Apollo was built by Yarrow Shipbuilders of Scotstoun. She was launched on 15 October 1970 and commissioned on 28 May 1972, making her the penultimate Leander.
Both Apollo and Ariadne are easily distinguished from the other Leanders by their ‘witches hat’ – fitted to the top of the foremast as a part of the electronic warfare array.
HMS Euryalus was a Dido-class cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was laid down at Chatham Dockyard on 21 October 1937, launched on 6 June 1939, and commissioned 30 June 1941. Euryalus was the last cruiser built at the dockyard.
Four U.S Navy (USN) Unmanned Surface Vessels (USV) arrived in Sydney, Australia, on October 24th following stops in Japan, Guam, the Marshall Islands and Papua New Guinea. USVs Ranger, Mariner, Seahawk and Sea Hunter are currently deployed to the U.S 7th Fleet Area of Responsibility (AOR) as part of Integrated Battle Problem (IBP) 23.2.
The four USVs, which make up Unmanned Surface Vessel Division One, were accompanied to Sydney by the Independence variant Littoral Combat Ship USS Oakland (LCS-24) and a chartered crew boat.
The unmanned surface vessel Ranger transits underneath the Sydney Harbor bridge as part of a scheduled port visit during Integrated Battle Problem (IBP) 23.2, Oct 24, 2023. (U.S. Navy photo by Ensign Pierson Hawkins)
Commander Jerry Daley, Commanding officer of Unmanned Surface Vessel Division One, told Naval News that their visit to Australia was partially a result of an invitation from the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) to take part in Exercise Autonomous Warrior 2023.
The USVs, plus USS Oakland, were the largest vessels of their respective classes to yet take part in the landmark RAN exercise which brings together many countries, companies and units to push the limits of unmanned and autonomous systems.
Different Vessels in the Unmanned Surface Vessel Division
While all four USVs are different, they can be broadly split into two types; Sea Hunter-type trimaran platforms and Ranger-type conventional vessels. While the former were designed from the ground up to support unmanned operation, the latter were modified later in life for that purpose.
Within both groups there are also a number of differences between the vessels. Mariner, for example, has a number of systems installed internally that have to be carried externally in containers aboard Ranger. Similarly, Seahawk has a more sophisticated rail system for handling containers than its predecessor Sea Hunter.
Mariner, which is the newest of the four USVs, is also the only vessel in the group equipped with an autonomy system developed by L3 Harris, rather than Leidos.
USV Mariner at HMAS Waterhen
Because of these differences each vessel has been putting different concepts to the test during IBP 23.2.
Sea Hawk and Sea Hunter, for example, have been working closely with USS Oakland to demonstrate how crewed vessels can operate as “Afloat Control Units (ACU)” for USVs with minimal modification.
During one test, CDR Daley said, a crew of six personnel from Unmanned Surface Vessel Division One embarked aboard USS Oakland and controlled the two USVs from Oakland’s Combat Information Centre (CIC). This, he said, required only the addition of several boxes of hardware which were assembled in the CIC.
USS Oakland at HMAS Kuttabul in Sydney
Mariner and Ranger, meanwhile, have been testing more advanced autonomy features under the supervision of a civilian crew which is under orders to observe, but not interfere unless absolutely necessary. The two vessels have also been testing not just autonomy but various Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) payloads which are mounted in containers aft. While the USN declined to discuss the details of the payloads, Naval News understands that they include radars, communication systems and other ISR tools.
Sea Hunter Undergoing Maintenance in Australia
The deployment, however, has not gone off without a hitch. Shortly after arriving in Australia from its trans-oceanic voyage, Sea Hunter sustained damage that necessitated an unplanned drydocking at HMAS Kuttabul.
USV Seahawk at HMAS Waterhen
USV Mariner has also looked better, with paint missing from the forward hull, though Naval News understands that that is the responsibility of the relevant civilian contractor rather than the USN.
You might be thinking to yourself, “Didn’t we fight a whole war to keep American sailors from working under a British flag?” Well, it’s been a long time since the War of 1812, and relations between the United States and the United Kingdom have changed significantly since then. Not only is this warship the only vessel in the U.S. Navy‘s fleet to fly a foreign flag, but it’s also the only ship with an officer from Britain’s Royal Navy aboard as a permanent member of the ship’s company to ensure proper navigation — all meant to honor the “British Bulldog,” Winston Churchill.
