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88The Newsletter of the SOUTH WEST MARITIME HISTORY SOCIETY` ISSN 1360-6980CONTENTS –NO. 88 –September 2012Edited by Jonathan Seagrave

EDITORIAL & MEMBERSHIP 3

REPORTS OF MEETINGSMt Edgcumbe 5Exeter University 46th Maritime History meeting 8

ARTICLESThe Victualling Trade and Cork Jo Varley 10The RN and Air Power Between The Wars Tim Woodward 11

REVIEWSBritannia Histories rev. Roger Bunbury 14Loss of the Criccieth Castle Cathy Woodhead rev. Dee Holladay 20Secret Capture S. Roskill rev. Peter Thomson 22

LETTERS NOTES AND NEWS 24

HERITAGE BOAT NEWS 30

WEBERY 33

UPCOMING EVENTS 35

OFFICERS and COMMITTEE back cover

WEBSITE. http://www.swmaritime.org.uk/

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Welcome Aboard

Mr Ian Cornish Plymouth

Mr Mike Critchley Liskeard

Mr Ian Denton Gunnislake

Mr Jeremy Knight Penryn

Mr Andrew Whitefield Cromhall

Mr Bruce Chapple Chepstow

Mr Howard Macnamara Bury

Mr John Allan Swindon

Mr Robert Lindsey Cheltenham

Dead emails – please let Gill know new email on membership@swmaritime.org.uk

jack.ann.nott@gmail.com vanessa@lighthouselearning.eclipse.co.ukfdlplymouth@aol.com bellever@rdplus.netscannich@onetel.net djenkinson@onetel.comscott.david11@sky.com JManleytuc@aol.comwines@modburymanor.fsnet.co.uk barbaracharlie@bt.comcarndu@aol.com neilandmaryhawke@ukonline.co.ukgeoff@weym.demon.co.uk Rogertanner@tiscali.co.uk

Individual contributions © Individual contributors. Entire journal© South West Maritime History Society 2012.

Views expressed are the authors’ and not necessarily those of theSociety or editor.

Please note the Society cannot be held responsible for theaccuracy of information on websites and that references in oldereditions may not be accurate.Annual Subscriptions Due 1st April. £15.00 or £12if paid by Standing Order. Students can takeadvantage of our special annual subscription of £7.A reminder/invoice is included with the April edition.If you pay by SO please ignore, but ensure your SOsetup includes a reference that identifies who youare, and for preference send to the MembershipSecretary

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FUTURE MEETINGS AND OTHER EVENTS

November 3rd Sidmouth ffi Julia Creeke 01395 513962 ( callingnotice enclosed )

Feb (date tbc) Commercial Sail Revival –Past, Present, and FutureBristol YHA ffi Jonathan Seagrave/D Clement NOTE postponed fromOctober

8/9 March New Researchers Bristol SS Gt. Britain ffi Helen Doeh.r.doe@ex.ac.uk

6 April 2013 South West Shipping Show, Portishead- Society stand

(Italics indicate an event of interest but not organised directly by theSociety)

Confirmation of events will be published either in the next editionor in calling notices for bookings, which will be sent to members atthe appropriate time.

EDITORIAL AND MEMBERSHIP MATTERS

Thank you for renewing your membership. Gill and Dale have beenchecking through membership details and a few queries remain. Likeall membership organisations, we have problems with identifying thesource of some standing orders. If you can identify any of these pleaseget in touch with Gill.

We also have a number of dead email addresses- if yours in one of thoseabove and you wish to remain on the e- list, get in touch with Gill togive us your current address

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Finally, we don’t issue membership cards as there is only rarely a needto formally identify yourself as a member. However, as some publishersand conferences give members a valuable discount, if you needconfirmation, ask Gill to send you a confirmatory email.

Membership numbers are significantly down, and relatively fewmembers have signed up for email Soundings. It remains an open offer !

I have had less purely merchant marine historical material submittedrecently, so do consider a contribution. Here are a few suggestions:

“ Seen in port” There are many interesting old vessels moored in SWharbours, and owners are usually happy to chat about them. Up to 200words and a photo would be a helpful contribution.

Gig boats. We have had talks on building gig boats, but no contributionssofar on the history of the revival of gig racing, which is now part ofthe life of most of our small ports.

Ferries. Bristol and Plymouth , and doubtless others, have many oldand interesting ferries.

We only occasionally become involved in advocacy, but there are timeswhen we can voice a concern in a reasonably effective way. The Delfttiles issue was reported in SWS 86, and in June I wrote to NationalArchives regarding a proposal to cancel a volunteer data linkageproject, which had come to our attention.

Often there is little time to gather views. Most official consultations givea notional month, in reality there are often only a few days, so we mustdecide swiftly whether to chip in. If you are aware of an upcoming issuewhere you think the Society might express a view, do let us knowsooner rather than later, and more generally the Committee need toknow whether the membership as a whole is comfortable with advocacyof this kind. Let us know if you have views or information.

Jonathan Seagrave

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REPORTS OF MEETINGS

Mount Edgcumbe, 7 July 2012

On a very wet day some 37 members from the Society, NAS andPromare met at the Stables at Mt Edgcumbe. Some of us even arrived bywater! (See below).

The first speaker was Peter Holt who talked of the wrecks in the Sound.

Dr Ayse Atauz, President of Promare, talked about her researches intoMalta. A first local project investigating a marina site showed littlerecoverable material, but financially enabled a much more detailedreview of all the waters around the island. Whilst the seabed is litteredwith WW II remains, only one area yielded older material, a mysteriousgroup of amphorae of widely varying ages, in deep water. They werenot permitted to explore that site further. This left a mystery, wherewere the wrecks to be expected around a trading hub?

Despite the picture usually painted of Malta’s importance in trade, Aysesaid her more historical research suggested Malta was in fact quiteisolated for much of its history. It was not on the coast hugging routesmost widely used in antiquity. The Templars had arrived there becausethey were unwelcome elsewhere. Malta’s early history was one of exileand piracy. Indeed its main role in trade was as a slave market, and thefew galleys of the Knights were mainly employed in taking Ottomanslaves, being only a marginal supplement to the fleets of Venice, France,and Spain. History had been rewritten by the Knights to exaggerate theirown role.

We moved back to a quick look at the excavation of the changingcoastline at Capraia in Southern Italy where there were stone bargessimilar to many wrecks in Southern France.

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Lindsay then gave a brief rundown on excavation of a Roman riverbarge at Stella (Roman Aquileia) which enabled the barge’sconstruction methods to be examined in detail.

Mike Williams then reviewed the growth of NAS which had a smallstaff but ran courses both nationally, and with partners all over theworld. Their manual was a bible for this work. Like everyone they weremoving to a least some e-learning

Martin Hazell then presented Mike Prettejohn with a SWMHS award,and Mike spoke of the work he has done on the replica Gorran Havencrabber Elizabeth Ann, now used by youth groups in Fowey; and morewidely on supporting traditional craft.

