This is the USS Eagle 2 (PE-2) on builder’s trials in 1918. An identical sister ship, USS Eagle 56 (PE-56), was lost due to a mysterious explosion April 23, 1945. Although Eagle 56 survivors stated they had spotted a submarine during the sinking, the official Navy Investigation declared it lost due to a boiler explosion. Through the work of a dedicated researcher and the Naval Historical Center’s senior archivist the Navy changed this to a combat loss in 2002. Both ships were members of 60 Eagle Boats built by automaker Henry Ford for World War I. None of them were completed in time to see service in that war due to the Armistice, November 11, 1918. They were not very popular due to poor sea-keeping characteristics. The Navy discarded all but eight, before World War II. The term Eagle Boat came from a 1917 editorial in the Washington Post that called for an eagle to scour the seas and pounce upon and destroy every German submarine. U.S. Navy photo. (RELEASED) 030415-N-0000X-001 Naval Historical Center, Washington, DC (Apr. 15, 2003)

 They were steel-hulled ships smaller than contemporary destroyers but having a greater operational radius than the wooden-hulled, 110-foot (34 m) submarine chasers developed in 1917. The submarine chasers’ range of about 900 miles (1,400 km) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) restricted their operations to off-shore anti-submarine work and denied them an open-ocean escort capability; their high consumption of gasoline and limited fuel storage were handicaps the Eagle class sought to remedy.

They were originally commissioned USS Eagle Boat No.1 (or 2,3..etc.) but this was changed to PE-1 (or 2,4.. etc.) in 1920. They never officially saw combat in World War I, but some were used during the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War.[1] PE-19, 27, 32, 38, 48 and 55–57 survived to be used in World War II.[2]

Attention turned to building steel patrol vessels. In their construction, it was necessary to eliminate the established shipbuilding facilities as possible sources of construction as they were totally engaged in the building of destroyers, larger warships, and merchant shipping. Accordingly, a design was developed by the Bureau of Construction and Repair which was sufficiently simplified to permit speedy construction by less experienced shipyards

https://www.navsource.org/archives/12/0402.htm

The Eagle-class patrol craft were anti-submarine vessels of the United States Navy that were built during World War I using mass production techniques. They were steel-hulled ships smaller than contemporary destroyers but having a greater operational radius than the wooden-hulled, 110-foot (34 m) submarine chasers developed in 1917. The submarine chasers’ range of about 900 miles (1,400 km) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) restricted their operations to off-shore anti-submarine work and denied them an open-ocean escort capability; their high consumption of gasoline and limited fuel storage were handicaps the Eagle class sought to remedy.

They were originally commissioned USS Eagle Boat No.1 (or 2,3..etc.) but this was changed to PE-1 (or 2,4.. etc.) in 1920. They never officially saw combat in World War I, but some were used during the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War.^[1] PE-19, 27, 32, 38, 48 and 55–57 survived to be used in World War II.^[2]

Attention turned to building steel patrol vessels. In their construction, it was necessary to eliminate the established shipbuilding facilities as possible sources of construction as they were totally engaged in the building of destroyers, larger warships, and merchant shipping. Accordingly, a design was developed by the Bureau of Construction and Repair which was sufficiently simplified to permit speedy construction by less experienced shipyards

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle-class_patrol_craft

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Construction

The third Gettysburg (CG-64) was laid down on 17 August 1988, at Bath, Maine, by Bath Iron Works; launched on 22 July 1989; sponsored by Julie Nixon Eisenhower, wife of Dwight D. Eisenhower II, grandson of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower and son-in-law of former President Richard M. Nixon; and commissioned on 22 June 1991, Captain John M. Langknecht in command.

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A tugboat prepares to turn the stationary US Navy (USN) Spruance Class Destroyer USS DAVID R. RAY (DD 791) as the ship idles in the harbor –The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Midway (CV-41) approaching Naval Facility Subic Bay, Philippines. Midway, with assigned Carrier Air Wing 5 (CVW-5), was deployed to the Western Pacific from 14 September to 11 December 1982. In the floating dry dock in the foreground is the Spruance-class destroyer USS David R. Ray (DD-971). Moored side-by-side at the pier are the Knox-class frigates USS Kirk (FF-1087) and USS Francis Hammond (FF-1067). The guided missile cruiser USS Sterett (CG-31) is visible in the background.The U.S. Navy destroyer USS David R. Ray (DD-971) launches a RUR-5 ASROC missile.A port bow view of the destroyer USS DAVID R. RAY (DD-971) underway. Location: SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA (CA) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (USA)The Destroyer USS DAVID R. RAY (DD 971) (Spruance class), in the Pacific Northwest during the People’s Republic of China “Goodwill Cruise 2000.”USS David R. Ray entering San Francisco in 1995

