Review
I think this will prove to be a very popular book with all Naval enthusiasts because it contains photographs not previously published. The book states correctly that many photographs in today’s private collections were 'illegally' shot for sailors as souvenirs by official photographers whilst on board ship - known to the British photographers as 'Rabbit work' to supplement their wages.
One of my tasks for the last
decade has been to use my own Royal Naval website at www.rjerrard.co.uk/royalnavy/rnavy/rnavy.htm
to collect war and peace-time 'unofficial' photographs and I now have a large
collection which I will pass on.
Opening the book at 1941 one
inevitably confronts the now familiar sight of HMS Barham blowing up. These pictures are correctly described as
‘some of the best known of the horrifying last moments of a British
Battleship’. John Turner, Gaumont
British newsreel cameraman, who captured these images from on board HMS Valiant
died 7 March 2007, aged 91. According
to this book, reports vary as to the number of torpedoes that struck
Barham. I have a copy of the log of HMS
Queen Elizabeth for Tuesday 25 November 1941 and it records as follows, '16.25
Barham torpedoed, conning tower of submarine sighted, bearing 210, 1626
emergency turn to starboard, 1629 Barham listing 50 degrees to port, course 320
full ahead 22 knots, 1631 Barham blown up by 3 torpedoes, half of screen
detached to save lives'.
The evidence of the most
senior surviving officer, Lieutenant Commander Charles Reginald Stratton Brown
was, "My impression was four". Others
say three. One survivor who I had a
telephone conversation with, said three.
He like my Uncle was a member of the Royal Marine Band. See www.rjerrard.co.uk\royalnavy\barham\barham.htm
Whilst I think this is a
superb book, it does suffer from having to cover such a long period and all the
Navies involved. An example of this is
the loss of HMS Ark Royal with just one photograph on Page 82. There exists a magnificent series of books,
which admittedly could cost you a lot of money to purchase, ‘Britain at War the
Royal Navy a Complete Record in Text and Pictures’. There were 5 volumes, the volume which covers January 1941 -
March 1942 has 387 illustrations and there are five photographs of the sinking
of Ark Royal. The one photograph in
this book merely states that there is a destroyer alongside taking off crew. In fact I think this is HMS Legion and it is
known that some of the crew were taken off by HMS Laforey.
Moving forward, another fine
example are some excellent photographs of life on board a British Minesweeper,
HMS Sandown. Of course what makes this
book worth having is the immense variety of photographs in black and white and
colour of navies, including Britain (including Commonwealth), USA, Italy and
Germany.
There are some photographs
of crews relaxing such as a cricket net erected on the flight deck of HMS
Formidable in Sydney harbour in 1945.
However one photograph on Page 137 set me wondering. It was probably taken on HMS Indomitable 10
August 1942. It states that the crew
are dispersing on the flight deck. They
are all dressed in white shorts and white fronts and look as if they have just
been dismissed from divisions. But why
are a few Ratings in white shoes and short white socks?
This superb book concludes
as it should with the Japanese surrender and also U-Boats surrendering - those
that did that is. Is there any
significance that the last photograph of all shows the crew playing cricket on
the flight deck of a British Aircraft Carrier with the caption "This is clearly
a no-ball". Being 1945, the bigger game
was over and they had been on the winning side - all that had gone before had
been “not cricket”!
Rob Jerrard
The Naval Officer’s
Pocket-Book 1944
Edition: 2007 Reprinted
Author: Compiled by Brian
Lavery
ISBN: 9781844860548
Publishers: Conway
Price: £6.99
Publication Date: 20th
August 2007
Publisher’s
Title Information
‘The art of
command is...to be the complete master, and yet the complete friend of every man
on board; the temporal lord and yet the spiritual brother of every rating; to
be detached and yet not dissociated.’
