06/14/2024
Meanwhile, in the SeaCadets I took every opportunity I could to further my knowledge of the sea. I would spend early Saturday mornings stripping the paint off a boat’s hull, signing up for crew positions in Regional pulling competitions and hustling the public by selling fund raising raffle tickets. After 18 months in the SeaCadet Corps, my horizons really started to expand. I went away on H.M.S. Kellington, a minehunter, for a weekend. We were sailing down the English Channel along with HMS Alfriston, in search of unexploded ordinances left over from the war. I learned how to peel 100 lbs. of potatoes in a few hours, how to stand a watch as a lookout and the most thrilling part came when we actually came upon a real live 2nd World War mine. We blew that sucker clean out of the water. We then made for St. Hellier, Jersey in the Channel Islands – my first ever real shore leave. Even though I was too young to join the Royal Navy Reservists in the pubs, I got my sense of freedom and exploration as I wandered the cobbled streets of town.
HMS Kellington
Vessel Particulars:
Official Number M11154
Built in 1954
Built at Pickersgill, Sunderland, England
Type Ton Class Mine hunter
Length 152 ft.
Breadth 28 ft.
Draft 8 ft.
Gross Tonnage 440
Registered at N/A
Flag British Royal Navy Reserve
Armament Bofor 40 mm/60 Mk 3 dual- purpose gun; three FN 7.62 mm machine-guns and two Oerlikon 20 mm guns.
Crew of 38
Trading Waters Operating worldwide
Engines 2 Paxman Deltic 18A-7A Diesels
Speed 15 knots
My Position Sea Cadet
Served Aboard For 1 week
Miles Travelled this Voyage 750
Accumulated Miles Sailed 750