The David R. Ray was built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi, and commissioned on November 19, 1977, in Pascagoula. The principal speaker at the event was James R. Sasser, U.S. Senator from Tennessee and the ships sponsor was Mrs. Donnie M. Ray, HM2 Ray’s mother. The David R. Ray was decommissioned in 2002 and sunk as a target in 2008.

Ship’s history

On the voyage from Pascagoula to her new homeport of San Diego, the David R. Ray passed through the Panama Canal. David R. Ray, nicknamed “Sting Ray”, crossed the equator for the first time on 16 May 1978. On 19 February 1979, she became the first ship to intercept a supersonic drone with the NATO RIM-7 Seasparrow Missile System. The ship first deployed on 8 September 1979 and made port calls in Pearl Harbor, Guam, Yokosuka, Inchon, Subic Bay, and Hong Kong. In 1982, David R. Ray went through her first major overhaul in Seattle, Washington. On 18 October 1983, David R. Ray began another “WESTPAC” to the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean. After port visits to Pearl Harbor, Subic Bay, Pusan, Chinhae, Hong Kong and Pattaya, the ship participated in a joint Thailand-U.S. naval exercise. Later, the Ray spent 54 continuous days underway, spanning from the northwest Indian Ocean to northernmost Sea of Japan following and performing surveillance operations (SURVOPS) on the newest Soviet carrier, “Novorossiysk”.

David R. Ray with RAM launcher aft.

Late in 1984, David R. Ray became the Navy’s primary test platform for the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) System. On 15 January 1986, David R. Ray deployed with Battle Group Foxtrot. During this deployment, the ship made worldwide news when it prevented the boarding of the U.S. Vessel President McKinley by an Iranian Saam class frigate on 12 May 1986.

David R. Ray’s second major overhaul began in June 1988, which coincided with the ship’s shift of homeport from San Diego to Long Beach, California. During this overhaul, the ship received a Vertical Launch System. After the overhaul, the ship completed four CNO projects, including RAM, NATO Seasparrow RIM-7P, BGM-109 Tomahawk Block 2 and ASROC. David R. Ray deployed on 27 April 1990 and was in the Persian Gulf at the onset of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. The ship played a critical role in the early stages of Operation Desert Shield before returning to the United States. Deploying again to the Middle East Force on 22 April 1992, the ship served as flagship during Maritime Interception Force Operations before returning to Long Beach, California, on 22 October 1992.

David R. Ray with VLS.

David R. Ray deployed to the Persian Gulf in October 1994 and served as flagship to Commander, Destroyer Squadron Fifty conducting Maritime Interception Operations in boarding numerous suspect vessels resulting in the diversion and detention of three vessels. Upon return from deployment in April 1995, the ship continued a very fast operational tempo, including trips to Catalina Island, Seattle Sea Fair, and San Francisco Fleet Week.

David R. Ray completed a nine-month regular overhaul at Long Beach Naval Shipyard in June 1996 and then a homeport change to Everett, Washington, in July 1996. The ship completed a full workup cycle before deploying on 20 May 1997 to the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf as senior ship of a Middle East Force / Surface Action Group. During this deployment, the ship conducted 49 boardings and over 700 flight hours in support of Maritime Interception Operations. Upon return in November 1997, the ship went into holiday stand down and commenced a nine-week maintenance availability on 11 February 1998 which ended 15 April 1998. David R. Ray spent the remainder of 1998 preparing for its next deployment. On 9 March 1999, David R. Ray received no notice tasking to act as the Surface Action Group Commander for the sinking of the M/V New Carissa off the coast of Oregon. The ship’s quick response and control of the elements of the Surface Action Group averted a potentially disastrous oil spill. The ship and her crew earned the Coast Guard Unit Commendation with Operational Device for its participation in this effort.

