Fleet Regattas: Cock of the Fleet
One of the highlights of any commission were the fleet regattas, where crews would compete to become "Cock of the Fleet." The ship's whalers and other boats would race between two lines of ships. Smaller ships would field one crew, larger ships, two or more, so, not only would the competition be between the various ships but also among divisions.
Images: Cock of the Fleet trophies: Left: This first was very kindly sent by Bernard Mouzer, OBE RVM, served on HMS Phoebe during her 1948-1951 commission and shows the trophy from 1950. Center: The trophy won by HMS Gambia at Argustoli, Greece in 1952. This photo came from dad's photo album. Right: This third image is of the Cock of the Fleet trophy in the South African Naval Museum, Cape Town. Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The origin of these races is obscure but the website "Tales from the Supply Depot", which has some nice photos of a regatta, quotes an old Butler and Lambert cigarette card that said:
The term "Cock of the Fleet" has been applied to the leading ship in competitive exercises, regattas etc., for over a hundred years. Its origin dates from the "Battle of the Saints" of April 12th 1782. This is explained in extracts from a letter written by an officer who fought in HMS Formidable that day: "A shot from the Ville de Paris struck a hen-coop that had been left out on the spar deck. Out from the ruins of his home fluttered a little bantam cock and impudently perched himself on the rail of the poop. As every broadside poured into the Ville de Paris, he cheered the crew with his shrill clarion…Admiral Rodney was charmed and gave orders that the bird should be petted for the rest of his life."
Ken Booth was on HMS Gambia for the 1950/2 commission and wrote in November 2002:
The Gambia was waiting in Bombay in February '52 to go across to Mombasa to escort Princess Elizabeth and Phillip to Australia after their holiday in Kenya, but when the King died they flew home. We then became permanent members of the East Indies fleet until we sailed for home via the Med. where we took the trophy "Cock of the Fleet" as we passed through. It was hard work for those competing boats crews though.
The regattas were one of the few occasions where betting was allowed onboard the ships. Some ships went to great lengths to try and win. The whalers were heavy boats and it was not unknown for them to be shaved until they were "paper thin then woe betide any poor sole who put his foot thru it." It was a common practice, if the winning ship was lucky enough to have won every event to hoist a broom at her masthead commemorating a clean sweep of the seas.
Some ships that won the trophy were:
HMS Neptune - 1912
HMS Orion - 1913 (Second Battle Squadron)
HMS Orion - 1914 (Second Battle Squadron)
HMS King Edward VII - 1914
HMS Orion - 1915 (Second Battle Squadron)
HMS Marlborough - 1916
HMS Marlborough - 1917
HMS Conqueror - 1917 (Second Battle Squadron)
HMS Marlborough - 1918
HMS Hood - 1920
HMS Repulse - 1921
HMS Repulse - 1923
HMS Resolution - 1925 (Atlantic Fleet)
HMS Hood - 1926
HMS Barham - Corfu Bay, Corfu - 1927
HMS Hood - 1927
HMS Hood - 1928
HMS Queen Elizabeth - 1929
HMS London - Argostoli, Greece - 1930
HMS Nelson - 1931
HMS Nelson - 1933
HMS Hood - Rosyth - 1935 (Home Fleet)
HMS Wishart - 1935 (Mediterranean Fleet)
HMS Hood - Navarin - 1938
HMS Royal Oak - 1938
HMS Warspite - Mombasa - 1943
HMS Zenith - Portland - 1945/46
HMS Mauritius - 1946 (Mediterranean Regatta)
HMS Howe - Portland - 1947
HMCS Crescent - 1948 (Canadian Pacific Fleet)
HMCS Cayuga - 1948
HMCS Swansea - 1948
HMS Mauritius - 1948 (Mediterranean Regatta)
HMS Phoebe - Marmarice, Turkey - July 1950 (or it could have been won by HMS Loch Shin, accounts vary - or more likely, HMS Phoebe won the Mediterranean fleet regatta and HMS Loch Shin won the Home Fleet one.)