A Seaman's Pocket-Book, 1943, re-issued by Conway in September 2006, has found
huge appeal with the British public. Presented in the same format, the
Officer's Handbook gathers together useful advice and instruction for those
naval officers fighting the Second World War on all aspects of their job,
expressed in the benevolent language of the day, when authority was respected.
The Handbook has been compiled and edited by Brian Lavery, who provides
commentary and an introduction. Sections include: the Officer's Aid Memoire
containing notes of the training course at one of the officer training schools;
Notes for medical officers and treatment of battle casualties afloat; Notes for
captains on taking command of their first ship; Notes for commanding officers;
Notes on the handling and safety of ships and notes on dealing with
disobedience and mutiny.
While suffused with nostalgia and charm, the various contents of this book are
an authentic presentation of matters of training, authority and deportment in
the wartime navy. The book is sure to appeal not only to those who served in
the war or had a relative who was in the officer class, but also to anyone who
wants to gain a greater understanding of the day-to-day administration of the
wartime navy.
The
Author
Brian Lavery is one of Britain's leading naval historians and a prolific author. His most recent publication is the highly successful
Churchill's Navy (2006) (ISBN 9781844860357).
Brian lives in Greenwich, London.
Introduction
When Sir
Alec Guinness was asked what was the best performance, he had ever given, he
did not mention Kind Hearts and Coronets Tinker, Tailor, Soldier,
Spy or even Star Wars. Instead he referred to "That of a very inefficient,
undistinguished, junior officer in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve.’ For in May 1943, I was in dubious command
of LCI(L) (landing craft infantry (large) 124 with a crew of twenty..., We were
all very young and inexperienced; my own lack of know-how and swift rash
judgements hampered the Allied Cause like small but irritating gnatbites."
By
mid-1943 the Royal Navy had endured nearly four years of total conflict, and
expanded from 204,562 officers and men, including Royal Marines and reserves at
the beginning of 1939, to a total of 660,000 in June 1943. It had to go well
outside its normal recruitment range to find temporary officers from among those
had no experience of the sea. Young men were conscripted into the Royal Navy.
Possible officers were selected at a basic training camp, mostly on the basis
of previous education, for the navy believed that high standards of literacy
and numeracy were essential to get though the intensive course.
The
selected men, known as CW candidates, were sent to sea for at least three
months' active service as ordinary seamen, followed by an interview by a group
of retired admirals. After that, the successful candidates were sent to HMS King Alfred, a shore training camp at Hove, with satellites at
Lancing College and Mowden School. They were to train as 'seamen' or
'executive' officers. Engineers, aircrew and other specialists were recruited
and trained separately.
King Alfred was commanded by Captain John
Pelly, who had retired from the navy in 1934 and was recalled at the
start of the war. He interviewed each
cadet personally, but otherwise he was a rather retiring figure. His stated aim was,to instil in every man the alertness, enthusiasm, broadmindedness, sense of responsibility, conscience and good humour (as well
as a basic knowledge of technical subjects) which centuries of Service
experience have shown to be necessary if a Naval Officer is to carry out his
normal duties.'
By 1943
trainees were assumed to be 'proficient in the very elementary knowledge of
seamanship, founded on the "Seaman's Pocket Book", though not all
came up to standard . After
around three months' training, successful candidates were commissioned as
temporary officers and wore the wavy stripes of the Royal Naval Volunteer
Reserve, though they were not volunteers. Those who failed the course at King Alfred were sent ignominiously to spend the rest of the war
on the lower deck. Passes were commissioned as sub lieutenants with a single
stripe on each arm. Those over 25 were likely to be promoted to full lieutenant
quite quickly. Each man was given a choice of which type of ship he wanted to
serve in, but the needs of the service were paramount. Destroyers were the most
glamorous; closely followed by the fast, light craft of coastal forces. The
greatest number of newly trained officers went to the two areas of largest
growth in the navy: landing craft that would put the troops ashore in North
Africa, Italy and Normandy, and the escort vessels that would defeat the
U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic and ensure the supply chain that was
essential in winning the war.
