Keep up to date with the latest information from the Executive and our Membership.
If you have any items of interest, please email secretarysaaqld@gmail.com and the information will be posted on this web page.
If you have any items of interest, please email secretarysaaqld@gmail.com and the information will be posted on this web page.
An Couple of Articles from our Brothers in the UK
The following message has been passed to me:Sad News Sub Lieutenant John Beams RNVR
From the Submarines Association of Australia Queensland Branch
John Beams. Submariner. 2nd Commanding Officer of XE-Craft 3
SBLT J. A. Beams RNVR
08/09/1925 – 31/12/2021
Born 8th September, 1925 in Upton, Cheshire, England.
Grew up in Liverpool, Bewdley, Tenbury Wells, England.
Attended King Charles I Grammar School, Kidderminster, England.
1939
From an early age he understood the need to protect his country and at the age of 13 he joined the ARP Civic Defence (Air Raid Precautions), Air Craft Training Corp and was a spotter, among other things, in the Observation Corp. (All his stories of these experience are similar to Dad’s Army!)
John was in the Air Training Corp while at school.
1942
17 Years old entered HMS Collingwood( Shore base) to train as an Ordinary Seaman. (On 10th January, 1940 the base was officially opened, training began a week later with batches of 1000 trainees joining every 3 weeks for a 10 week course.)
Training continued at:
HMS Argus, Glasgow. HMS Argus was a British aircraft carrier that served in the Royal Navy from 1918 to 1944
Portsmouth Barracks and HMS King Alfred( Shore base). RNVR (Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve), Hove, East Sussex. Boarded in Lancing College for Officer training. A training course consisted of ten weeks, the first two weeks at Lancing College. Upon successful completion of the course, the men emerged as Temporary Acting Probationary Sub-Lieutenants and attended further training at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich before being posted operationally.
Completed further training - Navigation Course Greenwich Observatory and Log Course at Slough.
Then to Scotland. 1943-1944
X-Craft Training, Midget Submarines. HMS Varbel I, Isle of Bute, Loch Striven, Rothesay and HMS Varbel II at the northern end of Loch Striven – Shore bases for the X-Craft, midget submarines of the 12th Submarine Flotilla. This was the only British base for midget submarine and human torpedo training. He met Susan Hinton, Chief Stocker WREN there and they married after the war, came to Australia and had three children Jennifer, Diana and Simon.
HMS Bonaventure: submarine depot ship
With the outbreak of war, Admiralty requisitioned HMS Bonaventure for the Royal Navy and she was converted to become a submarine depot ship for the X-Class midget submarines. She was commissioned into the Navy on 26 January 1943.
During this period, the modified XE-class submarines which had been under construction since January 1944, became available. Several were embarked aboard Bonaventure for use against targets in the Far East. In December she was nominated for deployment as the depot ship for the 14th Submarine Flotilla in the south west Pacific.
Pacific War - Australia 1945
HMS Bonaventure and the 6 XE-craft submarines sailed for Australia 21 February, 1945 via Panama Canal. Ports of call - San Diego, Pearl Harbor, 7th March, Brisbane 27th April. Sailed to Townsville in May. Proposal to use midget submarines to cut Japanese underwater telegraph cables.
John Beams was 2nd Commanding Officer of XE-Craft 3.
Bonaventure was transferred to Hervey Bay in June, and then to an area south of Townsville, to prepare for the cable cutting operations. She carried out extensive training and experiments off the coast of Mon Repos using a disused telegraph cable between Australia and New Caledonia. During these exercises, two divers (Lt Bruce Enzer and Lt David Carey) died after suffering oxygen poisoning. (Memorial placed at Burnett Heads Memorial Park Oct 12-13, 2009, for the divers. Plaques telling their story added December 2021)
After the operational targets had been selected, John sailed on the Bonaventure to Labuan, Borneo and Sandakan. Throughout July she prepared for three operations to cut telegraph cables. These cables were vital to Japanese signal security as radio signals could be deciphered by US code breakers. Divers succeeded in severing parts of the cable. Submariner Kenneth Briggs RANVR DSC from Logan, Qld was one of the divers.
Bonaventure's last activity before the end of the war was to sail to Sydney from Labuan on 20 August.
1946
John was repatriated back to Liverpool. That is another story in itself!
1950 - 2021
Returned to Australia to live and raise his family Jennifer, Diana and Simon with Susan.
John remarried in 1980, Stella, of Greek heritage and they lived in Canberra and on the Gold Coast.