HMS Vanguard - 1951 (Home Fleet)
HMS Actaeon - 1951
HMS Eagle - lnvergordon - 1952 (Home Fleet)
HMS Nereida - 1952
HMS Gambia - Argustoli, Greece - 1952 (Mediterranean Fleet)
HMS Gambia - Palmas Bay, Sardinia - 1954
HMS Woodbridge Haven - 1956 (Inshore Fleet)
HMS Birmingham - Augusta Bay, Sicily, Italy - 1957
HMS Grafton - 1957 (4th Destroyer Squadron)
HMS Newcastle - 1957
HMS Surprise - 1957 (Inshore fleet)
HMS Birmingham - Augusta Bay, Sicily, Italy - 1957
HMCS Fraser - 1957 (Pacific Fleet)
HMCS Beacon Hill - 1958 (Pacific Fleet)
HMS Ulysses - Augusta Bay, Sicily, Italy - 1958/59
HMCS Beacon Hill - 1959 (Pacific Fleet)
HMS Belfast - Junk Bay, Hong Kong (Far East Fleet)
HMCS Beacon Hill - 1960 (Pacific Fleet)
HMS Gambia - Trincomalee, Ceylon - 1960 (Far East Fleet - Combined JET 60 Fleet)
HMCS Haida - Bermuda - 1961
HMCS Jonquiere - Mayne Bay, Barkley Sound, Canada - 1961 (Pacific Fleet)
INS Betwa - 1961
HMS Finisterre - Grand Harbour, Malta - 1962
HMNZS Blackpool - Singapore - 1966
HMS Forth - Singapore - 1969 (Far East Fleet)
HMS Cavalier - 1971
SAS President Steyn ("Superduck") - 1975
SAS President Kruger - 1981
HMS Iveston - 198?
HMS Cromer - 1997
INS Viraat - Mumbai, Maharashtra - January 2011
It should be remembered that not only were there "Cock of the Fleet" regattas for each fleet but also between squadrons, so the above list is not authoritative as the list was compiled from various accounts and sources. Dartmouth Training Squadron for example had their own which was run at least until the 1960s.
Other competitions were also given the term "Cock of the Fleet." The September 1990 issue of Navy News says that:
HMS Warren (a shore-based RNR establishment) won the Cock of the Fleet Trophy - the small arms efficiency award - after an all-round performance which dominated the Royal Navl Reserve Skill-at-Arms meeting at Bisley.
The winning boat crew of these fleet races were often given a silver oar. These oars seem to range in size from anywhere between 6" and 12" long.
The Spectator of August 26, 1927 has an interesting story about when HMS Barham won Cock of the Fleet. Inspecting the trophy, the watch-man found the head came off. Inside was a note that read "From Silverman : Ward-Room Mess Neptune. To Silverman: Ward-Room Mess 'I'm fed up with cleaning this ruddy bird, I hope you keep him for ever.'" Neptune had lost the title Cock of the Fleet to Orion in 1913, so the note was put back inside the trophy. It's nice to think it might still be there - wherever it is.
A short biogrpahy of Admiral RKS Ghandi of the Indian Navy describes him as captain of INS Betwa shouting to his men "go get the Cock by its what nots or do not came back!"
It's difficult to know where the trophies are now. The one won by SAS President Kruger in 1981 is at the bottom of the South Atlantic Ocean. On February 18, 1982 the ship was on exercise and during a fleet maneuver collided with the much heavier SAS Tafelberg and sank in 45 minutes. The Navy News of May 1980, page 7, was also wondering where these trophies had gone to but no one seemed to know.
The Royal Navy was not the only navy to hold these regattas. The Indian Navy was running their own in 2011, which was won by by the aircraft carrier INS Viraat - the last she would participate in before being decommissioned in March 2017. The ship was completed and commissioned in 1959 as the Royal Navy's HMS Hermes, and decommissioned in 1984. It was sold to India in 1987. INS Viraat was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 12 May 1987, and served for almost 30 years.
There was a lot of rough play during these regattas. Bernard Mouzer, OBE RVM, served on HMS Phoebe during her 1948-1951 commission and sent me the following letter about the 1950 regatta he sent to his wife.
The Regatta this year is being spread over two days with the small ships competing on the first day. The two New Zealand ships win most of their races. With their Maori rowers they are very formidable opposition. But the main contest is on the second day between the bigger ships, Forth, Gambia, Glory and ourselves. Although we are the smallest of the four, with the smallest complement to choose crews from, we fancy ourselves to win the Cock. In the evening before our race I go to the cinema in the waist to see "Under Capricorn."
Wednesday 12. 7.50 is probably the most memorable day of the commission. Phoebe wins the Regatta and is the Cock of the Fleet. We are already looking forward to steaming into Grand Harbour with the huge plywood cock in its prominent place on B turret and of course the Skipper receiving the silver cock trophy from the Admiral.
Phoebe wins quite comfortably. Out of the 8 Seamen's boats we come fourth and our A whaler comes first. So as well as a sore bottom and horny hands I now have a certain amount of satisfaction. Times are faster than last year and the competition keener, encouraged by the New Zealanders.
