A story from Shipmate Lt Peter Foston ASCO

Our Skipper was Capt William Lesley Mortimer Brown who was a very keen cine camera man. He had the Ch EA make him up a watertight perspex
case and used to go swimming to photograph underwater including sharks. He worried our “Pilot” sick as he made him take the ship in close to get pics
of things including these Kelongs. (See picture below)

He stressed the pilot even more when on our return from re-fit in Singapoer to Hong Kong he insisted on visiting the Bombay Reef. This is east of the
Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. He had heard that after the end of WWII a frigate with a scratch crew was sailed for the UK. In their haste to get
home no one bothered to swing the standard compass. As they sailed south the gyro went on the blink and in overcast weather she went onto the
Bombay Reef. A tug was sent but failed to get her off but all the crew were saved.

The day before we were due to reach the reef the vis became poor and we could not get any sights with sextant. This was long before GPS. I think that
the pilot went throgh several tins of “Ticklers” to calm his nerves but as day broke it cleared enough to get a quick star sight. As we approached
during the forenoon it cleared completely and the blue sea around us turned emerald green over the reef where we could see this grey ghost ship. We saw
her from broad on her port beam and she appeared absolutely normal except there was no boat on the davits. The falls hung right down over the water.
One felt the hairs on the back of one’s neck stand out!

We had another dramatic event, during the night, when patrolling off the West coast of Korea in November or December ‘50. The weather was very
cold with light snow showers when the signalman of the watch called out “look at the mast”. We turned and the whole lattice mast and all the rigging was
glowing with St Elmo’s Fire. One can easily understand how it must have put the wind up the old sailormen. We were rudely jerked back to reality
when the radar office called OOW you had better look at this. We found that we were steaming North in a snow storm right up the middle of an unlit
Southbound convoy!!

Digging up half a ton of opium found on the beach.

Two final stories on a lighter note.

We were asked to take up a load of frozen turkeys for a US destroyer for Thanksgiving. Our Jack Dusty was an entrepreneur type and he convinced the
Yanks that we had some prime beef (actually Pussers Beef,Boneless which we reckoned was compressed sweepings off the slaughter house floor) and
he got them to swap some for a number of the turkeys. It was perhaps a good thing we never came across the American ship again. 2. At anchor, as
Guardship in Inchon, we had an American destroyer in company and their CO was senior to us. As they ate their evening meal at 1800 they had
“For exercise aircraft alert” every evening at 1900 just when we were sitting down to eat. I was sent over to point out that if they were to have it at either
1700 or 2000 our whisky supplies might last out long enough for us to continue supplying them (Their ships were, of course dry).

I was ASCO of the ship at the time of the Shun Lee incident. We were tasked to find her as it appeared that the Chinese Nationalists had
detained her for trading with the mainland. The problem was no one could tell us what she looked like!! Fortunately I had a copy of Talbot-Booth's
Merchant ships from which I was able to produce an outline drawing. I have it still on a Naval Message pad form. (See picture below) This was kept on
the bridge until we tracked her down. In the early hours of the morning we approached a small motor fishing boat to enquire after her only to be shot at
with a rifle! A shot across her bows cooled them down and we found her anchored off a Nationalist occupied island.

We sent a message to the Chinese general asking if he would be prepared to come aboard to discuss matters and the Gunnery Officer rapidly put together
and drilled an armed guard to welcome him.He said he needed time to decide and issued an invitation to the Captain plus one officer to dinner that evening.
Probably because I was the most junior and expendable I was selected to go.

We went ashore in the motorboat after dark and were met on the quay in the pitch dark and led up a rough path to an underground room in which there
was a large table around which were seated the general and his staff. He explained that they could only use candles as if a light was seen the Communists
would start a barrage.

We were served an excellent meal with copious amounts of rice wine and as the general was the only one speaking English we ended up playing
sticks/stones/scissors with equally endless toasts to the winner.

Around 0100 he turned to the skipper and said OK you can take the ship back to-day.

When I took over the ship’s office my predecessor had done a pier head jump and we could not get the safe open. It ended up with the dockyard in Hong Kong
coming on board to cut it out and take it ashore to open it. The only problem for me was that it had six different currencies in it and the whole lot had got mixed up.
(US Dollars, Singapore Dollars, Hong Kong Dollars Sterling and BAAFS (currency used by the Allies in occupied Japan). I and my writer (who could not type so
I had to learn pretty fast) spent a happy forenoon sorting them all out.

After he retired Capt Brown bought a large rakish old wooden schooner, based her in the West indies, manned her with a local crew which he trained to
RN standards. As he was a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron he flew the White Ensign. He made a bomb taking rich Americans sailing.

HMS Cardigan Bay in dry dock at Singapore 1951.

I paint ship portraits (watercolours) and have for a number of years sold them at exhibition in Plymouth and Falmouth run by the King George’s Fund for
Sailors who took 30% for the charity. They sold for between £200 and £300.Unfortunatelly they have had to stop as the venues are now too costly for
them to make any money. I am, as a result, looking for some way to continue supporting Marine charities. If you know anyone interested in a painting of
their ship, boat or any other vessel you can contact me at peter@foston.org. I am now offering them from £150. 50% of the price to go to the RNLI or
other Naval charity of the buyer’s choice.

I have had my own sailing boat since Singapore and currently spend much of the summer in my 31 year old Nicholson 31 on the Brittany Coast. Part of the time with
a friend and part solo. This means I only do my painting over the winter and this means no gallery is interested. They want you to keep winding them out. Fortunately
I don’t have to do them for a living.

Shipmate Lt Foston's R.N Career

1946 Jan Cadet RNC at wartime location – Eton Hall, Chester
May -+- Frobisher (Training Cruiser)
1947 Jan Mid’n Duke of York
Nov -+- Implacable
1948 Jan -+- Duke of York
Apr S/Lt RNC Greenwich (Had 8 weks summer leave spent sailing ex German Windfall yachts across
Channel)
1949 Jan -+- Barrosa ( Got my watchkeeping ticket despite tryingto ram Theseus! She signalled increase speed for flying off and I forgot Destroyers
wind up somewhat quicker than Carriers!)
Apr -+- Sub’s Courses, Plymouth
1950 Jan Lt Trooper Empire Halladale to Hong Kong via Singapore
Mar -+- Cardigan Bay as ASCO and Capt’s Secretary * (During Singapore refit heard they were looking for Lts for loan to the newly formed Malay Navy.
Having been brought up there, and as it would give one an early command, put my name down) Dec -+- Passage by US Fleet Replenishment ship Mispillion
to Japan and RAF Dakota to Hong Kong on Christmas day. It was a cargo plane so no seats and no heating. The only other passenger was an army Major.
He had A Christmas cake and I a bottle of brandy so we huddled in a bundle of May West life jackets to keep warm and finished off most of both!
1951 Jan -+- Malay Navy running patrols in 50 Ton SDMLs 400 miles up both Coasts during the “Emergency” - One officer and a Malay/Chinese crew.
On one patrol ,from a tip off, discovered half a ton of opium buried on a beach on one of the islands near Tioman on the East Coast. At that time Tioman had
just one native village with about 40 souls. Now I understand there is a Hilton Hotel. People ask why I don’t want to go back – They must be joking.
1953 Jan -+- Troopship home and then Pickle (Algerine Class Minesweeper) as ASCO and Capt’s Sec’y
1954 Oct -+- Resigned my Commission for family reasons.