After lunch we heard Brett Phaneuf, director of Promare talk about theirwork with New Orleans museum on WWII wrecks. This was often withTV channels, especially the BBC and Discovery. They looked off theNormandy beaches which were simply labelled on French charts as“many wrecks and explosives”. A particular discovery was the“floating” tanks. Of 35 only 5 landed, and three of these were actuallylanded directly ashore. All the rest sank, amazingly without loss of life,owing something to nonetheless very inadequate escape gear. Anothersite was a Norwegian lake and recovery of heavy water from a ferrydestroyed by partisans. It was still intact in barrels. He also mentionedrecovery in Lake Garda, and the scuttling of 35 Japanese submarines offNagasaki in 1946. Though they found the scuttling field they could nottrace the giant submarine they were keenest to find.

One of the features of Brett's work was the way that the archaeologywas supplemented by oral history drawn out from survivors of thosetimes, and archive pictures. They worked closely with local groups, akey to their whole approach.

Our final speaker was Kevin Camidge of the Cornwall and ScilliesMaritime Archaeological Society . CSMAS had dived the wreck of theColossus. Some material had been privately recovered in the 1970’s andmuch had disappeared. CSMAS had found the second half of the wreckwhich had recently been exposed, and recovered some fine carvedtimber which had been conserved and is now in a museum.

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They had undertaken an “on seabed” preservation trial funded byEnglish Heritage which suggests that quite cheap matting can preservefreshly exposed timbers well. He then move to the wreck of the fireshipHMS Firebrand ( 1707), giving us a brief history of the design and fateof these vessels- not many of which were actually used as fireships. Paywas better but the penalties for failure to grapple, or capture, weresevere ! Finally, some finds of high grade pottery pointed to trade toTresco Abbey, the only likely customer for expensive goods.

Thanks are especially due to the Promare speakers, and Mike Williamswearing his NAS hat. This was our first meeting devoted wholly tomaritime archaeology, and we enjoyed a very wide range of topicsindeed. We may look to organize a similar event in future.

The Northern Belle exArmadillo of 1926 still servesas the Cremyll ferry.Originally built to ferryshipyard workers in the NorthEast, she featured in the filmclassic “ The Cruel Sea”. Itwould be good to have somebrief histories of the ferriesthat ply our local ports, someare equally old and haveinteresting stories to tell.

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Exeter University 46th Maritime History Conference 1-2September

Some fifty researchers, including around ten Society members, met forthis annual event, this time supported by Gothenburg university,Seafarers UK, and your Society. The meeting was particularlyconcerned with the links between the public, business, and academicand private research and education.

We started by hearing how the crew lists archive based inNewfoundland had been developed to begin to link to the other scatteredelements of the original archive, and with links to other material. PhilipBrohan then gave us a fascinating account of results fromoldweather.org .This, as well as providing weather records for climateresearch, now offered the daily logs of some 100+ WWI RN warships.

The Swedish speakers told us about the recording of the now largelydefunct fishing industry, and the continuing impact on small towns; andthe challenges of conservation of a very old paddler with a condensingScottish engine which troubled the Swedish counterpart of the MCA !

Andrew Barnes recounted the major changes to the RN museums, nowmerged, and the ambitious plans for Victory full restoration, which willneed careful planning before substantial work starts. Derek Janes spokeof the role of Gunsgreen house in Eyemouth, now a focus for wideractivities and regeneration.

Rhian Tritton elaborated on the Great Britain’s research links withBristol University. The linked PhD students emphasized they had tobecome communication savvy as well as good researchers.

Harry Bennett of the University of Plymouth had become unofficialadviser to Kevin Wheatcroft who is restoring the only surviving S-boot.(E boat) S-130. Harry had unearthed some remarkable wartime film of S-boot construction. Mercifully for the RN perhaps, it was a slow, handcrafted process. Tim Voelker talked of the lonely path of getting a thesispublished and the importance of keeping pricing accessible to the widerpublic.

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Duncan Redford related the problems of trying to be an ITRO and theByzantine complexities of research funding, and Tim Benbow of King’stalked of the advice he gave to senior naval staff and policy makers. Thenavy were very open to constructive discussion

Ewan Macdonald of Sea Vision outlined his exciting project to developeducational materials linked to real life, to connect young people to thesea using the new media they understand so well. The big challenge is toget schools engaged, but 11 from around Southampton had come ontoQueen Elizabeth as part of the launch. It is to be hoped that he issuccessful in raising the public and educational profile of all thingsmaritime.

On Sunday the round table discussion touched on the health of research,the ever increasing role of the e media, and the importance of continuedcollaboration, with some optimism that the right kind of project coulddraw in the wider public. The at term pregnant oldweather volunteerwho blogged that she could do two more pages between contractions !shows the extraordinary commitment that can be elicited by a wellthought out project.

The discussion on publication could perhaps have been sharper aboutthe rapid changes taking place. It was pointed out that nearly all sciencepapers now have online supplements of support material. Drivinghome, I had the provocative thought that perhaps a fully referenced andrefereed entry on Wikipedia would be as valid a publication as a journalarticle, and arguably more useful for reaching a wide audience. Would itcount in research assessments and cv’s ? And if this became common,where would it leave specialist publications such as our own Journaland Mariners Mirror ? This is a discussion which has much further togo. Many thanks are due to Maria Fusaro and her team for a veryworthwhile weekend. Jonathan Seagrave

Other Society Attended Events

A thank you to Peter Sims for helping to man the SWMHS stand on Sat 30thJune at Plymouth's National Armed Forces Day on Plymouth Hoe. There wassome interest in our display. The Society also has had its stand at the Exetermeeting and we hope some new members have been recruited.

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ARTICLES

The Victualling Trade in Cork and Kinsale during the AmericanWar of Independence (AGM abstract)

A significant battle in the American War of Independence was fought atTrenton New Jersey. It gets very little recognition in the history of theAmerican War, but the British defeat at Trenton on Christmas Day1776, substantially eliminated the possibility of the army foraging for,or cultivating food in America during the war. Food now had to besupplied from Britain.

30,000 soldiers were shipped to America in 1775, and they all had to befed. By 1781, the feeding requirement was for 110,000 people. Theseincluded soldiers, sailors, displaced refugees, friendly North AmericanIndians and intimidated North American Loyalists.

Cork in Ireland had a significant trade to the Americas and the WestIndies prior to 1775.The principal products were beef, butter and pork.The fertile grasslands of Munster were able to put flesh on the hardyyoung cattle from the mountains of Kerry. A major slaughteringoperation in the north of Cork City, linked with the processing trades ofcoopering and salting, created a product for which there was a demand.The Treasury for the army and the Victualling Board for the RoyalNavy, through a system of contractors and sub-agents were majorcustomers for this Cork product. The system worked reasonable well,and was fine tuned by the end of the war on 1783. It is significant theimprovements in army and navy provisioning in the 1793-1815 wars,benefited for the experience obtained in the American War.

