December 2015 - NMRN Portsmouth

Steam Pinnace 199 – Newsletter – December 2015
Steam Pinnace Update
Merry Christmas
As noted last
month, 199 is
now in the dock
at Boat House
4.
Here is another
photo of her
taken with the
tide a little
higher which
gives a better
view. Doesn’t
she look
fantastic?
199’s engineers
are pressing on
with the final
installation of
machinery
pipework.
199 dresses for all occasions:
Remembrance Sunday …………………… and …………………….
Christmas
ICON award – following on from the ICON/IMechE award that Group 199 received, ICON (The Institute of
Conservation) have produced a short video of 199 and the team at the award ceremony. The interview was
filmed without any real notice or rehearsal. Many congratulations to Ivan for a very positive, spontaneous
spin for the project. The NMRN(P) have kindly put the video onto YouTube: https://youtu.be/JID2nHic4wo
199 Christmas lunch – join us for an informal Christmas lunch on board
Trinity’s at The Lightship in Haslar Marina, Gosport. Thursday 17th
December at 12.30, £25 per head payable on the day. A
wife/partner/friend accompanying is welcome. Ivan will cover a £5 per
head deposit but “no shows” will be expected to reimburse him. Contact
Martin (email or phone 023 9255 0698) for a menu to arrange a pre-order.
Numbers limited and the list closes on 6th December.
Help in No 4 Boathouse 199 is now available for viewing to the public 7/7 which whilst very welcome also
generates a much increased cleaning and polishing workload. If you would like to contribute a few hours,
please contact Martin or Ivan first. You can enter the Historic Dockyard and Boathouse 4 after 1000
through the public entrance off The Hard – no pass or payment needed.
Boat House 4 – low water springs
Access to 199 can be difficult at very low water if she
settles on the mud. This table is based on a tidal height less
than 1.5m on a Tue or Thu (suggested working days)
between 0800 and 1600 for December.
7 Dec
14 Dec
21 Dec
Late afternoon
Early am
pm
Steam Pinnace 199 Card – local artist Barry Robertson has produced a fine drawing of 199 steaming past
HMS Monarch, an Orion Class battleship commissioned in 1912, a contemporary to 199. Barry has kindly
given the copyright to Group 199 and so your editor has produced A5 cards on 260g gloss material. These
are available to order with an envelope at £1 each. All profits to the 199 Fund. By arrangement they can be
collected from the editor’s home or via Alistair Dilley at The Maritime Workshop o9r via No 4 Boathouse –
all by arrangement. In the longer term A4 or A3 prints are a possibility. Similar cards are also available
featuring the photo on page 1 or last years’ picture of 199 off Haslar seawall.
The Orions were the first battleships in the Royal Navy to feature an all big gun armament on the centre
line but were beaten to a world's first by the USN’s South Carolina class commissioned in 1910.
Monarch was built at Armstrong’s at a cost of £1.8m. She displaced 22,000 tons, was 581feet long, 88 feet
beam, 24 feet draft. Steam turbines with18 boilers, 4 shafts and 27,000 h.p. gave her 21 knots. Her
complement varied from 750 to 1100. She had 10 x 13.5 inch guns, 16 x 4 inch and 3 x 21 inch submerged
torpedo tubes.
She took part in the battle of Jutland but had a relatively short life and was decommissioned in 1921 as a
result of the Washington Naval Convention. She was used as an experimental and target ship and was sunk
by HMS Revenge in 1925.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Monarch_(1911)
Boathouse 4
As you will have seen, 199 is now afloat
in a dock in Boathouse 4 (photo left),
part of Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
Boathouse 4 was built in 1939 in
response to the need for a rapid
rearmament programme prior to the
start of World War II. This vast building,
incorporating its own dock and locks, is
typical of 1930s military industrial
architecture.
It has recently been restored and
converted into a Boatbuilding Skills
Training Centre that is home to the
International Boatbuilding College
Portsmouth and Highbury College. These
two colleges will be training a new generation of students in the techniques of traditional boatbuilding and
other related skills that are still very much required today to build and conserve wooden boats.
Boathouse 4 – viewed from the southern
end balcony, 199 in the bottom left corner.
It is a busy place with several boat
restoration projects underway providing
real projects for the college students.