On 16 April 1999 the David R. Ray deployed to the Persian Gulf on PACMEF 99-2 as the Surface Action Group Commander. The ship and crew conducted 55 boardings and over 850 hours of flight operations. David R. Ray was again in the news when her crew helped to delivery a healthy baby girl on aboard an Iraqi ferry. The ship returned to its homeport on 4 October 1999. Since returning from deployment, David R. Ray participated in various training opportunities, including Anti-Air Warfare and Naval Surface Fire Support exercises. Prior to the ship’s change of command on 29 April 2000, David R. Ray visited Puerto Vallarta and escorted the ex-USS South Carolina (CGN-37) as she was towed to Bremerton, Washington, for deactivation and nuclear-powered vessel recycling.

In May 2001 the “David R. Ray” deployed on her final assignment to the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific on a Counter Narcotic Deployment, returning to its home port in October 2001.

On 28 February 2002, USS David R. Ray was decommissioned and spent its remaining years anchored in Sinclair Inlet off Highway 303 in Bremerton, Washington. On 17 June 2008, the ex-USS David R. Ray was towed by fleet tug to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where she was to be sunk as a target as part of the annual RIMPAC exercises.[2] ex-David R. Ray was sunk during RIMPAC 2008 on 11 July 2008 by fire from eight U.S. and Japanese ships along with three aircraft using naval artillery and Harpoon missiles. ex-David R. Ray sank after sunset that night

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U.S. Navy Sailors with Company 1-2, Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 1, inflate salvage roller bags to position a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon for extraction from waters off Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Dec. 2, 2023. (Hunter Jones/U.S. Marine Corps)

HONOLULU (Tribune News Service) — Thirteen days after a Navy P-8A Poseidon slid off the runway in rainy weather while trying to land at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, the Navy, Marines and civilian contractors spent Saturday floating the plane and pulling it backward onto the base runway.

The recovery operation began at 6:30 a.m. and progressed slowly and methodically. By sundown, most of the 130-foot-long P-8A was on the runway while the front portion continued to float on “roller bags“ that lifted the 60-ton warplane from two points of contact with the coral reef.

The Navy had planned to spend no more than 16 hours bringing the Poseidon ashore to ensure the operation would occur during daylight and because the work was expected to be exhaustive. Navy officials estimate that it will cost $1.5 million to salvage the plane.

“The conditions have been ideal and the operation is progressing exactly as planned,“ Rear Adm. Kevin P. Lenox, the salvage operation’s on-scene commander, said in a statement at midafternoon Saturday. “(Saturday) morning we floated the aircraft and moved it toward land. As of early afternoon we have begun the stage where we pull the aircraft out of the water and onto the runway. Throughout the process, divers in the water have maintained close observation of the aircraft to ensure no further contact with coral or the sea bottom.”

Private industry diving and salvage experts working alongside U.S. Navy sailors and Marines coordinate the placement of inflatable salvage roller bags as they position the U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon for extraction from waters just off the runway at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Dec. 2, 2023. (Tania Guerrero/U.S. Marine Corps)

After skidding off the runway while trying to land from the makai side of the base Nov. 20, the plane ended up 100 feet off the end of the runway in waters no deeper than 30 feet, with the front landing gear coming to rest in a pocket of coral and the left engine sitting on other parts of the reef.

But last week’s storm caused the front landing gear to rotate about 30 degrees inside the coral pocket, leading to fears that the shift damaged more sections of reef.

After the P-8A is back on land, divers with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources will be able to document any damage.

U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda grew up in Kaneohe, where she lives with her husband and two school-age boys. She told the Honolulu Star-­Advertiser on Saturday that the military cannot do enough testing to measure water quality and document any harm to Kaneohe Bay’s marine life, including how a sea turtle in the area ended up discovered dead on Friday.

“We have to recognize that there was a plane in our bay,“ Tokuda said. “This is not a normal condition. As a result we’re going to have to look at potential impacts on the bay for marine life, for water quality.”

As for what killed the sea turtle, she said “we cannot rule out anything.”

“The real work begins after we get the Poseidon out of the water,“ Tokuda said. “As I’ve said, you can’t test enough, you can’t evaluate this enough. Water quality for the bay is absolutely critical. Assessing damage and repairing damage to the coral, that’s going to be the big work ahead.”

Kaneohe Bay serves as a source of marine food for numerous families and has a rich cultural history. The base also was a military target during the Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941, that launched America into World War II.

