Saltus Grammar School - Yearbook (Hamilton, Bermuda)

Page 31 text:

25 H.M.C.S. Porte St. Jean Many readers will have noticed during recent weeks a small Canadian Navy vessel tied up at the flagpole on Front Street. On the foredeck she appeared to carry several small red aeroplanes. Here is a report on this ship, H.M.C.S. Porte St. Jean. She was commissioned in June 1958 together with three similar vessels, ' Torte Dauphin, Porte St. Lucia and Porte Quebec. When these vessels were first built (in Quebec, at Levis), they were intended for use as civilian trawlers, but in 1951 the Canadian Navy purchased them with the intention of putting them into service as ' gate vessels ' , that is to say vessels whose chief function is to swing open and closed antisubmarine nets at the mouth of a harbour. Lacking duties of that kind, she is at the present time in service as a target towing facility. Porte St. Jean is 132 feet long, 32 feet abeam. Her main con- struction is of aluminium and displaces 450 tons. She draws only seven feet of water forward and fourteen aft; one consequence of this is that in any sort of sea she pitches and rolls fearfully ferocious. It is not uncommon, crewmen say, to be thrown out of their bunks. Forward, under the launching catapult is housing for a 40 mm. gun during wartime. The magazine for this gun is next to the storeroom under the forecastle. The forecastle is also used as a repair shop for the target drones and the radio sets which control them. The engine room is in the after section of the boat. Here are three diesel engines; a main electricity generator, the main engine in the centre, and a standby generator. Except for an occasional puddle of oil the engine room is as clean as the rest of the ship, but much more noisy. With only the comparatively small standby generator working it is almost impossible to carry on a conversation. Hooked up to the main generator is a hydraulic pump which supplies power to winches on deck. These winches are used when Porte St. Jean tows surface targets for the destroyers to shoot at. The targets in question are approximately twenty feet high and are towed on a cable 600 feet long. When asked whether the ship had ever been hit one of the crew replied

Page 30 text:

24 Beach Breakers The unmistakable roar is distinguishable from afar — the roar of breakers, whitecapped and fluffy, which pound with fury upon listless expanses of gleaming pink, the beaches. Frivolous bathers frolic about in the shallows, watching with rising excitement as a ' big one ' approaches. The glistening, white- peaked, faintly transparent blue wall advances. First it is just a long, even but powerful swell, but as it nears shore, it develops into a toppling, but still silent ' urge ' of energy which crashes with tumultuous fury against the current-drawn pink of the beach, throwing it back up the beach again. This same power breaks dams, causes landslides, takes many lives. It also carries surf -riders in to shore. Here is one. He feels a powerful forward movement. His hands are poised in the air and then he plunges, tautening his body. He may reach a speed of five miles per hour. He may choose to open his eyes under water; then he will see pink sand and water, twisting and turning into a volcanic cloud, impenetrable to the eye. He is twisted and turned himself, like a creature. Soon he feels himself being grounded, though still moving at a considerable speed. Then he stands up, and only his head is swimming. The low rock in the middle of the beach is now silently absorbing the hot rays of the sun. Low and squat against the background of fluffy waves it is a smooth reminder of ages past, hurricanes fought, battles with the elements won. Yet it has very little to show for its trussles except a smooth unbreakable surface. One day it will be worn down to nothing. Several bits of dried seaweed lie about it left by the receding tide. When high tide comes the rock will once more break the sturdy impact of the waves and scatter their spray far and wide. Each little morsel of sand is a reminder of the powerful breakers, for they have been ground from solid rock, the result of many years ' patient work. Bleaching in the sunshine they lie placidly resigned, moving sloppily about, either being dragged by the undertow or being forced by the breaker. Their pinkish hue is obtained from coral. It is that pink which warms the heart of many a tourist. It is pink sand that makes a beach distinguished. So the breakers go rolling on, crashing their mighty bulks against unresisting expanses of sand, sometimes terrifying, sometimes fun- giving, but always beautiful; perishable, but everlasting. M. W. MAIR Form Four (L)

Page 32 text:

26 that some of the destroyers had come fairly close with shots overhead but that fortunately none had landed within 100 yards of Porte St. Jean. The ship has a very small radio room equipped with audio and morse receiving and transmitting gear, and also a small table for making up and decoding massages. In the adjacent wheelhouse, equally small, is a radar set with a range of approximately twenty miles. The bridge is completely open; it is from this platform that a grounded Air Force pilot, assisted by two lookouts, guides the target drones by radio. The target drones are of all aluminium construction with detachable — and thus replaceable — wings and tailplanes. They are about seven feet long and have a wingspan of eight feet. They weigh five hundred pounds and have an estimated value of $2,500 each. Their 85 h.p. engines give them a speed of 250 knots. They can carry fuel for ninety minutes of flight. They are launched on a catapult by compressed air at a pressure of 250 lb. per square inch. Each drone must be launched into the air within ten seconds of starting its engine, otherwise the engine, with no rush of air to cool it, overheats very rapidly and seizes up. During a shoot these drones are flown at an average altitude of 2,000 feet in huge circles around the destroyers who use their radar- controlled guns on them. Notwithstanding the great speed of these tiny targets, they occasionally receive a direct hit. On the understandably many occasions when this does not happen, the engine, by ceasing to turn, allows a lever to open a small door in the side of the aircraft. Through this a small pilot parachute drags a larger on e, suspended by which the drone drops gently to the water whence it is soon picked up. These drones may be used any number of times, provided a direct hit does not make them irrecoverable, and so the ten which Porte St. Jean carries supply her with all she is likely to need on a six month cruise such as the one in which she is now engaged. We wish her good luck, and her attendant hunters good shooting. K. H. CHIAPPA Upper Sixth Form