'X' gun turret as a gun aimer on the Rodney during the engagement. He's still alive and lives on the south coast.
Irv

[Leonard D]

Thanks to Ray and Irv for their contributions. Great to hear that there are at least some survivors of this engagement. My father was a Torpedo Gunners Mate on Rodney at the time. He went on to be a Torpedo Instructor (CPO) aboard the escort carrier HMS Furious from October 1942 until the end of the war. Like Ray's dad he has passed on, almost a decade ago.
Cheers.
Len.

[Ray6930]

Len / Irv
It has taken a while but managed to track down the image of Dad's crossing the line certificate (which was used in Ballantines book on Rodney I believe)

Trouble was, when I found it there were actually four separate 'partial scans' I'd sent to him as it is too big for my scanner

Have pieced them together as best I can and hope you enjoy it

Ray

[Nozzer]

Originally Posted by Leonard D

Thanks to Ray and Irv for their contributions. Great to hear that there are at least some survivors of this engagement. My father was a Torpedo Gunners Mate on Rodney at the time. He went on to be a Torpedo Instructor (CPO) aboard the escort carrier HMS Furious from October 1942 until the end of the war. Like Ray's dad he has passed on, almost a decade ago.
Cheers.
Len.

Rodney has the honour of the being only Battleship to successfully torpedo another Battleship (Bismark).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Rodney_(29)

Regards,

Andy

[Irv]

Great stuff guy's!
That cap tally would look wonderful in a frame with the certificate

Irv

[Ray6930]

Irv
I have the certificate framed and on the wall but never did get a tally from the old girl. Would find a way of displaying it with the certificate if I ever found one
Ray

[Nozzer]

considering how long Rodney was in commision and how many junior rates must have crossed her gangplank, I have found this tally quite hard to come by. Plus it is cut short, but I think that I can live with that.

If I do come up with another Ray, you can have first refusal

Another tally from that fateful encounter

[Ray6930]

Offer much appreciated.
Dad was training ship Arethusa as a boy and then straight onto Rodney when enlisting at start of the war, he was medically discharged at the end of the war as his hearing was shot to bits (he was on the pom poms AND had a bomb go off within feet of him but was miraculously unscathed by it).
Technically I guess he probably only ever had a HMS tally, but I would still like to get a Rodney one in his memory.

Another item I sent to Ballantyne was the attached picture card, even contacted Sellicks and got their permission.

The other picture is Dad when Rodney was docked somewhere in USA and he got out on a family day.
Ray

[Nozzer]

Great stuff

I think Ballantyne has done two books on the Rodney. Which one did you help with?

If you follow the link that I posted earlier, it mentions about Rodney putting into the USA.

There is also a dark chapter in the history of HMS Rodney

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-15769818

[Ray6930]

Nozzer
Having read the story it jogged the old memory and it was Boston that Dad spoke of. Apart from the horse riding the other big story from there was hist visit to an ice cream parlour.

Interesting about the landing craft, especially as it was diverse naval ranks on board and no troops. I am guessing it was being used as a water taxi.
Any argument between an LC and a battleship is likely to result in grief for the LC and this was the ultimate grief. Doesn't apportion blame in any way but logic would suggest coxswain of an LC would sooner see a battleship than vice versa.

I wasn't aware he'd written 2 books on the old girl, I was in touch with him from about 5 years ago up to about 2 years ago from memory - so if there are two books I'd presume the most recent?

Ray

Ray

[Leonard D]

Hello Gents, some great momentos from the Rodney, Thanks for sharing.
Ray, I can also recollect my Dad talking about the time they were in Boston, for a refit and upgrade in AA capabilities as I remember. He did not mention the ice cream but there were fond memories of pizza parlours. Quite the treat for our seamen at the time I would imagine! My Dad served on Rodney from August 1938 to March 1942 and I don't recollect him mentioning " Crossing the Line" in Rodney. I do however have his certificate issued aboard the cruiser HMS Carlisle which was stationed in Simonstown, S.Africa as part of the South Atlantic Squadron in the mid 1930's. No cap tally sadly.
Thanks again to all have have contributed.
Len.

[RCN]

Len, I don't have a cap ribbon for Rodney but I do have one for HMS Hood, similar to the example posted by Nozzer above.

This cap ribbon being worn by an RNVR PO who served on her during 1928.
He saved all of his cap ribbons for the time he was a rating & I have them all including his medals, service records, photos etc. He never served on Rodney, but he was a ST (Seaman Torpedoman) so its possible he might have come into contact with yr father at some time, perhaps at HMS Vernon (Vernon was the Torpedo school at Portsmouth) as they both must have gone thru Vernon at various times during their careers.

RCN Bryan