grand fleet - National Museum of the Royal Navy

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The Magazine of
The National Museum of the
Royal Navy (Portsmouth)
HMS Victory and the Friends
friends
of the
Royal
Naval
Museum
and
HMS
Victory
SCUTTLEBUTT
1914
THE NAVAL HERITAGE
AWARD WINNING MAGAZINE
GRAND FLEET
prepares for
WAR
WAR
War at sea
C-Cubed at Jutland
Royal Navy
in 2014
Edition No 48, Spring 2014
The Cold War
Hunter Killers
£3.00 or by subscription
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ww.nmrn.org.uk/membership
A charitable
charitable company
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1126283.
friends
of the
Royal
Naval
Museum
and
HMS
Victory
The Magazine of
SCUTTLEBUTT
Edition No 48, Spring 2104
£3.00 or by subscription
ISSN 2052-5451
postage additional cost
CONTENTS
Council of the Friends
Chairman’s Report (Peter Wykeham-Martin)
6
7
UPDATES:
News from the National Museum of the Royal Navy (Graham Dobbin)
Reflections of the Chairman
of the Trustees of the NMRN (Sir Jonathon Band GCB DL)
HMS Victory, Commanding Officer’s Report (Rod Strathern)
Steam Pinnace 199 - Progess Report (Martin Marks OBE)
12
14
16
REGULAR FEATURES:
Series on Museum Figureheads (David Pulvertaft)
The Grand Fleet in art (Rick Cosby)
The Museum Models - HMS Collingwood (Mark Brady)
Naval Swords - The Red Earl’s sword (John McGrath)
Naval Medals (James Kemp)
Naval Museum HMS Victory & Friends Events
18
20
42
63
69
78
The greatest assemblage of naval power ever witnessed in the history of the world
The Grand Fleet on the eve of the Great War
8
HUNTER KILLERS
Secret submarine operations in the Cold war
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Anglo-German Naval Armament Race (Bernard Ireland)
WW1 commemoration project HMS Caroline (John Roberts)
War at sea - C-Cubed at Jutland (Admiral Richard Hill)
The Grand Fleet on the eve of the Great War (John Roberts)
Secret Diary of a senior naval officer in the Grand Fleet (Chris Howat)
Secret submarine operations - Cold War (Iain Ballantyne)
Royal Navy TODAY overview (John Roberts)
Royal Navy in Mesopotamia (David Gunn)
Continuing our history of British naval nuclear weapons –
Strategic Part 2: (John Coker)
70
REGULAR ITEMS:
“Welcome aboard!” (come & join us), benefits of membership
Book Reviews
Letters to the Editor
78
82
89
Strategic nuclear weapons in the Royal Navy
22
28
30
36
38
46
52
64
Editor: John Roberts 01329 843427 (jaorob@tiscali.co.uk)
Design: MMCS dh.creative 07765 245533
Print: Stephens & George Group 01685 352042
Advertising:: SDB Marketing 01273 594455
www.royalnavalmuseum.org/support_friends.htm
OUR ROYAL NAVY
TODAY
OVERVIEW
The Grand Fleet in art
Photographs and images, courtesy of the National Museum of the Royal Navy
(© Crown Copyright) unless otherwise stated
*The term ‘Scuttlebutt’ is nautical slang for the latest gossip and rumours;
it derives from scurrilous chatter between sailors gathered round the water cask,
the equivalent, in modern terms to the office water cooler.
Cover picture: A contemporary picture of HMS Iron Duke leading the 1st & 2nd Battle Squadrons of the
199 Steam Pinnacle
The Anglo-German naval race
Relections of the
Chairman of the trustees
NMRN
Commemoration project
HMS Caroline
Grand Fleet (taken from a periodic review published in the early years of the First World War)
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Spring 2014 Edition
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt
5
friends
of the
Royal
Naval
Museum
and
HMS
Victory
The Magazine of
SCUTTLEBUTT
THE COUNCIL OF THE FRIENDS OF THE ROYAL
NAVAL MUSEUM AND HMS VICTORY
Patron: Admiral of the Fleet HRH The Prince of Wales
KG, KT, OM, GCB, AK, QSO, ADC
VICE PRESIDENTS
Admiral S ir Brian Brown KC B, C BE
Rear Admiral Richard Irwin C B
Lord Judd
President: Vice Admiral S ir Michael Moore KBE, LVO
Chairman: C ommodore Peter Wykeham-Martin Royal Navy
Vice Chairman: Lieutenant C ommander John S civier Royal Navy
Executive Secretary & Treasurer: Mr Roger Trise
Honorary Secretary: Dr C ampbell McMurray OBE
MEMBERS OF COUNCIL
Lieutenant C ommander Nicholas Bates, Royal Navy
Mr David Baynes – Events Organiser & Volunteer Liaison
Lieutenant C ommander Mark Brady, Royal Navy
Lieutenant C ommander C live Kidd, Royal Navy
Mr C hristopher Knox
C aptain John Roberts MBE, Royal Navy
Mr Ivan S teele – S team Pinnace 199 Project
Mr Paul Woodman
EX OFFICIO MEMBERS OF COUNCIL
C ommander John Bingeman, Royal Navy
– S ociety for Nautical Research
Mr Graham Dobbin – Deputy Director General NMRN
Lieutenant C ommander Rod S trathern Royal Navy
– C ommanding Officer HMS Victory
C ouncillor Rob Wood - Portsmouth C ity C ouncil
C ouncillor C hris C arter – Hampshire C ounty C ouncil
Executive Secretary
Roger Trise (023 9225 1589) rnm.friends@btinternet.com
The purpose of the Friends is to provide assistance to the National
Museum of the Royal Navy (Portsmouth) and HMS Victory when
requested, to promote the interests of the museum and to help
financially wherever possible
National Museum of the Royal Navy, HM Naval Base (PP66)
Portsmouth PO1 3NH
www.royalnavalmuseum.org
6
Scuttlebutt |
Spring 2014 Edition
CHAIRMAN’S
REPORT
From the Editor
Scuttlebutt is definitely getting
stronger and stronger.
The next issue will be a
special commerative edition
to mark the centenary of
‘The Great War 1914-1918’.
It is our aim to publish Scuttlebutt
more frequently with a wealth of
articles, to support Royal Navy’s
National Museum, HMS Victory and
the Royal Navy, as well as stimulate
an interest in our great naval heritage
Tell your friends about the magazine
and encourage them to buy a copy.
We need your support, we are a
charity and rely solely on copy sales
and advertising to survive.
CAN YOU HELP US?
The Council would like to encourage members of
the Friends to become more involved in various
ways such as helping on Museum or Friends stands
at special days and events to promote the museum
and the Friends. If you think you could help please
contact us: rn.scuttlebutt@hotmail.com
‘Scuttlebutt’ is most grateful to the
many contributors to the magazine
for their invaluable support:
Kit Anderson, Andrew Baines, David Baynes,
John Bingeman, Mark Brady, John Coker,
Rick Cosby, Graham Dobbin, Giles Gould,
Richard Halton, Michael Heidler, Nick Hewitt,
Richard Hill, Bernard Ireland, James Kemp,
Martin Marks, Martin Gates, Campbell McMurray,
First Sea Lord, Ken Napier, David Pulvertaft,
John Roberts, Peter Samson, John Scivier,
Second Sea Lord, Annabel Silk, Rod Strathern,
Julian Thomas, Bethany Torvell, Roger Trise,
Dominic Tweddle, Allison Wareham, Paul Woodman,
and Peter Wykeham-Martin, Iain Ballantyne,
David Gunn, Chris Howat, John McGrath
Commodore Peter Wykeham-Martin RN
n the last edition of Scuttlebutt, I
wrote that the Chairmen of the
Friends of the four major
constituent Museums were in
discussions with the NMRN to
see how we could work with the
Museum and their aspirations for a national
Membership scheme. I am delighted to be
able to reassure you that we have reached a
pragmatic way forward, which will allow
each of us to retain our “independence”
whilst working in concert with the National
Museum. You will see in this edition an
advert for the new Membership scheme for
the National Museum. With the growth of
the National Museum’s assets with the
acquisition of HMS CAROLINE and other
plans afoot, there is a real attraction to
becoming a Member with the opportunity
to visit the Museum’s various sites. An
added bonus is that as a Friend, you are
entitled to a reduced Membership fee.
I
By working with the National Museum
on the Membership scheme, we are able
to take advantage of the professional
marketing expertise being used to market
Membership. The Membership leaflets
at each of the 4 sites will include the
appropriate Friends literature. We see this
as being a good recruiting tool. Those
members of the public who join the
Membership scheme may well decide to
strengthen their links with a particular site
by becoming a Friend. Whilst being able to
“piggy back” on the National Museum’s
marketing is a very positive advantage, there
are inevitably some downsides to the new
environment. The main one is that the
National Museum wishes to restrict the
visiting benefit to the Museum supported
by the respective Friends. However, your
Council are actively pursuing other benefits
in the way of discounts etc and we will
keep you posted.
So where does all this leave the role of the
respective Friends’ organisations? The
analogy we have used is that of the National
Trust, which has a nationwide membership
scheme, but its individual sites have Friends
who do everything from acting as guides to
working on the site. In other words they
provide the vital local support for their
particular National Trust site and this is how
we see our future support for the National
Museum. For many of us, the iconic
presence of the VICTORY and the Museum
at Portsmouth are the reason we became
Friends, and this is exactly what we will
continue to support.
Fitting into this role is the exciting new
addition to Museum at Portsmouth is the
20th and 21st Century Gallery, scheduled to
open in April. This will fill a vital gap in the
Museum’s coverage and should prove to be
a fascinating attraction. The Museum is still
fund raising and approached the Friends for
support for the 12 minute film “All of One
Company” that will be shown in the Gallery.
This film uses a mix of archive film and
interviews from the Museum’s collection to
produce in the Museum’s words “powerful
imagery from the Battle of Jutland to the
Falklands”. Your Council was unanimous in
voting to fund this project, using the money
from the West Legacy which we considered
was an entirely appropriate use of the
legacy in memory of Cdr John West DSC.
The Museum will recognise the support of
the Friends and of the Wests in the credits
for the film. This support has effectively
drained our reserves, and we will not be
able to support major items at the Museum
for a while, but we all considered this to be
the right use of our funds. In this edition of
Scuttlebutt you can read more on the film in
a piece written by Matthew Sheldon who is
managing the new Gallery project. Our
AGM on 8 May will provide the opportunity
for Friends to see the new Gallery and I
hope that many of you will take up this
invitation for a private viewing.
This year will also see the Steam pinnace
back in action. The hull work is now
complete, and although the boiler re-tubing
has taken longer than expected, installation
of the boiler should be all completed by the
time you read this. The plan is still to have
her afloat on trials in April – and we are still
within budget! Her programme for this year
includes the Old Gaffers weekend in
Yarmouth and the Southampton Boat Show.
It will be marvellous to see her afloat and
Ivan and his team of volunteers have done
a magnificent job. 199 is still looking for
volunteers for a second crew, so if you
are interested in some sea time please
contact Ivan.
A very encouraging piece of news has been
the extraordinary increase in visitor numbers
to the site over last year – a staggering
121% increase. Whilst it is easy to write off
much of this increase to the re-opened Mary
Rose Museum, it illustrates the continuing
high level of interest in what is on display
within the Historic Dockyard site. Sadly the
MOD Broadsheet, which kept retired naval
personnel up to date with current naval
issues, has fallen victim to cuts and we are
carrying some of the Broadsheet type
material in this issue of Scuttlebutt with the
blessing of the naval PR organisation. I think
it important that we continue to reflect both
present and past naval matters. This edition
of Scuttlebutt also includes planned events
for this year and I would particularly
recommend the day at the RNLI HQ in
Poole. Finally, we are not going to be left
behind in commemorating the outbreak of
the First World War. You will see that this
edition covers the preparation of the Grand
Fleet for war, but we plan to publish an
additional special edition of ‘Scuttlebutt’ this
year specifically dedicated to the Royal Navy
in the Great War. Although this will cover all
the war years, we will also be focusing on
various events and incidents in the normal
editions as various anniversaries arise.
We are also looking at ways of increasing
the distribution, coverage and sales of
Scuttlebutt and I hope to be able to update
you at the AGM on this aspect.
Once again, thank you for all your support,
and I look forward to seeing you at the
AGM on Thursday 8 May.
Peter Wykeham-Martin
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt
7
Museum NEWS
Top left: ‘‘Racing to war’ Dreadnought painting
Top right: Pickle Night dinner in New York
Bottom left: Museum Community Road Show
Bottom right: Lowering in the 4-in gun from
HMS Lance
Top left:
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
meets museum staff
Top right:
HRH The Princess Royal at
Trinity House fund raising dinner
Bottom left:
USS New York in New York
Middle:
M33 in dry dock
Bottom right:
USS New York presentation
NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL
MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL
NAVY (PORTSMOUTH)
DEPUTY DIRECTOR
GENERAL’S REPORT
As I have been intimating for
the last few issues, NMRNP
is going through a period of
intense change with much of
it pointing towards April 2014
for completion
HMS Galleries
After more than ten years in the
planning plans are all on schedule
to open our new £4.5m exhibition
galleries on 3rd April. The permanent
exhibition 'HMS : Hear My S tory' will
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Scuttlebutt |
Spring 2014 Edition
be a dramatic presentation of recent
history, best summed up by its strap
line '100 years, 1000 stories, 1 Royal
Navy'. At the same time we open our
first special exhibition ''Racing to War:
the Royal Navy and 1914' which is
the first of a series of events to mark
the Great War at sea. These new
Galleries will be a magnificent addition
to the NMRN family and ‘the Friends’
will all get an opportunity for a private
viewing of them after this year’s AGM.
C urators will be on hand to discuss
the new displays with them and I hope
as many ‘Friends’ as possible are able
to take up this invitation. There will
be many events associated with the
new galleries and we look forward
to welcoming all Friends - and your
families and friends - in coming
months if you are unable to attend
the AGM.
I’m sure it will be said elsewhere, but
I would like to take this opportunity
to thanks the Friends for their recent
generous donation of £30,000
towards the HMS Galleries Project.
I’m sure the curators will be able to
show you where your donation has
been spent during the private viewing
after the AGM.
In support of the HMS Galleries
fundraising effort, we hosted our
annual Trafalgar Night Dinner in the
Princess Royal Gallery and hosted a
dinner in Trinity House, which both
HRH The Princess Royal and Vice
Admiral S ir Tim Laurence attended.
Integration
By 1st April 2014 all of the NMRN
S ites (Explosion, Fleet Air Arm
Museum, HMS Victory, NMRNP,
Royal Marines Museum and the Royal
Navy S ubmarine Museum) will be
working within an integrated structure
under five Functional Directors.
The Functions are:
• C ollections, Learning, Research
and Access led by Graham Mottram
• Fundraising, Marketing and
C ommunications led by
Allison Dufosee
• Finance let by S arah Dennis who
joins the organisation on 1st April
• Operations led by Robert Bruce
• Governance, HR, It and
Administration led by myself
The formation of staff within this
integrated structure is, as the saying
goes, simply the end of the beginning
rather than a completion of integration.
The challenges for the year ahead will
be to ensure these new Directorates
work effectively – it’s a major change
in the way we do our business and
there are bound to be some glitches
so please bear with us if, at least
initially, enquiries etc are not
responded to as quickly as we
would like.
US Fundraising
Allison Dufosee, Gemma Louise
Martin and I had an extremely
productive trip to America (West
and East C oasts) last November
culminating in the agreement of the
American Friends that they see
fundraising (primarily for HMS Victory)
as one of their objectives – up until
now they have done a magnificent job
of awareness raising (mainly through
the annual Pickle Night Dinner held in
the New York Yacht C lub). This new
objective is a significant step forward
and the American Friends offer a solid
platform from which to launch the
fundraising events we have planned in
America in the next few years – key to
this is the generous offer by C unard to
use two of their ships for fundraising
events on both coasts (one event per
coast) in 2015 which also marks
C unard’s 175th birthday!
Whilst in New York, last November
we were extremely privileged to have
a tour of US S New York – this is the
ship which has some of the metal
from the Twin Towers in it. Quite
an experience!
Graham Dobbin
Deputy Director General
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt
9
Museum NEWS
‘All of one Company’
“I would have the gentlemen to haul
with the mariners and the mariners to
haul with the gentlemen. Let us show
ourselves to be of one company”
Admiral Sir Francis Drake, 1578
'Then the Grand Fleet arrived, it was like
feeling one's feet on the bottom after
being carried away by a strong tide, Lord
they did look fine ...'
'Morning after passed through miles of wreckage, boats, mess
deck fittings, papers, oil, dead fish, dead men ...'
National Museum of the Royal Navy. The
unique film forming the centre piece of the
new ‘HMS’ (Hear My Story) exhibition
Vice Admiral Sir Michael Moor, President of the Friends
(left) presents Graham Dobbin, Deputy Director General
NMRN, with a cheque for £30,000 for the new
‘HMS’ (Hear My Story) Exhibition.
'You got awarded so many points for
spotting an aircraft, a ship signalling in,
or even a raft floating by. I remember the
Captain saying that if you spotted a
submarine and we sank it he'd try and
get you the VC ...'
'We dogged that Uboat till the following morning, he probably thought he was away,
but we'd been trailing him. About 06.30 we closed in. attacked and got him'
In the new 'HMS ' exhibition we set
ourselves the challenge of conveying to
visitors what is unique about the naval
service; central to that is what it is that is
distinctively different about fighting at sea.
At the heart of the exhibition is a film which
we have called ‘All of One C ompany’ taking as a starting point Drake’s call to
his crew over 400 years ago. By drawing
on the Museum's collections of letters,
diaries and sound recordings we want to
draw out the personal experience of
conflict, focusing on the reality of fighting
at sea in any period. The reality that there
is nowhere to hide - that you really are in
it together.
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Spring 2014 Edition
The 12 minute film sits literally at the heart
of the exhibition gallery and is where we
want to make an emotional connection
with our visitors. Elsewhere in the
exhibitions we display original artefacts, or
let people get hands on with technology;
the Museum's new book series on naval
history which is being published to
coincide with the exhibition allows readers
to follow the detail of events; this film will
be about impact and drama.
S tarting with Kipling’s wonderful poem
of 1915 ‘My Boy Jack’ the film moves
through the last 100 years, looking
especially at the Battle of Jutland, the
Battle of the Atlantic, and the landings at
'It's hard, but when you're called up you can't
just say "Look, I don't want to go now" You
don't join a club and when the going gets
tough say "I'm not a member any more". The
taxpayers have been paying my wages all
these years and OK they've called my number,
they've called all our numbers. It's our duty'
S an C arlos during the Falklands War. The film will be immersive
using sound - whether that is the 'ping, ping' of AS DIC , or
extracts from an Ops Room recording during an air raid in 1982 and dramatic film to fill the whole space. At the heart of the
script are the words of those involved conveying their unique
experience with drama, excitement, humour, pathos, poetry and
even philosophy.
'I felt a sickening impact like smashing
your head against a car window, the
obvious expletive came from my lips as it
did from colleagues either side who'd
also been hit, then I went down like a
sack of potatoes .. My oppo said "I've
been 'it', I said "I can tell that you daft
bugger, there's blood everywhere ...'
I am delighted that it is the Museum's Friends who have chosen
to sponsor the film with a donation of £30,000 from the West
Legacy. With so many naval and ex-naval members it is fitting that
a film dedicated ‘To all the men and women of the Royal Navy and
Royal Marines who were, are or will be .... all of one company’
carries their name.
Friends of the Museum man the Friends stand in the
Victory starboard arena on Armed Forces Day.
Any members of the Friends who would like to help with
future events and activities should contact
rn.scuttlebutt@hotmail.com or telephone 01329 843427
Matthew Sheldon
Head of Strategic Development
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 11
Reflections of the Chairman of the Trustees
of the National Museum of the Royal Navy
We all had to raise our game to start to
gain the credibility of the wider museum
world and indeed our Service. Luckily we
had good strength in many fields so the
basics were there. It was as much about
believing in ourselves that we were up to
the task and could really achieve matters.
So how does the slate look? I think pretty
good. We have taken under our wing the
National Flagship, HMS VICTORY. There
is much to do still to really establish the
state of the ship but we are determined to
do that while we stabilise her. A few years
ago I was really worried that the MoD was
losing the battle. Now, I am confident
we have the governance and structure,
much of the money, to start to preserve
her properly.
We have helped reinvigorate the
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, the
partnership of trusts that reside here in
Portsmouth. Attendance was dropping,
marketing was not being effective and for
years there had been no refreshment of
exhibits. Well 2013 saw quite a change –
new management, a more collegiate
approach by us and others, much better
marketing and key, a new attraction – the
new Mary Rose Museum – What a world
beater she is.
Sir Jonathon Band GCB DL
I
t is a pleasure to be able to
make a contribution to
‘Scuttlebutt’ in this very
significant year for the NMRN
and particularly the Portsmouth
element.
More of that later but first let me reflect
on the achievement of the staff here in
Portsmouth over the last 3 years. They
seamlessly folded the former RNM
organisation into the new NMRN. Oh if
only all other aspects of NMRN Integration
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Spring 2014 Edition
had been that smooth. Why was this the
case? Firstly, because the trustees saw that
with the decision to create the NMRN there
was no other option and what we had here
in Portsmouth was to be the heart of the
new Museum. Then secondly, the team
here in Portsmouth and their leadership
provided the kernel of the new structure
and cracked on doing what was needed
to get started on the road to the new world.
I am so grateful on both counts.
We have met our first real “Save a Ship”
challenge – HMS CAROLINE in Belfast.
The last survivor of a generation, a Jutland
veteran, the RN had decided that she
should go to scrap having ceased being
the HQ ship for the RNR in the Province.
Such an outcome would have been
criminal and a body blow for the new
museum. But thanks to the imagination, the
farsightedness of some of our trustees and
members of the executive, and of course
the crucial support of the NI Department of
Above: Matthew Sheldon shows HRH The Princess Royal the 4-in gun from HMS Lance.
Enterprise, Trade and Investment, the
Heritage Lottery Fund and the National
Heritage Memorial Fund, she will be saved.
Under the overall NMRN umbrella she will
open to the public in the Titanic Quarter of
Belfast in 2016, the centenary of the great
WW1 sea battle.
C loser to home we have our WW1
contestant M33. Rather than just
continuing to adorn her dry dock we plan
to bring her to life as part of a Gallipoli
experience to open next year. Timing for
M33 and indeed C AROLINE could not
be more important if we are to tell the
Navy’s side of the WW1 story here in
Portsmouth. But before that I do want to
give visibility to two key developments on
the Gosport side of the harbour, the
imminent reopening of the submarine
ALLIANC E and the integration of
Explosion! into the NMRN fold.
The first is a very significant achievement
by the Submarine Museum Team who ran
a quite excellent appeal and have managed
the project well to meet the target for
opening this spring. Explosion! represents
the RN’s armaments collection which
frankly should never have left the family.
The key issue is that the collection is now
back with us and it was the NMRN that
made this possible. As in effect the
Service’s heritage conscience, we are
able to champion causes such as this,
sometimes offering affiliation or, as in
this case, taking them into the closer
family core.
So to return to the importance of 2014 for
Portsmouth. It had been the hope of the
RNM for a number of years to convert
Storehouse 10 into a gallery that properly
reflected the activity of the RN and the
contribution of its people since the days of
sail. Indeed, it was extraordinary that while
the Service Museums very ably reflected
the contribution of Submarines, the FAA
Above: The destroyer HMS Lance, which fired the first shot of the Great War at sea.
and the RM in the 20th Century nowhere
brought it all together.
That deficiency will be corrected in April
when the Hear My Story gallery opens to
the public. This modern and exciting
presentation of the activities of the RN and
importantly its people will be an enduring
legacy to those that served through WW1,
WW2 and in operations since then. It will
link to today’s Navy many of those roles
that are carried out today but resonate
back to the Georgian period – support for
British Interests, Defence of the Realm,
Defence Diplomacy and protection of
shipping and trade.
Also, this gallery includes space to mount
special exhibitions. The focus of these in
the early years will be telling the tale of the
RN’s vital part in WW1, kicking off with
‘the race to war’. This will cover
mobilisation in the summer of 2014 and the
first months of the war.
Rightly much of the national focus of the
WW1 centenary commemorations will be
on the activities on the Western front and
the huge loss of life on both sides. But
there are wider strategic lessons and
activities in the maritime arena that must
be given visibility, the contribution of allies
and the Empire, the campaign to blockade
Germany, the U-boat response by
Germany that had Britain facing starvation
in 1917, the part played by the Naval
Infantry and indeed the war in the Baltic
in 1919.
This gives us in Portsmouth the opportunity
to be centre stage in the broader
interpretation of WW1 and in the NMRN
we have the vehicle to do just that. I am
proud, as the Chairman, to be associated
with the staff and volunteers of NMRN
Portsmouth. I salute their achievement to
date and what I know will be their
successes in the future.
Sir Jonathon Band GCB DL
Chairman of the Trustees of the
National Museum of the Royal Navy
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 13
Top: ‘Sporting Bears’ super cars parked in the starboard arena
Bottom left: Second Sea Lord, Admiral David Steele presents Meritorious Service Medals
Bottom middle: Fleet Admiral Julio Soares Moura de Neto, Commander of the Brazilian Navy with
the First Sea Lord, Admiral Zambellas on board HMS Victory
Bottom right: Nelson’s plaque with the traditional wreath
HMS
VICTORY
COMMANDING OFFICER’S REPORT
HMS Victory has continued to deliver a significant
‘Defence output’ in the six months since I last wrote for Scuttlebutt and
has of course marked our most significant yearly anniversary with a
Trafalgar Day commemoration on the 21st October 2013.
The event was somewhat different from usual; in as much as only
the half the Quarterdeck was available.
In a good example of the strong cooperation between the NMRN and
the RN, and of the blending of naval tradition with the practicalities of
preserving a historic ship, re-caulking work on the Quarterdeck was
phased, to ensure the starboard half, with Nelson’s plaque, would be
available for Trafalgar Day (the laying of a wreath on the spot where
Nelson fell is a key part of the ceremony). In the event, heavy rain
meant the Ceremony was conducted on the Upper Gun Deck and as a
result was a touchingly intimate event. The subsequent Trafalgar Day
Dinner in the Great Cabin that evening was hosted by VICTORY’s
Admiral in Charge, Vice Admiral David Steel CBE, Chief of Naval
Personnel and Training and Second Sea Lord, with the Earl and
Countess of Wessex, Sophie and Edward, as the Guests of Honour.
Also in a good example of VIC TORY’s
enduring international reach, the end of
October saw VIC TORY hosting the
Royal C ollege of Defence S tudies course
onboard for dinner and VIC TORY’s
Lower Gun Deck made a significant
impression on the military officers and
civil servants of the fifty-two nations
represented on this very senior and
influential course.
As well as hosting his ‘Influence Dinners’
in the Great C abin, S econd S ea Lord
approves a number of charity fund raising
dinners each year, including the S ailors
S ociety in S eptember and the Hampshire
and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance C harity
in October, both events raising significant
amounts of money for worthy causes.
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Naval charities also benefit greatly from
VIC TORY, with over £ 600 collected for
the RNRM C harity during December’s
C arol S ervices onboard. December
also saw the S econd S ea Lord being
presented with a large cheque for the
RNRM C hildren’s Fund by the ‘S porting
Bears’, S upercar owners who use their
impressively expensive machines (parked
for the event in the starboard arena) to
generate equally impressive funds for
good causes.
