What Happened to Fun in the Royal Navy?

The article in Autumn 2025 [113/4, p. 589] reminds me of an incident which occurred while I was serving in Sealion. In the spring of 1969, the Commander-in-Chief Western Fleet made visits in his flagship Kent to the three Scandinavian capitals, Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm. The last of the Daring-class destroyers in Royal Navy service, Defender, accompanied the flagship, together with two submarines, Sealion and Acheron. The Commander-in-Chief was Admiral Sir John Bush, who had a highly distinguished wartime record but was known as the ‘Burning Bush’ for his fiery temper. The aim of the port…