The Real "UP TOP"

The real "UP TOP"; Operations on Curlew

The only Official History of the Australian Involvement in Southeast Conflicts 1948 to 1975 and relevant to operational service by the Ton Class Coastal minesweeper HMAS Curlew (M1121), is a book by Jeffery Grey titled "UP TOP".

Vietnam is also the subject of this book although the term "UP TOP" was never used by sailors or the Royal Australian Navy in relation to Vietnam, UP TOP was the term given to serving in the British Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve (BCFESR or FESR as it was later termed) and associated visits to other countries, but not Vietnam. Neither was the term Nam or Narm (a hollow Americanism) used by Australian Servicemen when describing Vietnam.

Many accounts of on board incidents, engagements or just routine activities were either not recorded, recorded so as to please NHQ (Monthly Reports of Proceedings written in officer talk, mostly about ceremonial visits and cocktail parties, being a case in point) or have been lost or destroyed. No little wonder that the only Official Records of operations by Australian Minesweepers appear in a book written by an academic with no actual experiences in any of the services, in particular the RAN and in one of HMA ships, Curlew. From a private point of view the book is somewhat lacking when dealing with ship procedures, activities, standing orders and on board day to day events! There is no mention nor understanding of the stress imposed on the crew of a warship that occurs when the ship goes away overseas for any length of time, let alone the increase in that stress when one goes to a war.

HMAS Curlew was one of 119 Ton Class Minesweepers, she was built at Montrose in the UK for the Royal Navy as part of the British commitment to NATO during the cold war against Russia and was launched 6th. October 1953 to join 101 Minesweeping Squadron, RN. She was originally named HMS Chediston, later renamed HMS Montrose, renamed HMS Chediston again and finally renamed HMAS Curlew when acquired with another 5 minesweepers for the Royal Australian Navy in 1961. (Photo: Undergoing shipyard trials)

Grey makes the point that the HMS Victorious challenged the right of sea passage through the Indonesian Archipelago during Confrontation but is unaware or did not see fit to mention that HMAS Melbourne was allocated to the FESR for 17 days from 28th February 1962 to 16th March 1962 and challenged the right of sea passage through the Indonesian Archipelago. The Federated States of Malaysia which originally included Singapore was first proposed in 1960 and prior to the "official" period of the confrontation was opposed by Indonesia to the extent of threatening free passage through the waters of the Indonesian Archipelago. HMAS Moresby, a virtually unarmed survey ship of the RAN, painted white, also challenged the right of innocent passage in late 1965 by steaming from Australia to Singapore and return via the Indonesian Archipelago.

Photo: the six RAN Tons comprising the 16th. Mine Counter Measure (MCM) Squadron.

 I drafted from HMAS Gascoyne to HMAS Curlew at Garden Island Dockyard, Sydney, on 31st. March 1965. HMAS Curlew was a ton class minehunter/minesweeper, built in the UK and one of six, which the Australian Navy purchased from the RN at the same time as the fleet oiler, HMAS Supply. Curlew and Snipe were built as minehunter/minesweepers and the other four pure minesweepers. The seven ships steamed to Australia in company. The ton class minesweeper was built of wood and aluminium with most metal parts made of non magnetic phosphor bronze or aluminium and carried a crew of 28 ratings, 3 officers and 2 midshipmen. HMAS Curlew was the first one of two to eventually be converted to a minehunter.

The Curlew was in the floating dry-dock at Garden Island Dockyard when I joined from HMAS Gascoyne but there was no crew on board. I moved into a mess deck as I had no idea that the crew was billeted at HMAS Waterhen, North Sydney. I moved to Waterhen the next day.

HMAS Curlew was to work in pair with the HMAS Snipe, however Snipe completed refit and departed for the Far East to take part in operational duties in Malaysia, as a single unit. Curlew had a hull problem, the original dynal sheeting was removed, rotten planks replaced and she was fibreglassed up to the waterline, the first RAN ship to be so treated. (Photo: Entering floating dry-dock at GI, Starboard minesweeping davit missing.) The repairs took several months and during that time the crew traveled daily by workboat from HMAS Waterhen. After undocking early in September, the crew moved onboard and Curlew proceeded to Waterhen for the rest of her refit.

