HMS Cutlass
Printed From: BMPT Forum
Category: Boats (In alphabetical order)
Forum Name: Scimitar Class
Forum Description: Discussion on Scimitar Class
URL: http://www.bmpt.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=446
Printed Date: 26 March 2026 at 1:33pm
Topic: HMS Cutlass
Posted By: blue48
Subject: HMS Cutlass
Date Posted: 06 November 2007 at 1:57pm
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Just to keep the side up,I was the Navigators Yeoman on Cutlass when she was accepted in to service from Vospers in the early 70`s.Spent a lot of time either in Vernon or at Vospers generally doing what we do best nothing or playing cards ! Remember we had just commisioned her and I believe it was the day after we slipped Portland we hit the 7th wave of the 7th wave at the Needles and broke her back,limped on to Portland,then limped back to Portsmouth and Gunboat Yard at Hornet for repairs,not knowing what to do with us our skipper a great guy Lt.Cdr Peter(Pincher) Martin arranged for us to go to the Boat show at Earls Court for the duration of said show.Once we got the old girl back it was of to Portland again,and the Thursday war, overnight in either Poole or Torquay ,back in to Portland for a lunch time sesh!! More to Follow ........ ------------- Once Navy always Navy.CFDGAF |
Replies:
Posted By: blue48
Date Posted: 06 November 2007 at 8:08pm
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To continue, The old grey matter is not what it was but I do remember we had a 3ftx3ft hole punched in the Hull after hitting unknown object whilst we were on our way over night form Portland to Sandown I.O.W,not far I know but we had done a turbine change earlier in the day which had held us up,it was about 2am when the cry went up,we radioed for assistance and managed to plug the hole so that we get into Pompey,once inspected it was back to Gunboat yard and up in the shed again. I think It was about this time that they gave us TENACITY to play with,sorry evaluate.Nice boat,nowhere to get your head down so we were issued with campbeds to sleep were we could,Ops room wasn`t so bad ,it was warm.Great talking piece especially on jollies to Poole,Torquay or the Channel Islands.the Missile Launchers at the stern,OK long hollow tubes of ply-wood,we added bits of blue string.The 3" automatic turret on the bow,yer right! an aluminium cover for the freshwater tank with a couple of warped tree trunks stuck on for effect didn`t it look great from a distance,the business OOO how the ladies loved it especially Poole were you tie up opposite the pubs,we managed to bend her as well,bent the for`ard bulkhead leaving St. Nazaire in a force 12. We eventually got Cutlass back and returned to the mundane life of the Thursday war ,FOST and Portland although we did live ashore in Weymouth, another story.By this time Pincher Martin had left us to be replaced by another Lt.Cdr. whose name I cannot remember ,cant think of anything good to say about him either,do remember doing the Royal Tour of the Channel Islands with Princess Anne in Company with R.Y Brittania,this particular skipper showing off as we ran fast into Sark with Anne on board, at the jetty he ordered shut down Turbines, start paxmans, with something like a 7 second delay between clutches if hadn`t been for some nifty rope work by us sailors on the upper deck and the people waiting for us we would have been impaled on the rocks there in Sark before Sabre in Alderney, with Princess Anne and entourage ,imagine the headlines ,court martial,I think they would have strung him up there and then. When it came time for me to leave what for me was a great 2.5 years they offered me 2 drafts take your pick they said,HQ Northwood or HMS Blake guess were I went? Sorry if its drawn out but I hope someone gets something out of reading it,and any early years crews get in touch ------------- Once Navy always Navy.CFDGAF |
Posted By: Pioneer
Date Posted: 07 November 2007 at 8:41am
Leaving St Nazaire in a Force 12?? Hmmm. I bet that made the "lamps swing"  ------------- Pioneer - Forum Moderator |
Posted By: blue48
Date Posted: 07 November 2007 at 12:03pm
 Well it seemed like a 12 in a little boat perhaps it was only an 8 can`t remember the frigates we had with us but it slowed them up as well ------------- Once Navy always Navy.CFDGAF |
Posted By: blue48
Date Posted: 07 November 2007 at 7:49pm
 Going to try to upload some photo`s  ------------- Once Navy always Navy.CFDGAF |
Posted By: blue48
Date Posted: 14 December 2007 at 8:58pm
 ------------- Once Navy always Navy.CFDGAF |
Posted By: blue48
Date Posted: 14 December 2007 at 9:02pm
 ------------- Once Navy always Navy.CFDGAF |
Posted By: blue48
Date Posted: 14 December 2007 at 9:06pm
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Apologies for putting Tenacity in here,may have been put on before ,grey matter given up tis Friday ------------- Once Navy always Navy.CFDGAF |
Posted By: Pioneer
Date Posted: 15 December 2007 at 9:26am
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These two shots can be seen - with others - in "Boat Histories" - 'click 'Tenacity' ------------- Pioneer - Forum Moderator |
Posted By: tramontana
Date Posted: 09 January 2008 at 6:56pm
| Blue48, it's looking as though your old boat "Cutlass" is the boat I found in Cyprus at a boatyard nr Limassol, she was being actively worked on although her G.T's are no more, she is now entering another phase in her life and appears to have a small patch on the starboard side of her bow. |
Posted By: bernie
Date Posted: 17 February 2014 at 3:26pm
| Hi, I am helping to set up a new Navy Training Corps unit in Leicester with the name of TS. Cutlass. I've been trying to find out some information about the ship and whether it is still in service but am finding it very hard so was just wondering if anyone could help me out? |
Posted By: johnk
Date Posted: 17 February 2014 at 3:41pm
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Hi Bernie, Many thanks your post there, as per page one, a bit on the Cutlass, Sabre and Scimitar boats, not a lot to add sorry, we had a great poster of the boats in my.....SEA CADET UNIT! I have seen the NTC site, even had a brief correspondence with your captain, over the ex HMS Plymouth, but that is another story not for here, very best of luck with the new unit, more chances for our young people the better, Johnk |