Commissioned in 2001, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill was named for the famous prime minister who led Britain through World War II and has been permitted to fly the Royal Navy’s White Ensign — a red St. George’s Cross on a white field with a Union flag in the canton — during special occasions.
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(U.S. Navy photo)
A ship’s ensign is the largest flag flying aboard the vessel and denotes the nationality of the ship. When the USS Winston Churchill flies the Royal Navy’s ensign, it’s hoisted from the port side of the mast, with the American flag on the starboard side. During its normal operations, only the Stars and Stripes are raised.
At the time of its commissioning, the Winston Churchill cost $1 billion and was one of the most advanced destroyers in the fleet. Like the other 73 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, it’s designed to be able to deliver a high-intensity ass-kicking to targets in the air, on land or at sea while defeating anti-ship missiles and torpedoes and jamming enemy radar — an impressive armament worthy of the ship’s namesake.
The Churchill is the fifth ship in the U.S. Navy to be named in honor of a Briton, though the former prime minister was made an honorary American citizen in 1963, two years before his death. It’s also the first to be named for an Englishman since the end of the American Revolution. Churchill’s daughter, Lady Mary Soames, was present at the ship’s commissioning ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia, and served as an honorary sponsor for the United Kingdom. Its motto, “In war: Resolution. In peace: Good Will” is drawn from the epigraph of Churchill’s book, “The Second World War.”
Churchill’s Royal Navy officer was originally part of an exchange. The United States kept one of its naval officers aboard the Royal Navy’s HMS Marlborough, until that ship was decommissioned in 2005. The Type 23 frigate was named for John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, of which Winston Churchill is a descendant. The Marlborough had the distinction of being the first ship on the scene to assist the USS Cole after it was attacked in 2000. Today, Prime Minister Churchill’s own descendants maintain close contact with the USS Winston Churchill and its crew.
Descendants of Winston S. Churchill pose for a photo in the chiefs mess aboard the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Winston Churchill (DDG 81) during a reception ceremony and tour on March 25, 2015. (Danica Phillips/U.S. Navy photo)
Though it’s one of the older Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, the Churchill is likely to remain in service for years to come, having just completed a multimillion-dollar modernization effort in 2023. Although 19 more destroyers of its class are planned or under construction, it’s likely to be the only one flying the Royal Navy’s white ensign – – unless we can think of another Briton on par with Winston Churchill.
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Royal Navy remembrance 2023. We will remember them.
As we pay tribute to those who have given their lives in service of their country, here we look at one example from the thousands of sacrifices made by the sailors of the Royal Navy.
HMS Holcombe was a Hunt class destroyer ordered as part of the war emergency construction programme and launched in Glasgow in April 1942. She is the only RN warship to have carried the name and had a career lasting less than two years, one of 132 British destroyers lost during the Second World War.
On 12th December 1943, a Sunday afternoon, almost 80 years ago, HMS Holcombe and her gallant crew were in action in the Mediterranean. She was one of six naval escorts for a slow convoy of merchant ships that had departed from Gibraltar on 9th December 1943 bound for Egypt. Her sister ship HMS Tynedale, part of the same convoy escort, had been torpedoed with the loss of 7 officers and 63 men earlier that day.
HMS Holcombe – 168 men served on board this small 1,480-tonne vessel. (Image: IWM).
While north-east of Bougie, Algeria and hunting for the submarine that had conducted the attack, Holcombe signalled she had an ASDIC contact and was altering course. A minute later the ship was struck by a Gnat (homing torpedo) fired from a German U-boat, U-593. An explosion blew her stern off and a second magazine explosion accelerated her sinking. She went down rapidly stern-first with her bow sticking up vertically. It took just 4 minutes and 17 seconds for HMS Holcombe to disappear taking 81 men with her. The 87 surviving crew were rescued by American destroyer USS Wainwright.
The names of those lost on the Holcombe are recorded on the Plymouth Naval Memorial and are listed here, the youngest three sailors being just 19 years old.
