Tag Archives: Greenock

HMS Onyx – Bid to make former Navy submarine Clyde exhibit

4 Replies

SHIPPING enthusiasts have launched an ambitious scheme to buy a former Royal Navy submarine and berth her on the Clyde as an exhibit.

Sorry, you must sign in before you can print full articles.

Custom byline text:
jody harrison

They are seeking to buy HMS Onyx, the last Oberon-class sub, and bring her back to Greenock, where the undersea craft was assembled.

But since 2006 the sub has been languishing at Buccleuch Dock in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, after being part of a plan to build a Submarine Heritage Centre which never materialised.

Eleven Oberon-class submarines were built at Scott’s Drydock in Greenock, six for Royal Australian Navy, three for Royal Navy and two which were purchased by Chile.

The group members, which include former submariners, have been to inspect HMS Onyx and say she is in good enough condition to be put on display. A feasibility study is currently under way to establish if the plan could go ahead, while a number of local businessmen are backing the scheme.

HMS Onyx saw action during the Falkland Islands conflict and helped smuggle members of the Special Boat Service into the warzone.

The group’s spokesman, Bill Mutter, said: “Greenock has a proud heritage of shipbuilding but at the moment all it has to show for it is the (Paddle Steamer) ‘Comet’ and it is positioned in Port Glasgow.

“Onyx is display ready, as for many years she was located in Liverpool and it was only due to harbour regeneration around 2007 that the then museum had to be broken up.

“We narrowly missed out on acquiring her then, and she went to a Barrow business man, supposedly as a gift to the people of Barrow, but when his planning application for a hotel he proposed building was refused he promptly sold Onyx to a scrap dealer with whom she presently languishes.”

He added he felt the old Scott’s Dry Dock would be the ideal location for Onyx as it was in this dock that the Oberons built by Scott’s were fitted out. He said the dock itself is also historic.

Source – Herald Scotland

 

CHRIS’S Poignant Submarine Trip Down Under

1 Reply

CHRIS Davidson made a family trip to the other side of the world and was able to see a submarine his late father helped to build on the Clyde.

 

Chris from Greenock travelled with his wife Theresa to visit their daughter Pamela who emigrated to Australia just over a year ago.

During their stay they visited the maritime museum at Fremantle, south of Perth, which has former Australian Navy submarine HMAS Ovens on show. Chris enjoyed a tour of the vessel which was built at Scott’s of Greenock in the late 1960s.

He said: “I took photos of the engines with a tear in my eye, as my late dad Peter Davidson fitted them back in 1967.”

HMAS Ovens was one of six Oberon-class submarines built for Australia and remained in service until 1995.

More Information about HMAS Ovens Australian Navy Website

Source – Inverclyde Now

‘Sub should go on show in Greenock’ – HMS Onyx

2 Replies

CALLS for a submarine to be exhibited in Greenock have resurfaced – following news that a new ‘silent service’ museum is to be opened on the other side of the Clyde

HMS Onyx

SAVE SUB: HMS Onyx could be scrapped if no-one comes up with the money to buy the submarine

Source – Greenock Telegraph

 

Son to Skype father on Christmas Day after 50 year hunt

1 Reply

A man who waited 50 years to meet his father is looking forward to the “best present ever” as he sees him on Christmas Day for the first time this year.

Westley Grey who lives in Scotland meeting his father in the US, Westley Snr Moorehead for the first time
Westley Grey who lives in Scotland meeting his father in the US, Westley Snr Moorehead for the first time 

50-year-old Westley Grey lives near Greenock in Inverclyde and had never met his father until October this year when he travelled to the US.

Along with his twin brother David, Westley started searching for his birth father after his mother Thomasina died. They knew that he had served in the US Navy and eventually tracked him down to Texas.

Westley Grey and his twin baby brother David in the arms of their mother Thomasina
Westley Grey and his twin baby brother David in the arms of their mother Thomasina 
  • Westley Snr Moorehead joined the US Navy in 1945 aged 17. In the early 1960s he was stationed at Holy Loch in Argyll and Bute, which was a US nuclear submarine base during the Cold War
  • While there he met Thomasina and the couple fell in love, but shortly afterwards Westley Snr was sent to the Caribbean during the Cuban missile crisis and later to war in Vietnam
  • Just after he left, Thomasina discovered she was pregnant with twins but had no way of contacting Westley Snr, who had no idea until David found him in the US

David travelled alone to Texas to meet his father, who is now 84, and discovered that he and his brother have three stepsisters and a stepbrother.

It’s been the best year of my life and now I can’t wait to see my dad for the first time in my life on Christmas day when I Skype him.

That’s the best Christmas present I could ever want. It was the most amazing moment in my life to have finally met my dad for the first time.

I waited 50 years for to see him and was completely lost for words when I first saw him. I just gave him a big hug.

– WESTLEY GREY

Thomasina with Westley Snr Moorehead just before he was called away to the Caribbean
Thomasina with Westley Snr Moorehead just before he was called away to the Caribbean 

I felt blessed to have met Westley and David for the first time in my life.

It was incredibly emotional to have met Westley, I will never forget the moment I first saw him. Now I’m very much looking forward to speaking to him for the first time on Christmas Day.

The past few months have been a rollercoaster of emotions – meeting Westley for the very first time and then losing my wife.

I’m extremely glad though that they managed to meet before Bernadine died. He will have good memories of a wonderful woman.

– WESTLEY SNR MOOREHEAD

Source – ITV