Private industry diving and salvage experts working alongside U.S. Navy sailors use inflatable salvage roller bags to position the U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon for extraction from waters just off the runway at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Dec. 2, 2023. (Tania Guerrero/U.S. Marine Corps)

Donald Sakamoto was born and raised in Kaneohe, serves as treasurer of the Kaneohe Neighborhood Board and worked on the Marine Corps base for 21 years as a civilian product specialist in electronics at the Marine Corps exchange until 2009.

“I appreciate the marine life and I appreciate what the service men and women do to protect us, so I see it from different perspectives,“ Sakamoto told the Star-­Advertiser on Saturday. “Accidents do happen. There was a lot of rain (when the crew and plane skidded off the runway). But they need to do whatever they can to repair the reef and protect the natural habitat.”

Fellow Kaneohe Neighborhood Board member Neil Fleitell emphasized that “it was an accident. We’ve got to cut them a break. This is our U.S. military, all of our military.”

At the same time, Fleitell said, “I want to protect all of the bay, the reef, everything. I can see the bay from the front of my house. … I’m a scuba diver. I love the bay and we need to protect the bay.”

Immediately after the P-8A and its nine-member crew missed the landing, elected officials and environmentalists began demanding transparency from the Navy and Marines in detailing any environmental damage to Kaneohe Bay — particularly following years of fuel leaks at the Navy’s Red Hill storage facility that contaminated Oahu’s drinking supply and were only recently disclosed.

But it took more than a week for the Navy and Marines to hold their first news conference on the accident.

Wayne Tanaka, executive director of the Sierra Club, grew up fishing around and on Kaneohe Bay and wants DLNR to conduct a thorough assessment of the plane’s impact on the water, marine life and coral reef — followed by “appropriate“ monetary compensation that’s costly enough so the military works to prevent a repeat of the accident.

“The Navy needs to do the right thing and provide adequate compensation to remediate the harm, “ Tanaka said. “We need to count our blessings because it could have been a lot worse—fire, toxins in the water. But there need to be consequences. It shouldn’t be on Hawaii residents to bear all of the burden of the Navy’s mistakes that may have damaged our ecosystem. I just hope the Navy does the right thing, which is what they said they wanted to.”

Civilian contractors SMIT Salvage and Center Lift on Saturday deployed inflatable roller bags beneath the plane to lift it off the reef and then roll it backward onto the runway using heavy machinery.

The P-8A crew of three pilots and six crew members assigned to the Whidbey Island, Wash.-based Patrol Squadron 4 “Skinny Dragon“ was arriving at Marine Corps Base Hawaii around 2 p.m. Nov. 20 for “maritime homeland defense“ operations.

No one was injured when the plane failed to land and ended up in the water.

The plane’s presence in the bay caused fixed-wing takeoffs and landings to shut down out of concern their exhaust blasts could cause the P-8A to shift in the water and cause further environmental damage.

A replacement crew and plane later landed at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to fill in for the crew that skidded into Kaneohe Bay.

The Navy planned to conduct an off-the-record safety investigation designed to prevent similar mishaps, followed by an official accident investigation that could have disciplinary and legal implications.

None of the information uncovered in the safety investigation can be used in the formal investigation into the cause of the mishap, Lenox previously said.

(c)2023 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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Two successful missile firings from frigate HMNZS Te Mana signalled the final tick for both Te Mana and HMNZS Te Kaha’s capability release following their Frigate Systems Upgrade.

Naval News Staff  01 Dec 2023

New Zealand Defence Force Press Release

Two successful missile firings from frigate HMNZS Te Mana signalled the final tick for both Te Mana and HMNZS Te Kaha’s capability release following their Frigate Systems Upgrade.

This week HMNZS Te Mana conducted two Sea Ceptor surface-to-air missile firings in the East Australia Exercise Area, which completes the final part of the frigate’s testing and evaluation process.

This was the first test firing of the Sea Ceptor since the Anzac-class frigates had received the missile system during their combat, surveillance and counter-measures upgrade in Canada.

The ‘threats’ were uncrewed aerial platforms, two-metre long drones, simulating inbound missiles. One was aimed at Te Mana and, two days later, one was targeted away from Te Mana to replicate an attack on another vessel operating with the ship.

This test has demonstrated that the frigates have an increased ability to both defend themselves and defend another ship.

All other aspects of the two Anzac frigates’ surveillance, counter measures, self-defence capability and Combat Management System have been already been proven. This now means the frigates move from a solely ‘defend self’ position to a ‘defend others’ capability which allows for the missile defence of any other platform the frigates are operating with.

