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HMS REGISTAN Defusing an unexploded bomb
The following has been taken from a recently received email:
I have just visited your web site concerning the HMS Registan. I thought you may be interested to know that my father, George Rabjohns, along with a young Lieutenant bomb disposal officer, went on board at Falmouth to defuse an unexploded bomb. My father and a few of his shipmates were asked to volunteer for a job. Never one to turn down a challenge he stepped forward along with five others and asked what the job was. His officer said not to worry and walked them to a small boat where the young officer was waiting.
After casting off and on his way to the Registan, my father asked the young officer what they had volunteered for. The officer was taken aback when he realised that they had not been told, demanded that the boat was stopped and told the men that they were to go on board and defuse a bomb. At first they all refused and a discussion then took place with the young officer saying that he thought the bomb would be safe as it had been on board for some days. The other five declined the offer but my father, being the man he was, said that he would go on and help.
When they got to the Registan the small boat rowed away and stopped a short distance away and my father and the officer went gingerly on board. He said that there were dead sailors still on board (I think there were thirteen in all) and the bomb was sticking out of the deck. After many cigarettes, and the bomb duly defused, the other men helped to take the bomb out into deeper water where it was blown up.
The search for a photograph of the headstone of a young sailor from HMS Registan produced the following story:
HMS Registan was built and completed for the 'Strick 'line in 1930 and served as a merchant vessel until requisitioned by the Admiralty in 1940. Renamed HMS Registan, she operated as an Armed Boarding Vessel/Admiralty Rescue Ship.
On 23 May 1941 the Registan was attacked and heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe off Cape Cornwall. The attack resulted in 63 casualties with a heavy loss of life. On May 29 1941 she was towed into Falmouth and beached at St Mawes. Midshipman Henry Charles Richard Powell, Royal Naval Reserve, Son of Eric Gordon and Catherine Ella Powell of Turramurra, Sydney, was one of the casualties of that attack and his date of death is recorded as 28th May 1941, aged 18. He is buried at BUDE HAVEN (ST. MICHAEL) CHURCHYARD – Cornwall. It is not known why he was not buried with the other crew members at Falmouth
After extensive repairs, which were carried out at Falmouth Docks ,she reverted back to her owners and her original name 'Registan'.
On March 26th 1942 she set off for Swansea , a good proportion of her crew being local. At Swansea she was loaded with trains and ammunition and set off, once more, for Persia (the cargo being destined for Russia ) via Cape town .
She was delayed by a couple of weeks in Cape town for repairs following a collision with a larger ship which ploughed into her damaging the bow quite badly. She eventually made Basra , offloaded her original cargo, reloaded with general cargo and once again set off for Cape Town . After a short stop-over she set out alone on the 5th Sep on her way to America .
At dawn on Sep 28th the German U-boat U-332 spotted her 200 miles SE of Barbados. The two vessels played cat and mouse for some considerable time but by approx. 1.00 am on 29 th , having closed to within about 800 metres U-boat fired one torpedo.
The Torpedo hit the 'Registan' on the starboard side, just forward of the bridge. Within three minutes of being hit she sunk taking most of the crew with her. The survivors were picked up some three/four days later by an Argentinean tramp ship and landed in Recife, N E Brazil, before onward passage to New York where they spent their survivors leave awaiting eventual transport home.
The Details of this account have kindly been provided by Michael Bickford who's brother served on the Registan in 1942 and was one of the survivor's of the September attack.