THE FAMILY of a former HMS Amethyst crew member have paid tribute to him.

Peter Jones, 90, passed away on March 19, just two days before his 91st birthday.

Spending most of his life as a binman in his hometown of Wallasey, Peter, the youngest of 12 siblings, began his career in the Royal Navy and was assigned to HMS Amethyst.

The tale of the HMS Amethyst and her crew is a remarkable one, as told in the 1957 film ‘Yangtze Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst.’

The ship sailed from Shanghai on April 19, 1949 to replace HMS Consort at Nanking which was standing as a guard for the British Embassy during the Chinese Civil War.

HMS Amethyst was damaged after a constant onslaught of firing from the shoreline and was forced to remain for three months.

Heartbreakingly, during this time 22 crew members were killed and 31 wounded.

The ship finally made its bid for freedom on July 30 when it followed a passenger ship called Kiang Ling Liberation, using it as a shield before it sunk after being hit by gun fire.

On July 31, Amethyst approached PLA forts at Wusong and a planned meeting with destroyer HMS Concord took place, finally reaching safety with just nine tonnes of fuel remaining.

Upon his return to Wirral, Peter was awarded the Freedom of Wallasey.

Peter’s family told the Globe: “He didn’t talk about his time on HMS Amethyst, he was very private about that.

“Until a few years ago, I didn’t realise that it was four years after the war and got caught up in this Yangtze incident.

“The family lived in Wheatland Lane, Wallasey and then he moved to Rappart Road down by Wallasey town hall.

“We don’t know the date of when he joined the navy and unfortunately he was the last and youngest of 12 siblings.

“His local haunt was The Brighton, where he went when he came home.

“His favourite tipple was dark rum and in The Brighton, they had a brass rail around the bar and he used to go on the rum, he used to take his belt off and strap himself to the bar so he didn’t fall over!

“He was a real happy-go-lucky fella and liked a drink but he enjoyed life after what he went through.

“We would like to thank everyone at Layton Court who looked after Peter including Hayley, The Royal Naval Association Club in Seacombe and funeral directors Ian Dallinger.”

Peter’s funeral will take place on Tuesday, April 9 at 11am at Landican Cemetery followed by the RNA Club in Seacombe for around 12pm.