Jo Varley

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Face or Attack during the Second World War – development of airdefence (AGM abstract, fuller version on the web)

This study has placed the issues of air power and the Royal Navy firmlyinto the surrounding framework of the rest of the interwar period. Likethe work of Andrew Gordon and Joseph Moritz, in other areas ofinterwar Admiralty policy, it has brought together aspects of economics,technology, science, politics and society to the Royal Navy’s attitudetowards air defence during this time. It has also extended the work ofGeoffrey Till on the subject to the 1930s and linked it to the factorsabove.

Overall the Admiralty made sensible judgements of AA fire controlsystems, introduced new weapons, and above all, grasped contemporarystate of air power with limited scope on its development. It was alsoaccurate in its assessment and countering of high level air attacks.However, on many levels it lacked the means to translate thisassessment into hardware. This study also highlights that the number ofAA guns, and levels of armour on ships increased dramatically, andmore thought on a tactical and operational level went into air defencethan the Admiralty has been given credit for. However, there were stillweaknesses in the valuation of likely damage to ships by aircraft, whilealthough tactical scope was displayed, it is not in as much detail as onemight have hoped. The Admiralty also made the error of not appointinga permanent body to monitor the situation. Nevertheless, when analysedfrom this perspective it is clear that the Royal Navy performed as wellas could be expected due to the constraining factors it faced.

Tim Woodward

Other contributions at the AGM were fromStephen Mirfin Honed by Adversity: The Organisation and Operations ofWestern Approaches Command, 1939-1945 , J. Grant Repshire From Ship toShore: An examination of what occurred at the points of debarkation andlanding during British joint army-navy operations in the eighteenthcentury.Maria Petrillo The Romance of Sail: Nationalism, Competition andthe Merchant Sailing Ship in the United States & Great Britain, 1850-1950.

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Falklands Log HMS Invincible

The Oldweather project for the Met office and naval-history.nettogether have transcribed logs from more than 100 RN ships. The latteris now adding additional log material and information to provide a fullship history. Additional volunteers are welcome to join in this task.Contact naval-history@ntlworld.com

At the Exeter meeting, Philip Brohan showed us this log entry for HMSInvincible at the battle of the Falklands. On that day no weatherobservations were made ! and the entries are in the notably terse style ofthe day.

The sailing ship mentioned in the log was the Fairport, see SWS 63,64and 68 for further details of this remarkable episode.Thanks tohttp://www.oldweather.org http://www.naval-history.net

8 December 1914

Place: Falkland Islands and at seaLat -51.8, Long -57.0The battle described on this day is the Battle of the Falkland Islands. Usefulreferences for this battle are: Robert. K. Massie, 2004, Castles of steel, multiplepublishers; and Geoffrey Bennett, 1962, Coronel and the Falklands, multiplepublishers.5.10 am Collier Trelawny alongside.6.05 am Commenced coaling. Divers clearing starb. propeller.8.00 am Strange vessels reported from Sappers Hill look out Station on horizonto southward.8.20 am Stopped coaling & unrigged collier.8.30 am Action stations.9.00 am Enemy in sight off Port William.9.15 am Cast off collier.9.22 am Canopus opened fire.10.00 am Weighed and proceeded at full speed, course as req. for leaving PortWilliam and proceeding in chase of German squadron, now observed to consistof Scharnhorst (flagship of Admiral Count vonSpee), Gneisenau, Nuremburg, Dresden and Leipzig. The following ships alsounder way, Carnarvon,Cornwall, Kent, Glasgow, Bristol, Macedonia.12.55 pm Inflexible opened fire.12.57 pm Invincible opened fire.

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1.25 pm Enemy’s light cruisers observed to spread to starb.1.35 pm Scharnhorst and Gneisenau altered course to port ? lines and cameinto action.2.45 pm Observed full rigged ship steering about N (true).4.00 pm Scharnhorst hauls out of line and lists to starb.4.17 pm Scharnhorst sinks. The Carnarvon now in company and engagedlater. Cornwall, Kent, Glasgow and Bristol engaging enemy’s light cruisers, butnot in sight.6.00 pm Gneisenau stopped and listing to starb.6.02 pm Gneisenau sinks. Invincible, Inflexible and Carnarvon proceeded atfull speed to pick up survivors.7.30 pm Proceeded S56½ W – 18 kts.

9 December 1914Place: at seaLat -54.6, Long -61.9Number on sick list: 111.20 am Searched ship for fire – correct.2.45 am Searched ship for fire – correct.8.40 am Cleaning up decks etc. Carpenters and shipwrights repairing shot holesetc.9.50 am Stopped Port. Funeral service for dead German sailors.1.00 pm Clearing away wreckage.6.55 pm Smoke N55E.7.30 pm Sighted cruiser – HMS Bristol.9.10 pm a/c for investigating whales.

SMS Scharnhorst

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REVIEWS

BRITANNIA NAVAL HISTORIES OF WORLD WAR II

DARK SEAS ~ The Battle of Cape Matapan. University ofPlymouth Press 1st 2012. 149pp maps & charts

p/b 157x232 (ISBN 978-1-84102-304-5) ( -303-8 for hardback).Foreword by HRH Prince Philip The Duke of Edinburgh KG KT OM

GBE Lord High Admiral.Introduction by J E Harrold PhDBattle Summary No. 44: The Battle of Cape Matapan 28 March

1941.

HUNTING TIRPITZ ~ Royal Naval Operations Against Bismarck'sSister Ship. University of Plymouth Press

1st 2012. 296pp ill. maps & charts p/b 157x232 (ISBN 978-1-84102-310-6) ( -309-0 for hardback).

Foreword by Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope GCB OBE ADC, First SeaLord and Chief of Naval Staff.

Introduction by GH Bennett PhDBattle Summary No. 12: The Attack on St Nazaire, 28 March 1942Battle Summary No. 29: The Attack on the Tirpitz by Midget

SubmarinesBattle Summary No. 27: Naval Aircraft Attack on the TirpitzNaval Staff History: An account of the Various Attacks Carried

Out by the British Armed Forces and theirEffect Upon the German Battleship

HITLER'S GHOST SHIPS ~ Graf Spee, Scharnhorst andDisguised German Raiders. University of Plymouth

Press 1st 2012. 216pp maps & charts p/b 157x232 (ISBN 978-1-84102-308-3) ( -307-6 for hardback).

