 HMSMaidstone in the harbour of Algiers. Alongside areHMS Safari andHMS Sahib | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSMaidstone |
| Namesake | Maidstone, Kent |
| Builder | John Brown & Company -Clydebank |
| Laid down | 17 August 1936 |
| Launched | 21 October 1937 |
| Commissioned | 5 May 1938 |
| Reclassified | Internment Holding area, 1970s |
| Fate | Scrapped May 1978 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Submarine depot ship |
| Displacement | 8,900 tons |
| Length | 497 ft (151 m) |
| Beam | 73 ft (22 m) |
| Speed | 17knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
| Complement | 1,167 men |
| Armament |
|
HMSMaidstone was asubmarine depot ship of theRoyal Navy. She operated in theMediterranean Sea,Indian Ocean andPacific Ocean during theSecond World War. She was later used as abarracks ship and then aprison ship inNorthern Ireland.
She was built to support the increasing number of submarines, especially on distant stations, such as theMediterranean Sea and the PacificFar East. Her equipment included afoundry, coppersmiths, plumbing and carpentry shops, heavy and lightmachine shops, electrical andtorpedo repair shops and plants for charging submarinebatteries. She was designed to look after nine operational submarines, supplying over 100 torpedoes and a similar number ofmines. Besides large workshops, there were repair facilities for all materiel in the attached submarines and extensivediving andsalvage equipment was carried. There were steamlaundries, acinema,hospital,chapel, twocanteens, abakery,barber shop, and a fully equippedoperating theatre anddental surgery.
In September 1939Maidstone wasdepot ship to the ten submarines of the 1st Submarine Flotilla. In March 1941 she went toGibraltar. From November 1942,Maidstone was based at Algiers Harbour, the mainAllied base in the Mediterranean. In November 1943 she was assigned to theEastern Fleet. In September 1944Maidstone and the 8th Submarine Flotilla were transferred fromCeylon toFremantle in Western Australia to operate in the Pacific.
In late 1945Maidstone left Fremantle, and en route to the UK, docked in theSelborne dry dock at Simonstown, South Africa. While on passage, she was diverted to Macassar to pick up 400 British naval prisoners of war fromHMS Exeter,HMS Encounter andHMS Stronghold. In November 1945, she arrived at Portsmouth.
During the warMaidstone was adopted by the Borough ofMaidstone as part ofWarship Week. The plaque from this adoption is held by theNational Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth.[1]
In 1946Maidstone became mother ship to the 2nd and 7th Submarine Flotillas. The 2nd Flotilla comprised operational boats, the latter a trials and training squadron.Maidstone had a semi-permanent mooring off Monkey Island (Portland) but often put to sea with its subsidiary ships. In 1951Maidstone called briefly atCorunna to land a sick crewman. This was not classified an official visit, although it was the first time a British warship had entered a Spanish harbour since the end of theSpanish Civil War. In 1953, she took part in theFleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.[2]
On 16 June 1955 the submarineHMS Sidon sank in Portland harbour alongsideMaidstone 20 minutes after an explosion in the forward torpedo compartment. A rescue party fromMaidstone saved a number of theSidon's crew, but 13 died. A week later, the submarine was raised and the accident was found to be caused by thehigh-test peroxide fuel in a torpedo.Surgeon Lieutenant Charles Rhodes was posthumously awarded theAlbert Medal for his part in the rescue.
In 1956Maidstone was theflagship of the Commander-in-Chief,Home Fleet. In September 1957, the Soviet Union protested whenMaidstone accompanied the training aircraft carrierHMS Ocean on a visit toHelsinki. In 1959Maidstone received an extensive refit to accommodate nuclear submarines and the 2nd Flotilla was then moved to Devonport. In 1961Maidstone sailed toFaslane, on Gareloch, where she was the depot ship to the 3rd and 10th Submarine Squadrons. In 1965, she undertook a trip toLiverpool, and she visited the same port one year later. She also undertook a trip toRothesay during this period and then, in 1968, she sailed toRosyth Dockyard to undertake preparations to permanently retire it. The Norwegian navy considered buying it, as did HM Prison Service, who decided the facilities onboard, used by hundreds of sailors, were only suitable for 50 or so prisoners.
In October 1969Maidstone was refitted and re-commissioned as accommodation for 2,000 troops and sent toBelfast. In 1969, she arrived under tow at Belfast to serve as barracks for the increased security forces in the area.[3] In 1971, she was used as aprison ship inOperation Demetrius as a place to holdinternees without trial, includingGerry Adams. The holding area itself was at the stern and consisted of two bunkhouses, one up, one down, and two mess rooms. Above these were the rooms of the governor and his staff (previously the captain's cabin) and above this was the deck, used twice a day for exercise. The deck was surrounded by 10-foot (3.0 m)-high barbed wire. She was moored in the Herdman Channel in Belfast harbour, 20 feet (6.1 m) from the land, entry to the jetty being guarded by sand-bagged army emplacements.[4]HMS Hartland Point, aBeachy Head-class repair ship, was initially moored in front ofMaidstone and cables connecting the smaller ship to the bow ofMaidstone were used as part of the escape of sevenProvisional IRA members on 17 January 1972 which made the headlines.[5] The men swam close to 300 yd (270 m) through icy water across Belfast Lough and hijacked a bus. Having evaded the army and police, the men later held a press conference.[6][7] The escape was a major embarrassment to the authorities.[8] On 9 April 1972 all internees were moved to Long Kesh prison (HM Prison Maze).[9]
The presence of the ship inBelfast Harbour drew attention to the constitutional status ofNorthern Ireland's territorial waters, which had long been a point of contention with the Irish government.[10] By early 1975 the ship remained at Sydenham Wharf in Belfast as part of the Royal Naval Operation in Northern Ireland, to provide immediate short-notice accommodation for the Army, should significant reinforcements be required and to provide ad-hoc accommodation for UK Service Personnel visiting the Province.
On 23 May 1978,Maidstone was broken up for scrap at theThos. W. Ward scrapyard inInverkeithing. The ship's bell is now located atMaidstone Grammar School, where it is rung to signify the start of assembly.