The story begins on January 30th 1957. I was at RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet) in Northern Ireland. A tannoy call required me to report to the Main Office where I was informed I had come up on the roster for a draft, but could not be told where to, also I did not have to take it - but if I did I had to go now. I was told it would be an experience and exciting - little did I know!!! Discussing this at lunch, Mick Kemp said it would be Christmas Island. I thought, well I had joined up to see the world, and so far had only been on shore stations, so why not. The afternoon was spent having jabs and extra kit. Early next morning boarded the train to catch the ferry to the mainland and onward to Portsmouth.
     On arrival at dockyard everything was very busy in last minute preparations prior to sailing next day. Our passengers of 77 soldiers and 80 airmen were already on board, these being mainly replacements for those whose time had elapsed whilst at Christmas Island. I settled into the allocated mess deck and met with Leading Hands Harry Riley, Darkie Bartlett, Butch King and Jeeps Neil, and about 25 other lads, none of which I had met before, including the Flight Deck Cowboy Michael Gruber, and Roy Page. We shared a space about the same size as my lounge, sleeping in hammocks (getting in is an art believe me) each having a locker, and sharing meals around a couple of tables after they were collected from the galley. This was to be home for the next 8 months (smelly socks and all). Unfortunately joining the ship as a late replacement I missed out on the pre voyage build up and trials and had little time to get to know my new mess mates before we sailed.
     Our departure was delayed due adverse weather conditions until February 2nd. Our schedule did not allow for any further delay, we had to make our time slot for the Panama Canal. We took on board our Ships Flight of three Whirlwind helicopter and two Grumman Avengers. The Atlantic gales gave us trouble of the first magnitude. We awoke to find our mess deck 8 inches underwater which had come down through the seal of the lift and machinery space and through the hatch. Further examination of the ship our bows were stove in, boats were smashed, life saving boats were just washed away. Some compartments below the flight deck were just a crumpled mess.
     Eventually the storms moderated and we were able to restore some sanity to the ship.
Now it was full steam to Kingston, Jamaica to refuel and lick our wounds whilst some form of temporary repairs to the bows were carried. Our two day stay was an education. Every taxi from the quayside seemed to go into town via Blueberry Hill. My main recollection was sitting in a park in the centre of Kingston drinking cheap white rum from plastic cups.
     On leaving Kingston the Royal Engineers on board began removing all parts of the ship, including parts of our angled deck, that stuck out beyond the width of the lock gates of the Panama Canal  (it was going to be a tight squeeze) stowing them away to be refitted once through. The Port and Starboard bow lights were found to be welded in place instead of being secured with thumb screws. They also constructed, with scaffolding we had brought with us for the purpose, a control position on the centre line of the ship for the Canal Pilots. As we entered Gatun lock there was a crunch on either side as the bow lights were wiped off The rest of the ship passed through with only inches to spare. We were so close to the lock that you could step from the flight deck onto the lockside.