The following is a transcript of a newspaper article first printed in Hong Kong in 1945 in the Post and Telegraph. The article was kept by Albert Birtwell who is mentioned at the end as the Captain of Liberty's football team. According to Albert himself, he never played for Burnley FC.
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Dangerous Work in Little Known Ships
THE TENTH FLOTILLA
(By W.K. Tong)
Minesweeping is a dangerous business. Every sailor knows it. No man on board any minesweeper is able to enjoy peace of mind until the gear is secured and the day's work is over. But scientific inventions to counter the menace of the various known types of mines have greatly reduced the risks of minesweeping duty. Such is the impression gained by a Post and Telegraph representative who, by kind permission of the Naval Authorities concerned, spent a most delightful and enlightening afternoon visiting a number of the minesweepers of the 10th Minesweeping Flotilla.
The 10th Minesweeping Flotilla is under the joint command of Commander HJAS Jerome, DSO, RN, and Commander JS. Roe, DSC, RNR, First Senior Officer and Second Senior Officer, respectively. This Flotilla consists of ten minesweepers, but at present only five of these have arrived, namely:- HMS Courier, Liberty, Hare, Wave and Welcome. The others, HMS Jewel, Serene, Felicity, Troday and Shillay are on their way.
Commander Jerome is in command of HMS Courier. He has had a distinguished career and is a veteran of the Navy, having seen active service in World War 1. He served in RNC Osbourne from January 1914 to August 1915, RNC Dartmouth from September 1915 to MArch 1917, and HMS Courageous from April 1917 to February 1919.
His activities in World War 2 included service on HMS Wardour in the early part of 1941, Commander of M/S Clyde from March 1941 to June 1942, Commander of M/S Malta from June 1942 to May 1944, and the Commander of his present ship HMS Courier, since August 1944.
HMS Courier was built by the Canadian Comstock Company of Toronto, Canada and was commissioned in their shipyards at St.John, New Brunswick, Canada on 31st August 1944.
The sponsor of HMS Courier is Mrs S Hudson Johnston of 28 Marmaduke Street, Toronto Canada. She supplied the ship with washing machines and a beautiful carpet for the commanding officer's cabin, while periodically she would send a large number of Canadian magazines to the ship's officers and crew. In her honour, her photograph now decorates the wall of the ship's Wardroom.
Commander Roe is in command of HMS Liberty. Prior to World War 2 he was in the Merchant Navy. He was with the well known shipping concern the Clan Line, which operated ships to South Africa, India and Australia. He joined the Royal Navy on June 3rd 1939 and has been doing minesweeping work since the outbreak of the European war. During that period he has served on 14 different ships, 4 of which had the misfortune to be blown up by mines in the North Sea.
His present ship was built in the Harland and Wolff Shipyards in Belfast, Ireland and was commissioned on December 29, 1944.
All the minesweepers of the 10th Flotilla though built in 3 different parts of the Empire are of the same design in general, being of 1,100 tons, 234 feet in length and drawing about 9 feet only. They are capable of a speed of 17 knots, but when minesweeping would normally cruise in the vicinity of 12 knots, as it is considered unsafe to do more. Each ship has a normal complement of about 120 officers and men.
The minesweepers now in the harbour came straight from Germany via the Suez after opening up a sea lane into the port of Hamburg. Before they could accomplish anything in addition they received orders to proceed immediately to the South Pacific, where it was deemed that their services were more urgently required. It is estimated that there are still about 200,00 mines at large in the North Sea, but at the same time it has been reported that there are thousands of them along the coast of South China, stretching from Hong Kong to the Formosan Channel, that must be cleared without further delay to enable coastal shipping to be resumed.
Several of the ships are undergoing routine repairs alongside the Naval Dockyard. This is the first opportunity they have had to have the once over since they were commissioned. It is also the first time in months that the officers and men have had the chance of indulging in a bit of real and long-needed relaxation. As soon as the minor repairs are completed they will commence their task of sweeping Hong Kong and its approaches.
Modern minesweepers have to deal with three
different types of mines. First of all there is the old fashioned Moored Mine,
which is moored to the bottom of the sea by a cable. The usual distance of of a
moored mine from the surface of the sea is about 15 feet. Before a mine of this
type is laid the depth of the sea at this spot is ascertained. The hydrostatic
valve is then set for the correct length of cable to be released after the
cradle containing the mine has hit the bottom. This type of mine is usually
employed in seas of great depths where the Ground Mines, because they have to
lie at the bottom of the sea, are less effective. Moored Mines are swept by
means of paravanes attached to a lengthy and serrated cable. Just in case the
serrated cable fails to cut the mooring cable of the mine, special cutters are
attached to the serrated cable. When the mine has been severed from its mooring,
it of course floats to the surface. It is then exploded by shooting at it,
sometimes with machine guns. At one stage of the war the Germans used iron
chains instead of cable to moor their mies, in the hope of defeating the
achievement of the minesweeprs. The Royal Navy soon found a counter for this.
