Rear Admiral Joseph Wey in
conversation with Captain William David Scott in Wey’s office at Naval
Headquarters in Lagos.
There
has always been two sides to the depiction of the careers of sailors. The
press-ganged, scurvy-enduring man-on-deck who braved the elements and partook
in merciless warfare on the high-seas is as imprinted in the popular imagination
as is that of the adventure-seeking, hard-drinking sailor who had a girl in
every port.
One
side of the coin is the gritty realism of war as portrayed in Nicholas
Monsarrat’s 1951 novel The Cruel Sea,
which was made into a memorable film a few years later. During war there are
endless drills, hours of enforced silence in darkness and the constant fear of
death within a floating coffin.
But
the other side, that of the peacetime navy, is one which can be a very
attractive one for both officers and men. The “Run ashores” and “Rum Tots” bear
testament to the arcane rites that are part of naval life as well as the rich lexicon
of expression.
For
Captain William David Scott, the command of HMS
Fife, a 6,000-ton county-class destroyer equipped with guided missiles and Wessex
helicopter, there were many responsibilities and challenges in a peacetime navy
which operated as an integral part of NATO during the Cold War with the Soviet
Union.
The
vessel was designed to operate in areas of nuclear fall-out. Its three main
roles were to serve as an escort, to provide task unit support and to carry out
peace time police duties.
But
the compensations in observing these duties and remaining in a state of
preparedness spoke for themselves. Among the destinations visited by Captain
Scott and his 500-man crew during a round-the-world tour between 1970 and 1971
were Hawaii, Singapore, Nigeria, Japan and Hong Kong.
HMS Fife visited Lagos, Nigeria for
four days in April, 1970. Nigeria, a former colony of Britain, had been independent
for a decade, but had endured a two and a half year civil war that had only
ended three months earlier.
Among
the visitors to the ship was Rear Admiral Joseph Wey, the Chief of Nigerian Naval
Staff who had presided over the Nigerian Navy’s role in enforcing a littoral
blockade of the secessionist state of Biafra. Scott gave him a tour of the ship
and Wey later entertained him on shore at the naval base. Some of Fife’s crew
partook in a football friendly with Nigerian naval personnel.
Fife holds the distinction of being the last
Royal Navy ship to issue the rum tot. Photographs of the funeral of the rum tot
barrel and others covering Scott’s naval career can be viewed at Maritime Quest
dot com. [Click HERE]
Addendum:
HMS Fife was decommissioned in 1987
after 21 years service and sold to the Chilean Navy in which it operated under
the name Blanco Encalada. Captain
Scott, who was later knighted, retired as a rear admiral. Rear Admiral Wey, who
also served as the Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters in Nigeria’s military government
was compulsorily retired after a military coup in July 1975, having attained
the rank of vice admiral.
©
Adeyinka Makinde (2019)
Adeyinka
Makinde is a writer based in London, England.
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