H
BIGSET
the
THE HONGKONG TELEGRAPH, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1947.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
The great
Carried 1,250,000 fighting
а sub-
men, never saw marine, never fired a shot and never lost a man through enemy action.
by
COMMODORE
SIR JAMES BISSET, C.B.E.
OW did the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth
fulfil their wartime roles?
Together, the Monsters-as seafarers used to refer to the two liners--travelled well over a million miles on war service and carried a million and a quarter fighting men. They did the work of 20 ordinary liners, and did it faster.
WEN
23
ntinues his story
story of
the two Queens
The Quens, Elboabeth,
€6,000 tons,
purrying : 10,000
United States' direuká
Never once did either ship tings were stored ashore and
converted into sight an enemy submarine or she fire a shot in anger, from her trooper.. defensive armament. Not one That May she sailed for man was lost through enemy Britain with 6,000 Australian
The average speed of the action.
troops. The Navy had decided tous route through the Carib- When war began, the Queen to take the risk with a "sitting bean and out into the open sen Queen Mary during the war was by way of the Anegada Pas- 29.5 knots-not far behind her Mary (81.235 Lons) had just target."
Meanwhile, the Elizabeth had sage, doing 30 knots and zig- 1938 blue riband speed of 31.69 arrived at New York with 2,332
knots. and 1,000 crew. undergone the same sea change zagging. passengers
I did not like that passage--- . time some She was laid up through the at Singapore. For winter while the Admiralty and both ships made many voyages its narrow, calm waters looked
Suez and ominous. the Canard company debated from Sydney to
Anzac soldiers, My forebodings were justifi- Britain with her future.
ed, for half an hour later we and with prisoners.
an was picked up SOS from
steamer torpedoed there. only ten miles astern of us.
Some experts thought to fill her with troops would just pre- sent a sitting target (equivalent sub to an entire division) to marines and aircraft. Because of her size, it was argued, they couldn't miss.
She WAS endangering the whole of Messrs John Brown's shipyards and her vast bulk was occupying space urgently need. ed for other work.
In February 1940, the Ad- she miralty requested that should leave the Clyde and "re-
While most of Britain wondering what had happened to them, their mammoth decks, swarming with khald, had be come familiar sights at the other end of the world.
The cable which ordered me, in February 1942, to leave the Franconia at Trinidad was fol- lowed by a naval instruction to
my
Meanwhile her 85,000-ton sis- ter, the Queen Elizabeth, had never sailed, but was 95 per cent. completed, and her pre- sence on the Clyde was a source fly to Miami. of anxiety to the Government. It was my first flight and I nearly suffered the indignity of
nirsick in being
sea- captain's white uniform.
ON THE BRIDGE A Feeling of great pride TENDER took me Key Wost, 23 miles out, to the Queen Mary. Captain John Tore across Atlantic
Townley, 63 years old, was re- One dark, stormy night in tiring and I was to take over.
but modest man, 2 March, she slipped away, and tore across the Atlantic like a standing on the bridge gazing scalded ent, to tie up alongside at the ship's majestic lines and the Queen Mary at New York. three towering funnels gave one
Leaving the Queen Elizabeth a feeling of great pride. to szut over her teething On board were 8,398 U.S. troubles, the Mary
for troops, the first to be sent to Sydney, where her luxury fit- Australia, and we took a circui-
main away from the British A
Isles."
sailed
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The weight of my responsibi- litles did not lift for a moment. The German radio correctly an- nounced our arrival in the Rio de Janeiro Roads, and said we would be sunk on leaving.
Half-way across to Cape Town the senior radio operator said he had just heard a Tokyo broadcast claiming we had been sunk with all hands,
My instructions about saving life at sen were explicit. I was never to stop the ship to save life, not even to put out a boat if a man fell overboard.
Thank God I never had make the terrible decision leave one of my passengers drown.
to
to
to
of
.
All soldiers were warned their fate if they fell overboard, and none did.
to
The diversions were
radioed
to us in code, mostly at night and nearly every night.
There might be six or seven every crossing, and each diver- 150 to 200 sion might mean
more miles to be steamed.
Yet we liked to receive these diversions, for it meant that although alone in mid-ocean the was guiding our route accord- Navy had rot forgotten us, but ing to the latest information of submarine activity.
OUR TACTICS Baffled U-boat pack commanders
a
different track WE made
every voyage. Sometimes we were down near the Azores, other times we were up, near Greenland.
These tactics must have sore- ly baffled the U-boat pack com- manders.
What could they have done if they Be- had known we were eaning? But on this voyage I had cause of our terrifle speed and cos-
Bad
to lie in wait spread over a wide make a decision equally dis- stant zig-zagging, they would have
aren, tressing.
Once my ship was abeam or ahend of them, they stood little chance of hitting us.
of
A hundred miles north Bermuda we sighted live life boats loaded with men near capsized boat,
I made a signal with a power ful morse lamp that I would
a
re-
On one occasio, indeed, when we were about 200 miles northwest of the
fish coast, a tremendous explosion occurred 500 yards off the port
port their position by radio, and fe geyser of water shot 300ft. inta
regretfully left them.
