All at Sea - British Third Rates of Renown (HMS Revenge)

Destruction of the French fleet in Basque Roads April 1809 - Thomas Whitcombe
HMS Revenge was one of the eleven ships of the line in Lord Gambier's blockading squadron at the underwhelming victory of Basque Roads. 

HMS Revenge was designed by Sir John Henslow and built and launched at the Chatham Dockyard in Kent on the 13th April 1805, for the princely sum of £58,653, about £4,840,000 in modern money and reputedly being one of the first ships to been turned out in the Nelsonian, chequerboard effect, preference for the yellow ochre strakes and black gun ports, paint scheme.

HMS Revenge, sports her metal cast deck, with two forward mounted bow chaser guns, that help suggest the power of this large 74-gun ship.

With an original order for an 80-gun ship, the Revenge was designed as a large class 74-gun ship of the line, later reclassed as a 76-gun ship in 1817, with her upper deck armament consisting of 24-pounder guns instead of the 18-pounders carried by the smaller types, which, together with her reputation as a fast sailer, made her a very powerful addition to the British fleet that braced itself for the dramatic campaign that year to frustrate Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's plans for invasion of the British Isles.

HMS Revenge pictured at Gosport - National Maritime Museum.
Purportedly showing the 1805 ship, however the rather ugly pointed clipper shaped bow in this drawing suggests the later ship of the 1850's.

HMS Revenge didn't have to wait long before her first taste of action, and with her paintwork barely dry, she took her place as the eighth ship in Vice Admiral Collingwood's Lee Column as part of Vice Admiral Nelson's fleet at Trafalgar, under her commander Captain Robert Moorsom.

Captain, later Admiral Robert Moorsom, commanded HMS Revenge at Trafalgar
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/151969155/robert-moorsom

At 09.00, on the 21st of October 1805, the two British columns of ships were about six miles from the Combined Fleet, with studding sails set and the men sent to their breakfast before the drum roll announced 'clear for action' as noted by a seaman aboard HMS Revenge;

'During this time each ship was making the usual preparations, such as breaking the captain's and officers' cabins, and sending all lumber below. The doctors, parson, purser and loblolly men were also busy, getting the medicine chest and bandages out, and sails prepared for the wounded to be placed on, that they might be dressed in rotation as they were taken down to the  . . . cockpit. 

In such a bustling . . . trying, as well as serious time, it was curious to note the different dispositions of the British sailor. Some would be offering a guinea for a glass of grog, whilst others were making a sort of verbal will, such as: "If one of Johnnie Crapeau's shots knocks my head off, you will take all my effects; and if you are killed and I am not, why I will have all yours"; and this was generally agreed on.'

The Battle of Trafalgar, 21st October 1805 - HMS Revenge incorrectly illustrated here, was in fact the eighth ship in Collingwood's column, behind HMS Achille (not Achilles), and Polyphemus actually behind Swiftsure.

 

The Revenge broke the enemy line at about 12.50 and was the last of Collingwood's lead group of eight ships with a gap of about thirty minutes before the next British ship, Defiance, would arrive at the head of the second group.

Captain Moorsom had ordered that the Revenge would hold its fire on the approach, and only open fire at close range, stating;

'We shall want all our shot when we get in close, never mind their firing. When I fire a carronade from the quarterdeck, that will be the signal for you to begin ...'

The Revenge cut in ahead of the French Achille 74-guns and then turned to luff up on the stern of the Spanish San Ildefonso 74-guns, thus able to deliver close raking broadsides to both enemy ships in short succession, but the clever manoeuvre of turning between the two ships, exposed the stern gallery of Revenge to a raking broadside from Admiral Gravina's flagship, the three-deck first rate Principe de Asturias 112-guns.

The Revenge found herself at the centre of a trio of enemy ships and was only able to hold her own thanks to the emphasis given by Captain Moorsom to the gunnery training of his crew with Moorsom recalling the situation in a letter to his father after the battle;

'They closed so well together that a Frenchman's jib boom took my mizzen topsail, as I passed and he was near jamming me between himself and his second ahead. Perhaps it would have been better for me if he had done so; for a Spanish three-deck ship with Admiral Gravina's flag directly shot up my lee quarter, the Frenchman wore under my stern, and I was obliged to endure a raking fire for a considerable time without being able to help myself, for all our ropes were cut to pieces, and the wind was so light ...'

