PHILOMEL'S LAST DAYS

Hokitika Guardian, 20 October 1928, Page 3

PHILOMEL'S LAST DAYS

THIRTY-EIGHT Y3SARS AGO.

SERVICE IN MANY SEAS.

Thirty-eight years ago H.M.S. Philomel, tlic non-seagoing depot ship .and training establishment of the New Zealand Naval Division, left the stocks at Devon port, and at another Devonport she awaits the breakers or a grave beyond the 1.0 fathoms line. Long obsolete as a ship of war, she became a floating barracks for the N.Z. naval recruits, and even for that purpose she has now been declared too old by Commodore G. T. O. P. Swabey, who recomments the building of a shore establishment to replace her. Considerations of finance' may give a little longer life to the brave old sloop, and she may still have a time in which to dream her dreams and recall the days of her youth. She is the fifth Philomel to carry the White Ensign. The first took the water in 1806. A sloop of 384 tons, she sailed the seas during the French war and helped in her little way to put a shot in “Boney’s” locker. The next, launched n 1823, was smaller still, but also a sloop. Her successor, appeared in 1842. She was a brig, and, naturally, a smart one. The fourth, of 1867, was described as. a screw gun vessel, which had a displacement of 663 tonsThen came the ship which lies at Calliope, showing a. nasty-looking ram to the sea and hiding beneath a smart coat of grey the aching heart of all ships which have come- to their last harbour.

SHIPS REVERIES. But she has had her day, and if,it is not just a pleasing fancy that ships have souls, one can imagine the kind of reverie she often has as she lies In the sun, with half an eye upon the doing of the young recruits hound for ships of a new order. on an English summer’s day she was launched, and the memory of that day fills her with pride. There'was nearly 7600 tons of her, she had 7500 horsepower in her engines, which meant a speed of 19 knots, and one of her four guns was a. six-incher. She had a nice coat of armour, and if there were no torpedo tubes, that- was of small account in the nineties. Her crew numbered 220, and there wasn’t a wireless operator amongst them. And so she went into commission. ,

She took a hand in all that was going —the Bdhenie Greek expedition in ’94. for instance, the two years later she helped to lombard the palace of the Sultan of, Zanzibar., because the British Government, which had teen concerned m the suppression of slavery, d sapproved of the efforts of one Savyid Klialid: to seize the rather empty throne of- the protectorate. Klialid fled and the rightful successor began to reign with a nice pension and, apparently, no serious responsibility. Quite significant is. the fact that soon afterwards the legal status of slavery was abolished.

ON THE FEVER COAST. By that time, ho eve”', H.M.S. Philomel was deeply interested in tin affairs of' Renin on the west coast, of frico, helping to land an expedition and t i bring come -necessary order i that hot locality. When the S uth African War oroke out the Philomel was on hand as usual and hey captain commanded a nava' brigade which took, guns to placer where they were needed, and incidentJy made the acquaintance of certain riflemen who have since paid their respectto the ship that has become a New Zealander.

The outbreak of the Great Whir found her associated with two other P c;l; ss vessels—the Pvranuis ami Psyche—ir these waters, and she holds the honour of helping to convoy the troops which occupied Samoa and also the Main B dv of une New Zealand Expeditionary Force. What would have happened il she bad run across ilie German cruisers then abroad in southern waters is obvious—she would have been shelled from far beyond the range of her guns, and would have “died with her boots on.” However,, she would have done her best, and Auckland will not forget the departure of its main body transports with H.M.S. Philomel and her sisters in charge. A wise deseretion, however, caused the transports to be recalled until warships fit to deal with the Germans arrived. The P ship? proceeded ahead, and after passing t-lie time of day with tlie convoys at Albany took their share in the search for the Emden until the raider was located at Cocos Island and destroyed by 11. M. A.S. Sydney.

SERVICE IN PERSIAN GULF. Then they went on other duty, the Pyramus to German East Africa and the Philomel to the Persian Gulf. The Philomel was in the same position as many retired captains of the Royal navy. They were not quite too old to come hack to the service in the Great War . In the Persian Gulf the Phil-

omel was in familiar waters, and with 12 or 14 knots still in her engines she dealt with gun-running dhows, and, at Bush ire and other places, landed parties for the good of tlie common cause History does not record the doings of vessels on this duty, but it is probably colourful. It may not have been the Philomel, but one sucn ship in the Persian Gulf had an interesting experience with Arab ingenuity. One dhow was believed to cary rifles, and it was searched without result. Still convinced the rifles were somewhere, the navy caused her to be beached, and when the tide vent out cases of rifles wore found screwed on to the hull below the water line. The Philomel came home to New Zealand after tlie war and eventually, almost as a hulk, was tired up to he-G-onic the home of young sailors. In spite of what a bluejacket contemptuously calls “buildings” that ha\e been erected on her upper deck, she - still looks like a ship. At the moment one wooden masts is being renewed because it is needed for the wireless aerial, and she still can turn out sailors, before whose eyes on brass letters on the huge steering wheel is the fa pious message of Nelson, “England expects that every man will do his duty,” and above the motto, “Fear God and Honour tne King.”