VIC TORY continues to be the Royal
Navy’s most prestigious venue for naval
events like the launch of the “Perisher”
S ubmarine C ommand C ourse and the
RN’s most senior course, the
C ommanding Officer’s Designate
C ourse, both of which leave a lasting
impression on those attending them. The
S hip has also hosted Valedictories for
S ervice Leavers, a farewell to the C aptain
of the Base, the Handover of the Warrant
Officer of the Naval S ervice and S econd
S ea Lord Meritorious S ervice Medal and
C ommendation Presentation C eremonies.
Monthly S econd S ea Lord ‘Influence
Dinners’ in the Great C abin continue to
prove an invaluable means of engaging
with key players across society.
VIC TORY has hosted a wide range of
visitors for tours over the last few months
– the International S ub-Lieutenants
C ourse, the C roatian C hief of Naval S taff,
the S enior Management of Jaguar Land
Rover, Admiral Essenhigh, the S ervice
Prosecutors, Major General Rowan
(AC DS Health), the United S tates
Ambassador His Excellency Matthew
Barzun, The Windsor Leadership Trust,
officers from the United Arab Emirates
and the S panish Naval Attaché, to name
but a few.
December saw one of the most important
Great C abin dinners held onboard for
Admiral Bulent Bostanoglu, C ommander
of the Turkish Naval Forces. This high
profile dinner was hosted by the First S ea
Lord, Admiral Zambellas (whose sword,
incidentally, is now on permanent display
in the Great C abin) who noted the
importance of the event for UK relations
with a key strategic partner and the fact
that the Turkish Admiral ‘departed the UK
‘full of enthusiasm for the Royal Navy’ –
the Friends of HMS Victory should be in
no doubt as to VIC TORY’s key role in that
visit. The First S ea Lord also hosted a
further high level visit to VIC TORY in
February this year by the C ommander
of the Brazilian Navy, Fleet Admiral Julio
S oares Moura de Neto, another important
defence partner.
events in coming months include the
First S ea Lord hosting the C hiefs of
European Navies (C HENS ) onboard, a
Navy Board dinner and, appropriately, in
the year in which we remember the 100th
anniversary of the start of the First World
War, VIC TORY will host a function for the
C ommonwealth War Graves C ommission.
I remain, as ever, grateful to the National
Museum and the Friends for enabling and
supporting the defence output of the
world’s oldest and most famous
commissioned warship.
Looking further into 2014, the year is
shaping up to be busier than ever and
the calendar is filling up rapidly. Notable
Rod Strathern
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 15
199
STEAM PINNACE
Above: shaft in and propeller fitted, with some rejoicing
Boiler Progress
The target date for completion of the
boiler has slipped to the end of February
at the time of writing. Over on the Isle of
Wight two items have caused delays. In a
previous boiler rebuild some years ago,
nuts and bolts were incorrectly used in
place of studs to secure the hand hole or
access doors on the water drums. The
bolt heads were welded inside the drum
to prevent rotation but the bolt heads are
obstructing the use of the mandrel tools
for expanding the adjacent tube ends,
causing two mandrels to be written off.
The heads were ground out but this is
time consuming. In addition the new boiler
tubes, ordered on advice from a
professional engineer involved in old
steam machinery, were over specified.
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Spring 2014 Edition
The walls are 4mm and should have been
2 ½ mm thick. This makes expanding
them into place very much harder work
and has trebled the time allowed for this
part of the job. However, it is virtually
complete and a first fill of cold water and
a pressure test were carried out on the
19th February.
We are awaiting the results. If successful,
the furnace insulation will be inserted and
the boiler flashed up for a steam test. It is
quite likely that this will disturb some tube
joints requiring some more work on the
tube ends.
The Pinnace
In the meantime back in Gosport, the
volunteer team have been rewiring the
pinnace’s electrical systems. S he has a
simple 12 volt, battery powered system
that supplies automatic bilge pumps,
navigation lights and lighting in the
compartments similar to a modern day
yacht. There is also a 240 volt system
that takes shore power when alongside
for battery charging, winterisation
heaters to prevent condensation in the
compartments and the boiler as well as
power tools for boiler cleaning. 199’s
boiler is ten years older than the pinnace
and was an experimental boiler with
tubes very close together. This causes
soot to clog up quickly and requires very
regular cleaning – a messy job.
Work is progressing to replace the pipe
systems that run through the machinery
space bilges. The pipe work has been
protectively coated in a smart red “Bilge
and Locker” paint from our sponsors
International Paints. Each pipe has had
two coats.
199 has been asked to be back in
operation for Easter. Despite the
unpredictable difficulties involved in reassembling her and the pitfalls of 19th
century technology we’re giving it our
best shot!
Martin Marks OBE
Top: Chief engineer Frank Fowler working on the
donkey pump bilge manifold in the engine room
Top right: 199 volunteers John Sheehan, Phil
Atkinson and Dave Hill discuss the rewiring work
Middle right: volunteer Reg Hill working on
some teak
Bottom right: 199’s refurbished shaft is inserted
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 17
The Warship
FIGUREHEADS
of Portsmouth
Continuing the series by David
Pulvertaft describing figureheads
that have been added to the
Portsmouth Collection since his
book, The Warship Figureheads of
Portsmouth, was published in 2009
or where extra material has come
to light on those figureheads
described in the book.
HMS CALCUTTA
1831-1908
(2nd Rate of 84 guns)
The Figurehead - The most
significant figurehead acquisition by
the National Museum of the Royal
Navy in recent years has been that
from HMS Calcutta, bought from the
estate of Lord Fisher of Kilverstone.
Carved in Bombay, this huge length male bust is more than 15
feet tall in the form of a lavishly
dressed Indian ruler.
In the last edition of Scuttlebutt we
followed the figurehead of HMS Calcutta
from the bow of the 1831 ship to the
estate of the First Lord Fisher at Thetford
in Norfolk. Mounted on a base built of red
brick, he must have been a spectacular
addition to the Latin American Wildlife
Park that Lady Fisher created in the
grounds of Kilverstone Hall.
By the 1980s he was in need of
restoration and a contemporary press
cutting shows a Mr H R Allan from the
National Maritime Museum working on
him under a shelter. This, it is understood,
had been erected to protect him from the
weather but it blew away in a storm and
from the 1990s he was again exposed to
the elements. By 2011 his head had
become detached and, on hitting the
ground, had broken into several pieces,
revealing that, during earlier repairs, much
of his face and turban had been
reconstructed using wire mesh, plaster
and concrete. All were agreed that urgent
action was needed to save this historic
carving and he was sold for a nominal
sum to The National Museum of the Royal
Navy so that decisions could be made on
how best this could be achieved.
The restoration contract was undertaken
by Rod Hare at The Old Court Works,
Bickleigh, Devon; an artist/craftsman who
has over the years restored several large
warship figureheads for naval
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Spring 2014 Edition
establishments and created replicas to
display outside, thus allowing the originals
to be preserved indoors. For this
figurehead he devised a scheme that
mounted the body on a metal base and
recreated the missing parts of the head
and trailboards in clay so that silicone
rubber moulds could be made. Resin and
fibreglass were then used to create the
final product that incorporated all the
surviving pieces.
Once assembled, a colour scheme was
agreed with the Museum staff, based on
period paintings of a Raja with a similar
turban to that worn by the figurehead.
The items carved in the trailboards were
identified as being symbolic of India; lotus
flowers, mangoes and figs of the banyan
tree and were painted in appropriate
colours.
The figurehead was carried along the lane
from the workshop at Bickleigh and then
lifted onto a low-loader for its journey to
Portsmouth. The illustration above shows
detail of his cummerbund and ceremonial
dagger or ‘khanjar’.
The figurehead it is now safely in store at
Portsmouth while decisions are made on
where he will be displayed. There is no
simple solution as he is 15 feet tall and
therefore does not pass through normal
doorways or fit into standard galleries.
No doubt a site will be found in the future
developments of The National Museum of
the Royal Navy – the important thing now
being that he has been saved for future
generations to enjoy!
David Pulvertaft
The Grand Fleet in art
How fortunate that the
largest and most diverse
maritime force ever to be
assembled, the Royal
Navy’s Grand Fleet of
1914-1919, was so well
covered by a variety of
artists whose skills and
powers of observation
appear to have been fully
up to the task!
Lieutenant Montague Dawson RN had
joined up in 1914 and was building up his
expertise with brush and easel and
meanwhile the professional artists such
as Wyllie managed days at sea with the
Grand Fleet as did Norman Wilkinson
(commissioned into the RNR in 1915 and
subsequent inventor of dazzle painting).
The arrival of the dreadnoughts from 1906
and a rapidly expanding fleet – big ships
and small - clearly fired up anew those
marine artists who were already
established in their field and led by WL
Wyllie, Charles Dixon, Alma Cull and
others too, artists such as Norman
Wilkinson, Frank Mason, Frank Watson
Wood, Bernard Gribble, Muirhead Bone all turned their skills to paint these new
leviathans who posed many exciting
challenges.
Frank Watson Wood, for one, became very
busy executing commissions for the better
heeled officers in these ships in the years
up to 1914: other artists just painted the
burgeoning fleet as the opportunity
occurred although the outbreak of war and
the vanishing of the Grand Fleet to storm
wracked Scapa, together with the
inevitable red tape imposed by censors,
must have made things tricky for the
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Left page Top picture: "The Grand Fleet's Famous 5th BS at Jutland". © 2012 FW Wood's estate. Image from R Cosby
Left page Bottom picture: "Boy Cornwell bravely remaining at his post, wins a posthumous VC. © 2010 Frank Salisbury's estate.
Image by R Cosby with permission HMS RALEIGH
Left page Middle picture: "Grand Fleet destroyers engaging MAINZ, Heligoland Bight, August 1914". Watercolour by W L Wyllie.
© 2008 Image by Rick Cosby
Right page picture: “Always at sea, always filthy weather - and back in Scapa, coaling, coaling, coaling! Battlecruisers of the Grand Fleet in
roughers again. Watercolour by Charles Dixon. ©2009 and image by Rick Cosby
artists. But Wyllie, Wilkinson, Cull and
then, it seems, Wood soon found that they
were being actively courted by their
Lordships for their skills: the public wanted
to know what was happening, where the
Senior Service had gone, why their beloved
navy wasn’t delivering fresh Trafalgars, and
so artists of ability were required to go to
Scapa, to go to sea to record the busy
comings and goings of this great fleet
which was trying so hard to bring its
adversary in the North Sea to action.
Carefully chaperoned photographers with
the fleet were tolerated by the censors,
artists posed less of a problem it seems
and were preferred.
Naval officers of the day had long been
trained to record in their Journals and in
sketch books what they observed and
many such sketches and drawings survive
to this day: the Gallipoli landings were
particularly well recorded in this way. Sub
Charlie Johnson Payne (“Snaffles” of the
horse world) was a very competent marine
artist also, and, commissioned into the
RNVR, he drew and painted what he
saw on the cold, storm tossed periods
he spent on the Northern Patrol and in
minesweepers: his work proved to be some
of the most spontaneous of the war at sea
and before long he had been recruited by
Wilkinson to join his camouflage team.
Charles Pears had joined the Royal Marines
and went on to become an official war
artist; and serving in the RNVR was Frank
Mason painting scenes of the Grand Fleet
-ships big and small - in oils and
watercolours. Then there was Frank
Salisbury, whose iconic oil of Boy Cornwell
winning his VC aboard HMS CHESTER
was presented to the First Lord in 1917
and now hangs in the chapel at HMS
RALEIGH. The arrival at Scapa of the US
6th Battle Squadron in 1917 opened up
further possibilities and Cull, Dixon and
Gribble, to name three artists, grappled
with the hitherto unfamiliar tower masts
and different hull forms that the American
battleships presented, Dixon, for one,
finding a lucrative market for these
paintings in the New World.
Others who captured scenes of the Royal
Navy in moments of action as well as the
monotonous routine of just keeping the
seas in all weathers included Arthur
Burgess, Muirhead Bone, Irwin Bevan,
Philip Connard, Charles Cundall and Sir
John Lavery who was present in Beatty’s
flagship, QUEEN ELIZABETH, when R
Adm Meurer of the High Seas Fleet (HSF)
came aboard to be given the surrender
terms. He painted a highly atmospheric oil
(“The Arrival”) of Meurer being correctly
but coldly received on the quarterdeck by
Beatty under the glare of fog haloed arc
lamps and passing beneath the muzzles of
four 15 inch guns and between a severe,
grim looking Royal Marine guard, their fixed
bayonets glinting in the cold, damp Scottish
November night. He painted too the scene
shortly afterwards in Beatty’s large forecabin (“The End”) as across a green beize
covered table and with other senior
representatives of the two fleets, Grand
Fleet and High Seas Fleet in attendance,
the harsh terms were read out to a pale
and gaunt looking Muerer.
Six days later the surrendering HSF duly
came across to the Firth of Forth and Dixon,
Cull, Wilkinson, Gribble, Tufnell and others
too had a field day painting scenes of the
Grand Fleet’s 370 ships (which included
some US and French warships too) in all
their victorious might. Wood it appears went
on up to Scapa and he and John Lavery
gave us several panoramic views of the
rusting HSF sitting at anchor under the
watchful guns of the flotillas and squadrons
of the Grand Fleet. And at about this time
too a young Rowland Langmaid RN was
also honing his artistic skills and was shortly
to swallow the anchor and take up painting
as a career (a victim of Geddes’Axe?) we were certainly well served by these
accomplished artists and others who
helped to ensure The Grand Fleet’s 4 ½
years reign was well recorded on canvas
and paper.
Rick Cosby
Rick Cosby has run
www.maritimeoriginals.com
& www.maritimeprints.com for over
15 years and he has built up an extensive
portfolio of images of the Grand Fleet by
many of the artists mentioned above.
The majority of these are available either
for sale as pictures to hang or for use
in publications, copyright allowing.
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 21
Grand Admiral von Tirpitz
HMS Iron Duke leads the Grand Fleet
Admiral Lord Fisher, First Sea Lord
THE Anglo-German NAVAL RACE
Part Two
- Fisher and the
Bernard Ireland continues our series
commemorating
theDreadnought
Great War
On Trafalgar Day 1904 Admiral
Sir John Fisher assumed the
post of First Sea Lord (1SL).
A no-nonsense man, “Jacky”
Fisher was totally alive to the
German threat and would prove
to be a worthy counterweight to
Admiral Tirpitz. To him, war was
inevitable.
“THERE WILL BE
NO TIME FOR
ANYTHING!
WAR WILL COME
LIKE THE DAY
OF JUDGEMENT!
SUDDENLY!
UNEXPECTEDLY!
OVERWHELMINGLY!”
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And, defining his own duties as
simply perfecting “the fighting
and seagoing efficiency of the
Fleet”, he set-to with his
customary gusto.
“The British Admiralty was taking
a huge risk (something that it had
historically avoided) in initiating
a development calculated to
make its existing numerical
superiority obsolete.”
Despite the many fine new ships acquired
since the Naval Defence Act, the Navy’s
practices were antiquated and its gunnery
abysmal. Fisher quickly put in train
personnel reforms including improved
education of junior officers. First-line
reserve ships were given 40 per cent
complement to maintain them in ready
condition.
Every obsolescent ship, each nonproductive imperial posting was subjected
to an unblinking and unsentimental stare.
Ninety ships went in the first tranche for
scrap, with consequent through-life
financial savings.
Foreign stations were reduced through
amalgamation and many valuable fighting
units brought home, Fisher being fully
aware of Tirpitz’ “Heligoland to the Thames”
policy. The Home Fleet was re-styled the
Channel Fleet, its existing eight battleships
being supplemented by a further four
withdrawn from the Mediterranean, and by
five from China. The old Channel Fleet was
renamed the Atlantic Fleet, built around
eight of the latest battleships. Based on
Gibraltar, it could quickly reinforce either
the Mediterranean or the Channel Fleet.
Fisher’s final innovation, however,
would make naval history …
1st and 2nd Battlecruiser Squadrons in 1914
The phobias in both Germany and England,
fanned by the popular press and supported
by semi-official “navy leagues”, had
reached levels at which their respective
governments were ready to support
continuous construction programmes on
the back of popular acclaim. Articles in
German journals “proved” how Britain could
be invaded, not least because it was
alleged that the Royal Navy had lost its
fighting spirit. The British press obliged by
peddling the philosophy of a German “bolt
from the blue” invasion – without explaining
how exactly the Germans could establish
and maintain naval superiority long enough
to support such an invasion force through
to success.
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 23
This febrile atmosphere suited Fisher’s
purposes admirably. Convinced that war
would come, he was not reticent in saying
so; in the German press, his name quickly
became synonymous with “Royal Navy”.
superimposed (economising on ship
length). They would not, however, be
completed before 1909, while their
reciprocating machinery could drive them
at no better than 18.5knots.
Before the Duncans were completed, the
succeeding octet of King Edward VIIs
(1905-1907; 16,000 tons; four 12-inch)
were already on the stocks. They were
an advance in acquiring four 9.2s as
secondary armament. This trend was
continued in a final pair, the Lord Nelsons
(1908; 16,500 tons; four 12-inch), which
received ten 9.2s as a homogeneous
secondary armament, and a nod to
expected greater battle ranges by the
12-inch barrel length being increased
from 40 to 45 calibres. This pair would
have marked a significant advance except
that, by the time of their completion, they
and their preceding classes had been
rendered obsolete.
The Japanese had taken up Cuniberti’s
idea even earlier than the Americans, their
Satsuma pair being ordered in 1904. At
19,400 tons, they were intended to carry
no less than twelve 12-inch but, not yet
manufacturing their own heavy ordnance,
the Japanese were obliged to complete
them with a mixed armament.
Most of history’s great ideas appear to have
originated from several disparate sources
almost simultaneously, and the all-big-gun,
fast battleship was no exception. As early
as 1903 the great Italian designer Cuniberti
had proposed a 17,000-ton, 24-knotter with
twelve 12-inch, but had been denied
funding. In the United States, the navy’s
gunnery expert, William S Sims, convinced
Congress, which authorised the layingdown of the two 16.000-ton Michigans in
1905. These would have an advanced
battery layout of eight 12-inch in four,
centreline turrets, of which two were
Fisher was friendly with W H Gard, the
Chief Constructor based at Malta and, from
1902, tapped his technical knowledge to
formulate his ideas for two “super” ships.
One of these would be a battleship that
could defeat anything that could catch her,
the other, heavily-armed but lighter, would
be much faster, able to decline an
engagement or to have the speed to
decide its battle range. It was to the latter
that Fisher was particularly drawn. Two vital
influences on his ideal were the modern
armoured cruiser and Parsons’ recentlyperfected steam turbine.
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‘Racing to War’, Dreadnought painting in the new gallery
The launch of HMS Dreadnought 10 February 1906
German High Seas Fleet at anchor
While CinC, Mediterranean, Fisher had
demonstrated that the then-standard battle
range of 3.000 yards could easily be
doubled, while the standard 40-calibre,
12-inch gun was good for 8.000 yards.
Salvo-firing, it was shown, improved
spotting fall of shot, enabling target range
to be found more quickly.
The “armoured” cruiser featured vertical
(belted) protection as opposed to the
horizontal protection of preceding
“protected” cruisers. This had been made
possible by the development of Krupp
cemented steel plate, which offered a
similar level of resistance to penetration on
half the previous thickness. Greater areas
could thus be covered for the same weight.
Armoured cruisers increased rapidly in size.
Longer but slimmer than battleships, they
were up to five knots faster. Their vitals
proof against 6-inch armour-piercing shot,
they boasted a heavy battery of the
excellent 9.2s, with 7.5s as secondary
weapons. They were intended to counter
smaller cruisers, but were used also as a
fast reconnaissance wing of the battle fleet
(a function for which they paid dearly at
Jutland – a hard-won truth yet to be
experienced).
Fisher formed a “Dreadnought Committee”,
whose recommendations came quickly. It
met first in January 1905, and saw the
laying-down of the eponymous battleship
(not the cruiser, it will be noted) exactly
nine months later.
The British Admiralty was taking a huge
risk (something that it had historically
avoided) in initiating a development
calculated to make its existing numerical
superiority obsolete. Speed of construction
was thus of the essence in order to
maximise the discomfiture occasioned to
rival fleets. Portsmouth Dockyard built her
under conditions of considerable secrecy,
completing her to trial-readiness in just a
year and a day.
In brief, HMS Dreadnought differed from
earlier ships in carrying ten 12-inch guns
disposed in five twin turrets, three
centreline and two sided in the waist. This
layout permitted an eight-gun broadside
(twice that of a current battleship) and,
theoretically, six-gun chase fire. There was
no secondary armament. Steam turbine
machinery, a daring extrapolation to so
large an installation, saved, directly and
indirectly, about 1.000 tons in weight.
Developing about 30 per cent more power
than that of the reciprocating machinery of
the King Edward VIIs, the turbines were
good for about three knots more, assisted
by a considerably greater waterline length.
Weight savings elsewhere enabled fulllength armour belts to be worked in but,
due to their greater area, they were both
shallower and thinner than on the stillbuilding Lord Nelsons. (This latter class
initiated the rule of thumb that maximum
armour thickness should equal the bore of
the main armament – in this case, 12
inches. Dreadnought had “only” eleven.)
About half her bunker capacity was for oil,
although she was usually coal-fired.
Despite the secrecy, the Germans had a
very clear idea of what the British were up
to, well before the Dreadnought
commissioned. It, nonetheless, put them in
a quandary as, until now, they had
maintained the fiction that they were not in
any way engaged in rivalry with the Royal
Navy. If they now turned to constructing
Dreadnought- type battleships, this bluff
would have been called. On the other hand,
to delay would be to drop further behind
Tirpitz’ goal of achieving a 2:3 ratio with the
British in capital ships. A further problem
lay in German facilities, most of them
relatively new. For instance, existing locks
at Wilhelmshaven imposed a maximum
beam of about 23 metres/ 76 feet (already
exceeded by Dreadnought), while the
Kaiser Wilhelm Canal still had a depth
restriction of nine metres in places. German
designers thus did not wish to exceed
16,000 tons displacement in order to
obtain a satisfactory ship form.
Tirpitz’ rather theatrical threat to resign (not
for the first time) may have helped to push
the necessary legislation through the
Reichstag when, in May 1906, a
Supplementary Navy Bill was agreed. This
provided the necessary funds for the
necessary infrastructure improvements and
for the addition of six “large cruisers”.
Germany had picked up the gauntlet
The British 1905 Programme had provided
for both the one-off Dreadnought battleship
and for three “armoured cruisers”. As no
details of the latter were divulged, and
security was tighter, these three examples of
Fisher’s ideal capital ship had, if anything, a
greater impact. Although not yet known by
their later title of “battle cruisers”, the three
Invincibles were laid down February – April
1906 and completed March – October 1908.
Sixty feet longer than Dreadnought, they
were narrower, and of 17.400 tons
displacement at load draught compared to
18,100.Their machinery developed about 75
per cent greater power for 25 knots. They
carried eight 12-inch guns in four turrets but
boasted no armour thicker than 6-inch in the
belt and 7-inch in turrets and barbettes.
The main function of the battle cruiser (as
we will refer to her) was to destroy enemy
armoured cruisers from a safe range. Ships
so imposing and so heavily armed were
bound, however, to be used as a fast wing of
the battle fleet or, worse, be placed in a line
of battle. This inevitable employment was
quickly pointed out by “Brassey”, which
observed presciently that, in such
circumstances, “their comparatively light
protection would be a disadvantage and their
high speed of no value”.
The German High Command itself
expressed surprise at the readiness with
which the British had apparently thrown
away their unassailable lead in capital ships.
The Parliamentary “Dilke return” for March
1906 (the month following Dreadnought’s
launch) put British strength at 47 complete
and six building/approved. The comparable
German figures were just eighteen and
eight respectively. Where Germany was
commissioning two ships per annum, Britain
was adding three or four. The fact was,
however, that the all-big-gun concept was
about to break generally, so Fisher decided
to steal a march and rely on British wealth
and shipbuilding capacity to create and
to maintain a new lead – a bold but
necessary expedient.
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 25
HMS Dreadnought
to stake anything in order to prove a point.
The average cost of a Royal Sovereign
battleship of the Naval Defence Act was
about £950,000. The last of the preDreadnoughts, the Lord Nelsons, averaged
£1,540,000. The Dreadnought herself,
admittedly a prototype, set the nation back
some £1,730,000.
The launch of HMS Vanguard 1909
News of the Dreadnought’s construction
rather derailed Tirpitz’ building programme.
Unsure of quite what to expect, he slowed
the production rate of the current five
Deutschlands, all but one of which were
commissioned after the British ship’s entry
into service. Following the launch of last-ofclass Schleswig-Holstein on 17th
December 1906 there was a fifteen-month
hiatus before the launch of the 18,800-ton
Nassau, first of a quartet of Germany’s first
Dreadnoughts. (Note that “Dreadnought”
became a noun, synonymous with the shiptype. Earlier ships thus became known as
“pre-Dreadnoughts”.)
The Nassaus went one better than the
Dreadnought in mounting twelve guns to
ten. The 28cm/11-inch weapons were
mounted in twin turrets, disposed in a
hexagonal layout with two on either beam.
Somewhat greedy of space, this layout
demanded a beam of 26.9 metres in order
to maintain a draught of less than nine
26
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Spring 2014 Edition
metres. These rather enforced proportions
assisted in making German capital ships
steadier gun platforms. Already potentially
slower than British hull forms, the Nassaus
suffered further because Tirpitz, at this
time, refused to countenance steam
turbines for ships larger than cruisers.
British secrecy regarding the Invincibles
was rather better than that maintained for
the Dreadnought. Fortuitously, they were
for long referred-to as “armoured cruisers”.
In the Royal Navy these had, as noted
above, escalated rapidly in size, so that the
three Minotaurs, laid down early in 1905,
had a designed displacement of 14,600
tons and an armament of four 9.2s and ten
7.5s. Reports reaching Berlin contained
nothing to indicate that the Invincibles
would be other than an extrapolation of the
Minotaur model, with a likely homogeneous
battery of eight or ten single 9.2s.
Anxious not to fall behind, Tirpitz decided to
build a prototype “large armoured cruiser”
(funded by the aforementioned 1906
Supplementary Bill) but, based upon
rumour rather than fact, the resulting
Blücher proved to be a one-off, expensive
mistake. Repeating the Nassaus’
“hexagonal” layout, she mounted twelve
21cm/8.2-inch guns, with belt armour of up
to 180mm/7-inch thickness. For
reciprocating machinery, her plant produced
a very respectable 24.5 knots
The Blücher hit the water just one month
after the Invincible but, although a fine ship in
her own right, was a misfit throughout her
short career. The Germans reacted quickly,
launching the splendid Von der Tann as early
as March 1909. By then, however, Britain
had laid down the Indefatigable, the first of
three “improved Invincibles”.
Britain and Germany were in danger of
becoming like addicted gamblers, prepared
The average cost of a British capital ship
had, therefore, increased by some 87 per
cent. Germany, struggling to expand her
heavy shipbuilding capacity to meet the
challenge (heavy gun mountings and
armour plate were particular bottlenecks)
saw costs more than double, a
Brandenburg completing in 1893 costing
about 16 million Gold Marks, and a Nassau
of 1909 requiring 37 million GM.
