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RFA [Royal Fleet Auxiliary] Fort Charlotte at sea, then some General Drill with Modeste. At last, news also came for HMS Diana, that she and her crew were going home. Her ETA back to the UK was February 1957, but due to the fact that the Suez Canal was blocked by the Egyptians, HMS Diana spent Christmas of 1956 in Mombasa; from there she sailed to Durban and spent new year. On the way back to Gibraltar they had short spells in, Simonstown, Lawanda and Freetown before sailing back to Devonport.
Here is some useless information for you. The following statistics are for the period April the 1st to October 31st, and come from HMS Diana's book “Moonshine”, Christmas 1956, HMS Diana burnt 6100 tonnes of oil fuel, nearly twice the weight of the hip having costing over 50,000 pounds. Captain Gower said 11000 tons, so he was the Boss!!! They distilled a total those 6700 tons of water of which 4600 tons went into the boilers and 2,100 tons were
used by the ship's company. Over 800 tons of fuel was used to make this water.
They took 3,700 tonnes of water from shore, which cost between £650 and £700. The ship's company have used a total quantity of 5,500 tonnes of
water, i.e., about 20 gallons per man per day. What they did with that water is nobody's business but there it was.
There's some conflict about the mileage covered by HMS Diana on her travels. “Moonshine” reported 36,000 miles [nearly] but my research has found that 52,000 miles were travelled and 11,000 tonnes of oil used. Those facts came from the skipper, John Gower, and as the fact he was in charge, and everybody on board loved the man, then I believe Gower’s figure of 52,000 miles (I did some very rough working out, and 52,000 is closer than the report stating 38,000). Other facts include that pay drawn was £57,500, and if the truth be known, apparently the ship's company consumed 800 gallons of rum. I wonder if that’s where the saying came from, “you’re a rum lot”???
There have been many references about Diana, saying that she served 145 days at sea and spent 199 days in Harbour, which doesn't work because that is only 344 days. You will have to make your own mind up, or try and find a Diana veteran, and I know 11 now. Haha, to be honest, I don't think they cared much!!
I'm hoping that one of my Veteran friends may be able to give me some other silly facts; I think they are great,
and take you away from HMS Diana’s business at sea, like: How many of the National Service guys had sea sickness, how many eggs were consumed? How many teas and coffees? How much bacon?
There are two major questions, that are on my family’s minds and mine, What did happen in Singapore? I have asked the question of the veterans, including my Dad, and the same answer comes back, “what happened in Singapore, stays in Singapore,”!!! The second question is...”who did kidnap {or dognap} Simba?” Everybody said it was the stokers!! Well, I know one of the stokers,
and he’s keeping quiet, very quiet, so maybe... are we on to something?????
Since the day I wrote this, we have been notified of the passing of John Benson.
He was a Lead Telegrapher aboard HMS Diana at Montebello in 1956.
Our heartfelt condolences go out to Diane and family at this sad, sad time.
RIP John, another Diana, has passed over the Bar. Fair winds and Safe harbours.
Guinea Pig Ship
We would like to thank Brian Marshall's family, who have given the BNTVA permission to reprint this book.
Brian was in the Royal Navy, and a British nuclear test veteran, present at Operation Mosaic in 1956, on the The BNTVA has the sole rights of sale for "Guinea Pig Ship - HMS Diana 1956-57" on this UK print run and the book is attracting a lot of worldwide interest. We have 100 copies for sale. It costs £15 plus £2 postage, with all proceeds donated to the BNTVA.
If you would like to purchase a copy, please contact us on 0208 144 3080 or email info@bntva.com.