Patrick O'Grady

A Sailor’s

Story

Patrick O’Grady

Service No. J180996

www.warbiographies.com

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Contents

Page

O’Grady Family Census of 1911……………………….. 4

Heffernan Family Census of 1911……………………….. 5

HMS Repulse …………………………………………......... 6

HMS Foresight………………………………………….........8

HMS Drake …………………………………………......... 10

HMS Cormorant ………………………………………......... 13

HMS Dolphin …………………………………………......... 15

HMS Urtica …………………………………………......... 19

HMS Amphion………………………………………......... 22

Medals Issued………………………………………….……. 26

Australian Emigration records ……………………….……. . 27

S.S Ormonde………………………………………….……. 28

Place of Rest in Gosford .…………………………….……. 29

References …………………………………………………. 30

4

The O’Grady Family Census of 1911

Patrick O’ Grady was born on the December the 10th

1911.

5

The Heffernan Family Census of 1911

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Career

(UK)

Name: HMS Repulse

Ordered: 30 December 1914

Builder: John Brown & Company, Clydebank, Scotland

Laid down: 25 January 1915

Launched: 8 January 1916

Commissioned: 18 August 1916

Motto: Qui Tangit Frangitur

"Whoever touches me is broken"

Fate: Sunk by Japanese air attack off Malaya on 10 December 1941

General characteristics

Class and type: Renown-class battlecruiser

Displacement: 31,592 tons

Length: 794 ft 2.5 in (242.07 m) overall

Beam: 89 ft 11.5 in (27.42 m)

Draught: 29 ft 8 in (9.0 m)

Propulsion: Direct-drive turbines, 4 shafts, 112,000 hp (83.5 MW)

Speed: 31.7 knots (59 km/h)

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Range: 3,650 miles

Complement: 1,181 officers and ratings

Armament: • 6 × 15 inch Mk I guns (3×2)

• 9 × 4 inch low angle guns (3×3)

• 8 × 4 inch AA guns (2×2, 4×1)

• 24 × 2-pdr (40 mm) pom-pom (3×8)

• 8 × 20 mm Oerlikon AA cannon (8×1)

• 8 × 21 inch (533 mm) Mk II torpedo tubes

Aircraft

carried:

4 × Blackburn Shark, replaced by Fairey Swordfish in 1939

Aviation

facilities:

1 double-ended catapult launch

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Career

(UK)

Name: HMS Foresight

Ordered: 17 March 1933

1933 Naval Programme

Laid down: 21 July 1933

Launched: 29 June 1934

Commissioned: 15 May 1935

Fate: Sunk, Operation Pedestal, August 1942


Class and type: F class destroyer

Displacement: 1,405 long tons (1,428 t) standard

1,940 long tons (1,970 t) full load

Length: 318 ft 3 in (97.0 m) p/p

329 ft (100 m) o/a

Beam: 33 ft 3 in (10.1 m)


Propulsion: 3 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 300 psi

2 shaft Parsons geared turbines

36,000 shp

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Speed: 36 knots (41 mph; 67 km/h)

Range: 6,000 nmi (11,000 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)

Endurance: 471 tons fuel oil

Complement: 145 (173 in 1942)

Armament: • 4 × 4.7 inch/45 (120 mm) Mk XVIII (4×1)

• 8 × .50 inch Vickers machine guns (2×4)

• 5 × .303 inch machine guns (5×1)

• 8 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2×4)

• 2 × depth charge racks

• 60 depth charges

1940:

• 4 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes replaced by

• 1 × 3 in (76.2 mm)/50 and 2 × 20 mm Oerlikon (2×1)

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HMS Drake

The Royal Naval Barracks at Keyham

were first known as HMS Vivid but in 1934

it was renamed HMS Drake.

Work commenced on fields and market

gardens adjoining Keyham Barton on

Monday January 12th 1880 by Mr.

Pethick's men removing the hillocks and

otherwise preparing the ground, previous to

laying the foundation stone.

Mr. Matcham's contract was accepted for the building of the barracks at a cost of around

£250,000. Unfortunately Mr Matcham was killed while working on the project and was

replaced by another local man, Mr. Alfred R Debnam.