 

H.M.S. Revenge in the action off Cape Trafalgar - Lieutenant Lewis Hole (c.1805), first lieutenant of the Revenge.
She is seen here with the Spanish flagship Principe de Astuarias 112-guns raking her stern quarter as she fights desperately amid a group of enemy ships.

The battering from three different directions the Revenge received was described by Lieutenant Peter Pickernell;

'The shot entered the 3rd lower deck port from forward on the starboard side and struck the gun in which it made a large dint, then altering its direction, it struck the foremast in a vertical position and scooped out a large portion of the mast, which again altering its direction, it took a horizontal position and after decapitating a young midshipman by the name of Green, it struck the seven men at the foremost tackle of the first gun forward on the starboard side who were running out after loading, and killed the whole of them by severing them neatly in two. It then stuck to the ships side in a horizontal position, just above the waterway nearly under the breach of the gun, until the ship was in dock, when I cut it out by the Captain's desire.'

Revenge's battle for survival went on for about an hour with her receiving fire from a fourth enemy ship the French Aigle 74-guns, but in return receiving support from other arriving British ships, the first being HMS Defiance 74-guns. 

A seaman aboard the Revenge later wrote;

'After being engaged for about an hour two other ships fortunately came up and received some of the fire intended for us. We were now enabled to get at some of the shot-holes between wind and water and plug them.....

We were unable to work the ship, our yards, sails and masts being disabled, and the braces completely shot away. In this condition we lay by the side of the enemy, firing away, and now and then we received a good raking from them, passing under our stern...

Often during the battle we could not see for the smoke whether we were firing at friend or foe, and as to hearing orders, the noise of the guns so completely made us deaf we were obliged to look only to the motions that were made. In this manner we continued the battle until nearly five o'clock, when it ceased.'

Hull plan for HMS Revenge - National Maritime Museum

The close of the battle found HMS Revenge in a battered state as the surviving crew 'spliced the main brace' with the navy's traditional gill of rum issued to each man, having not eaten or drank since breakfast.

However despite taking nine shots through her hull leaving three guns dismounted, several lower deck ports destroyed and her stern, transom timbers, beams, knees, riders and iron standards much damaged, plus topside damage to her bowsprit, all three lower masts, main top mast and gaff, the crew of the Revenge came off surprisingly lightly, with 28 men killed and 51 wounded.

Among her casualties are recorded, killed, Midshipman T. Grier rather than Green as referred to in Lieutenant Pickernell's account along with Midshipman E.F. Brooks and among the wounded were Captain Moorsom, Lieutenant J. Berry, Master L. Brockenshaw and Captain P. Lely, Royal Marines.

A final footnote to HMS Revenge's battle was the rescuing of French crew from the Achille 74-guns which following an exchange of fire with HMS Prince 98-guns left the French ship without masts and on fire which later reached the magazine causing the ship to explode at 17.45, according to Midshipman Robinson of the frigate Euryalus.

The boats managed to rescue 140 members of Captain Denieport's stricken ship which included a fat black pig which ended up as a supper of pork chops aboard Euryalus and, depending on which account you credit, a young woman named Jeanette, naked or clad in just trousers and an old jacket.

A rather fanciful if at least modest depiction of the rescue of Jeanette a French woman who had stowed away aboard the  Achille to be with her husband and subsequently rescued by the boats from HMS Revenge 

Either way the crew of the Revenge behaved with the typical chivalry associated with the Royal Navy as recorded by one of her lieutenants on the discovery of the gender of one of their prisoners;

'A boat load of prisoners-of-war came alongside, all of whom, with one exception were in the costume of Adam. The exception was apparently a youth ... clothed in an old jacket and trousers ... a face begrimed with smoke and dirt, without shoes, stockings or shirt and looking the picture of misery and despair.