Wilhelm persisted in his inflammatory
speeches, even after King Edward VII
visited Germany for the Kiel Week yachting
regatta. His interventions were disastrous
for German foreign policy, while he
appeared to set out to deliberately
antagonise the British. (“I have no desire
for good relationship with England at the
price of the development of Germany’s
navy … The Bill will be carried out to the
last detail; whether the British like it or not
does not matter! If they want war, they can
begin it; we do not fear it !”).
There were, nonetheless, increasing signs
that German political parties were
beginning to have qualms about the huge
and increasing expenditure, particularly as
it was becoming clear that the British had
no intention of being out-built. With both
the Kaiser and Tirpitz at the helm, however,
those who valued their career tended not
to voice too strong an opinion. Tirpitz
continued with his oft-voiced assumption
that Britain would, ultimately, be forced by
public opinion to seek an accommodation.
Indeed, exploratory visits were made to
Germany by Foreign Office officials and
by the Liberal leader, David Lloyd George,
who was known to have referred to
Dreadnoughts as “wanton and profligate
ostentation”.
This, however, was as nothing compared to
the schism which was threatening to rend
in two the officer corps of the Royal Navy.
“Jacky” Fisher was the man for the job but,
like any major reformer, he attracted
detractors and opponents, while there were
many disgruntled in being adversely
affected by the sweeping measures
necessarily and fearlessly taken.
Fisher’s sizeable opposition (to whom he
referred as the “Adullamites”) included
most of the Conservative press, several
noted naval journalists, a number of very
senior (and aging/retired) flag officers
and a considerable segment of Society.
They accused him, in varying degrees, of
proceeding alone without consulting the
full Board of Admiralty, of rushing-through
change with insufficient consideration, and
that he surrounded himself with sycophants
(although that hardly accorded with the
first charge!).
The main rallying point for all the
accumulated rancour was the person of
Admiral Lord Charles Beresford. Widely
popular, a Member of Parliament and a
man of proven courage in action, Beresford
opposed Fisher as one with similar motives
– both men wanted what was best for the
Service, but disagreed violently over how
best to achieve it.
Beresford unfortunately also had a
personal grudge in his belief that Fisher
was prolonging his tenure as 1SL to
prevent him (Beresford) from being
appointed to the post. This, and past
clashes dating from when Fisher was
serving as CinC, Mediterranean, provided
the ingredients of a bitter and destructive
feud that divided the Navy into two
disparate camps.
Fisher had the strength of character to
withstand all of this, helped by the personal
support of the King and his own deep-felt
beliefs. It was, nonetheless, distracting and
would run for years at a most critical time.
Bernard Ireland
Bernard Ireland spent a lifetime with the
Royal Naval Scientific Service. For over
thirty years he served at the Admiralty
Experiment Works, Haslar, engaged in
the development of the Royal Navy’s
ships and submarines. To a long and
deep interest in naval history he has
added a thorough technical knowledge
and has written thirty books and
contributed to many other books,
magazines and journals.
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 27
COMMEMORATION
PROJECT
GRANDSON OF JELLICOE,
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
OF THE GRAND FLEET
(1914-1916)
AND HMS CAROLINE
IN BELFAST
Nick Jellicoe pictured with HMS Caroline moored in the Belfast dockyard
Nick Jellicoe, grandson of the
Commander-in-Chief of the
Grand Fleet, Admiral Lord
Jellicoe, paid a visit to the World
War I cruiser HMS Caroline in
Belfast. He claimed that the
restoration of the veteran cruiser,
now part of the National Museum
of the Royal Navy, would create
one of the most significant Great
War commemoration projects.
28
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Spring 2014 Edition
HMS Caroline was a 4,200 ton ‘C’ class
light cruiser which was part of the 4th Light
Cruiser Squadron in the Battle of Jutland in
May 1916. Jutland was the biggest and
most important naval battle of the Great
War with sixty-four battleships engaged.
Though in the initial stages the German
High Seas Fleet inflicted more losses on
the Grand Fleet it was an important
strategic victory for the Royal Navy. The
German Fleet was extremely lucky to
escape during the night and make it back
to its home base before being caught and
destroyed by the Grand Fleet. Quite a
number of the severely damaged German
ships only just managed to make port.
The Grand Fleet was left in command of
the sea for the rest of the war enforcing
the blockade of Germany, which was to
lead ultimately to the collapse of the
Kaiser’s Germany.
Jellicoe, who made his first visit to Belfast
to see the Caroline before restoration work
begins, said that he was deeply moved to
step on board the historic fighting cruiser
at its berth in Alexandra Dock. He said “If
HMS Caroline can help tell the story of just
why Jutland was so important in the first
place and tell it in a way that engages a
younger generation and sparks new
interest, then she will have served a very
much higher cause. We have a chance to
re-tell some chapters of history, not only of
the battle but through her later role in the
Royal Navy Reserves. It is absolutely
essential that a strong communications role
be developed for Caroline in the World War
One centenary commemorations and that
she contributes and pays her way to
helping the rebirth of Belfast through
educational tourism.”
The National Museum of the Royal Navy
(NMRN) in Portsmouth, which is now
responsible for the decommissioned
Caroline, has secured a National Heritage
Memorial Fund grant of £1.1m to pay for
repairs to prevent any further deterioration.
A joint application by NMRN and the
Northern Ireland Department for Enterprise
Trade and Investment for a major grant was
submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund in
2012. This has resulted in a further
£845,000 being made available as a
Round One grant to develop the plans
further. The successful outcome of the
Round Two application would see £14m
being used to fully preserve, restore and
open the ship to the public in time for the
Jutland centenary on May 31 2016.
Nick Jellicoe added “I am very happy
indeed that Caroline may be the way
through which a whole generation can rediscover their history. Caroline played a
significant part in a very significant battle
but has also had a long, honourable
relationship with Belfast so it is fitting that
she remains there.”
Nick Jellicoe is writing a book about the
Battle of Jutland and his grandfather,
Admiral of the Fleet, John Rushworth
Jellicoe, the First Earl Jellicoe,
Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet
at the battle.
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Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 29
On 31 May 1916, The British and German Fleets clashed in a violent
battle called Jutland by the British and Skagerrak by the Germans. It
was tactically indecisive, against most expectations, and has been
the topic of much argument and controversy ever since. This article
seeks to highlight one aspect that may have been under-emphasized
and that could hold lessons for the future.
German light battlecruiser SMS Bluecher sinking at the battle of the Dogger Bank 1915
The battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary, under fire from Derfflinger and Seydlitz at Jutland blows up
Some brief account of the action is
necessary. The Fleets were the
British Grand Fleet, consisting of
some 24 battleships, eight
battlecruisers and supporting cruiser
and destroyer forces; and the
German High Seas Fleet, similarly
constituted but numerically inferior.
The initial encounter was in the early
afternoon between the battlecruiser
forces. There was then a ‘run to the
south’ before the British
battlecruisers under Beatty, with a
supporting battleship squadron,
made contact with the entire High
Seas Fleet under Scheer; their
previous opponents had been only
the German battlecruisers under
Hipper. Beatty turned north, leading
the German force into the path of the
30
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Spring 2014 Edition
main Grand Fleet under the
command of Jellicoe. In the ensuing
fleet action the High Seas Fleet twice
extricated itself from a dangerous
tactical situation by well-rehearsed
manoeuvres and, after a night in
which both forces avoided action,
escaped to their base because
Jellicoe had not correctly guessed
the route they would take. The British
lost three major units and suffered
many other casualties (far more,
incidentally, than at Trafalgar);
the Germans were also badly hit,
more of their ships being seriously
incapacitated though fewer were
sunk. Both sides claimed victory, but
the High Seas Fleet never seriously
tried conclusions with the Grand
Fleet again.
The character of war at sea, a hundred
years ago, needs to be recalled. Nearly all
major units were coal-fired; battlecruisers
could make upward of 25 knots, battleships
5 knots less. There were few gyro
compasses. The presence of other vessels
could be established only by visual
observation. Fairly accurate bearings could
be obtained by compass; range was
available only by visual rangefinder. Great
efforts had been made to improve the
accuracy of gunnery but fire control, under
battle conditions, was not fully reliable.
Navigation was, again, a matter for
meticulous care, but was limited by
equipment and the demands of
manoeuvring in action. Communication
between ships out of sight of one another,
and between ship and shore, was confined
to wireless telegraphy – morse code – and
for ships in sight, flaghoist, searchlight or
The battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary hit amidships at Jutland 1916
A British super dreadnought battleship firing a broadside with her 13.5-inch guns
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 31
Great news from Snowbow
the new DVD at last and two more special cruises.
The German battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz after the battle of Jutland
seamphore. Aircraft were in the very early
stages of development; submarines were
somewhat more advanced, but much had to
be learned about their operation. North Sea
conditions, too were a limiting factor. Even
though the last accurately known position
might be only a few hours before, errors
lurked. Low visibility was common, tide
and tidal streams not always perfectly
understood.
In these circumstances, the commander of
a large number of ships at sea – and some
of the commanders, as indicated above,
had unprecedentedly large forces under
command – had a critical requirement for
information: about his own position, the
position and intentions of friendly forces,
and the composition and movements of the
enemy. Without it, he would be confined to
guesswork based on his own observation
and the advice of his on-board staff. With a
limited amount of it from outside sources,
he would be helped in such assessments.
With a clear picture of the operational
situation, he would be able to make
necessary decisions. With an overabundance of such information, he might
find himself confused, but this as we shall
see was the least likely thing to happen.
So far as advanced intelligence of a sortie
into the North Sea by either main force was
concerned, both the British and Germans
had listening organisations to monitor
transmissions that might indicate such a
move. In the event, in May 1916 neither side
32
Scuttlebutt |
Spring 2014 Edition
did very well: in the British Admiralty,
through an egregious assumption by a staff
officer; in the German High Command by
what appears to have been neglect,
oversight or lack of technical capacity.
Thus, the clash of fleets, long predicted,
occurred with little operational warning.
What preparations had been made to cope
with this critical aspect of a battle that had
been long considered and indeed
rehearsed? Grand Fleet Battle Orders
(GFBOs) were voluminous. They were
based on the principle that the action
between battle fleets would be managed,
on the British side, centrally by the
Commander-in-Chief from his flagship Iron
Duke. Some autonomy would be allowed
to Beatty with his battlecruisers and
supporting (relatively fast) battle squadron;
significantly, his command was named the
Battle Cruiser Fleet. But the main action,
if it developed as expected, was to be
conducted by a single long line of
battleships under firm command. The
High Seas Fleet had adopted similar
tactical principles.
By implication – and all accounts of Jutland
bear this out – the British tactical command
was to be exercised primarily by flag signal.
The fleet was proficient in the hoisting and
repetition of flag signals and this had been
a high priority in the Royal Navy for
hundreds of years. The tactical use of
wireless telegraphy for manoeuvring had
not been similarly developed; there are
indications that the Germans were
somewhat more advanced in this aspect.
There is little reflection in GFBOs of
Nelson’s wise precaution: ‘Something must
be left to chance ... shot will carry away the
masts of friends as well as foes ... no
Captain can do very wrong if he places his
ship alongside that of an enemy’.
Moreover, given the comprehensiveness of
GFBOs, it is surprising that there appears
to have been no set format for reporting
the presence, whereabouts, compostion
and movements of the enemy once
encountered. This was primarily the job of
the cruiser forces, which were to be
stationed beyond the main fleets in their
scouting role. A generation later, the by
then established formula for enemy reports
– ‘What – Where – Whither – When’ - was
so well-known that the author, tasked in
1954 to give a lecture on the subject, was
told off for being obvious and dull. But
the evidence suggests that at the time of
Jutland, even the need for such reports,
let alone a system for them, was not
sufficiently emphasized. Imagination was
needed and was far too often lacking.
One senior officer must be exonerated
from this criticism. Commodore
Goodenough of the 2nd Light Cruiser
Squadron made (by wireless telegraphy )
an exemplary succession of enemy reports
on the High Seas Fleet during the
battlecruisers’ runs to the south and north.
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Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 33
Battleships of the Grand Fleet in the North Sea
Unfortunately his ships were then absorbed
into the main web of the action and Jellicoe
must have expected the responsibility to
fall upon Beatty; indeed, on at least two
occasions he twice asked (by searchlight)
‘where is the enemy battlefleet?’ and got less
than accurate replies. By then he could at
least see (in conditions of patchy and
decreasing visibility) Beatty’s battlecruisers,
but that was only part of the picture.
So the opportunity for a decisive, crushing
blow to the High Seas Fleet ebbed away that
evening, aided by two deft turns-away by the
Germans and Jellicoe’s own turn-away from
a destroyer attack that had long been
foreseen in GFBOs and was technically
prudent but scarcely Nelsonic. Neither was
his refusal to contemplate action during the
short summer night that followed; and a final
piece of operational intelligence, a shore
intercept giving a clear indication of the route
Scheer intended to follow, either never
reached the Commander in Chief or was
discounted. There was not to be another
Glorious First of June.
It must be said again: the technical resources
for information, command, control and
communication were limited: no radar, no
aerial reconnaissance, no direction-finding;
communication by visual means only, except
by wireless telegraphy that was still
distrusted by many and thought to be
34
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Spring 2014 Edition
insecure. Even the establishment of one’s
own position turned out to be suspect; errors
of many miles in ships’ records had to be
resolved, in subsequent analysis, partly by
reference back to the known graves of major
units that were sunk. Add to that the fact
that both navies had not fought a major
action for a century, and were doing it with
novel material in every field.
Nevertheless the old schoolboy criticism
comes back: Should have Done Better.
Considering how comprehensive GFBOs
were supposed to be, how constantly the
Grand Fleet exercised scenarios similar
to the actual battle, how many major
manoeuvres were conducted in the years
before the First World War, surely the
question ‘Who Knows What and When?’
should have been asked and tested much
more often.
A brief three decades later more tools were
available. By 1946 radar information was
presented by plan position indicator (PPI)
that gave both range and bearing of
contacts. Own ship’s position was generated
by the automatic plotting table fed with
inputs from the gyro compass course and
speed from the ship’s log. (It worked very
well if you knew exactly where to kick it).
And voice radio allowed rapid exchange of
data between ships. The point is that even
without these developments, more
preparation could have been made in
1915-16 to ensure that the command in
every unit was in possession of all relevant
available information. In the historic
progression from the fog of war, through
C-cubed I, to the current C4ISR (Command,
control, communications, computers,
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaisance)
the Grand Fleet lagged, the High Seas Fleet
only marginally less.
Historians have advanced many reasons for
the shortcomings at Jutland: over-rigid and
cautious command styles, over-complex
battle orders, slack ammunition handling
arrangements, fire control systems that were
not the best availa ble, shell that did not
perform as advertised, construction defects
in some major units. All no doubt contributed
to a disappointing result and disproportionate
casualties. But one harks back as so often
to the Duke of Wellington: the art of war
is knowing ‘what is going on the other side
of the hill’.
Jutland will excite controversy for many years
to come, and passions will go on raging.
I remember talking after dinner some years
ago to a charming lady; the topics turned to
naval ones, and I lightly observed ‘Well,
everyone made mistakes at Jutland’.
‘Oh’, she said, ‘Grandfather didn’t’.
Admiral Richard Hill
© RH
HMS Dreadnought leads the Home Fleet to anchor at Spithead
HMS Agincourt joins the 4th Battle Squadron at Scapa Flow
Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, Commander-in-Chief
HMS Iron Duke leads the Grand Fleet at the Fleet Review, 20 July 1914
Part Two - Fisher and the Dreadnought
The ‘GRAND
FLEET’
“The greatest assemblage of naval power
On the18th July 1914, King George V reviewed the
huge Home Fleet of over four hundred warships,
including fifty-three battleships, assembled at
Spithead; it was a spectacular demonstration of
British naval might, described by Churchill, the First
Lord of the Admiralty as “Incomparably the greatest
assemblage of naval power ever witnessed in the
history of the world”. The following day the Royal
Yacht, the ‘Victoria and Albert’, with the King
himself embarked, led the fleet to sea for gunnery
firings and exercises in the Channel.
As the crisis in Europe deepened the First Sea Lord, Prince Louis of
Battenberg ordered the Fleet to remain fully mobilised and at instant
readiness for war. On 28th July Churchill ordered the fleet to sea and
the Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet, Admiral Sir George
Callaghan, was directed to sail the Home Fleet north to its wartime
base in Scapa Flow in the Orkneys. During the night the eighteen
mile line of battleships, sailing in line ahead, sailed through the Dover
Straight and headed into the North Sea.
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Spring 2014 Edition
At the outbreak of war on 4 August the Home Fleet was reformed
as the Grand Fleet. Churchill and Admiral Jacky Fisher, the new First
Sea Lord, decided that Admiral Callaghan should be relieved by a
more energetic commander and Admiral Sir John Jellicoe was
appointed as the new Commander-in-Chief. The newly formed
Grand Fleet, described by Churchill as “the crown jewels” consisted
of the twenty-one dreadnought battleships, of the 1st, 2nd and 4th,
battle squadrons, eight pre-dreadnoughts of the king Edward class
forming the 3rd battle squadron, supported by four battlecruisers of
the 1st battlecruiser squadron, a total of thirty-three capital ships.
Also in support were eight armoured cruisers, thirteen cruisers and
forty-two destroyers. The channel fleet, consisted of nineteen older
pre-dreadnought battleships of the 5th, 7th and 8th Battle
Squadrons. Facing the grand fleet was the German high seas fleet
of thirteen dreadnoughts, sixteen pre-dreadnoughts and five
battlecruisers, a total of thirty-four capital ships. The Grand Fleet
had three vital tasks, first to protect the British Isles from German
invasion, secondly to blockade Germany and thirdly to protect the
vital British Army supply lines across the Channel to France.
on the eve of the Great War
ever witnessed in the history of the world”
At 0830 on 4th August Admiral Jellicoe led the Grand Fleet to sea to carry out the first North Sea patrol
of the war. On sailing the Grand Fleet consisted of:
Flagship
Iron Duke (Admiral Jellicoe)
4th Battle Squadron
1st Battle Squadron
Marlborough (Vice Admiral), St Vincent
(Rear Admiral), Colossus, Hercules,
Neptune, Vanguard, Collingwood
and Superb.
King George V (Vice Admiral),
Orion (Rear Admiral), Ajax, Audacious,
Centurion, Conqueror, Monarch and
Thunderer.
King Edward VII (Vice Admiral),
Hibernia (Rear Admiral),
Commonwealth, Africa, Zealandia,
Dominion, Britannia, and Hindustan.
1st Battlecruiser
Squadron
2nd Battle Squadron
3rd Battle Squadron
Dreadnought (Vice Admiral), Temeraire
and Bellerophon
Lion (Vice Admiral), Princess Royal,
Queen Mary and New Zealand
The capital ships of the Grand Fleet were supported by the 2nd and
3rd Cruiser Squadrons, the 1sLight Cruiser Squadron and forty-one
destroyers. Future editions of ‘Scuttlebutt’ will focus on the many
operations, battles and events at sea as we mark their various
anniversaries on the appropriate dates.
John Roberts
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 37
The armoured cruiser HMS Devonshire,
attached to the Grand Fleet
The Second Class cruiser HMS Highflyer
THE SECRET DIARY
OF A SENIOR OFFICER
IN THE GRAND FLEET
Chris Howat has managed to acquire
a fascinating secret diary written by
Commander Arthur Goodenough
Craufurd, Royal Navy, Executive
Officer of HMS Devonshire in the
Grand Fleet, from July to December
1914. Though for security reasons
diaries with any naval or military
operational information were not
allowed in time of war this secretly
written personal diary “survived” and
gives a fascinating blow by blow
account of everyday life in the Grand
Fleet at the time. This diary is now
being published for the first time
and here in the first part we cover
the period from 26 July to 4
September 1914.Commander
Craufurd went on to be the
Commander of the battlecruiser
HMS Tiger and served with
distinction at Jutland. He became
Commodore of the Australian
Navy in the twenties
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HMS Devonshire was an armoured
cruiser of 10,850 tons, overall length
473.5 feet, beam 68.5 feet. Armament
4 x 7.5inch, 6 x 6inch, 2 x 12 pounders
and 22 x 3 pounders. Built at Chatham
Dockyard and completed 30th April 1904.
The diary starts:
Sunday 26th July at Portland.
Went ashore for a game of golf at Combe
and got aboard at 7 p.m. At 7.30 received
orders to raise steam for slow speed and
unmoor. 10.00 ordered to remain at short
stay all night and leave harbour at day light
to let the battleships and larger cruisers get
inside. They had been laying in Weymouth
Bay. News received of strained relations
over Austria and Serbia and Russia’s
mobilization.
Monday 27th July 3.45 a.m. weighed and
went out of Southern entrance and
anchored in P.I. berth. The battleships and
battlecruisers and 2nd cruiser squadron
went in to coal. Spent the day at aiming rifle
and exercises generally.
Devonshire’s ill fated half sister HMS Aboukir
(P Heydon ISM)
The cruiser HMS Blanche, attached to Grand Fleet 4th Battle Squadron
The super dreadnought battleship HMS Monarch
The Town class light cruiser HMS Falmouth
Saturday 1st August Scapa Flow. - 6.15
started coaling; 8.10 finished. p.m. landed all
our spare boats and targets and spare
wood. 7.00 thick fog. Hands to night
defence stations.
Wednesday 5th August 2.10 a.m. finished
coaling. 8.20 sailed. 11.40 joined up with 2nd
CS. Started playing old harry with the fishing
industry. We boarded a German drifter
(sailing) but not allowed to blow her up.
Wednesday July 29th Portland and at sea.
- 7.00 a.m. whole fleet proceeded to sea.
Being thick weather all steamed to
westward till out of sight and then altered to
eastward steaming up Channel keeping out
of sight of land. Commenced preparing for
war. p.m. Cleared away guns and started war
routine in earnest.
Sunday 2nd August Scapa Flow. - A day
of rest. Painted out our funnel bands and
covered all bright work with paint.
Thursday 30th July at sea. Went on
preparing for war. Blanche reported a
suspicious cruiser which she cleared but did
not come up with.
Tuesday 4th August at sea. - Searching
Shetlands for a supposed base for enemy
submarines. Did not find it as it wasn’t
there.11.45 a.m. ordered to part company
and go in for coal as we had not been
allowed to fill up on Saturday. Made for
Scapa Flow. Arrived there 8.10 p.m. 9.10
started coaling. 11 p.m. news of declaration
of war with Germany.
Thursday 6th August Sighted battle fleet
and joined up with our own squadron which
we found with them. 0.35 p.m. boarded a
German drifter. Took off crew and blew her
up with guncotton. A pathetic sight as she
looked so helpless but we must stop these
devils giving information. After the last few
days work I guess the price of fish has risen
a bit in Berlin. (This drifter as it turned out
was the last German fishing boat we saw).
The Monarch says she saw a submarine; we
are sent to investigate.
Tuesday July 28th Ordered to be ready
for sea. Raised steam.
Friday 31st July at sea. - Still making small
preparations for war. p.m. Prepared for
coaling. Our destination obviously Scapa
Flow. 6.50 anchored Scapa Flow.
Monday 3rd August Scapa Flow. - More
or less ready for war now. 6.35 p.m.
weighed and went out in company with rest
of 3rd Cruiser Squadron.
Friday 7th August 3rd CS and groups of
2nd Flotilla of destroyers sent to coast of
Norway to look for an enemy’s base. A lovely
day and as clear as a whistle which we all
enjoyed but needless to say we found
The Home Fleet in Portland Naval Base, 1914
The armoured cruiser HMS Roxburgh
nothing. Joined up with rest of squadron at
dusk. Sighted a strange destroyer or light
cruiser. Gave chase but she turned out to
be Norwegian.
Saturday 8th August at sea. Searching
and disturbing enemy’s traffic. Heard of
sinking of German submarine U15 by
Birmingham Very satisfactory and a bit of
good luck this one of their later ones.
Monday 10th August. - All spare time
employed ripping down wood work and
burning it, a work the sailor revels in and
many funny remarks were heard.
Tuesday 11th August Had another search
of Stavanger, Norway with 3rd CS, light CS
(Barge Goodenough’s Squadron) and
destroyers. Nothing doing. I think this will be
the last search here as the Norwegians will
start getting annoyed if we go on.
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 39
THE SECRET DIARY
OF A SENIOR OFFICER
IN THE GRAND FLEET
The old First Class cruiser HMS Grafton
Wednesday 12th August Made for
Cromarthy; anchored and coaled. Started
12.30 p.m. finished 5.20; a heavy coaling with
lead collier. We took in 440 tons. For a
wonder heard we were to have a night in
harbour.
Thursday 13th August Cromarthy and at
sea. - Tagg and the young marines we have
for training sent ashore and back to Chatham.
They were very sick being afraid they would
not be allowed at sea again till after the war.
They all want to fight, the bloodthirsty ruffians.
We just managed to get them out of the ship
before we sailed at 1.15 p.m. Leaving them in
a very much overloaded motorboat cheering
and making a dreadful noise.
Friday 14th August at sea. - Out on patrol.
Stopped and examined several steamers; very
dull work. Started deck sports to keep the
men amused. We are all getting awfully
bored. Burning all cabin furniture as we
cannot get it ashore. Luckily we have
managed to send our private effects to store
at Cromarthy. I am living in a tin case
practically and have only old uniforms with
me. Stiff collars are a thing of the past as we
can get no washing done ashore. My servant
is gradually improving at washing my gear.
Saturday and Sunday 15th & 16th August
Still patrolling
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The Orion class battleship HMS Monarch
Monday 17th August - Anchored Cromarthy
at noon 1.00 p.m. commenced coaling. 8.00
finished.
Tuesday 25th August Patrolling. Saw LCS
and 1st Battlecruiser Squadron (BCS) in the
afternoon evidently off on some big show
Tuesday 18th August All day in harbour and
a day of peace more or less. We’re glad of it
as we all want a rest.
Wednesday 26th August Patrolling off
Norway. 3 p.m. heard rumours by wireless of
an action off Heligoland evidently things
seem to have gone alright. LCS and
destroyers seem to have been in it. Evidently
they have sunk two or 3 of the enemy’s light
cruisers. A small but nice little action.
Wednesday 19th August Sailed at noon for
our patrolling ground
Thursday 20th August A foggy day. Guns
manned by watch all day
Friday 21st August Antrim and Roxburgh
prepared targets and when dropped we all
fired at them making a big splash but the
weather was so foggy and the targets so
small that the practice was not of much value.
p.m. a thick fog; could not see the length of
the ship. 8 p.m. anchored in Cromarthy.
8.45 collier alongside.
Saturday 22nd August Cromarthy. 5.10 a/m.
started coaling. 8.11 finished coaling. Cleaned
up the ship slept all the afternoon.
Sunday 23rd August Cromarthy. A whole
day in harbour. Started taking up corticene on
the decks
Monday 24th August 1.45 p.m. weighed and
went out of harbour. Had an alarm in the
middle of the night due to the 1st LCS
switching on their searchlights.
Thursday 27th August Spent the forenoon
at target practice which was fairly well carried
out.
The Home Fleet in Portland Naval Base, 1914
On a sweeping manoeuvre to try to catch
mine carrying trawlers.
have reported thick oily tracks such as a
heavy oil boat leaves.
luck we should have bagged them all right;
now we have to start afresh.
