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The Navy Vol_22_Part2 1960 - Navy League of Australia

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ROYAL CANADIAN<strong>The</strong> Royal Canadian <strong>Navy</strong> iscelebrating its 50th anniversary.Canada's <strong>Navy</strong> <strong>of</strong>ficiallycame into being when, on 4thMay, 1910. Royal assent wasgranted to the Naval ServiceAct. That same year two protectedcruisers, the NIOBEandRAINBOW, were acquiredfrom the Royal <strong>Navy</strong>.Ships <strong>of</strong> the Royal Canadian<strong>Navy</strong> have served in threewars. During the First WorldWar the Canadian naval contributionwas about 9.600 <strong>of</strong>ficersand men and 100 ships.During the Second WorldWar the Royal Canadian <strong>Navy</strong>expanded to 392 armed shipsand 95,000 <strong>of</strong>ficers, men andNAVYWrens. Canada's major navaleffort being devoted to theBattle <strong>of</strong> the Atlantic.Canadian destroyers servedin the Far East throughout theKorean War.This 50th anniversary yearI960, finds the Royal Canadian<strong>Navy</strong> at its greatest peacetimestrength, with Ii2 warships incommission and with 20.604<strong>of</strong>ficers, men and Wrens onfull-time duty, and 3.550 in theactive Royal Canadian NavalReserve. Some 49 per cent, <strong>of</strong>the Royal Canadian <strong>Navy</strong> personnelare at present servingon board ship.R.C.N. JETS TESTED.Six Banshee jet-fighters <strong>of</strong>the Royal Canadian <strong>Navy</strong>,armed with Sidewinder missiles.convincingly demonstratedtheir destructive power byshooting down five target-aircraftin an exercise designedto test the effectiveness <strong>of</strong> theBanshee-Sidewinder combination.<strong>The</strong> firings took place overthe sea on the missile range <strong>of</strong>the Royal Aircraft Establishmentat Aberporth, Wales. <strong>The</strong>targets were Firefly VIM aircraft.flown by remote control.Six missiles were fired at asmany targets and five <strong>of</strong> thedrone aircraft were splashed.<strong>The</strong> operation was carriedout by aircraft <strong>of</strong> FighterSquadron K70.<strong>The</strong> Governor-General, Lord Donroaall. and Lady Dunronall, with Aetinf/Leadlni Seaman Brian Boad <strong>of</strong>H.M.A.8 VAMPIRF. liid Chief F..R.A Chartea Cunningham <strong>of</strong> HM.AS MELBOURNE and Mm. Cunninghamat an Investiture for R.A.N, men at Government House, Canberra.<strong>22</strong>THE NAVYQUEEN'S BIRTHDAY HONOURSHer Majesty the Queen ha* beenfollowing awards:—Knight Commander <strong>of</strong><strong>The</strong> Order <strong>of</strong> the British EmpireVice-Admiral HenryC.B.E.Commander <strong>of</strong>Mackay Burrell, C.B.,<strong>The</strong> Order <strong>of</strong> the BritishEmpireRear-Admiral Kenneth McKenzie Urquhart.Officer <strong>of</strong><strong>The</strong> Order <strong>of</strong> the British EmpireCaptain Stanley Darling, D.S.C. and two bars,V.R.D., R.A.N.R.Member <strong>of</strong><strong>The</strong> Order <strong>of</strong> the British EmpireLieut. Ronald Mervyn Titcombe, R.A.N.BritishVice-Admiral Sir Henry Bvrreil, K.B.E., C.B. Chief E.R.A. Thomas William James Cunningham.<strong>The</strong> circumstances surroundingthe award to Lieut. Titcombewere:On April 21, 1959, a chopperoperating from Portland (England)ditched about 9 milessouth-east <strong>of</strong> the ShamblesLight Vessel, in a depth <strong>of</strong> 170feet.To determine the cause <strong>of</strong>the crash it was essential torecover the helicopter, but thestrong tides prevented the recoveryby wire sweeps andstandard divers.Lieutenant Titcombe, then incharge <strong>of</strong> the Clearance Divingteam at H.M. Underwater DetectionEstablishment, was consultedoil the use <strong>of</strong> clearancedivers. In such depths, withfurther complications causedby the swift tides, operatingtime for the divers belowwould be very short.Still further, the ascent mustbe a matter <strong>of</strong> no more than5 minutes, making decompressionin a special chamber amatter <strong>of</strong> urgent necessity.<strong>The</strong> necessary equipment includingspecial inflatable dinghiescapable <strong>of</strong> operating inrough weather were available,and so Clearance Diving historywas made.It was tin 1 first operationaloccasion that Clearance Divershad performed at such greatdepths and that surface decompressionhad been used, andthe team effort was the mainfactor in the successful recovery<strong>of</strong> the chopper.<strong>The</strong> success <strong>of</strong> the operationwas largely due to the intelligentappreciation <strong>of</strong> thesituation, the leadership andthe fine personal efforts <strong>of</strong>Lieutenant Titcombe.NEW RATE FOR R.N.Among the points that Mr.Orr-Ewing, Civil Lord <strong>of</strong> theAdmiralty, recently discussedill tile House <strong>of</strong> Commons wasthe suggestion that a Masterrate, above that <strong>of</strong> Chief PettyOfficer, be introduced in theRoyal <strong>Navy</strong>.This rate would bring the<strong>Navy</strong> in line with the statusand pay <strong>of</strong> Warrant Officers inthe other services.Mr. Orr-Ewing said that theproblem is now under consideration.July, I960 23

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