Unit History: HMS Protector

HMS Protector in 1956

Written by Arnold Hacking

Leaving Portsmouth for Gibraltar,clearing the Isle of Wight and running into a south wester,we had all had a good run the night before and were still full of woe.We rounded Ushant and somewhere in the Bay of Biscay we lost the steering engine,so it was hand steering until Gib,where we were at the end of mole,you felt you needed a pint or two by the time you had reached the Trocadero-then the long walk back,one step forward then two steps back and don't fallin the 'oggin.
We arrived At Freetown and moored to the man-o-war buoy,then we moved to the most solubrious part of town-Kissey oil jetty with all its delights,flies,bum boats and more flies and the flies reatives came to see us too,we were looking forward to the long crossing to Rio. The city and the surrounding islands are a stunning verdant green.The powers that be put us on the Praca Maura Jetty with the main sewer out fall just about amidships,be that as it may,the native females were friendly,as I discovered on the early morning sick calls.