The following message has been passed to me:Sad News Sub Lieutenant John Beams RNVR
From the Submarines Association of Australia Queensland Branch
John Beams. Submariner. 2nd Commanding Officer of XE-Craft 3
SBLT J. A. Beams RNVR
08/09/1925 – 31/12/2021
Born 8th September, 1925 in Upton, Cheshire, England.
Grew up in Liverpool, Bewdley, Tenbury Wells, England.
Attended King Charles I Grammar School, Kidderminster, England.
1939
From an early age he understood the need to protect his country and at the age of 13 he joined the ARP Civic Defence (Air Raid Precautions), Air Craft Training Corp and was a spotter, among other things, in the Observation Corp. (All his stories of these experience are similar to Dad’s Army!)
John was in the Air Training Corp while at school.
1942
17 Years old entered HMS Collingwood( Shore base) to train as an Ordinary Seaman. (On 10th January, 1940 the base was officially opened, training began a week later with batches of 1000 trainees joining every 3 weeks for a 10 week course.)
Training continued at:
HMS Argus, Glasgow. HMS Argus was a British aircraft carrier that served in the Royal Navy from 1918 to 1944
Portsmouth Barracks and HMS King Alfred( Shore base). RNVR (Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve), Hove, East Sussex. Boarded in Lancing College for Officer training. A training course consisted of ten weeks, the first two weeks at Lancing College. Upon successful completion of the course, the men emerged as Temporary Acting Probationary Sub-Lieutenants and attended further training at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich before being posted operationally.
Completed further training - Navigation Course Greenwich Observatory and Log Course at Slough.
Then to Scotland. 1943-1944
X-Craft Training, Midget Submarines. HMS Varbel I, Isle of Bute, Loch Striven, Rothesay and HMS Varbel II at the northern end of Loch Striven – Shore bases for the X-Craft, midget submarines of the 12th Submarine Flotilla. This was the only British base for midget submarine and human torpedo training. He met Susan Hinton, Chief Stocker WREN there and they married after the war, came to Australia and had three children Jennifer, Diana and Simon.
HMS Bonaventure: submarine depot ship
With the outbreak of war, Admiralty requisitioned HMS Bonaventure for the Royal Navy and she was converted to become a submarine depot ship for the X-Class midget submarines. She was commissioned into the Navy on 26 January 1943.
During this period, the modified XE-class submarines which had been under construction since January 1944, became available. Several were embarked aboard Bonaventure for use against targets in the Far East. In December she was nominated for deployment as the depot ship for the 14th Submarine Flotilla in the south west Pacific.
Pacific War - Australia 1945
HMS Bonaventure and the 6 XE-craft submarines sailed for Australia 21 February, 1945 via Panama Canal. Ports of call - San Diego, Pearl Harbor, 7th March, Brisbane 27th April. Sailed to Townsville in May. Proposal to use midget submarines to cut Japanese underwater telegraph cables.
John Beams was 2nd Commanding Officer of XE-Craft 3.
Bonaventure was transferred to Hervey Bay in June, and then to an area south of Townsville, to prepare for the cable cutting operations. She carried out extensive training and experiments off the coast of Mon Repos using a disused telegraph cable between Australia and New Caledonia. During these exercises, two divers (Lt Bruce Enzer and Lt David Carey) died after suffering oxygen poisoning. (Memorial placed at Burnett Heads Memorial Park Oct 12-13, 2009, for the divers. Plaques telling their story added December 2021)
After the operational targets had been selected, John sailed on the Bonaventure to Labuan, Borneo and Sandakan. Throughout July she prepared for three operations to cut telegraph cables. These cables were vital to Japanese signal security as radio signals could be deciphered by US code breakers. Divers succeeded in severing parts of the cable. Submariner Kenneth Briggs RANVR DSC from Logan, Qld was one of the divers.
Bonaventure's last activity before the end of the war was to sail to Sydney from Labuan on 20 August.
1946
John was repatriated back to Liverpool. That is another story in itself!
1950 - 2021
Returned to Australia to live and raise his family Jennifer, Diana and Simon with Susan.
John remarried in 1980, Stella, of Greek heritage and they lived in Canberra and on the Gold Coast.
In Depth Magazine
check out the articles on HM S/M Astute's visit to HMAS Stirling and VADM Mead's view on Nuclear Submarines changing Australia's Strategic Personality in the Maratime Domain.
Also spot the photo of our Committee and Members at Remembrance Day 2021
check out the articles on HM S/M Astute's visit to HMAS Stirling and VADM Mead's view on Nuclear Submarines changing Australia's Strategic Personality in the Maratime Domain.
Also spot the photo of our Committee and Members at Remembrance Day 2021
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