A HARD FOUGHT SHIP

The story of HMS Venomous

The lives of the men who were

RESCUED AND THOSE WHO DIED

when HMS Hecla was torpdoed and sunk

on 11 - 12 November 1942

Only one of the men who survived when HMS Hecla was torpedoed is known to be alive today

THESE MEN'S STORIES ARE TOLD ON THIS WEBSITE
Most of those rescued have "crossed the bar"
the stories of those who died that night were told by their families

Reginald H Bishop JX351192
The last man standing?
lived with his wife in their home near Norwich for another eighty years and tells his story below.

"My father, Reg Bishop, was a member of the crew on board HMS Hecla when she was torpedoed and he was one of the lucky ones picked up by HMS Venomous after a considerable time in the water." Tim Bishop

"We are hoping to have a standard bearer at his funeral on the 24th – the local Royal Naval Association have been very helpful, and are also supplying us with a Royal Ensign flag for the coffin which they say Reg is entitled to have as he saw active service."

Reg Bishop was drafted to HMS Heda as an Ordinary Seaman but was made an Able Seaman on his next ship. He was a member of the Crew for A Gun. He helped clean the gun and took care of the ammunition and in action loaded the shells into the breach. One of his pals was Able Seaman Jim Bell from Lincolnshire and another Able Seaman Whitlock who was in the same mess. Reg also remembers fellow Norfolk-man, Albert Barker, from Bacton in North Norfolk.

Reg remembers the night of 11th November 1942 very well. This is his story:

"I was asleep in my hammock before the torpedo hit Hecla. I remember the ship shuddering and coming to a halt. This was because the first torpedo hit in the boiler room and we lost all steam. I immediately got dressed in overalls, a coat and life belt and action stations sounded. I went up to A Gun in the pitch dark. Another torpedo hit and we were listing but didn't sink. Then a third torpedo hit and we got the order to abandon ship. We all went to the Abandon Ship Stations first, on the upper deck. My pal, Albert Barker, had been sleeping on the upper deck when we got hit. He was wearing just his underwear and the water had come over the side and soaked him. I remember taking my coat off and giving it to him. I never saw him again.

I remember everything was calm, no panic, and I slid down into the water from the starboard side on a length of rope. I was alongside the ship and remember swimming to get away from it. I had my inflated life belt on and those without them perished. We were then hit by two more torpedoes which hit the opposite (port) side of Hecla. I just wanted to get away from the ship before she went down.

It was pitch black and difficult to see anything. While we were in the water HMS Venomous and HMS Marne were dropping depth chargers. When they went off, it felt like being kicked in the stomach. The Marne stopped to pick up survivors and was hit in the stern by a torpedo but she didn't sink. We heard a voice through a loudhailer from HMS Venomous telling us they would pick us up in daylight. Some in the water tried to get aboard HMS Marne but I didn't attempt it in case she went down. I was desperate to get away from both ships and managed to do so.

Although I couldn't see much in the darkness, I was in the water surrounded by other sailors. Within a short while of getting clear of Hecla and Marne, I managed to grab hold of a Carley Float. It was so full of men that it was beneath the surface with only their heads above the water. I had to sit straddling the edge. Another Carley Float appeared which was less full, lots of men moved onto it from the one I was on. I remained where I was.

One of my vivid memories was hearing a single voice loudly sing out of the darkness  'There'll always be an England ......'; others joined in with the singing and I joined in too. I don't recall any panic or fear that night, just waiting to be picked up and dozing every now and then. The water was warmer than the air and since most of us were fairly well submersed, we weren't, as you might think, suffering too much from the cold. We had no food, but I do remember there were water containers in the bottom of the Float. When daylight came we could see the bodies of those who hadn't survived floating in the water.

Aircraft were sent from Gibraltar to spot the Carley Floats and survivors and direct the destroyers to pick us up. I seem to recall being picked up by HMS Venomous at around 4pm the next afternoon, having been in the water for around 16 hours. They lowered a scrambling net and we climbed up onto the ship. We were all given a tot of rum and a cup of tea, and asked for our name and service number.