In
landing craft and the small ships used by coastal forces, promotion to command
of a ship was often quite fast. A newly commissioned officer might spend a few
months as first lieutenant before taking charge of a landing craft with a crew
of about ten, and perhaps six tanks or 200 troops on board for a landing.
Escort vessels were much larger, with up to ten officers and 150 men. Most King Alfred graduates would take charge of a watch at sea, and
take responsibility for the welfare of a division of seamen. Each would also be
responsible for a part of the ship's equipment as an antisubmarine,
anti-aircraft or gunnery officer, signals or radar officer, and perhaps might
undertake further training for the role. A few, such as the novelist Nicholas
Monsarrat, would eventually take command of escort vessels after several years
of service.
The
Documents
There is
no single document that sums up the experience of naval officers during the
Second World War, but the seven pamphlets reproduced here deal with almost
every aspect of life, except for fighting, and technical subjects like engineering.
They include seamanship, naval law, leading officers and men, battle
casualties, etiquette and paperwork. Together they give a very vivid picture of
life on board a warship, and the great responsibilities borne by those who
commanded them. In general, the Royal Navy was some way behind the United
States Navy in producing clear, readable material for trainees. Mostly it
relied on out-of-date official books, designed for career officers in big
ships. These pamphlets were mostly produced informally, but they already
reflected a great deal of wartime experience as well as centuries of tradition.
They describe the duties of naval officers and the expectations placed on them
during the almost intolerable strain of a relentless war. They are printed here
roughly in the order of the seniority of those they were intended for, to give
a progressive view of a wartime officer's career. They start with a manual for
officer training, then through the duties and etiquette of medical officers and
of junior officers in HMS Duncan. The last three deal with the responsibilities of captains, who might be
very inexperienced and quite junior in rank in wartime.
1. The
Officer's Aide Memoire
Standard
naval textbooks on subjects like navigation were too long to be digested easily,
while there were no modern works on how to run a small ship. The Officers Aide Memoire, issued under Captain Pelly's name in September 1943,
was intended to fill this gap. He acknowledged that the leadership section came
from `various sources'. In fact most of it is taken from the instructions
issued to newly joined officers in HMS Hood by Captain Francis Pridham, which was in its second edition by January
1938. At first sight it seems strange that a document intended for regular
officers in the biggest warship in the world should be adapted for temporary
officers in landing craft, escorts, minesweepers and MTBs. But the peacetime navy did very little to
train its officers in leadership. Roderick Macdonald, commissioned in 1939,
wrote, `Public school boys were for some reason assumed to have absorbed
Leadership at school since it was not taught or alluded to in the training
cruiser.'`' Secondly the navy was facing a crisis with its petty officers in
1938, as many of the older men had recently retired, while the navy was going
through first expansion programme for 20 years, and the strains were already
showing. The Aide Memoire also included much detail on ship administration, and a thumbnail sketch
of the principles of navigation. It had many references to paragraphs in the King's Regulations and
Admiralty Instructions, for it
was found in wartime that passages and A. I. is too comprehensive a volume and its relevant
passages too difficult to find..."
The Aide Memoire was produced after King Alfred had been operational for more than three years, when its training system
was at its peak. It forms a remarkably concise distillation of 30 years'
experience as a naval officer and was designed to enable an officer, who might
be confronted with an administrative problem, to find the answer quickly by
looking up the relevant reference to the governing regulation or authority. The
Aide
Memoire proved
extremely popular to officers serving at sea, judging by the number of requests
for copies from Commanding Officers.
Most of
its lessons in leadership and navigation are still valid today. King Alfred was one of the great successes of the war, training
22,500 naval officers.
