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The most dramatic period in my naval life concerned my service on the “ F “ class destroyer, which was a ship, essentially a fleet escort, whose role was to protect the Fleet Battleships when on active service. The “ F ” class consisted of 9 ships all with a name beginning with “F “ the flotilla leader being “ FAULKNER”. All were built about 1935, thirteen hundred tons displacement, and were armed with 4-4.7 inch guns together with torpedo tubes and depth charges.
Much of my time on the Firedrake was also described in a book published by an accredited war correspondent. The title of the book is DESTROYERS WAR BY A.D DIVINE. It was published December 1942. This book was dedicated “ To the Officers and Men of H.M.S. FIREDRAKE and The Eighth Flotilla.

A.D.Divine lived on board for about 4 or 5 months during the Mediterranean period when Force “H” was based on Gibraltar. I have my own personal copy bought during the war, and I have been able to refer to it for confirmation of dates etc, as I continued with my personal reactions. For example, page 58 records the fitting of a “Q” Gun in early July when I joined the ship in Glasgow and on page 162 a personal involvement as a quartermaster or messenger features in a misunderstanding between the Engineer Officer and the Captain as to the time before steam could be restored after the bombing. Later I describe in more detail this messenger episode.
I knew A.D Divine as a shipmate but not very well because he was classified as an officer and messed in the wardroom as an officer.

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