HMS Tynedale in Plymouth Sound c1941 (with barrage ballons just visible over the city in the background). One of many warships that have sailed from Plymouth, never to return, she was hit by a torpedo and broke in two. Despite rescue efforts by other ships, 73 of her crew died (Photo: IWM).
The following day, USS Wainwright and HMS Calpe located U-593 and depth charged her to the surface. The crew of the U-boat were extremely fortunate as all 51 on board were rescued, becoming prisoners of war. Overall the casualty rate for U-Boat crews was something like 75%. Of around 37,000 German submariners who served, 28,000 were lost and 5,000 were taken prisoner.
In an act of friendship and reconciliation, the survivors of HMS Tyndale invited the CO of U-593, Kapitänleutnant Gerd Kelbling and one of his former crew to the 50th-anniversary commemoration of the sinking held in 1993 in Hexham, England.
Donations can be made to the Royal British Legion here or the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity here.
Armistice Day commemorated the agreement to end hostilities in World War I–signed by the Allied nations and Germany on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. In 1954, Representative Ed Rees (KS) introduced a bill into Congress to establish the holiday to honor all veterans. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed HR7786 into law on 1 June 1954 and issued the first Veterans Day Proclamation on 8 October 1954. The first Veterans Day was celebrated that November.
This is an image of the naturalization procedure that occurred on board the USS Missouri (BB-63) on that first Veterans Day in 1954. It was the first time a federal court session was held on board a battleship. Immigrants soon to be naturalized can be seen seated in the foreground.
When this photograph was taken, the Missouri was at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. She arrived there in mid-September 1954 and remained there during the inactivation period until her decommissioning on 26 February 1955.
The photograph was given to the Institute by Mrs. Sybil-Carmen North (wife of Commander James North, the Missouri’s last commanding officer before the 1955 decommissioning) and used in the Naval Institute Press book Battleship Missouri by Paul Stillwell (page 234).
We at the Naval Institute salute all those who served and are serving still in the far corners of the earth! Peter H. Daly VADM, USN (Ret.), CEO & Publisher Life Member and member since 1978
The Last Post’s solemn sound can stop people in their tracks, immediately reminding them of the ultimate sacrifice made by military personnel throughout history.
Universally known as the sound most closely associated with Remembrance, the Last Post marks the start of a period of thoughtful silence.
The short fanfare, which is traditionally played either on a bugle or trumpet, immediately unites those within earshot, allowing their thoughts to momentarily rest on memories of their loved ones or the sacrifices made by strangers for their freedom.
Th Last Post was created for the British Army in the late 18th century by a now-unknown composer, and was originally just one of many bugle calls that were performed to regulate a soldier’s day.
At this point in history, soldiers had no easy way to check the time as the first wristwatch was created in 1810 for the Queen of Naples.
Instead, they relied on the attention-grabbing sound of Reveille to let them know it was time to get up.
This bugle, which was recovered from the Somme in 1915, was played on Armistice Day 2020 at the Cenotaph in London (Picture: MOD)
The Last Post bugle call signified the duty officer had completed his inspection and the camp was secure for the night.
It took another 50 years for the Last Post to be played for soldiers who had died overseas, marking their final journey home and symbolising the end of the dead soldier’s duty.
The mournful melody became commonplace on the battlefield in conflicts such as the Boer War and the First World War.
The tradition of honouring fallen soldiers both overseas and at home increased in popularity during the early 20th century.
LCpl Yassen from the Band of the Rifles plays the Last Post near the Forth Bridge (Picture: Crown Copyright)
When is the Last Post played now?
Today, the Last Post is a focal point during Remembrance services around the world and at military funerals.
Since 2 July 1928, the bugle call has been performed every night at 8pm in Belgium under the Commonwealth War Grave Commission’s Menin Gate memorial in Ypres by members of The Last Post Association.
During the inauguration of the Menin Gate memorial in 1927, buglers from 2nd Battalion, the Somerset Light Infantry had the honour of sounding the first Last Post.
In addition, the Last Post is performed when the Tower of London gates are locked at 10pm every night.
A bugler plays the Last Post at a Remembrance Service in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan, in November 2007 (Picture: Crown Copyright)
Which words traditionally accompany The Last Post?
