My first ship - the Brilliant

My First Ship - the "Brilliant" (Extract)

H.M.S. Briiliant, my first ship was based at Dover. We were not at Dunkirk as she and the Boreas were in dry dock owing to damage. So after Dunkirk we became the only two destroyers available. Of course by then the Germans had taken the French coast.

We received a signal that a convoy off the Southend coast was being attacked by German E-boats. We got to Southend as fast as we could. We drove the E-boats off back to France. I was down below in the forward shellroom, so I did not know what was happening above. We were being shelled by the German shore batteries, so we were told to return to Dover. Well, we almost got back. Then outside Dover harbour, the first wave of dive-bombers attacked us. HMS Boreas was the first to be hit. They were A.B. gun crews. They had run out of 4.7 A.A. ammunition and had to take cover which they did but unfortunately, a bomb hit the bridge, continued through the wheelhouse, then through the Petty Officer’s Mess, then to the Galley where it exploded, killing the A & B gun crews who had taken cover there. HMS Brilliant proceeded to cover her while she got her steering going.

Then they paid us attention. (HMS Boreas managed to get back to Dover harbour)

They pelted us hitting us with two bombs. One hit starboard side Quarter deck, and one hit portside Quarter deck. The one that hit starboard side went through the wardroom, through the aft shellroom and out of the bottom, and went off.
On the portside, it went through wardrooms, ricocheted off the bulkhead into [Tillflat], through the bottom and went off. Lucky to say we had no casualties, but we were sinking. The first thing I knew, was when the 1st Lieutenant said ‘close the hatch of the shellroom’ and went to help up on the upper deck.

That was the first time I knew what had happened. We were told to ditch anything we could to keep us afloat, as all the after pump was submerged in water. But we heard that tug (I am certain her name was ‘The Lady Bressie’). All the people who knew us when we were on shore leave were praying on top of the cliffs. Anyway, Lady Bressie managed to get us into Dover, and damage control managed to fill the bomb holes with mail bags full of cotton waste, and with our pumps going, we managed to reach Chatham Dock Yard.
We had a problem at St. Margaret’s Bay – one of the pumps stopped, but luckily we got it going again. I did two years and four months on HMS Brilliant. Then I left her. I am glad to say she went through the war and of course was eventually taken out of service and broken up in 1947 at Troon - she had something of a charmed life.

'HMS Brilliant' photo from unknown internet source