Warships and Ships at war

[pablo42]

I hate seeing warships getting broken up. Seems to hit very hard for some reason. I think they deserve to be sunk. Going down like the warriors they were.

[brian daley]

I have posted a few pictures of convoys and some of the tragedies and victories. Tonight we look at some of the unsung heroes, the convoy sailors. The two pictures below are by Canadian war artists,the one on the left is by Jack Nichols and shows the uncomfortable reality of life below decks. Being in a constant state of alert , alot of men never changed out of their deck clothes and life jackets so one can imagine the smell in the mess deck. Personal hygiene took second place to personal safety in such conditions.
Tom Wood painted the second picture in which he shows the Royal Navy sailors climbing into their foul weather gear. This suit had a great disadvantage in that if you fell in the water in it the weight of it would pull you under. Freeze or Drown? Not good choices,
BrianD

[pablo42]

Nice one Brian.

[Norm NZ]

Thanks to Samsette for that piece! Hope a great many people read it, and remember!!!! Crazy to think that America and it's allies have also helped Japan become such a wealthy , (and arrogent) nation that it is today!

[captain kong]

That reminded me of a poem written by a crewman on the USS TRIGGER, submarine, then lost with all hands.

I'M THE GALLOPING GHOST OF THE JAPANESE COAST
You don't hear of me and my crew.
But just ask any man off the coast of Japan
If he knows of the Trigger Maru.

I look sleek and slender alongside my tender
With others like me at my side,
But we'll tell you a story of battle and glory,
As enemy waters we ride.

I've been stuck on a rock, felt the depth charge's shock,
Been north to a place called Attu,
and I've sunk me two freighters atop the equator
Hot work, but the sea was cold blue.

I've cruised close inshore and carried the war
to the Empire Island Honshu,
While they wire Yokahama I could see Fujiyama,
So I stayed, to admire the view.

When we rigged to run silently, deeply I dived,
And within me the heat was terrific.
My men pouring sweat, silent and yet
Cursed me and the whole ****ed Pacific.

Then destroyers came sounding and depth charges pounding
My submarine crew took the test.
Far in that far off land there are no friends on hand,
To answer a call of distress.

I was blasted and shaken (some damage I've taken),
my hull bleeds and pipe lines do, too
I've come in from out there for machinery repair,
And a rest for me and my crew.

I got by on cool nerve and in silence I served,
Though I took some hard knocks in return,
One propeller shaft sprung and my battery's done,
But the enemy ships I saw burn.

I'm the galloping ghost of the Japanese coast,
You don't hear of me and my crew.
But just ask any man off the coast of Japan,
If he knows of the Trigger Maru.

USS Trigger was lost with all hands during her twelfth patrol, on March 26, 1945.

Navy The US Navy
Type Submarine
Class Gato
Pennant 237
Built by Mare Island Navy Yard (Vallejo, California, U.S.A.)
Ordered
Laid down 1 Feb 1941
Launched 22 Oct 1941
Commissioned 30 Jan 1942
Lost 28 Mar 1945
Loss position 32.16N, 132.05E (See a map)

History USS Trigger (Cdr. David Rickart Connole) was most likely sunk by Japanese aircraft, the Japanese frigate Mikura (offsite link) and the Japanese corvettes Kaibokan No.33 and Kaibokan No.59

[pablo42]

Nice one Captain.

[brian daley]

Excellent posting Brian,enjoyable and informative,well done!
BrianD

[brian daley]

Two pieces of Jap propaganda, the first shows the invasion of Guam and is done in the Japanese silk screen style .The artist was Ezaki Kohei and he did it from the information he gleaned from the returning troops.
The second study is done in a western style and shows young students rallying to the flag. Titled "Graduating Students Depart to the Front" it was painted by Suzuki Mitsuru,
BrianD

[pablo42]

Nice one Brian. I love that art.

