Fascinating .
The restoration is astounding after what had happened.
Thanks .
“At 0636 GMT on 12 June 1982, the faintest of ‘blips’ appeared on the Glamorgan’s bridge radar display. A little over 30 seconds later, an Exocet missile clipped the side of the upper deck, exploded and blasted holes down through two decks. The missile body penetrated the hangar door and hit the full fuelled and armed Wessex helicopter inside. A second later the helicopter blew up and a massive explosion, with accompanying fireball, erupted from the hangar. No ship had ever survived a hit by Exocet” ... HMS Glamorgan did, and so did Lemania 852/56, I believe.
"As told by Commander Ian Inskip RN" in ‘Ordeal by Exocet’.
Read more here ..... https://dbaswithguns.com/Imgs/Lemania%20852_56.pdf
Terry
Last edited by Terry; 12th June 2022 at 02:35.
Fascinating .
The restoration is astounding after what had happened.
Thanks .
What a great story!
Thank you, Terry.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Thank you Terry interesting story.
Brilliant story, thank you for sharing!
Best post on here for years!, Thank you for posting Terry.
Thanks for the very interesting read Terry.
Restorations like this always have a moral dilemma in my opinion. Do you restore the watch or leave it as is to mark the exact moment the wearer was killed. Or return it as close to new as possible? Then there is the wearing of a restored piece like this… Should it be worn or should it be in a museum?
The restoration looks fantastic but I am not sure I would have come to the same decision with regard restoration. - I think I would have gone down the preservation route personally. (Not trying to p*ss on any parade, just my thoughts after reading the article)
Either way well done on getting it restored sympathetically; thankfully it was not swept up and dumped over board like the rest of the wreckage, it will always stand as a reminder of the young man’s sacrifice
May he rest in peace with the rest of the crew who were killed.
John
Last edited by Sinnlover; 12th June 2022 at 08:35.
The hands show that the movement stopped at 03:35 or 15:35 but the missile struck at 03:37. That's close, but it would have been very important that the flight watches were set accurately and synchronised so how do you account for the discrepancy? Is there anything else beyond it coming from a UK military surplus dealer and the fire damage to tie it to 737 NAS?
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
Is it possible that the watch was not worn? (Possibly even not issued to anyone, a spare)
I think the story is wonderful but I agree that not only the 2 minutes difference seems significant but the fact that it came back all this way being a small part of heavily charred debris not thrown overboard make the connection tenuous.
It remains a wonderful watch, and tribute.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
looking at the image of the dial, it looks a little earlier than 3:34. Based on the evidence presented in the PDF I do think the conclusion is presumptuous.
Sterling stuff Terry.
What a amazing story and the restoration a fitting tribute.
I salute you Terry.
I thought long and hard about the ethics of restoring the watch but in the end decided it would be a fitting way of honouring and remembering those who died, were injured and served on Glamorgan at the time. From a historical point of view I found Cdr Inskip's account of Glamorgan's involvement a real insight to the reality of war, and that is only one account, there would be hundreds of other equally absorbing accounts from those involved in the war I'm sure. I highly recommend listening to the IWM pod-cast.
I'm thinking now that perhaps the watch was not found until the repairs to the hangar were carried out in UK when it would have been easier to put it up for disposal. The watch has not been worn and I have no plans for wearing it.
Terry
Amazing, thanks for sharing!
I understand Terry. As I say I am not trying to pee on any parade, as collectors we have to walk a tight rope sometimes (look at the back lash restoring a common all garden Rolex gets) especially when we collect rare and watches connected to significant moments in history. I understand the reasons for having it restored and it is now a cracking example.
The minute hand is slightly distorted and under closer examination reads 34. The watch could have been a couple of minutes slow or the hand or wheel may have moved backwards a tad with the explosion i can't say. I know it's not uncommon for hands to shift a bit after a watch has been dropped.
Given the condition of the watch, the approximated indication of 3:35, the 'Aircraft Lost' reported time of 3:35, the account of the Exocet hit and subsequent explosion and fire in the hangar lead me to believe the watch was destroyed at that time and place. Its disposal through the MoD surplus system, along with other MoD watches, some damaged and some not was the other reason to think it may have been damaged in the Falklands war. I didn't find any direct links of the watch to 737 NAS in my research.
Terry
Thanks.
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH