HDML 1321 saw many years of service. During those years many men have trained and served on board the vessel. Today John Kelly shares his personal experience on board HDML 1321.
Bottle A Day
by John Kelly
The mind is an amazing human facility! Deo Gratias!
This morning whilst enjoying breakfast, overlooking the beautiful Derwent River ( near its mouth ), right out of the blue, I remembered something that I think we did every year, on the 1321, in my time .
We were some sort of flagship for a weekend of boat / yacht racing on Pittwater, with the hosts being the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club [RPAYC].
To get there, we sailed up outside the Northern Beaches, into Broken Bay, then 'hung a left' and entered Pittwater .
The 1321, with its shallow draught, was able to get into some interesting Coastal positions, at times.
I am fairly sure we did this trip annually, the RPAYC being a very " pukka sahib " type set-up, as i recall. My last memory of this would have been sometime in the Summer of 1957 - '58, possibly for the 'Australia Day' weekend of 1958.
The 1321 would have gleamed for this event, she would have been very proudly displayed, and we would have been on our very best Naval behaviour!
I would have been the 'Writer' on board, attending to record-keeping and such. None of us would have heard of the word 'computer', at that stage, and records and paper-work were of course done manually.
We anchored just off the Clubhouse, and our signalmen/seamen would have had a field-day, playing around with their flags and bunting, and also playing around in ship-to-shore boating!
I have a fairly confident memory of going ashore in the evening, to a barbeque-type event put on by the Club.
My memory is stronger for such an occasion, because I used to make some pocket-money on the side, in the ship's lead-up to such social events!
I was born into the Hotel business, but my parents were strict teetotallers, so at my Confirmation, I innocently made a vow never to drink alcohol until I turned 21. Which I kept, despite going to Sea full-time at the age of 18.
In the Navy, my recollection is that we were issued with a Bottle of Beer if we were going ashore to fulfill such an invitation. We could also purchase a Bottle a day, for one shilling (free of duty taxes). Stubbies hadn't even been dreamed of in those days, nor Light Beer, so I am talking about full bottles of beer.
I always took / purchased whatever it was I was entitled to, then conducted a mini-auction, in the mess, of my alcohol assets!
As an actual non-drinker, I also scored a bottle of Coca-Cola, courtesy of the Navy.
I always returned home from my Reserve trips with more money than when I left! And such was the case on the 1321!
If my memory is 'officially' incorrect about the free beer issue ( 1 ) if going to an officially invited event, then we were able to buy two bottles, at 1/- each , to take on such an occasion! Whatever, I made money on the side!
I was very young when I joined the RANR, [Royal Australian Navy Reserves] underage, in fact. I was two years under normal age when I did the Leaving Certificate, and joined the Commonwealth Bank.
I would have been refused entry by the RANR, initially, but for the Bank connection, which was very strong at that time .
But I always wanted to go to Sea, so the Reserve became my life, for those initial years.
The Navy was seriously undermanned at the time; I used to go down to Rushcutters Bay, after work in the City (knocking off early), and put in a couple of hours work at the Base, once I became a Writer, a number of times a week, let alone any adventures at Sea!
John Kelly
In memory of my brother in law, Seaman John Batterbury, who spent considerable time on 1321.
John was slightly behind me, in the Reserves, in Sydney, based at Rushcutters Bay.
John worked for Burns Philp, during his service with the Naval Reserve.
Burns Philp were a major Australian shipping company, particularly in the Southern Pacific Region, at that time, and also a leading agent, particularly on the East Coast of Australia, for many major World shipping companies.
John's life almost totally revolved around the Naval Reserve, and Merchant Shipping. He would have spent considerable time on the 1321.
Thank you Mr Kelly for sharing a glimpse into life on board 1321 with us. Editor
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