1211 Lt.Cmdr. Somerville Royal Navy HMS Kingston HMS Kingston was commissioned at Cowes Isle of White. Initially it was resplendent all white and we were ready for a trip with the fleet visiting the cities and towns the ships were named after.
Due to the imminent outbreak of war the vessels were painted battleship grey and we were transferred to Portland for working up.
With 5 DF- The Home Fleet was sent to Scapa Flow on blockage duty between Shetlands and Iceland and together with sister ships Kashmir and Icarus we sank the submarine U35 east of the Shetlands. Lieutenant Commander Somerville received the DSO for this action.
The Kashmir and Kingston rescued the submarine crew and the Kingston had part of the crew on board for several weeks until we reached Gourock where the POWs where handed over.
We went to Falmouth for a boiler clean and small refit, which lasted about 6 weeks. From Falmouth we were sent to Harwich where it was thought we were getting ready for the evacuation from France, we were only there for a few days, then sent to Plymouth. We were issued with white uniforms and knew that we were going foreign.
|