Tuesday 1st September 4 a.m. turned out
the hands and made last preparations for
battle. Drake’s Drum beaten for the first
time, this was by mistake really as I had
given orders it was not to be beaten till it
was certain we were in for the real thing.
Anyway, it probably frightened some of the
faint hearted so it did good, perhaps.
Started off spread 10 miles apart with 1st
BCS in support steaming towards Pentland
Firth. 2 p.m. nothing doing, drawn a blank
again. Ordered off on patrol again – how
boring.
Thursday 3rd September 5 a.m. turned out
to relieve the captain at daylight and found
thick fog. It came on at 4 a.m. Unluckily
captain cannot leave the bridge in this
weather except for a few minutes when I
relieved him for breakfast. The Squadron are
all over the place at present but if it clears we
ought to be able to carry on with the
operations tonight. Lets hope they result in
something. One ship of the 10th CS sank
two German trawlers last night. Good work
as they had evidently been dropping mines. I
cannot imagine them fishing out in English
waters. The North sea is quite uncomfortable
for German fishermen. The RFR men are
quite an acquisition being very reliable if a
little slow.
Let’s hope this bad luck not be attended with
any bad luck to our heavier ships. It’s very
funny I who have been used to exercise all
my life have now been aboard for 5 weeks
and I’m as fit as a fiddle and don’t feel it a bit.
Saturday 29th August Patrolling.
Sunday 30th August 8.30 got into
Cromarthy. 9.00 started coaling and drawing
provisions and stores; a very full days work.
Got our mails, some shirts and socks etc from
Annie which will be most acceptable as one’s
clothes suffer at this game. Heard the full
account of the action of Aug 26th and also
the sinking of K.W.Grosse by the Highflyer.
Got 16 ABs and boys (RFR mostly) sent us;
they were very welcome being good staid
men and very useful. We have 48 boys in our
ships company which are a continual
nuisance to us.
Monday 31st August Ammunitioned ship.
Painted a light colour which looks rotten, 4.45
sailed. On the way out passed the Grafton
with Pat Heard aboard who gave us a wave.
The armoured cruiser HMS Antrim
Wednesday 2nd September on patrol.
Boarded a British trawler this morning who
sent fish to the ship’s company and refused
payment. Also gave us yesterday’s
Aberdeen paper which has little news in it.
Evidently something big on tomorrow. We
are to get our orders from the Falmouth at
4 p.m. Lets hope it will lead to some good
this time. 7 p.m. we met the Falmouth and
the flagships of the various squadrons. Had
a conflag and now we have lowered a boat
to get our written orders from the Antrim.
8.30 Read orders. 9.0 p.m. lectured to the
men on the operations by way of
stimulating their interest; they are very easy
to lecture to, always. 9.20 the destroyer
Martin reports having seen a submarine,
charged and missed (worst luck). There are
evidently submarines about as several ships
5 p.m. Just come off the bridge. We’ve been
in a fog till 2 p.m. and having got separated
from the rest of the squadron, I could not get
the captain to sleep; he’d been up since 9
p.m. yesterday. Anyway I managed it about 1
p.m. and he’s just relieved me, we joined up
during the afternoon. Our orders for tonight
and tomorrow are coming through now by
wireless. The incinerator makes a fine stove
for drying clothes by and the men make full
use of it.
Friday 4th September At sea. We are
making a big sweep towards the Skagerrack
in the hopes of mopping up a few cruisers
etc which they ought to have out to support
and mother their submarines. We advance
until noon another two hours and then go
back. It’s blowing fresh from the north today
and any submarines will have a rotten time
thank heavens. We have the 2nd , 3rd and
light cruiser squadrons and a flotilla of
destroyers in company. We are still scraping
off paint; there’s mighty little left to burn now.
We had an emergency surgeon join us at
Cromarthy; he seems a very nice fellow,
Peyton by name. He’s of course a civilian
joined for the war. We are quite merry and
bright but rather sick at never getting to grips
with the enemy.
5 p.m. We turned at noon not having seen
anything and we’re now pelting back
towards Cromarthy in filthy weather.
I hope it clears up before night.
We should be in about noon tomorrow.
10 p.m. it is most unfortunate our information
must have been wrong by 48 hours about
these submarines coming over. With a little
Chris Howat
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 41
T H E
M U S E U M S '
M O D E L S
Top: HMS COLLINGWOOD in 1913, painted by the artist A B Cull. The ship is pictured as flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Stanley Colville, commanding
the 1st Squadron (comprising the 1st Battle Squadron and 1st Cruiser Squadron) of the Home Fleets. Admiral Colville flew his flag in
COLLINGWOOD from June 1912 to June 1914, when the flag of V–Adm 1st Squadron was hoisted by the newly-commissioned 'Super-Dreadnought'
HMS MARLBOROUGH. The painting, formerly owned by Admiral James Ley CB CVO (who as a Captain commanded HMS COLLINGWOOD from
June 1912 until end-November 1916) now hangs in the Wardroom of the Training Establishment HMS COLLINGWOOD. It is reproduced by
permission of MOD(N) and of Captain Richard Cosby LVO RN, the Director of 'Maritime Prints' (see www.maritimeprints.com).
The Dreadnought
HMS COLLINGWOOD
The subject of this article is a rather
unusual birthday-present given to a
young girl in 1937 – a sizeable scalemodel of a battleship in which her
father had served as a naval officer
during the Great War.
The model is probably of HMS COLLINGWOOD as she would have appeared in mid-1917 – the
'coffee-pot' searchlight towers at the foot of the mainmast, aft-facing 'range clocks' and the screen
on the fore-funnel were all post-Jutland additions. It should be noted, however, that Dr Oscar
Parkes' drawing of COLLINGWOOD in 1917 (see inset - drawing reproduced from Parkes' book
'British Battleships') indicates the model may not be wholly accurate in certain details.
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In truth neither the ship nor that
officer had a remarkable career in
the Royal Navy, though both served
well enough. Furthermore it's
debateable whether the model is a
completely accurate representation
of the ship at any point in her career,
though it appears generally accurate
as a scale-model of HMS
COLLINGWOOD some 12 months
after Jutland. But the model has
considerable symbolic importance
because the officer later became
His Majesty King George VI, and it
was presented to his daughter in the
period between the abdication of his
brother (Edward VIII) and his own
Coronation.
H M S C O LLI N G W O O D, N OV E M B E R 1918
HMS COLLINGWOOD at the time of the Surrender of the High Seas Fleet. With the exception of HMS DREADNOUGHT herself (sidelined due
to her weak secondary armament) the Grand Fleet 'Dreadnoughts' were considered useful throughout the war; and benefitted from the programme
of modification, training and practice which by mid-1918 had rectified most of the shortcomings revealed off Jutland two years previously.
In November 1918 HMS COLLINGWOOD was a well-equipped and effective battleship - but with the German naval threat removed there was
no reason for the Royal Navy to retain her. (Drawing from Siegfried Breyer's 'Battleships & Battlecruisers 1905-1970' with tinting, minor alterations
and annotations by Mark Brady).
The caption accompanying the model reads
'HMS COLLINGWOOD, in which His
Majesty King George the Sixth served at
the Battle of Jutland, 1916. This model,
designed and constructed by (Surgeon
Lieutenant- Commander) H M Willoughby
RNVR, was presented to Her Royal
Highness the Princess Elizabeth on the
occasion of her eleventh birthday, 21st April
1937, by the Governors of the Seamen's
Hospital Society.'
Prince Albert, as her father then was, was
the second son of King George V – and like
his father destined for a naval career. As a
Midshipman he joined the 'Dreadnought'
battleship HMS COLLINGWOOD in 1914
but was plagued by intestinal problems,
which he'd first suffered at Dartmouth but
hadn't then reported. The trouble was first
suspected to be incipient appendicitis but it
persisted after his appendix was removed,
and would eventually be diagnosed as a
duodenal ulcer. In consequence he spent a
good deal of time away from his ship
convalescing; but he wished to return to
active service, and rejoined
COLLINGWOOD in May 1916 as an Acting
Sub-Lieutenant. Consequently he served in
the ship during the Battle off Jutland, which
was a very important experience for the
young man – not least because his courage,
determination, and the reality of his having
served 'under fire' pleased his father, with
whom Prince Albert had not hitherto had a
very close or affectionate relationship.
His biographer has noted that the
Abdication Crisis, and his own accession to
the throne, was traumatic for George VI – he
probably anticipated becoming King in due
course; but not at that point in time, or while
his more charismatic older brother was still
alive. In the circumstances I believe it's not
fanciful to see the gift of the model of HMS
COLLINGWOOD as an implied statement
of support for the new king – 'Let this be a
visible token of your experience, and sense
of duty: we now honour you as our
Sovereign'. It was certainly the case that
during the Second World War the king's
status as a veteran of Jutland was often
discreetly invoked; and having thus served
'in the front line' himself there was no
criticism of his always making wartime
public appearances in uniform.
As for HMS COLLINGWOOD herself, the
ship was in many respects a 'typical'
battleship of the Grand Fleet – so in this
particular issue of 'Scuttlebutt' a summary
of her career is appropriate.
HMS COLLINGWOOD was one of three
Dreadnought-type battleships provided for in
the 1907-08 Estimates, and completed in
the first half of 1910. These ships - the St.
Vincent Class – were effectively repeats of
the Bellerophon Class (completed some 12
months earlier) but with higher-velocity
guns. Together with HMS DREADNOUGHT
herself, and HMS NEPTUNE (1908-09
Estimates), what may be thought of as the
'Dreadnought Programme' was intended to
provide the Royal Navy by mid-1911 with
eight Dreadnought-type battleships, and
four 'armoured cruisers', all carrying 12-inch
guns. Even as the later ships were building,
however, the Admiralty was planning to
order so-called 'Super-Dreadnoughts', with
an improved main-armament arrangement
and mounting 13.5-inch guns.
In the second half of July 1914, as it became
clear that Austria-Hungary was determined
upon war with Serbia even if that triggered a
general European conflict, it was fortuitous
that Britain had ordered a 'test mobilisation'
of the Royal Navy in Home Waters followed
by a Fleet Review in Spithead (17-18 July)
and tactical exercises in the English Channel
(19-23 July). Thereafter ships were to have
dispersed to their home ports for Summer
Leave and/or to de-mobilise, but instead the
First Sea Lord (Battenberg) ordered the
Home Fleets to remain at full readiness.
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 43
T H E
M U S E U M S '
M O D E L S
COLLINGWOOD, with other ships of the
fully-operational First Fleet (soon to be redesignated 'Grand Fleet' ) anchored off
Portland; and thence, on 29 July,
proceeded via the Dover Strait to
Scapa Flow.
For the first eight months of war ships of
the Grand Fleet spent a good deal of time
at sea, not least for fear that Scapa Flow which had not been prepared for use as
a main operational base - might be
penetrated by German submarines. Once
Scapa's defences were improved, however,
the fleet settled-in for what was likely to be
a long stay. To conserve materiel and
resources (e.g coal - even at 15-16 knots a
battleship at sea consumed at least 300
tons each day) the big ships would, during
1915-16, typically be at sea 1-2 days each
fortnight for firings, tactical exercises and
general fleet-work but otherwise remained
in Scapa Flow most of the time. At least a
week every couple of months would be
spent at Invergordon (where there was a
'Floating Dockyard') or otherwise based in
Cromarty Firth, where amenities were a
little less primitive than at Scapa and every
opportunity was taken to give shore leave.
For some three years, however, visits to
'civilisation' were extremely rare for
COLLINGWOOD and other Grand Fleet
battleships: only in the second half of 1917
did it become practical to base the whole
fleet in the Firth of Forth, a move which
was finally made in April 1918.
Throughout the entire war, incidentally, the
ships of the Grand Fleet were based in
Scottish waters, far from their home ports.
COLLINGWOOD herself only visited an
English port twice in over four years, on
both occasions for a week in dry-dock –
once in Devonport (her home port), and
once in Portsmouth.
Admiral Beatty, then C-in-C Grand Fleet,
wrote in mid-1917 'the weary waiting is
hard indeed' – and for the ships'
companies of the Grand Fleet's battleships
the whole war was almost entirely 'weary
waiting'. The battlecruisers, cruisers and
destroyers had somewhat more excitement,
but the battle-squadrons sortied en masse
just three times with a reasonable
expectation of engaging the Kaiser's 'High
Seas Fleet'. On 30 May 1916 the result was
the Battle off Jutland - during which most
British battleships engaged the enemy only
briefly (COLLINGWOOD fired 84 main-
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The upper picture is of the COLLINGWOOD
model, the lower of a model of HMS
DREADNOUGHT which is also in the
NMRN(P) collection. The meticulous
detailing of the DREADNOUGHT model
distinguishes it as the work of a first-rate
model-maker – professional or amateur –
whereas Commander Willoughby's model of
COLLINGWOOD was plainly made by an
amateur, albeit dedicated and painstaking.
Nonetheless the COLLINGWOOD model is
made of durable materials, and appears to be
generally accurate as a scale-model of the
ship as she appeared some 12 months after
Jutland – but its importance lies principally in
the historic context in which it was made, and
subsequently presented as a gift to a member
of our Royal Family.
armament rounds, and probably hit the
crippled battlecruiser SEYDLITZ), but to
such effect that the Germans never dared
risk another full-scale fleet engagement.
On 19 August 1916 and 24 April 1918 the
Grand Fleet again sailed to counter sorties
by the High Seas Fleet, but each time the
Germans headed for home once it was
known that our battlefleet was at sea.
COLLINGWOOD sailed on each of those
three occasions so it must have been
especially galling that on 21st November
1918, when the High Seas Fleet
surrendered to the Grand Fleet, the ship
was in a floating-dock at Invergordon.
Throughout the war COLLINGWOOD
remained in full commission, and except
while dry-docked (on average once a year,
typically for 7-10 days) fully-operational. To
an extent she, and the other 12-inch
gunned 'Dreadnoughts', were outmoded
even at the beginning of the war – but they
were still relatively new units, were
continually modified (principally to increase
the effectiveness of their gunnery) and
even in 1918 could stand up to virtually any
ship in the High Seas Fleet. Shortly after
Jutland almost all the Grand Fleet's
'Dreadnoughts' were gathered into the 4th
Battle Squadron – and once C-in-C Grand
Fleet was in the comfortable position of
having around twenty 'SuperDreadnoughts' operationally-available at all
times then one or both divisions of the 4th
Battle Squadron could be detached without
greatly diminishing the main battlefleet.
From the autumn of 1917, therefore,
COLLINGWOOD and the other
'Dreadnoughts' were often assigned as
'distant cover' to convoys between our East
Coast ports and the Norwegian coast, and
the notion that after Jutland the Grand
Fleet's battleships did little more than
swing around a buoy in Scapa Flow is very
wide of the mark – COLLINGWOOD's
record shows that in the first six months of
1918 she spent more time underway than
in any 6-month period in the previous
three years.
After the surrender of the High Seas Fleet,
however, there was little future for
COLLINGWOOD and her kind. She might
be less than 10 years old, but in that time
the Royal Navy's requirements – and,
indeed, the very nature of maritime warfare
– had changed radically. Well before the
Washington Treaty was signed the muchmaligned 'Ten-Year Rule' had effectively
determined that virtually all Royal Navy
warships completed pre-war should be
discarded: HMS COLLINGWOOD reduced
to Reserve Status at Devonport early in
1919, and after some three years in various
training roles finally paid-off on 31 March
1922. The following year she was towed
away for scrapping.
The model itself is on loan to the NMRN
from the Royal Collection, but I'm not aware
of any intention to display it either in 'our'
museum or in the present HMS
COLLINGWOOD. Perhaps in Summer
2016, however ....
Mark Brady
THE COLD WAR
HUNTER KILLERS
SECRET
SUBMARINE OPERATIONS
A controversial new book
by Iain Ballantyne, ‘Hunter Killers’,
exposes the incredible secret
story of how Royal Navy
submarines waged a dangerous
and daring, covert campaign,
to gain a vital edge over their
Soviet counterparts during the
Cold War. Here he explains that
diesel submarines were essential
to enable the Royal Navy to hold
the line for NATO during the early
years of the long perilous EastWest confrontation.
Above: Submarines of the Anglo-Canadian
submarine squadron in a chilly Halifax, Nova
Scotia during the early 1960s Photo: Forsyth
Collection © Rob Forsyth
Right: Cold War 'battle map' as used in ‘Hunter
Killers’ by Iain Ballantyne (Image: Dennis
Andrews, Copyright © Dennis Andrews)
46
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If Hollywood blockbuster movies and best
seller novels are to be believed the Cold War
under the sea was an affair of big beasts,
nuclear-powered submarines jousting with
each other at close quarters. This overlooks
the valiant efforts of the smaller, far less
powerful but equally hard-worked, dieselelectric submarines. Out of the three primary
players in the undersea contest - the USA,
Soviet Union and Britain - it was the British
who most relied on diesels to do the
dangerous work the other two nations
quickly handed over to nuclear-powered
boats. The three navies began the Cold War
using captured experimental Nazi U-boats
as the basis for building post-WW2
submarine flotillas.
In the dying days of the Third Reich teams of
elite British ‘green berets’ raced for Baltic
ports where they secured revolutionary Uboats and associated technology. Among
around 100 former Kriegsmarine U-boats
DURING THE COLD WAR
interned at Lishally, near Londonderry, were
Type XXI boats. Fortunately, only two
‘electroboots’, as the Type XXIs were known,
had ever deployed on combat patrol. Training
crews, ironing out defects common to
cutting-edge technology and intensive Allied
bombing ensured the rest of Germany’s 120
‘electroboots’ remained in port. Equipped
with high-speed batteries capable of
providing up to 17 knots submerged - eight
knots faster than Allied diesels - the Type
XXI possessed snort masts enabling it to
remain submerged for long periods. It was
invisible to the enemy while venting
generator fumes, recharging batteries and
sucking in fresh air. With its sleek,
hydrodynamic hull form, the Type XXI was
very different to other submarines, with no
external guns other than cannons mounted
within the fin. The Type XXI did not have to
surface to attack a convoy and could fire
18 torpedoes within 20 minutes. This was as
long as it took any other submarine to load a
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 47
THE COLD WAR
HMS Alliance at Gibraltar in the early 1970s. (Photo: © Rob Forsyth Collection)
HMS Auriga noses through ice in Arctic waters in the early 1960s, while operating out of Canada.(Photo: Forsyth Collection © Rob Forsyth)
single torpedo. Using the snort to recharge
batteries, the Type XXI was supposed to
conduct an entire patrol submerged. Stealth
at low speeds was aided by creeping speed
motors (on rubber mountings) that soaked
up noise. The Type XXI was also deep diving,
managing up to 440ft (around 90ft deeper
than the most British submarines of the
1940s). It reputedly had a crush depth of
more than 1,000ft. When it came time to
dividing up the spoils of war, the victorious
powers were keen to ensure they got their
share of Nazi U-boats. The British,
Americans and Russians each had ten Uboats of all kinds. The remainder were towed
out to sea and scuttled off Ireland.
The Americans used their two Type XXIs as
the basis of new Tang Class diesels, also
reconstructing some of their Second World
War-era boats under the Greater Underwater
Propulsive Power, or GUPPY, programme to
incorporate German innovations. Some Type
XXIs were even pressed into service, the
British operating two for a short period while
the Russians, who had four Type XXIs,
48
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commissioned them into service with their
Baltic Fleet. The Soviet Navy replicated the
Type XXI in its Zulu and Whiskey classes.
The British decided to incorporate Type XXI
innovations into some of their T-Class
submarines. Eight boats, starting with HMS
Taciturn, were taken in hand between 1950
and 1956. They had a whole new section
inserted containing two more electric motors
and a fourth battery. It gave the Super-Ts, as
they became known, a submerged top speed
of up to 18 knots but only for a short period.
The guns were removed and they also
acquired a streamlined casing. A large fin
enclosed the bridge, periscopes and masts.
Space was also made internally for specialist
intelligence-gathering equipment.
Alongside the Super-Ts the Royal Navy
continued to operate other Second World
War-era diesels, some of which also
eventually received similar design
improvements, such as the A-Class. The
Submarine Service’s main effort against the
Soviets in northern waters during the late
1950s saw the Super-Ts and their crews
carrying the burden and taking plenty of
risks. They endured marathon deployments
during which both men and submarines were
pushed to the limit.
In the late 1950s, Lieutenant Commander
Alfie Roake, a veteran of the Arctic convoy
runs during the Second World War, was
appointed captain of HMS Turpin. One
deployment under Roake’s command saw
Turpin’s hatch shut on Trafalgar Day 1959
and not opened again for another 39 days,
the boat spending most of her time carefully
husbanding water and air while evading the
Soviets in Arctic waters. Roake said he felt
like ‘David against Goliath, carrying out a tiny
pin prick of an operation against a colossus.
We were on our own with the nearest
support and succour thousands of miles
away.’
On a subsequent foray into the Russian
Bear’s backyard, a Soviet submarine Turpin
was recording and photographing suddenly
dived right on top of her. The British boat
dodged quickly out of the way. Later the
sound of what may have been depth charges
detonating was picked up. Roake also feared
the Soviets had fired torpedoes at Turpin,
issuing orders for the submarine to go deep
and turn in order to comb possible tracks. On
returning to Gosport from such missions the
diesels got no recognition at all – senior
officers Roake reported to declined to even
acknowledge where he had been. Roake
observed rather drily: ‘We flew no “Jolly
Roger” listing our achievements and had no
special welcoming party – we left and
entered harbour like “a thief in the night” …
We had no feed-back as to how we had
done, meanwhile, we were all ordered not to
breathe a word about our adventures …’
The Royal Navy’s remodelled A-Class boats
were in the early 1960s drawn into the
Cuban Missile Crisis, British naval
participation in this dangerous episode going
unrecognized.
As Prime Minister Harold Macmillan got up in
the House of Commons during those
dangerous days in October 1962, to explain
what Britain’s response was, there was no
mention of the part played by Royal Navy
submarines operating from Canada and even
deploying on war patrol from Scotland. Both
HMS Astute and HMS Alderney were
ordered to sea from their home base at
Halifax, Nova Scotia, to join a picket line
attempting to detect Soviet submarines
heading south for Cuba, trailing them if
possible and marking them for potential
destruction. The crews of the Halifax-based
submarines were Anglo-Canadian. They
received instructions from the senior Royal
Canadian Navy (RCN) admiral who had
ordered them on picket duty that had a
decidedly chilling effect. The Canadian
national government was opposed to military
action to resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis.
However, in the event of hostilities there
would be no time for RCN submariners to be
taken off the British submarines when they
reverted to UK national control for combat.
Therefore, in the event of war, the Canadians
would stay with their shipmates. The admiral
order that they must ensure they were not
captured with ‘CANADA’ shoulder flashes still
on their uniforms. Nor could they even be
caught dead with them. They must cut the
shoulder flashes off.
Meanwhile, among the boats sent out from
Faslane on war patrol was HMS Auriga,
which was already preparing for a tour of
duty, based in Halifax. Her work-up off the
west coast of Scotland was interrupted by a
FLASH message telling her to return home
immediately and store for war. Lieutenant
Rob Forsyth thought it was all very exciting.
Leading Seaman John Cumberpatch, the
experienced rating who really ran things,
assured Forsyth everything would be fine as
they offloaded dummy fish and took aboard
torpedoes with warheads.
Once deployed on picket duty, Auriga made
several contacts - Soviet submarines
heading south at speed and soon out of
range. In the end, while the British
submarines deployed on extended war
patrols they did not find themselves involved
in a hot war.
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 49
THE COLD WAR
Cold War era Super-T diesel submarine: HMS Tiptoe, pictured in 1967.
Photo: Jonathan Eastland/AJAX. www.ajaxnetphoto.com
Soon Auriga was herself operating out of
Halifax, conducting training missions that
surely tested everybody’s nerve to breaking
point. She ventured under ice in the Gulf of
St. Lawrence to simulate lurking Soviet
submarines. In that role she was hunted by
nuclear-powered US Navy attack submarines
keen to hone under-ice tactics. It was a risky
job. The mere thought of a fire under the ice
sends a shudder through any submariner,
especially if combined with battery life
seeping away as a diesel boat tries
repeatedly, and fails, to smash through. Not
only will you have a fire consuming all the
oxygen, but also your crew will be fighting for
breath as the submarine fills with noxious
fumes. There is no means of escape and
each time you try to break through your
battery gets weaker, death that bit closer.
Flood is also a desperate prospect. Should a
boat spring a leak she’ll swiftly fill up with
water, drowning her occupants or freezing
them to death. The pressure will squeeze
more and more water into the submarine
until the craft sinks like a stone. To the
forefront of everybody’s minds as Auriga slid
under the ice in 1962/63 was, of course, a
desire for the boat to find a polynya – an
area of open water - nearby at all times.
Auriga endeavoured to be no more than half
an hour from one.
Between the end of the 1950s and late
1960s, the Royal Navy produced the
excellent Porpoise and Oberon classes of
diesel boats, with the Super-Ts and the
modified A-Class increasingly obsolete and
phased out. The British diesels would carry
on shouldering the burden of the main
undersea effort against the Soviets well into
50
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Above: HMS Osiris, an Oberon Class diesel submarine of the Royal Navy. Photo: BAE Systems
the 1960s, but it was their last
period at the tip of the spear.
HMS Alliance - commanded by
Rob Forsyth in 1970/71 - was
not taken out of the front line
fleet until 1973 (and she serves
on today at Royal Navy
Submarine Museum).
New nuclear-powered Fleet
boats (SSNs, also known as
hunter-killers) would
increasingly take the lead role
in long-range surveillance and
Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW)
operations. The diesels would
still be used for close inshore
surveillance, on training tasks
and Special Boat Service
(SBS) insertions, plus patrols in
waters close to the UK. They
would also go into shallow
Scandinavian waters and
conduct barrier patrols in the
crucial Greenland-Iceland-UKgap (GIUK).
With the sun finally setting on the surviving
outposts of empire, Oberon was the last
British submarine to be deployed for
operations from Singapore. Conley found
Oberon to be ‘absolutely pristine, well
managed and well crewed – generally a
happy boat and overall very professional.
Returning to the UK, Conley and the
Submarine Service, knuckled down to the
real dangerous Cold War business.
The diesel submarine HMS Alliance in dry dock at Devonport
in the early 1960s. Photo: Crown Copyright/Royal Navy
Meanwhile, some of the future nuclear
submarine captains of the 1980s found
themselves serving in the diesels during the
1970s, gaining valuable experience. Once
such was Doug Littlejohns whose first
command in the mid-1970s was the Oberon
Class submarine HMS Osiris. He took her up
against interfering Soviet spy vessels in
waters off Dorset and Scotland and then into
the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean on
surveillance missions. It all required the
customary grit, endurance and derring-do.
Both Forsyth and Littlejohns would also
command the nuclear-powered Sceptre.
Another graduate of the diesels, Dan Conley
(who later commanded Courageous and
Valiant, both SSNs) experienced the final
days of gracious colonial submarining during
the early 1970s. As a junior officer in HMS
Oberon, he made flag flying visits to exotic
ports - including Colombo, Penang, Hong
Kong, Bangkok and Manila, though earlier
generations of Far East submariners had in
the 1960s conducted surveillance and
commando insertion missions during the
confrontation with Indonesia.
