Photo Archive: HMS Atherstone, Portsmouth, c.2005.

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Arabian Gulf, dockyard, Harbour, HM Forces, HMS Atherstone, HMS Victory, mine, mine countermeasures, Minehunter, Persian Gulf, Portsmouth, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Royal Navy, Ships, The Gulf, warship

The M38 in home waters. 

A popular internet search engine and the Royal Navy’s own website inform me that M38 is associated with HMS Atherstone, “one of eight Hunt Class mine countermeasures ships based in Portsmouth“, currently on deployment in the Persian Gulf (refereed to as the Arabian Gulf by some). This photograph was one of a series taken on one of Portsmouth Historic Dockyard’s harbour tours, but this one is the best. As well as the masts of Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory, being visible on the left in the Historic Dockyard you can also see the semaphore tower, on top the headquarters of Naval Base Commander and the Queen’s Harbour Master, within the working Naval Base.

The View from The M Shed Roof, Prince’s Wharf, Bristol, 07/08/14.

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Boats, Bristol, Cranes, Fairbairn Steam Crane, Harbour, John King, M Shed, Merchant Navy, Museums, Prince's Wharf Bristol, Ships, Tall Ships, The Floating Harbour Bristol, The Matthew, tug, views

The M Shed, viewed from the other side of the Harbour.

The third floor of the M Shed, a museum dedicated to the story of Bristol and its “unique place in the world”, offers exceptional views of the Floating Harbour and various points of nautical interest. Here are some of the main points of interest; photographed on a remarkably sunny afternoon.

The Electric Cranes.

All four of the electric cranes lined on the harbour side.

40 cranes like these once worked the City Docks during Bristols 1950’s maritime hay day, but now only four remain. These cranes were a product of the Stothert & Pitt works in Bath.

Another view, featuring a tall ship on the other side of the Floating Harbour.

The Matthew. 

The replica of The Matthew.

It is difficult to believe that this ship is not even as old as I am; the ship being commissioned in 1994. The Matthew, captained by John Cabot, set sail from Bristol and across the Atlantic to find a new sea route to Asia, but bumped into Newfoundland instead.

The Fairbairn Steam Crane. 

 To quote the M Shed’s website, “The striking banana-shaped crane is the Fairbairn Steam crane, now the oldest surviving exhibit of its type in Britain and a Scheduled Ancient Monument“. The steam crane is also a product of the Stothert & Pitt works in Bath and, according to a certain on line encyclopaedia, it weighs in at 35 tons. You can also see two trains from the M Shed’s collection and I believe the one on the left is “Henbury”, built by Bristol based locomotive manufacturers Peckett & Sons in 1937.

John King.

Below right.

The tug, John King, was built in 1935 to tow cargo ships from the City Docks to the mouth of the River Avon.