Talk:HMS Petard (G56)

Discrepancies
My reference: "Harper, Stephen (1999). Capturing Enigma: How HMS Petard Seized the German Naval Codes. Sutton Publishing", seems to disagree on several points. Two examples: 'complement 176' (211) and 'torpedo tubes 2 x twin' (8). I'm not sure which is the most accurate but the differences are significant.

Does anyone else know?

RASAM (talk) 23:20, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Four shafts or two.
The infobox stated that Petard had four shafts. However, a posting at Neutral_point_of_view/Noticeboard by a person who states that he served on her states that this is incorrect, and that she only had two. On looking at the O and P class destroyer article, this likewise states that the class had two shafts. For now, I think the best thing I can do is remove the 'four shafts' statement as apparently unsourced, and in contradiction to the 'class' article - and leave it to someone with access to the necessary sources to confirm the situation. AndyTheGrump (talk) 21:45, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Contradiction
In the 'The U-559 action', user 92.41.39.139 claims that 'the Enigma machine itself sank with the U boat'. This sentence is not referenced.

In the introduction to the article, it states: 'Members of the ships crew recovered from U-559 a new, four-wheel Enigma cypher machine and the books to go with it...'

This statement is referenced.

So, I would ask, where did 92.41.39.139 get his or her information on the fate of the Enigma machine? RASAM (talk) 10:55, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

Petards recommissioning 1960
I was part of that crew as an apprentice engine room artificer for 3 months training for our auxiliary machinery watch keeping qualification. The ship had been in mothballs for a considerable number of years, and our task was an exercise to strip the ship of the protective cocooning, restock stores, refuel, rewater, and finally achieve a full power trial on the 7 th day. With basically a core crew, and seamen boys from HMS Ganges for 2 weeks, 15 apprentices from HMS Caledonia, and a few officer trainees from Plymouth area for the 3 months, we managed all the  exercise , tho the weather for the full power trial was into a force 7 gale , yet we managed 28 knots.

I'm suspicious of the reference to upgrading of the Petard in Northern Ireland, as my recollections of it were very much as a WW 2 frigate as it would've been right  after the war. Every one in hammocks, no lockers just kit spaces under the squabs around the mess deck. All food taken from the galley by the mess duty hands and served in the messes. The only area that seemed to differ from 1945 would be a more modern radar and the armaments that were about half of the wartime quantities and no fly plane gun controls as our companion Training Ship had. We enjoyed the first practise shoot of the 4" gun when our old time gunners mate used his skill to best the more modern system on our competitor.

Also my impression of the time was the mothballing was done late 1940s not 1950s. A downside of the preservation was the catholic protection alongside was, that at least half the ship side water valves of Naval Brass were dezincafied and largely pipes v  thro the sides. We apprentices put our training to good use in the following months repairing them! 139.180.110.19 (talk) 08:14, 20 June 2022 (UTC)