The appearance of this person immediately attracted my attention, and on asking some questions, I was answered that the prisoner was a woman ... I lost no time in introducing her to my messmates as a female requiring their compassionate attention. The poor creature was almost famishing with hunger, having tasted nothing for four and twenty hours, consequently she required no persuasion to partake of our table. I then gave her ... my cabin and made a collection of ... articles to enable her to complete a more suitable wardrobe.

I'm not really sure of the authenticity, but I really liked the Medusa's Head, figurehead which seemed a very appropriate and warlike apparition to have at the bow of such a formidably named ship.

One of the lieutenants gave her a piece of sprigged muslin which he had obtained from a Spanish prize, and two checked shirts were supplied by the Purser; these with a purser's blanket, and my ditty bag, which contained needles, thread etc., being placed at her disposal she, in a short time, appeared in a very different , and much more becoming costume.

Being a dressmaker she had made herself a sort of jacket, after the Flemish fashion, and the purser's shirts had been transformed into an outer-petticoat; she had a silk handkerchief tastily tied over her head, and another thrown over her shoulders, white stockings and a pair of the Chaplain's shoes were on her feet, and altogether our guest, which we unanimously voted her, appeared a very interesting young woman.'

It would appear that Jeanette's adventure ended happily as after being landed at Gibraltar five days later she discovered her husband had also been rescued from the Achille and the couple were reunited soon after.

Cutting out attacks became a speciality of the Royal Navy on blockade duties as demonstrated by the boats from Revenge cutting out the French brig Cesar in the mouth of the River Gironde.
Not the Caesar shown here but a similar cutting out attack to repossess HMS Hermione off  Puerto Cabello by the boats from HMS Surprise - Nicholas Pocock

Following repairs in Gibraltar and a proper refit in Portsmouth, Revenge re-joined the Channel Fleet to resume her blockade duties along the French coast, and developing a skill for cutting out enemy ships, such as the French brig Cesar taken in the mouth of the River Gironde on the 15th July 1806 in company with a squadron of six ships under the command of Commodore Sir Samuel Hood.

In 1809 the Revenge was busy escorting troops for the disastrous Walcheren expedition and in April of that year was with Lord Gambier's squadron in the Basque Roads action that saw four French ships of the line and one frigate destroyed.

From then until the end of the war Revenge continued to serve in the Channel, later transferring to the Mediterranean fleet in December 1812 and being paid off in August 1814.

At the Battle of Trafalgar HMS Revenge was armed with 30 x 32-pounder long guns on her lower deck, 30 x 24-pdr guns on her upper deck, 12 x 9-pdr guns on her quarterdeck, 2x 9pdrs and 2 x 32-pdr carronades on her forecastle and 6 x 18-pdr carronades on her poop.

This particular model is supplied with a metal deck as well as the stylised stern gallery and figurehead and I have to say all are well modelled and the deck fits fairly snug, but both it and the stern gallery may need a little filler in places to avoid any unsightly gaps.

Sources referred to in this post:

The Trafalgar Companion - Mark Adkin

The Battle of Trafalgar - Geoffrey Bennett

The Naval History of Great Britain - William James 

https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=6180

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Revenge_(1805)

The next Third Rate of Renown to feature will be HMS Tonnant, and then its on to take a look at the French and Spanish ships but before that I have another book review, a Vassal game report and Mr Steve and I have have been on our travels again to Gloucestershire, beating the new lockdown restrictions to take in more battlefield walks and Iron Age hill forts.

All at Sea - Principe de Asturias

The Prince of Gravina - Carlos Parrilla Penagos

 https://www.carlosparrillapenagos.es/pintura-naval/

With work to complete my Trafalgar fleet of models moving into the building of the final six models in the collection, the work now focuses on the remaining big three-deck ships of the line that characterised the fleets of Britain and Spain, two of which were built as part of the penultimate group of six.

This particular model is destined to represent Admiral Don Fredrico Carlos Gravina's flagship at the battle, Principe de Asturias, and when next seen in battle array on the table will be sporting his Admirals pennant to better signify his particular ship in the line of battle.