According to the manufacturer, MBDA, the 3.2-metre Sea Ceptor has a range in excess of 25 kilometres.

-Ends-

Naval News Comment

The double firing of Sea Ceptor wraps up a regional deployment for HMNZS Te Mana which left Auckland in July for exercises in Australia alongside HMNZS Aotearoa. This time training with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) allowed the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) to certify Te Mana for operations following the completion of it’s Frigate Systems Upgrade (FSU) in Canada.

Both ships then departed Australian waters for Southeast Asia where they engaged in a range of activities, including port calls in Viet Nam and Solomon Islands. They also both took part in the Five Powers Defence Arrangements Exercise Bersama Lima off Malaysia in October, as well as various bi-and-multilateral exercises with partners in the region.

The Sea Ceptor test upon return to Australia was notable for reasons beyond it being a demonstration of the frigates new capabilities. Significantly, it was the first time since 2012 that the RNZN has fired any kind of air-defence missile, let-alone two.

Naval News understands that the Sea Ceptor firing will be followed next year by the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), which provides all naval helicopters to the RNZN, test-firing a re-motored AGM-119 Penguin anti-ship missile from an SH-2G(I) Seasprite Helicopter.

TAGS Frigate Royal New Zealand Navy Sea Ceptor

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The U.S. brig-of-war Somers got underway from New York in September 1842, and returned months later after the captain averted a mutiny. (Courtesy of Richard Snow)  

When Navy Cmdr. Alexander Slidell Mackenzie and the crew of the brig-of-war Somers pulled into Brooklyn Harbor in December 1842, he arrived with an alarming report: his crew had just barely escaped a mutiny.

Mackenzie reported that he had quashed the mutiny and prevented the slaughter of his crew by hanging the three mutineers: Acting Midshipman Philip Spencer, the alleged ringleader, and his accomplices, Boatswain’s Mate Samuel Cromwell and Seaman Elisha Small.

In turn, he received a hero’s welcome, with the New York Herald comparing Mackenzie’s actions to those found in the “early history of the Roman Republic.”

But the praise didn’t last, and conflicting accounts of what went down aboard Somers began to emerge, ultimately sparking a chain of events that would lead to one of the biggest and largely untold controversies in the Navy’s history and the creation of the U.S. Naval Academy a few years later.

The story of the Somers’ cruise and the subsequent fallout are detailed in “Sailing the Graveyard Sea: The Deathly Voyage of the Somers, the U.S. Navy’s Only Mutiny, and the Trial that Gripped the Nation,” which was released Nov. 21.

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Days after the Somers arrived in New York reporting the attempted mutiny, a letter appeared in the Madisonian newspaper — a partisan mouthpiece of then-President John Tyler’s administration — and offered a very different account of the incident.

The letter was penned by the mutiny ringleader Spencer’s father, who happened to be Secretary of War John C. Spencer.

He claimed the mutiny allegations were “wholly destitute of evidence,” according to the book, elevating the Somers’ travails to a high-profile status in the process.

Secretary Spencer’s counter-claims would amount to little more than a dad sticking up for his son, but his weighing in on the incident helped capture America’s attention, the book’s author, Richard Snow, told Navy Times.

“[Philip Spencer] was a midshipman, and by God, he turned out to be the son of the Secretary of War,” Snow said. “So you knew now this wasn’t going to be some quiet story…this was going to gather momentum.”

The incident became the greatest scandal New York City had witnessed in years, and naval historian Samuel Eliot Morison claimed no other incident in the 19th century aroused such passion in America, outside of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, according to the book.

‘Nothing alarming, at first’

Midshipman Philip Spencer commissioned in 1841 and joined the crew of the Somers in August 1842 — just a few months before he’d be accused of mutiny.

The ship was a sort of training ground for prospective sailors, according to the Naval Academy, and Midshipman Spencer’s obsession with pirates and their ways of life soon became evident, as he would regularly ask shipmates to share their best pirate stories, according to the book.

“There was nothing alarming at first,” said Snow, an author of several books who previously served as the editor-in-chief of American Heritage magazine. “But as they got further and further away from shore, he became more and more reckless in what he’d say and do. And he started talking about how his ship, the Somers, would make a great pirate ship.”

While some crew members reported to Mackenzie that Spencer discussed pirates and plans to take over the ship, the skipper initially brushed off such claims.