Warship
2007
Edition:
Vol XXIX
Author:
Edited by John Jordan
ISBN:
9781844860418
Publishers:
Conway (Anova Books)
Price:
£40
Publication Date 2007
Warship is devoted to the design, development and service history of the
world's combat ships. The contributors are respected authorities; so detailed
and accurate information is the keynote of all the articles - fully supported
by plans, tables and photographs.
Volume XXIX includes:
HMS GIRDLE NESS: SEA SLUG MISSILE TRIALS SHIP
Jon Wise
recounts the tortuous development of the Sea Slug missile. The article reveals
how poor choices of configuration and propulsion in the early stages of the
missile's development impacted on stowage and handling arrangements on board
ship, ensuring that Sea Slug became a `dead end' in the development of an
effective surface-to-air missile for the Royal Navy. THE AERIAL
ATTACK ON THE GERMAN HIGH SEAS FLEET PLANNED FOR 1918 David Hobbs
writes about a little-known plan drawn up in 1917 by the Staff of the Grand
Fleet for a major air strike on the German High Seas Fleet at Willelmshaven
using massed torpedo carrying aircraft launched from the decks of existing and
specially-converted aircraft-carriers. SIR NATHANIEL
BARNABY, KCB For David K
Brown the eminent Victorian constructor Nathaniel Barnaby was a much
misunderstood man, blamed for decisions over which he had little influence and,
conversely, credited for the work of others. THE
CONTRE-TORPILLEURS OF THE MOGADOR CLASS John Jordan
completes his study of the French flotilla craft of the interwar period with
this article on the two-ship Mogador class. The fastest and most powerful ships
of their type when completed in 1938-39, they were beset by technical and conceptual
flaws. THE ITALIAN
NAVY AND THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER 1907-2007 Vincent O'Hara
and Enrico Cernuschi tell the story of naval aviation in the Italian Navy from
the early years to the present. The article explains the failure of the Regia
Marina to build a single aircraft-carrier during the interwar period. THE BADEN
TRIALS William
Schleihauf describes the gunnery trials the Royal Navy conducted using the
ex-German battleship Baden in 1921. The
main focus of the trials was to test the effectiveness of the new generation of
APC shells delivered to the Grand Fleet in 1918, but the lessons learned would
also be incorporated in the protection system of the new generation of
battleships. THE JAPANESE
DESTROYERS OF THE HATSUHARU CLASS Hans Lengerer
writes about the design process of the IJN destroyers of the Hatsuharu class, which was plagued by conflicting demands and resulted in ships
with serious stability problems; these had to be resolved by major redesign and
reconstruction. THE PORT EDGAR
DESTROYER BASE 1916-28 Mark Brady
tells the story of the Destroyer Base built for the Grand Fleet during the
First World War, and recounts the `detective story’, which led to the
identification of destroyers in a famous aerial photograph of the base taken by
an airship during the final year of the war. THE IENA
DISASTER 1907 Philippe
Caresse's article on the French pre-dreadnought battleship Iena commemorates the centenary of her loss in 2007. Iena was being refitted in dock at Toulon when a series of massive magazine
explosions devastated the after part of the ship, with considerable loss of
life. THE LOSS OF THE
BATTLESHIP NOVOROSSIISK Stephen McLaughlin investigates the loss of the Soviet
battleship Novorossiisk (ex-Italian
Giulio Cesare) at Sevastopol
in 1955, together with many of her crew, and reviews the various theories which
have been advanced regarding the cause of the explosion which resulted in her
sinking. NAVIES IN
REVIEW Conrad Waters
summarises the significant naval events and developments during 2006. Tables of
current force strengths are provided for all the major regions. WARSHIP NOTES Short articles
on interesting aspects of worldwide warship history, heritage and research,
including detailed plan and profile views of the French CDS Bouvines by Ian Sturton; an account of the restoration of part of the armament of
the monitor M33 by Peter Lawton and Jo Lawler; a description by David K Brown
of two little known post-war anti-torpedo projects; and follow-ups to various
articles in recent editions of Warship. NAVAL BOOKS OF
THE YEAR Reviews of some
of the latest publications on naval history, including Norman Friedman's major
new book British Destroyers and Frigates. WARSHIP GALLERY Soviet cruisers
of the Second World War from the Boris Lemachko collection, with detailed
captions provided by Richard Worth. Yachts on Canvas Edition: 2005 Author: James
Taylor, FRSA ISBN: 1844860205 Publishers:
Conway Maritime Press Price £30 Publication
Date: 31 Aug 2005 Publisher’s
Title Information Since the seventeenth century, artists everywhere have
been fascinated by yachts. Whether drawn to the vigour of ocean racing or the
quiet nostalgia of cruising, they have found the yacht to be a rich and
relentless artistic source. About the Author James Taylor FRSA read Art History at St Andrews and Museum
Studies at Manchester University. After a time at Phillips Fine Art Auctioneers