The words spoken after the Last Post is played and directly before the silence come from the well-known fourth stanza from For The Fallen, a poignant poem written by academic and poet Laurence Binyon in September 1914.
He was so moved by the devastatingly high number of casualties from the First World War that he put pen to paper to express his and the nation’s grief.
Once described by Rudyard Kipling as “the most beautiful expression of sorrow in the English language”, the poem is recited at every Remembrance Sunday, strengthening our determination to never forget the servicemen and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.
The shadow of a Royal Marine bugler, playing the Last Post, is cast upon the memorial at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan in 2011 (Picture: Crown Copyright).
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning,
We will remember them.
The Last Post is performed in North Carolina to mark the 75th anniversary of the loss of British and Canadian sailors from HMS Bedfordshire and the British merchant vessel San Delfino following a German submarine attack (Picture: US Coast Guard)
Why is the Last Post performed at Remembrance services?
Wherever you are in the world – be it at the Cenotaph in London or on deployment thousands of miles away – the Last Post signifies the start of the two-minute silence, a time for peaceful reflection often ending with the playing of Reveille.
This momentary pause immediately connects us to the war dead of the past and their sacrifices for the many freedoms we enjoy today.
The ceremony is followed by the traditional laying of wreaths.
Paul Goose sounds the Last Post in 2020.
What is it like to perform the Last Post?
Always front and centre at some of the Armed Forces’ most important ceremonial occasions, the lone bugler plays a pivotal role.
Paul Goose, a Light Infantry veteran and bugler, spoke to Forces News about what it feels like to perform the Last Post, saying: “It’s a slow tune, it does give you time to reflect.
“A lot of people shed a lot of tears to it.
“I’ve shed tears to it while I’ve been playing at times.
“It does reflect on people’s lives and the people who they lost.”
The mournful melody helps us to remember the sacrifices made by those who fought and died for their country.
Watch: After seven years in post, the Royal Navy’s State Ceremonial Training Officer is stepping down.
Every year, hundreds of servicemen and women proudly march on Whitehall on Remembrance Sunday, remembering those who died while serving their country.
But the pomp, precision and professionalism on display must be rehearsed to the finest detail.
For seven years, Warrant Officer 1 Darren ‘Eddie’ Wearing has been in charge of training Royal Navy personnel for the big day at HMS Excellent in Portsmouth.
But this year’s ceremony, where WO1 Wearing will lead Royal Navy personnel on and off the Cenotaph, will be his last.
The Navy has been preparing for the occasion for the past three weeks, and WO1 Wearing said his emotions were mixed ahead of his final Remembrance Sunday.
“Obviously, it’s such an honour to be a part of Remembrance… and it’s an honour to have been in this role since 2015, but it’s very much mixed [emotions] at the moment,” he told Forces News.
Watch below: Cenotaph cleaned and protected ahead of Remembrance Sunday.
“Obviously I’ve got a job to do, so I have to put my own emotions aside if I can, which is sometimes quite difficult, but I think my emotions are probably going to hit its peak on Sunday when I march off the Cenotaph for the very last time.”
WO1 Wearing said as the Royal Navy’s State Ceremonial Training Officer, Remembrance is “the one”.
“That is the bit where I feel honoured and privileged to be a part of Remembrance and that’s what it’s all about.”
But he said “having the honour and the privilege to conduct my final duty to Her Majesty the Queen” had been a highlight.
“I think nothing surpasses that, she was just such a role model to all of us in the Armed Forces, especially with us being the senior service, and I think it’s something that I’ll never forget,” WO1 Wearing said.
‘It’s time to move on’
Ahead of his final Remembrance Sunday in the role, he said the Navy personnel’s training had been exceptional, adding: “I’m sure they’ll put on an excellent parade on Sunday.
“I’ll be leading the Navy on to the Cenotaph and leading them back off at the end of the Remembrance parade.”
But he added: “It’s time to move on, it’s time to go and do other things and pass over the baton.”
VANESSA LAURIE/STUFFGraeme Lowe, a New Zealand Navy veteran and RSA stalwart.