The diesels would, though, twice be drawn
away from their Cold War patrol areas to
engage in daring hot war operations. Onyx
conducted a marathon 116-day patrol to the
Falklands in 1982, unsupported 8,000 miles
from the UK under the command of
Lieutenant Commander A.P. Johnson.
Though Lt Cdr Johnson has never
commented on his submarine’s mission, it is
believed she landed SBS troops on various
raids. Her captain drew on periscope and
shallow water navigation skills he had
learned during the notoriously demanding
Perisher submarine command course. On her
return to Gosport, every ship in Portsmouth
Harbour sounded sirens and hundreds of
sailors cheered the tired old Onyx home.
The last of the Royal Navy’s O-boats was
retired in 1993, though there had been a final
opportunity to show their worth during the
1991 Gulf War. Opossum and Otus carried
out covert operations not dissimilar from their
reputed activities in the Baltic against the
Soviets. Their presence in either the Baltic or
the Gulf during early 1991 has never been
officially confirmed by the Ministry of
Defence (MoD). It has been claimed that
during coalition efforts to evict Iraqi occupiers
from Kuwait the O-boats landed SBS
reconnaissance teams on the coast to scout
out enemy defences. In one incident US
Navy strike jets allegedly sank an oil tanker,
which began to sink on an O-boat hiding
underneath while attempting to recover a
Special Forces team. She swiftly withdrew.
In the early 1990s the four Upholder Class
diesels commissioned to replace the O-boats
switched to Devonport. For Britain, with its
Submarine Service shrinking dramatically in
post-Cold War defence spending cuts, a
decision was then made to go all nuclear.
The Upholders were paid off in the mid1990s and later sold to Canada, where they
continue to serve.
Looking back across the decades of the
Cold War, and weighing up the exploits of the
diesels and how they produced the men who
became warrior scientists in nuclear-
Below: Side elevation of Nazi-origin Type XXI
U-boat, which provided the technological basis
for early Cold War submarines. Image: Dennis
Andrews, Copyright © Dennis Andrews
powered boats, it’s worth considering what
was fundamental to success.
Tim Hale came up through the hard school
of the diesels. He commanded several
conventional boats, including Tiptoe (a
Super-T), and was XO of Warspite in the late
1960s. He also commanded Swiftsure, first
of a new breed of SSNs, bringing her out of
the builders and into service during the early
1970s. He points out that good seamanship
is absolutely essential to successful
operations in any submarine, which, he rightly
points out, ‘operates in three dimensions - if
it goes to all stop, a surface ship will probably
float. Not so in a submarine or aircraft. You
have to keep the thing moving and put it on
the interface of the fluids - water and air - in
order to achieve stability. The need for
awareness and competence is thus
paramount in order to stay alive’. In the
diesels of the Cold War it took a certain kind
of luck and courage.
‘Hunter Killers’(Orion) by Iain Ballantyne
is available in both hardback and ebook
formats (£20.00) from various retailers.
The paperback edition will be published
in August.
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 51
OUR ROYAL NAVY
TODAY
OVERVIEW
“It is upon the Navy under the good Providence of God that the
safety, honour, and welfare of this realm do chiefly depend”.
(King Charles II, in the introduction to ‘The Articles of War’)
Whilst we look back and reflect on the Navy of yesterday and
its many great triumphs, particularly as we focus, at this time,
on the mighty Grand Fleet and the launch of the new HMS
20th & 21st Gallery in the museum we must not overlook our
Navy of today. The world is no less divided and dangerous
than ever it was and today’s Navy confronts those many vital
tasks and similar challenges but without the considerable
might and power of the Grand Fleet of a hundred years ago.
The enduring quotation above, by Charles II in the 17th
Century is almost certainly to be just as relevant in the reign
of Charles III in the 21st Century. So let us take a close look at
our Navy. This overview is intended to bring readers up to
date with the size, shape, responsibilities, tasks and
deployments of the Royal Navy today.
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Top left: New Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon
on Operation Kipion in the Middle East
Top right: The nuclear deterrent submarine
HMS Victorious departs HMNB Clyde
Portrait right: First Sea Lord,
Admiral Sir George Zambellas KCB DSC ADC
All pictures (© crown copyright)
In the words of the Right Honourable Philip
Hammond MP, Secretary of State for
Defence: “The vital contribution that the Royal
Navy makes to the United Kingdom’s national
security is as varied as the threats are
diverse. Whether it is Royal Marines or men
serving in Afghanistan, our maritime
operations all over the world or delivering our
nuclear deterrent – sustained for over forty
five years without a moment’s break Britain is
safer because of the outstanding work of
the Royal Navy”¹
The Framework of British Defence Policy
The broad parameters of current British
Defence policy were set under SDSR 2010
(The ‘Strategic Defence and Security Review
of 2010’) ², due to be reviewed next year. This
covered the essential defence and security
requirements for the United Kingdom, for the
following decade in order to prepare and
shape Britain’s Forces for ‘Future Force
2020’. These plans were made against very
severe financial constraints as Britain
struggled under the global debt crisis and in
the case of the MOD a substantial ‘black
hole’ in its budget. The armed forces were
cut back across the board to deliver a
number of savings. For the RN the headlines
were the retirement of four Type 22 frigates
and HMS Ark Royal along with the Joint GR9
Harrier force but with a commitment to the
new Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers
and the Joint Strike Fighter.
The world remains an extremely
unpredictable, divided and potentially
dangerous place as events in Libya, the Gulf
and the Philippines all underline. With the
arrival of new equipment and improved
capability, even with reduced numbers and
less manpower the Royal Navy continues to
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 53
OUR ROYAL NAVY
TODAY
meet all the ongoing vital tasks necessary to
protect the United Kingdom and her many
commitments and interests overseas. In
other words, the Royal Navy is ‘Protecting
our Nation’s Interests’.
The main tasks of the Royal Navy can be
summarised as:
a. Preventing conflict (global deployment
& deterrence)
b. Protecting our economy (protecting
trade routes and ports)
c. Providing security at sea (working with
international partners)
d. Promoting Partnerships (cooperating
with allies)
e. Providing Humanitarian Assistance (aid
and basic disaster relief)
f. Ready to fight
The Maritime Strategic Environment
Seventy percent of the earth’s surface is
covered by sea. Well over three-quarters of
the member states of the United Nations
are coastal states and two-thirds of the
world’s population live within one hundred
miles of the sea. A substantial proportion of
the world’s economic and political activity is
conducted in a narrow strip of land and
sea, no wider than three hundred miles,
known as the ‘littoral’. The Royal Navy
continues to be a ‘blue water’ navy capable
of operating throughout the oceans of the
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world but increasingly operations have been
concentrated on the 200 miles of sea close
to the coast, the ‘littoral’ regions and all
evidence indicates that this will become an
increasing area of focus for Britain’s
strategic interests and force structures. In
the process of restructuring the Royal Navy
has increased its ‘littoral’ combat
capabilities. The end of operations in
Afghanistan should present the opportunity
to shift the UK’s focus from campaigns to
contingency.
The Fleet
Today’s Fleet remains a powerful, credible
navy with extensive global reach. In size
terms it is significantly smaller than the
navies of the USA, Russia and China but
roughly similar to the fleets of France and
just ahead of the Italian navy. However in
terms of quality, encompassing training,
expertise, experience, efficiency, reputation
and tradition the Royal Navy still enjoys a
pre-eminent position and is respected
worldwide.
Essentially the Fleet consists of: 4 SSBN,
7 SSN, 1 CVH, 3 LPD/H, 19 DD/FF,
15 MCMV and a full range of minor war
vessels, specialist support ships, craft and
auxiliaries. See the detailed Royal Navy
Fleet Guide for further information on each
category, type and class.
Top left: Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender arriving in Glasgow
Top right: An anti-submarine Stingray torpedo fired
from the Type 23 frigate HMS Westminster
Bottom: The 18,500 ton Fleet Flagship HMS Bulwark
(Landing Platform Dock)
Organisation & Personnel
The full time trained strength of the Royal
Navy is 31,400 ³ (some 24,000 officers and
ratings plus 6,500 Royal Marines) supported
by 2,000 RFA personnel. The total strength
following the SDSR redundancy programme
will deliver circa 30,000 by 2015. The
professional head of the Royal Navy is the
Chief of the Naval Staff and First Sea Lord,
Admiral Sir George Zambellas (appointed in
April 2013) and he reports to the Defence
Council, headed by the Secretary of State
for Defence, the Rt Hon Philip Hammond
MP. The Fleet is commanded by the Fleet
Commander & Deputy Chief of Naval Staff,
Vice Admiral Philip Jones (appointed in
2012). The Maritime operational
commanders are Commander UK Task
Group (COMUKTG) /Commander UK
Maritime Force, who is a sea going rear
admiral and the Commander of Amphibious
Forces (CAF) who is a Royal Marine major
general.
Operations and Deployments
The Royal Navy is heavily committed in a
range of operations, activities and
deployments around the world, either on its
own or often in conjunction with allies.
The Middle East remains a strategically
important region for the UK covering the
whole of the Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden
and the Northern Indian Ocean. The Royal
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 55
OUR ROYAL NAVY
TODAY
Navy operate continuously in this area with
at least one escort, supported by a tanker
of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA),
employed by United Kingdom Maritime
Component Commander on Maritime
Security patrol, plus a four-strong squadron
of Mine Hunters with a RFA support ship
and hydrographic survey vessels. The
Royal Navy contributes to the stability by
engaging and working with regional
partners, as well as conducting hot climate
training. The UK has strong political,
commercial and trading links with the
region and operations have extended
further south in order to control regional
piracy off the Somalia coast and around
the Horn of Africa. RN presence in the
region is a high profile demonstration of the
UK’s strong commitment to this important
part of the world.
For most of the year there is a RN ship on
patrol in the North Atlantic providing
support to our overseas territories in the
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Spring 2014 Edition
Caribbean through the Hurricane season.
RFA Wave Knight is currently on patrol
there. Drug trafficking remains a major
problem in that part of the world and the
RN in conjunction with the US Coastguard
and other agencies have seized drugs that
would have a street value running into the
hundreds of millions of pounds. The RN is
part of the ongoing battle to prevent illegal
substances reaching the UK and Europe.
Further south, the Royal Navy maintains a
patrol around the waters of our South
Atlantic Overseas Territory. The Territory is
nearly 8,000 nautical miles from the UK
and presents one of the harshest working
environments requiring the highest level of
professionalism to operate in safely. Yet
further south the Ice Patrol ship HMS
Protector can be found patrolling the
Antarctic peninsular.
The Royal Navy regularly contributes to
NATO operations and forces. Standing
NATO Response Force Mine Counter
Measures Group 2 (SNMCMG2), for
example, provides an operational mine
countermeasures capability permanently
available in the Mediterranean and poised
for action in peacetime, crisis or conflict.
The nuclear powered attack submarine HMS Ambush in the Clyde
(© crown copyright)
Closer to home it is the 45th year of
Continuous at Sea Nuclear Deterrence
delivered by the SSBN community.
Meanwhile the Fleet Ready Escort, the
duty Towed Array Patrol Ship and the
Fishery Protection Squadron along with the
Fleet Diving Units all contribute to the daily
delivery of the UK’s Maritime Security.
Response Force Task Group
In addition to its enduring commitments
around the globe the Royal Navy conducts
regular deployments to areas of
importance and is constantly ready to be
called upon at short notice to carry out
vital, unexpected tasks.
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 57
OUR ROYAL NAVY
TODAY
Top left: HMS St Albans’ boarding team returns to the Type 23 frigate
Top right: Artist impression of the new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth at sea
Below left: The aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth under construction in Rosyth
Below right: The white ensign continues to fly proudly around the world
The Response Force Task Group (RFTG)
is ready to deploy to areas of crisis. The
main elements consist of the Fleet
Flagship, HMS Bulwark, and the
amphibious force concentrated in
Devonport. HMS Illustrious is also part of
RFTG together with a number of
destroyers or frigates and a Commando
Group of Royal Marines. Other units can
be attached as necessary depending on
the task. Later this year HMS Illustrious will
be replaced by the 22,000 ton Helicopter
carrier HMS OCEAN, just completing refit
in Devonport. The force trains using the
Joint Warrior Exercises in Scotland and
then deploys under the COUGAR banner
delivering engagement, influence,
deterrence and, if required, intervention.
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Spring 2014 Edition
RFTG forces were involved in the Libyan
crisis in 2011 (OP ELLAMY) and in the
Philippines disaster relief in late 2013 (OP
PATWIN).
Future Capability
The major build programme for Defence
and the Royal Navy is for the construction
of the two new Queen Elizabeth class
aircraft carriers, the biggest warships to be
designed and built in the United Kingdom.
They are being built by the ‘Aircraft Carrier
Alliance’ using a modular basis with ‘mega
block’ sections being constructed in
different locations and then being towed on
sealift barges to Rosyth and assembled in
Babcock’s massive Number one dry dock.
The 6,000 ton ‘Lower Block 02’ (the giant
forward section) was built by BAE in
Portsmouth and towed to Rosyth (see
‘Scuttlebutt’ No.45). Good progress has
been made with QUEEN ELIZABETH and
Her Majesty The Queen will launch the ship
on 4th July. The completed hull will then be
floated out thus enabling the start of the
assembly of the hull blocks of the PRINCE
OF WALES to begin in the dry dock.
Captain Jerry Kyd has been appointed as
the first commanding officer of QUEEN
ELIZABETH, and the ship is scheduled to
start sea trials in 2017.
Work is also progressing on the future Type
26 Frigate, the ‘Global Combat Ship’
designed as the replacement to the Type
23 frigate. Construction is expected to
start in two years with the first of class to
meet an ‘in-service’ date of 2020. The first
of four new 37,000 tonne Tankers for the
RFA are due in 2016. Work is also in hand
to decide the Trident nuclear deterrent
replacement programme as the present
SSBNs will come to the end of their
operational lives by the late 2020s. The
first two Astute class SSNs are now
operational the rest of the programme is
progressing with boats 3 to 7 in various
stages of construction.
In the air, the Short Take Off and Vertical
Landing variant of the Joint Strike Fighter
which will be known as the ‘Lightning II’ is
undergoing extensive trials in the USA.
The first Squadron will be 617 Squadron
RAF and the second 809 Naval Air
Squadron both squadrons will have a
mixture of personnel. There are also
exciting developments in the helicopter
fleet with Wildcat replacing the stalwart
Lynx, Merlin Mk II introducing improved
Anti-Submarine capabilities and the Merlin
Mk III programme which will replace the
venerable Sea King Mk IV for troop
carrying duties. The Crow’s nest
programme is also underway to deliver a
new Airborne Command and Surveillance
capability for the carrier.
In summary, the Royal Navy continues to
protect our Nation’s interests by delivering
credible War fighting, Maritime Security
and Defence Engagement capability
through committed forces deployed on
standing tasks and contingent
opportunities around the globe.
Notes
1. The Royal Navy’s yearbook ‘A Global
Force 2012/13’
2. Cmnd 7948 ‘Securing Britain in an
Age of Uncertainty: The Strategic
Defence & Security Review’
3. MoD UK Naval Service Monthly
Personnel Situation Report January
2014
If you would like to know more about the
Royal Navy visit their informative website at
www.RoyalNavy.mod.uk
John Roberts
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 59
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BELIEVES
THERE IS
LIFE AFTER
LIMB LOSS
Fig. 2. John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer,
courtesy of the Corporation of Trinity House.
Fig. 6. The Spencer device of six intertwined
letters ‘S’ surrounded by the collar of the
Order of the Garter.
The Red Earl’s
sword
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As we approach the centenary of World War I when Britain’s
naval forces were to be severely tested, it seems appropriate
to look a little further back into history to those men
responsible for ensuring the preparedness of the Royal Navy
to meet the challenges of this conflict. Some of these men
were distinguished naval officers but they would have been
unable to prevail in their efforts to get the Navy into a fit state
without the support of key politicians. The sword of one of the
most distinguished of these civilians is the starting point for
these notes, Fig. 1.
John Poyntz Spencer was born in 1835
and succeeded to the title as the fifth Earl
Spencer in 1857. He had an impressive
pedigree in naval affairs starting with the
second Earl, who had served as an
exceptionally effective First Lord of the
Admiralty under Prime Minister William Pitt
from December 1794 to February 1801 .
It was he who gave Nelson the command
that resulted in the victory at the Battle of
the Nile (1 – 2 August 1798). His uncle,
Captain Sir Robert Cavendish Royal Navy,
died at sea in 1830 and his father, the
fourth Earl, was a distinguished naval
officer who had fought with distinction
in command of the frigate Talbot at the
Battle of Navarino (20 October 1827)
and was a vice admiral on the retired list
on his death in 1857 .
While still Viscount Althorp, the future fifth
Earl entered politics being elected to
Parliament for Northamptonshire in 1857.
However, his father’s death in the same
year and his accession to the title meant
that he transferred his political interests to
the House of Lords. He was a supporter
of Gladstone. He was nicknamed The Red
Earl on account of his magnificent beard,
Fig. 2. His exceptionally generous gift of
Wimbledon Common to the Nation was
rewarded in 1864 by his installation as a
Knight of the Garter. He was twice the
Viceroy of Ireland (1868 - 74 and 1882 85). When the Liberal Party returned to
power in 1892, Spencer was given the
post of First Lord of the Admiralty so
following his ancestor, the second Earl,
into this office. He remained First Lord
until the Liberals lost power in 1895.
The first innovation he made was to retain
the professional members of the Board of
Admiralty (the Sea Lords) who had been
appointed by the previous administration,
thus introducing a degree of continuity
into naval policy. Three years before he
took office, a large naval building
programme had been approved as a
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 61
N A V A L
S W O R D S
Spencer connection is clearly indicated on
the outer face of the blade, close to the
shoulder by an etched design of the Spencer
device of six intertwined letters ‘S’, in this
case surrounded by the collar of the Order
of the Garter, Fig. 6, which had been
awarded in 1864. The inner face carries
the Royal Cipher, EVIIR.
This sword is a fascinating direct link to one
of the major influences in naval policy in the
latter years of the nineteenth century. Had
Spencer lived to see the start of World War I,
he could have been secure in the knowledge
that his obstinacy some two decades earlier
had helped to ensure that the material state
of the Royal Navy was up to the challenges it
was about to face.
John McGrath
Fig. 4. The Coat-of-Arms of Trinity House in the cartouche on the guard.
reaction to the increased construction
programmes of Russia and France. Despite
this, in 1893 when Spencer backed the
demands of the Sea Lords for the
construction of seven new battleships
together with six cruisers and thirty-six
destroyers, he met serious opposition from
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir William
Vernon Harcourt. Strong support for this
demand for an increase in the size of the
Fleet came from Lord George Hamilton,
Spencer’s predecessor as First Lord. Things
then turned very messy. Harcourt reacted by
informing the House that the Sea Lords
were content with the expenditure as it
stood. When, to a man, the very next day they
denied this claim, the scene was set for a
showdown. Gladstone supported the
Chancellor in opposing this increase in the
funding for the Navy and informed Spencer
that he would resign rather than agree.
Spencer refused to yield and on 1 March
1894 Gladstone resigned and a week later
the estimates were passed by Parliament.
Attention was drawn to the importance of the
so-called Spencer Programme in the article
by Bernard Ireland in the Autumn 2013
edition of Scuttlebutt. Spencer continued
to serve under Gladstone’s replacement,
Lord Rosebery, until the defeat of the
Liberals in 1895.
It was this time as First Lord of the Admiralty
which merited his election as an Elder
Brother in 1905. Sadly, his enjoyment of
this honour must have been limited by ill
health. He had suffered a heart attack in
1904 and a severe stroke the following year.
He died on 13 August 1910 after suffering
another stroke.
Note: Readers interested in learning more
about the swords of Trinity House will find
additional information in May and Annis ,
McGrath and Barton and McGrath .
There are two Trinity House swords in the
collection of the National Maritime Museum
(WPN1163 and WPN1499) details of which
can be viewed on line .
As one of the Elder Brethren of Trinity
House, an organisation tracing its recorded
history back to a charter granted by Henry
VIII in 1514, Spencer would have worn a
uniform complete with the sword, which has
been illustrated in Fig. 1, on ceremonial
occasions. This weapon was purchased from
Charles Smith and Son whose initials are
etched discretely on the under edge of the
shoulder of the blade. They traded from 5
New Burlington Street and had a Royal
Warrant from King Edward VII as Gold and
Silver Lacemen to His Majesty the King . It is
curious that Spencer chose Charles Smith &
Son to provide his sword rather than using a
more established firm of sword cutlers such
as Wilkinson. Perhaps he was just putting the
business in the way of a firm which he had
used for the uniforms and robes associated
with his other positions. Although the
uniform naval sword of the period had a
slightly curved blade, this weapon’s is straight
and 31½in (800mm) long. The Trinity House
pedigree is prominently represented in its
design by the coat-of- arms of the
Corporation in the cartouche on the guard,
Fig. 4, and etched on the outer face of the
blade, where on a naval sword, a crowned
and fouled anchor would appear. The design
of these arms consists of four sailing ships
surrounding the cross of St George. The
Acknowledgement:
The author is grateful to the Corporation of Trinity
House for permission to use the image of
Earl Spencer which appears as Fig. 2.
Reference sources
Peter Gordon, ‘Spencer, John Poyntz, fifth Earl Spencer (1835–
1910)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University
Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008
[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36209, accessed
21 Nov 2013].
Malcolm Lester, ‘Spencer, George John, second Earl Spencer
(1758–1834)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford
University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008
21 Nov 2013].
J. K. Laughton, ‘Spencer, Sir Robert Cavendish (1791–1830)’, rev.
Andrew Lambert, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford
University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2012
21 Nov 2013]. This article also contains information about the
fourth Earl.
Ireland, Bernard, The Anglo-German Naval Race, Part One,
Scuttlebutt, Edition No 47, Autumn 2013, p 27.
Provenance: Christies Sale number 5467, The Althorp Attic Sale,
Lot 229 and then via Les Martin, dealer, to the present owner.
Bezdek, Richard H., Swords and Sword Makers of England and
Scotland (Boulder, Colorado: Paladin Press, 2003) p. 154.
May, Commander W E, RN and Annis, PGW, Swords for Sea
Service (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 197) Vol I, pp. 36
& 46, Vol II, Plate 37.
McGrath, John and Barton, Mark, British Naval Swords &
Swordsmanship (Barnsley: Seaforth, 2013) pp. 73 – 75.
McGrath, John, Swords of Trinity House, Classic Arms & Militaria,
Vol XIX, Issue 6, December 2012/January 2013, pp. 12 – 17.
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/78610.ht
ml and /78946.html.
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 63
HMS Clio’s drum and fife band. Phil Gunn third from left (© Author)
ROYAL NAVY IN
MESOPOTAMIA
As 2013 moved into 2014, the heavy guns of the historical journalist world poured
forth their World War One offerings. Hastings and Paxman salvoes were fired at a
public ready and eager to enter the centenary commemorations. It was mostly
about the trenches, understandably as that had been just across the Channel.
Much also dealt with what had been happening at home. The books did not
mention the navy much, other than to say that its German opposite numbers had
bombarded Scarborough, Whitby and Hartlepool, Kitchener drowned in
HMS Hampshire and that at the Battle of Coronel we had suffered the first defeat
in a battle at sea since before Trafalgar. Then there was the ‘draw’ at Jutland.
Credit was given for the protection of the troops crossing to the continent.
64
Scuttlebutt |
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A swarm of bellums (canoes), lashed in pairs came around the sterns of the sloops and tore towards the beach as the sloops bombarded
the enemy positions. The advance up the Tigris had begun.
No one mentioned a little known campaign
in a place called Mesopotamia (now Iraq).
Prior to the outbreak of the First World and
largely at the instigation of Admiral ‘Jacky’
Fisher, the Royal Navy had decided to move
over from coal to oil for the more efficient
propulsion of its capital ships. In 1913
Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the
Admiralty, had masterminded the taking of
a £2 million stake in the South Persian
oilfields from which this oil came. It flowed
by pipeline down to Abadan on the Shatt al
Arab estuary of the rivers Tigris and
Euphrates where it was refined and
transported by sea to wherever the navy
needed it.
temperature, Britain found itself at war with
Turkey, whose Ottoman Empire jutted up
against Persia on the other side of the
Shatt al Arab. The Turks were thus in a
position to cut off the Royal Navy’s oil
supplies to its ships in the North Sea to the
delight of Turkey’s German allies.
in the east, used to operating up rivers in
places like China and East Africa. These
were now sent to provide gunfire support to
the army in its advance upriver to protect
Britain’s oil. The navy’s role was important
as the guns in India’s depleted army were
largely mountain guns, the majority of its
field artillery having gone to Europe.
There was a short period during which
ships were built to be powered by coal or oil
but Fisher, returning for his second round as
First Sea Lord, put a stop to that and oil it
was henceforth.
Attention in Britain was understandably
concentrated on what was occurring on the
continent of Europe and it was decided that
the people to cope with this potentially
serious threat were the government of India,
a substantial part of the British Empire.
India had a significant army of its own but
had already committed much of this to the
war in Europe with the gratifying support of
the Indian people. It had no naval resources
to speak of and this was significant. If
forces were to operate in Mesopotamia they
would need waterborne transport, for the
rivers Tigris and Euphrates were the main
communication routes across that country.
And so with naval gunfire support from the
six four inch guns of the sloop HMS Odin,
what became known as the Indian
Expeditionary Force (IEF) landed against
Turkish opposition at the entrance to the
Shatt al Arab waterway on 6th November
and advanced upstream to take Basra
which was in Turkish hands. The capture
of Basra to a large extent protected the oil
supply from attack but things did not stop
at this point. The IEF appeared to be in
the ascendant and an ambitious general
decided to go on and capture Baghdad, the
capital, some five hundred miles upstream.
Then on 5th November 1914, following a
general raising of the diplomatic and military
However, the Royal Navy had a number of
shallow draft sloops and other small vessels
Odin, together with two sister sloops
Espiegle and Clio provided the backbone
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 65
ROYAL NAVY IN MESOPOTAMIA
Above: HMS Clio looked like a rich man’s yacht but was armed with six 4-inch calibre guns (© Author)
of the Royal Navy’s river force in the
lower reaches of the Tigris and
Euphrates. They were shallow draft
vessels, and although built in the first
few years of the 20th century had
been designed, surprisingly, with sails
as well as engines. Opinion within the
Navy had been critical about the make
up of these ships, many considering
them useless for purposes of war.
Fore and aft sails on their three masts were
augmented by square sails on the foremast.
Under sail, day and night, would come the
shrill, haunting whistle of the bosun’s call to
the duty watch of seamen to adjust the set
of the sails. However, these had largely
been dispensed with by 1914 and the
sloops were to prove their worth in
Mesopotamia
It was in Clio, the last of the three sloops,
that Able Seaman Phillip Gunn arrived in
Mesopotamia from the South China Sea.
On the way, and in order to keep the ship’s
company fit, there were route marches
ashore in which a slight musical ability
enabled him to be one of the players of a fife
in the drum and fife band which he found
significantly lighter than a rifle.
The sloops proceeded upstream to Qurna
66
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Leaping ashore the Ox and Bucks as
they were known, made short work of
the forts out of which lines of Turkish
soldiers emerged with their hands up
in surrender
in a remarkably short space of time.
Captured Turkish soldiers under armed guard
by the river Tigris (© JJ Heath-Caldwell)
which is above Basra and near the
confluence of the rivers Tigris and
Euphrates. It was also believed to be the
original site of the Garden of Eden but
Phillip, in a ‘run ashore’, found it less
than idyllic.
