WELCOME TO FRED COOPER'S HISTORY WEBSITE

These memoirs of Lt Cdr Robert E Brett and his reminicences of HMS Seaham were contributed by his son in "WW2 People's War"

On September 1st 1939, Captain Robert E. Brett was in command of the tanker SS Eocene in passage to the Baku oil fields on the Black Sea. Without prior notice his ship was diverted to the port of Constansa where upon his arrival, he was immediately met by the British Consul. Much to his amazement, arrangements had been made between the British Government and Polish authorities for his ship to secretly transport 75 tons of gold bullion reserves of the Bank of Poland to safety.

The gold had been transported acroos Eastern Europe by bus, truck and train often within minutes of being intercepted by the invading Nazi forces.Late on the night of September 15th, the gold was loaded aboard the SS Eocene in great secrecy. Unfortunately, Nazi agents were at work in Constansa and efforts were being made to convince the Romanian authorities to seize the ship and its valuable cargo.

Captain Brett, not wishing to be interned for the duration of the war and not willing to give up his ship without a fight, darkened ship on the night of September 16th and silently slipped out of the harbor and set course for Istanbul. Hugging the coast, the Eocene eventualy made the port of Istabul on September 19th,1939. There the gold was transfered to Turkish authorities who then made arrangements to transport the gold to awaiting French cruisers in Beirut. The long odyssey of the Polish gold had begun but for my father, it was an audicious beginning to a long war.

My father had joined the RNR in 1932 and after 2 years of training was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the RNR to be called up in the event of hostilities. Captain Brett sailed for England and in early 1940 was given command of HMS Goodwin, a converted coastal cargo ship whose mission was to escort convoys along the east coast of the British Isles. So short was the Navy of suitable convoy escorts, that the Goodwin was often the sole escort for a merchant ship convoy.

The year was 1940 and soon the phony war became a war of survival as the Low Countries, France and Norway were invaded. The Goodwin now endured countless air attacks as the Luftwaffe attacked coastal convoys in preparation for what was to become the Battle of Britain. However, the Navy had other plans for Lieutenant Commander Brett, as the first of the Bangor class fleet minesweepers were coming of the builder's slips.

Thus in late 1941, my father left the Goodwin and made his way to Renfrew, Scotland where HMS Seaham lay ready for commissioning. The Bangor class ships were of 700 to 800 tons displacement and were armed with one 12-pounder (3in) gun,a 2-pounder Mark VIII gun aft,0.5 machine guns or 303 Lewis guns and depth charge racks, as well as the usual sweeping gear. With a crew of 60 they had cramped quarters, a situation which was made worse by the way these ships handled in rough seas.

After builders trials on the Clyde and subsequent commissioning, HMS Seaham proceeded to Tobermory for working up exercises. A few short weeks were all that wre available to change a ship's company comprised of mainly hostilities only recruits into an effective fighting unit.
The exercises were not without incident, including the unexpected visit by Vice Admiral Stevenson. On this occasion, Lieut. Sharp bowed to the Admiral having forgotten to wear his cap!

Upon completion of working up exercises, Seaham now made its way to the Azores in company of sister ships HMS Boston and HMS Poole. Routed north of Ireland, the weather was attrocious with many of the crew violently seasick.Port was made at Ponta Delgarda in the Azores for repairs to the steering gear. From there,Seaham proceeded to the Cape and thence to Simonstown to exercise with the Eastern Fleet. Upon refueling in Mombassa, Seaham proceeded to the Red Sea and Suez, arriving in Alexandria when the fortunes of war were very much in favor of the Axis.

One of the first tasks for Seaham was to escort a convoy to Malta as part of operation Harpoon and Vigorous. Under constant air attack and with additional threats from U-boats and the Italian surface fleet, my father remained on the bridge for over 3 days, catching a few minutes sleep here and there.The navy lost one cruiser and two destroyers in that abortive convoy.

Returning to Alexandria word was out that Rommel's forces had us on the run. Orders went out to escort the submarine depot ship HMS Medway to Port Said. At the last moment the orders were rescinded and transfered to a Corvette. Sadly, both ships were sunk by Axis aircraft with appaling loss of life including a contingent of Wrens. HMS Seaham and her crew had lived to fight another day. The sinking of the Medway remained a secret until the end of the war.

For the next five months of 1942, Seaham was employed in escorting convoys along the Egyptian, Syrian and Palestine coasts. By November of 1942,after Montgomery's 8th Army had started its historic march across North Africa, Seaham got down to its proper job-sweeping.