Foreword by Admiral Sir Jonathon Band GCB DL ADC, former FirstSea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff.Introduction by GH Bennett PhDBattle Summary No. 26: The Chase And Destruction of the Graf

Spee Including the Battle of the River Plate

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Battle Summary No. 24: Sinking of the ScharnhorstBattle Summary No. 13: Actions with Enemy Disguised Raiders

All volumes £17 p/b, £35 h/b.

It is understood that these 3 books will eventually form part of a seriesof 29. Each book will reproduce Naval Staff Histories and BattleSummaries from the Second World War and all will follow a similarformat, namely a foreword by a distinguished naval person, anintroduction by a naval historian, and the main content, followed bycomment using information that has come to light since the historieswere originally written. As the introduction to Hitler's Ghost Shipspoints out: "There was much that the writers of the summaries could notknow. The summaries were pulled together in some haste as theofficers of the Royal Navy struggled to learn lessons for the future fromrecently concluded operations. The German perspective on theseoperations would not emerge until after 1945, and the ULTRAsecret......would remain out of the public domain until the1970s.......Seventy years on from the events which they analyse, theBattle Summaries make interesting reading. They constitute the firstdraft of the history of the war at sea."

I understand that the authors hope that the series will provide a usefulcorrective to the public perception that navies are of declining relevancein the modern age and the public's misunderstanding of the significanceof events in World War 2 in which, for example, the Battle of Britain isthought to have saved Britain from invasion and the Dambusters Raidbelieved to have done decisive damage to the German economy; neitherof which is true. As shown by a number of well-researched booksGermany was not equipped to invade Britain successfully in a landingcontested by the Royal Navy whereas defeat in the Battle of the Atlanticwould have eliminated Britain from the war, and notwithstanding thesupreme courage and skill displayed in the Dambusters raid it had ashort term and marginal effect on the German economy. (Webster &Frankland Vol.II pp289-292).

It used to be accepted as axiomatic that we needed a powerful RoyalNavy to defend the trade routes of the Empire. Now that we no longerhave an empire, the political class seem to regard a navy as a luxury wecan scarcely afford notwithstanding that over 90% of our trade is

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seaborne. Our dependence on the freedom of movement on the high seasis critical to our national survival, not least for supplies of oil and gas,the interruption to which would rapidly bring the UK economy to astandstill. A reappraisal of the importance of navies is overdue, a lessonstates such as India and China have grasped, but not it appears, the UK.

Some, if not all, of the material in these volumes has been available inthe past from the Stationery Office but it is available here at a moremodest price and some of the most interesting material is that whichcame to light after the war. Also, most if not all of the topics in thethree volumes published to date have already been covered by a fairlyextensive literature, but that is not an argument for not bringing thembefore the public again, if in so doing a fresh perspective is provided. Itis to be earnestly hoped that the publication of these volumes will helpto change public perceptions of the importance of sea power. Thequestion has to be asked how well are they likely to succeed?

All three volumes have good introductions which summarise thematerial which follows. This is particularly useful in Dark Seas aboutthe Battle of Matapan, detailed accounts of the action tend to beconfusing because of the often incorrectly reported positions of bothenemy and friendly forces. Additional interest is given to Dark Seas byHRH Prince Philip's foreword. He was present at Matapan as amidshipman in HMS Valiant, and he describes his view of, and part in,the action.

Hunting Tirpitz shows how the Royal Navy dealt with the threat posedby Tirpitz and how she was rendered largely ineffective through attacksby midget submarines and strikes by Fleet Air Arm aircraft until thefinal coup de grace was delivered by the RAF.

I would contest Dr Bennett's assertion in his introduction to Hitler'sGhost Ships in relation to the sinking of HMS Hood that "....BritishNaval Power was steadily being eclipsed." That ultimately proved to betrue, but it seems odd to hang this assertion on the symbolism of the lossof the Hood. That battlecruisers with their light armour were notcapable of withstanding fire from battleships had been amplydemonstrated at Jutland, when the Royal Navy was, in terms of itsmaterial power in relation to other navies, arguably at its apogee. It istrue that loss of the Hood was a great blow to national pride, but the

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Royal Navy ended the war with a powerful and modern air armincomparably superior to that which it possessed at the outset, it haddefeated the formidable threat posed by the U-boats, provided most ofthe naval forces for the invasion of Normandy, and had much newconstruction at sea and on the slips. Also, the Royal Navy hadperformed with greater distinction in the Second World War than in theFirst. If the Royal Navy was being eclipsed it was by the growingpower of the US Navy in the Pacific, and even there by the end of thewar it is arguable that the Royal Navy had the most powerful fleet it hadever deployed.

However, this aside, all the introductions provide a useful and lucidoverview of the material to follow.

Notwithstanding that the Battle Summaries and Naval Staff Historiesare official documents, and intended to provide a recital of the knownfacts rather than convey the drama of the events they relate, the lattergenerally need no emphasis to engage the reader. Nor are the accountsdevoid of humour; survivors of the sinking of the Scharnhorst reportedthat "after sending their final signal to Hitler assuring him that theywould fight to the last shell, the Admiral and the Captain had shotthemselves on the bridge." A footnote to the Battle Summary comments"This does not seem a particularly helpful proceeding....."

While most of the events covered in this series will already have beenwritten about in books about the war at sea, it is likely that few if anywill have provided the detail in these volumes. Hunting Tirpitz includesreports of the examination of the wreck with an extensive analysis of thedamage, including a profusion of deck plans and side elevations.Unfortunately the reproduction of these has been distorted. The lengthto beam ration of Tirpitz was approximately 6.97 ; ( length: 251m;beam at a draught of 10.5m: 36m.) but the deck plans are reproduced ata ratio of 5.14 or thereabouts. The resulting distortion of proportionsalters perception of the layout of the ship and leads to such absurditiesas apparently elliptical roller paths for the main armament.

The postwar examination of the wreck dispelled the idea that Bismarckand Tirpitz represented a radical new design of super ship.

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"Information gained from a survey of the wreck and numerous drawingsbrought from Germany confirm that Tirpitz's reputed fine watertightsubdivision, and consequent "invincibility" were a complete myth; hersubdivision was very similar to that of our own Capital Ships, andindeed those of all major sea Powers. Her watertight integrity was inseveral ways subordinated to requirements of convenience; for example,every transverse watertight bulkhead in the ship was pierced bywatertight doors on the lower and middle platform decks [respectively6th & 5th decks below the upper deck], a menace which has beeneliminated from H.M. ships for many years......". *

* [ The near contemporary battleship design, HMS Vanguard of similardisplacement, had no doors in transverse bulkheads on any deck belowthe main deck (i.e. the deck immediately below the upper deck). Thisimpeded movement around the ship and could involve ascending 5decks and then descending 5 decks to move to an immediately adjacentcompartment but was considered a penalty worth accepting in theinterests of reduced vulnerability to battle damage.]

