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I did a gunnery course at Whale Island, HMS Excellent, in 1950 when I was a Sea Cadet.
Those fifteen inch guns can throw a two ton shell over 22 miles.some power.
I did a couple of weeks on HMS Duke of York, in Portsmouth ,she sank the Scharhorst, she had ten 14 inch guns.
That brings back some memories Brian, The Illustrious 'trooped' us out to the Middle Easy (Cyprus) in 1951, prior to our deployment to the Suez Canal Zone. All the aircraft were taken off her, and the attached photo shows some of the deck cargo, and also how we were accomodated in the Hanger Deck.:PDT11Quote:
Originally Posted by brian daley
hi Norm,Quote:
Originally Posted by Norm NZ
That looks a bit draughty!:cha (41):
I never knew you were ex RN. Tell me more about them old ships. I love 'em.Quote:
Originally Posted by captain kong
Looks quite comfy Norm. Reckon they were spoiling you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Norm NZ
Hi Pablo,
No I am not Ex RN
When I was age 13 I joined the SEA CADETS, there used to be AIR CADETS, ARMY CADETS and so on. I stayed in there until I was 16 then joined the Merchant Navy. but it was good training, kept us off the streets two nights a week and some weekends, and learned discipline. every summer we went on traing courses to various RN ships, and shore establishments. A lot of my mates wouldnt join, but I enjoyed it. To be on battle ships, Carriers , submarines, and learning to fire the old Lee Enfield 303 rifles on the ranges, and in the Dome at HMS Excellent , Whale Island was fantastic, firing the Oerlikons, Pom Poms. at attacking German planes by film on the inside of the Dome, for a lad the Cadets was a fantastic experience. We learned to sail 32 FT CUTTERS AND 27 FT WHALERS, It was financed by the RN in those days, A good supply of Sailors for the RN, but today they have to subsidise themselves.
It made us better sailors when we went to sea, we could splice, rig blocks and tackle, do all the bends and hitches etc.
It would do a lot of kids today a lot of good if they joined a Cadet force.
Here is HMS Vanguard, HMS Prince of Wales, sunk in 1942 on th coast of Malaya by Japanese bombers, her sister HMS Duke of York I did training on and HMS Dido another I did training on in Portsmouth Harbour.
Me under the 14 Inch Guns of HMS DUKE OFYORK, the same guns that sank the Scharnhorst
Great pictures Captain. They don't make ships like them anymore. It must have been a great adventure in the Sea Cadets. I was in the Sea Scouts, this was for younger lads, similar to the Scouts. We used to go and visit the Warships when they came into Liverpool. It was a great experience, but we never did the things you done because of our age. Both my lads joined the cadets, one the Royal Marine cadets and one the Army cadets. They really do help to build character. Pity more lads don't go into them. Spose it's not acceptable these days for lads to use guns and learn a bit of discipline. It's a shame.
Any idea if any of them old ships are on show anywhere. The only one I know of is The Belfast in London.
All those battle ships were scrapped around 1958, they were built around the 1939 - 1941.
The King George V class, Anson, Howe, Prince of Wales sunk, Duke of York and KGV The Vanguard was completed after the war and lasted a bit longer then scrapped. Dido and all her class were scrapped. we only have the Belfast left from WW2.
The biggest Navy in the World and we saved one ship. Pitiful really. Shoulda had one in each of the major ports.Quote:
Originally Posted by captain kong
Wasn't the"Vanguard" the last battleship we built? You can see,what I'd think,was the American influence,in it's design! Though not around at the time,of course,I always think of the loss of the "Prince of Wales" and the "Repulse" being a particularly sad waste of life,they didn't stand a chance against those dive-bombers,and with no air cover of their own!
Yes she was the last, there was going to be a Lion Class of battleship, bigger than the KGV Class45,000 ton. but only the Vanguard was completed too late for WW2 but I `think`she may have made an appearance in the Korean war shelling the land. She didnt last too long before being scrapped.
I have an idea that Doolittle? proved that battleships had no chance against airiel attack. Obviously this was proved right with the Repulse and the Prince of Wales.
The atatchments are the badges of HMS Repulse and of HMS Prince of Wales, these are kept n Saint Andrews Church in Singapore
A Swordfish bi-plane is shown landing on the Illustrious,which was the first of the armoured carriers. Still in the battle mode ,we have a painting of the Japanese battleship Yamato. Theoretically she was the most potent battleship to be built up to that time. An awesome sight,she was sunk by boms in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The Royal Navy Dreadnought ,the ship that maintained Britains mastery of the Seas in the early part of the last century,was shown at her most belligerent in this painting by William Lionel Wyllie.
I think I've got enough paintings and photo's of battle wagons to maintain a thread. Anyone interested,
BrianD
The "Yamoto", and her sister ship,the "Musashi" were some ships,at over 72,000 tons,but sunk just as easily as the "Repulse",etc, under plane attack! And yes Brian,I'd be interested in seeing your paintings,etc!
