DIOMEDE LEAVES

Northern Advocate, 21 October 1935, Page 6

DIOMEDE LEAVES

UNEXPECTED SAILING CREW SURPRISED DESTINATION UNKNOWN. [Special *io “Northern Advocate.”! AUCKLAND, This Day. The Diomede left Auckland at 1.30 p.m. yesterday for parts unknown. It was generally believed that the warship would not depart before today, and for . that reason there were not many people present to see her leave. The Diomede went straight from the dock out to sea.

She was docked early on Friday morning for cleaning and painting, and this work was done by shore labour, as the warship’s crew was busily engaged in loading stores. The loading was completed at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Men who had been allowed Saturday night leave were warned by officers that the Diomede might leave at a moment’s notice. The result was that there was a full muster yesterday morning. Most of the men aboard the Diomede, however, did not anticipate the warship going so soon. As a matter of fact, 25 per cent, of the men on board were of the opinion that the Diomede would not sail at all. There have been several occasions on which the warship has been ordered out to sea, only to have held up at the last moment, and then, finally, to have orders for sailing cancelled. On this occasion the men were not prepared to sail at once. :

When fifty civilians were engaged hurriedly to give a hand, matters looked serious, and for that reason, many of the crew who had doubted that she would sail realised that this time she would probably put out to sea.

When the Diomede sailed a lot of people who had been Informed by telephone went rushing to the ship. On the deck of the Diomede, a panatrope played lively tunes.

A Sad Parting.

The parting, in a way, was a sad one for quite a number, as during the last few days as many as fourteen of the Diomede company were married. There was very little brightness among the fourteen husbands and wives, because the men did nqt know when they would return. The Leith and the training ship PhiI lomel, on which men stood at attenI tion, flashed signals to the Diomede. “Goodbye and good luck,” the message from the Leith said: “Hope to see you | again.” The Philomel flashed “Goodbye and good luck.” 1 It is understood that the Diomede

will return to Auckland before she is replaced at Home by a modern warship. This, of course, depends largely on whether any serious developments of an international nature occur. The Diomede is to be replaced next year by another ship, and if anything serious happens then the Diomede will not return to this country, but her crew will change over to the new boat in England. The commander, Captain Cosmo Graham, would make no statement about the destination of the Diomede, which is believed to be the Red Sea.