| Memories from those who served |
| The Infamous Malacca Fred! |
| Royal Australian Navy - 16th Minesweeping Squadron |
Harry Goodall of HMAS Gull
on Malacca Fred
How many of the sweeper crews remember Malacca Fred?
I first meet Fred when we where in Madang we got him from the Teal and he became the mascot for the Gull
.
The first couple of weeks Fred was every bodies pet but Fred had some dirty habits like pissing down the
voice pipe on the bridge and the helms man in the wheel house getting wet,not very funny or when you were
working on the upper deck. Fred would sometimes get savage and try to bite you on the leg.
After that Fred's days were numbered, there was two attempts of getting rid of Fred I know of. He was
thrown into the Harbour at Singapore Naval Base twice but he got back on board!
Then one dark night while we were on patrol in the Malacca Straits, Big Jim Dickson the skipper announced
over the p.a system that Fred was missing and we had a monkey murderer on board the reaction of the
crew was one big cheer.
I suppose you could say Malacca Fred went missing in action later on we got another pet we got a cat and
being sailors we had to give it a good name someone came up with the name Dildo.
We had to leave her in Singapore as we could not bring her back to Australia. The last I heard of her [was
that] she had a litter of kittens.
on Malacca Fred
How many of the sweeper crews remember Malacca Fred?
I first meet Fred when we where in Madang we got him from the Teal and he became the mascot for the Gull
.
The first couple of weeks Fred was every bodies pet but Fred had some dirty habits like pissing down the
voice pipe on the bridge and the helms man in the wheel house getting wet,not very funny or when you were
working on the upper deck. Fred would sometimes get savage and try to bite you on the leg.
After that Fred's days were numbered, there was two attempts of getting rid of Fred I know of. He was
thrown into the Harbour at Singapore Naval Base twice but he got back on board!
Then one dark night while we were on patrol in the Malacca Straits, Big Jim Dickson the skipper announced
over the p.a system that Fred was missing and we had a monkey murderer on board the reaction of the
crew was one big cheer.
I suppose you could say Malacca Fred went missing in action later on we got another pet we got a cat and
being sailors we had to give it a good name someone came up with the name Dildo.
We had to leave her in Singapore as we could not bring her back to Australia. The last I heard of her [was
that] she had a litter of kittens.
Teal:
on Teal history and
current usage.
Teal was working in
Queensland for a time
and then went to Cyprus
as either a floating
college vessel or survey
ship
Like most ships she had
her peculiar likes and
dislikes and she didn't
take kindly to rough
weather she used to
vibrate through the
gearbox at times and the
forward bathroom left a
bit to be desired,
however I think there is
always something
special about a ship if
you were part of it right
form the start.
on Teal history and
current usage.
Teal was working in
Queensland for a time
and then went to Cyprus
as either a floating
college vessel or survey
ship
Like most ships she had
her peculiar likes and
dislikes and she didn't
take kindly to rough
weather she used to
vibrate through the
gearbox at times and the
forward bathroom left a
bit to be desired,
however I think there is
always something
special about a ship if
you were part of it right
form the start.
| Our Pages |
| HMAS Teal before she became a teaching ship in Cyprus |
Rod Clarey of HMAS Ibis
remembers Rough Weather
At the Plaque dedication, part of Jim Dickson's dedication speech mentioned
how the Sweepers handled the rough weather reminded me of the time in
Ibis.
We were enroute from Subic Bay in the Phillipines to Hong Kong & steaming
through a Force 9 Tornado I was sharing the first watch with Ian Thompson
on the helm, Our Navigator, Lieutenant Bob(The Phantom) Walker was the
Officer of the Watch on the bridge, When he called down through the voice
pipe " Able Seaman Thompson WHY ARE WE 45 Degrees OFF COURSE."
Thommo's reply was. " BECAUSE WE ARE COMING BACK FROM BLOODY 90
DEGREES OFF COURSE SIR."
This was how we travelled all the way to Hong Kong 5 days of up & down &
bouncing from one wave to the next.
I spent those 5 days in the galley as my off sider Cook Wacker Payne(rest
his soul) was so violently sea sick he was unable to get out of his bunk.
On the 3rd day our Chief Coxswain "Noritake" Chandler(rest his soul)came
into the galley& told me I had to get Wacker up to resume his duties in the
galley, well I finally got him to get dressed & he turned to in the galley & I
was handing the galley over to him when we started climbing up this wave &
was perpindicular to the ocean when another wave hit us side on.
Fortunately I was hanging on to the galley sink but Wacker wasn't hanging
on to anything & the next thing he was somersaulting across the galley
range(stove) & landed on the galley deck & brakewater & bruised the hell out
of his rib cage, so I didn't get any break from my duties in the galley until we
reached Hong Kong & the only time off I got for my effort was my lousy 24
off.
Such was the NATURE of the BEAST.
remembers Rough Weather
At the Plaque dedication, part of Jim Dickson's dedication speech mentioned
how the Sweepers handled the rough weather reminded me of the time in
Ibis.
We were enroute from Subic Bay in the Phillipines to Hong Kong & steaming
through a Force 9 Tornado I was sharing the first watch with Ian Thompson
on the helm, Our Navigator, Lieutenant Bob(The Phantom) Walker was the
Officer of the Watch on the bridge, When he called down through the voice
pipe " Able Seaman Thompson WHY ARE WE 45 Degrees OFF COURSE."
Thommo's reply was. " BECAUSE WE ARE COMING BACK FROM BLOODY 90
DEGREES OFF COURSE SIR."
This was how we travelled all the way to Hong Kong 5 days of up & down &
bouncing from one wave to the next.
I spent those 5 days in the galley as my off sider Cook Wacker Payne(rest
his soul) was so violently sea sick he was unable to get out of his bunk.
On the 3rd day our Chief Coxswain "Noritake" Chandler(rest his soul)came
into the galley& told me I had to get Wacker up to resume his duties in the
galley, well I finally got him to get dressed & he turned to in the galley & I
was handing the galley over to him when we started climbing up this wave &
was perpindicular to the ocean when another wave hit us side on.
Fortunately I was hanging on to the galley sink but Wacker wasn't hanging
on to anything & the next thing he was somersaulting across the galley
range(stove) & landed on the galley deck & brakewater & bruised the hell out
of his rib cage, so I didn't get any break from my duties in the galley until we
reached Hong Kong & the only time off I got for my effort was my lousy 24
off.
Such was the NATURE of the BEAST.
| HMAS Ibis Crew As they were: 1964-1965. Backrow: Ian(Huckers) Hughes, Carl Clifton, Ian Thompson, Rod Clarey Standing: Rick Rosenthal, John(Tom Lauparker) Parker, Gordon(Stroppy) Prove, Shorty Shewan, Arthur( Rather) Large, Nigel Prout, Peter Romeyn, Terry Feltham, Bob McNamarra, Dave(The Pom) Reddick. Kneeling: Len(Curly) Henshaw, Wacka Payne, Perry Mason, Tom Fleming, Errol(Lofty) Hunt. John King, Bob Walker, Sitting: Bill Robinson, Herman Terrahe, Bluey Tindall. Missing: Adrian Cummings, Noel(Noritake) Chandler, Don Rochow, Laurie Calder, Bernie Collins, Max Baker, John(Jacko) Bardsley, Spike Jones. Quinton Henry, Tony Hart, Sandy Meares, Bob Goode, Bob Kitcher came on Board to replace Perry Mason after Perry Mason fell into an open storm drain and broke his leg. This happened in Singapore |
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| HMAS Ibis Crew As they are now: Yamba Reunion 2004 |