At the northern end there is a canal and lock
that allows access for small craft from the
harbour into the Mast Pond where 199 was
once kept. The pond is now used as a
boating lake for visitors.
Boathouse 4 - viewed from the northern
end.
The magnificent frieze of four Revenge Class
World War 1 battleships is hung
immediately over the dock where 199 is
located.
Amongst the boat projects is “:Lively Lady”,
Sir Alec Rose’s old yacht having some work
done on her deck. Other projects include
Cyclops (a 42 ft. rowing boat built in 1916 as
launch to the World War 1 battleship Royal
Sovereign) and Fandango (a 43 ft. yacht).
Boathouse 4 –
the mezzanine
level has a display
of interesting old
craft including a
historic steam
pinnace – the
brass funnel is
just visible in the
middle of the
photo - more of
her in another
edition.
There is a light
and airy café at
the harbour end
but it is not yet
open.
Society of Friends of the Royal Naval Museum and HMS Victory
HMS CANADA MODEL
The Friends have been asked by National Museum of the Royal Navy to fund the restoration of a large model of the
super-dreadnought HMS CANADA. The model will form the centrepiece of a major exhibition commemorating the
centenary of the Battle of Jutland which will open in Boat House 5 on 24 th May 2016.
This highly detailed original builder’s model is nearly 5 metres long. It was acquired by the Museum from the Imperial
War Museum where it was damaged by bombing during the Second World War. Although the hull and superstructure
are in quite good order many fittings (including the boats)
have been lost and will have to be replaced to bring it
back up to museum display standard. The model is now
in the workshop of Berry-Robinson Restorations Ltd
www.modelrestorations.co.uk Alan Berry-Robinson
undertook the brilliant restoration of the model of HMS
SWIFTSURE which features in the current “Gallipoli:
Myth & Memory” exhibition. He has written about this
restoration project in the latest edition of our magazine
“Scuttlebutt”.
HMS CANADA had a long and fascinating history. She
was ordered by the Government of Chile in 1911 and
launched in November 1913 at Elswick, Newcastle-uponThe model before restoration
Tyne as ALMIRANTE LATORRE. On the outbreak of war
she was purchased for the Royal Navy and
commissioned in September 1915 as HMS CANADA. She served in the Grand Fleet for the duration of the war and saw
action at Jutland. The ship’s design was based on the IRON DUKE Class super-dreadnoughts with a unique
arrangement of ten 14” guns in twin turrets and secondary armament of sixteen 6” guns. One of CANADA’s 6” guns
survives as the after gun of the monitor HMS M33. CANADA was decommissioned by the Royal Navy in March 1919
and resold to Chile in April 1920, reverting to her original name. ALMIRANTE LATORRE remained in the service of the
Armada de Chile until finally decommissioned in October 1958. She was scrapped in Japan in 1959.
HMS CANADA in the Grand Fleet
The restoration will involve very many hours of painstaking, skilled work and will cost £15,000. The Friends’ Council has
allocated £10,000 from our limited reserves but we need to raise at least £5,000 to complete the project. Please help
us finish this exciting task. You can support the campaign on-line on the Just Giving website
(http://campaign.justgiving.com/charity/royal-navalmuseum/hms-canada) or by sending a cheque to: Roger Trise,
Executive Secretary, Friends of Royal Naval Museum & HMS Victory, 35 Sutton Road, Waterlooville, Hants, PO8 8PU.
If you are able to gift aid your donation please include your address. Over £800 has already been raised (at 2nd Nov).
All contributions will be recorded on the Friends’ website. Donors of £50 or more who provide their address will, in due
course, receive a print of a specially commissioned picture of “HMS CANADA at Jutland” and, if they wish, their names
will be displayed by the model.
Keep in touch with the progress of the campaign and of the restoration by following us on Facebook
(https://www.facebook.com/RNM.Friends) and Twitter (@FriendsRnm). Please pass this on to anyone else you think
might be interested.
Possibly for your diary next year?
The First World War at Sea, 1914 - 1919
Conference at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK
Friday 3 to Saturday 4 June, 2016
The National Maritime Museum, The British Commission for Military History, and The British Commission
for Maritime History are jointly organizing an international conference on the First World War at sea to be
held at Greenwich in June 2016.
