Ships gallery

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Originally Posted by captain kong

Hi Jenny,
Where is she tied up.?
and how long would she be there.?
I was thinking of taking the grandson.

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Sorry...too late. It was open to the public from 12 to 5 today (Sunday) She sails on Tuesday for Portsmouth for the de-commisioning next week.

Attachment 18603


She was at the cruise ship/car ferry terminal.

It was interesting, but as said, a disappointment only the deck was open.

The anti-aircraft business end -

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And some interesting equipment designed and made in Tucson...:)

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It was cold and very windy, with a high tide. The choppy Mersey -

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It was well worth the visit.

This is the First Rate French steam battleship Bretagne,built at Brest between 1853 and 1856. She was the Flagship of Napoleon 111 and was part of his attempt to challenge British naval mastery. She was a 6000-ton three decker and symbolised the schizophrenic international policy of the 2nd Empire,at once seeking to work with Britain while undermining her global power to secure a dominant role in the partnership. In August 1858, as the flagship of an ill advised attempt to improve Anglo French relations, Louis Napolean invited Queen Victoria to visit Cherbourg,ostensibly to celebrate the opening of the new railway line linking the port with Paris.The new railway meant French troops could sent from Paris to Cherbourg in a matter of hours.Victoria returned from her French trip deeply alarmed by the French base and the naval build up and demanded that her ministers do more to maintain naval dominance. Shortly afterwards orders were given for the construction of HMS Warrior,bringing both the French naval challenge and the age of ships like Bretagne to a speedy end.
BrianD






Attachment 18614

This is the Bibby cargo liner Cardiganshire ,painted by Shoesmith in 1917.She is lying at anchor in Yokohama in Japan, busy loading cargo from the lighters alongside her. It is a very stylised painting ,the lighters at the bottom of the study lead us into the picture showing us the stern and starboard side where we can see the slings of cargo being hauled aboard.If you look closely at the trunks and boxes on the lighters you will see the names of some the ports where the cargo is bound for. Mount Fujiyama lies on the horizon giving the viewer an unmistakable identity of where the vessel is,
BrianD

Attachment 18648

This study was by a marine artist from Sunderland called Charles John de Lacy. He trained in London and became an illustrator for The Graphic and The London Illustrated News,which from 1895, employed him as a press artist and special correspondent.Most of his pictures concern The Pool and the area around Limehouse and Greenwich Reach. The Port of London Authority engaged him as their official artist and de Lacy turned out many paintings ,both large and small which were used for postcards , posters and prints.He died in 1929 at the age of 73,
BrianD
Attachment 18678

The Dudhope was the last sailing ship to be commisioned for Barrie & Nairn before the company turned exclusively to steam.She was launched on the 7th of August 1893,at 3,300 tons deadweight,Dudhope was a smaller full rigger than the others in the fleet. Her final voyage for B&N ended at Rotterdam in August 1905 ,where she was sold to a Liverpool shipper T.Shute for £9000.00. Shute's retained her until she was captured by U49 on the 15th of July 1917 and sunk with explosive charges . Two months later the U49 was sunk by a British merchantman,who rammed her,
BrianD

Pictures and text supplied by David Barrie, Dec. 2010






Attachment 18820

At the beginning of the First World War,many British passenger liners were requisitioned by the Royal Navy for conversion to armed merchant cruisers(AMC's). Many vessels had been designed and built in the years leading up to 1914 with this specific role in mind. Decks were strengthened for heavy gunsand accommodation could be easily adapted to naval or troop carrying requirements . The 10th Cruiser Squadron had many such vessels amongst its number and the Royal Navy was able to release 20 regular RN cruisers for other important duties. In this painting by Kenneth Shoesmith we see five AMC's of the Royal Mail Steam Packet company ,painted in Admiralty grey,ploughing through the North Sea in Line abreast. They are Andes, Alcantara,Ebro, Almanzara and Arlanza. The artist used a lot of artistic licence for the ships were never put in such a line up in reality.
My thanks to Glyn L.Evans for allowing this item,
BrianDAttachment 18849

Excellent picture there Brian.

This is another study from Glyn L.Evans book on Kenneth Shoesmith. It shows the Royal Mail steamer Cardiganshire embarking troops at the Dardenelles while under fire from Turkish shore battery's. Shoesmith actually sketched this while he was on the Magdelena which was anchored nearby. The ships were part of an evacuation fleet which was withdrawing British and Empire troops, plus French troops too,from the disastrous ,long drawn out,Dardenelles campaign. Shoesmith was transferred to the Cardiganshire in November 1917,
BrianD



Attachment 18852

Another Excellent picture there Brian.

