Yangtze Showdown: China and the Ordeal of the HMS Amethyst by Brian Izzard

Author:Brian Izzard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / Naval
ISBN: 9781473854956
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
Published: 2015-02-17T16:00:00+00:00

Admiral Brind did not initially tell the Admiralty or his second-incommand, Madden, about the secret code that had been devised by his flag lieutenant. He was uneasy about keeping this quiet and the fact that he had given Kerans permission to try to escape. On 29 July he sent a signal explaining the position, but it was marked ‘priority’, which in the curious world of naval signals did not mean that. A priority signal had a relatively low precedence and was not considered of immediate operational importance. The admiral was playing for time.7

The signal read: ‘I have told Amethyst that I shall support him in any decision he makes to break out. I have made it clear that I am not pressing him to do so and that suggestion only applies if he considers conditions of weather and visibility suitable. There was some hope he might try during passage of recent typhoon. He is being carefully watched and navigation is difficult. Unless fuel and stores arrive within ten days it may be necessary to order him to destroy the ship.’8

Brind was aboard Belfast berthed in Hong Kong on 30 July when Kerans’s signal warning that Amethyst would attempt to break out came in. That evening the admiral was hosting a dinner party and he was dressing for the occasion when he saw the message. It was garbled but there was enough of it to realise what Kerans planned: ‘I am going to try to brea …’ It took about 40 minutes to get a correct repeat of the signal and a few more minutes to decipher it. For security reasons Brind decided not to cancel the dinner, which began at 2015. After the loyal toast he proposed another, ‘HMS Amethyst and all who sail in her.’ It was important that guests did not leave the ship before 2200, the time Amethyst would sail, and after the meal they were directed to the quarterdeck for coffee and liquers. Bidding them farewell, Brind explained that ‘an urgent operational matter had just arisen, which demanded his immediate attention … and that they would be able to read about his problems in the morning papers’. The dinning cabin was turned into an operations room. Vice Admiral Madden, based in Hong Kong, was invited on board Belfast with members of his staff. ‘I shall always remember the shock and surprise which showed on the faces of Admiral Madden and his staff when they learned what was about to occur,’ Lieutenant Scott wrote.9 Another visitor was the colony’s RAF chief. It was planned to send Sunderland flying boats to pick up Amethyst’s crew if they were forced to abandon ship.

Local traders, who often turned up late, almost ruined Kerans’s escape plan. That evening a sampan carrying vegetables and eggs was spotted approaching the ship. Would they see the preparations and report them? But suspicions might be aroused if they were told to go away without making the delivery. Kerans was checking on everything and gave orders that the traders were not to get past the top of the gangway.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.