HMS Wren was a Black Swan Class sloop commissioned by The Royal Navy in February 1943 and paid a formal visit to The Sultanate of Muscat and Oman in July 1948.
My Dad took these photographs during their stay, especially on the arrival on the ship of Sultan Said bin Taimur.
The British Government at the time were supporting the Sultan in his claim for independence from Saudi Arabia – that independence was granted just a few years later in 1951, much to the discomfort of surrounding states and Egypt, who saw this as Western interference in local affairs.
The prize was oil revenues – then a relatively new discovery.
My Dad’s photos of the town beneath the Fort show a ramshackle collection of properties that contrast with the modern city that sits there now – oil revenues have revolutionised the area.
The Sultan was deposed by his own son in 1970 and spent the last two years of his life living in the Dorchester Hotel, London.
Charlie had fond memories of his time in the Persian Gulf and he found the people warm and friendly, even if the climate was almost intolerable.
He told us stories of cans of Carnation evaporated milk that would sit, opened, in the ship’s galley and the feelers of cockroaches that would appear out of the top of the tins when they were lifted to pour.
Many tales also of the daily “tot” of rum, given out at mid-day and often used as barter between the crew for other “luxury goods.” like tobacco.
At every available opportunity, Charlie would send notes and postcards to Norma, back in the UK – I’ll share some of those with you over the days ahead.
Charlie was serving in the Gulf on 9th September 1953 – the day I was born – and there is a long-standing story in the family (never refuted by him) that he blacked out whilst working on deck, was carried to the ships hospital to recover and only later discovered by telegram that the moment of his collapse was the moment of my birth.
Letters from a Perfect Imperfectionist 
Chris I am currently researching HMS Wren and have started to build a large scale working model of HMS Wren. My Grandfather served on Wren so I have some photos of him on board. If you have any info that may assist I would love to hear about it, in particular I am looking for photos from 1943, have not found any showing Wren in the western approaches camouflage scheme, thanks Dave
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Dave, my dad Coxswain W A Richardson served on the Wren throughout the war. My own children (two of whom fought recently in Afghanistan) and grandchildren are all interested in the ship, especially today, VE Day.
I have a few photos and other bits that I can lay my hands on (I hope) if you’re interested and would be intrigued to discover what you have found out.
Regards,
John Richardson (Sussex)
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John, thank you for your reply, would be happy to share with you what I have been doing and have found out to date, we are near you so would be easy to meet.
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John thank you for making contact, I do have some photos and info so more than happy to share with you and to learn about your Fathers experiences, so it would be good to meet either in person or virtually, since we are close, we live in Surrey kind Regards Dave
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Do you have any anthor pictures
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Have the pictures been colored?
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Just for interest an uncle of mine Rullion (Robin) Rattray served on the Wren throughout 1944 -1945 and was presented with the Ushakov Medal by the Russian Embassy in 2018. He always wondered if there were photos existing from his time on the Wren and was equally curious to know if he was the last survivor of the crew. He had seen most of what had been found on the internet and amongst others, had seen the Liverpool Museum photos – he died in 2019.
Interesting stories. Interesting times.
Stephen New
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Stephen, like you, my Grandfather was on Wren at the same time and also received the medal from Russia
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