86 CROSSINGS- 'Mary' too fast for
an escort
Mr. Churchill with Commodore Bisset, in the Queen Elizabeth,
An error in navigation would after the first voyage because the decks became almost "paved" with have meant delay in rescue
I have already said my hair went it. Caustle soda and scrapers were white during the war. Yet I have required to clean it off, with much
damage to the bileloth,
never been the worrying kind,
I believed in taking every pos- precaution. When I couldn't ible think of any other, all I could do was rest, keep a clear head, and hope for the Best
I led a lonely life, for no one visited my cabin unicas on duty. When it came to making a decision I knew that ultimately I was the res- ponsible person no matter whose advice I took.
I had important people aboard
Honorary LL.D.
When I reached New York with homecoming troops after VE day,| they made a great fuss of me,
1 surprised the Press by telling then, among other things, that the Queen Mary carried no' underwater device for detecting subinarines because her propellers and bow wave created much noise that
drowned.
I would invite them to the bridge an outside sounds would have been for a short chit, but I never en- myself entirely to the navigation and
couraged it. I preferred to devote
On
November 3,
1942, I was
BY THE
WAY
by Beachcomber
SUGGEST to Dr Korenchov- aky and hia gerontologists that most people would prefer. scientists to make life pleasan- ter instead of longer.
It is no use offering us increased caster yearn with one hand and methods of extermination with the " other. The scientists, who have made war more abominable then & has ever been before have robbed us of nur peace of mind, and what would be the use of living for hundreds of ycare in mental
anguish? Also, as the Irish Times remarks, "The
oldeat sons of Irish farmers would be com- pelled to wait for a couple of een- turies beforò they would be in a position to marry."
"My dear, she doesn't look a day over 308,"
A picture for Dali
ERE is something for those who
HE
study the deep simificance of dreams. Last night I dreamed that I was eating Equorice in an onique shop with an old friend. He said. "It a man wanted to have his legs covered with minec, the mince would have to cover the inside of his legs agreed, and Gs well as the outside." Anid. "This Is not ilquorice. It's dried apples." A woman we both know then landed from toy ballon. "She's famolts cricketer," said friend. "She's Ranjl.” "Nonsense," said I. "It's Landsoor, and her inliinls are OFT." "They were," said
my friend. But they're not any longer," and lie handed me some notes on an actor's American career, written by an
statesman. Then I woke up,
Blazing the trail
STARTING tomorrow, this column
will make an experiment
which,
in the wards of an impartial.observer,
will probably revolutionise
dolly
Journalism. The new feature will
be an invisible comic strip.
Edwardian nights
She said they first quarrelled when
he took her out to supper.
“A BATTLE and
mented
(News item.)
bird," com-
"My
the
a shrewd clubman. "Waiter, fill Miss Delmonico's shoes with champagne." "Both shoes, sir?" "Of course, man. Heat wave, you know, what?" "Basil! The walter's talten off my shoes,"
dear, ditn't know
routine If you
shouldn't have come out you with meet
"Well, Nora, I hope he treated you like a Indy." "Oh, mother, he filed my shoes with beastly prickly wine" "Lucky girl." "Did dad do that to you when you were courting?" "Well, no, dear. He drank from a glass. It was very dali.”
VITAMIN E TREATMENT
of
Dr Wilfrid E. Shute Guelph, Ontario, co-discoverer of the Vitamin E treatment for heart disease, has appealed pub- licly for a millionaire philan- wasthropist-preferably a Canadian to provide funds for further work on the discovery..
honoured with the CBE in management of the shap.
August 1944, I was promoted Com I hist ΠΟ amusements except modore of the Cunard White Star the air and the rngine room reported
at Line, tometimes a game of patience a heavy concussion.
seemed a restful thing. On July 10, 1945, I was nighted It was either a torpedo which night. It
I hardly ever drank, and only at Buckingham Palace, mised us and automatically explod-
this cable from ed, or else un acoustic mine set off rarely took a whisky and roda if proud to repeive
Mr. Churchill: of the propellers. I felt thoroughly exhausted. by the vibration We didn't wait to investigatel
One thing 1 know my crew gave "Please accept my warm congra- It Mines were less dangerous. They me credit for-I looked after my tulations on your knighthood,
The Vitamin E treatment has "a how job. JERRY was probably lurking
usell becomes the Commander of record of recorded improvements all have around for just such a rescue would
he told a large micha proud vessel which has play-over--the world,"
a ive been real of my officers would say. there might then
ed no inconspicuous part in our Toronto audience. I might have been tempted to ever, and caused us to go slow, and
"1 am," perhaps I replied. make. I refused the bait, but trouble.
victory." "Well sir, the crew appreciate it." silence broke radio
I am happy to think it gave them mised.
