H.M.S. ADVENTURE

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 December 1933, Page 9

H.M.S. ADVENTURE

“PICCADILLY TUBE” DECK. Hector C. Bywater, “Daily Telegraph” Naval Correspondent, iwrote recently:— . By courtesy of the Admiralty and the commanding officer, Captain. J. V. V. Magrane, I have been privileged to inspect what is probably the last remaining “hush hush” ship in the Navy. For although H.M.S. Adventure was launched some years ago, she has always been something of a mystery ship.* In the first place, she is the only cruiser-minelayer we have ever built, and, secondly, she was the first Diesel-electric warship to go afloat.

H.M.S. Adventure is a ship of some 7,30 tons, with a length of 540 ft and a beam of 60ft. High speed and a wide radius of action being essential in a vessel of this type—and the two desiderata being difficult to reconcile with normal machinery—the Adventure was given dual motive power. For fast steaming she has steam turbines, which propel her at 28 knots. But when cruising at moderate speeds she switches over to Diesel-electric drive. On this she can amble along at 14 knots —equivalent to about 370 miles a day. Viewed from the shore the Adventure appears to be an ordinary cruiser, save, perhaps, for the Diesel exhaust pipe abaft the second funnel. It is only when one descends below deck that her secret stands revealed. UNIQUE' “RAILWAY.” Imagine a section of the Piccadilly Tube, complete with a double set of rails, well over 100 yards long, and lacking only the platforms, advertisements and escalators, and you have a fairly accurate picture of the Adventure’s mine deck.

This unique “railway” is served by about eighty officers and men, and its rolling stock consists of hundreds of the most powerful submarine mines in existence. Each of these is a unit, consisting of the mine itself, and its massive base or anchor, the latter having wheels which fit laterally into the flanges of the rails. When the order is given to lay mines the sinister “train” is set in motion. Its speed can be regulated, and as each mine arrives at the stern it is man-handled through an open port and dropped into the sea. As it goes over it 1 depresses a switch, which works an indicator on the bridge, thus showing the captain exactly how many mines have been laid. In less than half an hour the Adventure could render many square miles of sea most unhealthy to navigation. We usually associate the temperature of a marine engine-room with that of a Turkish bath, but in the Adventure’s Diesel room they have to wear winter clothing even in summer. This is because of the tremendous draught created by the suction of air into the motors.

There are more fascinating “gadgets” on board than there is space to describe. The Adventure was the first ship to have electrical steering. In the wheel-house there is -a deepwater sounding gear, the records of which can be read from the forebridge through a periscope. A radiogramophone of powerful, but faultless, tone has been rigged up by the ship’s experts. As the ship is not designed to fight gunnery actions unless absolutely necessary, her armament is restricted to a few 4.7 in and smaller guns—though I have seen her . four-point-sevens doing some pretty deadly shooting at sea. Her primary weapon is the mine, which in its latest form is incredibly destructive. Multiply by two the explosive force of the largest war-time mine, remembering that the Adventure carries hundreds of the new and more deadly type, and some idea will be gained of the powers wielded by this unique ship. The Adventure is now being refitted for service on the China station, for which she sails in January.