Sure Was! Steve, You would'nd believe the antics of all the 'squaddies' when it was time to get into the hammocks, last men in did'nt stand a chance!!!:PDT_Aliboronz_11:Quote:
Originally Posted by wsteve55
Ha,Ha, pity you didn't film it! Bet the snoring didn't half echo,as well!:unibrow:Quote:
Originally Posted by Norm NZ
Yep, start a new thread then Brian. I love those old warships. I seen a program on the Yamoto. Boy, was that a ship. Seeing pictures of her really gets your pulse racing. Pity she was on the other side. Beautiful ship all the same.Quote:
Originally Posted by brian daley
True that Captain, Doolittle proved the effectiveness of air power. The powers that be though still doubted this. Hence the Replulse and Prince of Wales. What a tragedy.Quote:
Originally Posted by captain kong
Steve, I've not heard of the Musashi. I thought the Yamoto was the only one of her class. Thanks, I shall find out more.Quote:
Originally Posted by wsteve55
They were within range of land based RAF planes. The Capt was told to go to Australia but never.Quote:
Originally Posted by wsteve55
It wasn't Doolittle. The British sunk Italian ships at Tarranto. The Japanese took notice. The British sunk the Bismark using planes to disable her. They may have sunk her but the Home fleet fired on the Med fleet's planes flying to see her off. They said get away the ship is ours. The Japanese took notice.Quote:
Originally Posted by pablo42
The British told the captain of the PoW and the Repulse to sail to Australia, as they knew battleships were obsolete. He never. They were sunk. The Japanese learnt fro Tarranto and attacked Pearl Harbour with planes. The attacked Ceylon with planes as well.
The British pre war idea was that carriers would be reconnaissance and to guide the battleships to the target. The US and Japan thought so as well, but a section of their navy and the IJN thought that attack aircraft on carriers was the way and designed planes for that purpose. The UK had to use US planes to make their carriers attack capable.
She was sunk by carrier planes as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by pablo42
Thanks for the info guys. What a wonderful pair of ships. To see them together must have been awe inspiring.
FROM THE
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- JAPANESE NAVY SHIPS --
Yamato (Battleship, 1941-1945)
Yamato, lead ship of a class of two 65,000-ton (over 72,800-tons at full load) battleships, was built at Kure, Japan. She and her sister, Musashi were by far the largest battleships ever built, even exceeding in size and gun caliber (though not in weight of broadside) the U.S. Navy's abortive Montana class. Their nine 460mm (18.1-inch) main battery guns, which fired 1460kg (3200 pound) armor piercing shells, were the largest battleship guns ever to go to sea, and the two ships' scale of armor protection was also unsurpassed.
Commissioned in December 1941, just over a week after the start of the Pacific war, Yamato served as flagship of Combined Fleet commander Isoroku Yamamoto during the critical battles of 1942. During the following year, she spent most of her time at Truk, as part of a mobile naval force defending Japan's Centeral Pacific bases. Torpedoed by USS Skate (SS-305) in December 1943, Yamato was under repair until April 1944, during which time her anti-aircraft battery was considerably increased. She then took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June and the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October. During the latter action, she was attacked several times by U.S. Navy aircraft, and fired her big guns in an engagement with U.S. escort carriers and destroyers off the island of Samar.
Yamato received comparatively light damage during the Leyte Gulf battle, and was sent home in November 1944. Fitted with additional anti-aircraft machine guns, she was based in Japan during the winter of 1944-45. Attacked by U.S. Navy carrier planes in March 1945, during raids on the Japanese home islands, she was again only lightly damaged. The following month, she was assigned to take part in the suicidal "Ten-Go" Operation, a combined air and sea effort to destroy American naval forces supporting the invasion of Okinawa. On 7 April 1945, while still some 200 miles north of Okinawa, Yamato was attacked by a massive force of U.S. carrier planes and sunk.
After the war, the great battleship became an object of intense fascination in Japan, as well as in foreign countries. Yamato's remains were located and examined in 1985 and again examined, more precisely, in 1999. She lies in two main parts in some 1000 feet of water. Her bow portion, severed from the rest of the ship in the vicinity of the second main battery turret, is upright. The midships and stern section is upside down nearby, with a large hole in the lower starboard side close to the after magazines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljGE2HekBAg
GO ON FULL SCREEN AND SOUND
Some good films of the Musashi and Yamoto in action on UTUBE
Great that Captain. What a shame to see her under attack like that. Beautiful ship.
Here is a grand old lady,the Anchor Lines Columbia. Built by Hendersons of Glasgow in 1902 she served on the North Atlantic run. She was converted to an Armed Merchant Cruiser in WW1 and re-named Columbella to avoid confusion with the U.S. Navy's U.S.S. Columbia. In 1919 she reverted to her original name and carried on in the North Atlantic run until sold to Greek owners in 1926. She was renamed Morea and was broken up in Venice in 1929.
