HMS London From Day to Day

Commission 1929-1931

5th February 1929.
Commissioned at 0900. Ship at South Railway jetty. (Was it raining?) Luckily most of us had been in the ship before. Lucky for the Commander too, for he very soon found plenty of work to be done.
6th February 1929.
More work.
7th February 1929.
ditto.
8th February 1929.
It did not rain - but it was cold.
9th February 1929.
Make and Mend (about time, too).
10th February 1929, Sunday.
The Commander read Prayers in the Office Flat; good thing we have got an office flat as it was singularly cold up top - for those who weren't up the line.
11th February 1929.
Busy preparing for C in C's Inspection tomorrow.
12th February 1929.
The Commander in Chief (Admiral Brock) inspected the ship, all Officers being presented to him on the Upper, under the four inch gundeck. All the Joeys met him at the bottom of the gangway. Did someone say he didn't feel frozen after the inspection? Who had two pancakes?
13th February 1929.
Ash Wednesday - and even colder than Shrove Tuesday.
14th February 1929.
The thermometer gave it up as a bad job. The problem of the week is 'How hot should a Mess Deck be at 0000?'
15th February 1929.
Untied from the wall and proceeded for parvane exercises. The snow took a hand in proceedings and the motor boat chased us out of harbour.
16th February 1929.
Sailed at 0715 for W/T calibration trials, then proceeded to Portland because we didn't think Pompey was warm enough. However, we soon changed our minds - they seemed to be living in an ice age at Portland. We moored inside the breakwater at 1600 and then had tea (hot).
17th February 1929, Sunday.
The Captain held Prayers in the Office Flat.
18th February 1929.
The Captain went up to see the Admiralty. Perhaps he saw the Clerk of the weather too, anyway it wasn’t so cold after today as it had been.
19th February 1929.
The Commander kept everyone busy. Gosh, what a lot of filth the dockyard maties do leave behind them.
20th February 1929.
What are all these rumours we hear about a visit to the Thames? The Chief Q.M. gets fed up with chaps asking him if we can pass the Tower Bridge.
21st February 1929.
More rumours - and more cleaning up.
22nd February 1929.
More rumours, only more so.
23th February 1929.
Make - and Mend. All the natives change their names to "Nippinoff".
24th February 1929, Sunday.
Prayers in the Office-Flat again. Then preparations for sea.
25th February 1929.
Sailed at 0900, and shot off two mouldies into the blue; they both came back again too, and we returned to Portland feeling quite pleased with ourselves and our fishes, especially as we got back in time for dinner.
26th February 1929.
What a nasty chilly day! Roll on, Malta.
27th February 1929.
More exercises, but we tied up again in the afternoon. The Captain, Surgeon Commander, Mr. Trimboy and Midshipman Hopkins went to London to attend the presentation of Lord Ebbisham's pictures to the ship.
28th February 1929.
Shifted to Weymouth Harbour and anchored.

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