and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, he was appointed Assistant
Curator of Pictures at the National Maritime Museum in 1988. He contributes
regularly to a variety of journals such as Antique Collector and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
He has published Marine Painting
(Studio Editions, 1995) and has curated major exhibitions on yachting art. Review This is a book
for a wide audience, especially maritime historians, sailing craft enthusiasts
and marine artists. Those in the
business of selling or displaying such works will find this book an essential
tool and a source of shear pleasure.
Covering the period from 1600 up to these modern days one is made to
realise that the racing and pleasure yachts have been and continues to be a way
of life to so many owners. The well-chosen
format of 11" x 112/3 " gives the 145 paintings a change to
show off their splendours. One of the first in the book and finest examples of
the art of using format to full advantage can be found on the introduction
spread with the painting by John Mecray of
'Columbia versus Shamrock 1'.
The viewer is given the chance to be amazed at the size of the boats
when compared with the crews on deck and the astonishing amount of canvas they
must have carried. There is also the
chance, thanks to the fine quality printing, to study the artist's truly great
technique in oil paint. James Taylor is
more than qualified to present such a subject. His serious connections with the
National Maritime Museum alone, make him more than competent to gather together
such a fine catalogue of maritime paintings and write about the artists,
painting techniques, composition and some most interesting highlights of
history behind the subjects in a most entertaining manner. The book covers
400 years of the pleasure of yachts and yachting, so the reader can be treated
to and study the change of style and technique by marine artists. All sailing craft whether they are
mercantile or military are beautiful in one way or another but yachts have a
special place in the annals of maritime art.
Within those four centuries of yachting, the period which is most
revered is the 19th century. This
period seems to be more grandly covered than any other. From the rakish schooners and seemingly
over- canvassed cutters through to the amazing 'J' class boats into the 20th
century, the subject has been covered by artists so that there is hardly a
single vessel of note that has not been recorded in paint. As marine artists are noted for technical
accuracy, these paintings are a great source for researchers and maritime historians. 123 marine
artists are featured to one extent or another in this book, many of them are
written about in detail by James Taylor. His expert knowledge of the subject
means that he can give a good insight into their paintings according to the
amount and type of training they had. This book contains not only a glorious
selection of the very best yacht paintings, but most interesting accounts of
the lives and working practices of the artists. Every painting
in this book has some detail or feature worthy of study but there is one that
is such a gem for what has been left out rather than put in. One of my
favourite marine paintings of all time is to be found on page 117. It is
wonderful in every way. I love it more for the fact that the artist, Charles
Murray Padday, failed to give the helmsman and feet! John Batchelor Aviation,
Marine, Military Artist Come Hell & High Water Edition: HB Author: Jean Hood ISBN: 1844860345 Publishers: Conway Maritime Price: £20 Publication Date: 28th
Sept 2006 Publisher’s Title Information This collection of 17 remarkable maritime stories
stretches from 1752 to 2005 across several countries, including warships and
merchantmen, steam and sail, the humble and the prestigious. Encompassing the
major causes of maritime disaster - war, weather, navigation, human failings
and technology - it highlights the themes and qualities that make the maritime
drama so compelling: and it dares to challenge the popular perception of the
Titanic as the greatest shipwreck story of all time. The Author Jean Hood studied English at the University of Durham, and spent
many years working as Information Officer at Lloyd's Register of Shipping. She
is the author of Marked for Misfortune and Trafalgar Square: A Visual History
of London's Landmark Through Time. This is a fascinating
compilation of 17 individual maritime incidents. The stories have been carefully chosen by the author to be those
less well known in popular history, the exceptions being the Titanic and
Kursk. Well researched and presented,
these stories span 253 years of seafaring encompassing military and civilian
vessels ranging from mighty warship to coastal paddle steamer. The book gives an insight into the spectrum
of human nature from its very worst to its very best, reflected in the
characters portrayed. Desperate to find sanctuary, the survivors of a sailing ship
destroyed by fire, journey along the South American coast. Treachery and mutiny among the shipwrecked
crew of an East Indiaman, who using collective skills built a vessel and sailed
to safety along the African coast.