The buildings would accommodate 5,000 men. They were built of limestone, with

Portland stone dressings, and comprised two accommodation blocks, a drill shed and a

house for the Commodore. The architect was probably Sir John Jackson. It was

completed in 1886 and took the name of HMS Vivid after the Commander-in-Chief's iron-

built steam yacht. She had been purchased in September 1891 and become the Devonport

base ship in January 1892. HMS Vivid was sold on November 20th 1912.

However, there was much wrangling because some naval hierarchy thought that the

construction of such fine barracks was a complete waste of time and money. Consequently

it was not occupied until Tuesday June 4th 1889 when 500 men from HMS Adelaide

moved in. At that time it consisted of just two accommodation blocks, an admin block, the

Drill Shed and the Commodore's House.

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An aerial view of the Royal Naval Barracks, HMS Drake,

at Devonport.

One unusual development that took place occurred in 1894, when a loft for sixty homing

pigeons was constructed. The birds were trained by flying them from more and more

distant points around Plymouth.

The imposing clock tower was completed on Thursday August 20th 1896. It housed a

clock constructed by Messrs Gillet and Johnston of Croydon. This had four faces and a

large bell, which struck the hours. The clock was driven by weights that ran the height of

the structure plus many feet underground.

In 1898 the Barracks was extended by the addition of an Officers' Wardroom and

accommodation for a further 1,000 men. Further work was carried out in 1905 by the

addition of a swimming pool and in 1906 when the gymnasium, squash court and No. 1

Battery were completed.

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There was a Royal visit on Saturday March 8th 1902, when King Edward VII, along with

Queen Alexandra and the young Princess Victoria, called to present 280 China (Boxer

Rebellion) and 60 South Africa (Boer War) service medals.

Finally, on Monday February 18th 1907 the Bishop of Exeter dedicated St Nicholas's

Church, which was followed on August 18th that year by the dedication of an organ. The

guardhouse at the main gate was the last building to be erected, also in 1907.

Gunnery training was transferred to the Naval Barracks from Wednesday October 30th

1907, with training re-commencing on the following Monday, November 4th.

To relieve overcrowding during the Great War, Johnston Terrace Elementary School was

taken over by the Royal Navy on April 4th 1917.

Devonport Navy Week was held for the first time on August 21st - 25th 1928. In the

following October 1928 a theatre was opened in what had previously been the cinema and

beer hall.

The custom of holding an annual "Drake's Dinner" was started in the wardroom on

Monday July 31st 1933 and at the Dinner it was suggested that the Barracks be renamed

HMS Drake. The Admiralty gave its approval to this suggestion on Monday January 1st

1934 and the new cap ribbons were issued on Saturday January 20th 1934.

During the Second World War the Barracks did not escape unscathed. An air raid on the

night of Monday/Tuesday April 21st/22nd 1941, when the whole of Devonport suffered,

killed 113 people.

Naval personnel were first demobbed from HMS Drake on Monday June 18th 1945.

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Career

(United Kingdom)

Name: HMS Cormorant

Builder: Chatham Royal Dockyard

Cost: Hull £37,630, machinery £11,587[1]

Laid down: 1875

Launched: 12 September 1877

Commissioned: 2 July 1878

Fate: Hulked at Gibraltar in November 1889

Renamed Rooke in July 1946

Broken up at Malaga in 1949


Class and type: Osprey-class screw composite sloop[1]

Displacement: 1,130 tons[2]

Length: 170 ft (52 m)[2]

Beam: 36 ft (11 m)[2]

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Draught: 15 ft 9 in (4.8 m)[1]

Installed power: 951 indicated horsepower

Propulsion: • Two-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine

• Three cylindrical boilers

• Single 13 ft (4.0 m) screw

Sail plan: Barque rigged

Speed: 11.3 kn (20.9 km/h)[1]

Range: 1,480 nmi (2,740 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h)[1]

Complement: 140

Armament: • Two 7-inch (90cwt) muzzle-loading rifled guns

• Four 64-pound guns

• Four machine guns

• One light gun

The tenth “CORMORANT” is a 6-gun screw sloop, launched at Chatham in 1877. She is

of 1130 tons, 950 horse-power, and 11.3 knots speed. Her length, beam, and draught were