Moreover it is surprising to read of the apparently poor construction ofTirpitz :

"The transverse bulkhead failed along a line of welding to thelongitudinal bulkhead and was torn away from the stiffeners which hadbeen designed with tapered ends. The intermittent welding which hadbeen used to connect the stiffeners to the bulkhead was of such poorquality that when the explosion occurred the welding failed and thestiffeners took only a small proportion of the load for which they hadbeen designed. It was observed that all similar stiffeners throughout theship were likewise connected by intermittent welding. Detailedexamination carried out at H.M. Dockyard, Portsmouth. of a number ofspecimens of welds cut from Tirpitz indicated that the German weldingtechnique was of a poor standard."

Notwithstanding the wealth of detail on the wreck of Tirpitz, thematerial provided in these volumes in the light of more recentknowledge is uneven and in some cases disappointing. It may be thatthe authors feel that in many cases what has been written about theseevents subsequent to the Battle Summaries and Staff Histories is eitherinaccurate or adds little to the historical record. However this cannotjustify the failure to quote from or even reference material which addsconsiderably to our knowledge.

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For instance, in Ghost Ships nowhere is there any mention of thediscoveries of Captain Peter Hore who in "Sydney Cipher and Search"(published in 2009) has thrown much light on the final action of thecruiser HMAS Sydney which resulted in the sinking of not only theGerman Raider Kormoran but the loss of Sydney with no survivors; anevent which was for a long time the subject of much speculation - howcould a modern light cruiser have been defeated in battle by a convertedmerchantman? Aside from providing much new information Hore'sbook is in the words of Nicholas Rodger "A fine piece of historicaldetective work which reads like a thriller."

Similarly, in Ghost Ships, contrary to Battle Summary No. 26 (the RiverPlate action), German sources are emphatic that "Graf Spee did not atthe same time fire [with her main armament] on different targets.........";see The Drama of the Graf Spee and the Battle of the River Plate - ADocumentary Anthology: 1914-1964 (p273) compiled by Sir EugenMillington-Drake KCMG. This is a useful source in that in addition toreproducing Commodore Harwood's official report, it includes manyeyewitness accounts from both sides.

Conversely, also in Ghost Ships, there is a 'Summary of IntelligenceObtained from Prisoners' after the sinking of Scharnhorst, and inHunting Tirpitz there are personal accounts by the survivors of theevents of 12 November 1944 when Tirpitz was finally capsized by12,000 lb Tallboy bombs dropped by the RAF. These accounts are ofinterest but in the case of Tirpitz would have been of more value iftranslated by someone with greater knowledge of technical and navalmatters. It may be reasoned that chimney, tower, pipe and volley shouldbe read as funnel, turret, breech and salvo respectively and that thewelding equipment referred to was cutting gear, but what was a'processing centre' and what was the job of the 'machine team'? DarkSeas includes extracts from Admiral Iachino's book Gaudo e Matapangiving the Italian perspective on the Battle of Matapan and thesehighlight the handicap he suffered from lack of an aircraft carrier, andthat although within range of German and Italian land based air forceshe received poor air support.

There are typos, now seemingly inevitable in any current publication,but they are not, as sometimes occurs, such as to impede understandingand it is not known to what extent they have been carried forward from

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the original text or are errors in copying. There are comprehensive trackcharts but unfortunately, while it appears that in the originals some ofthe tracks were coloured, the charts have been reproduced in black andwhite which can make for difficulty in interpretation. Notwithstandingthese criticisms the paperback volumes are nicely produced on goodquality paper (hardback versions have not been sighted).

Some 70 years on it is probable that, except among the older generation,few of the general public know much about the events described in thesevolumes and while, if interested in naval history or World War 2, theymay have read accounts of some of these actions it is unlikely they willhave read about all, or even most. It is to be hoped that these volumeswill be widely read, and absorbed as a salutary reminder of the vitalimportance of maritime power to an island nation.

Roger Bunbury

The Loss of the Criccieth Castleby Cathy Woodhead, Published by Delfryn Publications 2012

This a most interesting little book with an amazing story to tell. Icouldn’t put it down - surely the best recommendation for any book.The author herself has been on quite a voyage of discovery, havingfound a typed manuscript and a letter amongst her mother’s papers. Hermother was a journalist and the letter was from the wife of a sea captain- Catherine Thomas - whose extraordinary story of shipwreck andmiraculous escape took place in 1912.The author’s mother was asked towrite up Catherine’s story for inclusion in ‘The last of the CapeHorners’ published by the International Association of Cape Horners anorganisation formed in 1957.

Catherine was a young Welsh milliner who, in 1905 met RobertThomas, first mate of The Criccieth Castle, an iron hulled, 3-mastedsailing ship of 1877 tons which was used to carry goods between theWelsh port of Barry, various South American ports and Australia.Although steamships were taking over from sailing vessels at that timethe latter could be operated more cheaply for non-perishable goods.

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Robert and Catherine married in 1907 when Robert returned to Barryafter one of his voyages and she surprised her new husband byannouncing that she wished to accompany him on his next voyage.Catherine was certainly an adventurous lass for those days and onlystayed behind when Robert went to sea again because she was about todelivery their son Bobby. When Bobby was only a year old sheaccompanied Robert again.

On their third voyage together all went well until they had just roundedthe Horn when a bad storm wrecked the rudder and the stern of the shipwas badly damaged, the ship started to take on water and eventuallyRobert had to take the decision to abandon ship. The family and crewtook to the lifeboat and longboat 180 miles south of the Falkland Islandsin icy waters and mountainous seas.

There followed a terrible 8 day ordeal during which the two boats lostcontact and 15 crewman lost their lives. Eventually the family -amazingly still alive despite Robert’s having been washed overboardearly on and only rescued only by Catherine’s quick thinking - landedon South Georgia with 8 of the crew and were rescued by the LightHouse Keepers. Little Bobby, four years old, was unconscious with thecold for most of the 8 days and was mercifully unharmed andCatherine’s unborn child (she was 5 month’s pregnant) was alsounharmed.

Apart from the riveting and very detailed account of the shipwreck andits aftermath this book gives a fascinating account of life on such asailing vessel. It also includes the legal judgments from the enquiry intothe loss of the ship and details of all the author’s research. It isillustrated with old photographs and the paintings of Criccieth artistDavid Cadwalader.

Altogether a good read and highly recommended.

Dee Holladay

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The Secret Capture : U110 and the Egnima Story StephenRoskill (Seaforth Publishing 2011) ISBN 978 1 84832 0987, 156pp.,£16.99

This is a re-issue, with new foreword and introduction, of a book thatfirst appeared in 1959, one of a number by Captain Roskill on particularaspects of 20th century naval history published in the wake of hismagisterial, multi-volume War at Sea. It deals with a subject the authorwas unaware of when he compiled the latter series, and even in 1959treated with conspicuous discretion. That was the boarding and searchin a May 1941 convoy action of a surfaced and abandoned German U-boat, leading to the capture of a functioning Enigma coding anddecoding machine, plus a rich haul of confidential books and charts andother unspecified “equipment”.

