Don Cleavin – Joining the Submarine Service

Well I was standing on the upper deck of Grenville one morning, July, lovely morning, and I was talking to the Engineer Officer, Lieutenant Commander Buckley, and there was this submarine going out across Portland Harbour. I said, “I’d like to have a day at sea in one of them.” He said, “I’ll fix that for you.” Lieutenant Commander Buckley had been the Engineer Officer of that submarine in 1946, and it was a submarine Auriga going to sea, and he’d been the Engineer on there in 1946. He said, “I’ll fix that for you” but about a week later I got a draft to join HMS Sword but by the time I got the message, she’s gone (laughs). I spent a trip to sea on the Scythian, an ‘S’ Class submarine. I got on board this thing. There was a couple of embarrassing situations, but I got on board this thing, we went to sea. “By the way, we’re staying at sea overnight.” “Oh ummm”

“Make sure it’s alright for you to stay with us” and that was the worst night I ever spent at sea on any sort of ship at all including submarines. It was very uncomfortable, very disturbed and what have you.

A strange environment, very strange environment.

Yeah. The bunk I was allotted was the bunk that nobody wants (laughs). Very uncomfortable.

Outside the Stoker’s Mess. It was top. You live on the bunk as high as you can get. The submarine hull came round like that and there was two lamps, lights, right where you don’t want ‘em so you couldn’t turn over or nothing. It was very, very uncomfortable, yeah.

It was the only one that was available. So, we came back in from that trip and I went back to my Destroyer, to the Grenville, and I said, “Remind me I will never ever join the Submarine Service. It’s so bloody uncomfortable” but that was the early part of ’57 (sighs). Four months later, I was walking through the main gate of HMS Dolphin, joining the Submarine Service (laughs).