Venomous hadn't enough oil to get to Gibraltar so we went into Casablanca alongside an American cruiser for fuel. We were taken on board the cruiser, took off our wet clothes, had a shower and the American servicemen gave us all a pair of jeans and a denim shirt - this was their working uniform. That was the first time I had seen a pair of jeans and the first pair I ever owned!

We transferred back to HMS Venomous and went into Gibraltar where an empty troop ship, Reno del Pacifico, brought us back to the UK to Scotland. I learned some years after the war that this troop ship had caught fire and sunk in the Mediterranean!

Once in Scotland we returned to barracks where we were given a uniform and sent on 14 days' home leave at home, known as Survivor's leave. All I possessed was a full uniform, a life belt and a pair of American jeans and a denim shirt. Everything else I had went down with Hecla.

When I got home my parents told me that they had received a telegram the day after HMS Hecla went down, telling them I had survived. They also said they received a letter from the parents of my pal, Albert Barker from Norfolk, who I had given my coat to when we got torpedoed. They had been told that their son was missing and wanted to know if I could tell them what had happened to him. All I could do was tell my story of him getting soaking wet and giving my coat to him. I wished I could have told them more.

After the two weeks' Survivor's Leave I went down to Chatham to be drafted to HMS Bonaventure. It was here that I met up again with my pal, Able Seaman Whitlock. Up until that point I had no idea whether he had survived the sinking of Hecla or not. We were both drafted to Bonaventure and I worked in the gunners bay.

The Bonaventure was a midget submarine depot ship based at Loch Striven in Scotland. We damaged a German battleship, Tirpitz, so that she couldn't get her guns to bear on target, but she didn't sink. The X Craft were towed by large submarines to Kåfjord in Norway, where they could slip under anti-torpedo nets to each drop two powerful 2 tonne mines on the sea bed under the target. Operation Source took place on the 20–25 September 1943. Tirpitz was out of action for six months.

In December 1944 she was nominated for deployment as Depot Ship for the 14th Submarine Flotilla in the SW Pacific. She embarked six XE Craft in January 1945 and on 21st February 1945 took passage for Australia via the West Indies and the Panama Canal. I can't remember if we disembarked at Australia but do remember that we went from Sydney to an island just off Borneo. The midget subs were used to locate communication cables on the seabed off Saigon and Hong Kong and cut them to destroy Japanese communications. Bonaventure also sent subs to Singapore shortly before the war ended and damaged a Japanese cruiser, Miyako. We learned later that she sunk.

We went to Pearl Harbour to refuel at the naval base and I remember seeing the superstructures of ships sticking out of the water. (I was lucky enough to re-visit Pearl Harbour with my wife, Diane, about seven years ago and that brought back some memories of the war).

I was de-mobbed in July 1946 after Bonaventure returned to the UK. We returned to the UK on an aircraft carrier, HMS Reaper, stopping at Singapore, Ceylon and Aden, up the Red Sea and via the Suez Canal to Malta and back to Britain where we disembarked in Scotland."

Reginald Bishop

I hope to keep alive the memory of
The men who died on Armistice Day in 1942 when HMS Hecla sunk
by publishing these stories

Shipmates on HMS Hecla
Searle Badman is lower right with the pipe - can you identify any of the others?

The resemblance of father and son in this photograph of David Badman and his son Antony Jan taken at the Hecla Reunion at Solihull in 2002 is striking
Dave Badman is wearing his father's medals for the first time, mounted and presented to him by his son Antony Jan Badman, wearing the badge of the Submariners' Association
Antony Jan Badman was a sonar operator in the submarines HMS Swiftsure and HMS Trafalgar during his 14 years service in the Royal Navy.

"Then a third torpedo hit and we got the order to abandon ship. We all went to the Abandon Ship Stations first, on the upper deck. My pal, Albert Barker, had been sleeping on the upper deck when we got hit. He was wearing just his underwear and the water had come over the side and soaked him. I remember taking my coat off and giving it to him. I never saw him again."