The Lightning

This ship was built in America for a young Liverpudlian called James Baines,he was the son of a widow who kept a small sweetshop in the town. Baines was making a name for himself among the hard headed businessmen of Merseyside as someone who could spot business trends and when the Californian Gold Rush began,he was quick to capitalise the situation.He obtained sufficient backing to buy a vessel which had been built in British North America and sent over to Britain for cheap sale and on long credit. With her he did enough business to buy the famous Marco Polo and to start the Black Ball Line- not to be confused with the Black Ball Line of clipper packets that ran across the Atlantic,and with which Baines had no connection.
He sought a ship to exploit the Australian trade and engaged Donald Mackay,the most famous Scottish American shipbuilder, to design and build a ship that was both large and fast. This was the first ever order placed by a Briton in an American yard since the War of Independence. Mackay was spurred on by that fact to produce a vessel that would be a record breaker. She was launched in 1854 and her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Melbourne broke all existing records.She was registered as having 1,468 tons,244 length,44feet beam and 23 depth.For over ten years Lightning served succesfully- almost without a break- the Melbourne -Liverpool route. In 1869 she was destroyed by fire..
The painting is unattributed ,but none the worse for that,
BrianD
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There ya go gentlemen,even woman can paint ships :) courtesy of squashedtoad on WC....

Hi George,
that is a very good painting,it conveys a sense of place and all seems to be of correct proportions. Who is the artist and where is the place? It is a picture that I would hang on my wall,thanks.
BianD

How do,Brian

Vancouver BC.

http://squashedtoad.blogspot.com/

This is a Charles Dixon study of the Great Eastern,it is actually titled "The Great Eastern leaving the River Mersey" but I cannot recognise any parts of the river as being the Mersey. The lighters/barges were never seen on the river in my time,nor can I see whether we are looking north or south. I know that this once great ship became an advertising hulk for Lewis's department store;this painting was not dated clearly and I wondered if any of you Mersey watchers can spot anything that might give a clue to her position,
BrianD


Attachment 18873

She is leaving Liverpool outward bound and has just left the new Stage. built and opened in June 1847, the Great Eastern was built in 1858, so the Stage was there. So that must be the entrance to Clarence or Trafalgar docks. or somewhere.

This is another Shoesmith classic from Glyn L. Evans book.
We are looking at a Royal Mail "A" Class ship heading west with a "bone" in her teeth.The sea is like glass, and an almost cloudless sky is being tinted with dawns early light. It looks like this could be the Alcantara ,a ship in which my late great uncle Joe was a quartermaster.
BrianD
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This is the ex Den of Airlie,built for Barrie and Nairn in 1913,she was one of two ships sold to Cunard in 1916,She was renamed Valeria and survived two attacks by U-boats only to run aground on Taylors Bank in the Mersey on the 21st of March 1918 as she approached the end of a passage from New York with a general cargo for Liverpool. She later caught
fire and became a total loss,
BrianD
The painting is unattributed



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The Majestic class of battleship was the very embodiment of late Victorian power,the flagship of the old queens navy,and guardian of her empire. She was built in 1898,the first of nine,the largest class of steel battleships ever built,armed with four 12 inch guns and 12 to 16 secondary six inch guns.The buff ,white and black livery was inherited from the mid-Victorian ironclads such as Warrior.It was thought at that time that conspicuous displays of power maintained peace ,and supported the expanding wealth of Empire based on trade,capital and investment.
Premier Gladstones political career was ended by the decision to build up the naval strength and ushered in an era of naval arms races.
Majestic met her doom off the Gallipoli beachhead when she was sunk by a threat unimagined when she was conceived two decades before,a torpedo from a U-Boat.
BrianD
This picture is from the National Maritime Museum and was executed by Eduardo de Martino in 1898


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What a magnificent Navy we had in those days.
There are more ships in that painting than we have in the entire navy today.

Off to the Pacific Islands Monday. Hawaii, Tahiti ,Rarotonga etc, etc. Hoping to get aboard the CARRIER, USS MIDWAY when we are in San Diego for a few days also the old British Sailing Ship `STAR OF INDIA`. Also having four days on the old QUEEN MARY in Long Beach, so I will get some good photos. back in April.
Cheers
Brian.

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Originally Posted by captain kong

What a magnificent Navy we had in those days.
There are more ships in that painting than we have in the entire navy today.