The header at the top of the post is of course another fantastic representation of the mighty Spanish 112-gun ship by Carlos Parilla Penagos depicting the ship at Trafalgar at around two-o'clock in the afternoon unleashing a full broadside against the 74-gun HMS Revenge as she herself receives a stern-rake from the 64-gun HMS Polyphemus

Spanish 112-gun ship of the line - Naval Museum, Madrid

The Principe de Asturias was one of the class of Spanish three deck 112-gun ships known as the 'Meregildos' and was built by Honorato de Bouyon to the plans of Jose Romero Fernandez de Landa and launched on the 28th January 1794 in Havana, Cuba.

Built with the finest tropical timbers, the Principe de Asturias was destined to carve out a unique record of fighting service in the Spanish navy and some would later claim that she was the best ship overall to see action at Trafalgar.

Honorato de Bouyon and Serze - Naval Museum, Madrid
Naval Engineer

Similar to the British Royal Family, having the substantive title of 'Prince of Wales' used by the heir apparent to the monarch, the title of 'Prince of Asturias' has been used by the Spanish monarchy since 1388 when it was first granted by King John I of Castile to his first born son Henry II of Castile.

The ship set sail from Havana to Cadiz in February 1795 escorting a convoy of 44 merchant ships, arriving in May to begin her tour of duty with the Spanish Mediterranean Squadron operating out of Cadiz and Cartagena and from where she would see her first major action in battle against the British fleet of Admiral Sir John Jervis at the the Battle of Cape St. Vincent on the 14th February 1797.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cape_St_Vincent_(1797)

The Principe de Asturias was under the command of Brigadier don Antonio de Escano who took command of the ship on the 24th January 1797 as flag-captain to Lieutenant-General Juan Joaquin Moreno de Mondragon y D'Hontilier, commanding the third squadron of the Spanish fleet under the overall command of  Lieutenant-General Jose de Cordoba y Ramos.

Brigadier don Antonio de Escano - Jose Sanchez (Naval Museum, Madrid)
Commanded the Principe de Asturias at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent

The events of the battle are well known and I have summarised them before when looking at other Spanish models in the collection, and I have attached a link under the map above that gives details of the battle, suffice to say that the Principe de Asturias is reported to have fought conspicuously; gallantly attacking the British centre and coming to the aid of her 112-gun sister ships the Purísima Concepción and Mexicano before helping to prevent the capture of the 130-gun Santisima Trinidad, whilst coming off relatively unscathed with just twenty-nine casualties of whom ten were killed.

Battle of Cape St Vincent - Derek Gardner
Principe de Asturias, centre, 'bares her teeth' and exchanges broadsides with the British fleet at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, 14th February 1797

Following the battle, Principe de Asturias returned to Cadiz with the rest of the Spanish fleet that escaped the battle, arriving on March 3rd, to be put under blockade by Jervis's British fleet.

The Spanish fleet in Cadiz would remain under constant British blockade through to May of 1799 when the Spanish were joined by the French Brest squadron under Admiral Bruix, ending up joining the French being blockaded in Brest following a brief sortie to Cartagena and finally sailing back to Cadiz and arriving in May 1802 following the Peace of Amiens.

With the resumption of war between France and Great Britain in May of 1803, the Principe de Asturias was laid up in ordinary in El Ferrol and would be rearmed and recommissioned in November 1804, in anticipation of Spain's declaration of war on Great Britain the following month.

The Santa Ana and Principe de Asturias take on supplies in Cadiz, October 1805

The Principe de Asturias would be in El Ferrol when Admiral Pierre Villeneuve led his fleet into the port following the Battle of Cape Finisterre with Admiral Calder's squadron on 22nd July 1805 and would be joined by her previous commander Rear Admiral Antonio de Escano acting as chief of staff and flag-captain to Admiral Gravina who transferred his flag from the Argonauta 80-guns, with Principe de Asturias coming under the command of Commodore Don Rafael de Hore as the Combined Fleet headed south to Cadiz in August 1805 and the climactic battle in October off Cape Trafalgar.

At 12 noon the Principe de Asturias was sailing third from the rear of the Combined Fleet, coming into action at about 1.00pm to rake HMS Revenge and by 3.00pm found herself engaged by several British ships, alone among her squadron, for not having drifted to leeward and out of the main melee.