They (the New Zealanders) are different to us. It can be said for them that they are tremendously high spirited and good humoured and that they go all out to enjoy themselves. However, because of their high spirits they run away with themselves and become hooligans. They're excused a bit because amongst the hooliganism there is nothing but good humour. They don't get nasty. But by nature they're rough and physically they're big, well developed and extremely healthy.
Imagine therefore the consequences when foraging parties from the New Zealand ships come in the black night to pinch our Cock. The wooden one illuminated on B turret. There were also parties from other ships, notably Gambia and Forth. The Captain himself piped "Stand by to Repel Boarders" and when we got up top he was standing on the quarterdeck, drenched to the skin, clad in formal dinner attire, heaving spuds and shouting, "Rally round Phoebes!" All the hoses were going, all the officers were drenched and mostly drunk – spuds, red lead bombs, paint, buckets of gash, and still the Kiwis came. Up the gangway, up the anchor cable, up the booms and in through the ports. They were beaten, drenched, painted and then chucked over the side only to shout back in defiance, "We'll be back you jokers" and back they'd come.
The bridge was teeming with them. One of them was thrown off the flag deck onto an awning and then over the foc'sle. A couple were taken to sick bay but thanks to good providence nobody was seriously hurt. One cheeky b climbed in through a port, put all the plugs in the officers bathroom, turned all the taps on, took all the tap tops off and stowed them in a wine box. All the cabins in that region were flooded. What a laugh! One of them pinched one of the Captain's brass dolphins ( huge things) dived over the side with it and put it in his boat as booty. How he managed to swim with it I don't know.
At the height of it all the Captain had "The Cease Fire" sounded and everything stopped as suddenly as it started. A bedraggled officer from another ship still in his formal dinner dress, dragged himself up the gangway from where he had been heaved over the side and said, "Now I can go ahead with the social call I came to pay!" On the other side of the ship, in Hawea's boat a New Zealander in trunks, covered from head to foot in black paint, wiping himself on our tiddly cotton duck gangway screen said, "Three Cheers for Phoebe. We'll be back about three!"
Well not much happened after that except to pick all the blokes out of the water, and this morning we cleared up the mess. There were spuds, red lead, paint and in big black letters painted on the stern, "Gambia." Now we are shipshape again and it's all over. I know that it is all foolish hooliganism but I can't help admiring the Kiwis for their good humour and gameness. It helped to pass the time and no harm has been done except to the Instructor Lieutenant who has got a black eye. I am so pleased. (He is the man who upset me by being so unhelpful about my request for a correspondance course).
In August 2018, I received an email from Melinda Cole, a family friend of Sgt. Dennis Strange who served in the Royal Marines. She sent a nice photo of HMS Phoebe being presented with the "Cock of the Fleet" and a copy of a newspaper article from when Phoebe arrived back in Chatham after the 1948-1951 commission. The article in part says"
At Marmarice, too, the Phoebe won the coveted Mediterranean Fleet Regatta Cock in July of last year, and a formidable array of cups and trophies for almost every type of sport.
She was the first ship to return to Chatham for many years wearing a gigantic replica of the Cock on her "B" 5.25 gun turret, and this proud achievement typifies the spirit which pervades this very happy ship.
This comes from the original HMS Gambia Association website:
Gambia re-joined the Mediterranean Fleet to take part in the first part of the Summer Cruise and promptly carried off the "Cock" in the Heavy ship Pulling Regatta.
The Regatta was held at Argostoli on July 9 and 10 [1952] and in the fifteen races Gambia obtained seven firsts, six seconds and three thirds. She secured the "Cock" by a lead of 17 points from her closest rival, H.M.S. Euryalaus, after an exciting battle and thus two Devonport ships were able to inform the Home Port that a "proper job" had been done.
George Bell served on HMS Gambia as Electrical Petty Officer for her 1950/52 Commission. George took part in the regatta of 1952. On October 16, 2003, George recorded an oral history for the Imperial War Museums (IWM 25545). In part 7 of the interview George describes the regatta and his part in it, I have extracted the relevant sections...
This is taken from HMS Gambia's 1952/54 Commission Book and describes the 1954 Fleet Regatta:
On Monday September 6 the Fleet set out once more for the Second Summer Cruise and after the usual succession of exercises we arrived at Palmas Bay and moored in our allotted positions.
