Page 15 - CAMPAIGN Spring 2021

“Ahoy there! ahoy there! what ship is this and whither bound? The reply came from Captain John Gower,
“Her Majesty ship Diana set fair for Montebello Isle”
“Then hear Ye this”
“We, Neptune of the seven seas by grace of myth, Imperial Lord, Inform you now that it would please our Queen and us to come aboard, Your goodly ship of the line at ten tomorrow if ‘tis fine.
We will meet your crew,
Not walk between the decks,
And by command each one of you,
Must scrub and clean to save your necks,
Choose your place somewhere near, the focsle gun, will let men hear.
A Royal Court we will hold,
Indeed, we will, just as tradition wishes, To show to all your sailors bold,
What else but fishes,
Live beneath the waves which foam, Below your vessel far from home.
By Our command of Royal Court,
If homage has been done,
All dolphins, mermaids, fish that sport, Will greet your men as one,
And evermore will shout and clamour, The glorious name of HMS Diana”.
Christmas Island, where they arrived on the 7th. They dropped off post and various other equipment before sailing on to Montebello for the G2 Test, on the 19th of June.
After washing down the ship, de-rigging, and removing canvas sheeting used to protect hatches and portholes and making ready, she sailed on the 24th of June and arrived back in Singapore on the 29th. The crew had to stay on board with no shore leave granted, before sailing to Penang on the 10th of July for a two-day visit.
From there they went to Madras again for a two-day visit, and departed on the 19th of July, entering Trincomali of the 20th of
Policemen arrest REA Steady during the crossing the
line shenanigans on HMS Campania, June 26th 1952.
July [Trincomalee is Ceylon]. HMS Diana then headed for Aden; from there they had two trips - only short trips - making ready to join the Aden Force Red Sea fleet with HMS Kenya. They went to the Perim Islands and Djibouti, [French Polynesia]. They stayed there for two days, and sailed back to Aden on the 22nd of October, arriving on the 26th October.
On the 28th of October HMS Diana was ordered to sail to Suez and join forces with HMS Newfoundland. This trip was in a more serious vein, as hostilities had started against the Egyptians on the 31st of October. That night they took part in a night action against the Egyptian frigate Domiate; HMS Newfoundland had
asked Domiate to heave to and fired warning shots over her bows. Domiate decided not to undertake this order, and opened fire on Newfoundland, causing damage to the ship, and injuries to the crew. Seeing this, Capt. John Gower from Diana ordered guns to fire. From what I have been told by veterans, including my father, Diana didn’t fire many, but hit Domiate hard with her bow x4, 4.5” guns, and sank her. Diana picked up 69 survivors from the frigate as she went down, apparently the last time a ship was sunk using guns alone.
After seeing action at the Suez Canal, HMS Diana returned to Aden for repairs and then sailed out, topping up fuel and stores, using
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