The Captain, a Clearance Diving Officer (CD), decided that the time in Sydney would be better spent if the crew undertook a diving course and on a bitterly cold morning in the middle of winter, the workboat took us to HMAS Rushcutter for our first dip. It was so cold I remember only six or seven actually got off the workboat and started the course. After two weeks all those attempting completed the divers course and qualified as CABA or "cuff rate" divers (Compressed Air Breathing Apparatus, shallow water, 66ft. limit, part time divers used mainly for ships bottom searches. It should be pointed out that cuff divers are not clearance divers (CDs) and receive no training in underwater explosives, mixture breathing or free swimming). I qualified top of our group and as I was Chief Bosuns Mate (Buffer) on the Curlew I mostly organized and looked after our diving gear and the Navigating Officer, also a cuff diver, looked after our record books. (With instructor "Pony" M on GPV Walrus.)

Curlew came out of dockyard hands on 27th. September 1965, and the ship operated daily from Waterhen to the Long Reef area to calibrate our minesweeping gear and practiced setting multiple sweeps and recovering them. ( A painting of Curlew as seen from HMAS Watson rounding South Head Reef for workup trials.)

Before sailing from Sydney the Staff Officer to the Flag, Captain PH Doyle, RAN gave the crew a briefing on board the ship at Waterhen in the forenoon of Friday 24th. September 1965. The prospects for an engagement/s with Indonesian Forces was given as highly probable.

  Finally on 1st. October 1965, Curlew sailed from HMAS Waterhen, Sydney (Photo: leaving Sydney) for Townsville and the Far East. After refueling in Townsville, replenishing stores and carrying out some practice dives to search the ships bottom, Curlew sailed for Madang in PNG.

During the dives in Townsville we experimented with a hydrophone to listen for underwater diver/s that could be attacking the ship, however the hydrophone proved to be a complete failure. The only sound that was heard was when I went up to it and shouted "get *ucked", fortunately the words were not understood on board.

Townsville was the last port of departure in Australia and the ship was deemed to be allocated for operational service in the defined areas of the FESR from that date. (see VEA 1986, Sect. 6C para (3)a.)

Because of the Indonesian Confrontation of the Federated States of Malaysia, the usual shipping routes through the Indonesian Archipelago via Lombok or Sunda Straits was denied and Curlew sailed via Madang and Manus Island to station through the Philippines, arriving in Singapore on 23rd. October1965. HMAS Curlew served in the FESR until 14th. September 1966, however a partial crew change took place on 16th April 1966 and some of us flew to Sydney that night, arriving on 17th. April 1966. We were no longer allocated for operational duties on that date. (see VEA 1986, Sect. 6C pare (3) e.)

 When the QANTAS 707 arrived in Sydney around 0400 we were met by a supply officer (supply bob) who gave each of us a large brown envelope containing holiday pay, travel documents and in the bottom a small cardboard box containing a medal, the General Service Medal (clasp Borneo) and a Returned from Active Service (RAS) Badge. I remember he did not stop complaining about having to arise early to meet the plane, not a welcome home, job well done for us.

The Australian Government has never acknowledged the contribution the 16th. MCM Squadron made to the security of the Far East (there was no plaque in the AWM up to 2004) it probably believes that we are still Up Top lost in the jungle.

From New Guinea the ship proceeded into the South China Sea via the Philippines. At night the OOWs practiced navigation by radar although we did normal fixes but there was a reason for the radar navigation. We traversed the Basilan Strait between Mindanao and Basilan Island during the silent hours with the ship darkened. All the lighthouses and other navigation aids were switched off during the Confrontation as smugglers were active between the Philippines and Indonesia. The Basilan Strait was quite narrow at one part between the Santa Cruz Bank and Luzon Reef so the ship did a parallel index (actually three to complete the passage).

One commodity that was "smuggled" in vast numbers to Indonesia was the colt .223, a new high velocity rifle from our ally, the USA, being sold through the Philippines to our enemies, so with friends like the Americans and Filipinos who needs enemies? Originally named the "Colt 223", it had a mussel velocity in excess of 3200 fps, even in auto mode, which was more than twice the mussel velocity of the SMLE .303 rifle. The colt .223 rifle became well known later in Vietnam as the "Armalite". During a rifle range outing in Singapore for live firing, a bullet proof vest (the same as the ones we were to wear) was hung on a rubber tree and fired at from 50 yards using ships small arms and the .223 carried by the range officer (taken from a dead Indon) was the only small arms round to penetrate the bullet proof vest, a point which was not lost to us. (Photo: Colt .223, AR15, Armalite)

When on passage to the FESR from Australia the CO and I talked at length about the prospect of everyone being tired from night patrols etc and he suggested that I come up with a shipboard routine so as many people could sleep to refresh yet the ship would be kept in good order and sparkling clean. After some thought I recommended a modified Tropical Routine, there was a routine that already existed in some ships standing orders for those operating in the tropics.

