Ships gallery

[Sailor]

Took these pic's the other week,of the Fort George,in Canada dock. I presume she was just docked there,but there have been a few navy ships dismantled,nearby,recently! Hope she doesn't end up as scrap! I'm probably wrong,but didn't she serve in the Falklands war?

The Fort George isn't an Aussie ship my mate, she's British.

She's an RFA (Royal Fleet Auxiliary).

Basically a ship ran by the MOD and crewed by British Merchant Seamen to supply ships from British and other Navies with fuel, stores and ammunition whilst underway at sea.

It wasn't the Fort George who fought down South but the Fort Grange (Since renamed Fort Rosalie and still going strong).

Yes, she's for the knackers yard mate. Another victim of the UK's defence cuts.

Here you go:

RFA Fort George arriving at Liverpool for lay up and disposal.

"Built by Swan Hunters on the Tyne and completed in 1994 she is the largest vessel in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary to be de-commissioned under the latest defence cuts in the UK. Designed to part of a 12 ship class only two were built the other being RFA Fort Victoria. The idea behind them was that they would be a “one stop” ship able to supply fuel oils, dry stores, and fresh water; in addition they have extensive helicopter maintenance facilities. They were also fitted for, but not with, the Sea Wolf air defence system for self defence.

Whist the older units of the RFA fleet are being refurbished the relatively young Fort George has several drawbacks including her relatively high manning and running costs and because she has only a single hull in the way of her replenishment oil tanks thus rendering her, technically, unable to carry fuel oil which is used to replenish warships at sea. Although he ships have been given and exemption from these requirements for the time being however, this runs out in 2016 when all tankers without exception, will have to be of double hull construction.

What is to become of her now is unclear, under normal circumstances she still has plenty of life left in her. Perhaps she will be used to supply spare parts to her sister ship Fort Victoria, or she may be sold to a less fastidious navy were such petty restrictions are of little consequence – time will tell."



A sad day.

[wsteve55]

Hi Sailor,
I did realise she was a U.K. vessel,but my terminology was wrong! In the absence of any I.D., I guessed that "Her Majesty's Auxiliary Ship" would fit,but didn't realise this would convert her to an Oz! Thanks for the info',but sad that she is for the chop,or sale,but you can only assume that they know what they are doing??

[Sailor]

The R.F.A:











Both of these lovely vessels are currently on their way home to be scrapped...Via helping out the Libyan people.





They RAS (Replenishment At Sea) Yanks and other countries ships as well.









The RFA: "Ready For Anything."

[az_gila]

What does the orange dummy in the next to last picture do?

Is he a mascot, target practice or for man overboard training?....

[Sailor]

He plays up front for Liverpool. Someone's cut his pony-tail off.



Used for man-overboard drills mate.

[wsteve55]

Great pic's Sailor!

[brian daley]

This pre-dreadnought battleship was built in 1899 for the Imperial German Navy ,and to fulfil the dreams of Kaiser Wilhelm11 and Admiral Tirpitz,triggering a naval arms race between the great European powers. The Wittelsbach class were designed to fight in the North Sea,somewhere between Heligoland and the Thames Estuary. For a short while they were the acme of German Naval power,and then the British introduced the Dreadnought. This rendered these ships obsolete and the W class spent WW1 in port never firing a shot in anger .
This painting was done by Carl Saltzmann in 1900 and now hangs in the National Maritime Museum ,London,
BrianD

[brian daley]

This is another ship portrait by Kenneth D.Shoesmith.It is the Essequibo, she was built for the Royal Mail Line in 1915, and was swiftly commissioned by the Admiralty as a hospital ship ,a position she served in for the entire duration of the war. In 1917 she was stopped by a U-boat ,which sent a crew aboard her to ascertain she was indeed a hospital ship. She was allowed to proceed and reverted to the Royal Mail in 1919. She continued to on the South American service until she was sold to the Russians in 1935. Once again we have to thank Glyn L. Evans for putting together such a wonderful collection,
BrianD

[Oudeis]

Burials at sea. I dare say that in peacetime these rites are a thing of the past. Is there a central list or are these just noted ship by ship?

[brian daley]

The Gjoa
The famed Norwegian Polar explorer Roald Amundsen was in command of this sturdy little vessel as he made the first transit of the notorious Northwest Passage. His voyage began in June 1903 and they spent two years taking magnetic observations in Lancaster Sound and King Edward Island. By August 1905 they were free of ice and continued west along continental Canada and wintered in off King Point in Alaska. He then made an overland trek on skis to the nearest setlement ,which was 500 hundred miles away. There, Eagle, he was able to telegraph the world of his great success. Amundsen then sailed her down to San Francisco ,where she remained until 1974 when she was fully restored to seaworthiness and sailed back to Oslo ,where she is housed in the National Maritime Museum.
The portait is by Lauritz Haaland.
BrianD

[az_gila]

Burials at sea. I dare say that in peacetime these rites are a thing of the past. Is there a central list or are these just noted ship by ship?

Maybe for a true burial at sea, but scattering ashes in the Pacific is common...

http://www.ashesonthesea.com/who-we-...ur-our-grounds
http://www.neptunesburialsatsea.com/

The service we went to was several miles off the Los Angeles harbor entrance and was very moving. The ship (100 passenger size) sailed in circles calming a small portion of the Pacific within the circle. The ashes were scattered in the calm area, spreading out slowly, and the mourners all threw flowers into the circle.

[Oudeis]

That all sounds well organised and a far nicer send-off.

[the burial at sea question is because I have only just noticed on a head-stone I pass every day that the woman interred has had her children commemorated thereon also. Among those was her tenth son who died at and was buried at sea on his return from India in 1865. Her fourth son and fourth daughter are also mentioned]
P.S.
I read a young woman from Chester has gone missing from a Disney cruise ship, on which she worked, that has just returned to San Francisco.

[brian daley]

In 1885 Queen Victoria celebrated her golden jubilee with a suitably impressive Naval Review at Spithead, and amidst a fleet ofsample vessels that contained every type of warship since Warrior,the brand new battleship Edinburgh offered both a glimpse of the future,and a last hurrah for a lost age. She combined three major firsts for a British battleship;the first to use steel for the hull,the first with heavy breech loaders,in this case 12 inch rifled guns,and the first use of compound,rather than simple wrought iron armour.
However her low freeboard and en echelonarrangement for her two heavy turrets was utterly useless for naval combat.Her true functionwas coastal bombardment. While her new technologies would revolutionise warships,her design was a dead end,
BrianD
This painting was the work of Eduardo de Martino c1887 and hangs in the National Maritime Museum

[brian daley]

This was the warship which changed naval design for battleships in navies the world over. It was the brainchild of British admiral Jackie Fisher, the advances in naval technology were so profound all subsequent ships were known "dreadnoughts" and earlier battleships as "pre-dreadnoughts." Her building caused a major surge in the arms race between the great powers, leading to each major navy building their own "dreadnoughts" to maintain the balance of power. You may note that the postcard is German, they made the building of like warships their greatest priority.

[Oudeis]

By the by...

The Highland Monarch sailed from Buenos Aires bound for the UK in 1956. So I read in a roundabout way. On the voyage two crewmen were operated on for appendicitis, the first to be operated on was/is a very lucky man, so I read.
Just thought I'd share.

[I hope you are feeling better Brian. Where is Kong with his tsunami tales?]