While there have recently been a number of conferences and publications looking at land-based histories of
the First World War, there has been relatively little consideration of the war at sea, its significance and its
broader contexts. In the centenary year of the Battle of Jutland, The First World War at Sea conference seeks
to address this lacuna through papers that will address the breadth and complexity of the maritime sphere
between 1914–1919. The convenors welcome proposals that explore political, strategic, tactical, operational,
cultural, social, institutional, economic, and industrial contexts –- the list is not definitive. Proposals that move
beyond solely British issues and perspectives are encouraged.
Possible panels might include papers exploring:
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The Battle of Jutland, its aftermath, and consequences
The British Empire and the sea during the war
New operational perspectives on the Royal Navy, from the surface fleet to the submarine service,
RNAS, RND and WRNS
The history of naval science and technology
Economic and industrial studies of the Great War at sea
The consequences of the war for naval command and leadership
The merchant marines and the war effort
The social history of the wartime navy afloat and ashore
The Navy and national identity from pre-war years to the Geddes Axe
Experiences of the war at sea for personnel and merchant mariners
The memorialization of the war at sea
Note: proposals for papers closes on 1st Dec – if you think you have a hot topic, urgently contact
Lizelle de Jager, Research Executive, National Maritime Museum, London SE10 9NF
Email: research@rmg.co.uk Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8312 6716
She will need a 200-word abstract and a 100-word biography.
For sale: spotted on the web – “This French Ragdiguet & Massiot live steam model gunboat dating from
around 1885 is being offered as seen for restoration. It measures 545 mm. long. The zinc hull is in excellent
condition and is not all dented dinged or perished as is so often the case. The "planked" wooden deck is
free from rot or worm.”
However, always read adds carefully. The
prominent picture (left )”…is an example of a
restored example of this model”, it mentions at
the foot of the ad! What you might be tempted to
buy actually looks like this:
…and this photo has been cleaned up from the dim
one on the web at:
http://leeds.craigslist.co.uk/atd/5331642076.html
Price? Interestingly on Craig List it was £1,200 but on
eBay suddenly 2,550 GBP!
Nothing to do with Steam Pinnaces
At an ecclesiastical drinks party a bishop was asked if he would like a gin. “A gin” he said “I’d rather commit
adultery”. Hearing this another bishop complained to his host: “I didn’t realise there was a choice”.
Book List - Part 68
Battle-cruisers: Design and Development of British and German
Battle-cruisers of the First World War Era (Warship Special)
by N.J.M. Campbell; Conway Maritime Press 1978; 72 pages; ISBN10: 0851771300 ISBN-13: 978-0851771304. While many other books
need to be read to tell the story of the battlecruiser more completely
this small, mainly technical, volume an important chapter in the
overall story.
; Norman Friedman's latest book covers the development of Royal Navy capital ships,
including battlecruisers, from the pre-history of the Dreadnought of 1906 to HMS
VANGUARD in 1946. Heavily illustrated with many rare and unusual photographs, the
attraction of the book is further enhanced by plans specially commissioned from expert
draughtsmen like A D Baker III and John Roberts, a section featuring the original
Admiralty draughts includes a spectacular double gatefold.
The Man Around the Engine Vice Admiral Sir Louis Le Bailly;
Kenneth Mason Publications Ltd; 1990; 192 pages; ISBN-10: 0859373541 ISBN13: 978-0859373548. An autobiography of one the Royal Navy's post war characters,
now sadly passed away. Sir Louis joined the Royal Navy as an engineer and completed
his service as Head of the Defence Intelligence Service. Always a rebel his idiosyncratic
opinions and experiences make a good read. He was a neighbour to HMS Raleigh at
Torpoint in the mid-80s and sometimes used to come along to passing out parades when
your editor was the XO there.
Formidable: A True Story of Disaster and Courage by Steve R. Dunn; Book Guild
Publishing 2015; 256 pages; ISBN-10: 1910508152 ISBN-13: 978-1910508152.
A true story of disaster and courage' tells the story of the loss of HMS Formidable on
New Year's Day 1915. She was the first British capital ship to be lost to submarine
action. Nearly 600 men and boys, from a crew of 780, lost their lives on that fateful
day. The book tells their moving story, capturing the heroism of those who died, of
those who survived against the odds and of those who risked everything to rescue
others.
