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HMS Conway Graduation Day
HMS Kent Frederick E. Valentine Album
Fred Valentine
HMS Conway Graduation Day
WIGAN EXIMANER December 10th 1927 - Interview with Fred Valentine
BATTLE OF - FALKLAND ISLES.Wiganers Graphic Story,OFFICER WHO WAS IN THE BATTLE.
In view of the screening in Wigan this week of the pictures of the Battles of Coronel and Forkland Islands, it is interesting to know that a Wiganer, Mr. Fred Valentine, who now resides at Lytham St. Annes, was an officer on H.M.S. Kent, which played a conspicuous part in the Battle of Falkland -Islands. Mr. Valentine, who was then a sub-lieutenant, was later promoted to lieutenant; I and did service for some time in one of the “Q” boats, the mystery boats of the war, which played such havoc with German submarines.We asked Mr. Valentine if he would kindly give us some details that would he interesting to our readers. . He said the Kent was cruising in South Atlantic waters in November, 1914, when she received orders to join H.M.S. Good Hope, Monmouth, Glasgow, and Orama, the last-named being an armed liner, and all of Admiral Cradock's squadronin the Pacific. This order was cancelled, as the Good Hope and Monmouth met their fate at the battle of Coronel, where they were greatly outnumbered by the Germans. The Kent was then ordered to a secret rendezvous, the Abrolnos rocks, off the coast of Brazil, and the Kent proceeded there along with H.M.S. Glasgow, which had escaped from the Colonel fight, and H.M.S. Bristol, and were joined by the battle cruisers Inflexible and Invincible under Admiral Sturdee. This was a tremendous surprise to the Germans, and had been kept a profound secret. After coaling at Abrolhos Rocks the ships proceeded under Admiral Sturdee's orders, to Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, arriving there on December 7th.GUARD SHIP.The Kent was the guard ship for the day on December 8th, and they were ordered to weigh anchor and proceed to the harbour month "I was on the bridge at the time," continued Mr. Valentine, and was curious- to know the reason for the sudden order. Columns of smoke weresuddenly, seen over the low-lying land, and we guessed the truth: the Germans, under Von Spee, were steaming towards the island. H,M.S. Canopus, which was used as a fort, fired one 12 inch shell. Soon the German ships were visible about 17,000 yards away. It was fortunate for the Kent that the enemy did not fire at her while she was at the harbour mouth, because had the German cruisers opened fire on the Kent and sunk her, the harbour might have been blocked, and thus prevented the other ships from getting out to engage the enemy. It was evident that the Germans, seeing the battle cruisers Invincible and Inflexible in the harbour, thought it the best policy to run away. The Kent was the first ship out of harbour, having been ordered to chase the enemy. We were eventually passed by the faster ships, Inflexible and Invincible. The other ships in the chase were H.M.S. Glasgow, Cornwall and Carnarvon, the last-named lagging astern. H.M.S. Macedonia, an armed liner, and H.M.S. Bristol went in pursuit of the German colliers and store ships and sank them, Admiral Sturdee signalled to the light cruisers, Kent, Glasgow and Cornwall, to engage the German light cruisers, Nuremberg, Leipzig, and Dresden. The speed of the Kent about this time was 24 knots. The Glasgow, the fastest of the three light cruisers, immediately engaged the Dresden, but had to turn eight points to starboard to avoid_ the Germans' very accurate firing. The Dresden eventually escaped. We on the Kent saw the beginning of the engagement between the Glasgow and Cornwall against the Leipzig. As we were chasing the Nuremberg our speed was about 25 knots. Meanwhile, being short of coal, we had to break chairs, targets and all moveable wooden things, for use as fuel. The German ship's guns had 1,000 yards greater range than ours, and consequently, although we were gaining, we were the first to be hit, a shell tearing a large hole in the deck and demolishing the sick bay, which, luckily, was empty. As we got within range of our guns a running fight at a speed of 25 knots was begun. We closed to about 4,000 yards, and it seemed impossible to miss. Gradually our superior strength began to tell and the Germane fire eased a little. We closed to point blank range, about 1,500 yards, which at sea is seemingly a stone's throw, each ship manoeuvring for a torpedo attack."THE NUREMBERG'S FATE.,It must have been perfect hell aboard the Nuremburg. The ship’s plates seemed to be white hot. They were brave men, those Germans. As seen through the binoculars the sight was frightful. Just before the end one of the Germans hauled down the German ensign, and was immediately shot by one of his officers, who had the flag hoisted again. During the time the ensign was down about fifty of the Nuremberg's men collected aft with the intention of saving themselves. When the flag was hoisted again, however, the Nuremberg re-opened fire on us, which we returned. The Kent was struck many times, but frightful damage was done to the Nuremberg, and our gunlayers gasped at the sight on the German ship. Eventually the German ensign was hauled down, and those who had survived jumped overboard and swam towards the Kent. All our boats had beep holed as a result of the German gun fire, and we were unable to lower any of them into the sea until one was repaired. Seven Germans were saved in this way, and five others swam to the ship and were picked up. The crew of the Nuremburg numbered 300 or 400.WHAT THE LIVERPOOL MAN SAID.The first man we saved had resided in Liverpool, having married an Englishwoman, and we were, surprised to hear him shout, ‘For the love of God, save me alive.’ It was learned that he was serving in a South American steamship liner when war broke out, and during the visit of Von Spee's squadron to Valparaiso, after sinking the Good Hope and Monmouth, the Germans went on board and took all the men of German extraction and forced them into the Fleet.""The Kent's casualties,” said Mr. Valentine, were only twenty-two killed and wounded, though the ship was hit about fifty times. Sergeant Mase, the marine sergeant, distinguished himself during an important phase of the battle. A salvo front the Nuremberg had smashed the gun screw and the guns of No. 3 casmate and killed the gun’s crew. The cordite charges caught fire, and some fell down the ammunition hoist. Sergt. Mase caught hold of the burning cordite and extinguished it, thus preventing, what might have been a very serious explosion. He received the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal. As the wireless room had been demolished, and we could not send a message to the remainder of the squadron, it was thought we had gone down, and there were cheers from the other ships when we returned.The Inflexible and the Invincible were afterwards sunk in the battle of Jutland.A SURPRISE MEETING."One- of the petty officers of the Cornwall, who was afterwards attached to the Kent, was wounded, and on going below into the sick bay he found a man there whom he had met in London. He was astonished to see him, and found that he was a wounded German, and apparently in London before the war he was doing work for the German secret service. "The week before the Dresden was captured at Juan Fernandez rather a peculiar incident occurred. the Kent had been ordered to proceed to a rendezvous to the westward of Coronel, where the Good Hope and Monmouth met Von Spee's squadron. This was to intercept the Dresden. It, was misty as we arrived at the rendezvous, and as the, mist lifted a little we saw a dull shape in the distance, which proved to be the Dresden steaming towards us almost bow on. The Dresden, as one of H.M.S. Glasgow's officers cleverly deciphered, had sent a wireless message to a German collier and store ship telling the captain of her to meet the Dresden at this rendezvous. However, we gave chase, but, being again short of coal, we had, to let her go, after several hours' hard steaming, and returned to the port of Coronet to re-bunker with coal. The following Sunday, a week after this incident, we captured and sank the Dresden at Juan Fernandez. The Kent, after sinking the Dresden in March, 1915, went to Esquimault, British- Columbia, to re-fit, but owing to the dry dock there being too small we had to ask the Chileans permission to dry-dock at Talcahuana, the Chilean naval base. This is quite permissible for a neutral country to do if a man-o'-war belonging to any country at war is in an unseaworthy condition_ We were therefore allowed a fortnight in which_ to re-fit and dry-dock the ship The Dresden's crew was interned on a small island in the Harbour of Talcahuana, and as the Kent steamed slowly past it was amusing to see the stir it caused in the internment camp. No doubt the Germans' feelings were other than friendly. The Chilians, on the whole, were pro-English, and the armed guard they provided round the dry-dock both day and night proved both interesting and necessary. In fact, we had to be careful ourselves. The Chilian soldiers are very conscientious individuals, and on several occasions when they imagined or really saw something in the shape of a suspicious person they fired ad libitum. Yes, we had a, few trying nights. After leaving Talbringincahuana. we visited many of the Pacific Islands, and later, with a prize, a German merchantman, we sailed South again to the Magellan Straits and through them into the Atlantic to the Falkland Islands.SIR E. SHACKLETON.At the Falkland Islands we heard that a German cruiser, unknown to us, was at South Georgia, an island some hundreds of miles to the E.S.E. of the Falklands, and to which place we repaired full speed. However, on arrival there, we found the news, to be false. It is rather an interesting fact to know that Sir E. Shackleton was at the other side of this Island (no one knew this, of course, at the time), having risked his life by sailing from Elephant Island (in the Antarctic Circle) in a ship's lifeboat, with