Second World War meets submarine commanders in Algiers aboard
Maidstone during the War In September 1939
Maidstone was
depot ship to the ten submarines of the 1st Submarine Flotilla. In March 1941 she went to
Gibraltar. From November 1942,
Maidstone was based at Algiers Harbour, the main
Allied base in the Mediterranean. In November 1943 she was assigned to the
Eastern Fleet. In September 1944
Maidstone and the 8th Submarine Flotilla were transferred from
Ceylon to
Fremantle in Western Australia to operate in the Pacific. In late 1945
Maidstone left Fremantle, and en route to the UK, docked in the
Selborne dry dock at Simonstown, South Africa. While on passage, she was diverted to Macassar to pick up 400 British naval prisoners of war from , and . In November 1945, she arrived at Portsmouth. During the war
Maidstone was adopted by the Borough of
Maidstone as part of
Warship Week. The plaque from this adoption is held by the
National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth.
Postwar In 1946
Maidstone became mother ship to the 2nd and 7th Submarine Flotillas. The 2nd Flotilla comprised operational boats, the latter a trials and training squadron.
Maidstone had a semi-permanent mooring off Monkey Island (Portland) but often put to sea with its subsidiary ships. In 1951
Maidstone called briefly at
Corunna to land a sick crewman. This was not classified an official visit, although it was the first time a British warship had entered a Spanish harbour since the end of the
Spanish Civil War. In 1953, she took part in the
Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. On 16 June 1955 the submarine sank in Portland harbour alongside
Maidstone 20 minutes after an explosion in the forward torpedo compartment. A rescue party from
Maidstone saved a number of the
Sidons crew, but 13 died. A week later, the submarine was raised and the accident was found to be caused by the
high-test peroxide fuel in a torpedo.
Surgeon Lieutenant Charles Rhodes was posthumously awarded the
Albert Medal for his part in the rescue. In 1956
Maidstone was the
flagship of the Commander-in-Chief,
Home Fleet. In September 1957, the Soviet Union protested when
Maidstone accompanied the training aircraft carrier on a visit to
Helsinki. In 1959
Maidstone received an extensive refit to accommodate nuclear submarines and the 2nd Flotilla was then moved to Devonport. In 1961
Maidstone sailed to
Faslane, on Gareloch, where she was the depot ship to the 3rd and 10th Submarine Squadrons. In 1965, she undertook a trip to
Liverpool, and she visited the same port one year later. She also undertook a trip to
Rothesay during this period and then, in 1968, she sailed to
Rosyth Dockyard to undertake preparations to permanently retire it. The Norwegian navy considered buying it, as did HM Prison Service, who decided the facilities onboard, used by hundreds of sailors, were only suitable for 50 or so prisoners.
Belfast In October 1969
Maidstone was refitted and re-commissioned as accommodation for 2,000 troops and sent to
Belfast. In 1969, she arrived under tow at Belfast to serve as barracks for the increased security forces in the area. In 1971, she was used as a
prison ship in
Operation Demetrius as a place to hold
internees without trial, including
Gerry Adams. The holding area itself was at the stern and consisted of two bunkhouses, one up, one down, and two mess rooms. Above these were the rooms of the governor and his staff (previously the captain's cabin) and above this was the deck, used twice a day for exercise. The deck was surrounded by -high barbed wire. She was moored in the Herdman Channel in Belfast harbour, from the land, entry to the jetty being guarded by sand-bagged army emplacements.
HMS Hartland Point, a
Beachy Head-class repair ship, was initially moored in front of
Maidstone and cables connecting the smaller ship to the bow of
Maidstone were used as part of the escape of seven
Provisional IRA members on 17January 1972 which made the headlines. The men swam close to through icy water across Belfast Lough and hijacked a bus. Having evaded the army and police, the men later held a press conference. The escape was a major embarrassment to the authorities. On 9 April 1972 all internees were moved to Long Kesh prison (
HM Prison Maze). The presence of the ship in
Belfast Harbour drew attention to the constitutional status of
Northern Ireland's territorial waters, which had long been a point of contention with the Irish government. By early 1975 the ship remained at Sydenham Wharf in Belfast as part of the Royal Naval Operation in Northern Ireland, to provide immediate short-notice accommodation for the Army, should significant reinforcements be required and to provide ad-hoc accommodation for UK Service Personnel visiting the Province.
Fate On 23 May 1978,
Maidstone was broken up for scrap at the
Thos. W. Ward scrapyard in
Inverkeithing. The ship's bell is now located at
Maidstone Grammar School, where it is rung to signify the start of assembly. ==See also==