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| HMS Roberts |
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| HMS Woolwich |
HMS Roberts, a Monitor class Battleship and HMS Woolwich, a Depot ship, tied up alongside one another, comprised to make HMS Orion.
The Navy, in all their wisdom, had decided to send me to Reserve Fleet in Plymouth. It was one of those drafts where if you were married you tried to stay as long as possible and went RA (Ration Allowance - meaning they lived ashore). Or there were guys like me that were just waiting for another ship. The Navy used to publish a little booklet once a month informing us Matelots what ships were commissioning in the near future, and you could volunteer if you so desired. No guarantees, of course, that your request would be granted.
One day I read the book and there was a Frigate commissioning in April in the Far East for 18 months. So I thought I'd give it a try and go see another part of the world. About a month later, I got a message to go to the Ship's Office (where all the paperwork was done) and was informed that I had a draft-chit to HMS Crane. So now all I had to do was wait.
So while waiting we would go out on work parties on the ships in Devonport harbour that were in mothballs, and do a little preventive maintenance chipping and painting.
Around 1960 I was sent to HMS Orion that was,Woolwich,Roberts and the Zebrugga ,all tied up in Guzz.
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