three companions, to try and send help to the remainder of his men, who were shipwrecked there. It is interesting also to read of the hardships they underwent during this adventure. The Samson, the ship sent down to Elephant. island to pick up the stranded men, curiously enough, was a small patrol boat attached to the Kent at the Falkland Islands, and of which I had command until we left for South Georgia. From South Georgia we sailed to Cape Town, and, picking up a convoy of twenty Australian troopships, we sailed for home, arriving at Plymouth in January 1916. Capt. Allen, who was in command of the Kent, received the C.B. for his distinguished service in the battle of Falklands. He is now a Rear-Admiral."Mr. Valentine was at sea for four years before the war commenced. He was trained on H.M.S. Conway, the Cadet Training Ship anchored in the River Mersey off Rock Ferry for two years, and also in the White Star sailing ship Mersey, trading between Liverpool and the Australian parts until war was declared.FALKLAND ISLANDS BATTLE AND SOUTHAFRICA."It is generally thought by the South African people," stated Mr. Valentine, "that the Falkland Islands battle was the main factor in deciding the fate of that country during the revolutionary risings there early in the war. It only required a backing from Von Spee'e fleet, the German forces in German East and S.W. Africa, to have changed this seemingly insignificant revolt into an upheaval, which would have necessitated the bringing of, troops from England, and, in so doing, weakened the Army in France. December 8th in South Africa is a day of rejoicing. I have lost touch with the country now, but up to four or five years ago one could see that, they were very thankful that the Falkland Islands battle had been fought and won."Referring to the work in the “Q” boats, which were a source of much danger tat the Germans, Mr. Valentine said: " Imaginary trading journeys were made, running from Jersey and other places as if carrying, supplies of potatoes to Holyhead, though nothing was taken on board. The boats would arrive off either Jersey or some other port at dusk, and would steam round about for a time. During the dark, the ship would be painted a different colour, and then proceed to some other destination, arriving there at dusk, and going through the same procedure. Several V.C.'s were earned by officers and men in these boats. All the officers and men engaged in “Q” boats were volunteers from, the Fleet. These boats carried concealed guns, which often surprised unsuspecting German submarines."Later, Mr. Valentine went to Egypt, being attached to the battleship Hannibal. He left the Navy in December, 1919.
In view of the screening in Wigan this week of the pictures of the Battles of Coronel and Forkland Islands, it is interesting to know that a Wiganer, Mr. Fred Valentine, who now resides at Lytham St. Annes, was an officer on H.M.S. Kent, which played a conspicuous part in the Battle of Falkland -Islands. Mr. Valentine, who was then a sub-lieutenant, was later promoted to lieutenant; I and did service for some time in one of the “Q” boats, the mystery boats of the war, which played such havoc with German submarines.We asked Mr. Valentine if he would kindly give us some details that would he interesting to our readers. . He said the Kent was cruising in South Atlantic waters in November, 1914, when she received orders to join H.M.S. Good Hope, Monmouth, Glasgow, and Orama, the last-named being an armed liner, and all of Admiral Cradock's squadronin the Pacific. This order was cancelled, as the Good Hope and Monmouth met their fate at the battle of Coronel, where they were greatly outnumbered by the Germans. The Kent was then ordered to a secret rendezvous, the Abrolnos rocks, off the coast of Brazil, and the Kent proceeded there along with H.M.S. Glasgow, which had escaped from the Colonel fight, and H.M.S. Bristol, and were joined by the battle cruisers Inflexible and Invincible under Admiral Sturdee. This was a tremendous surprise to the Germans, and had been kept a profound secret. After coaling at Abrolhos Rocks the ships proceeded under Admiral Sturdee's orders, to Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, arriving there on December 7th.GUARD SHIP.The Kent was the guard ship for the day on December 8th, and they were ordered to weigh anchor and proceed to the harbour month "I was on the bridge at the time," continued Mr. Valentine, and was curious- to know the reason for the sudden order. Columns of smoke weresuddenly, seen over the low-lying land, and we guessed the truth: the Germans, under Von Spee, were steaming towards the island. H,M.S. Canopus, which was used as a fort, fired one 12 inch shell. Soon the German ships were visible about 17,000 yards away. It was fortunate for the Kent that the enemy did not fire at her while she was at the harbour mouth, because had the German cruisers opened fire on the Kent and sunk her, the harbour might have been blocked, and thus prevented the other ships from getting out to engage the