Quotes are transcribed as written without correction for current spelling, standards or sensibilities. 

Patrick Willet Brock spent most of the 1930s on Royal Navy ships out of Malta. The island was the official headquarters for the prestigious Mediterranean Fleet as it offered one of the largest and most secure natural harbours in the region. Between the wars, the fleet was primarily engaged in routine peacetime duties and maintaining a strong presence. Activities included training exercises, manoeuvres, and generally protecting British interests.

While the Mediterranean fleet was based in Malta, staying in the Grand Harbour for too long was considered bad for morale and efficiency. Several times a year, the fleet dispersed on show-the-flag tours before regrouping for large-scale intensive exercises.

In 1933, Brock held the rank of Lieutenant-Commander and served as the Torpedo Officer for the 1st Destroyer Flotilla, borne in HMS Mackay. While Mackay had her own crew to operate the vessel, she also served as the mobile headquarters for the entire flotilla. As a member of the flotilla staff, Brock lived and worked aboard the Mackay—the designated ‘Flotilla Leader’—alongside the Flotilla Captain and a specialized team of officers who directed the operations of all destroyers in the group, which was typically nine ships.

That January, the fleet was on the annual Winter Cruise, which Brock described in a letter to his brother written from Galaxidi, Greece as “…a three weeks’ visit to the more God-forgotten ports in Greece to allow us to recover from the effects of the holiday season and to give the sportsmen element a chance of shooting some non-existent birds…”

The flotilla was in the process of swapping out their old V-class destroyers for the new D-class ships. Several new Ds had already arrived including HMS Defender and HMS Daring. The older Vs—Vimiera, Vampire and Vivacious—along with the Mackay, would return to England after the Spring Cruise. HMS Mackay was an Admiralty-type or Scott-class flotilla leader, which served with both the Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleets in the period between the wars. Built during the First World War, she had been re-commissioned in December 1931 for service with the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean. Vimiera, Vivacious, and Vampire were also built during the First World War. Their crews would take possession of the D-class destroyers in the United Kingdom and bring those new ships back to Malta.
In the meantime, the Captain of the Destroyer Flotilla, or Captain (D), along with his flotilla staff, would be “parked out in various ships.” Brock wrote that during the transition period, he was expecting to share a cabin with “the Honourable Neville Archibald John Watson Ettrick Napier, our distinguished signal officer. You would never suppose that Flag suffers under the burden of all those names — he is a most pleasant and unassuming fellow.”

Napier was a member of the Scottish peerage. ‘The Honourable’ was a courtesy title as he was the second son of the 12th Lord Napier and third Baron Ettrick. As Flag Lieutenant, he was also part of the flotilla staff. ‘Flag’ was responsible for the signals sent from the flotilla leader to the rest of the ships. If the Captain of the destroyer flotilla, known as Captain (D), wanted destroyers to change formation, it was the Flag Lieutenant’s job to ensure those flags were hoisted correctly and instantly. Napier, who was born in 1904, served through the Second World War and reached the rank of Lieutenant-Commander.

PWB recounted some of the issues the flotilla experienced on the Winter Cruise, including rough seas. “Beagle dragged in the night and bumped Brazen. Achates dented her bow going alongside an oiler. Daring’s brand-new capstan engine has refused duty. It’s a shocking design, and God only knows why it was allowed to go to sea. And Defender filled an oil tank so full that it burst the deck above and overflowed over everything. Two of our new ships have to go to dockyard for repairs before they’ve been out of the builders’ hands a dog watch.”

HMS Beagle and HMS Brazen were both B-class destroyers launched in 1930 and 1931. HMS Achates was an A-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the late 1920s, and was later sunk during the Battle of the Barents Sea in 1942. The D-class destroyers were nearly new in 1933. The Royal Navy destroyer evolution during this period was incremental. A-class ships were built as fleet destroyers and minesweepers. B-class ships were designed to be anti-submarine destroyers. D-class ships were larger and faster than the others with longer range, representing a definitive step up in size, speed, and endurance. As and Bs had a complement of 130 to 140. The Ds had between 140 and 150. HMS Mackay, the flotilla leader, was an Admiralty-type or Scott-class flotilla leader. She was physically larger, and designed specifically to carry the Captain (D), along with his tactical and administrative staff. She housed 15 to 20 extra officers and signalmen for a total of 165 to 185. By 1933, HMS Mackay, having been launched in 1918 and recommissioned twice after that, was a middle-aged veteran leading a pack of brand-new ships.

Captain (D) at this time was Charles Frederick Harris (1887-1957), a distinguished officer whose career spanned both World Wars. He entered the Royal Navy in 1902, the same year PWB was born, eventually serving as a Lieutenant-Commander during the First World War. In the interwar period, Harris held significant leadership roles and was Captain (D), 1st Destroyer Flotilla from December 1932 until July 1934. Following this, he was appointed Director of the Naval Air Division at the Admiralty in 1934. During the Second World War, he commanded the shore establishment HMS Badger before serving as Flag Officer of the Reserve Fleet from 1944 until his retirement in 1945. Harris was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in recognition of his service.

PWB wrote about Harris in a letter to his brother that spring. “I don’t know why I was young enough to think that new ships would mean less work. It is quite the reverse as nothing appears to function yet, and the new officers don’t know the drill. Trouble is, they won’t R.T.B.—read the bloody orders—and want everything handed to them on a plate. Even then, they drop it. However, the new Captain (D) is a Master Man, which is a great blessing. In all respects, it is a pleasure to work for him. Some of our commanding officers are rather tough propositions, but I think he is just the man to deal with them—“suaviter in modo, fortiter in re”, seems to be his line of country.”

The Latin translates to “gentle in manner, firm in execution,” and PWB’s comments indicate that he greatly admired Harris. The two would work together until both left the Mediterranean Fleet in 1934, Harris to go to the Admiralty and Brock to the HMS Vernon shore establishment in Portsmouth.