Off to the Pacific Islands Monday. Hawaii, Tahiti ,Rarotonga etc, etc. Hoping to get aboard the CARRIER, USS MIDWAY when we are in San Diego for a few days also the old British Sailing Ship `STAR OF INDIA`. so I will get some good photos. back in April.
Cheers
Brian.

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"Endeavour to persevere" CK. You poor thing. Have yourself a good trip, pleasant weather and lots of pics. :)

Cap'n Kong
I hope you and Anne have a wonderful time,bring us back a coconut,
BrianD

iA ORANA E TE MAU HOPA, EAHA TO ORUA HURU.
just practicing my Tahitian.
Murururu, Thanks for that Brian, as long as I dont bring anything else back like the old days.
I am going to meet up with some of my old mates in Tahiti and Moorea,
Stan, Tico,, Rico, Eline.
Matahiti api

Cheers.
Brian.

brian daley
Cap'n Kong
I hope you and Anne have a wonderful time,bring us back a coconut,BrianD


Hi Brian,
Here is the Coconut from my friend Eline in Tahiti
Cheers .Brian,
Off tomorrow, Monday. back in six weeks.

Hi Brian,
looks scrumptious,coconut looks good as well,
Via con Dios amigo's
BrianD

She sure does look good Brian
Be with her in a couple of weeks.
Back in six weeks
Sayonara.
Brian.

Powerful one here for ya,chaps...painter is Charles Hoguet.

Very good painting George, is there any story attached? Keep 'em coming mate,
BrianD

another

You're teasing us now Georgie,posting goodies and not telling us the stories. We can see she is an East Indiaman and she is entering Madras harbour,but who is she and why has she still got her studding sails up? Anyways, I'm posting another one of Kenneth Shoesmiths studies.
This is the Royal Mail Line Steamer "Thames" on which Shoesmith served as an apprentice in 1911. According to Glyn L. Evans, "Her design with clipper bow and counter stern and raked twin funnels, gave her the appearance of a large private yacht" The ship looks to be in one of the West Indian ports and a Lamport & Holt liner is shown anchored nearby. This angle of view seems to find favour with the artist as he completed many of his ship portraits in a similar manner,
[ATTACH=CONFIG]18937[/ATTACHBrianD

Shoesmith was a Mate with Cunard. He has some paintings on the old Queen Mary in Long Beach, He has the Madona of the Sea [ or ships] on board so I will be there Tuesday night and try and take a photio.
Cheers
Brian off on my trip to the South Seas in a couple of hours. Back in six weeks.

May you have fair winds,silken seas,blue skies and star filled nights,
BrianD

and

Georgie,
Another lovely seascape, Painted by Hermanus Koekkoek,a 17th century marine artist,it shows a little schuyt vittling the tall ship in the middle distance. Most probably on the Zuyder Zee.
I have posted another Thames scene,this one is from the Royal Exchange Art Gallery and is a work by one of the foremost riverine artists,William Lionel Wylie. A greatly experienced yachtsman,Wylie spent many years on the Thames and painted very many pictures of the traffic that plied that waterway,this is entitled "The Thames at Sunset" and manages to make that murky old river look beautiful,hope you like it ,
BrianD
Attachment 18940

This is the vessel that gave her name to the Americas Cup. She was designed by George Steers for John C.Stevens,the Commodore of the New York Yacht Club ,and built 1851 in New York with the express purpose of taking on Britain's formidable Royal Yacht Squadron.
America made her first transatlantic voyage in the summer of 1851 and Stevens entered her in the 53 mile race around the Isle of Wight in August,Queen Victoria was in attendance.When America crossed the finishing line, her lead was so great that the Queen asked for the name of the vessel in second place. She received the legendary reply "Your Majesty, there is no second" From then on the trophy that Stevens won has been known as The Americas Cup, the most prestigious prize in the yachting world.
The portrait was painted by the artist John Fraser and hangs in the National Maritime Museum,
BrianD
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Liverpool had over 20,000 seamen who were employed on the ships that sailed out of this port,a further 10,000 seamen from beyond Merseyside were registered with the pool. Captain Kong and I were discussing this fact just before he departed for his 6 week tour of the Pacific.What we both could not understand was that out of those many thousand why were so few ever seen on this site. It would seem that Old Kong and I are the only ones who regularly contribute;sometimes we hear from Malcolm (Samsette) and occassionally Ernie pops in.We wondered whatever happened to the rest of those old salts,do we bore them?
Well ,back to business, this study is by a contemporary British marine artist ,Malcolm Myers,a Cornishman born in 1954,he is world famous for his seascapes and historical studies.This work is entitled "Sir Edward Hawkes Fleet at Spithead",a beautifully detailed study,
BrianDAttachment 18957