North of Qurna lay a number of Turkish
military forts intended to prevent the
progress of the Indian Expeditionary Force
farther upstream. Shortly after assembling at
Qurna the three sloops sailed with the
intention of dealing with these. As they drew
abreast the forts, out from their hidden sides
emerged a large number of canoes, lashed
together in pairs and protected in their bows
with steel plates. They were paddled
furiously by soldiers of the Oxfordshire and
Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and covered
by heavy four inch gunfire from the sloops.
£45.00
£36.00
£30.00
£24.00
£45.00
£36.00
This operation was the start of what
became known as ‘Townshend’s
Regatta’, named after the operational
general who had just taken over day to day
command in the field.
Townshend’s Regatta went on upstream,
the Turks in the next town, Amara,
surrendering to a naval lieutenant and eight
sailors of which Gunn was one, in an armed
tug. At Amara Lieutenant Singleton found,
to his surprise that he had also captured
250 Turkish soldiers, eleven officers and
all their weapons.
Phillip Gunn left unpublished memoirs of
the campaign which are written from the
viewpoint of a seaman as opposed to an
officer. These have recently been published
by Pen & Sword in a book called Sailor in
the Desert for it was across the deserts of
Mesopotamia that they fought and where
many died, often of disease rather than
wounds.
421851
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 67
ROYAL NAVY IN MESOPOTAMIA
Naval Good Shooting MEDAL
Continuing our series of features on the Museum’s Magnificent Medal Collection by James Kemp
The museum has a very extensive collection of naval medals with the medals donated by the late
Captain Douglas-Morris forming an integral part of the collection. These comprise campaign medals for
service in naval actions and awards for gallantry which includes five Victoria Crosses.
Above: Ordinary Seaman Gunn in tropical
uniform, Hong Kong 1914 (© Author).
After the capture of Amara the Tigris
became too shallow even for the sloops.
However, to continue the navy’s gunfire
support role Able Seaman Phillip Gunn was
put in charge of a Calcutta River police
launch towing two horse boats from the
Suez Canal each armed with 4.7 inch guns
last used at the Relief of Ladysmith in the
Boer War in 1899. His crew were Muslims
who needed halal killed meat and so he
embarked a succession of sheep which
were duly despatched and eaten to the
satisfaction of everyone, except perhaps
the sheep.
They advanced upriver, bombarding the
Turks as directed by an army spotting officer
standing up a vertical ladder that Phillip
Gunn erected in the launch for his benefit.
They coped with the distorting effect of
mirages and rifle fire from Arabs on the
bank who regarded both Turks and the IEF
as unwelcome invaders of their tribal lands.
As part of the operation to capture Kut al
Amara, Gunn was involved in an action to
rid the river of a barrier of dhows joined by
wire intended to prevent the Royal Navy’s
advance. This resulted in a Lieutenant
Commander Edgar Cookson being
awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for
bravery with Gunn receiving the sailor’s
decoration of the Distinguished Service
68
Scuttlebutt |
Spring 2014 Edition
Above: Phil took charge of a launch, towing two horse boats armed with 4.7-inch guns,
to support the army and bombard the Turks
Medal for his handling of the horse boats
under fire.
Some miles south of Baghdad the Turks
had established a strong defensive position
at Ctesiphon. It was General Townshend’s
plan to attack this from four different angles
with the navy providing its gunfire support
from the river. Unfortunately the IEF troops
only advanced on one side of the Tigris,
allowing the Turks to station heavy guns
on the other that prevented the advance of
the naval guns to their ideal position so that
they were less effective than they might
have been.
Phillip Gunn, who had been attacked by
large and voracious mosquitoes throughout
the campaign, collapsed with malarial fever
and was carried back down the Tigris to
Basra which probably saved his life.
Technically, the Indian Expeditionary
Force defeated the Turks at the Battle of
Ctesiphon, but its losses were so great
that Townshend decided to retire to Kut al
Amara and await reinforcements he had
been promised in order to continue the
campaign. With 13,000 men he was
besieged in Kut and the reinforcements
never arrived. Eventually they ran out of
food, were forced to surrender and
marched to Turkey as prisoners of war.
Most of the British died on the march.
In 1917, a far greater number of troops
than had been made available to General
Townshend, again aided by the Royal Navy,
drove the Turks back. Kut and Baghdad
were captured and in due course the war
against the Turks came to an end.
Phillip Gunn rose to the rank of Captain,
Royal Navy, serving in and commanding
ships between the wars and during the
Second World War. In June 1944, then
Duty Captain at the Admiralty, it fell to him
to tell Winston Churchill that seriously
bad weather in the English Channel had
improved sufficiently for a seaborne invasion
of Europe to go ahead.
On retirement he became a landscape artist
for the last thirty years of his life, but in the
1970s completed some thirty oil paintings
of life aboard ship before and during the
First World War. These included work on
the upper deck of HMS Clio, at war towing
the horse boats in Mesopotamia and their
eventual destruction by Turkish gunfire. The
paintings are now part of the British National
Art Collection and some of them illustrate
Sailor in the Desert.
David Gunn
His book ‘Sailor in the Desert, the
adventures of Phillip Gunn, DSM RN in
the Mesopotamia Campaign 1915’ has
recently been published by Pen & Sword
In 1900 an admiral
inspected HMS Astraea
and wrote a report
praising the Ship's
company for their good
physique, (“remarkably
clean and well dressed;
the stoker division a fine
body of clean and welldressed men. At exercise
the men moved very
smartly and the ship
looked well inside and
out, and is very clean
throughout”). It is extraordinary that he made
absolutely no reference to the fact that HMS
Astræa was one of the best shots in the
Navy nor was there any praise for her
captain and gunnery lieutenant for making
the ship such an efficient fighting unit.
Appearance appeared much more important
than gunnery and battle-worthiness.
Fortunately this situation changed, largely
due to the work of Captain (later Admiral Sir)
Percy Scott. He saw the crucial importance
of improving gunnery equipment and training
and also that competition could raise
standards. Shooting was first stimulated by
the introduction of an unofficial the
Bluejacket Medal, in 1902 (retrospectively
issued from 1900). It was presented to the
best shot in the Navy with the gun captain
receiving the medal in silver and his gun
crew each receiving the medal in bronze.
Then in 1903 an official Naval Good
Shooting Medal was introduced. The medal
was struck in silver and the obverse (the
front) shows the head of the monarch
(Edward VII, 1903 – 1910, George V 1911
– 1914). The reverse of the medal shows
Neptune holding five thunderbolts in each
hand. The Latin motto Amat Victoria Curam
(‘Victory Loves Care’, more aptly ‘Victory
Loves Preparation’) is around the
circumference of the reverse. The medal
ribbon has a red central stripe with blue edge
stripes and thin white stripes in between.
The Naval Good Shooting Medal was only
awarded to the gun layer and not the whole
gun crew.
The medals were awarded to the sailors and
marines who attained a very high percentage
of hits in the annual Fleet target practices.
During the period 1903 to 1914 medals
were earned for excellence in no less than
14 different calibres of guns ranging from
3 pdr Quick Fire to 13.5 inch Breech
Loaded. The medals were impressed on
the rim with the recipients’ official number,
name, rank, ship name, year and the gun
calibre. If a man earned a second medal
then that was rewarded by the issue of a
clasp/ bar for his medal showing the ship
name, year and gun calibre for the new
award. In all 974 medals and 62 bars were
issued. Three men receiving medals with two
bars, LS (later PO) E.V. Baker, PO J. Dart
and L Cpl C.E. Dart RMLI. One man, Sergt
(later Col Sergt) G Boyce RMA, received the
medal with three bars. He earned his medal
in 1904 and first bar in 1905, both for 6in
QF guns on HMS Illustrious, his second bar
in 1908 (9.2in BL on HMS Natal) and third
bar in 1913 (12in BL on HMS Inflexible).
In 1907 Admiral Sir Percy Scott was in
command of the Second Cruiser Squadron
(flagship HMS Good Hope). He was
disappointed that even though his ship was
top of the Channel Fleet, she was only
seventh in the whole Fleet. He recorded that
the highest scorers were PO E Burgess
(9.2in BL) with 9 rounds fired and 9 hits
in a run time of two minutes and Gunner E
Brown RMA (6in BL) with 11 rounds fired
and ten hits in a run time of one minute.
That year Burgess was awarded the Naval
Good Shooting Medal.
Images of the obverse
and reverse of the
medal are shown
(reproduced courtesy
of Bryan Williamson,
Canada). The Edward
VII medal was awarded
to AB James Miller who
won it firing a 6pdr QF
gun on HMS Haughty.
The George V medal
was earned by PO
Robert March in 1911
(12in BL HMS Queen)
and the bar in 1913 (13.5in BL HMS
Thunderer). Also shown are all the bars
awarded in 1911 which are mounted on a
museum specimen medal.
Naval gunnery did improved significantly
following the introduction of good shooting
medals. In 1900 during Fleet practice less
than one third of rounds fired hit the target.
This had improved to 42.80% in 1904,
56.58% in 1905 and 71.12% in 1906 and
in 1907 a 79% hit rate was achieved. The
Naval Good Shooting Medals were difficult
to win and were highly valued by their
recipients. In 1914 the medal was
discontinued, although the reverse design
is still used today on the Queen’s Medal
for Champion Shots of the Royal Navy
and Royal Marines.
James Kemp
James Kemp started collecting medals
over 45 years ago and is a member of
the Orders and Medals Research Society.
He spent over thirty years working on
various ship and naval equipment
projects, which started in Chatham
Dockyard. His last project being the
Combat System Manager for the design
and build of the Landing Platform Docks
HM Ships Albion and Bulwark.
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 69
HEROISM AT SEA
A unique and detailed history of the Awards for
Skill and Gallantry presented by the Society since 1851.
This E-book gives a fascinating insight into British
maritime history and the selfless acts of bravery of so many.
Of special interest to anyone with an interest in maritime
history and love of the sea.
Published on CD at £9.95 plus P&P
To order please contact:
Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society, 1 North Pallant, Chichester PO19 1TL
Tel: 01243 789329 Fax: 01243 530853
e-mail: general@shipwreckedmariners.org.uk
www.shipwreckedmariners.org.uk
Reg Charity
No 212034
Inst. 1839
Polaris A-3 missile launched by HMS Resolution
Launch of SSBN HMS Resolution
STRATEGIC
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
in the Royal Navy
The previous article, Part 1, provided a brief overview of the development of nuclear weapons in Britain
from the Second World War to the cancellation of Blue Streak and the planned purchase of the
American Skybolt missile to be carried by RAF Bomber Command’s Vulcan aircraft.
This part will review the events leading to the acquisition by the United Kingdom of the Polaris Weapon
System (SWS) and the early days of the British Naval Ballistic Missile System (BNBMS).
D
espite their forward thinking
when preparing their mid-1945
paper on the future of naval
warfare at sea, neither the Naval
Staff nor the Admiralty sought, in the short
term, to promote nuclear propulsion for
submarines or support a long-range rocket
programme. This was understandable given
their immediate post-war concerns over the
RN’s role and their forward thinking on the
potential advantages of a second-strike,
relatively invulnerable deterrent capability
was well ahead of its time. Following the
cancellation of Blue Streak, consideration
was given to Polaris as an alternative to
Skybolt but did not receive full-hearted
70
Scuttlebutt |
Spring 2014 Edition
Admiralty support. This reluctance to accept
the burden of responsibility for deploying and
maintaining the deterrent continued up until
the cancellation of Skybolt. Fortunately,
prudent staff work meant that the RN was
able to respond quickly to the outcome of
the December 1962 Nassau Agreement
between Macmillan and Kennedy even
though the support of Admiralty and the
Naval Staff for Polaris was far from fulsome.
Post-war cordial relations between the
United States Navy (USN) and the RN as
well as the mid- 1950s personal relationship
between the First Sea Lord, Mountbatten,
and the US Chief of Naval Operations meant
that the British Naval Staff (BNS)
Washington were aware of the USN plans
for a ship-launched Intermediate Range
Ballistic Missile (IRBM). From the setting up
of the USN’s Special Project Office (SPO) at
the end of 1955 BNS received regular
informal briefings on progress and, at the
end 1958, an RN officer was appointed to
BNS to become Special Projects Royal Navy
(SPRN) on SPO’s staff. Thus that the
Admiralty were cognisant of the USN’s Fleet
Ballistic Missile (FBM) programme and the
development of the Polaris SWS before the
V-force had even got into its stride.
Although the potential advantages of a
submarine-based IRBM were readily
Shipwrecked
Mariners’Society
Supporting the seafaring community for 170 years
STRATEGIC
NUCLEAR
WEAPONS
Queen
Victoria
School
in the Royal Navy
Raising to
Distinction
SSBN Resolution under construction
HMS Resolution being assembled on the slip way
Nuclear missile submarine layout
appreciated in some naval circles, the
Admiralty were content to maintain a
watching brief on the progress of the
FBM programme.
Flag officer (Submarines) and Mountbatten
were keen on pursuing nuclear powerplants for submarines, seeing a growing
requirement for nuclear-powered hunterkillers. Even though a naval group had been
set up at Harwell in the late 1940s to
consider nuclear propulsion progress had
been slow and hopes in the early 1950s
that relaxation of the US Atomic Energy Act
would open the way for an information
exchange on US naval reactors were not
realised. However in early 1957 the head of
the USN’s nuclear propulsion programme,
Admiral Rickover, was prevailed upon to
visit the UK but little progress was made
and it was a surprise when, later in the year,
he proposed the sale of an American
nuclear-submarine power-plant to the UK.
Negotiations were underway by early 1958
for the purchase of a Westinghouse S5W
Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) and
associated propulsion system, as used in
the USS Skipjack, for incorporation in the
hunter-killer announced in the 1957/8 Navy
Estimates. Rolls Royce and Associates
72
Scuttlebutt |
(RR&A) were contracted to manage the
purchase and integrate the power plant,
with the Admiralty (Dreadnought Project
Team (DPT)) and Vickers designing, and
the latter building, the hull. The RN’s first
nuclear submarine, HMS Dreadnought
with her American designed ‘after-end’,
was launched in October 1960 and
commissioned in 1963, a saving of two
or three years of development time.
In parallel with the design and build of
Dreadnought, work was underway on the
construction at Dounreay of the Admiralty
Reactor Test Establishment (ARTE) (later
HMS Vulcan) to house and test the RN’s
prototype naval nuclear propulsion plant.
The nuclear plant was developed and built
by RR&A using information gained from the
Westinghouse S5W reactor design but with
a British designed, resiliently mounted,
propulsion system. This plant (PWR1) was
used in the first all-British nuclear-powered
hunter-killer HMS Valiant, launched in 1963
and commissioned in 1966, as well as the
UK Polaris SSBNs.
Notwithstanding their lack of enthusiasm,
there was an awareness that the RN might
have to accept the deterrent role in the long
run and the Admiralty Board commissioned
an investigation into the organisation that
would be needed if the UK were to opt for
Polaris. Following an SPRN arranged visit
to the US, a report was prepared by Admiral
Le Fanu and delivered to the Board in July
1960, providing the blueprint for the setting
up of an organisation on the lines of SPO
should it be needed.
This prudent staff work was followed by
a visit by Director General Ship’s staff in
February 1961, again sponsored by SPRN,
to review the US SSBN programme (with
the exception of the warhead and nuclear
reactors) and to tour the SSBN shipyards
and facilities. Although their original remit
specifically excluded advocating Polaris,
their final report did include the proposal for
a fleet of five Polaris SSBNs, based on the
Valiant design with a Missile Compartment
(MC), similar to the US with 16 missile
launch tubes, inserted aft of the fin. In
addition they proposed having an Auxiliary
Machinery Space (AMS) between the MC
and the reactor compartment to allow
services to be twisted as necessary to realign hydraulic piping and electrical services,
this space also being used to accommodate
auxiliary diesels and air conditioning plant,
etc. The report gave costings as well as
proposing the use of Devonport as an
operating base with Ernesettle as an
armaments depot.
With the realisation that Skybolt was about
to be cancelled, the Cabinet reviewed its
options noting that Polaris provided ‘a
virtually indestructible second-strike
deterrent of proven capability and with
prospects of a long life’. In the run-up to the
Nassau conference the First Lord of the
Admiralty (Lord Carrington), following some
fast foot-work by the Plans Division of the
Open Morning
Sat 20 Sept 2014
Admissions Deadline
Thu 15 Jan 2015
Queen Victoria School in Dunblane
is a co-educational boarding
school for the children of UK
Armed Forces personnel who
are Scottish, or who have served
in Scotland or who have been
members of a Scottish regiment.
The QVS experience encourages
and develops well-rounded,
conident individuals in an
environment of stability
and continuity.
The main entry point is into
Primary 7 and all places are fully
funded for tuition and boarding
by the Ministry of Defence.
Families are welcome to ind out
more by contacting Admissions on
+44 (0) 131 310 2927
to arrange a visit.
Queen Victoria School
Dunblane Perthshire
FK15 0JY
www.qvs.org.uk
Spring 2014 Edition
STRATEGIC
NUCLEAR
WEAPONS
in the Royal Navy
Resolution sails for sea trials
Naval Staff, informed the Cabinet that four submarines, each with
sixteen missiles, could be completed between early 1968 and 1970.
At the December 1962 Nassau Conference Macmillan and Kennedy
drew up, in broad terms, the main principles governing the provision
by the US to the UK of the Polaris SWS, less the missile’s warheads,
and spares on a continuing basis. Britain was to be responsible for
the hull, propulsion and other ship systems, with UK Polaris being
used in support of
the Western Alliance, except when supreme national interests
were at stake, so maintaining Britain’s operational independence
of her deterrent.
2014 PROGRAMME
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Following endorsement by the Cabinet and the signing of the Nassau
Communiqué or ‘Statement on Nuclear Defence Systems’, the UK
Polaris project – the BNBMS – was set in train and the Chief of what
was to become the Polaris Executive (CPE) was appointed on the
1st January 1963. His first task was to set up the organisation whose
objective would be to have the first RN ballistic missile submarine and
missiles, with full supporting activities, in service in July 1968, with
other submarines becoming available at six monthly intervals. Using
Admiral Le Fanu’s report as a starting point, the Polaris Executive,
along the lines of the USN’s Special Project Office (SPO) was
established during the early months of 1963. Fact-finding missions
were quickly despatched to the US to provide a greater
understanding of the overall task facing the UK, and to work up
a detailed procurement plan.
To expand on the communiqué a Polaris Sales Agreement (PSA)
was negotiated during the early months of 1963 and signed by both
governments on 6 April. It laid down the main principles governing
the supply of Polaris (less warheads) with an ancillary document to
the PSA, the Technical Arrangement (TA), expanding these principles
and providing detailed guidelines, being agreed and signed later in
the year. To ensure the smooth operation of the joint SPO/CPE
aspects of the project, a regular working party – the Joint Steering
Task Group (JSTG) – was established to review progress and resolve
problems. Under the terms of the PSA the US were to supply Polaris
missiles (less warheads), missile launching and handling systems,
missile fire control, ship’s navigation system as well as associated
support, test and training equipment. The ‘less warheads’ was defined
as the ‘atomic weapon’ in an amended 1958 Mutual Defence
Agreement (MDA) and a special committee – the Joint Re-entry
System Working Group (JRSWG) – was set up in mid-1963, under
the terms of the MDA, to ensure compatibility between UK and US
components associated with the warhead. Special arrangements had
to be made under existing Joint Atomic Energy Information Group
Resolution on full power trials
(JAEIG) procedures to handle Polaris related US classified nuclear
information outside the scope of the PSA.
If the overall programme was to be achieved within five years, several
issues had to be resolved quickly. Decisions were required on: the
number of hulls to be built; the number of missiles to be carried by
each hull; which missile to purchase (A2 or A3); whether to use UK
or US Ships Inertial Navigation System (SINS) and where to site an
operating base. Even though the proposed CPE organisation was
grudgingly accepted in most quarters, there were ‘ownership’ issues
to be resolved. Concern was expressed that a naval officer was
incapable of heading-up such an organisation and that Dr Beeching,
of railway infamy, should be appointed. Atomic weapons were the
responsibility of the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment
(AWRE), with the Ministry of Aviation, being responsible for missiles,
claiming overall charge of the Polaris programme. Tactful arguing that
the submarines, navigation, control and launching systems were a
necessary part of the overall and inseparable Polaris weapon system
eventually won through. In similar fashion the maintenance of
commonality and currency with the USN meant that the US SINS
was adopted and the A3 missile purchased.
A ‘longcast’ of the overall life of UK Polaris was drawn up, including
the submarine build programme, patrol cycles and refit periods, ideally
with five hulls being built to ensure that two would be on patrol at any
one time. The refit periodicity and length was based on what was
being forecast for the Valiant class reactor core, the first of which
would not be in service until 1967. The decision was taken to use a
stretched Valiant design with a 16 missile MC, as proposed by the DG
Ship’s Task Group, and design work on the hull commenced in March
1963. Vickers at Barrow was chosen as the lead build yard, sharing
the build programme – initially for four boats – with Cammell Laird at
Birkenhead. Pressure hull design was underway at Vickers by May
1963 and the first keel was laid in February 1964. To minimise
radiated noise the propulsion plant was resiliently mounted on a raft,
use was made of ball-valves (easy to close with 90 degree of
movement) and pipework was welded not braised (and causing
problems as in the reactor plant in Dreadnought). Long-lead items
were purchased from the US for a fifth boat, later cancelled.
Various sites were considered for an operating base for the UK
Polaris force, from Falmouth to somewhere well away from major
habitation eg Loch Ewe. The Faslane/Coulport area was chosen in
early 1963 as it had good deep water exit and entry potential (to
reduce chances of detection) and there were practically no land
acquisition problems. Faslane, on the Gareloch, was already approved
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 75
STRATEGIC
NUCLEAR
WEAPONS
in the Royal Navy
SSBN Repulse en route to Contractor’s Sea Trials
Below: Repulse arrives at Faslane
as the base for the hunter-killer SSNs was redeveloped with new
jetties, maintenance and training facilities, stores accommodation etc
to cater for what became the 3rd and 10th (SSBN) Submarine
Squadrons. Coulport, on Loch Long, was developed to include missile
storage, servicing and loading facilities.
Post the 1958 MDA the decision had been taken to manufacture
‘virtual copies’ of US warhead designs, with the US Mk 28 warhead
being adapted for Red Snow but ‘anglicisation’ had proved far more
difficult than expected. AWRE had been working on a copy of the US
W-59 warhead for Skybolt at its cancellation and this design led to
common lineage of warheads for the WE177 variants and Polaris.
The reduction in physical size to fit into the Polaris A3 Re-entry
Vehicle (RV) ablative shell meant that mechanical ‘safeing’ had to
be introduced.
In mid 1963 a Naval Staff Progress Committee was formed to
consider the tasks that would need to be completed to support the
operational aspects of the Polaris Force prior to first deployment.
Topics covered included: Command and Control with a reliable and
unambiguous ‘firing chain’, provision of a Polaris Command Centre
and robust communications system, targeting, as well as the
recruiting, training and appointing of officers and men for the Force.
With the project underway uncertainties emerged with the election
of Labour administration committed by their election manifesto to
‘the re-negotiation of the Nassau Agreement’. Their manifesto for
the 1966 general election proposed an Atlantic Nuclear Force
(ANF) and stated that Labour ‘stands by its pledge to internationalise
our strategic nuclear force’. Nevertheless Polaris continued as an
independent deterrent but politics and the economy dictated various
aspects of the overall project including the number of hulls to be built
and commissioned. The administration also had to resolve command
and control issues, respond to Multilateral Force (MLF) proposals,
and consider the possible deployment of Polaris east of Suez. The
number of hulls was reduced to four which led, in later years of
deployment, to considerable problems in maintaining a continuous
76
Scuttlebutt |
Spring 2014 Edition
at-sea deterrent (CASD). These included the difficulties that were
experienced with the reactor primary cooling loops and the
complications caused by the introduction of Chevaline.
In November 1964 the Cabinet Defence Policy Committee stated
that no Permissive Action Link (PAL) or physical control mechanism
was required for the UK SSBNs as national considerations would
override all others. Security of control would rest entirely on the
discipline of the SSBN’s Commanding Officer (CO) and his team
(as in the US Polaris force) with authority for release being by the
Prime Minister (PM) and exercised through direct national
communications to the SSBN CO.
Communications with submerged SSBNs were by Very Low
Frequency (VLF) and to support this requirement it was decided to
refurbish the General post Office (GPO) VLF station at Rugby. The
transmitter was updated and output power increased, the 3.25 mile
long VLF array also being overhauled. To provide a backup service,
the VLF station at Criggion, on the Welsh border, was also
refurbished. The height of the aerial masts for its smaller VLF array
were increased, the top of a hill providing a winch-point at one end of
the array, its output power was also up-rated. HMS Forest Moor was
revamped early in the 1960s as a purpose built backup Naval
Terminal Control station for the Whitehall (Citadel) Communications
Centre (Comcen) and added resilience to the network.
John Coker
“WELCOME ABOARD”
DO COME & JOIN US!
EVENTS CALENDAR
MEMBERSHIP OF THE FRIENDS OF THE ROYAL NAVAL MUSEUM (PORTSMOUTH) & HMS VICTORY
The Friends were formed in 1976 to support the Royal Naval Museum. They play an important part in assisting, promoting and
publicising the museum and their primary purpose remains to support both the Museum and HMS Victory financially and in various
other ways including work on specific projects, purchasing and collecting important items and artefacts and providing volunteers.
BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP
In return for their support members of the Friends receive a range of benefits and special privileges, particularly to assist them in using
and expanding their knowledge of the Museum, HMS Victory, the Royal Navy and the wider aspects of Britain’s great Maritime Heritage.
The many benefits are listed on the Friends website at: http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/support_friends_join.htm
MUSEUM & FRIENDS EVENTS
2014
Do come aboard and join us, you will be most welcome, complete the form below or the online application at:
http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/support_FriendsMembershipform.htm
Ab-Sail the Spinnaker! 18 April 2014
FRIENDS MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM
I/We wish to join the Friends of the Royal Naval Museum and HMS Victory as:
Single Annual Member.. .. .. ..£ 20 or more, annually, or Joint Annual member.. .. .. .. .£25 or more, annually
Single Life Member .. .. .. .. .. . £200 or more, or Joint Life Members .. .. .. .. .. ..£275 or more
On 18th April 2014 at 2pm the National Museum of
the Royal Navy will be holding a charity abseil at the
Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth, to help raise funds for
our new HMS-Hear My Story Galleries and as part of
our Public Appeal.
Full name and title in CAPITALS ………………………………………………………………………………………
Address ………………………………………………………………………………..……
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Post Code ……………………………………………………………………..……………
Signature: …………………………………………………………………………………
Please enclose a cheque for one year’s subscription, payable to the Friends of the RN Museum and HMS Victory
or, preferable, use the Banker’s Order Form below
GIFT AID DECLARATION
If you pay tax in the United Kingdom, please complete this Gift Aid Declaration.
I declare that all donations made by me to the Friends of the Royal Naval Museum and HMS Victory are to be treated as Gift Aid donations.
I confirm that I pay income tax or capital gains tax in the United Kingdom.
I will advise you if this ceases to be the case or if I change my name or address.
