Last Updated 19/03/2024
obituary page

Welcome to the Internet home of Repulse Reunion Association
NOTE
IF ANY MEMBER HAS CHANGED THEIR EMAIL ADDRESS SINCE INFORMING THE ASSOCIATION
ON JOINING COULD THEY PLEASE EMAIL Mick Inshaw
michaelinshaw55@gmail.com
AS WHEN I SEND MAIL SHOTS OUT I GET A FEW RETURNS WHICH THEN MEANS I HAVE TO
SEND A LETTER WHICH COSTS THE ASSOCIATION MONEY.
I THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.
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NEWS ITEMS
SUBMARINE LOSSES
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
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HMS REPULSE
Who touches me is broken
Repulse first commission
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This Web Site was designed for people who served on H.M. Submarine Repulse. We have a lot of archive pictures and facts about the submarine and those whom served on her. We would also like to hear from those who served on or helped build her but are not members of the association, please state which commision and which crew. If you had a friend who served upon Repulse and have lost contact and we might be able to help you re-establish contact with them.If you have any interesting facts, figures or pictures of Repulse we would love to hear about them. We can scan and return your photo's.
An End of Polaris ceremony was held in Faslane Naval Base on the 28 August 1996 with the then Prime Minister, John Major giving the final decommissioning speech to close the Polaris programme. During the ceremony a commemorative plaque was unveiled at the entrance to the Trident base.
After the ceremony a small buffet lunch was held in the "Ship Lift" and a group of "Repulsives" met together for the first time for many years. The lunch progressed to a dinner in the Ardencaple Hotel that evening and it was decided that having had such a good time, they ought to do it again in the future. So is it and the above Association was born:
Chairman
Frank Scutt
CMEA (P) retired(frank.scutt@gmail.com) 
Secretary
Mick Inshaw
POOEL (P) retired (michaelinshaw55@gmail.com)
Treasurer
George Elward
CMech (P) retired



The association first met on the 25th September 1997 at the Imperial Hotel, Barrow in Furness (The birthplace of Repulse).
The association at that time had 73 people who declared in interest in joining. We now have around 220 members and still looking for more to join.
OTHER REPULSE BADGES ALL HAD SAME MOTO
Who touches me is broken



MARCH
HMS A1 18th 1904, HMS E5 7th 1916, HMS E24 24 th 1916, HMS E49 12th 1917,
HMS A10 17th 1917, HMS H5 2nd 1918, HMS D3 12th 1918, HMS H42,23th 1922,
HMS P39 26th  1942, HMS Thunderbolt 14th 1943, HMS Turbulent 14th 1943,
HMS Stonehenge 16th 1944, HMS Syrtis 28th 1944, XE11 6th 1945,

DOES ANYONE HAVE A CREW LIST
FOR YEARS 75/76


H. L. Hunley: Confederate Submarine
Written by: John Maguire
The H.L. Hunley was a submarine used by the Confederacy that demonstrated the effectiveness and possibilities of submersible warfare. Submarines were already in existence at the time, but this particular submarine was the first underwater vessel to engage with and destroy an enemy warship.
Built in 1863 at the Park and Lyons shop in Mobile, Alabama, the H.L. Hunley was made from an iron steam boiler with a cylindrical shape and elongated by adding narrowed ends. This submarine was not powered by diesel or a nuclear reactor, as so many are today: The H.L. Hunley was designed to be powered by eight men cranking a propeller from inside the submarine while one man (also on the inside) had the job of directing their path of travel by steering the vessel. Both ends of the submarine were fitted with ballast tanks, which could be flooded by opening valves or emptied using hand pumps, causing the H.L Hunley to float up to the surface or dive down to the depths of the ocean. An emergency ballast was added in the form of iron weights underneath the vessel. If the crew felt the need to quickly rise to the surface, these weights only needed to be unscrewed and removed.
Late at night on Feb. 16, 1864, the H.L. Hunley made history when it attacked the USS Housatonic, a 1,800-ton, 23-gun Union warship, off the South Carolina coast. The H.L. Hunley daringly rammed a spar torpedo, which was connected to a long pole on the front bow and chock full of explosive powder, directly into the warship's wooden siding. As the Hunley backed away, the crew detonated the charge using a rope attached to a trigger, sending the Housatonic and its crew of five to the bottom of Charleston Harbor. This attack put the H.L. Hunley down in history as the first submarine to sink a ship in war. Unfortunately, the proximity of the submarine to the explosion it had created sent it and its crew of nine to the bottom of the harbor along with the very ship it had attacked.
The Wreck and its Recovery
A 14-year search, headed by author Clive Cussler and assisted by a team from the National Underwater and Marine Agency as well as the South Carolina Institute of Anthropology and Archaeology, located the wreckage of the H.L Hunley in 1995, 131 years after it sank. The team exposed the forward hatch and the ventilator box, which served as the attachment for the snorkel. They found the vessel lying at a 45-degree angle on its starboard (right) side. Such a long time underwater had left the submarine covered in a crust of iron oxide that had then bonded with seashell particles and bits of sand. Upon closer inspection, the team found that most of the vessel had been well preserved underneath the sediment.
The time to bring the H.L. Hunley up from its resting place in Charleston Harbor came in August of 2000. Professionals from the Naval Historical Center's Underwater Archaeology Branch, the National Park Service, and the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology measured and documented the vessel's condition. Then, the submarine could be carefully raised. Harnesses were attached to a truss, which was then attached securely to a crane on the Clarissa B, a Navy barge. The crane slowly brought the H.L. Hunley from the depths of the harbor, and at 8:37 a.m. on Aug. 8, the submarine broke the surface of the sea once again. The event was met with cheers and applause from the public, both onshore and in surrounding boats. The Hunley was then placed on a barge for its final cruise into Charleston Harbor, where it would be taken to a freshwater tank at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center for excavation and conservation.
From here, work began on exploring the vessel's crew compartment, uncovering many artifacts from the 19th century. The remains of the crew were also found, still at their stations; these were removed and given a proper burial. Conservation work continues on the submarine itself, which will eventually be displayed at a museum.
SUBMARINERS PRAYER
O' Father, hear our prayer to thee
For your humble servants beneath the sea.
In the depths of oceans, as oft they stray
So far from night, so far from day
We would ask your guiding light to glow
To make their journey safe below.
Please oft time grant them patient mind
Then 'ere the darkness won't them blind
They seek thy protection from the deep
Please grant us peace when 'ere they sleep.
Of their homes and loved ones far away
We ask you care for each day
Until we surface once again
To drink the air and feel the rain
We ask your guiding hand to show
A safe progression sure and slow
Dear Lord, please hear our prayer to thee
For your humble servants beneath the sea.