170ft., 36ft., and 15ft. In 1879 white men were being murdered in the New Hebrides, and

a boats crew belonging to the British trader “Mystery” had been massacred. The

“Cormorant,” commanded by Commander James Andrew Bruce, was one of five ships,

under Commodore John Crawford Wilson with his broad pennant on “Wolverene,” which

proceeded to the islands on a punitive expedition and inflicted severe punishment on the

natives. The “Cormorant” subsequently became receiving ship at Gibraltar

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The Royal Navy built the submarine shore establishment HMS Dolphin around the site of

the old fortifications known as Fort Blockhouse in Gosport. First used as a military base in

1431, the Royal Navy took it over in 1904. They had taken the name 'Dolphin' from an old

training vessel berthed alongside the submarine base from 1906 to 1923 and used as a

depot ship for the submariners.

In the early 1900s there were only a small number of ways in which a submarine officer

could reasonably hope for promotion to Commander. One way was to get a respectable

court-martial, which could draw his name to the attention of the Admiralty. Going aground

on a piece of land next to the submarine shore establishment HMS Dolphin in Gosport may

have led to such a respectable court-martial. A fair number of submarines began to

deliberately ground themselves upon the shore and this area became known as Promotion

Point during the twentieth century.

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Promotion Point (RNSM)

During World War Two defenses improved at HMS Dolphin. The Royal Navy pressed into

service a 4inch submarine gun, normally used for instructional purposes, and mounted it on

the ramparts of the establishment to protect the base from German bombing. Because of

this air defense system, HMS Dolphin did not suffer as much damage as nearby Gosport or

Portsmouth. One night in January, however, between 150 and 200 incendiary bombs fell

on HMS Dolphin, many hitting the roofs of the buildings and starting fires. This attack

caused two fatalities and several personnel received minor injuries. In connection with this

raid the following remarks were made in a letter received from the Admiral of the Royal

Navy: ”I am very much impressed by the prompt and efficient tackling of these incendiary

bombs which undoubtedly saved Fort Blockhouse from any serious damage and reflects

great credit on all concerned in the ARP organization of the Establishment”� .

Dismantling the last 4inch gun at the shore establishment HMS Dolphin (RNSM)

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Submarine training

By the 1920s submarine training had already established itself in a format it was to retain

for many years consisting of lectures on submarine systems, equipment and techniques

backed up by practical experience at sea in running boats. The submarine school, originally

housed in a collection of wooden huts, became known as the “brown area”, where students

would learn, amongst other subjects, physical training, seamanship, lectures on submarine

batteries, testing gyroscopes, torpedo training and semaphore instruction. Although during

World War Two some of the training moved to Blythe in Scotland, because of the air raids

on the base, after the war most of the more specialised training continued at HMS Dolphin.

This specialised training included submarine coxswains courses, the preliminary course for

the Commanding Officer Qualifying Course (COQC), radar course together with most of

the higher torpedo and A15 instruction.

Lecture on submarine batteries at HMS Dolphin (RNSM)

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HMS DOLPHIN, GOSPORT

D-Day

Two midget submarines, X-20 and X-23, guided the invasion fleet to the chosen beaches in

Normandy by surfacing off-shore and signaling with a green light. The two submarines left

HMS Dolphin on June 2 and arrived in Normandy on 4 June.

The weather had delayed the invasion so the crew of the

two submerged submarines had to wait in conditions of

great discomfort and suspense for 64 hours.

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Career HMS Urtica P-83

Ordered :

Builder:

Laid down :

Launched :

Commissioned

:

1943

Vickers Armstrong , Barrow-in-Furness.