Signed ………………………………………………………………… Date ………………………20………
BANKER’S ORDER
Name & Address of Donor’s Bank
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
Please pay to the Friends of the RN Museum - (Bank Account No 10049576 - Sort Code: 16 19 28)
Royal Bank of Scotland PLC, Fareham Branch, 1-2 Westquay House, 20 West Street, Fareham, Hants. PO16 OLH
the sum of ………………..……………. on the……………..…day of ……………………….20………
And annually thereafter on the same day until further notice from my account No: …………………………………………………
Full name and title in CAPITALS:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Address: …………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Post Code …………………………………Signature ……………………………………………
Please print, sign and return this form to Roger Trise, Executive Secretary,
Friends of Royal Naval Museum & HMS Victory, Royal Naval Museum,
HM Naval Base (PP66) Portsmouth, Hants PO1 3NH
78
Scuttlebutt |
Spring 2014 Edition
Date ………………………20………
Set to open in May this year, HMS - Hear My Story is a
major exhibition, situated in the brand new Babcock
Galleries, which will tell the undiscovered stories of the
men, women and ships who have made the Royal Navy’s
history over the last century.
The Public Appeal is the culmination of the fundraising
activity which has been taking place over the last year and
invites the local Portsmouth community and NMRN
supporters to play a vital part in preserving national naval
heritage. As the opening of the new Galleries fast
approaches, hitting our goal is imperative.
At present Vice Admiral Sir Anthony Dymock KBE CB, the
Appeal’s Chairman, and Vice Admiral David Steel CBE,
Second Sea Lord, have courageously volunteered to
plummet 170 meters down the tower. Both hope to raise
large sums of money to help preserve the nation’s and
their own heritage for future generations to learn from,
enjoy and remember the heroes of the past. The third and
final fundraiser will be announced on social media soon.
It promises to be a spectacular event, so if you can, come
down and watch the abseil take place! There will be plenty
of NMRN staff on hand to chat to and answer any
questions you may have about the Museum and our
upcoming projects.
If you would like to sponsor our fearless volunteers
please visit our Just-Giving page
https://www.justgiving.com/nationalmuseumofthero
yalnavy or alternatively, you can send us your
donation here at:
Freepost RTHB-BZCY-CYSH,
NMRN, HM Naval Base (P66), Portsmouth, PO1 3NH.
Cheques need to be made payable to:
Royal Naval Museum.
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Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 79
EVENTS CALENDAR
EVENTS CALENDAR
Behind the Scenes Tours
HMS – First World War
Artefact Tour
Below HMS Victory’s
Water Line
Date: Wednesday 9th April
Time: 2pm to 3.30pm
A chance to get up close to some of our First World
War artefacts and take part in a fascinating tour of
the Museum stores.
Free event, booking essential as spaces are
limited. Please contact 02392 727595 or email
community@nmrn.org.uk for details.
Join one of HMS Victory’s tour guides for a unique
chance to go below the water line. Walk under 3500
tonnes of ship and view Victory’s keel at close range
for a completely different perspective of the ship.
HMS – Black Tot Day
Twilight Tour
All tours are free but must be booked in advance.
Only 15 places per tour. Contact 02392 839766 or
email: enquiries@historicdockyard.co.uk to reserve
a place.
Date: Thursday 31st July
Time: 6pm to 7.30pm
In recognition of Black Tot Day – the last day rum
was issued in the Navy – come and explore our
rum-related artefacts as part of this special tour.
You may even get a tot as well!
events
January – December 2014
Dates: Saturday 13th and
Sunday 14th September
Times: 10.30am and11.45am
1.30pm and 3pm
Enjoy a tour of the artefact and archive stores with
one of our curators and discover their highlights
among the thousands of items kept behind the
scenes.
All tours are free but must be booked in advance.
Contact 02392 839766 or email enquiries@
historicdockyard.co.uk to reserve a place.
2014
9 July
First Sea Lord’s lecture on Naval History and Strategy:
Point of the Spear, or Just the Shaft?
The Royal Navy in the First World War
Professor Eric Grove, Liverpool Hope University
Emma Nash
emma.nash@nmrn.org.uk
or write to:
The National Museum of the Royal Navy
HM Naval Base (PP66), Portsmouth
Hampshire PO1 3NH
80
Scuttlebutt |
Spring 2014 Edition
Free, booking essential. Please contact 02392
727595 or email community@nmrn.org.uk for
further information.
2014
p
11 June
1730-1830
HMS Victory: deconstructing the myth.
Repairs and alterations during Victory’s
harbour service period
A Baines, NMRN
The Politics of Protection:
The Royal Navy and the Atlantic World, 1756-1815
(in partnership with the University of Southampton)
This conference addresses the vital connections between the Royal Navy
and the British Atlantic empire, focusing on such themes as slavery,
abolition, war, revolution and imperial expansion in the period between
1756 and 1815.
For more information about this event, contact:
Dr John Mcaleer J.Mcaleer@soton.ac.uk
Dr Christer Petley C.Petley@soton.ac.uk
or Dr Duncan Redford duncan.redford@nmrn.org.uk or write to:
The National Museum of the Royal Navy, HM Naval Base (PP66),
Portsmouth, Hampshire PO1 3NH
The Anglo-German Naval Arms Race and
the First World War at Sea
This conference aims to explore the Anglo-German naval arms race during
the early twentieth century and the Great War at sea with an emphasis
prior to the Battle of Jutland.
To register an interest in attending this conference, contact
Dr Duncan Redford: duncan.redford@nmrn.org.uk
or write to: The National Museum of the Royal Navy
HM Naval Base (PP66), Portsmouth, Hampshire PO1 3NH
5, 6 September
Dates: Monday 31st March, 19th May
and 22nd September
Time: 1.30pm to 4.00pm
Following on from the naval tradition of ‘Make a
Mend’, join us throughout the year for these FREE
beginner craft sessions in the Victory Learning
Centre. Each session lasts 2 ½ hours and by the end
of it you will have learnt the basics and created a
small sample to take home!
31st March, Beginners knitting
19th May, Beginners crochet
22nd September, Beginners embroidery
Date: Saturday 12th April
Time: 10.30am to 1.30pm
Learn how to make felt and then investigate sailor
handicrafts from our collection as inspiration for
creating either a unique felt medal brooch, collar or
epaulette finished with a vintage naval button.
Cost £15 -including materials and refreshments.
Booking essential. Please contact 02392 727595
or email community@nmrn.org.uk for further
information.
Christmas Wreath Workshop
Date: Saturday 6th December,
Join us for this ever popular event. Work alongside
our florist to learn new techniques and skills
whilst creating a beautiful wreath from a range of
materials that is ideal for your home or to give as
a gift.
Cost £22 - including all materials and refreshments.
Booking essential. Please contact 02392 727595
or email community@nmrn.org.uk for further
information.
y
Faithful and attached companions: Sir Edward
Pellew and the Young Gentlemen of HMS
Indefatigable
L Campbell & H Noel-Smith, Independent scholars
19, 20 June
Make and Mend Craft
Afternoons
Free, booking essential. When you book we will
give you a list of materials to bring on the day or
provide you with a starter kit for £5. Please contact
02392 727595 or email community@nmrn.org.uk
for details.
Felting
Join us as we take the Museum on the road! From
craft to object-handling and dressing up we’ll be
bringing a range of activities, artefacts and fun to your
doorstep, all completely free of charge! As well as the
National Museum of the Royal Navy and HMS Victory,
there will be the Royal Navy Submarine Museum,
Discovery Centre, Fort Nelson, HMS Warrior, the Mary
Rose Museum and the Royal Marines Museum.
Attendance at this event is by ticket only.
To request tickets contact:
Pick up where you left off last autumn with our
knitting, crochet and embroidery refresher sessions.
For those who attended last autumn this is chance
to get tips or more guidance, and perhaps even
pick up dropped stiches. Alternatively, if you didn’t
come last time around but need help just pop into
our Make and Mend surgery. Don’t forget to bring
your work with you!
Date & Place: Thursday 20th February,
Nimrod Community Centre, Gosport, PO13 8BE
Time: 11am to 3pm
14 May
1730-1830
16, 17, 18 July
Special lecture
Join us behind the scenes to explore and investigate
our vast collection of historical photographs.
Date: Monday 10th March
Free event, all ages welcome. Look out for details in
the local press or contact 02392 727595 or email
,
2013-2014
2014
Date: Thursday 16th October
Time: 6pm to 7.30pm
Make and Mend Surgery
Sea Life Community Roadshow
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL NAVY AND HMS VICTORY
RESEARCH
PROGRAMME
HMS – Photography
Collection Twilight
Tour
Behind the Scenes
at the Museum
adult & community
Date: Thursday 11th to Sunday 15th
September
Times: 10.30am and 11.45am,
1.30pm and 3pm
Inspired Art! Workshops for Adults
Who burnt whose capital?
The Royal Navy and winning the War of 1812
This conference will explore the War of 1812 and the Royal Navy’s part in
it, its successes, its failures and how the Royal Navy contributed to British
national strategy and the winning of the war.
To register an interest in attending this conference, contact
Dr Duncan Redford: duncan.redford@nmrn.org.uk
or write to: The National Museum of the Royal Navy
HM Naval Base (PP66), Portsmouth, Hampshire PO1 3NH
families
families & children’s
children’s
events
events
Soulid
mam
Holidays
SSummer
ummer Holidays
HSummer
yser Holidays
b
HMS V
Victory
ictory Summer Fun
Investigate life on board HMS Victory by
identifying the mystery sounds, smells and
objects in our Ship’s Challenge. Dress up as a
member of the crew and make your own HMS
Victory souvenir to take home. Activities are
available on the following dates:
Free with valid ticket. Drop-in,
all ages welcome.
Au
Autumn
tumn Half
Half Term
Term
Date: Saturday 18th Octoberr,
Time: 11am-1pm and 2pm-4pm
Time:
Three excellent events have been organised for the Autumn and it is hoped that
Friends and their guests will support what are sure to be extremely interesting,
informative and sociable opportunities for meeting up with other Friends.
THURSDAY 18th SEPTEMBER
A day in Poole, visiting the RNLI HQ and Training School and Poole Lifeboat
Station. There will be a tour of the state-of-the-art facilities, with an opportunity to watch
training in progress. At the Station the 2 lifeboats, together with the full range of
equipment and kit, will be on display and volunteers will be on hand to describe its history
and current operational role. The cost of the day will be £30, to include coffee on arrival at
10.30am, the tours, lunch with splendid views across the harbour and a donation to the
Station’s operating fund. The site is very convenient for rail travel. If driving, details of
nearby parking will be sent on booking. Car sharing will be organised as appropriate.
WEDNESDAY 22nd OCTOBER
At the Royal Maritime Club.
‘Underpinning the Nation’s Security through the 21st century’
Captain Iain Greenlees will give a perspective on developments at Portsmouth Naval Base
during the next decade, including preparations for the new aircraft carriers - for which he
has personal remit. The evening will commence with canapés in the Victory Bar from
6.30pm, followed by Captain Greenlees’ presentation and discussion in the Nelson
Lounge at 7pm and then supper in the Horatio Restaurant at 8.15pm. The cost will be
£20. The venue is a few minutes from the Harbour rail and bus stations. Parking
arrangements will be advised on booking.
THURSDAY 20th NOVEMBER
At the Royal Maritime Club. ‘NMRN : The Way Forward . . . . . ‘
Admiral Sir Jonathan Band, Chairman of the Trustees of the National Museum of the
Royal Navy, will tell us how NMRN evolved, describe its achievements to date, together
with its current strategies and future plans. The Victory Bar will open for coffee and prelunch drinks at 11am and a 3-course lunch will be served at 12.30pm in the Horatio
Restaurant. Admiral Band’s talk will commence at 2.30pm in the Nelson Lounge and will
be followed by a discussion session.
Menu options will be sent out nearer the date. The Royal Maritime Club is in Queen
Street, Portsmouth, not far from the Historic Dockyard Victory Gate. If you will be
travelling from some distance, overnight accommodation at the Club is available to Friends
at the members’ rate. Call 02392 824 231. Parking arrangements will be advised on
booking.
All bookings will be acknowledged.
To book for the above event please detach and complete the form below
and send it with your cheque to:
David Baynes, 17, St.Thomas’s Street, Portsmouth, Hants, PO1 2EZ.
Please call 02392 831 461
or email baynes.david@btinternet.com with any queries.
Thursday 31st July
Thursday 7th August
Thursday 14th August
Thursday 21st August
Thursday 28th August
Trafalgar
rafalgar Challenge
T
FRIENDS OF THE ROYAL NAVAL MUSEUM
2014 EVENTS PROGRAMME
Museum by T
Torchlight
o
orchlight
Date: Wednesday 29th October
T
Time:
ime: 6pm-7.30pm
BOOKING FORM
I wish to book . . . . place(s) on the Poole Visit
on 8th September @ £30 per person.
I wish to book . . . . place(s) for Talk and Supper
on 22nd October @ £20 per person.
I wish to book . . . . place(s) for the Talk and Lunch
on 20th November @ £20 per person
What was it like to be on HMS Victory at the Battle
of Trrafalgar? Would you have made the same
decisions as Nelson? Take
a part
pa in our games and
quizzes to see if you can complete our Trafalgar
Challenge.
Get dressed up, grab a torch and come along to
the National Museum of the Royal Navy to explore
our galleries as darkness falls. Follow our Skeleton
Crew trail, handle some of our exciting artefacts
and take part in spooky arts and crafts.
I enclose a cheque for £ . . . . . payable to Friends of The Royal
Naval Museum.
Free with valid ticket. Drop-in, all ages welcome.
£2.50p per child, accompanying adults free, all
ges welcome, booking essential. TTelephone
elep
e
elephone
02392
ages
727587 or email families@nmrn.org.uk to book.
Name (Please print) :
Creepy Crawly Encounters
Ghost Ships and Skeleton
Crews
h Octoberr,
Date: Wednesday 29th
T
ime: 11am-1pm and 2pm-4pm
Time:
Date: Thursday 30th Octoberr,
T
Time:
ime: 11am-1pm and 2pm-4pm
Join Animal Encounters to meet some of the
strange and sometimes scary stowaways that hid
on ships as they travelled around the world. Come
face to face with snakes, scorpions and rats, and
find out about the pets sailors kept on board.
Join us on board HMS Victory to find out about
the ghost ships, scary crews and sea monsters that
haunted sailors in the past.
Free, drop-in, no ticket required, all ages welcome.
Free with valid ticket, drop-in, all ages welcome.
Address :
Telephone :
Signed :
Email :
Date :
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 81
BOOK REVIEWS
stretch over two pages (p524-525) and
should be contrasted with those on
Beresford (p96-97). Whether subsequent
volumes will be quite so interesting remains
to be seen, in any case it will require a
prodigious amount of work if Alastair
Wilson is going to tackle it all on his own. I
am not sure who this work will appeal to
but certainly naval historians, genealogists
and any serious students of twentiethcentury naval history.
John Roberts
A BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY
OF THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY
ROYAL NAVY
Volume 1 Admirals of the Fleet
and Admirals
by Alastair Wilson, published by Seaforth
at £30 (hard back 88 pages plus CD)
Alastair Wilson has embarked on a hugely
ambitious project using an interesting and
relatively new concept of book and CD
combined. This is the first volume,
described as a compendium, of a planned
six volume series covering twentieth
century naval officers from admiral of the
fleet to lieutenant-commander and below
(selected). Volume 2 ‘Vice-Admirals’ is in
the course of preparation and volume 3,
‘Rear-Admirals’ is in outline. This first
volume covers some 336 senior admirals
who have served since 1900.
The book is a very slim hard back, taking
less space on the book shelf and provides
the basic information to understand and
interpret the extensive data on the CD. The
7.66 MB CD has 1,479 pages of data (over
600,000 words). The admirals are covered
alphabetically in the special database
programme, using a standard data
template for each; this is in contrast with
Heathcote’s narrative style in ‘The British
Admirals of the Fleet 1734-1995’. Each
data section is set out with black for outline
headings and sections and blue for the
specific information contained within each.
Each entry has an interesting record of
service and many have a fascinating
‘general remarks’ section and it is this
latter section that many readers will find
most interesting. Reading through them
one comes across all sorts of gems of
information. The general remarks on Fisher
82
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Spring 2014 Edition
ANATOMY OF THE SHIP –
BATTLESHIP DREADNOUGHT
AND BATTLECRUISER HOOD
by John Roberts
John Roberts’s Anatomy of the Ship series
on the Dreadnought was first published in
1992 and that for the Hood in 1982. They
have now been updated and re-issued by
Conway Books in softback. It is to their
credit that the quality hasn’t suffered, but
the price has come down. Both books are
a mix of fascinating detailed line drawings;
nothing escapes minute examination from
awning stanchions to boiler design. With
an introductory section on the ships’
service and technical details of refits and
modernisations, these books should be the
primary source document for modelmakers,
and naval historians.
The Dreadnought was the ship that
revolutionised naval construction and
literally made fleets obsolete overnight.
With her efficient and effective main
armament layout and Parson turbines, she
was radical design. She is often referred to
as the ship constructed in a “year and a
day” at Portsmouth. Whilst there were
some basic design problems highlighted by
her first Captain, such as the siting of the
foremast so that spotting was obliterated
by funnel smoke, her trials were assessed
as very satisfactory. This is amazing given
her innovative nature. Dreadnought didn’t
take part in Jutland, but she did sink U-29.
This extraordinary forerunner of the
modern battleship was scrapped in 1920.
HMS Hood , or the “mighty ‘ood”, was the
epitome of the modern battlecruiser with
the contradictions of beautiful, powerful,
proportions masking a wealth of problems.
Her catastrophic loss in the action against
the Bismarck in 1941 shocked the nation,
not least because she was seen as the
ultimate image of British naval power.
There is an unfound rumour that her keel
was laid on 31 May 1916, the day of the
battle of Jutland; the records of John
Brown, her builders, show she was laid
down on 1 September 1916. The irony of a
launch date on the day which exposed the
fundamental weakness of the British
battlecruiser design would be too much.
Both books have some stunning photos to
accompany the line drawings; those on
Dreadnought are particularly good. The
subtitle to these reprints in soft back, “the
ultimate references to the world’s great
ships from the inside out” says it all.
BETWEEN HOSTILE SHORES –
Mediterranean Convoy Battles 1941-42
Britannia Naval Histories of World War
II £17.00
This book, edited by Michael Pearce, and
published as part of the BRNC naval
history series is essentially the reprinting of
the Admiralty Official History of the Malta
convoys of 1941 and 1942 including Op
Pedestal.
The convoys took place at time when
Malta’s strategic location was vital to the
war in the Mediterranean, providing a base
for submarine and aircraft attacks on
German convoys supplying the Afrika
Corps. Vulnerable to air attacks from both
Italian and German aircraft, submarines,
torpedo boats and heavy units of the Italian
Fleet, there was no question that every ship
had to be fought through every inch of the
way, particularly the stretch from Sardinia to
Malta, and the margins between success
and failure were wafer thin.
The accounts of the different convoys
include Excess with the crippling damage
to Illustrious, MG 1 from the Alexandria and
the Battle of Sirte where Vian’s cruisers
held off the Italian battleship Littorio and
heavy cruisers, the unsuccessful but valiant
Vigorous convoy and the heroic efforts of
Pedestal including the tanker Ohio,
perhaps the most famous of all the
convoys.
The Official Histories are supported by
excerpts from Despatches written by
Admirals Cunningham, Somerville and
Syfret, detailed track charts, and damage
reports on some of the ships involved.
The overwhelming impression of these
Histories is that they are eminently
readable; these are not dry accounts of
operations, but fascinating contemporary
history. Of particular note are the
comments by Vice Admiral Syfret on the
“conduct, courage and determination” of
the merchant ship crew.
In a concluding Comments and Reflections
chapter is an excellent 21st century
assessment, with comparisons to the Arctic
convoys, the importance of the diversion of
Axis air assets from the desert war and the
fact that the convoys illustrated above all
the “inexorable effect of sea power”.
In the words of the editor, “the story of the
Malta convoys may well be regarded with
by pride by the Royal Navy and Mercantile
Marines that took part”; I cannot sum it up
better. This is a marvellous and stimulating
read of an extraordinary piece of maritime
history which I trust both young Officers will
digest appropriately! Very highly
recommended.
BRITISH AIRCRAFT CARRIERS
DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND
SERVICE HISTORIES
By David Hobbs, published by Seaforth
at £45 (hard back 384pages)
David Hobbs, an ex-naval pilot and Curator
of the Fleet Air Arm Museum has written
some fifteen books but this masterly
reference book on British aircraft carriers
must be his most ambitious to date. Very
well designed and superbly produced by
Seaforth it provides an extensively detailed
history of British aircraft carriers from the
very first clumsy, experimental, hybrid
conversions, right up to the latest new
Queen Elizabeth class under construction,
the biggest warships to be built in the
United Kingdom for the Royal Navy.
The first three chapters deal with the early
history covering Admiralty concerns at a
particularly difficult time with the Royal
Navy’s huge surface Fleet coming under
increasing threats from modern technology
with torpedoes, fast attack craft and
submarines. Admiralty plans were set back
in 1909 when the first biplane, designed by
two naval submariners, crashed.
Nevertheless experimentation with naval
aviation continued and a wooden take off
structure was constructed on the battleship
HMS Africa. Various seaplane carriers were
built but the first real aircraft carrier came
when Fisher’s white elephant, the light
battlecruiser, HMS Furious was converted
and later the other two light battlecruisers,
HMS Glorious and HMS Courageous were
completely reconstructed as carriers 192430. Chapter seven deals with the Royal
Navy’s first purpose designed and built
aircraft carrier HMS Hermes, launched in
1919, and shows how naval aviation had
come a long way in just ten years. In
chapter eight a useful survey of carrier
development in other navies is provided
and the section on the Imperial Japanese
Navy makes most interesting reading
contrasting with the US Navy.
The book then devotes a chapter to each
major class of carriers, some eighteen
classes in all. A useful comparison with
carriers in other navies, showing the huge
rise in US naval aviation, is also provided.
There is a fascinating chapter on Project
‘Habbakuk’, the bizarre plan to use a
gigantic ‘iceberg aircraft carrier’, an idea
which enthused Churchill and Mountbatten
but after nearly two years work proved
impossible, though it raised awareness of
the importance of size for carrier
operations. As well as tables of technical
data for each class David Hobbs recounts
the detailed histories of each ship, which
makes most interesting reading, though
surprisingly the chapter on HMS Hermes
has only one brief paragraph on the
Falkland’s Conflict and the chapter on
HMS Invincible has only half a short
paragraph, not that it matters as so much
has been written elsewhere on that conflict
and more details would have taken up
unnecessary space.
Profusely illustrated with photographs and
line drawings throughout including a fold
out four-page gatefold of the original plans
of HMS Ark Royal (1956), this outstanding
book is a tour de force and will clearly be
the acknowledged, essential, reference
source on British naval aviation for many
years to come. Most strongly
recommended.
John Roberts
BRITISH NAVAL SWORDS
& SWORDSMANSHIP
By John McGrath & Mark Barton
This past decade has seen a significant
increase in the hobby of collecting edged
weapons. Militaria has always had its
enthusiasts and thus collectors and
researchers but within that general and
wide description the edged weapon
collector has been in something of a
minority within what is itself a relatively
small community. Bayonet collecting is
probably the most prolific with prices that
are still achievable for the beginner and
usually within reach of anyone who is
prepared to make the occasional sacrifice
but swords have always seemed to be on
the next level up. I well recall the late
author and military historian Richard
Holmes explaining the lengths to which he
had had to go to put aside sufficient funds
to acquire a particular French cavalry sabre
at auction when the money should have
been allocated to more mundane (and
family) activities.
The naval sword is a narrow but rich area
of interest and not before time a new
reference book has been published. 'British
Naval Swords and Swordsmanship’ by
John McGrath and Mark Barton provides a
thorough and detailed introduction to the
topic, not just for the collector but for
anyone with an interest in the traditions,
customs and history of Britain's Senior
Service. The authors are well qualified, the
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 83
one a retired Captain and the other a
serving Commander in the Royal Navy who
both represented the Service in fencing.
Their work is not only a veritable treasure
trove of facts and information about
swords, cutlasses, dirks and cutlass
bayonets but also about their use, care and,
above all, history. Did you know when and
in what circumstances a naval sword was
last surrendered to a superior enemy? You
may be surprised at the answer.
Easy to read and presented in logical
chapters that are themselves interspersed
with relevant plates and all combined with
excellent photographs and illustrations, the
work is rounded off with a series of useful
appendices that make this a wellresearched and authoritative work that,
above all, is affordable. However as the
Introduction makes plain, it does not set
out to challenge or compete with the
leading works on the subject but instead it
complements them by whetting the
appetite for more and giving the fledgling
collector a head start on what to look for.
This is a book that will appeal to anyone
with an interest in the Royal Navy, edged
weapons or just naval history and no library
should be without it.
Charles Ackroyd
THE GATHERING STORM
The Naval War in Northern Europe
September 1939 – April 1940
By Geirr H Haarr, published by Seaforth
at £35 (hard back 550pages)
This is Geirr Haarr’s third volume on the
German invasion of Norway and will be of
particular interest to naval readers as it
concentrates on the naval side of
operations. The first volume covered
Operation ‘Weserubung’ and won much
praise, I attended the Hampshire Libraries
awards where Haarr was deservedly
awarded first prize by the late military
historian Richard Holmes for his first
volume.
This third volume is even longer and more
detailed. His research must have been very
extensive indeed as it is quite amazing the
amount of information that he has
unearthed and then packed into this
volume, including the names of people in
the background in many of the
photographs. I thought I knew the full story
but have learned so much more reading
this book. Though the title gives a start
date of ‘September 1939’ in fact he sets
the scene before then very well with early
chapters on the ‘participants’, briefing on
the Allied navies and an excellent chapter
on the building of the Kriegsmarine
including German naval operations during
84
Scuttlebutt |
Spring 2014 Edition
the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 39). He then
takes us through all the various naval
events and operations in northern waters in
that early period of the war, including an
enthralling account of U-47 torpedoing the
battleship Royal Oak in Scapa Flow. All the
battles of the campaign are covered in
much detail with clear maps.
As if this was not enough there are over a
hundred pages of appendices and notes,
packed with further information such as
details of every naval and merchant ship
lost in that period, well over 500 and where
they were sunk or destroyed. At the start
he quotes the ‘Naval Staff History’: ‘To have
anything more than entertainment value
Naval maritime history must be analytical
and critical. And it must, in so far as it is
humanly possible, be truthful’. This book is
an excellent example of that.
Profusely illustrated with masses of
photographs and maps throughout, this
outstanding book completes the trilogy and
forms a splendid reference source on this
important campaign. Most strongly
recommended.
John Roberts
HUNTER KILLERS
By Iain Ballantyne, published by Orion
at £20 (hard back 482 pages)
Ian Ballantyne is to be congratulated on
tackling this very difficult, sensitive and
much neglected but very important side of
naval operations since the Second World
War. These highly dangerous and secret
missions conducted by our submarines in
hostile Soviet waters have been shrouded
in mystery and concealed from the general
public by strict secrecy rules. The result is
that a generation of courageous
submariners, who have faced all sorts of
perils during many vital dangerous covert
missions, have been shamefully neglected
and denied the public recognition and
acclaim they most certainly deserve. It is
only right that their story should be told and
in this book Ian Ballantyne does that
remarkably well considering the severe
restrictions that are still in place concerning
such matters and the Silent Service omertà
that prevents them talking about the reality
behind the official cover stories. As
Ballantyne states, when referring to an
incident when the hunter killer nuclear
submarine Warspite reportedly collided with
an “iceberg”: ‘Warspite’s logbook entries for
October, November and December 1968 to
this day remain classified and closed to
public scrutiny. That surely wouldn’t be
necessary if she really had hit ice?’
