HMS Hecla was named after an active volcano in Iceland and was the seventh ship to bear this name. Shewas a
destroyer depot ship with 20,000 square feet of workshop area, built at
John Brown's shipyard on the Clyde. She was a strong well
built ship, the enire hull had a double skin with a space of between
three and four feet between the two hulls. She was laid down on the 23
January 1939 and launched on the 14 March 1940 but was not commissioned
until the 6 January 1941.Edward Coleman described HMS Hecla in his memoir, Navy Days (Andrew Books, 1999):
"it carries a high proportion of skilled men, has lots of
workshop space, some recreational space, not for her own crew so much
as for the men from ships being serviced."
Schoolmaster Greg Clarke was told by Captain C.G.B. Coltart RN on New Years Eve 1940,
"Schoolie, you are the youngest officer aboard and, therefore, will
ring out the old year with eight bells and ring in the new with eight
bells." Greg Clarke was the last surviving officer who served on Hecla when he died at his home in Porstmouth in 2011 aged 95.
HMS Hecla on the Clyde after commissioning in March 1941
Note the three ship's cranes Courtesy of Simon Skelhorne
the 10 May 1940, the day that German forces swept into the low
countries and on into northern France, 748 ill-equipped Marines had
landed at Rekjavik to take control of Iceland for fear that
Germany would seize this vital staging post on the Atlantic. Within a
few months Britain had 25,000 troops in Iceland, ignoring Iceland's
protests at this invasion in flagrant disregard of its declared
After commissioning in March 1941 HMS Hecla was sent to Havelfjord
in south west Iceland where she "mothered" the destroyers escorting the
Atlantic convoys. Its displacement of 12,000 tonswas more than ten times that of Venomous and its sister ships. Venomous
was notoriously unreliable and spent a lot of time alongside Hecla in
1941 and got to know it
well. Her crew enjoyed the space aboard the large ship, the fresh baked
bread (the bakery could bake 6,000 lb of bread a day), the laundry and
facilities (including an operating theatre).
HMS Hecla in Havelfjord with destroyer escorts moored alongside, 1941 Courtesy of George Male
Canadian escorts moored alongside Hecla brought foods unobtainable in England. "Freddo" Thomas, the RDF operator on Venomous, made friends with a rating on Hecla who asked him to post food parcels to his family when Venomous
returned to her base at Londonderry. This was strictly forbidden but
"Freddo" was happy to oblige and was rewarded with fresh baked
rolls from the ship's bakery which made him very popular with his mess
mates. They were to meet again later - on the
night of the 11-12 November 1942.
Top: Some crew members appreciated the wild Icelandic scenery
Bottom: The snow covered hillside (with "beer canteen"?) and the sun setting over Havelfjord Courtesy of Simon Skelhorne
"The only shore facility was
a nissen hut beer canteen where the only excitement was the occasional
unarmed combat between US, Canadian and British sailors." George Male, sick berth attendant.
An ENSA concert party was staged on the deck of HMS Hecla that Summer
It starred Evelyn Laye (1900-96) seen on right wearing an officer's hat As a young man the future King George VI was infatuated with Evelyn Laye but both behaved with the utmost discretion Courtesy of Kenneth Brown, son of CPO Norman Brown, SBA on Hecla, who died on Armistice Day 1942
They had to provide their own entertainment
aboard ship, usually films or an occasional drama performance. Evelyn
Laye, a popular actress, was the star at a concert party put on by
ENSA, the Entertainments National Service Association. ENSA had to
spread its resources thinly and may have earned
its reputation for providing 'Every Night Something Awful' but the
audience look happy. The concert was held in the summer of 1941 on the
well deck where a temporary stage was errected.
George Male identified some of the faces in the audience in a letter to Ken Brown, the son of Norman Brown who died when Hecla sank on Armistice Day 194