Thursday September 9 dawned on a blustery day giving us anything but perfect conditions for the Cruiser Regatta but nothing daunted we sallied forth into the fray determined to settle the cruiser rivalry for good. The races throughout the day provided thrill after thrill as first one and then the other drew ahead and at the close of the day we were faced with a four point deficit from Bermuda. The effect of this setback was alleviated by the Captain who broadcast a pep talk over the S.R.E. in the evening, and on the day of the Fleet Regatta our determination was even stronger than before. The first three races found Gambia first over the line and then the fight started as Bermuda realised that it wasn't such a sure thing after all. As the afternoon wore on hoarse and almost hysterical members of the ship's company urged their tattered larynxes to greater efforts and with the final result resting on the finish of the last race many preferred to hide their faces rather than suffer. The race over, the winners safely home, everyone went wild with joy with the announcement that Gambia and Bermuda had tied for the Cruiser Cock and Gambia had won the Fleet Cock outright. After 20 months of striving and planning the pinnacle had been achieved and as darkness swiftly set in, the huge and almost lifelike illuminated Cock on 'B' Turret announced to all that H.M.S. Gambia was at last, well and truly COCK OF THE FLEET!
1958/60 Regattas
It seems whenever more than two ships berthed together a regatta was organized and it was a point of pride to win. This is taken from the 1958/60 Commission Book
Our crews, together with helpers, organisers and maintainers, numbered nearly one hundred and fifty during our first regatta at Augusta; and at Trincomalee about eighty were involved. To keep this number keen, enthusiastic and fit is a huge task, and sincere thanks are due to all those who made such determined efforts to get the best results.
We had two regattas and two challenge races during the Commission: the regattas in Sicily and Ceylon, and the challenge races at Malta and Gibraltar.
For the regatta at Augusta our training started during our foreign service leave at Rosyth. Our efforts at training were hampered by leave and sea-time, although every effort was made to get the crews away whenever the opportunity presented Itself. Everyone found the change of climate from the rigours of an English summer to the heat in Grand Harbour trying in the extreme, and the heat seemed to produce a feeling of lassitude or exhaustion and tempers became short.
The regatta embraced the Mediterranean sea-going fleet, and though shore establishments were entered, naturally they did not score points towards the cock.
The larger ships had to provide two crews for each event, total points for the event being obtained by adding the points gained by the two crews and then halving the answer. This meant that if we were to stand a chance both our crews would have to come in the first four in each race. The cards were in fact stacked heavily against us, the destroyers and frigates having to provide only one entry were on a very much easier wicket.
The final placings put ULYSSES on top with 126 points, DEFENDER next with 107, and GAMBIA third with 95. A total of fifteen ships were engaged and we did well indeed to beat BIRMINGHAM, being first among the ships plagued by the necessity of providing two boats.
The second regatta took place at Trincomalee on Saturday, 27th February, 1960. This was really a cruiser regatta and was in competition those cruisers taking part in Exercise JET 60.
Training began at Karachi in mid-January and we were able to take a good run at it, having four weeks in which to concentrate without interruption. Naturally we continued our training at sea whenever possible. In every respect we were a much more settled crowd. We had plenty of reserves to fall back on as only one crew was required for each category.
The ships against us were the Indian Naval Ships DELHI and MYSORE and H.M.S. BELFAST. We were concerned about our chances against BELFAST as she had recently collected the Far East Cock at Hong Kong. Further concern was felt when we heard that she had left two of her crews behind while we were at sea on exercise. Fortunately one gathers they spent most of their training time in the bar.
Observers onboard considered that we would give a good account of ourselves, but even our most optimistic soothsayer was staggered in the event. All our crews pulled excellently and the results of continuous and patient training were evident. The strokes were long and pulled through, the crews had stamina, and the coxswains steered straight courses without getting flustered. Two seamen crews were allowed in the first race and we gained first and second places, the senior crew just pipping the youngsters on the post by a matter of feet.
Each race thereafter was made up of two categories, thus the M(E)s and Electrical crews pulled in the same race. There was no occasion when we did not have the first boat home in each category. Our M(E)s' crew won the second race comfortably in the fastest time of the day, BELFAST's (M(E)s were second, and our Electrical crew were third. Then the Communications and Supply and Secretariat crews were first and second respectively, Artificers and Royal Marines first and third, Petty Officers and Chief Petty Officers first and second, and finally the Wardroom pulled off their race too. At this stage it was impossible to get any ship to take a bet and the successful punter was lucky to see his money returned if he had backed the winner on the tote.
The final points were: GAMBIA 79, BELFAST 53.5, DELHI 35.5, and MYSORE 28. We had not dropped a single point.
Next day a racing whaler event was held, open to all ships present. Nineteen took part and our M(E)s' crew pulled an excellent race to win by about three lengths from CAVENDISH, with BELFAST third. A very satisfactory ending to .a wonderful regatta. Our celebrations were cut short, however, by the ship hemg ordered to Mauritius that night to give assistance in making good the damage caused by their second cyclone.