R. I. Peak, when Captain of HMAS Tobruk noted (Up TOP page 30) "living conditions in the crowded messdecks of a modern warship are bad at any time but in a prolonged period in tropical climates, conditions become well nigh unbearable". Although the Curlew was air conditioned it seldom worked (thanks to an accidental hosing) and the below decks were extremely hot and uncomfortable as there were no portholes. For this reason the forecastle and the aft sweep deck were used as recreation spaces. ( Exercising gun crews on passage to FESR)

 My modification to the Tropical Routine ensured that the ship was cleaned every day before normal work began and there was time for sleep replenishment.

The routine in HMAS Curlew:

 0600 Call the Hands

0630 All hands not on watch to cleaning stations. Every member of the crew including Midshipmen and senior NCOs had an allocated cleaning station usually covered by more than one watch. During cleaning stations all parts of the ship internally and externally were cleaned and decks washed down. In normal daily routine, Call the Hands was 0640.

0730  Secure cleaning stations.

0740  Forenoon watch to breakfast.

0800  Forenoon watch close up. Hands to breakfast.

0830  Hands turn to, we then worked from 0830 until 1200 with no stand easy (for non navy types, smoko).

1140  Afternoon watch to lunch.

1200  Afternoon watch close up, secure, hands to dinner and "make and mend".

When this routine was first put to the other officers by the skipper and me I remember the navigator, saying "soon you will not want to work at all". He was opposed at first but after some patrol work when it was obvious that sleep deprivation was a problem he changed his mind.

The crewing of the minesweepers made no allowance for lengthy patrol work so there were no allocated Radar Plotters (RPs) in the crew. The radar (photo: Mod 975, still working in 2005) was used for navigation and was positioned in the chart room. During night patrols when the ship was darkened a blackout curtain divided the chart room from the bridge and it was not good for the OOWs to be continually moving in and out of the chart room as night vision was impaired. During our passage to Singapore, the Jimmy suggested that he train three noncombatants from within the crew to act as permanent radar operators during patrols. Operating a radar is not a particularly difficult task although needs an alert operator during the night. The AB (CK), AB (STWD) and the AB (SBA) were chosen as radar operators and they became very proficient and did a particularly good job.  The SBA had already asked to keep watches with the "watch on deck" as a non-combatant and on the way up top from Manus Island achieved his helmsman certificate. I doubt if any other SBA in the RAN ever held a helmsman certificate. All three, who had never kept watches previously enjoyed the opportunity to be an important part of operations.

On arrival at "Singers" on 23rd. October 1965, HMAS Curlew proceeded up the Strait of Johore towards Singapore Navel Dockyard. Between the Changi Yacht Club and the dockyard were several batteries of Bloodhound surface to air guided missiles, pointed roughly in a southerly direction. The missiles were quite large for that era and were strategically placed to protect both the Naval Dockyard and the Changi Airport, which was used by both civilian and military aircraft. We learned that there were other batteries on the Island which were out of our sight, but part of the air defenses of Singapore Island against the Indonesians. This suggested a pretty serious confrontation. HMAS Curlew berthed on HMS Manxman at 0815.

After berthing on Manxman, HMAS Curlew immediately went into dockyard hands to have extra weaponry fitted:

1.    A mounting was fitted to the bullring to accommodate twin Vickers air-cooled machine guns complete with spider ring sights. (These guns were relics of the air war in WW I, however they fired a universally used round, the .303)

2.    A mounting was fitted to the port wing of the bridge to accommodate a .303 bren gun.

3.    A mounting was fitted to the cap of the bulwark on the sweepdeck, outboard of the hatch to the engine room to accommodate a bren gun.

4.    A 2 inch rocket flare launcher was fitted on either aide of the forecastle deck adjacent to the operations room (used to fire 2 inch rockets with illuminating parachute flares).

5.     A 2 inch rocket magazine locker was fitted each side of the aft forecastle deck.

6.    A 2 inch hand held mortar, used to fire illuminating parachute flares, was put on board. This was an unusual weapon in that it consisted of a 2-inch internal diameter tube 21 inches long with a small spigot on the base. This was driven into the ground to stabilize the base of the mortar while it was aimed by guestimation and fired. The mortar was a hand held weapon, which we fired in the kneeling position and on the wooden decks the spigot could not be driven in so it was stabilized by placing ones big toe or left knee on it (most crew wore no footwear in the tropics) Aiming was a guestimation as there was no sights on the mortar only a yellow line down the "barrel", which could not be seen at night anyway. A projectile was dropped down the barrel, however it did not fire automatically as is the case with conventional mortars, there was a rotating knob on the right side which was the trigger and the operator had to turn the knob to discharge the weapon. This was used at night to fire illuminating parachute flares or star shells and was only for close range illumination. After a couple of quick rounds the mortar became very hot. The mortar discharged in front of and just below the level of the eyes and ears & we wore no protection for either.