This study was was painted by the artist Douglas Napier Anderson,
BrianD
Hi Pablo.Quote:
Originally Posted by pablo42
Quite agree with you, but thats the way of war, things will never change!
Reg.
Here is a good name for a ship.
Imagine being the Lady who is launching and naming the ship.
"I name this ship, `TIGHTEN YOUR ANUS`.
I wonder who thought of that.
Ha,probably sounded great in the naming meeting.Quote:
Originally Posted by captain kong
Hi My CaptainQuote:
Originally Posted by captain kong
What is the first thing you do after we pee?
Answer- Titan Uranus :handclap:
Reg:)
Quote:
Originally Posted by captain kong
Yesterday I saw a four hour film on Shackleton`s voyage on Endurance, from 1914 to 1917, to the Antarctic, the wreck of the ship and the long journey to get help and rescue, one of the greatest feats of survival. In March I went on a trip to the Antarctic and followed some of the trip that Shackleton did from the Weddel Sea to Elephant Island and on to South Georgia. He died there in Grytviken, 5 January 1922, on his last expedition with a heart attack before he could set off.
The photos are of Endurance being crushed by the ice, Ice bergs in the Weddel sea this year and me at Point Wild, named after one of his men, where there waited 4 months 20 days for rescue, an old photo of Grytviken in the museum there, and the grave of Shackleton in Grytviken, the small cemetery there has around twenty graves of whalers and sailors, one grave is the one man killed, an Argentino Sailor, by the Marines in the Falklands war. Interesting place.
Whenever people visit Shackleton`s grave, they have a little service ending with a tot of Rum and then the final tot is poured onto his grave. I am sure he would appreciate it.
A good painting by commercial artist H. Stanley Philpott who worked for several shipping companies.
In this studyhe shows the Federal Steamship liner ,Norfolk of 1947,passing under Sydney Harbour Bridge. Also shown is the Circular Quay to Manley ferry, a real touch of nostalgia for you Ozzie coast men.
BrianD
This is a study by a truly gifted artist,Colin Verity of Darwen in Lancs.
It shows the Shaw Savill and Albion lines Mataroa. She was built in 1922 by Harland & Wolff for the Aberdeen White Star Line ,when she was named Diogenes. Shaw Savill took her on longterm charter in 1926 and they subsequently bought her in 1932 when they renamed her Mataroa.She was employed as a troopsgip during the war and served Shaw Savill after the war until 1957 when she was broken up at Faslane. Now for those of you who want to know a bit more about what is what aboard ship, let's take a look at the picture. The sharp bit at the front is called the Bow, the whitework above the bow is the Foc'sle,and the deck above is the foc'sle head. The main structure in the middle of the ship is called the centre castle ,or midships. The six windows you can see in front of the funnel are the bridge windows and the little box on the wing of the bridge is the docking bridge. You can see the crows nest on the foremast,it was open and would have freezing in the North Atlantic,.
BrianD
Was that for the ladies Brian? You forgot to tell them about the little boats around the edge of the ship.
Pablo.Quote:
Originally Posted by pablo42
You are not thinking straight.. She was built in 1922 by Harland & Wolff for the Aberdeen White Star line,"the little boats around the edge of the ship" where put there by the Belfast lads for the "wee folke".:)
Reg.
done a three and a half month trip on the old mataroa,sailed out of liverpool on the5-7-56 to aukland and back on the23-10-56,most all scouse crew,agood trip on the old tub.
This is the tanker Laristan,built by Short Bros. of Sunderland in 1927 for the Hindustan Steam Shipping Co. of Common Brothers of Newcastle. In 1942 she was stranded off Tiree and was declared a total constuctive loss ,but due to the pressing need for tank shipping she was taken over by the Minisrty of War and repaired and returned to service as the Empire Gulf. She was repurchased by Common Bros.in 1945 and given her old name back. She subsequently changed hands a further three times and was broken up in Turkey in 1960.
This study was by a little known artist E.Archer,
BrianD
Nice one.
Here are two shots of one of my favourite liners. I never got the chance to sail on her ,I first saw her from the boat deck at Gravesend Sea School. She was being manouevred into Tilbury and the sun was full on her ,she looked beautiful,as exotic those fabled enchanted castles of yore. I saw her again in the British film comedy "The Captains Table" with John Gregson, she was the star. I saw her again in Australia ,many times and the spell was never broken. She was British ship building at its best. She came out of the Vickers Armstrong yard at Barrow in Furnessin 1954. Her vital statistic were ,28.790 gross tons, 723 foot length 90 foot beam,and her speed was 22 knots , She carried 694 first class passengers and 809 tourist class. P&O Orient lines operated her until 1973 and she was sold for scrap in 1974 .
BrianD
Here are some of my paintings that I do in my spare time, they may not be as good as the real Marine Artists but they are mine.
cheers.