"My grandparents, who we bought the book for, are thoroughly enjoying reading this edition. My Nan had an Uncle on HMS Hecla in 1942, he was an Engine Room Artificer - Mr Frederick Alexander Brown, D.O.B. 18/03/1912, born in Tidal Basin, London. Would you happen to have any more information regarding him?" Jacob Pollard

All the members of the football team and the men in uniform in this photographs were Writers at HMS Royal Arthur
Click the image to view full size and get in touch if you recognise any of the men in this photograph
Courtesy of Niel Campbell

A final comment from Sue Pass, Head of the Naval Record Office
"As we often say in the department Navy is not navy it’s often grey due to the complicated way it is record wise".

‘I’d just about had it when I was dragged on to HMS Venomous,’ says Jim who has no memory of being brought into Gibraltar and admitted into a hospital, probably the newly-opened Monkey’s Cave Convalescent Hospital.”

As reported in the Gibraltar Chronicle

HMS Hecla on the Clyde after commissioning in March 1941
Courtesy of Ann Mundy, daughter of Eddy Diggines

Brass ashtray made from a shell case, marked on base as Lot No 214 1943
Photographed by Lucy Mundy, grand daughter of Eddie Diggines, PO Cook on the destroyer depot ship, HMS Philoctetes

HMS Alaunia, the former Armed Merchant Cruiser (AMC) in which Eddy Diggines served after her conversion to a repair ship
Courtesy of his daughter, Ann Mundy

Ann Mundy

“We were picked up by Venomous about 1700 hours. I remember trying to climb aboard but slipping back; someone said grab him and I was hauled aboard where I just flaked out. When I came to our PO’s Officers’ Cook [Arthur H. Doggett] was standing over me looking after my belt. He was very upset, he told me his mate, a young lad named Moss [Brian C Moss, Cook(O), DM/X.70330] was gone.  Also around me were a couple of Venomous’ lads with a tot which was pushed down me, I had no choice; also a cigarette and not forgetting the corn beef straight out of the tin with fingers (not enough knives and forks to go round). It tasted good.”

Click on the photographs to view full size in a separate window

The Navy did not have a rig to fit "Fingers" Frowde when he was sent to HMS Royal Arthur for basic training in February 1940 and he was photographed, second from right in the back row, in “dog-robbers” - the Senior Service's derisive name for "civvies"
PO James Hinchcliffe attended Training Course 205 at HMS Prince Arthur a few months earlier and they served together as Stewards in HMS Hecla
PO Ernest V Frowde (left) in the 1950s and Sub Lt E.V. Frowde on the right

"My father Ernest Vincent Frowde was born 9 November 1918 in Plymouth, the eldest son of Sgt Benjamin Frowde who was serving with the Metropolitan Police Force and based at Royal William Victualing Yard, Stonehouse. He learned to play the piano as a young boy and then progressed to the organ. He wanted to join the Royal Marines’ Band but his father did not give him permission to do so.

On 26 Feb 1940 my father volunteered for the Royal Naval Special Reserve and was given SR307 as his service number. My father served in HMS Hecla as a steward from 23 Dec 1940 until the day she was sunk on 12 Nov 1942. He was a very tall man, over 6’ 2” and his musical ability came is useful playing the piano during runs ashore and he was given the nickname “Fingers” Frowde. He played the “organ portable small” at church services on board including a special service attended by Winston Churchill when the latter visited Hecla while she was the destroyer depot ship st Havelfjord in Iceland.

My father was on board Hecla when, after service off Iceland, the ship was ordered to proceed to Mombassa on the east Coast of Africa, the new base for the Eastern Fleet. Hecla was mined on 15 May 1942 while crossing the Agulhas Bank after rounding the Cape of Good Hope and was under repair at the South African naval base of Simon's Town until October 1942.

In each of the three photographs "Fingers" Frowde is easily identified by his height
Courtesy of his daughter, Pat Magill

"She was on passage to Gibraltar and the the invasion beaches at Algiers when she was torpedoed on 11 Nov 1942. My father never spoke to me about this but my mother told me he was thrown into the sea and had to hold on to any piece of wood that he could find. He was in the water for 9 hours and could hear the sailors around him calling for help, but there was nothing that he could do. The sea was full of oil. Most of the survivors were rescued by HMS Venomous but were issued with US Navy uniform at Casablanca in Morooco. My father lost his spectacles when Hecla sank."

