The Tiger-class cruiser HMS Blake was in Govan dry dock in 1957 when a massive explosion ripped through its engine room, leaving 20 workers burned, bleeding, and in
danger from clouds of
poisonous fumes.
Ambulances from all over the city lined the dockside to take the injured to hospital.
Firemen, wearing the rudimentary breathing apparatus of the day, struggled to reach the men trapped below decks. Operating in inky darkness, the firemen were forced to work in relays because the only access was through a narrow cable passage. The stairway leading to the boiler room had been blown away.
The force of the blast was so great that it buckled several of the ship's bulkheads and completely stripped the clothes from some the injured men. Although some of the firemen were themselves overcome by fumes, they managed to reach the injured men and bring them to safety.
A huge crane, which had arrived at the dry dock the previous day, was used to lift the stretchers carrying the most seriously injured to the dockside. The cause of the blast was not discovered.
Work on HMS Blake and her two sister ships had begun in 1942 at the neighbouring Fairfield shipyard but, although all three were launched, work on them was halted soon after the end of the Second World War.
The decision to complete the vessels was not taken until 1954. Blake was duly
completed and went to
serve with the fleet for more than 20 years. Late in 1979, HMS Blake enjoyed the distinction of having fired the Royal Navy's last 6in gun salvo.
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