GALLANT SHIP

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 January 1942, Page 6

GALLANT SHIP

. WITH FINE WAR RECORD NEW ZEALANDERS MOURN H.M.S. NEPTUNE. MORE THAN HALF OF CREW FROM THIS COUNTRY. (N.Z.E.F. Official News Service). CAIRO, January 3. New Zealanders both at home and overseas will mourn the loss of H.M.S. Neptune, announced by the Admiralty yesterday. She was a proud ship, with a proud name and record. Most of all, more than half her complement were from New Zealand. It is not long since the Neptune became a new name in New Zealand naval- history. She was a cruiser of the Leander class and had been for several months at a Middle East station. The gathering in of the New Zealanders in the ship’s company was the result of efforts to bring together the New Zealand personnel serving in the Navy and also practical evidence that the recently-bestowed right to use the title Royal New Zealand Navy was having a definite development.

New Zealanders were sent to the Neptune from ships of all kinds in many parts of the world, some from aircraft-carriers, others from destroyers, armed merchantmen, tankers and tugs all vitally helping to keep the Imperial trade lanes open. For some, on the other hand, it was their first ship and one of which they were justly proud. The men represented all parts of the Dominion, from Auckland to the Bluff, and made up a happy shipboard community, sharing the life with South Africans and men from the United Kingdom. A VISIT RECALLED. Only two months ago an N.Z.E.F. Official News service representative boarded the Neptune, receiving a warm welcome from the New Zealanders and other Imperial men from the engine-room to the quarterdeck. The familiar peaked hat provoked questions about home and also about the N.Z.E.F. Most of the men had relatives, and all had friends rifle-slinging somewhere in the Middle East.

Many had exciting service before joining the Neptune. One had been ,on an American destroyer scouting ' for submarines in the Atlantic. Quite a number had been on the famous Ark Royal, taking part in the victorious battle of Sardinia in November. Some had also been at the bombardment of Genoa and taken part in the convoying to Greece before the Balkans campaign. SPORT & FIGHTING SERVICE. On the sports side the ship was particularly proud of its unbeaten Rugby match-playing record from Scapa Flow to Egypt, once defeating a Mediterranean Fleet team by 40 points to nil. This was the time, however, when the Neptune herself was a flagship carrying Admiral Cunningham’s flag at the masthead. Indeed, the Neptune’s contributions to glorious naval epics, though often unspectacular, were nevertheless telling. It is claimed that the Neptune was the first British naval ship to sight the Italian fleet as an enemy for 142 years. It was at the battle of Calabria, the first Mediterranean encounter with the Italians in the present war. Also, before the Libyan push, the Neptune bombarded Bardia and other Axis North African ports. Before returning to the Middle East she sank a supply ship to the Bismarck shortly before the German battleship tfiet her doom ■ and took 68 prisoners. CAPTAIN & SHIP’S COMPANY. Commanding the Neptune was Captain Rory O’Conor from County Roscommon, West Ireland. He was a tall, fair-headed, quietly-spoken man who had been in command of the Neptune since before the Italian entry into the war and was a writer of some note. This he said about the New Zealanders aboard: “I think they are fine, splendid fellows, as good as anyone could wish for. They have always shown themselves to be quick in learning, and are all out to beat Hitler. They get on well with the men from other parts of the Empire. I do not wish for a better ship’s company.” The captain’s cabin table was cover-1 ed with an ensign from the supply ship sunk by the Neptune with the insignia of an eagle holding a swastika in its talons. “I always ask guests to lay their hats on the swastika, thus covering the Nazi emblem without hiding the eagle,” said the captain, quietly and cryptically suiting action to word. On the wall of the cabin was a striking painting of Le Neptune, commanded by the French Commander Cassard, which took part in the battle of Trafalgar. It had been presented to Captain O’Conor by the captain of the French cruiser Dugnay Trouin not long before the capitulation of France. Actually three Neptunes took part in Trafalgar, British, French and Spanish. The Neptune just lost was certainly worthy of such forbears and her record is a valued contribution to the tradition and history of both, the Royal Navy and New Zealand naval achievements.