enemy. It was evident that the Germans, seeing the battle cruisers Invincible and Inflexible in the harbour, thought it the best policy to run away. The Kent was the first ship out of harbour, having been ordered to chase the enemy. We were eventually passed by the faster ships, Inflexible and Invincible. The other ships in the chase were H.M.S. Glasgow, Cornwall and Carnarvon, the last-named lagging astern. H.M.S. Macedonia, an armed liner, and H.M.S. Bristol went in pursuit of the German colliers and store ships and sank them, Admiral Sturdee signalled to the light cruisers, Kent, Glasgow and Cornwall, to engage the German light cruisers, Nuremberg, Leipzig, and Dresden. The speed of the Kent about this time was 24 knots. The Glasgow, the fastest of the three light cruisers, immediately engaged the Dresden, but had to turn eight points to starboard to avoid_ the Germans' very accurate firing. The Dresden eventually escaped. We on the Kent saw the beginning of the engagement between the Glasgow and Cornwall against the Leipzig. As we were chasing the Nuremberg our speed was about 25 knots. Meanwhile, being short of coal, we had to break chairs, targets and all moveable wooden things, for use as fuel. The German ship's guns had 1,000 yards greater range than ours, and consequently, although we were gaining, we were the first to be hit, a shell tearing a large hole in the deck and demolishing the sick bay, which, luckily, was empty. As we got within range of our guns a running fight at a speed of 25 knots was begun. We closed to about 4,000 yards, and it seemed impossible to miss. Gradually our superior strength began to tell and the Germane fire eased a little. We closed to point blank range, about 1,500 yards, which at sea is seemingly a stone's throw, each ship manoeuvring for a torpedo attack."THE NUREMBERG'S FATE.,It must have been perfect hell aboard the Nuremburg. The ship’s plates seemed to be white hot. They were brave men, those Germans. As seen through the binoculars the sight was frightful. Just before the end one of the Germans hauled down the German ensign, and was immediately shot by one of his officers, who had the flag hoisted again. During the time the ensign was down about fifty of the Nuremberg's men collected aft with the intention of saving themselves. When the flag was hoisted again, however, the Nuremberg re-opened fire on us, which we returned. The Kent was struck many times, but frightful damage was done to the Nuremberg, and our gunlayers gasped at the sight on the German ship. Eventually the German ensign was hauled down, and those who had survived jumped overboard and swam towards the Kent. All our boats had beep holed as a result of the German gun fire, and we were unable to lower any of them into the sea until one was repaired. Seven Germans were saved in this way, and five others swam to the ship and were picked up. The crew of the Nuremburg numbered 300 or 400.WHAT THE LIVERPOOL MAN SAID.The first man we saved had resided in Liverpool, having married an Englishwoman, and we were, surprised to hear him shout, ‘For the love of God, save me alive.’ It was learned that he was serving in a South American steamship liner when war broke out, and during the visit of Von Spee's squadron to Valparaiso, after sinking the Good Hope and Monmouth, the Germans went on board and took all the men of German extraction and forced them into the Fleet.""The Kent's casualties,” said Mr. Valentine, were only twenty-two killed and wounded, though the ship was hit about fifty times. Sergeant Mase, the marine sergeant, distinguished himself during an important phase of the battle. A salvo front the Nuremberg had smashed the gun screw and the guns of No. 3 casmate and killed the gun’s crew. The cordite charges caught fire, and some fell down the ammunition hoist. Sergt. Mase caught hold of the burning cordite and extinguished it, thus preventing, what might have been a very serious explosion. He received the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal. As the wireless room had been demolished, and we could not send a message to the remainder of the squadron, it was thought we had gone down, and there were cheers from the other ships when we returned.The Inflexible and the Invincible were afterwards sunk in the battle of Jutland.A SURPRISE MEETING."One- of the petty officers of the Cornwall, who was afterwards attached to the Kent, was wounded, and on going below into the sick bay he found a man there whom he had met in London. He was astonished to see him, and found that he was a wounded German, and apparently in London before the war he was doing work for the German secret service. "The week before the Dresden was captured at Juan Fernandez rather a peculiar incident occurred. the Kent had been ordered to proceed to a rendezvous to the westward of Coronel, where the Good Hope and Monmouth met Von Spee's squadron. This was to intercept the Dresden. It, was misty as we arrived at the rendezvous, and as the, mist lifted a little we saw a dull shape in the distance, which proved to