A birds-eye view of BERMUDA at full speed (Pic. Thanks to Brian Taylor)

It was the time of year for bush fires and several times in the month parties were landed to fight them, often through the night, and on one occasion the full ship's company were placed on stand-by for fire-fighting. That continued into February and so did the bottom scraping and painting until it was abruptly and sadly interrupted by the announcement, on the 6th, that King George VI had died overnight at Sandringham. Princess Elizabeth now Queen headed home from Kenya. Consequently the ship went to Divisions and Parade at 1100 on Friday where the Royal Proclamation of Accession was read by the C in C. One week later, on Friday the 15th, a 56 gun salute marked the King's funeral  with the ship's company at Divisions and Church.

On the 23rd Sub Lieutenant Anson held his wedding reception in the ship and new names you may remember joined the Wardroom. They included Lt Cdr (E) Haigh, S Lt (E) Spence and Cdr Buchanan-Dunby whilst elsewhere in the ship Warrant No. 99 was read to Chief & Petty Officer's as the month ended. Back in the dock bottom the first week of March saw the painting finished and all orifices watertight ready for the ship to float out on the 5th. About now the Captain addressed the ship's company so as to bring the focus of attention back towards sea-going instead of recreational activities.

The young Robert John, son of Ordnance Artificer Williams, was christened on board on the 9th and another (names not logged) took place on the 23rd. Meanwhile the labour of testing, storing, painting and ammunitioning progressed methodically and carefully. An exception was one Richard E Lambert, Lieutenant, Royal Navy, who was ".. admonished for insufficient care in the handling and custody of official documents.." Before the end of March arrived there were Basin Trials to conduct and a visit by Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fraser to contend with. Both were successful and at 1530 on the last day of the month the ship went to sea, but only just! By 1810 she was at anchor having logged 14.4 nautical miles. Tomorrow would be different!

As 0700 on All Fools Day 1952 passed, BERMUDA, her starboard anchor still 'a-cock-bill', was raising her speed through 8 knots when the order 'Stream paravanes' was given. At the same time a navigation exercise was begun that would take the ship south of Cape Point into deep water where some old ammunition could safely be dumped. By midday, with Robben Island and the majestic Table Mountain visible to starboard, towing gear was rigged for exercise forward and then aft whilst all the other Departments within the ship were ensuring that their part of ship was functioning properly. The first day at sea after a maintenance period was always an anxious one that inevitably revealed some defects so work was not over when the anchor was let-go just before1630 in Suldanha Bay. 

Ken Carson on the Flag Deck in 1952 (Pic from Ken)

As BERMUDA and NEREIDE prepared for sea just before 0800 on the 1st of May fog rolled in and kept them at anchor in 50 yards visibility until 1045. By 1115 both ships were underway for another ten days of training to hone the skills of everyone onboard. In the second week gun crews and controllers further practised the fine art of laying, training and obtaining the desired trajectory with 6 and 4 inch armaments and in doing so everyone was able to feel the might of a 9-gun, full-charge broadside - well seven broadsides to be precise! Divisions and Church over the weekend broke up the training but it resumed on Monday. Fish was on the menu on Wednesday after NEREIDE fired a couple of patterns of depth charges and boats had been launched to pick-up fish before the ship continued on to the Flagship Berth in Simonstown. It had been an intensive and demanding period and there was some beer and brandy waiting to be consumed between Simonstown and Cape Town that the 600 plus men in BERMUDA were keen to seek out!

With BERMUDA tucked up alongside there were a number of ceremonial activities to perform whilst ACTEON and NEREIDE together with the tanker RFA WAVE COMMANDER continued their sea time. Saturday the 24th of May was Empire Day then Queen Mary's birthday was celebrated on the 26th otherwise the rest of the month, in which the ship had travelled just under 1000 miles, passed quietly in Simonstown.