27th April 1943

23rd

March 1944

20th June 1944

Class: V-class


Displacement: 1,360/1,590 tons (surface/submerged)

Length: 293 ft 6 in (89.5 m)

Beam: 22 ft 4 in (6.8 m)


Propulsion: 2 × 2,150 hp Admiralty ML 8-cylinder diesel engine, 2 × 625 hp

electric motors for submergence driving two shafts

Speed: 18.5/8 knots (surface/submerged)

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Range: 10,500 nautical miles at 11 knots surfaced

16 nautical miles at 8 knots or 90 nautical miles at 3 knots submerged

HMS Urtica

Paxman Submarine Engines

The RX was successor to Paxman's VX Heavy Duty Diesel which had been introduced in

1931. Both engines had the same bore, stroke and normal operating speed. The power

output of the normally aspirated RX at 600 rpm was little more than that of the VX, 56 bhp

compared with 50 bhp per cylinder (normal load). The key difference was the RX's

Ricardo Comet Mk III cylinder heads for indirect fuel injection.

Introduced no later than 1937, the RX was built mainly as a 4, 6 or 8 cylinder engine for

marine and industrial use, the 5 and 7 cylinder versions being dropped after the start of the

War. 6RX engines were installed on board HMS King George V, HMS Edinburgh, and

HMS Renown, in 1938, for driving generators. After the War the 6 and 8 cylinder versions

became available in supercharged forms.

The 6RXS with a fabricated steel frame was specially designed for service in submarines

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and produced 400 bhp at 825 rpm. Coupled to a 275 kW generator, it powered the later

British 'U' Class and all the 'V' Class submarines built during World War 2. RXS engines

were made in pairs, left and right handed, so that all the controls were between the two

engines. The Bosch fuel pump fed fuel through an injector with a pintle type nozzle with

an injection pressure of 1,800 psi. The compression pressure was 530 psi and the

maximum firing pressure at full load 760 psi. The governor ran at half engine speed and

the over speed governor was set to cut off fuel at engine speeds above 950 rpm.

• Bore and Stroke: 9½" x 12"

• Cylinder configurations: 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8

• Power output (per cylinder): 56/70 bhp at 600/750 rpm (naturally

aspirated); 75/93.3 bhp at 600/750 rpm (supercharged).

• Other features: Cylinder block supported on 'A' frames and secured by

long high tensile through bolts to the bedplate which carried the main

bearings. This arrangement permitted large inspection doors for

removing connecting rods and pistons, etc. Where weight or shock-

resistance justified the cost, a fabricated welded steel frame was also

available. Wet cylinder liners; Ricardo 'Comet' head; CAV-Bosch type

fuel pump. Compression ratio 15½ : 1.

Paxman Indirect Injection Engine.

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Career

HMS Amphion P-439

Ordered: Very late in World War II

Builder: Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness

Laid down: 14 November 1943

Launched: 31 August 1944

Commissioned: 27 March 1945

Fate: Sold to be broken up for scrap on 24 June 1971. Scrapped at

Inverkeithing in July 1971.


Displacement: 1,360/1,590 tons (surface/submerged)

Length: 293 ft 6 in (89.5 m)

Beam: 22 ft 4 in (6.8 m)


Propulsion: 2 × 2,150 hp Admiralty ML 8-cylinder diesel engine, 2 × 625 hp

electric motors for submergence driving two shafts

Speed: 18.5/8 knots (surface/submerged)

Range: 10,500 nautical miles at 11 knots surfaced

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16 nautical miles at 8 knots or 90 nautical miles at 3 knots submerged

Test depth: 350 ft (110 m)

Complement: 5 officers 55 enlisted

Armament: 6 × 21" (2 external)bow torpedo tube, 4 × 21" (2 external) stern

torpedo tube, containing a total of 20 torpedoes

Mines: 26

1 × 4" main deck gun, 3 × 0.303 machine gun, 1 × 20 mm AA

Oerlikon 20 mm gun

H.M.S. Amphion (P439) was an Amphion-class submarine of the Royal Navy, built by

Vickers Armstrong and launched 31st August 1944.

The Amphion class (also known as the “A” class) of diesel-electric submarines was

ordered by the Admiralty in 1943. They were originally designed to replace the S-class and

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T-class submarines, which were too slow and unable to dive deep enough to be suited to

Pacific waters during World War II. They were an enlargement of the T class, arranged for

fast, simple construction and to utilize much of the materials and equipment set aside for

the T boats. They had a high, flared bow for excellent sea performance and featured an

effective air conditioning system essential for Far East submarine operations. They were

operated by a crew of between 60 and 68. Originally, 46 submarines were ordered, but

only 18 were launched and 16 of them actually commissioned. The remaining two hulls

were used for crush testing before being scrapped.