ду рго-
In New York, I was thanked by the U.S. Navy for my action -the men had been picked up the next day. Our purser's son was among them!
About this time I took over one the Queen Elizabeth for round Atlantic voyage, and then. rejoined the Queen Mary. Both are grand ships, but I was glad to get back to my old love.
Then followed more Middle East runs, including transport. ing much-needed reinforcements for the Eighth Army, and lead- ing a convoy which took home the lust of the Anzacs in Egypt
disabled
The most perilous times should have been during the approaches to New York or Northern Ireland, but these were so well guarded by planes, surface vessels and latening devices that they became areas too risky for submarines.
Air cover rapidly developed, and uny day in any part of the Atlante Sunderlands would appear and stay with us for a few hours.
They would talk to us by lamp anl It was a cheering experience for l us how long they were staying. me on the bridge, especially in mid-
Atlantle
60 A.A. GUNS.
But did not see an enemy plane
NEVER saw a Jerry plane while to face the growing Jap menace. in the Queens, I think we would In April 1943 the Queen have put up a good show against air Mary ended her globe-trotting, attack. We had 60 anti-aircraft guns and, until the end of the war, with gunnery offer always with ne she stayed on the regular Clyde- on the bridge. We travelled too fast
to fly balloons. New York
making route,
I hardly altogether 86 crossings, usually with 15,000 troops on board cast bound and 3,000 westbound....
They dubbed me "Never Save
dared 14ink what would have happened to all the souls on board it we had been sunk.
Although there were lifeboats for 3.000, and rafts for 13,000, terrifie
a Sub Bisset, Credit for this loss of life would have occurred It must go primarily to the Ad- we find gone down in cold water. miralty and the U.S. Navy, for they planned the diversions fol- lowed on, each voyage, diver sions which steered us clear not of submarines and merely mines, but of convoys, so that few could talk of having seen
us.
Blue-riband speed
the
"You must be worn
confidence.
aut," one
Old pessimist
1040. 2 company In January
Physleinns in all parts of the world treatment applying the with Lord Alanbrooke, Lord Tedder are now and
Marchal Fjeld
Viscount with good results, and the Implica- Alexander, I received an honorary tions for the future were, he said, LL.D. at Cambridge, where they tremendous. were pleased to call me "A Prince of and a Scorner
honours, what
One old pilot on the Clyde always of Navigators seemed to be pessimistic. Trip after Danger trip he would see me out, and when saying farewell he loved to remark: send the always say they'll There was no Point in
being have pitcher once too often to the well." superstitious.
Friday the 13th.
My only superstitions
sailed
Aru
011
that
I don't like spilling salt, or knock-
ing a glass and making it ring. {
I
a
always put my hager on 11.
I think there were some people
little mare jumpy than I am,
In the early days, while going down New York Harbour the 15,000 US. troops aboard all had to keep out of sight to foot people that the ship was sailing emply,
But this precaution was dropped
knew what was happening." when I was realised all New York was delayed Once
our salling
in the 24 hours because someone
up a scrap picked hiddle West of paper which rend; "She'll be salting D am."
TVAS
No ship named, but that our scheduled Ume of departure, and the authorities look no chances.
GUM-CHEWERS
They paved the decks with it
A rescud
plan was developed. There would have been rescue ships within a few hours, on the scene
warships and merchant-men for were kept at certain positions right across the Atlarrie do get to
I should ilke to pay Tribute to Monsters in an emergency.
which always did
briant organisation my own cavigation the and rested on
my retice
the made the carrying, sleeping 'bridge chartrooni, dressed in on feeding of so many thourzeds ok uniform with dulle coat, ready troops such a precision job.
and of
to jump up in an emergency, u There was excellent team-woric
the diversiona whenever between You must remember that we make
the Navy, the military, brought to me by one of the six the owners and authorities on botli escort. surface Taroly had a
Wrens kept on board for coding and sides of the Atlantic. Very few destroyers can keep decodlas
I could not have wished for belter. up with the Queens at our full
Every moning and evening I took shipmates than the G.Is. I shall speed, except in calm wator. star sights if the stars were visible, oven forgive the one who said of the most anxious to keep Queen Mary in my hearing: "I bot As soon as a sea develops, for 1 wur destroyers bury their noses in Exod, I would have sent out a ship like this."
on course. Had we been the British wish they could build a
It and sustain damage if they go distress agnat, giving latitude and I shall also "forgive them" "their"
all out.
longitudo,
cheving gum.
With all these more could a simple sollor ask?
'NEXT WEEK What a life at sea, has taught me
A measure of the use to which the medical profession, was putting the Vitamin E discoveries was to be found in the increased purchases of Vitamin E capsules since two years ago when he and his brother, Dr Evan Shute, and Dr Arthur Vogel- ng, both of London, Ontario, claim- d successful treatment of coronary discase.-Associated Press,
DAVID LANGDON CARTOON
We had to ban Bi
“Xou do, and I'll go right of the deep and