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Between 2009-2011, I used Posterous to blog about HMS Diadem. I've
now archived these 30 or so stories here on the HMS Diadem website.
Arctic Convoy “was absolute hell” Here’s a video on BBC News with a fantastic first-hand account
of day-to-day life serving on the Arctic Convoys.
A ceremony was held on Sat 20 August 2011 at the Wester Ross memorial, above Loch Ewe, north-west Scotland mainland to mark the 70th anniversary of the first Arctic convoys. Operation Dervish, which ran from September 1941 to December 1944, saw ships gather in Loch Ewe before setting out to Murmansk and Archangel. More than 3,000 seamen lost their lives to the freezing conditions and attacks by German submarines and aircraft.
Babur was the re-fitted Diadem
the copyright of this image belongs to Flickr user Doc Kazi
Story about David Billet, Dagenham, who served on HMS Diamond and
HMS Diadem.
On Saturday 19 February 2011, members of Dagenham’s Royal Naval Association (RNA) branch are set to enjoy to a night of festivities at their headquarters – Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club – as they look back at 75 years of their organisation. For secretary David Billet, the anniversary is an important moment
in his life – and that of friends from the branch. He said: “We have around 80 members now and we’re all looking forward to celebrating the association’s birthday this month, along with other distinguished guests. It’s going to be an evening of nostalgia. “Our youngest member is in his 20s and the oldest is in his 80s, so the association encompasses all age groups. Sadly, we’ve lost many members along the way, but they’ll all be remembered.” The RNA started life in the UK in late 1935 as the Royal Naval Old Comrades Association. It was set up for ex service members of the Royal Navy and Royal
Marines.
The last Murmansk Convoys - PDF ebook by David Syrett
Extracts: "On 11 March 1945 Convoy JW-65 sailed from the Clyde for Murmansk
escorted "RA-65 sailed from Murmansk on 24 March. H M S Diadem, Campania,
and
In memory of Edward Daltrey
(Note by GM May 2013: image is now gone)
Here’s a photo on Flickr in /pimu’s collection:
JUNO BEACH - Assault Force "J" Bombarding Force E: Rear Admiral Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton (HMS Belfast)
Movements of HMS Diadem From the WAR DIARY OF THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF, HOME FLEET HMS DIADEM 1945
Eric Clifford, commander of Diadem at the end of WWII Vice Admiral Sir Eric George Anderson Clifford KCB CBE (1900-1964) was a Royal Navy officer who became Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. He served in World War II as Commanding Officer of the destroyers HMS Mackay and HMS Salisbury and then as Naval Assistant Secretary to the War Cabinet from 1941 to 1943.[1] In the closing stages of the War he commanded the cruiser HMS Diadem.
This seems to be a wiki page belonging to the Royal Navy. If you click on the link to the HMS Diadem association, it takes you to a page which does not yet exist, inviting you to create it. Very mysterious:
HMS Diadem and the part she played in a battle in the Baltic Sea on 28 January 1945: "After Z34 was damaged Hetz decided to turn to the north and attempt to outrun the British cruisers. Z34 fired a third salvo of torpedoes as the flotilla made this turn, again without result, and the three ships laid smoke screens. The two cruisers also turned to the north to chase the German ships. This lead to a running battle in which Mauritius sustained a hit which did not cause any casualties and Diadem was struck by a shell six minutes later which killed one man and wounded three. "
Moving photograph of Gold Beach troops
Interesting forum post by BobFish - about halfway down this page - outlining the scale of the D-Day operations which sets the context of HMS Diadem’s role in the Gold beach landing.
This is an open-source photo from the Imperial War Museum’s collection. It’s great seeing photos like this being made available online under relaxed licences. I’d like to see more of the IWM’s photos and documents released under similar terms.
This is photograph No. FL 9948 from the Imperial War Museum collection No. 8308-29. This artistic work created by the United Kingdom Government is in the public domain.
It is a photograph created by the United Kingdom Government and taken prior to 1 June 1957; or It was commercially published prior to 1960; or
HMS Vanguard and HMS Diadem " This never before published photo shows HMS Vanguard (left) and HMS Diadem (right) from HMS Anson arriving at Portland, England. (Photo from the collection of Ordinary Signalman Owen Vigeon, R.N.)