The 14th Minesweeping Flotilla kept up with the 8th Army, sweeping approaches to captured ports and on occasion bringing in much needed supplies to the 8th Army. The first casualty of the Flotilla occured when HMS Cromer hit a mine and blew up.Additional Bangor sweepers joined the flotilla and Lieut. Commander Brett became Second Senior Officer of the group. HMS Seaham was kept busy with salvaging a Hunt class destroyer which had run aground as well as towing of a beach a stranded tank landing craft. For all this trouble, HMS Seaham was shelled by shore batteries of the retreating Africa Korp.

In February of 1943, Seaham was given the task of escorting an empty tanker back to Alexandria. En route, the convoy came under air attack. The tanker and an accompaning Corvette were sunk and despite several close misses Seaham survived and lived to fight another day. Seaman Paul Jasper told me in 1995 that he attributes the survival of the Seaham throughout the war to the seamanship of my father.

In another close call, Seaham left her usual berth in Tripoli harbor to take up guard duty at the harbor entrance. That night of March 19th, 1943, the enemy resorted to dropping a fiendish new device called a circling torpedo in the harbor of Tripoli. The torpedo hit the merchant ship Ocean Voyager, loaded with bombs and high octane petrol. The Ocean Voyager had been berthed alongside the Seaham and when she exploded everything in the immediate vicinity was destroyed.

In May of 1943, the flotilla was ordered to sweep from Malta and preparations were made for the invasion of Sicily. On the morning of D plus 3, HMS Seaham was ordered to be part of an A/S screen for bombarding cruisers near Augusta, Sicily. Suddenly, an Italian U-boat broke surface, dived and surfaced again beam on to the Seaham. Commander Brett ordered the 3 inch forward gun to open fire and hits were observed on the conning tower. Seaham came alongside the submarine with bridge guns blazing away. Within minutes the white flag was waving and the crew of the Italian submarine Bronzo were on deck waving their arms in surrender. Lieut. Bolton was put in charge of a boarding party and in due time a tow line was secured and the Bronzo was towed into nearby Syracuse. For his efforts the Admiralty decreed that a DSO was in order for Commander Brett.

Following the invasion of Sicily, the flotilla was ordered to the Straits of Bonefaccio for minesweeping operations. Sadly, the flotilla commander's ship, HMS Cromarty hit a mine and blew up. There were few survivors but Coomander Brett took his ship into the minefield and picked up survivors including the commanding officer, Lieut. Commander Bunty Palmer, RNZVR.

In the last days of December 1943, HMS Seaham departed the Mediterranean for home waters. Escorting an old very slow convoy, messages were received that German Destroyers were out hunting in the Bay of Biscay. In the knick of time, crusers HMS Glasgow and Enterprise came to the rescue and quickly dispatched the German threat. Seaham was ordered to pick up survivors and in the early morning hours of January 1st, 1944, Seaham arrived in Falmouth harbor with 62 prisoners aboard.

HMS Seaham was home for the first time in three years. For my father it was the first time for him to see me, his son. After a well earned leave, it was back to Seaham to prepare for Operation Overlord or for the Navy, Operation Neptune.

On the morning of D-Day,Seaham and her flotilla was hard at work clearing the approaches to the invasion beaches. In subsequent days, the SEAHAM was assigned to Channel #2 to clear mines for our bombarding cruisers and battleships working their way up the Cherbourg peninsular. Once again, for all their trouble to clear mines, they came under intense fire from German shore batteries. Sweeps were cut and a quick retreat was made until escorting Destroyers and Cruisers laid down covering fire.

My father left HMS Seaham in late 1944 but not without a beautiful silver cigarette box given to him in appreciation for his devotion and leadership to his crew. That box now resides in the Council Chambers of the town of Seaham. HMS Seaham went on to further minesweeping operations in the Channel and North Sea and finished her career in the Royal Navy as part of the Fishery Protection flotilla. In 1947 she was sold to Burma to become a pilot and survey vessel for the harbor of Rangoon.
In a final twist of irony, she hit an uncharted Japanese mine and sank. Perhaps it was a fitting way for a fighting ship to go, rather than rusting away in some backwater or awaiting the cutters torch.

She is not forgoten. She lives in the memories of the town of Seaham, whose residents raised over 110,00 Pounds to have her built and who supported the crew throughout the War with letters, knitted goods, sweets and cigs.

As for my father, he was appointed Base Commander for minesweeping operations out of Harwich. His service to his country ended in 1946 and he returned to the Merchant Navy and Standard Vacuum. For his bravery in minesweeping operations in the Straits of Bonefaccio he was awarded the DSC.In 1953 he was awarded the rank of Captain RNR as part of the Queen's New Year Awards. He retired from Mobil Oil Corp in 1968 and spent his retiremnt years in Melbourne, Australia. Until his death in 1982, he kept up a close friendship with Lieut. Bunty Palmer and his faithful Number 1 Lieut.Dumbo Bolton

May he rest in peace along with all who served aboard HMS Seaham. They are not forgotten!