The Enigma coder/decoder lifted from U-110 was not the first suchdevice to be obtained by the British, who were already reading asignificant proportion of German naval traffic. But Barry Gough’s newintroduction affirms that it enabled Bletchley Park to decipher more.There is no mention of the machine as such in Roskill’s narrative, andindeed the only specific intelligence items referred to there are Germanwireless frequency settings, charts showing the swept channels into andout of their U-boat bases, and the captain’s diary. But the book hintsstrongly that considerably more, and more important, material wastransferred to the escort commander’s destroyer, which had led the huntthat forced the submarine to the surface. The episode occurred whenthe convoy, southwest of Iceland, was under the protection of the 3rd

Escort Group, based at Hvalfijord and commanded by Commander JoeBaker-Cresswell in HMS Bulldog.

The structure of the book is masterly. After an initial chapter on otherWorld War 2 submarine boardings (two British, three Italian, fiveGerman), the author describes where things stood in the Atlantic in1941, how Allied convoys were organised and controlled, and how theGerman submarine command was set up.

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Only then does he move on to the formation and sailing from Liverpool,the Clyde, and Loch Ewe of convoy OB (Outward Bound) 318, escortedby the Liverpool-based 7th Escort Group. After an uneventful few daysat sea in the eastern Atlantic, action started soon after Baker-Cresswell’sgroup took over the escort south of Iceland.

Roskill describes the general progress of the convoy in nicely judgedsummary terms, and the two attacks it suffered, at the cost of six ships,in more detail. When he comes to the successful boarding of U-110during the second attack, he skilfully weaves that dramatic story (theboarding party thought that scuttling charges might detonate at anyminute) with his narrative of the 3rd Escort Group’s continuing defenceof the convoy. With all this he manages to convey, drawing on whatparticipants told him, something of what it felt like to be at sea in aNorth Atlantic convoy during those dark days. He ends with adescription of how very nearly this one was overwhelmed by theBismarck and Prinz Eugen after their breakout. Immediately beforethat, he seamlessly fits in three pages on the circumstances in whichfour more merchant ships were lost after the convoy dispersed, as wasthen normal, on reaching longitude 35W.

The Secret Capture, therefore, is both the story of the seizure at sea ofmaterial of great intelligence value and a case study of an otherwisetypical Atlantic convoy before the tide turned in the Allies’ favour.These are set down with a precision and a clarity that marks history atits best, by, moreover, an author who had a real feel for the sea, acomplete familiarity with naval procedure, and a deep knowledge of themaritime war.

Peter Thomson

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LETTERS NOTES AND NEWS

Helen Doe writes:-

Members may be interested to see that the University of Exeter isrunning a distance course open to everyone, The Lost World of theSailing Ships.

It starts in October 2012 and is a completely refreshed version of thepopular course that ran five years ago. It is an introduction to the 19thcentury world of sail: the men, the ships and shipbuilders, the ports, theinvestors, privateering and smuggling. It provides useful reading anddiscussion on the topics and an introduction to the wealth of materialavailable on-line. Students will have access to the rich resources of theUniversity's Electronic library.

More information can be found on the website

http://education.exeter.ac.uk/dll/details.php?code=DLH05

Mike Fayle (Chairman British Association of Friends of Museums)writes :-

We have been receiving a number of enquiries from members lookingfor assistance and insights to help them deal with emergingcircumstances where Friends are being invited/encouraged to take ongreater operational responsibilities.

BAfM itself can provide some feedback, but as each circumsatncediffers there is no single satisfactory response. I would like toencourage as many groups as possible to share their experiences. Tofacilitate this I have created a discussion topic in the BAfM Forum.You can access this from the website menu or directlyat forum.bafm.org.uk. If you have not done so previously, you willneed to register but please don’t be deterred!

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William Taylor writes:-

Further to David Wheeler’s interesting article on the port of Exeter inMSW 25, the undermentioned can be added to the list of visiting vesselson p267.

The Annuity. This little Everard vessel of only 144 tons on a length ofless than 90 ft, was a regular arrival with cement from Thames orMedway.

Archie Sheef’s m.v. Celtic, a former spritsail barge, also brought cementfrom Thames or Medway.

The m.v. Channel Trader which I only recall seeing once, when she wasin with agricultural feedstuffs. This then went to NW Devon by road.By the way, Exeter had a wide hinterland, some of the timber went byBRS lorries far into Somerset.

Mr Wheeler mentions the Dutchman’s splendid accommodation. In thisconnection I recall, though perhaps not the correct spelling, Joann TVelt, one of the timber traders. Never have I seen such luxury for amaster and his family. Below the navigation bridge was a suite ofcabins furnished and decorated in a manner that would do justice to aprofessional man ashore.

Finally, I come to the greatest of them all, the Result. Although this onetime, Ashburner designed, three masted topsail schooner had been cutdown to a ketch, nothing could detract from the beauty and functionalityof her lines.

The Craic at Ballinacurra

The Brooklands Bar at Ballinacurra, County Cork was long associatedwith the schooner of the same name (originally Susan Vittery) whichwas owned by the Creenan family from 1923 to 1948 when she was thelast schooner in the home trade under sail alone. The pub was also in theownership of the Creenans and remains so with the current landlady,

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Nina Byrne, being the grand- niece of John Creenan. It is known far andwide within the maritime world as Jacko’s Bar; Jacko Creenan was theyounger son of John and brother to Christie who latterly skippered theBrooklands. It was fitting, therefore, that the pub was chosen by those ofus who had guided to publication the last work of Dick Scott, entitledIrish Sea Schooner Twilight as the proper place to launch the book afterpublication. So it was that a large gathering took place at the old port onCork Harbour on 15th August to celebrate the late Dick Scott and hissplendid work, based upon his experiences gained during numerousvoyages on the last of the schooners and ketches trading in the narrowseas.

Although we already have books such as Douglas Bennet’s SchoonerSunset, this will be the last book written by a man who was actuallythere in the twilight of the schooners. In the nature of such gatherings inthe Emerald Isle the evening proceeded uproariously with stories andsong which were well lubricated with the Black Porter and the book waswell and truly launched in proper style. Nina Byrne had providedexcellent hospitality and was suitably rewarded by the recall of the glorydays of her family’s deep association with the sea. Publisher, NeilParkhouse and his wife, who had never visited Ireland before wereastonished at the craic, even though I had prepared them for theexperience! He even sold a good number of books.