The Scapegoat - The life and tragedy of a fighting admiral and Churchill's role in
his death by Steve R Dunn; Book Guild Limited 2014; 256 pages;
ISBN-10: 1846249716 ISBN-13: 978-1846249716. In the early days of the First
World War, on 1 November 1914 in the seas off the Falkland Islands, the Battle of
Coronel claimed 1660 lives, the worst British naval disaster for 100 years. Rear
Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock, who died that day, had been badly advised and
equipped, and sailed to engage with Vice Admiral Graf von Spee knowing that he and
his men were almost certainly doomed. Why he took such a course of action, and who
was really to blame for the disaster, form the core of The Scapegoat,
The Coward? The Rise and Fall of the Silver King by Steve R Dunn; Book Guild Limited
2014; 256 pages; ISBN-10: 1909984620 ISBN-13: 978-1909984622.
Barely three days after Britain declared war on Germany in August 1914, Rear Admiral
Ernest Troubridge - a rising star of the British Navy - made a decision that seemed
inexplicable and was to dominate the rest of his life and naval career. Commanding the 1st
Cruiser Squadron, heading for an engagement with the German battle cruiser Goeben in the
Mediterranean and having clearly signalled his intention to engage the German ship,
Troubridge suddenly changed his mind, turned his vessels away, and allowed the enemy ship
to escape. At a time when the First World War was just beginning and notions of bravery,
patriotism, and duty were paramount, the story of Troubridge's court martial and subsequent social and naval
disgrace was and remains a complex one.
Before Jutland: The Naval War in Northern European Waters by James Goldrick;
Naval Institute Press 2015; 400 pages; ISBN-10: 1591143497 ISBN-13: 9781591143499. A definitive study of the naval engagements in northern European waters
in 1914-15 when the German High Sea Fleet faced the Grand Fleet in the North Sea and
the Russian Fleet in the Baltic. One of the key periods of naval operations in the First
World War, where a focus on the campaign on the western front conceals the reality that
the Great War was also a maritime conflict.
Jutland: World War I's Greatest Naval Battle by Michael Epkenhans, Jorg Hillmann,
Frank Nagler; The University Press of Kentucky 2015; 362 pages; ISBN-10: 0813166055
ISBN-13: 978-0813166056. In Jutland, international scholars reassess the strategies and
tactics employed by the combatants as well as the political and military consequences of
their actions. Most previous English-language military analysis has focused on British
admiral Sir John Jellicoe, who was widely criticized for excessive caution and for allowing
German vice admiral Reinhard Scheer to escape; but the contributors to this volume engage
the German perspective, evaluating Scheer's decisions and his skill in preserving his fleet
and escaping Britain's superior force.
Jutland: The Naval Staff Appreciation by William Schliehauf ; Seaforth Publishing
2016; 256 pages; ISBN-10: 1848323174 ISBN-13: 978-1848323179. Jutland, the
largest naval battle of the First World War, was the most controversial engagement in the
Royal Navy s history. The first attempt to produce even an objective record was delayed
and heavily censored, but this was followed by a more ambitious scheme to write a noholds-barred critique of the fleet s performance for use in training future officers at the
Naval Staff College. This became the now infamous Naval Staff Appreciation, which was
eventually deemed too damaging, its publication cancelled and all proof copies ordered
destroyed. Mentioned in virtually every book on Jutland since, but unavailable to their authors, it has
developed the almost legendary status of a book too explosive to publish. However, despite the orders, a few
copies survived, and transcribed from one of them this long-hidden work is here revealed for the first time.
Jutland: The Unfinished Battle by Nick Jellicoe; Seaforth Publishing 2016; 352
pages; ISBN-10: 1848323212 ISBN-13: 978-1848323216. One hundred years
after Jutland, what was in fact a strategic victory stands out starkly against the
background of bitter public disappointment in the Royal Navy and decades of divisive
acrimony and very public infighting between the camps supporting the two most senior
commanders, Jellicoe and Beatty. This book not only re-tells the story of the battle
from both a British and German perspective based on the latest research, but it also
helps clarify the context of Germany’s inevitable naval clash.
By editor - one wonders if there is anything new to say on Jutland? It seems there is.