HRH The Duke of Edinburgh's birthday was acknowledged with a 21 gun salute at noon, on the 10th of June. It was also a day of fuelling and storing for BERMUDA as the Admiral's official car plus seven others were embarked and lashed down. The ship had been painted and polished and was moved out to anchor on Thursday to enable the final touching-up of the boot-topping to be completed. On Saturday morning lower deck was cleared for the Captain to give the ship's company the normal pep-talk prior to the C in C's staff joining in the afternoon which always brought an extra alertness and smartness to those in the Wardroom Mess.

Few ashore would have been aware of the ships departure just before 0500 on Sunday morning. This time it was a turn to port out of False Bay to run around Cape Agulhus in the warm Indian Ocean and head for Port Elizabeth where Berth 8 & 9B was taken up at 0830 next day. Soon after the C in C (Admiral Sir Henry Packer) joined the ship after which the civil and military dignitaries of the city were received onboard. On Wednesday the ship opened to visitors, on Thursday the C in C left the ship and on Friday morning BERMUDA left harbour on passage to Durban's 'T' Berth to rest until Monday. Exercises with HM S/M TABARD took up Monday and Tuesday before the ship returned to harbour to ammunition at Maydon Wharf then continue with official visits etc. as other ships of the Royal, South African and French navies arrived. By the end of June another 1000 miles had been logged.

Floodlit in Port Elizabeth (Pic from Brian Taylor)

July was almost totally taken up with joint exercises and C in C's inspections and it was not until the 23rd that the ships went their separate ways. BERMUDA arrived in East London early the next morning to continue the C in C's and ship's courtesy round of entertaining that was to last a week during which leave and visits were enjoyed. After sailing at 1130 on the 30th the ship worked up to full power during the afternoon attaining and sustaining a speed of 29.7 knots (34mph/55kph) as she raced south west towards Simonstown to berth next day. The months running had put on another 1815 miles.

August was a month of rest for some at Klaver Camp up on the hill and another bottom scrap and paint for the ship from the middle of the month. On the 16th of September a Court Martial was convened onboard and by the month's end the ceremonial Divisions and Parade involved in the change of a Commander in Chief had taken place as Admiral Packer was relieved by Vice Admiral P B R W Williams-Powlett, CB, CBE, DSO. Around this time the destroyers KEMPENFELT and WAGER plus RFA WAVE REGENT were to be seen at the Cape, perhaps passing through or maybe the destroyers were brought down to join the Reserve Ships on station. Through the winter months of August and September seagoing was replaced with 'up-homers' and the renowned hospitality for which the Cape was so well known.

Were you in the this team with Ken Carson back in 1952? A week into October and fleet exercises were again in full swing with RN and SAN ships again up at Saldanha Bay readying for the following week's C in C's Inspection and Regatta. Big guns and small were fired, towing and transfers of fuel, stores and people were carried out and landing parties were put ashore. Most of the events and happenings received the C in C's full approval and brought a glow of pride to nearly everyone. This was not so for Lt Faulkner who, it appears, "..took insufficient care in the handling of explosives while in charge of a demolition party ashore..." for which he was admonished! Before 0530 on Thursday the 16th BERMUDA and the others had weighed and were on their way to sea to give time for the ship to carryout 6" firings once more on the way back to Simonstown where, on Sunday, the ship was to provide two Trafalgar Day guards, one for the Simonstown parade and the other for Cape Town.

Early on the morning of Wednesday the 22nd 18 South African Air Force officers joined the ship to see how it was done on the water and witnessed gun, depth charge and torpedo firings before being landed in the evening at Saldanha Bay to watch BERMUDA return to sea. Next stop was Bahia des Tigres in Angola (Portuguese W Africa) on Sunday morning where 'pipe-down' was ordered following Divisions. After washing-down 24 hours later the ship was back at sea heading for another 24-hour visit a little further north at Bahia des Elefantes. Next it was to the capital Loanda on Thursday the 30th of October where the C in C embarked to receive the Governor General of Angola and other dignitaries. Distances in the month came to 1873 nm's.