Back aboard HMS Hecla (left) and HMS Philoctetes, the destroyer depot ship he joined at Freetown on the west coast of Africa in July 1943; he was promoted to Leading Steward in September
Hecla and her sister ship HMS Tyne were purpose built destroyer depot ships but Philoctetes was a former passenger liner built in 1922 and requisitioned by the Admiralty in 1940 for conversion into a depot ship
Leading Cook, Eddy Diggines had also served on HMS Hecla and there may have been other former shipmates from Hecla on Philoctetes when it was the depot ship for the Freetown Escort Force

 "My father was a survivor on two separate occasions during the war, so he had a lot to reflect on."

After the war, there was a great deal of unemployment and my father, who had married in 1945, was forced to join the navy again. He enrolled at HMS Drake 2 June 1947 as an Acting Stores Assistant but rose to the rank of Lieutenant, Royal Navy. He ended his career as a Supply Officer in 1966 and died later that year aged 47 at RNAS Yeovilton.  The Admiralty determined that his early death was the result of his experience during the war and my mother was awarded a Naval War Widow’s Pension.

Strangely enough, my husband served in the most recent HMS Hecla which was decommissioned in 2001. That ship was an Ocean-going Survey Ship under the command of the Navy Hydrographer whose headquarters are in Taunton."

Pamela E. Magill (née Frowde)

Click on images of  Reg's wife (right) and their second daughter (left) born a month after his death to view full size in separate windows.

Stephen Hinchliffe

To find out more about HMS Duff listen online to reeels 3 - 7 of the recorded interview with Tom Barker in the Imperial War Museum. including his outspken opinion of her officers, the sinking of three e-boats, the rescue of survivors after HMS Quorn was torpedoed and the mining off Ostend and read the account by Bernard Griffiths in MacNamara's Band: Story of HMS Duff (Severn House Publishers, 1976).

As we  approach the 80th Anniversary of the loss of HMS Hecla the best opportunity for gaining wider recognition of this avoidable  tragedy may be by the families of the men saved - or killed - telling their stories to their local newspaper as in the case of PO Steward James Hinchliffe which was published in the Oldham Evening Chronicle on Friday 4 November 1994. It will be down to their Grandchildren to tell their family stories, not the veterans since only one of them is known to be alive today.

Please e-mail me, Bill Forster, if you can add a photograph or further details of his life to this brief entry.

"A large number of men who could not get through the hatches were rescued through the ship's side scuttles with ropes and hauled on deck. About 150 men were rescued in this manner from both sides of the ship. The absence of primary lighting, the thick smoke, fumes and fuel oil on the mess decks made rescue work very difficult and numerous cases of individual heroism were observed." Capt E.F.B. Law RN

"Men were staggering up from below, most of them blackened and dazed ... one of the leading rescuers was Harry Holcombe ... I well remember him going down over and over again to the decks not actually flooded to get men out. He was later decorated for his bravery. Regretfully, his award was made posthumourosly, he was killed in a later accident." Edward Coleman

Alan Horn

"I am Maurice Hudson and I served with George Male on the Hecla. My stepson presented me with your book on my birthday. I could not have been better pleased.  George's account of that night is so like mine that we must have been about twenty yards apart all night. The Venomous was among the ships that took my brother of the beach at Dunkirk, and another brother was on the Vindictive in Freetown but was drafted home just a week before she sailed to join us.  Flanders of the Flanders and Swan Duo was on the Marne when she was hit. His story was shown on TV 'This is Your Life' in 1972.  I am just new to computers and it does keep the brain working.  I think I am rambling on a bit.  Yours  Maurice B Hudson."

HMRT Bustler, the 3,200 HP Admiralty Rescue Tug, towing the conundrum (or conum) round which the HAMEL steel pipe line was wound


Jimmy Kite is front left  with his elbow next to the helmet on top of the pump which supplied the air
He is surrounded by his diving support team

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