Battered by a hurricane force storm in the Atlantic, a convoy of
decimated sailing ships battle for survival.
Drifting crippled, a merchantman is cruelly left unaided by a passing
ship. A French frigate commanded by an
incompetent aristocrat, is badly navigated and grounded, inept attempts at
refloating her lead men to commit acts of self preservation in boats leaving
the majority to a uncertain fate aboard an awful raft in an act of criminal
culpability, incredible tales of inhumanity, suffering and cannibalism
follow. Put to sea in overwhelming
weather by a greedy captain and owner, a Liverpool paddle steamer bound for
Anglesey is wrecked, resulting in a needless loss of lives. A ship bound for Australia with women
prisoners aboard is beached on the French coast by the weather with no hope of
refloating and doomed to be wrecked by the tide. Survivors aboard a stricken paddle steamer out of New York in the
Atlantic, are rescued by the determined efforts of others. A flawed order from an Admiral attempting to
display naval superiority, goes unchecked by his subordinates leading to a
disastrous collision and subsequent loss of ship and lives in calm waters with
no enemy action. Those lost on a vessel
bound for Rio are rescued and subsequently cared for by Spanish locals. The author, challenging some of the popular
beliefs, reviews the titanic disaster.
Determination, tenacity, technological development and experimentation
made the first submarine rescue a possibility and reality. A brave and daring raid by
mini- submersibles on British warships in Alexandria in 1941 was successful and
showed that the Italians were capable of courage and military strategy. U-boat operations during WW2 are a
controversial subject as is the story of an attempted rescue by one crew
following the sinking of a liner by them.
One heroic merchant captain of the 1950s, and his rescuer survived
together, attempting to salvage his ship while clandestine calls were made to
the Daily Mirror from darkest Cornwall.
Finally the ill-fated Kursk,
cover-up and subsequent international controversy. Five years later, it all ended very
differently when similar circumstances tested new resolves. The book is completed with
an interesting, well-written, thought-provoking conclusion, which encompasses
the whole subject of seagoing dangers and disasters and ends by questioning the
realities of the popular myth of ‘women and children first’. John Shaw Send
A Gunboat: The Victorian Navy and Supremacy at Sea 1854-1904 Edition:
Revised 2007 (1967 originally Published) Authors:
Antony Preston & John Major ISBN:
ISBN 10: 0851779239 ISBN 13:9780851779232 Publishers:
Conway Maritime (Anova Books) Price
£25 Publication
Date: March 2007 Publisher’s
Title information Since
its original publication, 'Send a Gunboat' has remained the standard reference
work on the remarkable story of the Victorian Royal Navy's fleet of small
warships, which enforced the Pax Britannica around the world for half a
century. As Professor Andrew Lambert
states in his Foreword to this revised edition: ‘Despite the emergence of much
new work since 1967, addressing almost every aspect of the subject ... the book
remains the baseline for any study of naval force in British Imperial diplomacy
between the Crimean War of 1854-56 and the Entente Cordiale of 1904.’ The period is greatly misunderstood, and the phrase ‘gunboat diplomacy’ has generally been used to suggest a crude use of naval strength to bully and coerce weaker nations.