Another superb Shoesmith study from Glyn L. Evans book.
Here we can see the Royal Mail Liner Trent in her Admiralty livery,built in 1899 for Royal Mails South American service ,she was conscripted into the Royal Navy in 1915.She served as a depot ship to the Monitors HMS Severn and HMS Mersey ,on their mission to destroy the German light cruiser Konigsberg,which lay trappedby a Royal Naval blockade in the shallow waters of the Rufiji Delta on the East African coast. The story of the voyage the shallow draft monitors made from Brazil to Africas East Coast was epic and is worth looking up. The Trent reverted to Royal Mail Line service after WW1 and was sold for scrap in 1922.
BrianD

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This from The New York Times. [full article for download from the site]

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstrac...DD405B888CF1D3

BUBONIC PLAGUE CAN'T REACH HERE; Royal Mail Line Surgeon Says There Is Little Danger of an Outbreak. LA GUAYRA IS ISOLATED He Thinks the Malady Is More Likely to be Communicated from Black Sea Ports. $4,000 Job for John G. Burnet.
[ DISPLAYING ABSTRACT ]
In the opinion of Dr. William J. Waymark, surgeon of the Royal Mail liner Trent, which sailed for the West Indies and Panama yesterday, there is a greater risk of the bubonic plague being communicated to the United States from Eastern Russia and Asia Minor than there is from Venezuela, where the scourge has been epidemic in the port of La Guayra.

---------- Post added at 10:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:07 AM ----------

It can be a stormy passage, this ship line lark...

http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/royalmail.html

---------- Post added at 10:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:11 AM ----------

I have had a look at this as HTML, the Trent is on page 8. Plenty of technical detail: she has 15 kts (whatever that may be?) and was 'dressed' in black at the time of her rescuing post earthquake souls from Jamaica.

http://www.sdmaritime.org/assets/Upl...imesV4No48.pdf

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Originally Posted by Oudeis

[/COLOR]I have had a look at this as HTML, the Trent is on page 8. Plenty of technical detail: she has 15 kts (whatever that may be?) and was 'dressed' in black at the time of her rescuing post earthquake souls from Jamaica.

www.sdmaritime.org/assets/Uploads/Newsletters/iEuterpeTimesV4No48.pdf

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From page 8 of the pdf file, it sounds like they were just comparing the black hull colour to the mourning clothes of the Jamaicans.

Thanks for the newsletter link. My son crewed on the Lady Washington (page 7) and
Hawaiian for several years. The original Lady Washington was tender for the Columbia - whose replica lots of people have seen at Disneyland...:)

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Originally Posted by az_gila

From page 8 of the pdf file, it sounds like they were just comparing the black hull colour to the mourning clothes of the Jamaicans.

Thanks for the newsletter link. My son crewed on the Lady Washington (page 7) and
Hawaiian for several years. The original Lady Washington was tender for the Columbia - whose replica lots of people have seen at Disneyland...:)

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Very true, but Brian's picture and his text shows and speaks of, "the Royal Mail Liner Trent in her Admiralty livery".
P.S.
I came across mentions of previous 'Trents', one which played a part in the American civil war which is something that crops up here from time to time too.

Hi Oudeis and Az,
I left a lot of details out of theTrents biog. she was only dressed in grey for 4 short years during her Admiralty service. She normally had buff coloured funnels ,white upperworks and a black hull. The 15 knots refers to her maximum speed.
Other things mentioned in the biog.are her running aground in 1909, off the coast of Colombia,another RMSP liner,the Magdalena,was despatched to help tow her off.Cargo was jettisoned,but to no avail .She was divested of stores,furniture and movable fittings,she was then refloated and sailed to Southampton for repairs.
In 1910,while on the New York -Bermuda run,she helped rescue the survivors of the Wellman aiirship America,which was attempting to make the first crossing of the Atlantic by air. The rescue took place in the hours of darkness,when they ropped to the water in their lifeboat;the Trent picked them up and landed them in New York.A couple of tales to tickle ones curiosity!
Az, I was pleased to read of your sons service on the Lady Washington,was he in the Mercantile Marine? Do you have any more mariners in the family? just interested,that's all,
BrianD