An invitation was received to attend the unveiling of a memorial to HMS VIMIERA at Sandbach Town Hall.

The ship was adopted by Sandbach and was unfortunately sunk with the loss of many lives. See the V and W Association full report:

Warships Week in Sandbach, Cheshire (vandwdestroyerassociation.org.uk)

From L to R Lt Cdr John Glover, Cdr Tom Cunningham and Lt Nic Fellowes attended the event on 8 January 2023.

THE JOURNALS OF CAPTAIN HENRY JOHNSTONE TEMPERLEY GREY RD RNR

Henry Temperley Grey was born in Weston-Super-Mare on 20th February 1875, the son of a Congregational Minister. He went to sea at the age of 15 and as you will read, had a wonderful career all over the world and of course, was one of the founders and President of the Royal Naval Reserve Officers’ Club, Liverpool in 1925.
His Grandson, Chris Tilley, kindly lent John Glover the original journals and also the typed carbon copy, so that he might transcribe them and add reader’s notes and photos/scans to enhance the book. He has tried to incorporate as many of Captain Temperley Grey’s original photos as possible.
With grateful thanks to Chris for not only the opportunity to edit these journals but to be privy to his personal papers and enjoy a fantastic read! He wrote his story in the mid-1940s and apart from having his notes over the years, he has added descriptions of the places visited and also historical information about them – all in the days before search engines! He had a wonderful way of telling us about the people, places, fauna and flora.
The language is of the time and readers should be aware of this as nothing has been changed in order to preserve authenticity.

The book is now on our website. Go to the Centenary Book Tab and scroll down to the bottom and then click on the image of the book cover to open and read it.

The Club is saddened to hear of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and our thoughts are with King Charles III and his family.

God save the King.

A copy of the new Rules adopted at the recent AGM are available in the Members’ area.

Commander Tom Cunningham RD* RNR has acquired a book, privately published in 1944, entitled ‘One Year of Life – The Story of H.M.S. Prince of Wales’.  ln spite of its age it is in good condition with the original jacket and signed by the younger of the two authors. The book was presented to the current ship  and photos of the event are shown in the Events section.

A committee has been formed to progress work on this historic occasion. Details will be posted in the Events pages as they occur.

The first meeting of this committee will be on 13 February at 1130 onboard HMS EAGLET.

Courtesy of Linda Peffers, a copy of a Recruiting Brochure dated c. 1962 has been added in the Image Gallery.

The TON Class Association has produced this book to mark its 30th Anniversary and as a companion to the two books produced for their 25th Anniversary; ”Jacks of All Trades” and “Last of the Wooden Walls”. This trilogy completes the definitive history of the TON Class of Mine Counter Measures Vessels.

Details of this book can be found in the Members’ Area in Slops.

Details of the seven ships bearing the name of HMS MERSEY, prior to the current River Class Patrol Craft launched in 2003,  have been added to the History page as well as a footnote regarding ship building in Chester which may be of interest.

We are very pleased to advise of the following award to two of our members who served on the Artic Convoys during the Second World War.
Sub Lieutenant (A) Jack Thomas RNVR and Lieutenant Commander Jared Whetnall RD RNR were presented with the Ushakov Medal at home and in person by an Under Secretary of the Federation of Russia Embassy. The medal is a state decoration of the Russian Federation that was retained from the awards system of the USSR post 1991.

Admiral Fyodor Ushakov 1745 – 1817 was the most illustrious Russian Naval Commander and Admiral of the 18th Century. He fought 43 engagements without losing a single ship or battle. A contemporary of Nelson whom neither had much time for each other!

Our congratulations to Jack and Jared.