The Union Jack on the Jack-Staff of HMS M. 33, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Portsmouth, 29/08/16.

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camouflage., dazzle camouflage, Flag Institute, flags, HMS M33, M33, Portsmouth, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Royal Navy, Union Flag

To quote from a pdf published on-line by the Flag Institute:

“Controversy persists about whether the British national flag should be called “the Union Flag” or “the Union Jack”. Among those who are informed about the matter, it is generally accepted that either name may be used. However, some people are convinced that “Union Flag” is the only correct term and that “Union Jack” should be used only when the flag is flown from the jack-staff in the bows of a Royal Naval vessel or, at least when it refers to the use of the flag by the Royal Navy. The general public almost universally uses the term “Union Jack”. Today some people claim to perceive that this usage is being eroded by persons who deliberately adopt an unjustified pedantry. It must be acknowledged, however, that the origins and relationships of the names “Union Flag” and “Union Jack” are historically far from clear“.

I suppose, as I have previously refereed to Union Flags hanging from buildings I have photographed on my travels, I should refer to this as a Union Jack, especially as it is being flown from a “jack-staff in the bows of a Royal Naval vessel” – but I could be wrong.  

The M. 33 has made an appearance on the Antic Roadshow, back in 2014, so if you would like to see what it looked like then or learn a bit more about its history follow this link.  

William Cox – H.M.S Good Hope, The War Memorial, The Church Yard, St. John the Baptist’s Church, Bere Regis, 10/07/15.

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Admiral Maxmillian Von Spee, Battle of Coronel, Battle of the Falkland Islands, Bere Regis, Dorset, First World War, HMS Good Hope, memorial, Military History, Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock RN, Royal Navy, St John the Baptist's Church Bere Regis, William Cox, World War One

William Cox – H.M.S Good Hope.

Every name on a memorial has a story behind behind it, but some names stand out more than others and different names stand out for different people. The name William Cox stands out for me in this Roll of Honour because he clearly served in the Royal Navy, were as those listed above him served in British Army units more familiar to me. I knew nothing about the H.M.S Good Hope; was William Cox lost at sea?

Ship’s Cook William Cox (347466), along side 919 officers and men, of the Drake Class armoured cruiser H.M.S Good Hope, including Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock, who was using the Good Hope as his flag ship, and four Midshipman of the newly formed Royal Canadian Navy, were killed in action at the Battle of Coronel.

Rear Admiral Cradock’s British Fouth Cruiser Squadron engaged the superior forces of Admiral Maximillian Von Spee’s German East Asiatic Squadron on the 1st November 1914, off the Chilean coast. By the end of the battle H.M.S Good Hope and H.M.S Monmouth had been sunk with the loss of all hands.

Although I could not find any further biographical information about Ship’s Cook William Cox, detailed biographies of Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock are available and he strikes me as a very interesting character. In 1904 he received a testimonial from the Royal Humane Society for jumping over board into Palmas Bay, at night, to save the life of a drowning Midshipman. In 1911 he received The Board of Trade Medal for Saving Life at Sea for his part in the rescuing of passengers from the SS. Delhi, which ran aground off Cape Spartel.

Admiral Maximillian Von Spee’s Squadron attempted to raid the Falkland Island on the 8th December 1914 and was surprised by a superior force of British warships, reinforced following the Battle of Coronel. Six German warships were lost following the Battle of the Falkland Island, including Admiral Von Spee’s flagship, which capsized with the loss of all hands, including the Admiral himself.

It is amazing what you can learning from researching only one name on a memorial…

Sources.

The Coronel Memorial http://www.coronel.org.uk/description.php 

The Roll of Honour: A Biographical Record of all Member of His Majesty’s Naval and Military Forces who have fallen in the War, Volume I, page 96. Available on-line at https://archive.org/details/rollofhonourbiog01ruvi 

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.

H.M.S Explorer, Humber Dock Marina, Hull, 29/11/14.

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Explorer, HMS Explorer, Hull, Hull City of Culture 2017, Humber Dock Marina, patrol vessel, Royal Navy, Ships

My walks by the Marina almost always take me passed H.M.S Explorer, but I’ve never noticed anyone on board, so manage my surprise the patrol vessel positively buzzing with activity! Curiosity got the better of me and I shouted, in my heartiest voice, “Going anywhere nice?!” An officer and a gentleman (judging by the way he naturally stepped forward out of the crowd of uniformed figures on the bridge and the tone of his voice) replied, “Whitby!” I was quite envious, to be honest with you, but I doubt Her Britannic Majesty’s Royal Navy is so desperate for recruits that they would take me aboard!

Souvenirs: Ticket & Map, H.M.S Belfast, Imperial War Museum, London, 11/11/10.

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Arctic Convoys, Atomic Age, HMS Belfast, Imperial War Museum, Korean War, London, map, Royal Navy, Ships, Souvenirs, Ticket, World War Two

The map.