The book tackles the story in a
chronological way and is based on firsthand accounts from those brave enough to
reveal a certain amount of information
about what happened on those dangerous
covert missions. The story starts with the
northern intelligence gathering patrols
conducted by specially adapted
conventional diesel submarines and covers
such events as the extremely dangerous
Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962 when
the Cold War came perilously close to
being a third World War with nuclear
devastation. The cramped, rather basic and
rudimentary living conditions in those early
submarines are vividly portrayed in
Ballantyne’s lucid narrative style. He goes
on to deal with the introduction of nuclear
powered submarines, both the hunter
killers, whose job it was to find Soviet
submarines, and gain vital intelligence, and
the deterrent, ballistic nuclear missile
submarines, known in the Service as
“Bombers” but described by Ballantyne as
“Atomic battleships”, whose job it was to
keep as far away as possible from any
other submarines. Submarine operations
during the Falkland’s Conflict are well
covered and make good reading, though
not quite as exciting as some of the much
more dangerous patrols conducted in
Soviet waters. The importance and dangers
of operating in extreme conditions as well
as under the ice are all well brought out.
This excellent book goes someway to
giving long overdue recognition to our
submariners for their brave and vital role in
helping to win the Cold War. It is an
exciting, thought provoking and very
instructive book, most strongly
recommended.
John Roberts
Basic technical specifications are set out in
Appendix one and each chapter includes a
complete chronology of service.
The book is fully illustrated throughout with
seventy-eight black and white photographs.
A high quality book covering the stories of
a most successful class of anti-submarine
frigates, well recommended.
John Roberts
LOCH CLASS FRIGATES
By Patrick Boniface (published by
Maritime Books at £25) (hard back, 248
pages).
With a fine cover painting of HMS Lock
Killisport by Ossie Jones Maritime Books
adds another important volume to its
growing reference library of classic ship
classes. Patrick Boniface is well qualified to
write this book, which is his third in this
particular series. The Lock class frigates
were highly successful and amongst the
best anti-submarine escorts built by Britain
during the Second World War. They were
designed at a time when the Battle of the
Atlantic against the German U-boats was
beginning to turn and the Admiralty took
advantage of new technology to design
anti-submarine specialist frigates, ocean
going with good sea keeping qualities. The
result was the Loch class. Though the war
ended before the full planned construction
programme was completed many of those
which were commissioned served on, some
into the 1960s. At the outbreak of the
Korean War nine ships were taken out of
reserve and formed two squadrons mostly
to free up other ships to serve in Korean
waters and some saw action in the Korean
War (1951-53). Seven of the Loch class
frigates underwent a modernisation
programme in the 1950s with improved
guns being fitted and a director on the
bridge. They served on patrol duties in
distant isolated regions of the world, many
in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean,
whilst the unmodified ships were
decommissioned.
This record of the twenty-eight ships of the
class completed and commissioned follows
the usual format of devoting a chapter to
the story of each frigate. Appendix two
provides details of all the other Lock class
ships completed as Bay class frigates (20),
despatch vessels(2), HQ ships (2)and
survey vessels (4) as well as fifty-seven
cancelled frigates, almost a hundred had
been planned and laid down by 1945.
but Susan Rose makes the important point
that actually most service required of
England’s navy was the transport of men
and war materiel to the scene of conflict,
though occasions did arise when an
engagement with the enemy at sea did
become unavoidable. The key battles,
Damme (1213), Dover (1217), Sluys (1340),
Les Espagnols sur Mer also known as the
battle of Winchelsea (1350), La Rochelle
(1372) and Harfleur (1415) have a section
each. Those few sea battles over the
course of four and a half centuries rather
contrasts with the much greater numbers
of famous sea battles in later years. As to
be expected the book is completed with
good bibliography, notes and brief timeline
of notable dates. The book is well
illustrated throughout with maps,
photographs, and plenty of contemporary
pictures, quite a few in colour. Well
recommended to students of English naval
history.
John Roberts
ENGLAND’S MEDIEVAL NAVY
1066 - 1509 Ships, Men & Warfare
By Susan Rose, published by Seaforth
at £30 (hard back 208 pages)
Susan Rose is a specialist in medieval
naval warfare and has written several
books on the subject. This new book
provides a good focus on a period of
English naval history, which is often
overlooked as naval historians tend to
concentrate much more on later more
dramatic periods. There is therefore much
to be learned from a study of this period. In
chapter one Susan Rose tackles the
question of sources for medieval maritime
history explaining the importance of the
chroniclers of the period, particularly the
official legal and financial records of the
time but she also considers illustrations,
tapestry, coins, models, carvings and
wrecks.
The book tackles the subject by topics
rather than by a chronological narrative
style, with chapters on ships and ship types,
shipbuilding and shore facilities, resources
of the crown, medieval mariners, corsairs
and commanders and the navies of other
European states. I would have expected a
little more detail on Richard I’s vast fleet
constructed to convey the Third Crusade.
Rather surprisingly war at sea is all covered
in one short chapter (number seven) and
much of that is given over to illustrations,
NAVAL ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS
& GUNNERY
By Norman Friedman, published by
Seaforth at £45 (hard back 399pages)
Norman Friedman, one of the leading
military analysts and naval historians has
produced yet another splendid book on
naval weaponry. This new book is a
companion volume to his highly successful
‘Naval Firepower’, which dealt with surface
gunnery, and ranks with his encyclopaedic
reference book on the Naval Weapons of
World War One.
The book starts by setting out the evolving
threat of air attack on naval forces and
explains the complexity of making antiaircraft fire effective against fast attacking
aircraft. The next part deals with the
different approaches to solving the
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 85
problems, examining the solutions
developed during the inter-war years by
the Royal Navy, the US Navy and the
Imperial Japanese Navy with a chapter on
each. Between the wars the impact of the
depression and severe economic
pressures on defence budgets leading to
inadequate air defences prior to the
outbreak of war are clearly shown. The
book also claims that the Royal Navy was
the most alert to the air threat but its
systems were too ambitious and were
inadequate because they tried to achieve
too much. Then before moving on to the
war Friedman makes a brief survey of
developments in other European navies.
The next major section covers the
experiences of the different navies at war,
again with separate chapters on the Royal
Navy, US Navy, and Axis Navies. At the
beginning of the war the Royal Navy was
by far the most prepared for anti-aircraft
defence but nevertheless the fleet was
woefully short of AA guns. When the
Italians were overrun in North Africa large
numbers of Italian Breda AA guns were
captured, which proved invaluable in
protecting the Mediterranean Fleet.
Combat experience is set out covering
some of the main failures of AA
defences, such as the loss of the Prince
of Wales and Repulse, Operation
Pedestal and PQ18. The USN experience
is fully set and even has a section on
‘Defence against Kamikazes’.
The book is then completed by a rather
surprisingly brief chapter on post-war
developments, which almost looks as if
the work had grown too big and Norman
Friedman was in haste to complete it but
in reality it is the case that missiles
increasingly took over from guns as the
prime anti-aircraft defence in the navies
of today, although automatic guns of
varying sizes still provide a close range
‘last ditch’ means of defence against
aircraft and incoming missiles. Also rather
surprisingly I could find no mention of the
AA gunnery battles fought during the
Falklands Conflict.
In typical Friedman style the book is
completed with seventy pages of very
detailed notes, and a gun data section
designed to cover every conceivable
question. Although highly technical the
book is written in a way to make it easily
understandable to the layman.
Magnificently illustrated with photographs
and drawings throughout this outstanding
book is exceptional and will clearly be the
essential, reference source on naval antiaircraft guns and gunnery. This
companion volume is most highly
86
Scuttlebutt |
Spring 2014 Edition
recommended for technical experts, naval
historians and enthusiastic amateurs.
John Roberts
NELSON, NAVY & NATION
The Royal Navy and the British people
1688-1815
Acknowledging that Nelson still remains
for many the enduring symbol of British
naval power, this book traces the
inextricable links between the history of
the British people and the Royal Navy in
the period from the arrival of William of
Orange in 1688 to the defeat of
Napoleon. Published to accompany a
new exhibition at the National Maritime
Museum, the contributors are a veritable
Who’s Who of current naval history
writers.
Nicholas Rodger is one of the essayists
covering social issues from the Navy’s
impact on culture to life afloat. The essay
by Roland Pietsch graphically illustrates
the horrendous conditions during battle,
although major fleet sea battles were
infrequent. Officers were expected to be
professional, but the rewards could be
high, with prize money and accolades.
For the Lower Deck, “Jolly Jack Tar” was
an object of sentimental affection, and
although his life was rough and tough, it
was relatively harmonious; interestingly,
only 16% of the Navy was pressed in the
Revolutionary Wars. The Navy remained
the bulwark against invasion, and victories
gave rise to a plethora of commemorative
plates that make modern day Royal
wedding memorabilia look understated.
Brian Lavery writes on the naval
dockyards, describing the innovative
nature of dockyard organisation,
epitomised by Brunel’s blockmills in
Portsmouth. He also tells of shipwrights
being allowed to take home “offcuts” –
hence “chips on their shoulder”! Andrew
Lambert, who has written a biography of
Nelson, produces a tour de force essay
on Nelson. His theme is that Nelson’s
genius was developed through “patient
study” of his commanders such as Hood
and Jervis, and constant reflection”. He
states that whilst any competent British
admiral of the day could have won
Trafalgar, only Nelson, with his “superior
intelligence focussed through a lifelong
dedication to professional education”,
could win such a decisive strategic victory.
The final essay is by Roger Knight on life
after Trafalgar, highlighting the role of the
Royal Navy in maintaining naval
supremacy and allowing trade to flourish.
Collingwood, Saumerez, Pellew, all
demonstrated the post Trafalgar strength
of the Royal Navy, which by 1815
comprised 50% of world naval tonnage.
What this book admirably portrays is the
way the nation’s progress in the “long
18th century” was dominated by the
success – or otherwise as in the case of
Byng – of the Navy. The influence of the
Navy on everything from culture to
industrial improvements is expertly
covered in a highly readable fashion.
Lavishly illustrated and well presented,
this book serves to remind people of the
legacy that is more than just that of
Nelson, but that of the Royal Navy of the
day. A marvellous book and highly
recommended.
SEAFORTH WORLD
NAVAL REVIEW 2014
Edited by Conrad Waters, published
by Seaforth Publishing at £30
(Hardcover 192 pages)
BRITISH WARSHIPS & AUXILIARIES
2014/2015
By Steve Bush, published by Maritime
Books at £8.99 (soft back, 121 pages).
For the busy reader who wants to keep
abreast of current naval affairs and
particularly Royal Navy matters, but who
does not have the time or money for the
classic reference, ‘Jane’s Fighting Ships’
(£705) then these two annuals taken
together provide all the necessary
information and are most strongly
recommended.
The 2014 edition of Seaforth’s World Naval
Review, edited by Conrad Waters and
written by an impressive group of
international contributors, including Norman
Friedman and David Hobbs, now joined by
Paul Sweeney, Ian Johnson and Ross Gillett.
This fifth edition with its selective, executive
style overview is again divided into four
sections, Brief Maritime Overview, World
Fleet Reviews, Significant Ships and
Technological Reviews. The Royal Navy
features highly in this edition.
The initial brief overview, by way of
introduction, sets the scene with useful data
tables on Defence Expenditure and Major
Fleet Strengths. Conrad Waters points out
that whilst the USN remains the
unchallenged blue-water power it confronts
similar problems to those faced by the Royal
Navy before the First World War, attempting
to balance limited resources against
growing threats. Nevertheless he considers
that the USN is achieving an adequate
match between numbers and technology.
He also claims that ‘the Royal Navy is
making meaningful progress in recovering
from the cutbacks imposed in 2010 (SDSR)
BUT further pressures on the defence
budget remains a threat.
The individual Fleet Reviews are divided into
regional groupings, starting with USN and
South America and finishing with Europe
and Russia but also include special reviews
of the Royal New Zealand Navy (‘The Best
Small-Nation Navy’) and the Royal Navy
(‘Mind the Gaps’). The first class eleven
page Royal Navy review, by Richard Beedall
assesses the Fleet three years after the
Strategic Defence & Security Review. He
states that the ‘downsized Royal Navy is
having to meet its continuing world-wide
commitments with no fixed wing aircraft
carrier, just nineteen frigates and destroyers
and morale has been badly hit by
redundancies reducing trained strength to
just 24,400 men. It is proving impossible to
reconcile the mismatch between the
demands on the Royal Navy and its reduced
means and capability gaps accepted by the
government. Nevertheless he points out
positively that the Royal Navy is in the midst
of a major re-equipment programme (new
destroyers, submarines, tankers and
helicopters) and good progress is being
made with the two new aircraft carriers.
The Significant Ships section covers an
excellent profile of the new Japanese
19,000 ton ‘Through-deck Destroyers’ of the
Hyuga class. These ships operate
helicopters and can accommodate an air
group of ten helicopters. They look
remarkably similar to the British ‘Throughdeck Cruisers’ of the Invincible class and a
further class of two bigger ships has been
ordered for delivery next year and two years
later. Other profiles cover the new Danish
frigates, German submarines and the USN
JHSV-1 (Joint High Speed Vessels)
programme.
The Technological Reviews cover the Royal
Navy’s Type 45 (Daring class destroyers),
the latest developments with torpedoes by
Norman Friedman and an overview of world
naval aviation by David Hobbs. Again the
book is laid out to Seaforth's very high
standard and has many excellent
photographs, data tables and clear summary
boxes. This is a must for all those wishing to
keep up with world naval affairs.
The latest edition of Maritime Books well
established and authoritative annual of
British Warships & Auxiliaries covers
warships, aircraft, weapons, Fleet auxiliaries
and a whole range of support ships of the
Royal Navy. It is a handy sized reference
book, attractively illustrated in full colour
throughout and covers all the basic
information needed to keep up with the size
and shape of the present Royal Navy.
For regular readers the most interesting part
is the overview at the beginning by Steve
Bush, which provides a very good, concise
summary of the state of the Royal Navy and
current issues. He points out that the
proposed streamlining of the fleet under
SDSR was no more than window dressing
designed to conceal yet more savage
defence cuts. He highlights the serious gap
caused by the ludicrous decision to removal
the vital carrier strike capability. With the
withdrawal of the Harrier and
decommissioning of HMS Ark Royal, the
UK has been left perilously exposed until
the new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft
carriers enter service with the F-35B
VSTOL Lightning aircraft. Steve Bush
exposes the full story including the costly
fiasco over which version of the F-35 to
operate from the carriers.
The main sections are backed up with
detailed notes and the chapters on the
‘Ships for the future Fleet’, which includes
the Type 26 frigate, and future weapons
provide useful background to keep readers
up to speed. It is sad to notice the absence
of the Type 42 destroyers, other than a
passing reference in the final chapter ‘At the
end of the line’. This primer on the Royal
Navy is excellent value and strongly
recommended.
John Roberts
THROUGH ALBERT’S EYES (by
A.Bentley-Buckle, Whittles Publishing,
ISBN 978-1-84995-066-4, £16.99)
This is Volume 2 of ‘The British Navy at War
and Peace’ series edited by Captain Peter
Hore. The title is strange until you know that
Tony Bentley-Buckle was a POW in the
German naval prison camp, Marlag ‘O’.
‘Albert RN’ was the dummy prisoner made to
enable their escape.
Cadet Bentley-Buckle joined as a special
entry cadet in January 1939. In HMS
Dunedin he was the Officer-in-Charge of a
boarding party taking command of a
Swedish cargo vessel and piloting her
through the minefields into Scapa Flow.
Volunteering for special service, he was a
‘Beachmaster’ during the invasion of Italy.
He then helped Allied POWs escape, using
surrendered Italian MTBs before being
captured by the Germans; he escaped but
was later betrayed by an Italian for a bounty
reward.
After the war he sailed an old ketch to
Mombasa. His father had an ex-Navy MFV
which Tony sailed back to Mombasa and
sold to the Fisheries Department. In
Trincomalee, he bought another MFV and
three submerged MFVs. These started his
trading venture which developed into trading
between Africa and Europe using 15,000
ton vessels.
He lived life to the full; piloted his Piper
Comanche to conduct business and the
plane came in handy for holidays. He
represented East Africa sailing in the 1960
Olympics and he sailed his 73-foot
Bermudian cutter on a 2,000 miles to the
Seychelles. He never entirely retired and
spent his final years in his lovely home in
Beaulieu. I’m so glad Tony wrote his
autobiography before he died peacefully
in 2010.
JMB
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 87
Letters to the
SCUTTLEBUTT
Editor
We welcome letters to the magazine
so do please write if you have a
point of interest to share.
Letters can be emailed to the editor
(jaorob@tiscali.co.uk)
or posted to:
The Editor, ‘Scuttlebutt’,
c/o The Friends of the
National Museum of the
Royal Navy (Portsmouth),
HM Naval Base (PP66),
Portsmouth PO1 3NH.
Henry and Stephen Harwood are producing a book of approx
120 pages entitled ‘Harwood and the Battle of the River Plate –
including a brief biography’. The events leading up to the
encounter of the three cruisers with the German pocket
battleship Admiral Graf Spee on 13th December 1939 are
explained followed by a narrative of the battle which drove the
Graf Spee to seek Shelter in the Uruguayan port of Montevideo
and subsequently to scuttle herself. There is discussion on how
and why the memory of the battle still stimulates books and films,
three quarters of a century later and pays tribute to the Veterans
Associations, the British Uruguayan Society and to the town of
Ajax, which have helped keep the story alive. The book will be
available from 1st April from the author: tel 02392 632494 or
email scpharwood@gmail.com or to Captain SCP Harwood,
Royal Navy at Hunters Cottage, West Street, Hambledon, PO7
4RW, Hampshire. Cheques for £6 (inc p & p) made payable to
HMS AJAX and River Plate Veterans Association.
RJS
Dear Editor,
Dear Sir,
Just received the autumn 'Scuttlebutt', for which very many
thanks. I'll enjoy reading it, I'm sure, especially the article on the
Anglo-German naval race.
Just one thing I've spotted (as I'm sure many other readers will
also spot). In the article on the Indonesian Confrontation, or page
62, there is a photograph captioned, "HMS Bulwark
(Aircraftcarrier) and HMS Tidereach (Cruiser) " Surely not? At
the risk of being a pedant, shouldn't this be "HMS Bulwark
(Aircraft Carrier) and RFA Tidereach (Fleet Replenishment
Tanker)”? Apologies for picking this up.
I have just received that latest edition of “Scuttlebutt” in the post
and what a great magazine it is, it gets better and better!
I must point out however that on page 62 covering the
Indonesian Confrontation, the caption for the picture reads HMS
Bulwark [ Aircraftcarrier] &HMS Tidereach [cruiser] As far as I
know there was never a Cruiser of this name and it is not a
cruiser alongside of Bulwark. I believe it is RFA Tidereach [
tanker ]doing a RAS [refuel at sea ] with HMS Bulwark?
Fantastic read and quality pictures, keep up the good work!
Kind regards,
David Pickett (Cllr) Maidstone
Andy Field
Dear Mr Roberts
Many thanks for pointing this out, many of our readers
also spotted the same errors and wrote in to tell us. At
least it shows that lots of people are actually reading
‘Scuttlebutt’ - Ed
HMS AJAX and River Plate Veterans Association
During 2014, the Association will mark the 75th anniversary of
the Battle with three key events. Funds are being raised to
finance a memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum.
Approval has been given and a site allocated by the NMA and
the Dedication is planned for 1130 on Saturday 12th April 2014.
In June, Members of the Association will travel to the town of
Ajax, named after the cruiser, near Toronto as they mark the
anniversary. The highlight will be the presentation to the town of
Commodore Henry Harwood’s Admiral’s uniform in addition to
talks by Jonathan Harwood, the Commodore’s grandson. The
final event will be a lunch to be held in Portsmouth on Saturday
13th December.
The Association is keen that crew members and their families of
the various commissions of both HMS AJAX, EXETER and
ACHILLES, who are not already members of our Associations,
attend these celebrations and also support the appeal for funds.
There is a website www.hmsajax.org and an email address of
h.m.s.ajax.rpv@gmail.com which contain more useful information
about these events and how donations can be made.
88
Scuttlebutt |
Spring 2014 Edition
On page 51 of the Autumn 2013 edition of Scuttlebutt there is a
fine picture of H M S Cleopatra.
I served, as a Midshipman RNVR, in Cleo in 1953!
Is there any chance of me purchasing a copy of the picture?
My Friends membership number is 3286.
Regards,
Bob Hastie
Dear Sir,
I very much enjoyed reading the articles about the coming of the
Great War in the recent editions of ‘Scuttlebutt’. I have always
been fascinated by the naval battles of the First World War,
particularly the Battle of Jutland because my Grandfather fought
in the battle.
He joined the Indefatigable class battlecruiser HMS New
Zealand in the first battlecruiser squadron in December 1914. He
was onboard in time to be present at the Battle of the Dogger
Bank the following month. He was still serving onboard her but in
the second battlecruiser squadron when she took part with
Beattie’s battlecruisers at the Battle of Jutland at the end of May
1916.
As a stoker my grandfather would have been in the bowels of the
ship with little idea of what was going on up top. From the
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 89
Letters to the
SCUTTLEBUTT
Editor
hurried orders for full speed, violent alterations of course and the
sound of the big guns firing he would have been only too well
aware that the battlecruisers were engaging the enemy in a major
action. Deep in the engine and boiler room they would have been
working in unbearable heat, shovelling coal and hearing the
enormous explosions, first of HMS Indefatigable blowing up
immediately astern of them and then a short while later HMS
Queen Mary, blowing up ahead of them. With such terrible
explosions ahead and astern they must have feared they could
suffer the same fate at any moment. Being down below they
would never have had any chance of escape and they would all
have known that. In 1918 he transferred to the Lion class
battlecruiser HMS Princess Royal in the first battlecruiser
squadron.
Grandfather survived the war and went on to be a deep sea
diver, but he was invalided out of the Navy on 24th July 1919 at
Haslar having lost his right hand during a diving accident. It is
rather ironic that he survived right through the war and fought in
two great sea battles only to be invalided out in an accident
shortly after it was all over!
Response from the Admiralty Librarian:
We can give an exact time, at least as far as the Royal Navy is
concerned. Use of ‘port’ to replace the older ‘larboard’ is
something that happened over time, naturally, but the Admiralty
did come to an official decision on the matter, promulgated in
Admiralty Circular no.2 of 22 November 1844, which reads as
follows:
“It having been represented to my Lords Commissioners of the
Admiralty, that the word “PORT” is frequently, although not
universally, substituted on board Her Majesty’s Ships for the
world “LARBOARD”, and as the want of a uniform practice in
this respect may lead to important and serious mistakes, and the
distinction between “Starboard” and “Port” is so much more
marked than that between “Starboard” and “Larboard”, it is their
Lordships’ direction that the word “LARBOARD” shall no longer
be used to signify Left on board any of Her Majesty’s Ships and
Vessels.
By Command of their Lordships,
(Signed) SIDNEY HERBERT.”
Jenny Wraight
Naval Historical Branch | Royal Navy
Dear Editor,
Many thanks for the latest edition of Scuttlebutt. What an
excellent publication it has now become. Just a small point: the
list of council members on page 4 does not seem to have caught
up with the fact that our patron has now attained 5 star rank!
Yours faithfully,
Regards
Dave Howell - Gosport
Andrew Rutherford - His Honour Judge Andrew Rutherford
Bristol Civil Justice Centre
Dear Sir,
Exiting Portsmouth Harbour in winter.
The cold, very blustery January mornings this year
reminded me of going out of Portsmouth Harbour as the
foc’sle officer of HMS Starling (1956) and one’s hands freezing
as we were never allowed to wear gloves. I was fallen in up in
the “eyes” of the ship looking forward. I know that the Chief
Stoker operating the capstan – (known to all as ‘Dad’) used to
come up on those cold mornings with thick layers of newspaper
under his greatcoat.
Once clear of harbour I used to give the lads PT to keep warm
and on the first occasion, as we were hidden from the bridge by
the gun baffle, the captain thought the loud rumbling of running
on the spot meant that we had run aground!
Yours faithfully,
David Gunn
‘LARBOARD v ‘PORT’
Dear Sir,
I write regularly for the CS Forester Society's journal.
The editor - a good (Dutch) friend has asked,
when did Larboard become port?
Can you help?
I suspect it wasn't an exact time!
HRH The Prince of Wales was indeed promoted in the
summer last year. A good judgment handed down by His
Honour! We will get there “with a little help from our
Friends” - Ed
Dear Editor,
First, congratulations on ‘Scuttlebutt’ – it really is interesting and
informative even to an octogenarian naval historian like me.
I assume the article on Confrontation is yours? I just missed it at
either end (HM Ships Torquay and Hermes) but with a lot of time
with the Fleet Air Arm have a number of non PC stories about the
different attitudes between the services.
However, thoroughly enjoyed the article but (there has to be
one!) The cruiser HMS Tidereach in the first picture and a pity
the Hermes photo was not as she was then. Forgive a grumpy
old man – I have similar problems from time to time with Navy
News!
Yours,
Julian Loring
Commander
The Friends of the Royal Naval Museum
is a Registered Charity No. 269387
Royal Navy and
HMS Victory, Portsmouth
is a Registered Charity No. 1126283-1
M ake a difference in the future:
remember the museum in your will now
Council would like to take this opportunity to
encourage all Friends to consider remembering
the Friends or the Museum in your will. It costs you nothing
now, but every gift, however small,
will make a difference in the future.
We cannot offer legal advice,
but if you would like further information, please contact
the Museum on Tel: 0 2 3 9 2 7 2 7 5 6 7
Scuttlebutt is edited by: John Roberts
The Friends of the Royal Naval M useum and HM S Victory
National M useum of the Royal Navy
HM Naval Base (PP66), Portsmouth PO1 3NH
Tel: 023 9272 7562
Friends direct Tel: 023 9225 1589
E-mail: rnm.friends@btinternet.com
Find us at www.royalnavalmuseum.org
‘Scuttlebutt’ gained national recognition as winner of the BAFM * award for the best Friends
magazine 2012. In 2013 ‘Scuttlebutt’ was nominated for the ‘Desmond Wettern prize’
in the British Maritime Media awards. (*British Association of Friends of Museums)
Photographs courtesy of the National Museum of the Royal Navy
(© NMRN Crown copyright) unless otherwise stated
In Memoriam
We were most sorry to hear the very sad news of the passing of the following:
Mr Trevor Hughes, a long and loyal supporter of the Royal Naval Museum, HMS Victory
and the Friends who served with Captain Don Beadle on the Council of Friends
Our condolences go out to his family, friends and colleagues.
Many thanks for taking the trouble to write and point out
the caption error. Ed
Ken Napier
90
Scuttlebutt |
Spring 2014 Edition
Spring 2014 Edition
| Scuttlebutt 91
Visit the website below for an exclusive
Royal Naval Association price
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grand fleet - National Museum of the Royal Navy

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