Colin Green August 2012

Queen’s Jubilee Thames Pageant video

If you thought the TV coverage was dire, then try the Jubilee video atwww.clevedonnews.org.uk/page8.html

Ignore the first minute of local celebrations, there is then about 10minutes of the parade, much of it shot from the Clevedon gig boatWatch and Pray, the only Somerset vessel in the parade, and the riverbank. Though it is a bit shaky in places, it actually focusses on the boatsand gives a good feel of what it must have been like to be on the water.

Dee Holladay/local press

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Call for Papers: Navy and Nation, 1688 to the Present

In July 2013 - and to coincide with the opening of a new permanentgallery of British naval history - the National Maritime Museum willhost a major conference addressing the interconnections between theRoyal Navy and Britain from 1688 to the present day. Its aim is toexamine this naval and national relationship from the broadest possiblerange of perspectives. As such, the organizers welcome proposals fromoperational, administrative and technological history through to social,cultural and gender history, and the histories of art, material culture andliterature. By these means, the conference will endeavour to inter-relatethe varied approaches to the navy represented in recent scholarship.

Ffi National Maritime Museum (Greenwich)

More on Polish Naval History

Arising out of the Polish navy element of the Armed Forces Weekevents in Plymouth, the Chairman has been officially invited to Gdyniafor the 75th aniversary of the Polish heritage destroyer Blyskawica inlate November. She was built by J S White's in Cowes to Polish design,and was possibly the fastest destroyer in WWII. A few days later thenew Polish navy museum will be officially opened also in Gdynia. Theson of the Polish navy base commander at Plymouth, 1943-7, will takesome of his late father's archives to present to the museum. In addition,Polish naval photographs collected by Martin Hazell will be also, indigital form, be presented to the museum. . The Polish defence attache,naval Captain Krol, from London attended the Polish events duringAFW.

Martin Hazell

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Ballast Island and Nowhere Island

The art world of Bristol has two highly unusual nautically relatedexhibitions. The Ballast garden previously mentioned in SWS, has nowbeen planted on a barge in the floating harbour. Easily seen from abovefrom Castle Park, or from a boat, it isn’t usually possible to walk roundit. The odd “ Nowhere Island “ display of glacier rocks on a barge isalso coming to Bristol. Bristol Post

Godrevy Lighthouse controversy

Trinity House plans to close Godrevy Lighthouse and put a laser lightnext to it have come under fire from both planning and maritimeperpectives, with questions asked as to why it is necessary to scrap asolar powered fully automated system.Peter Hansen/ local press

Loss of Shira

The 118 yr old Shira 16 ft gaff rigged cutter was lost close to Falmouthafter a “smuggling and trading” trip to France. The lifeboat servicerescued her crew off the Lizard, but she sank on tow.

Peter Hansen/Falmouth packet

J. Grant Repshire writes ,

I would like to thank you for the honour of being awarded one of thisyear's MA research grants, and for the kind reception and interest in ourprojects which you displayed towards my classmates and myself at thisyear's AGM. We certainly enjoyed ourselves and hope you enjoyedhearing about our research.

I am currently putting the grant money to good use, using it to fundarchival research at the National Archives and Greenwich MaritimeMuseum. Hopefully I shall soon have more interesting insights into theconduct of landing operations during the eighteenth-century.

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Thank you again for the support which you have shown towards MAstudents at Exeter University, and all the best wishes for the future ofthe SWMHS. [Tim Woodward wrote in similar terms. Ed]

Exeter University Student Volunteering OpportunitiesAre there any maritime heritage groups in the Exeter area with a projectthat would benefit from the assistance of a maritime history student?

The University intends encouraging students to volunteer with projectsrun by outside organisations whose interests are related to the students'own studies. The projects do not have to be big but should fulfil agenuine need within the community.

We have already had three projects come forward from the website Forfurther details and to discuss possible projects, in the first instanceplease email Maria FusaroM.Fusaro@exeter.ac.uk

Grayhound floats away

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HERITAGE BOAT NEWS

National Historic Ships Register

NHS have set up a new register of replica vessels, meeting criteria laidout in their Handbook. It is currently quite short, but unsurprisingly,includes many Bristol pilot cutters.

ffi http://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/pages/uk-replica-list.html

Launch of the Grayhound

In the economic gloom and doom, it was pleasing to see a very largecrowd, 1000 or so, at the launch of the new 3 masted lugger Grayhound,on August 4th at Millbrook.

The launch was preceded by various festivities, shanties and much ciderand beer consumption ! We all toasted her slide down the slipway(assisted, it has to be said, by the Cawsand ferry ). As she slid fully intothe water, there were just a few drops of rain, but the squall was at adistance, and a magnificent double rainbow accompanied her. Even inthese sceptical times, it was surely a propitious omen.

Based on a late 18C design of a revenue/smuggling lugger, she is a 5/6replica of the original of 1776 with a crew of five.

Three masted lug rig sailing vessel

length on deck 63’6”

length overall 108 ‘

Beam 19’5”

Draught 10’9”

Tons Displacement 49.47

SQ feet canvas 3500

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She has a busy charter programme for the next 18 months. Bookinginfo Classic Sailing and the new site http://grayhoundluggersailing.com

Integrity at boat show

Will Stirling’s Integrity, launched a few months ago, is on display at theSouthampton boat show and has joined the NHS replica list.Congratulations !

Launch of the Hermione

The replica French 32 gun frigate Hermione was finally launched on 6th

July after many years of project development. She is due for completionin a couple of years and will repeat Lafayette’s voyage of 1780 tosupport the US revolution.

Ffi http://www.hermione.com/en and Chris Handleys’s detailed articlein SWS 61 (2004)

Charlestown for Sale

In SWS 87 we reported that Kaskelot was for sale. It appears that thewhole Square Sail site and business is now up for sale.

Discovery of Terra Nova

SS Terra Nova, the three-masted steam-powered barque that tookCaptain Robert Falcon Scott on his ill-fated South Pole mission to theAntarctic 100 years ago this year, has been discovered by the SchmidtOcean Institute on the Atlantic sea bed off the coast of Greenland. It wasscuttled there after being damaged by ice in 1943.

BBC News

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Weymouth based TS Pelican to be support vessel for ShackletonEpic expedition.

The expedition is re-creating the 800 mile Southern Ocean open boatvoyage in the James Caird.The tall ship Pelican has been chosen to besupport vessel as she is almost exactly the same size asShackleton's Endurance.

The Pelican will shadow the James Caird replica on the voyage fromElephant Island to South Georgia in January 2013.

Crew berths are available on the TS Pelican for the voyage south toPunta Arenas in Chile. ffi www.adventureundersail.com/article27.html

Shieldhall News

At the time of writing only two sailings remain to be completed thisseason. Although our programme has been restricted this year the goodnews is that bookings have been pretty good for all but one of thesailings and passenger surveys tell us that our new catering team aredoing a good job.

Already our volunteers are turning their attention to the myriad of tasksthat must be completed before the planned dry docking next spring atwhich some major structural renewal will take place. Not least of thesetasks is, of course, fundraising.

In the meantime we continue to look for opportunities to use the ship’sfacilities whilst alongside. In the immediate future the NuffieldTheatre/Hampshire Youth Theatre will stage “The Voyage of LostDreams” aboard the ship – September 3rd./8th. inclusive. This will be anew type of venture for us both. It is understood that the production willcomprise a number of playlets staged in various parts of the ship. Someof them based upon salty tales that were passed on by our volunteercrew. Altogether the ship is a very busy place these days.

Doug Brodie

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WEBERY

New linksA useful compendium linking to searchable online copies of Lloyd's Register,Lloyd's List, the Mercantile Navy List and many other resources is atwww.maritimearchives.co.uk

Maritime and Naval Museums in Britain and Ireland. A comprehensive indexedlist with brief details of each is athttp://people.ds.cam.ac.uk/mhe1000/museums.htm

A scholarly email discussion group H-Net on Naval History is at www.h-net.org/~maritime/A similar group discussing Military History is at www.h-net.org/~war/

Enquiries received by emailRFA ThroskA steam museum near Doncaster has recently acquired a steam steering engineand a steam capstan from RFA Throsk, Philip & Son Ltd, Yard No 1050 of1943.

They have some useful background information from Derek Blackhurst'sPhilips book but are asking if anybody knows whether there is any moreinformation about this ship, or photos of its wheelhouse interior with wheel, itssteering engine or its capstan (or of those of its sister Kinterbury, Y/No 1040).There are pictures of the engines as received and as dismantled on their website www.markhamgrangesteammuseum.co.ukAny further information may be emailed to their Hon Sec. George Dickinsonaeddickinson@talk21.com

Information on Royal YachtsA Canadian writer working on an historical novel is looking for information ona midshipman's duties and general experiences serving on one of the RoyalYachts during the later years of Queen Victoria's reign. Any helpful links orresources would be much appreciated.Replies may be emailed to the enquirer Timothy Hennesseytiminthehouse@gmail.com

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Brixham Commemoration 1872We have received an enquiry regarding an engraved coin or medal inscribed"1872 I Swam to Save Brixham".

Brixham Museum were helpful by suggesting that it might be related to theRNLI boathouse and slipway erected near the breakwater in 1872. The RNLIheadquarters stated that the coin is not associated with them. The enquirer askswhether there was perhaps some form of local charitable swim to raise fundsfor the boathouse.Replies may be emailed to the enquirer Tim Edwardstimotheous2@yahoo.co.uk

Items from the ForumIdentification of a model sailing craft. In answer to Peter Foston's earlierenquiry, non-member Roger Grace suggests that the Vintage Model YachtGroup may be able to help. Their website www.vmyg.org.uk has a gallerypage entitled "What is it" devoted to identifying unknown models.

The "First Mayflower" the William and Thomas 1618. Plymouth'sMayflower Project is building a replica of the Mayflower as a historicalmuseum ship to be based on the Barbican in Plymouth, next to the MayflowerSteps.

As part of the proposed historical exhibition they are interested in anyinformation on the "First Mayflower", the William and Thomas that sailedunder Rev Francis Blackwell with 180 Brownist settlers from Amsterdam in1618. All but 50 died on the voyage and the rest were killed in the Indianuprising in Jamestown in 1624. The expedition was the "Titanic" of its day andgoes some way to explain why so few Brownist Pilgrims were on the morefamous Mayflower.

WW2 Royal Navy paint schemes. In anwer to a previous enquiry, SWMHSmember Alistair Roach gave a detailed answer quoting from a previouslyrestricted 1943 Admiralty booklet "The Camouflage of Ships at Sea" (C.B.3098-R) There are drawings and colour schemes for three versions of camouflagefor River Class Frigates shown, plus paint 'chip' samples. Western ApproachesType painted in white and Blue (B.55), Light Admiralty Type in two shades ofgrey (G.10 & G.45) and two shades of blue (B.30 & B.55) and Intermediatetype in three shades of grey (G.10,G.20 & G.45).

He says that White Ensign Models has since reproduced this booklet in full.

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There is also a four volume set of "Royal Naval Camouflage" from WR and awebsite www.shipcamouflage.com/

In addition, SWMHS member Peter Thomson quotes from Stephen Roskill's"The Secret Capture" (1959) recently re-issued. The commander of the 3rdEscort Group adopted the colour pale mauve for his ships for spring andsummer and white for the winter. He believed that these schemes, whichbecame widely used, maximised the chances of surprise at dusk and dawn.

Dave Hillswebmaster@swmaritime.org.uk

UPCOMING EVENTS

Space does not permit a full listing of other societies’ programmes, but anemail will be sent out in about 2 weeks’ time with all those available, to all onthe Echoes email list.( a good reason for keeping us up to date with yourcurrent email !)

Note however that two branches of WSS have changed venue:-

BRISTOLFirst Thursday of each month (not June, July, August). Friends Meeting House,Champion Square, BRISTOL BS2 9DB. Parking available at Cabot Circusmulti-storey car park, BS2 9AB.

PLYMOUTHFirst Tuesday of each month. Plymouth Naval Base Museum, off Granby Way,DEVONPORT. (Nearest postcode PL1 4HG = block of flats at crossroads downGranby Way from A374; turn left at crossroads, then immediately right pastSpinnaker and HMS VIVID; Museum on right)

Ffi on WSS meetings contact Roland Whaite thewhaites@hotmail.com

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SOUTH WEST MARITIME HISTORY SOCIETYRegistered Charity No. 289141

(Updated 12.6.11)Chairman Martin Hazell

124 Molesworth RoadStokePlymouthDevon PL3 4AH Tel. 07941 603097 /01752 550768Email: chair@swmaritime.org.uk

Vice chair /Editor Jonathan SeagraveS.W. Soundings 10 Woodlands Rise, Downend

Bristol BS16 2RXTel: 0117 9566127Email: soundings@swmaritime.org.uk

Editor Maritime S.W David Clement& Monographs The Holt, Exton, Exeter, Devon EX3 0PN

Tel. 01392 875604.E-mail: journal@swmaritime.org.uk

Secretary (pro tem to Chair)

Email secretary@swmaritime.org.uk

Acting Treasurer Dale Thomas` 4 Clear View, The Narth, Monmouth,

NP25 4QHTel: 01600 860311Email: treasurer@swmaritime.org.uk

Membership Gillian Seagrave(new/renewals/changes) 10 Woodlands Rise, Downend

Bristol BS16 2RX(Tel: 0117 9566127 : note email/post preferred)Email: membership@swmaritime.org.uk

COMMITTEEMike Bender, Julia Creeke, Michael Duffy, Maria Fusaro, Peter Ferguson,David Hills (webmaster), Mike Williams, Peter Sims, Peter Skidmore, WillStirling.