If you visit H.M.S Belfast keep your complimentary map handy; I managed to get lost more than once! You start off in the salmon pink Life On Board section, before making your way down into the yellow How It Works section and somehow you end up on top of the superstructure in the green Where It All Happens section; simple! Perhaps if I’d followed my audio guide…

The ticket.

Navigational issues aside; H.M.S Belfast is a very interesting ship and worth remembering. Before my visit I always thought of “London’s Floating Naval Museum” as being synonymous with the World War Two, but almost as soon as you board you realise the ship was extensively refitted in 1956 to equip the ship for the “atomic age”. The ship’s laundry, galley, bakery and quite a few other parts of the ship date from this period and offer an interesting insight into life in the Royal Navy of the late 1950s – early 1960s.

I also remember the statistics relating to the ship’s service in the Korean War coming as a complete surprise to me, for example, H.M.S Belfast travelled “97,035 miles ” during the conflict, it’s gunners fired “7,816 rounds of 6-inch ammunition” and got through “625 tons of potatoes”.

If I had to mention only one more thing these souvenirs bring to mind, it would have to be H.M.S Belfast’s service with the “Arctic Convoys“, taking supplies to the Soviet Union during World War Two, because the white beret of The Russian Convoy Club isn’t an uncommon sight in my home town on Remembrance Sunday. It was good to see that the Convoys are remembered right in the heart of London, on board a ship that once ploughed the same Arctic waters between 1942 and 1943.

 

Photo Archive: Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Southsea Common, c.2005.

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Coast, duffle coats, Portsmouth, Royal Navy, sculpture, sea boots, Second World War, Southsea Common

Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

Seeing the great obelisk, commemorating those members of the Royal Navy who lost their lives in the First World War, on the BBC news this morning, as part of the D-Day commemorations, reminded me of this set of photographs I took back in 2005, on my first visit to Portsmouth. They show the statues that punctuate the memorial plaques that commemorate those member of the Royal Navy who died during the Second World War (these plaques are on a memorial wall, which runs below the obelisk on the landward side of the memorial site). The photographs don’t show it, but it was a very windy afternoon [too windy for a walk really, but you have to make the most of what weather you are given when travelling around the UK] and I remember thinking how appropriately dressed the men on the memorial were, in their duffle coats and sea boots. Look out for details on the duffle coats, especially the toggles and loops, and the waves crashing around the sea boots; the only thing that hints at the cruelty of the sea on the otherwise serene monument.

More information about the memorial can be found here: http://www.portsmouth-guide.co.uk/local_f/warmem.htm

Keeping The Flags Flying, Cleethorpes, 01/05/14.

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British Army, Cleethorpes, HM Armed Forces, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, War Memorial, Wind

Photo Archive: H.M.S M33 Monitor, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, 2005 and 2013.

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camouflage., dazzle camouflage, First World War, Gallipoli, Hampshire County Council, Historic Dockyard, M33, Portsmouth, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Royal Navy, Russia Civil War

On my first visit to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, a must for anyone on a coach holiday to the Hampshire coast, I took the time to take the photograph above and wonder, for a moment, what brought this little ship to a dry dock, overshadowed by the Royal Navy’s largest ships, past and present. Then it was off to queue up for a tour of Nelson’s famous and instantly recognisable flagship, H.M.S Victory. Then I forgot about the little ship (and this photograph; until last week).

Last year I made the journey from Southampton to Portsmouth, by train this time, to visit the Historic Dockyard again, to see the new museum built around the remains of the Mary Rose. On a strict timetable (I think I had to present myself at the Mary Rose Museum at 11 o’clock) I marched from the dockyard entrance to H.M.S Victory, looking for something to occupy my mind and the 15 minutes remaining on the clock before I had to join the queue. Then I noticed the little ship; resplendent in its new, dazzling, paint work! The notion of dazzle camouflage schemes were not new to me, but I had never see them applied so boldly and on an object in front of my very eyes. The idea is, in short, that when your German Imperial Navy U-boat Commander looks at the H.M.S M33 through his periscope he is dazzled by the bold, black and white pattern and subsequently doesn’t know where to aim his torpedoes, because he can’t tell one end of the ship from the other.

 

As you can see, this was a very quiet corner of the Historic Dockyard and I spent some time strolling around the M33 and admiring it’s obviously very new paint work. I learnt from a leaflet that I picked up later (that I have subsequently filed away somewhere so “safe” I cannot find it) that the warship is own by Hampshire County Council and that they have further restoration plays for it. I also learnt that this “little ship”, as I refereed to it initially, had seen action at Gallipoli in 1915 during the First World War and had supported White Russian and Interventionist British forces during the Russian Civil War in 1919. Perhaps my next visit to Portsmouth will be especially to see the newly opened H.M.S M33 Monitor; next year perhaps, to coincide with the anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign. We’ll have to wait and see.

Hampshire County Council’s webpage for the M33: http://www3.hants.gov.uk/m33.htm

Here is a very link to a BBC article by Dr. Sam Willis about dazzle camouflage: http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zty8tfr