NAVAL CHANGES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21561, 4 August 1933, Page 6

NAVAL CHANGES

DIOMEDE RECOMMISSIONED DRAFTS COME AND LEAVE f " - CAREERS OF NEW OFFICERS Following the arrival from England bf Captain Cosmo M. Graham, eight other officers and about 160 other Imperial "ranks and ratings, who landed from the Rangitane at Auckland yesterday morning, H.M.S. Diomede was recommissioned at Devonport later in the day, Captain V. A. C. Crutchley, V.C., handing over the command to his successor without ceremonial of any kind. , , The majority of the cruiser s former officers and about 50 Imperial ratings embarked in the evening in the Rangitiki, which is to sail for England toCaptain Graham's last command was ILM.S. Curacoa, in the Mediterranean cruiser squadron, of which he was flagcaptain. During the Great War his serTice was mainly in destroyers. After undergoing various special training courses he took a course in naval aviation and served for a time in an air-craft-carrier. He was promoted to captain three years ago. Commander J. W. Farquhar, who is a son of Admiral Sir Arthur Farquhar, took part in the Battle of Jutland in H.M.S. Benbow and served with the Royal Australian Navy. From 1927 to 1929 he was in the Campbell, leader of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla, and thereafter until last year in the battleship Nelson. Surgeon-Commander J. W. Tighe was recently medical officer at the naval base, Bermuda. He was in Q ships during the war and served later in the Persian Gulf, with the Atlantic Fleet and in Australian and Chinese Wl lieutenant M. A. C. H. Hardcastle (gunnery) comes from H.M.&. Excellent. Lieutenant P. B ®£heU (torpedo) qualified last year in H.M.S. Vernon, the torpedo school. Lieutenant N. • J T Thew, who was last in the destroyer Wolfhound, is not joining the Diomede, but will, H. B. C. Holmes in H.M.S. Philomel. The' remaining officera are Lieutenant C. R. Havergal, Sub-Lieutenant K. ±l. A. Kidston and Lieutenant M. Archdall, Royal Marines. Included m the draft are seven warrant officers, one of whom, Mr. G. R. Davis-Goff, is a New Zealander. , , , . The naval draft had a pleasant voyage out. The officers and officers were accommodated m the first class, the senior petty officers in the cabin class and the other ratings, numbering 130 and including 42 marines, in the third class. The only duty required of the men was physical drill each morning, and they were allowed to wear civilian clothes, except tor dinner in the evening. All the space available for deck sports was kept in full use. The usual "crossing the Line ceremony was most lavishly staged, a warrant officer impersonating King Neptune. , ~ Not all the new ratings are for the Diomede, some having been drafted to the Philomel. After landing from the Rangitane they were embarked in the small steamer Onewa and various naval launches, which took them across to Devonport.