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The number of cadets was increased to 170 over the years and she remained at this berth for 40 years.At the age of 95 years in 1937 she was repaired during the summer months. A new figurehead of Nelson weighing 2 tons and 13 feet high, donated by the old boys was fitted in this refit. It is now displayed in the RN dockyard, Portsmouth, UK. At this time the hull of the ship was found to be in excellent condition. This figurehead was unveiled by England’s then Poet Laureate, John Masefield, himself an Old Conway (1891 to 1893 on Conway). I was the band master then and blew a bugle “still” at the ceremony from the forecastle and the great man recited a special poem written for the occasion. The start of the first verse was “Old ship who cradled us and gave us friends and sealed us to the service of the sea” .After that the cadets sang the Conway song. Some lines of this song are “dear to the heart of her sons is she, For she caught us and taught us to sail o’er the waters, So we loved her, none other, Our old wooden mother, O, the Conway’s the one ship for you and for me” After this the cadets marched to Liverpool cathedral to take part in a religious service celebrating the “Masting 0f Nelson on the school ship HMS Conway, 11th September 1938. The Lord Lieutenant, the Earl of Derby, spoke, “We of the British Nation founded in the sea tradition of this city are gathered in our cathedral to remember before God our Merchant Navy, its ships, and the men who sail them through the oceans of the world.” The Lord Bishop said, “Sir, this day, upon the prow of our school ship Conway, we have set the figure head of Nelson.” After the start of the 2nd World War the number of cadets was increased to 250 and the ship was towed up to the Menai Straits to Bangor on the mainland in Wales opposite the Isle of Angelsey, 60 miles away from Liverpool. This was because of the severe bombing of the city. Before she was moved the s.s. Tacoma City was sunk by a magnetic mine near her and the cadets in small boats saved 45 of her crew. The ship remained at Bangor for eight years, being moved then to Plas Newydd, the estate of the Marquis of Anglesey, five miles up strait where there was more space ashore to accommodate the cadets. In 1953, it was decided to tow the ship to Liverpool for major repairs and for bottom cleaning. She was to be towed by two Liverpool harbour tugs back north up the Menai straits to Merseyside. The ship would have to go through one of most difficult inland waterways in the country called the “the Swellies.” It is between two bridges - the Britannia Railway Bridge and the Menai Suspension Bridge near Bangor. Here there are adverse conflicting tides. It was in this place that the old ship proved difficult for the tugs to handle-the slack water had not lasted as long as expected. One tug was towing the ship and the other was tied to the stern to control swaying. The tides had started and the ship couldn’t make way so the rear tug was moved up to help with the tow. Suddenlly the old ship caught a strong current and was forced ashore to starboard and became hard aground and couldn’t be moved. When the tide started to rise the water entered her aft and she broke her back. Thus ended the life of one of England’s most famous ships-the last floating man-o-war of the Trafalgar era. A tragic event. If she had been saved she could have become an outstanding tourist attraction for Liverpool. The Conway Marine School was closed in 1974 and this type of training was taken over by the Technical Colleges. Nothing was done about her after the grounding. She had broken her back and was difficult to move. Three years later she unexpectedly burnt to her keel and became a complete wreck. In WW1, 70 Conways lost their lives and 166 in WW2. In the two wars Conways were awarded four Victoria Crosses VCs and one George Medal. Four cadets became Admirals and two Air marshals. The VCs were - Lt.Col. P.E.Bent VC, DSO (1910-12) born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, posthumously with the Leicestershire Regiment in Belgium in 1917; Lt. Charles Bonner VC (1899-1901] for action in the Q-ship Dunraven in a U-boat attack; Lt. Ian (Titch) Fraser VC, DSC, RD, RNR (1936-38) for an underwater mini submarine attack on 13 November 1945 sinking the Japanese cruiser Tako in Singapore harbour.It returned intact to its mother ship. Captain Edward Unwin VC, CB, CMG (1878-80) was given his awards for service during the Gallipoli landings in 1915. Commander Lionel (Buster) Crabb GM, OBE RNVR (1922-24) was awarded his George Medal for his work unclamping underwater mines from merchant ships anchored in the Bay of Algiciras off Gibraltar and defusing them. On 17 April 1956 he drowned in Portsmouth harbour when diving underwater. At the time the USSR cruiser Ordzhonkidz was in the naval base on an diplomatic mission.. A mutilated body was found washed ashore and was buried as being the commander. Many stories have been written that he was found by the Russians and taken to Russia and imprisoned or defected or was killed in Portsmouth. Some famous Conways are: Cyril Abraham (1928-30) novelist and playwright, wrote Onedin Line TV series about sailing ships. Warrington Baden-Powell (1861-1863) founder of sea scouts with his famous brother. When onboard he made a model of Conway which is in the National Maritime Museum. David Corkhill DSC, RN (1934-38), won his award as a midshipman which is very rare for so young an officer.. He fought off a German Heinkel aircraft in a Walrus aircraft in a Norwegian fjord on 18 May 1940, saving the life of the rear gunner after his plane crashed. Frederick Fargus (1861-62) pen name Hugh Conway, Poet, novelist, playwright. Russel Flint (1933-35) marine artist, son of Russel Flint senior, famous artist of nudes. John Masefield OM, LL.D (1891-1967) Poet Laureate, poet, playwrite, wrote two books about life on Conway as well as many novels, plays and books of poetry. Sir Arthur Rostron KBE, RD, Congressional Medal of Honour, RNR (1886-88) was the master of the Carpathia which rescued 700 survivors from the Titanic. Kenneth Shoesmith (1906-08) Marine artist probably the best artist among many who painted the Conway. A large collection of his work is in the Ulster Museum. Captain L. Thompson (1939-41), noted president of the Conway Old Boys club.While serving as a cadet in MV Dunedin Star it ran aground on the deadly Skeleton Coast in Namibia, SW Africa on 29 November 1942 and the crew and passengers were rescued after many adventures. Books and I think a movie were made of this strange incident. Captain John Walbran (1862-64) explored the British Columbia coast in the Canadian government ship Quadra. He wrote a book on BC coastal names. Captain W “Bill” Warwick (1926-28) was the first master of QE2, as well as master of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary and was Commodore of the Cunard Line. Captain W.E. “Ron” Warwick (1956-57) was the son of Bill and was later master of QE2. Captain Matthew “Chummy” Webb (1860-62) was the first man to swim the English Channel from the England to France direction. He died swimming the rapids under Niagara Falls, Canada. Practically all passengers liners going across the North Atlantic over the years at one time were commanded by old Conways. The old Conway Club is one of the most unique of its kind in the world. Its members-over a 1,000, reside in every continent with clubs in the UK (six, Scotland, Durham, Fareham, Nottingham, Tavistock and Wirral,), Canada (three, Victoria, Vancouver and Toronto, Lake Ontario). Australia (three, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide) for a total of twelve. A number of these clubs are associated with HMS Worcester (UK), Pangbourne (UK) and General Botha (South Africa)- all navy and merchant navy training school and ships now closed. The club’s extraordindary international newletter is published three times a year. It has long paragraphs to save postage and usually runs to 40 pages, packed with interesting stories of the history of the British Commonwealth Navies and Merchant Navies going back to the 1800’s. The archives of the Conway are unusually comprehensive going back to its beginning and are now kept in the Maritime Museum of Liverpool. Thanks to Captain Chris Briggs of Perth, Western Australia and Mike Williamson of Gibsons, British Columbia, Canada who was onboard when Conway ran aground. [up] |
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© Frank Wade 1998 - 2006 |
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