be the Dresden steaming towards us almost bow on. The Dresden, as one of H.M.S. Glasgow's officers cleverly deciphered, had sent a wireless message to a German collier and store ship telling the captain of her to meet the Dresden at this rendezvous. However, we gave chase, but, being again short of coal, we had, to let her go, after several hours' hard steaming, and returned to the port of Coronet to re-bunker with coal. The following Sunday, a week after this incident, we captured and sank the Dresden at Juan Fernandez. The Kent, after sinking the Dresden in March, 1915, went to Esquimault, British- Columbia, to re-fit, but owing to the dry dock there being too small we had to ask the Chileans permission to dry-dock at Talcahuana, the Chilean naval base. This is quite permissible for a neutral country to do if a man-o'-war belonging to any country at war is in an unseaworthy condition_ We were therefore allowed a fortnight in which_ to re-fit and dry-dock the ship The Dresden's crew was interned on a small island in the Harbour of Talcahuana, and as the Kent steamed slowly past it was amusing to see the stir it caused in the internment camp. No doubt the Germans' feelings were other than friendly. The Chilians, on the whole, were pro-English, and the armed guard they provided round the dry-dock both day and night proved both interesting and necessary. In fact, we had to be careful ourselves. The Chilian soldiers are very conscientious individuals, and on several occasions when they imagined or really saw something in the shape of a suspicious person they fired ad libitum. Yes, we had a, few trying nights. After leaving Talbringincahuana. we visited many of the Pacific Islands, and later, with a prize, a German merchantman, we sailed South again to the Magellan Straits and through them into the Atlantic to the Falkland Islands.SIR E. SHACKLETON.At the Falkland Islands we heard that a German cruiser, unknown to us, was at South Georgia, an island some hundreds of miles to the E.S.E. of the Falklands, and to which place we repaired full speed. However, on arrival there, we found the news, to be false. It is rather an interesting fact to know that Sir E. Shackleton was at the other side of this Island (no one knew this, of course, at the time), having risked his life by sailing from Elephant Island (in the Antarctic Circle) in a ship's lifeboat, with three companions, to try and send help to the remainder of his men, who were shipwrecked there. It is interesting also to read of the hardships they underwent during this adventure. The Samson, the ship sent down to Elephant. island to pick up the stranded men, curiously enough, was a small patrol boat attached to the Kent at the Falkland Islands, and of which I had command until we left for South Georgia. From South Georgia we sailed to Cape Town, and, picking up a convoy of twenty Australian troopships, we sailed for home, arriving at Plymouth in January 1916. Capt. Allen, who was in command of the Kent, received the C.B. for his distinguished service in the battle of Falklands. He is now a Rear-Admiral."Mr. Valentine was at sea for four years before the war commenced. He was trained on H.M.S. Conway, the Cadet Training Ship anchored in the River Mersey off Rock Ferry for two years, and also in the White Star sailing ship Mersey, trading between Liverpool and the Australian parts until war was declared.FALKLAND ISLANDS BATTLE AND SOUTHAFRICA."It is generally thought by the South African people," stated Mr. Valentine, "that the Falkland Islands battle was the main factor in deciding the fate of that country during the revolutionary risings there early in the war. It only required a backing from Von Spee'e fleet, the German forces in German East and S.W. Africa, to have changed this seemingly insignificant revolt into an upheaval, which would have necessitated the bringing of, troops from England, and, in so doing, weakened the Army in France. December 8th in South Africa is a day of rejoicing. I have lost touch with the country now, but up to four or five years ago one could see that, they were very thankful that the Falkland Islands battle had been fought and won."Referring to the work in the “Q” boats, which were a source of much danger tat the Germans, Mr. Valentine said: " Imaginary trading journeys were made, running from Jersey and other places as if carrying, supplies of potatoes to Holyhead, though nothing was taken on board. The boats would arrive off either Jersey or some other port at dusk, and would steam round about for a time. During the dark, the ship would be painted a different colour, and then proceed to some other destination, arriving there at dusk, and going through the same procedure. Several V.C.'s were earned by officers and men in these boats. All the officers and men engaged in “Q” boats were volunteers from, the Fleet. These boats carried concealed guns, which often surprised unsuspecting German submarines."Later, Mr. Valentine went to Egypt, being attached to the battleship Hannibal. He left the Navy in December, 1919.