Reprint of a newspaper article from the "Hampshire Herald and Alton Gazette" re the commissioning of H.M.S. Chawton on October 16th 1958, with permission of the successor paper, the Alton Herald.
Chawton Rector Conducts Service
On Thursday morning of last week, H.M.S. Chawton, a new costal minesweeper was commissioned at Hythe (H.M.S. Diligence) on the western shore of Southampton Water in the presence of a number of residents of Chawton village, who's name the ship bears. The ship which was built at Fleetlands yard, Gosport, is commanded by Lieut. J. G. Riley, with a crew of 28 ratings and five officers. She is due to sail for the Mediterranean next Monday.
At the commissioning ceremony, on Thursday, the principal feature was, as usual, a short service. This was conducted by the Rev.C. G. E. Burgess, Rector of Chawton and Farringdon on the quay side. Prior to the service, a guard of honour from the ships service was inspected by Captain J. M. Clegg, Captain of HMS Diligence. The blue jacket band from Portsmouth played for the service which included the hymns "Lead us, Heavenly Father, lead us", "Eternal father, strong to save", the 107th psalm and the Doxology.
It also included the historic Gaelic blessing, invoked by the ships commander. The representatives from Chawton village who were present at the little ceremony included Mayor E. Wright and Colonel A. C. Parry. The crew of the ship (who were paying a reciprocal visit to the village last evening) are mostly from H.M.S. "Corhampton" which has been on service in the Mediterranean but has now been placed in reserve.
Schoolchildren's Visit
A party of children from Chawton were entertained to tea on board H.M.S Chawton on Saturday afternoon. On arrival at the Shore Establishment (H.M.S. "Diligence") the party was met by a band of fearsome pirates, who proved, however, to be nothing more formidable than the ships company dressed up -most realistically- to amuse the children.
The youngsters at once boarded a specially built and decorated "train" and were conveyed to "Diligence Junction", where what one of them described as a "super" slide and a seesaw were waiting to amuse them. After spending some time at "Diligence Junction", the party was once again entertained and taken to a motor boat in which a trip around the shipping in Southampton Water was enjoyed by the whole party. (The fact that a large box of apples was distributed amongst the children helped considerably towards the success of this expedition).
The next item on the programme was a tour of inspection of H.M.S. Chawton. which naturally proved most interesting. The only restriction of activity on board appeared to be that the children were not allowed to climb the mast, although one or two were quite prepared to do so. Tea was taken on board and after a final session on the slide and seesaw the children -- each provided with an orange and a bag of sweets - boarded the coach for home.
The whole party agreed that they had had a wonderful time, and before leaving they thanked the Commanding Officer and crew for their hospitality and for all the trouble they had taken to make the afternoon such a happy and memorable one for them.
The service at the commissioning of H.M.S. Chawton being conducted by the Rev. C. G. E. Burgess (Rector of Chawton), in the presence of the ships crew, under Lieut. J. G. Riley and representatives of Chawton Village.
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