We’ve never received any medals from the British Government. "We’ve never received any medals from the British Government." These are the words quoted by former HMS Diadem shipmate Jack Harrison in his report in Belper News as he received a medal at the Russian Embassy for the part he played in the escort of the Russian Convoys in WWII: http://www.belpernews.co.uk/news/Wartime-honour-for-Belper-veteran.6289829.jp "Jack (85), took part in ten trips from Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands, to Murmansk, in Russia. His ship, the HMS Diadem, was one of several flanking Merchant Navy ships which were carrying supplies to Russia. "Sailors faced freezing temperatures, battering waves, and poor conditions for weeks on end during the trips, which were aimed at protecting the cargo ships from German submarine attacks. "Jack said: "We just saw it as our job, but the Russians saw it as us supporting their war; like we were on their side. I never thought of it like that, but they saw it that we were helping them." "I’m very proud to have been part of it. I’m pleased that I went but I wouldn’t want to do it again if they asked me. It was talked of as the worst job in the war."""
There’s a photo on sale on eBay this week. Here’s how
the seller describes the image: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HMS-DIADEM-MONTCALM-1949-ORIGINAL-PHOTOGRAPH-/350352506220 I don’t long how long after end of auction images are left to be viewed.
Some interesting photos of HMS Diadem in the 1960s after she’d
been re-commissioned by the Pakistan Navy:
http://www.pakdef.info/pakmilitary/navy/gallery/didoclass.html
Diadem in Chatham Dockyard, Belfast 1954 March 1st, 2010 was the original publication date. This is an interesting scrapbook of the travels of the crew of USS Hickox in September 1954- February 1955. You can dynamically turn the pages of this PDF files online. If you search the text for "HMS Diadem", on Page 23, you’ll see a clipping from the Belfast Telegraph 2 Nov 1954: http://www.archive.org/details/155othcb5518 "The distinctive flush -decked, tall- funneled shapes of two American destroyers were to be seen in Chatham Dockyard shortly before dusk on Wednesday, when the two United States ships. Capcrton and Hickox. locked-ln for a six-day operational visit…. A comprehensive programme of hospitality has been organised by the Reserve Fleet host ship, H.M.S. Diadem."
Steel model of HMS Diadem with HMCS Haida and Huron January 13th, 2010 was the original publication date. 1/700 RN Diorama (HMS Diadem accompanies HMCS Haida and Huron on a channel sweep) by Chris Drage (Diadem: Skytrex metal kit, Haida & Huron: Ultracast)
http://www.steelnavy.com/gallery_dioramas.htm posted by Gareth Morlais
Royal Navy Memories
photo caption: HMS Diadem (Cruiser)was a Bellona-class cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was a modified Dido design with only 4 turrets but improved AA armament – aka Dido Group 2. She was built by R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited (Hebbum- on- Tyne, UK), with the keel being laid down on 15 Dec. 1939. She was launched on 21 Aug.1942, and commissioned 6 Jan 1944 From:
photo of ship from http://www.russianconvoyclub.org.nz/MembersShips.htm
There are eight mentions of HMS Diadem in the BBC’s The People’s War archive: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/search/index.shtml?scope=ww2peopleswar&q=hms-diadem&x=0&y=0 http://www.bbc.co.uk
Photo from Battleship Cruisers site
http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/bellona_class.htm#HMS%20Diadem
Royal Navy Museum Gift Shop photo
http://www.rnmuseumshop.co.uk/acatalog/dexterous-duke_of_york.html
Here’s a link to an article from the Argyll News about Jack
Harrison: Note from GM May 2012: Because this article is no longer available, I'm taking the Argyll News's advice to Share literally by pasting this story from the Internet Archive's WayBackMachine:
Jack Harrison - another link in the story of the Arctic Convoys
at Loch Ewe
Jack Harrison’s service took him, via Thurso and Scapa Flow, to Murmansk and back many times on naval escorts for the Arctic, or Russian, convoys. It took him into engagement in the Normandy landings and other actions, including taking part in what became the last naval engagement of the war. We have not been able to talk to Jack ourselves but we have been given his story by Mike Rowlands and we have done some additional research to develop it. Jack was born in 1925 in Cleckheaton in North Yorkshire, joining the Royal Navy in June 1943 when he was eighteen. His naval career began with basic training at HMS Glendower - a shore-based establishment at Pwllheli in North Wales which went on to become a Butlin’s Holiday camp. This was followed by radio operator training on the Isle of Man. When he finished this training, he was transferred to Thurso on the north coast of Scotland via Portsmouth on the south coast, joining the light cruiser HMS Diadem at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Isles. (The photograph below is HMS Diadem in the Arctic Convoys in 1944. The image, by copyright holder MiniEntente, is in the public domain.)