My interpretation of HMS Revenge, whose history was covered in a previous post
HMS Revenge - JJ's Wargames

Her battle with the second group of Admiral Collingwood's Lee Column was brought to an abrupt end as Captain Richard Grindall brought HMS Prince 98-guns into action, as the British three-decker slammed in two close broadsides to rake the Spanish flagship, as recorded in the log of the Principe de Asturias;

' ... the English three-decker ... discharged all her guns, at grape-shot range, into our stern. The Major [General Gravina] was wounded in the left leg; he was obliged to go below but while he was being temporarily dressed, he gave orders that he should be conveyed back and placed sitting at his post on deck. 

Weakened by loss of blood, he fell fainting; but quickly coming to himself and not perceiving the national colours, he ordered them to be hoisted without delay and he resumed command ... In this critical position we sighted the Neptune and San Justo that were coming to our aid, which was observed by the enemy who obliged them to sheer off.'

HMS Prince turned her attentions to the badly damaged French 74-gun Achille after her close in battle with HMS Revenge, and her crushing broadsides brought the battle of Trafalgar to a devastating close as the French third-rate blew up amid a spectacular explosion at about 5.30pm.

An hour before, the severely wounded Gravina, no doubt sensing the outcome of the battle, ordered all Allied ships that could do so, to withdraw, the Principe de Asturias making her way back to Cadiz, having suffered remarkably lightly considering the attention received from the Prince, with 162 casualties (14% of her crew) which included 52 dead and 110 wounded.

Admiral Don Fredrico Carlos Gravina
Second-in-Command to Villeneuve and commander of the Spanish ships and squadron of observation,
Gravina is reported to have had a difficult relationship with his younger French superior.

Having survived Trafalgar the Principe de Asturias would be in Cadiz at the start of the Peninsular War against Napoleon and would be present at the surrender of the surviving French ships from the battle, caught in the port by the Spanish in 1808 after the French invasion.

In 1810 she sailed from Cadiz back to her place of construction, Havana, where she would be wrecked in 1814 and with her mighty timbers reported to have still been visible in the waters close to the port some twenty years later.

At Trafalgar the Principe de Asturias was armed with 30 x 36 pounder long guns on her lower deck, 32 x 24-pdr guns on her middle deck, 30 x 12-pdr guns on her upper deck and 18 x 8-pdr guns distributed across her quarterdeck and forecastle.

Sources referred to in this post:

The Trafalgar Companion - Mark Adkin

https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=2648

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_ship_Principe_de_Asturias_(1794)

https://www.todoababor.es/listado/navio-principedeasturias2.htm

https://todoavante.es/index.php?title=Combate_Trafalgar_Parte_oficial_nav%C3%ADo_Pr%C3%ADncipe_de_Asturias_1805

In the next post covering this penultimate group of models I'll be showcasing the latest British three-decker to join the collection.

Portsmouth 2017 The Historic Dockyard

The White Ensign flies high and proud from the stern of HMS Victory

This series of posts from our trip to Portsmouth this year follows on from last year's visit and includes the post about the Mary Rose.

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard 2016
Portsmouth 2017 - Mary Rose

It really isn't an understatement to say that there is an incredible amount to see when visiting Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and I would defy anybody to do it justice within one day, that's how much stuff there is to see.

The fact that there is so much history on display truly reflects the long history of the Royal Navy and Britain's heritage as a major sea power throughout the centuries.

When sitting down to think about how to theme my various posts about our visit I ended up with a collection of pictures that not only reflected my trigger happy finger as I flitted from one eye-catching exhibit to another, but the extraordinary range of exhibits across the historical record of naval warfare.

So this post will attempt to give you an impression of all the other stuff that I couldn't include in a theme of their own.

HMS Victory's carronades - now that's what you call a 'big gun'

On stepping out from the Mary Rose exhibition we headed for HMS Victory still in a state of major repair work following the discovery of a major warping and bulging of her very old timbers that has required work to brace the old girl and relieve her of as much top heavy structures as possible.

