Metal Fatigue - Top Autobiographies

Metal Fatigue!

When HMS Lowestoft had berthed in Rosyth Dockyard in 1975 the morale of the ship's company was low. We'd just finished a tour of several countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Brazil. All this seemed a distant memory in the dismal weather of the British Isles.

This is a similar Wasp

 

On families day several weeks before, the ships helicopter, of which I was the aircrew man, had dropped a live depth charge into the sea to impress the hoards of onlookers as the ship sailed slowly through the sea just off the South Coast and Portsmouth. The pilot had miscalculated the distance between the depth charge entering the sea and the actual ship. The resulting explosion was impressive but was to have some interesting consequences. Most of the admiring families were soaked by the massive fountain of water that engulfed the ship including my future wife.

Damage had undoubtedly been done to the ship but this was erroneously attributed to sabotage. It was decided by the authorities, to fly in three detectives to the ship whilst in Rosyth Dockyard using the ships helicopter call-sign 451. On return, the helicopter was folded up and slid into the hangar, the detectives scurrying below.

It was my job as aircrew man to inspect the tail rotor after each flight. I had been careless in this regard in the past but since three detectives were on board it was just the impetus I needed to carry out the task. I can still remember clearly the dim lights in the now deserted hangar, the smell of fuel and the residual heat still coming off the engine as I made my inspection. All seemed in order as it always was and I was about to turn away when I noticed something. It was like a thin watermark that ran most of the way round the tail cone. At first I could not believe what I was seeing but there was no doubt that it was a classic case of metal fatigue.

Raising the alarm it was not long before most of the flight crew were in the hangar and I was given more commendation than I'd ever had before in my career. It was a strange feeling though since I knew that potentially, I had not only saved my own life but that of the pilot and the three detectives on the very next flight.