The Amphion class was one of only two new British designs produced during World War

II - the other being the X-craft 4-man submarines. Wartime experience had shown that

submarines had to operate at greater distances from the United Kingdom - in the Far East

and Mediterranean for example; and with larger patrol areas than had been forseen, and

consequently the A class was slightly larger and had greater range and habitability than the

T class.

It was also designed for quicker construction - the hull was entirely welded and could be

fabricated in sections. These techniques were new for the British although already standard

practice for German U-boat construction. This meant that they took an average of 8 months

from keel laying to launching, compared with around 15 months for the T class.

However, only two of the boats were completed before the end of the war Amphion was

launched in August 1944, followed by Astute in January 1945 and neither saw enemy

action.

After World War II various modifications were made to these Overseas Patrol Submarines,

as they were known. A snort mast based on the schnorkel used by U-boats during the war,

radar which could be used from periscope depth, and a night periscope were added.

In response to the start of the cold war in the early 1950s, their role changed from being

anti-shipping warships to targeting Soviet submarines. This required the upper decks and

conning towers to be streamlined and deck guns removed to make them faster and quieter

underwater, and the sonar greatly improved.

The Amphion class served the Royal Navy for almost three decades, and was

gradually replaced with the Porpoise and Oberon classes. The last operational

Amphion-class boat, Andrew, was decommissioned in 1974. H.M.S. Amphion, later S-

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43, was the first of the class to be launched in August 1944. She was originally down

as H.M.S. Anchorite but their names were exchanged before launch.

On 3rd September 1958 H.M.S. Amphion unfortunately hit a training ship and then

after getting a taste for such things has another collision on January 10th 1967, she

was scrapped at Inverkeithing on 6th July 1971.

Ship transcript

HMS Amphion P-439 seen surfacing in Loch Long about 1945.

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Medals awarded

1939-45 Star Atlantic Star Africa Star

Italy Star War Medal Defense Medal

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Australian Immigration records

Primary description of item 7305134

O'GRADY Patrick born 10 December 1911; Annastasia (nee Heffernan) born

18 June 1908; travelled per ORMONDE departing Tilbury on 29 June 1950

under the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme

Barcode 7305134

Series number A1877

Series accession

number A1877/1

Control symbol

29/06/1950 ORMONDE O'GRADY P

Contents date range 1950 - 1950

Extent Location Canberra

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Ormonde 1917

The ORMONDE was built in 1917 by John Brown, Clydebank for the Orient Steam

Navigation Co. She was a 14,982 gross ton ship, length 580.5ft x beam 66.6ft, two funnels,

two masts, twin screw and a speed of 18 knots. Accommodation for 278-1st, 195-2nd and

1,000-3rd class passengers. She carried a crew of 380. Launched in June 1918, she was

completed as a troopship and didn't start her maiden voyage from London to Melbourne,

Sydney and Brisbane until 15th Nov.1919. She was converted from coal to oil burning in

1923 and in 1933 was refitted with one-class accommodation. Requisitioned as a troopship

in 1939, she took part in the evacuations from Norway and France. In Nov.1942 she was

present at the North African landings and later at Sicily and Italy. In 1944 she was based at

Bombay for Far East trooping work and returned to commercial service in 1947 as an

emigrant vessel to Australia. She was sold for breaking up at Dalmuir, Scotland in

Dec.1952.

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Point Claire, General Lawn cemetery

Gosford

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References.

1) UK Census of 1881.

http://www.ancestry.co.uk/

2) Marriage Registration..


3) Service Record.


4) Medals Issued.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/militaryhistory/medals/?militarylink=ww

1-medals

5) Remembered with Honor.

http://www.cwgc.org/

6) 1st Wiltshire Reference Material and War Diaries.

https://www.thewardrobe.org.uk/index.php

7) Battle of Messines.

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_messines1914.html

Documents

Patrick O'Grady