7.    A dozen or so 9 mm. Owen sub-machine guns, 3 x .38 S&W revolvers and a full wood .303 rifle (the Sniper rifle) were put on board. One of the .38 pistols was kept loaded in the Engine Control Room in case the personnel there had to fight their way out in the event of the ship being overrun. The engine room door was kept locked from the inside.

8.    Bullet proof (?) mattresses (similar to splinter mats) were hung round the outside of the bridge and wheelhouse, plus one round the bullring to protect the person manning the Vickers. They were painted ships side grey, became permanent parts of the ship and apart from the one on the bow, were not taken off even when the ship went to Hong Kong for a 10 day self maintenance in March 1966.

The Vickers machine guns deserve special mention, the ship was fitted with a machine gun in the bow to be used stopping Indonesian infiltrators in the water round Borneo and the Singapore/Malacca Straits areas. The bow chaser was also known as the Vickers or Fort Knox.

This is a photo of the bow chaser on HMAS Snipe our sister ship, where sand bags have been used to give protection from return fire. On our ship (see insert) there were no sand bags however a splinter mattress was fixed behind the steel shields and round the outside of the bullring. The machine guns were .303 Vickers air cooled and originated in the RAF in WW1. Because they were an aircraft machine gun they had no shoulder butt as the butt was replaced with an enclosed pistol grip and trigger guard.

The mounting was not a twin as such however two single machine guns were bolted together on a bracket to be operated as a twin. Although it never happened to us, if the triggers were not pulled simultaneously the uneven recoil of the two guns would shear the mounting bolts and the gunner would be confronted with two machine guns running amuck that he was unable to control as the hands gripping the pistol grips were unable to release the triggers.

During workup it was soon evident that the Vickers was a beast from the past and some modifications were needed. First off the expended rounds ejected into a canvas bag under the gun and it only held 100 empty rounds which was equal to a full magazine. Changing two magazines and emptying the two pouches was frustratingly slow so after some discussion the pouches were cut off and given to D Jones.

The spider sights were OK if sitting or kneeling down on the deck however the hot rounds from the guns made this impossible. As it became dark the spider sights were useless so they too were removed and given to Davey. How to sight the machine guns was the next problem but our gunnery L/S already had it solved. The armourer in Singapore dockyard told us that we could only load tracer one in six as any more caused barrel burnout. We found if we loaded one in three the fired rounds were like a torch light beam and could easily be walked onto the target. Burning out the odd barrel was neither here nor there to us, so all the magazines including the brens were loaded one in three with tracer. (Photo: two gunners, Stork M and Bomber B trying to look busy loading tracer 1 in 3!)

The Vickers magazines were round and held 100 rounds. They stowed on edge in the port hawse pipe (bottom left in the photo of the Bow Chaser) on top of the anchor chain, so the starboard anchor became the only operational anchor while on patrol. The guardrails round the forecastle were also struck.

The machine gunner on the Vickers fired the weapon by standing upright, with bullet proof vest and tin hat on and walked the rows of tracer onto the target, while doing a little dance in bare feet to avoid burns from the hot ejected rounds hitting his feet or the deck. When entering port the Vickers was covered and the top half of the steel shields were unshipped and stowed. (Photo shows the Vickers onboard Curlew, under a canvas cover, with a bullet proof vest and a tin hat at standby, the steel shields are unshipped. The visible part of the vest is that which protected the "Family Jewels").

Most members of the crew learned to fire the Vickers and for good reason. If the ship went to action stations all the gunners were required to close up on the two bofors thus another rating had to man the Vickers. The TAS ratings were not required to put out sweep gear so they took on other tasks including the Vickers, 2 brens guns, 2" illumination rockets, 2" mortar and the sniper position atop the bridge.

During Approach Stations the Fwd. bofors may have been closed up and there still needed to be a rating on the Vickers so he would be one of the watch on deck. At one time or another we all manned the Vickers. Depending on circumstances the person on the Vickers may have had to go to join the prisoner reception party in the port waist once the machine guns could no longer bear on an apprehended vessel ie. a vessel close in on the port side. The other weapon in the photo of Fort Knox is an Australian made Owen gun, the Poms used 9mm. Stenguns.

In the photo of the Vickers there is a large block rigged to starboard, this is a J block and was used to run the ships head rope as the bull ring was blocked by the bow chaser and the splinter mattress.