“Anxiety began to crackle through the ship,” Snow said.

Although Snow said Mackenzie wrote very detailed accounts of his life, no reason is expressly given for why he suddenly took Spencer’s pirate aspirations seriously and came to believe his ship was under siege.

Either way, on Nov. 26, Mackenzie ordered that Spencer be placed in double irons on the quarterdeck on charges of intended mutiny. Small and Cromwell faced the same fate the next day, and on Dec. 1, all three were hanged without a court-martial, per Mackenzie’s orders.

A later inquiry and Mackenzie’s court-martial ultimately exonerated the captain, and Snow’s book details how the entire affair became a source of shame for the Navy.

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However, Snow’s book also notes that the incident paved the way for the Navy to overhaul how it trained its officers, leading to the creation of the U.S. Naval Academy a few years later.

Before the grim circumstances of Somers’ cruise, the Navy had trained its sailors using a model similar to the one the British Royal Navy employed, Snow said.

“As far as training their officers went…it was basically throw them in the water and see if they can swim,” he said. “You drop somebody down with a bunch of sailors and hope he worked out alright.”

But according to the U.S. Naval Academy’s website, the incident aboard the Somers “cast doubt over the wisdom of sending midshipmen directly aboard ship to learn by doing.” Less than three years after the Somers’ voyage, the Naval School kicked off its first class with 50 midshipman.

In 1850, the Naval School became the U.S. Naval Academy and implemented a curriculum where midshipmen would spend the academic school year training at the academy and summers aboard naval vessels.

“Did any good come out of this?” Snow said of the Somers affair. “Well yes, there is…Almost exactly 100 years later, [Annapolis] proved to be the seabed of the mightiest Navy the world has ever known. And that was one very good outcome.”

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Longtime New Plymouth RSA stalwart and navy veteran Graeme Lowe has died.

Lowe, 76, a two-time president of the New Plymouth RSA, suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and had been confined to his home since December last year.

He died on Thursday, just a few weeks after telling the Taranaki Daily News that he intended to make it to his 77th birthday in May.

Lowe joined the Royal New Zealand Navy when he was 16 and did two tours of duty in Malaya.

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It was the early 1960s and the ship had been in the Pacific and up to Singapore and Malaysia, during a period of conflict when Indonesia disagreed with the creation of the country of Malaysia.

At one point the ship was patrolling around Malaysia looking for infiltrators coming in by boat carrying guns and explosives. Two bodies were seen in the water, Lowe said in 2018.

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“They’d been shot up. I had to recover them. It was not a very nice job, especially for a young fella. I wasn’t capable of eating lunch after that.”

Lowe’s dad, a World War II veteran, had wanted him to join the army, but sleeping in a hole in the ground didn’t appeal. He stayed in the navy 10 years, leaving in 1973.

Back on civvy street, Lowe worked in pubs and then joined the railways before going scrub cutting.

Along the way, the drinking that had begun in the navy took control.

“Unfortunately, it was my master,” he said in 2018.

He hit rock bottom and ended up sleeping rough in Wellington.

After some stints with the Salvation Army’s Bridge programme at Akatarawa in Upper Hutt, he got sober and stayed that way for the rest of his life – nearly 37 years.

Back in New Plymouth, he joined the RSA in 1996 and became a committee member in 2004. He was president at one stage until he had a heart attack. In July 2014, he became president until November 2018.

Three weeks ago during his interview with the Taranaki Daily News, Lowe said the RSA was still important. There was a comradeship there “exactly like you had in the services, which you don’t strike any other way in civilian street”.

“It’s not like you think. You don’t go there and people are just telling war stories. Far from it. Even on Anzac [Day], if you do hear war stories, it’s not about blood and guts. It’s about the mischief the boys would get up to.”

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New Plymouth RSA president Graham Chard said Lowe was a passionate advocate for the RSA.

“He was very upfront about what he felt was right for the RSA.”

Chard recalled a time when the two men were in Wellington to attend an RSA national executive conference. While walking from their hotel to Pukeahu National War Memorial Park, Lowe showed Chard some of the places where he used to sleep rough when he was at his lowest.

“He opened up to me what he lived through when he left the navy.”

As a recovering alcoholic, Lowe’s involvement with an organisation that had a history of bars and drinking was interesting, Chard said.

“He was a bit of an anomaly, but it was an indication of his strength that he could move in those circles and not fall off the wagon.”

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