This image is the cover for the book Ships, Trips and Rites of Passage

Ships, Trips and Rites of Passage

This is a true-life story of a young man’s life in the Royal Navy during the early 1970s. The book provides insight into what life was like for young men joining Her Majesty’s Forces at that time and of the journeys that followed during a five-year period. The book takes the reader through basic naval training and to far-flung places visited aboard HMS Albion (RO7) “The Old Grey Ghost”, a 22,000-ton Centaur-class Light Fleet Carrier, until its decommission. The story relays the difficulties and struggles of one young man and his decision to leave a career after moving to shore bases. The book offers a historical perspective of the Royal Navy from the eyes of a rating and a world much different from today.

Graham Stuart Tuckley

Graham Tuckley is a retired senior lecturer in Social Work. His formative working years were spent in the Royal Navy and his memoirs of this time are set out in this book. After leaving the Royal Navy, he worked with disadvantaged children, working in residential settings before qualifying as a social worker. After 30 years working in the field of social work and gaining numerous academic qualifications, including an MSc in Health and Social Care, he turned his interest to teaching. He still resides in Walsall, spending time writing, gardening, and travelling.

Austin Macauley Publishers