On the way to the Far East in 1945 after sailing from Gibraltar and heading to Malta, we did some testing of our 4.5" guns using some new close proximity anti aircraft shells. I was in the gunbay of B turret when a shell exploded prematurely in the barrel of the right gun which split into pieces and flew in all directions. A large section of it burst through the deckhead above me and just missed my left arm before landed on the deck to the right behind me.

When we got to Malta with only 1 1/2 guns in B turret, the rest of the right barrel was sawn off and large chunks of lead was placed in the back end where the shell cartridge was inserted, to counterbalance the loss of the weight of the length of barrel that had been blown and sawn off.

We then sailed east through the Suez Canal to Colombo in Ceylon, (now Sri Lanka) where I was put ashore because I had a medical problem which ultimately led to my being invalided from the R.N.

However HMS Trafalgar then sailed on to the Far East even though the Pcific War had ended by then. I never saw that ship again but have seen photographs of her which indicated that the damaged gun in B turret had been replaced. My question is where and when did that repair job take place? I would also like to know more about the shipyard in Dalmuir, Scotland where she was towed to be scrapped

I commissioned Trafalgar in Wallsend on Tyne on June 6th 1945 and left her two months in Colombo and ultimately was returned home to the UK on HMS Howe. Fortunatel nobody was hurt when that gun blew up but I was lucky that I didn't lose my left arm.