[brian daley]

Two painings from the Soviet archives.
The first is by Boris Prorokov is part of a series called "This Must Never Happen Again" The eyes on the lady in the foreground tell of the horrors she has witnessed,an altogether harrowing picture.
The second is by a female war artist ,Tatyana Nazerenko, it is iconic, created as a copy of the Crucifixion, it shows a dead partisan being gently lowered from the scaffold. A German execution squad has done its work and left. The partisan band were too late to save the murdered men,such scenes were all too common in wartime Russia,
BrianD

[captain kong]

FROM THE BBC NEWS SITE.

I believe the Centaur was an ex Blue ship, on the Fremantle to Singapore run before the War, after the war Blue Flu built a couple of new ones to take up the trade again.



The wreck of the Centaur was located off the Queensland coast late last year

An Australian World War II hospital ship, the Centaur, has been seen for the first time since it sank more than 60 years ago with a loss of 268 lives.

Images of the wreck, more than 2km (1.3 miles) below the sea, were captured by a remote-controlled underwater camera.

The ship's location was discovered last month following a hi-tech search.

Australia says the ship, which went down in May 1943, was torpedoed by the Japanese. Japan says the circumstances surrounding its sinking are unclear.

The search team found the ship on 20 December off the Queensland coast, about 30 miles due east of the southern tip of Moreton Island. [near to the entrance of the Brisbane River ]

Favourable conditions allowed the crew to send down a camera on a remotely-operated submersible vehicle over the weekend. Further dives are planned.



The Centaur was clearly marked as a hospital ship
Search director David Mearns told AFP news agency he hoped the images would "hopefully end a 66-year quest for unanswered questions and bring comfort to many families across Australia and beyond".

"The wreck was found leaning over towards its port side at an angle of approximately 25 degrees and the bow is almost completely severed from the rest of the hull in the area where the single torpedo hit," he said.

"Although the wreck is very badly damaged, characteristic markings and features that identify the wreck as the Centaur were clearly visible."

Among the identifying features revealed by the camera were the large red crosses marked on each side of the bow.



The sinking of the Centaur became a symbol of wartime determination
Images also showed the number 47, which designated the vessel as Australian Hospital Ship 47.

Announcing the search for the ship last year, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the loss of the Centaur had struck deeply at the heart of the nation and become a symbol of determination in the fight against a brutal enemy.

The Australians believe the ship was attacked without warning, the BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney reports, which the acting premier of Queensland, Paul Lucas, has called barbaric and senseless.

He has demanded an apology from the Japanese government, but a statement from the country's embassy in Canberra said the details surrounding the sinking were inconclusive.

Of the 332 people on the ship, only 64 survived. Eleven of the 12 nurses on board died.

[gregs dad]

Had a wander down Regent rd,and saw these retired navy ships,being broken up for scrap! I couldn't find out, or see, what their names were,( dreaded health & safety,he said!) but possibly,G.D. took some pic's of these,when they were docked on the other side of the river?

Hi Steve
was down there yesterday I think the ship is the fleet auxillary vessel Grey Rover, I stood around watching the battle between the "CAT" and the bridge of the vessel,hoping to catch it falling, but after an hour the bridge was still there so I moved off .

[gregs dad]

I came acoss this site which might interest all you sailors,while looking to referers to my flickr site
http://savetheroyalnavy.org/royalnavynewsfeed.php

[brian daley]

Another fine study by Charles Dixon, here we have Britains first two Ironclads, HMS Warrior and HMS Blackprince. Built in 1880/1, they were the most powerful warships afloat;they were the first ocean going iron armoured ships,having an impregnable battery and a faster speed than their immediate rival ,the French frigate the Gloire,
BrikanD

[captain kong]

Here are the photos of the most bombed ship in WW2 to survive.
it was the Duchess of Bedford, built in 1928 for Canadian Pacific, When war came she was taken over as a troop ship and during the war she carried 170,000 troops and civilians into and out of War zones. too many adventures to list here. She sank a U-Boat with her six inch WW1 gun and damaged another, also shot down a torpedo bomber. then after WW2 in 1947 she went to her builders, John Browns, and rebuilt as the Empress of India, then India got Independence, so her name was changed to Empress of France and stayed on the Liverpool to Montreal, Quebec and St John New Brunswick run to December 1960 then Scrapped.I sailed on her several times, nice 17 day trips.