In fact, the Pax Britannica was a much more subtle and complex concept,
calling for the use of limited force to create a favourable climate for
international trade. The book is divided into two sections: the first examines the role of the gunboat in British foreign policy during those critical 50 years; the second provides a
comprehensive listing of all the vessels of the gunboat navy from the Crimean
War up to 1914 with specifications and details of launch and fate. The second
section is supported with a number of appendices including a brand new section
on HMS Gannet, the last surviving small ship of the Victorian navy which, as a
composite screw sloop, is representative of the smaller warships built to
patrol the shores of the British Empire. With
a Foreword by Andrew Lambert and Afterword by Eric Grove, which together set
this classic work in context and bring it up to date with an examination of
whether ‘gunboat diplomacy’ can be applied to the modern age, the revised
edition is fully illustrated throughout with more than 100 additional images to
the original, including rare photographs, making it an indispensable addition
to the library of naval historians and enthusiasts of the Victorian navy. The
Authors Antony
Preston is generally regarded as the most respected naval commentator and
historian of his generation. He was
born in 1938 in Salford, Lancashire, and educated at King Edward VII School,
Johannesburg, and the University of Witwatersrand. He wrote numerous books, the first of which was ‘Send a Gunboat’,
and contributed extensively to naval magazines. His long-standing relationship with Conway Maritime Press began
in the 1970s when he was one of the editors of the Warship Profile series. He
was the founding editor of the Warship annual and returned to the editorship
in 1996 until his death in 2004. He was
also the author of the Royal Navy Submarine Service: A Centennial History and
World's Worst Warships, and was a major contributor to Conway's All the World's
Fighting Ships series. John
Major was born in 1936 and educated at West Hartlepool Grammar School and
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
He did his National Service in the Royal Navy, and was present at the
Suez operation. He began his academic
career at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, ending as Reader in
International History at the University of Hull. His publications include
articles on the United States Navy, Prize Possession: the United States and the
Panama Canal 1903-1979, The Year of D-Day: the 1944 Diary of Admiral Sir
Bertram Ramsay, and History of Quotations. Professor
Andrew Lambert is Laughton Professor of Naval History at King's College,
London. Dr
Eric Grove is Director of the Centre for International Security and War Studies
at the University of Salford. We are reminded in the Introdution that 'Send a gunboat! is a phrase that can evoke the spirit of nineteenth-century imperialism in a powerful way? What phrase could rouse such deep
conflicting emotions, the nostalgic longing for vanished glory or a passionate
rejection of Victorian arrogance? Yet 'gunboat diplomacy' is a phenomenon
largely misunderstood by its supporters and its detractors. This
is as it says a reprint of a pioneering book with the story enlarged since 1967
when it was first published. Appendix
D tells the story of the last survivor, HMS Gannet. There are new illustrations, however, all of the old
illustrations have been retained. Some of the names are familiar because they gave their
name to the shore base, eg HMS Dolphin.