Over the next three years he took part in ten Russian convoy return trips to Murmansk, an eight week engagement during and after the Normandy D Day landings, flank protection in the Bay of Biscay and mine laying off the Norwegian coast. He was also involved in the last naval engagement of World War Two, a clash with German Z class destroyers. Jack was eventually demobbed from the ’stone frigate’ - the shore establishment, HMS Collingwood in 1946. In the late 1950s, Jack joined the North Russian Club (also known as the Russian Convoy Club)and was an active member until it was disbanded in 2001 due to its ageing and declining membership. In 1998, he visited Loch Ewe in Sutherland - the base for many of the Arctic or Russian convoys, with fellow member, Jimmy McHugh. (Jimmy McHugh was at the Arctic Convoy Tribute ceremony at Loch Ewe in October 2008 and is photographed there in a feature published by For Argyll.) This was a nostalgic, yet enlightening journey for them as they’d never been ashore, only previously seeing the area from aboard their respective ships during war time. They stayed at Pool House Hotel and, from conversations with the proprietor (who shared the same surname as Jack), discovered a common interest in the Russian convoys. The idea of a museum was hatched and subsequently developed by the Harrison family, the owners of Pool House, with assistance from Jack. Jack became interested in a particularly heroic episode of the convoy period that affected the lives of five hundred Norwegian men, women and children. They had fled their homes in Hammerfest ahead of retreating German troops who were being pursued by advancing Russian forces. After surviving in remote caves, the refugees were rescued by Royal Naval destroyers Zest, Zealous and Zambezi accompanied by Canadian destroyer RCN Sioux (the former HMS Vixen). They were taken to Murmansk where they were distributed amongst vessels of several nations for transportation to the UK. (This is the story of the evacuation of the Norwegian island of Soroy in which Roy Elwood played a part from HMS Zambesi. For Argyll has recently published Roy’s story, which makes interesting reading alongside this.) Nineteen of the Norwegians, comprising eleven adults and eight children were put aboard Liberty ship USS Henry Bacon. Unfortunately, she developed rudder problems after setting out and fell behind the convoy. The ship was then attacked and badly damaged by German bombers - Junkers 88s. Radio messages were transmitted and the captain’s order was given to abandon ship, but only two of the four lifeboats were intact. The nineteen Norwegians, with six young crew members to man the oars and radio operator, Spud Campbell, were placed in one lifeboat. (Spud Campbell can be seen in a photograph in For Argyll’s feature on the Arctic Convoy Tribute Ceremony at Loch Ewe in October 2008. He has written a book about his experiences: Waves Astern) The other serviceable lifeboat was packed with crew members but could not carry them all. Thirty-eight members of the crew stayed behind and perished when the ship went down in the freezing sea. After the two lifeboats had been adrift for three hours, the aptly named British destroyer HMS Opportune appeared, responding to the radio distress signals. The occupants of both lifeboats were successfully transferred aboard and taken to safety in the UK.
Captain Neil Hulse MBE (Merchant Navy) was chairman of the North Russian Club until its disbandment. He presented Jack Harrison with the bell from SS Henry Bacon (pictured left) on condition that he would seek a maritime location for it. Additional engraving was added to the bell in memory of the Henry Bacon and, with convoy related documents, it was donated to Pool House Hotel, Loch Ewe for permanent display. These will all be displayed in the Museum to the Arctic Convoys which is in planning at the moment and is to be located at Aultbea. The bell commemorates not only the Russian convoys that operated from this location, but the aerial protection provided by the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm. It is a permanent reminder of the courage, endurance and sacrifice of those who served in demanding and dangerous conditions. Among them are Jack Harrison, Jimmy McHugh, Roy Elwood, Spud Campbell, Reay Clarke, Jim Olsen, Jock Dempster and others whose service in these unimaginably daunting convoys For Argyll has been fortunate to help record. Share and Enjoy:
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