They developed an automatic chain cutter which operated by a discharge of
explosive on contact with the chain.
Then there is the well known Magnetic Mine which works on a principle
similar to that of a galvanometer. Roughly speaking the mechanism inside the
mine is very much like that of a galvanometer which would register a deflection
when a magnetic field is passed over it. The deflection causes the closing of
the electrical circuit which detonates the mine.
The reason why a ship by merely passing over a Magnetic Mine would detonate it is that every steel vessel has a magnetic effect obtained through the common process of hammering and riveting the plates of the hull of the ship during construction. The hammering and riveting xxxx the molecules of the metal thus creating a magnetic effect.
The Germans were the first to introduce this type of mine in 1939, but Britain took only 14 days to find an answer to it. The counter measure is known as ‘degaussing.’ A ship is degaussed by attaching a great length of electric wire around the hull of the ship. An electric current calculated to neutralize the magnetic effect is passed through the wire.
It is possible to lay Magnetic Mines from the E Boats, aircraft or
through torpedo tubes. The large size Magnetic Mines contain a charge of up to
1,800 pounds of high explosive, and are dangerous to shipping up to a depth of
40 fathoms.
Sweeping of Magnetic Mines is done through the use of an electric cable
which is made buoyant by packing it with cork and insulating it with rubber. At
the beginning innumerable tennis balls were employed to make the cables buoyant,
but soon the fund of tennis balls became exhausted and the use of cork had to be
resorted to. This cable measures
about four inches in diameter and is unreeled from a huge spool on deck aft of
the ship. It is allowed to trail quite a few hundred yards behind. An electric
current reproducing the magnetic effect of an ordinary ship is then passed
through it, causing any Magnetic Mine underneath it to explode, but at a safe
distance behind the ship.
Every minesweeper is, of course, degaussed, but to make sure that she is
properly demagnetised she is periodically tested over what is known as a
‘Range.’ The Range is a reproduction of the mechanism inside a Magnetic Mine
minus the explosive. This is laid at the bottom of the water a short distance
off shore, and is connected by wires to various detecting instruments and meters
ashore. When the degaussed ship passes over the Range the readings on the dials
ashore are noted to determine whether the ship is properly de-magnetized.
The very latest type of mine recently developed is the Acoustic Mine which is detonated by sound. At first it was thought that the sound of the engines of the ship causes the mine to explode, but it was subsequently found through intensive research that it is the sound of the ship’s propellers striking the water that detonates the Acoustic Mine.
The vital part of the Acoustic Mine is the sensitive sound receiving mechanism. When sound of a certain frequency reaches the mine it automatically closes an electric circuit and detonates the mine. The Acoustic Mine is similar in appearance to the Magnetic Mine and may be laid by any of the three methods as for the latter mine.
The counter to the Acoustic Mine is a sort of metal drum inside of which is a hammer operated electrically. This gadget is slung by a derrick over the side forward of the ship. The sound of the Hammer beating regularly inside the drum reproduces a sound similar to that of a ship’s propeller, but several times more powerful. Naturally the sound from this drum can penetrate further than that from the propellers, and therefore has the effect of exploding the Acoustic Mine when the ship is still a long way from it.
Besides its regular duty of sweeping mines, the minesweeper also
shoulders the task of destroying submarines. For the latter purpose she is
equipped with the latest Submarine Detection Gear as well as Radar. It is
claimed that the British version of Radar is superior to that of American make.
One of the features is that it is capable of a much greater range. It is said to
be also more accurate. Each of the minesweepers is equipped with 4 K-guns which
are capable of discharging Depth Charges up to about 400 pounders. She is also
provided with a 4-inch gun and two 60 mm AA guns.
In the realm of sports, HMS Liberty boasts an undefeated football team.
The captain of the team A.B. Birtwell who plays in the position of inside-left,
was formerly a Big-League player, having played for Burnley. They are very
anxious to play some of the Chinese teams here, and hope that some games with
them can be arranged.
Other officers of HMS Courier and Liberty are:
Courier:
Lt(N) G.J. Millingam, RNVR, First Lieut.;
Lt C.J.T. Edwards, DSC, RN, Navigating Officer;
Lt J.E. Moxon, RNR;
Lt R.J. Chapman, RNVR;
Lt R.F. Salter, RNVR,
Lt(E) F.G. Ro, RNR;
Lt(S) P. Unwin, OBE, RNVR;
Surg. Lt J.C. Bulstrode, RNVR.
Liberty:
Lt F.C. Windsor, RN, First Lieut.:
Lt K.M. Cox, RNVR, Second Lieut.;
Lt W. Young, RNVR, Gunnery Officer;
Lt D.N. Ellingham, RNVR, Electrical Officer;
Lt H.G. Ross, RNVR, Navigating Officer;
Sub. Lt(E) H.R. Webber, RNVR, Engineer Officer;
Sub. Lt K. Hinchliffe, RNVR, Secretary