In ‘The Genealogy of the Gun Boat Navy’ on Page 179 the ‘Dolphin Class
Sloops’ are discussed with some fine photographs. Dolphin was used at
Gosport (Fort Blockhouse) where she housed submarine crews and
ultimately gave her name to the submarine base. There is a black and white photograph of her alongside, moored at
Fort Blockhouse in 1908 and another as a Training Ship at Leith Nautical
College, where she was in 1967 - however she went for scrap in 1977. Another
familiar name is ‘Dryad’. HMS Rattler a
‘Bramble Class Gunboat’ was reduced to harbour service in 1910 and renamed ‘HMS
Dryad’. She is shown in a photograph on
Page 182 and included in the photograph are HMS Vernon and HMS Warrior (1860),
by that time hulks. Dryad finished up
as a navigational school ship, which of course is how HMS Dryad at Southwick,
Hampshire got its name. Having served
in Dolphin, Vernon and Dryad it is fascinating to learn how the names
developed. The
last photograph in the book indicates the vulnerability of such ships, it is a
photograph of the crew of HMS Wasp, all 73 lost on passage from Singapore to
Hong Kong in 1877. Many
of these gunboats had very varied careers their useful life being extended by
this method, eg Melita built at Malta, served Mediterranean Fleet, then as a
boom defence vessel and finally a salvage ship. For
the Gun Boat the end came in about 1905 evidenced by extracts from the ‘Fisher
papers’ in which Sir John Fisher set out his views. The Gunboat can be said to have reigned
from 1854 to 1914, Fisher said:- "Gunboats,
and all vessels of like class, have been gradually losing value except for
definite purposes under special conditions.
As far as this country is concerned, the very places consecrated as the
spheres of gunboat activity are those remote from the covering aid of large
ships... since the redistribution of the Fleet the Empire has had to do without
the ubiquitous gunboat, and, if the truth be told, scarcely seems to have
missed ...." The author’s of this book point
out that, 'to this the opposition countered with the argument that while
Fisher's policy certainly covered the heart of the Empire (the British Isles),
it left the arteries (that is, the supply routes) wide open. In other words, although the Navy was to
have its battle-fleet to defend Home waters against enemy attack, it was to be
denied the equally vital supporting craft indispensable in a national
emergency. The result would be a
service as top-heavy - and as vulnerable - as an Army consisting solely of
artillery'. This
book covers all aspects of the gun boat from its Crimean debut to the end and
has excellent Appendices covering,
inter alia, 'Ships Lost', 'Those Afloat in 1867', 'Those Afloat in
1876', 'Those Afloat in 1889' and 'HMS
Gannet Survival and Restoration' (She is now at Chatham, Kent and open to the
public).
Her Motto perhaps sums it all up, 'Deeds not words'. Rob Jerrard
Truly international in scope, "Yachts on Canvas" reproduces the
finest achievements of some of the world's leading maritime artists. Oils,
watercolours, pen-and-ink, collages - these images span the various styles,
times and nationalities of yachting.
James Taylor's comprehensive text accompanies the compositions. In addition to
providing a detailed study alongside each image, the author also presents a
chronological history of the yacht. Bonham's, Christie's, Sotheby's, the New
York Yacht Club, the Royal Cork Yacht Club and the Royal Yacht Squadron have
all contributed towards the collation of these paintings, many of which have
never before been published. The broad and diverse nature of this international
selection means that it is of interest to many: not only to yachting and art
enthusiasts, but also to collectors, auction houses and historians.
The drunken captain of an unseaworthy ferry who refuses to return to port in
bad weather because he would have to refund the fares; the naval captain who
entrusts the navigation of his frigate to a passenger; the crew who callously
ignored freezing survivors on a dismasted wreck; the passengers who seriously
believed a ship could be unsinkable. But for every instance of cruelty,
criminal negligence and bad luck over the past 250 years there is another of
courage, leadership, humanity and sheer audacity: the Americans who went to
save the crew of the Squalus submarine trapped at a depth beyond the capability
of any previous rescue equipment; the French fisherman who swam through heavy
seas to a convict ship in distress; the German commander who risked his life
and his U-boat to help survivors; the Spaniard who used his bowsprit as a
lifeline. It brings dramatic stories, some barely known outside their own
countries, some inexplicably neglected in their own, to vivid life and asks the
question: what are the ingredients of a great maritime drama?
Review
Review
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"Royal Navy & Maritime Book Reviews" Copyright Rob Jerrard