Being a long-term president of an RSA would seem a risky job for a recovering alcoholic. But Graeme Lowe made it work.
When he was president of the New Plymouth RSA he had a chat with all the bar staff and told them not to sell him alcohol under any circumstances, he says.
“Or anybody else coming up to try and buy it for me. And that worked well. Now and again you get the idiot who thinks it’s funny to try and sneak one over you. I’ve seen it happen.”
So, if he went away from a table for a bit, leaving a half-full glass, he’d tip it out when he got back, just to be sure, he says.
These days Lowe is stuck at home with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). He got sick last December and was rushed to hospital.
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“They threw me out to go home and die.”
He didn’t. And he intends to make it to his 77th birthday in May.
From his bed, Lowe’s line of vision goes to a picture on the wall of a ship he served on, HMNZS Royalist an anti-aircraft cruiser. In the 1960s Lowe did two tours of duty in Malaya with the New Zealand Navy.
He’s a navy man through and through. If he had his time again, he may not have gone in so young (he was 16) but he’d definitely still join up.
That’s where he started drinking.
“When you’re young, you’re bulletproof. You think. It was encouraged in them days, smoking, drinking.
“As long as you were at sea, cigarettes were tax-free. We used to get a beer issue as well as your rum issue at night. But you had to be 18 before you could draw your rum issue, same with beer. You had a few guys there that were teetotal.”
He’s been sober 36, going on 37 years. It’s something he’s rightfully proud of.
Temptation is always there, especially in the hot weather or when life gets a bit tough. But day to day he doesn’t usually miss it, he says.
“I didn’t like myself at all when I was drinking. I was, to be rather blunt, an a… on a merry-go-round that you can’t seem to get off. I was a slow learner, I went to treatment four or five times.”
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His last stint in rehab was with the Bridge Programme in Wellington. That worked.
“The Sallies sent me out to Akatarawa on the road between Upper Hutt and Waikanae in the middle of nowhere. At first, I wasn’t too happy about that, but it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. I was there close on five months.”
And ever since, he’s volunteered for the Bridge programme whenever able.
VANESSA LAURIE/STUFFLowe has a picture of the HMNZS Royalist on the wall of his bedroom.
It took a lot of willpower to stay off alcohol and “I did everything wrong that they say you shouldn’t do”, he says.
Like join the RSA.
The first time he joined was many years ago when he was still in the navy. But, later when he moved away from Taranaki and lived all over New Zealand, he let it drop.
Then, back in New Plymouth again, he visited to find out about a cruiser reunion he wanted to attend.
He talked to reunion organiser Trevor Wylde, who wanted to know why Lowe wasn’t a member, Lowe says.
“I said, ‘I don’t drink, no point me being a member’. He more or less pulled me by the ear. How many people in here are drinking? It was quite surprising. About a dozen in there were just drinking lolly water. That’s when I rejoined again.”
He joined the New Plymouth RSA in 1996 and went on the committee in 2004. He was president at one stage until he had a heart attack. Then he was president again from July 2014 to November 2018.
The RSA is still important, he says, there’s a comradeship there “exactly like you had in the services, which you don’t strike any other way in civilian street”.
“And it’s not like you think. You don’t go there and people are just telling war stories. Far from it. Even on ANZAC if you do hear war stories it’s not about blood and guts. It’s about the mischief the boys would get up to.”
Like the time the HMNZS Royalist broke down on the way back to New Zealand. It was the early 1960s and the ship had been in the Pacific and up to Singapore and Malaysia.
It was during what was called the Malaya confrontation, when Indonesia disagreed on the creation of the country of Malaysia.
The cruiser ended up drifting off the Solomon Islands, he says.
VANESSA LAURIE/STUFFIn the lounge is a painting of the three ships Lowe served on during his time in the New Zealand Navy – HMNZS Royalist, HMNZS Lachlan and HMNZS Rotoiti.
“The number of sharks in the water. If you went in there you wouldn’t have lasted five seconds.”
So, they had a fishing competition and dragged in about 90 in less than an hour. Some of them were huge, he says.
Lowe now has a grandson in the navy.
“He’s done bloody well, but I don’t want to embarrass the poor bugger.”
But talking about his grandson reminds him of another story.