On two other occasions only did we race against other ships. The Barham Cup which was competed for just before the Fleet sailed for Augusta was a race for whalers manned by E.R.A.s. Ours was not successful, but made a determined effort and came in about a third of the way down the field.
At Gibraltar on our return from the foreign leg we were invited to enter a seaman crew against ARK ROYAL, DUNKIRK, CARRON and JUTLAND.
Here our superiority was most marked although stamina was lacking. A comfortable lead of about five lengths was established, but the crew looked rather the worse for wear at the finish.
The poem below comes from a Bernard Hallas' memories of WWII. It tells the tale of the crew from HMS Warspite and their race to become Cock of the Fleet at Mombasa, Kenya in 1943.
We were anchored off the coast of Mombasa
The crew were painting ships side,
We were having a rest from "The Aussie Run"
And were anchored, Kilindini side.
For months we had been living with tension
And now we had nothing to do,
So the Commander ordered a cutter race
He said, "It will be good for the crew".
So the Top men, Foc'sle and Quarterdeck
Old ones and some in their teens,
Trained alongside the Signals and Stokers
And of course, the Marines.
For the Royal Marines it was blood and sweat
For they were always expected to win,
So every morning, while others slept
They were getting their training in.
Now there are two cutters on every ship
For racing and provisioning with stores,
The one for provisioning is built like a tank
The racer is light, with light oars.
The bye's and ties were soon over
The final race is on,
The Foc'sle and the Royal Marines
Will decide, which is the one.
In a three mile race, "The Racer"
Was better by five or six lengths,
But the heavy "Provisioning Cutter"
Would tax even Hercules strength.
On the day the Marines were unlucky
They had drawn the heavy boat,
And the Foc'sle crew kept a fairly straight face
It was hard for them not to gloat.
Mombasa went quiet as the crews lined up
All tense at the starting gate,
The gun was fired we strained at the oars
To a well timed 'Twenty Eight'.
After two miles we were neck and neck
Our "Tank" was holding it's own,
But slowly, ever so slowly
The "Racer" went forward alone.
On top of the Warspite's turret
The Major could see his crew's plight,
That the weight of the heaviest cutter
Was taxing even their might.
He changed the drum beat to "Thirty"
The drummer increased the time,
And we in the boat strained our hearts out
To reach that finishing line.
The "Racers" crew were now hard put
Some extra strength to find,
And the Royal Marines just crossed the line
A bare half-length behind.
Meanwhile the Resolution
Had timed the winning boat,
And knowing that their time was faster
Sat back with a bit of a gloat.
They sent a challenge with five hundred pounds
To race the Warspites boat,
And please "Would the Warspite cover it"
Said the rather demanding note.
The Captain asked the Foc'sle crew
As the champions of the ship,
If they would take on the "Reso"
And stop them from giving their 'Lip'.
The Foc'sle crew thought long and hard
And then said as one man,
Sir, if we had had the "Provisioning" boat
We'd have been an 'also ran'
So please accept the Reso's bet
And cover it note for note,
But let "The Royals" take up the glove
And give them "The Racing Boat".
We will not give up the championship
But, for the honour of the ship,
Just this once we'll all stand down
And the "Royals" can make the trip.
So the day of the challenge came round at last
The crews lined up at the flag,
"We'll tan the arse off the Flagships boat"
The Resolution started to brag.
But then they saw our colours
The yellow, green, red and blue,
"We're not racing the Foc'sle boat
It's a bloody Bootnecks crew".
The gun fired, we all strained backwards
The beat was again Twenty-Eight,
It didn't take half of the three-mile course
For the Reso' to work out their fate.
Ten lengths ahead on the finishing line
The Reso's crew truly beat,
And to rub it in, on the Warspite's mast
We were flying "The Cock of the Fleet".
They towed our boat back to the Warspite
To the Major containing his pride,
The Foc'sle crew came and shook our hands
"It was nothing" we said, "We just tried".
That night we went to the Naval canteen
Each man had to stand a round,
And thirteen bottles is a hell of a load,
To keep your feet on the ground
Our rival Marines on the Reso'
Just to join in the fun,
Invited us back to their Sergeants mess
To make a hole in their rum
We came back to the ship quite 'legless'
All this because of a be
And not able to walk up the gangway
They hauled us aboard in a net.
The Officer of the Watch was astounded
"My God, what have we here,
A net full of drunken Royal Marines
It's Commanders report, I fear".
But "The Major" brought down from the Wardroom Mess
Turned out really "True Blue",
He said "Scrub out the charge and put them to bed
They're my Racing Cutters Crew.