At 1600 on Saturday afternoon the ship sailed ceremoniously away to continue up the West African coast to the Spanish Island of Fernando Po and its capital Victoria where the normal exchanges were made during the two-day visit. An early departure on Thursday the 6th of November ensured the ship's arrival in Lagos, Nigeria the next morning to undertake a week of exchanges both diplomatic and cultural that included sports and parties. After that it was off to open to visitors and take on fuel in the Gold Coast port of Takoradi where 812 people looked around the ship during the three hour opening on Sunday and I bet there are still some in what is now Ghana that remember that visit.

At 1600 on Saturday afternoon the ship sailed ceremoniously away to continue up the West African coast to the Spanish Island of Fernando Po and its capital Victoria where the normal exchanges were made during the two-day visit. An early departure on Thursday the 6th of November ensured the ships arrival in Lagos, Nigeria the next morning to undertake a week of exchanges both diplomatic and cultural that included sports and parties. After that it was off to open to visitors and take on fuel in the Gold Coast port of Takoradi. A grand total of 812 people looked round the ship during the three-hour opening on Sunday afternoon and I bet there are still some in what is now Ghana that remember that visit.

The next four days were spent at sea on passage to Dakar in Senegal where the ship was received on the Naval Jetty at 0830 on Friday and stayed until 1500 Monday. It was here that Lieutenant N A B Anson and Lieutenant (Engineer) George lost some of their pay to reparations. The former had a charge by S.126 of £3.8.0 for the loss by neglect of Stop Watch No. 6594 while Lt George's S.126 laid claim to £2.0.0 being part value of 2 in number Pattern 5128A Blocks, non-geared 21/4 tons and 9 in No. Pattern 230 Apparatus, Breathing, lost by neglect. One didn't have time to check his watch and the other had a mental block perhaps!

West Africa & S Atlantic visits - 1952 (Thanks to Carol Cockayne-Taylor & Ken Carson for map)

Next stop was the old favourite, Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the bum-boats would offer all manner of goodies in exchange for a sports shirt or pair of shoes and where the RN was always welcomed. November ended with the log reading 1794 nm's

After the inevitable visit to Kissy Oil Jetty for fuel the ship headed out through the narrows and south across the Equator once more en-route for Ascension Island that came into view on Friday. During the weekend some attended a church service on the island and others stretched their legs. Departing at 2000 on Sunday the ship was turned onto a south easterly heading to cross the 46 fathoms (85M) shallows of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge on her 700 mile (1300Km) passage to St Helena which appeared as it got light on Wednesday. This was to be a 48-hour warship visit that was always a highlight for the St Helenians.

The last 1700 mile (3148Km) leg of the journey back to Cape Town began at 0715 on Friday the 12th of December. Having passed over the Ridge with a depth of water around 90M between Ascension and St Helena the ship would now go through one of the deepest parts of the South Atlantic where the bottom is more than 3280 fathoms (6000M) down but there was not much thought given to that as Christmas was fast approaching. The first indication of land was picked up on radar at a distance of 85 miles at 0810 on Wednesday the 17th and at 0905 Table Mountain was detected by eye on a Bearing of 110 degrees, 70 miles ahead, By the end of the First Dog watch (1800) BERMUDA was back 'home' at anchor off Simonstown Dockyard.

It is probably about now that the 'cartoon' below appeared in the ship. Note reference to petrol price speculation of 4/3d a gallon (21p or 4.5p.p.litre).

You might have thought that would be enough to see them through to the year's end but not so. Next morning the ship was underway at 0550 to pick up the C in C and proceed to sea for 'Efficiency Tests' where all Departments were made to show how good they were. They were good and returned to secure fore and aft in the Dockyard at 1530 where they would see out 1952. C in C visited the ship on Christmas morning as he toured the Fleet; on the 27th there was a fire in the Paint Shop that was extinguished in ten minutes; the last Warrant was No 140 via which a stoker went to Detention Quarters and New Year's Eve was a Wednesday and pay day. Who's NOT going ashore?
In a modest months steaming they had put 3201.7 nautical miles under them!