The Australian designed and made Owen sub-machine gun was the best in the world at the end of WW11 as it was a simple design with only a couple of moving parts and could be submerged in water or mud and would still fire with out splitting the barrel. Firing a 9mm. short round, either single shot or in auto, it was an ideal weapon for the minesweepers to carry. So we would not be caught short of ammunition the practice was to use electrical tape and tape three magazines together with the centre one down and the outside two facing up. When we went on board barter vessels to search, where they was often no room even to stand upright, the butt was withdrawn so the weapon could be operated in a confined space as a machine pistol. (Photo: Tassie B on the port wing of the bridge with an Owen and some tatts).

The ship was fitted with two bren guns firing the universal British .303 round and the magazines which held 30 rounds were loaded with tracer 1 in 3 to assist with aiming at night. There was one on the port wing of the bridge and another on the aft capping outside the engine room door. Bullet proof vests weighing 36lbs. were worn by the operator and in this photo, one can see the red toggle at the front attached to 2 white straps joined to pin clips at the shoulders (the pins were serviced every morning to ensure that they would disconnect), which when pulled disconnected the vest at the shoulders and allowed the two halves to fall away. This was a safety precaution in case someone wearing one of these special navy issue vests fell overboard. American style "flack jackets" were only seen in the movies!

On completion of the refit the HMAS Curlew proceeded to sea on Friday 5^th. November 1965, to workup for operational duties with surface firings and "Bert". The Inshore Flotilla Base Gunnery Officer, and two Petty Officers, all in commando style jungle greens, and a sampan called Bert ("captured from dead Indons") were carried.  Part of that workup was a briefing to the likely risks to our forthcoming operations.

Some log entries for 5^th/6^th. Nov. 1965:

 5/11                0835 stopped off Pasang Bn., sampan Bert alongside

                        0850 proceeded, Bert in tow astern

                        1900 lowered Bert

                        1940 commenced sampan exercise

                        2145 recovered Bert

(Note that there is an entry missing as at some point Bert must have been hoisted inboard so it could be lowered at 1900).

 6/11                0925 stopped, lowered Bert, commenced maneuvering exercises

                        1015 stopped, replaced gear in Bert, proceeded to dockyard

 During the first day the commandos told us the true story of the HMS Woolaston and that under no circumstances were we to board an apprehended Indon boat or go near the outboard motor.

Mention was make of the risks from shore batteries in the Rhio Islands, opposite Singapore, attacks on the ship by Indonesian infiltrators which may be supported by Indonesian regulars or commandos, the threat from units of the Indonesian Navy, ranging from Russian built destroyers to fast torpedo and gun boats, including Russian built KOMAR class boats. The KOMAR gun boat was more than a match for our slower ship and the KOMAR  SAN was a surface to surface missile equipped version (Photo). We began to realize the seriousness and the dangers of the operations we were to undertake.

To further convince the crew of our ship that the situation was indeed very serious, warlike and that if we were to fall into enemy hands we could expect to be treated very badly, we were shown some photographs. The photographs were black and white, of (supposedly) two British Army Sappers captured by the Indonesian Army and tortured before being horribly killed. In 2003 I made contact with an exRN sailor (KF) who was in the shore party that found these sappers, one was still alive and reportedly shot by one of the sailors who was the sappers brother. KF refuses to discuss the incident with either me or one of his friends who tried to find out the true facts. This was a real incident:

The Sappers were tied to a tree, naked, tortured by cigarette burns, toe and fingernails tore out, some toes and fingers cutoff, knees broken, tongues cut out, cock and balls cut off and stuffed in the mouth and finally, the lower abdomen cut open so the intestine and bowel hung down to the ground like a string of sausages. Not a pretty sight!!

During the exercises and in the early days of patrolling we were constantly reminded of our fate if captured. I can still see those photographs to this very day. My loathing for Indonesians stems from seeing those photographs and knowing that I could expect a similar fate if I were ever captured.

 During the night exercises to apprehend a sampan, Bert ran rings round our ship because it was highly maneuverable and fast.

Following workup Curlew was assigned to patrol duties in Singapore and Malacca Strait during periods of high alert. There was a night curfew in force for all small vessels. Soon after arrival the ship was assigned to the Malacca Strait area near Port Dickson where the Dutch owned Shell Oil Company had a refinery. The first patrol for HMAS Curlew during our tour was in Singapore Strait on 7^th. November 1965.

The real "UP TOP"; Operations on HMAS Curlew

Indonesia - Competing World Views; The Indonesian Confrontation - a US view(1963)

 History of Borneo, Malaya and the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation

Indonesia in 1965 & 1966 , a British Viewpoint.

 Sukano, the Coup of 1965.