Thus many of the guns on board are now light weight replicas, together with new light weight masts still awaiting new rigging to complete her look. This explains why I have not shown any external shots of this proud old lady as I think they do not do her justice in her present state of repair work.

I took some time presenting Victory in my post from last year, but Tom was away on his travels at the time and so we paid a second visit for his benefit and I decided to take some close ups of those parts of the ship that as a modeller and naval history fan am inclined to pay special attention to.

Thus the layout and rigging of the forecastle 68lbr carronades or 'ship smashers' drew my attention when touring the upper deck. True size replicas, they really capture the awesome power that these stubby short barrelled mega-guns could deliver especially when turned on enemy decks to clear them of potential boarding parties and sniping marines.

Carronade

As a modeller of wargame ships I am always interested in seeing how standing rigging is positioned and anchored on these big old ships and I took these pictures of Victory's standing rigging for her main mast as much as for reference as for the appeal of the neat lines they create.

The nets for stowing hammocks when the ship was cleared for action shows how well they would have added to the protection to those on deck and should anyone make it beyond the anti-boarding nets, those belaying pins come in very handy as ready made truncheons.

At some stage I rather fancy a 'Brown Bess' to grace the wall of the game room and it was a good job these crates of muskets and bayonets were securely fixed, although I am not sure if you could easily get one under your jacket.

Not all the guns on Victory are replicas and it is easy to spot the real thing, confirmed with an unforgiving solid feel when gently tapped. One or two of them are Trafalgar veterans although the decks they rest on were replaced in 1812.

The footing for the bowsprit and the curve of the timbers of the bow are captured in the pictures below, with ports close by to accommodate bow chasing guns should the need occur.

And finally an area of the ship that always reminds me of my early school days when studying the Trafalgar battle for the first time and getting over the shock of hearing that the hero of the hour fell in the moment of his and the nations greatest victory at sea.

The plaque in the cockpit of HMS Victory marks where Lord Nelson was laid and subsequently died and is recognisable to most Brits over the age of forty, but I wonder whether foreign tourists and younger generations not benefiting from a traditional education are aware of its significance given there were no signs around to alert the uninitiated visitor.

My favourite quote relating the long period of Nelson's dying moments and Captain Hardy's reports to his Admiral on the progress of the battle describes one of the last exchanges between the two men:

" Almost an hour after his previous visit Captain Hardy was again able to come down to the now crowded cockpit for a second time. Clasping Nelson's hand, he congratulated him 'even in the arms of death on his brilliant victory which was complete, though he did not know how many of the enemy were captured, as it was impossible to see every ship distinctly'. 'However,' he added, 'I am certain of fourteen or fifteen surrendered'.
'That is well,' answered Nelson, 'but I had bargained for twenty.'

HMS M33 - M29 Class Monitor

HMS M33

Right next door to HMS Victory lies an example of the kind of ships needed to help project a naval power's influence on to the shore or as what is known as 'gun-boat diplomacy'

From the age of sail period the Royal Navy in support of land forces developed specialised ships with shallow draughts and large mortars, known as 'bomb ships'. Usually small vessels mounting a large mortar centrally amid ships with spaced masts to allow the gun to be swivelled in a 360' arc these ships could get in close to shore and lob large explosive shells into defended built up areas.

Nicholas Pococks fine picture of the British bombardment of Copenhagen in 1801 illustrates the bomb ships close to the front of the picture at anchor with smoke rising from amidships as their mortars fire over the ships of the line into the city beyond.

Battle of Copenhagen 1801 - Nicholas Pocock

HMS M33 was built in 1915 to meet the demands for close in shore bombardment vessels in WWI and was the 20th century evolution of the old bomb ship.

HMS M33 pictured in 1916 during the Dardanelles Campaign - IWM

Like her predecessors this ship was built around a flat bottom shallow draught hull which meant her sea keeping abilities were not what any self respecting land-lubber like me would want to set out across the briny on.

So in a large swell this thing would tend to bob about and indeed when on passage to where ever her peculiar skills were required she was usually towed into theatre.

Also like the old bomb ships, monitors like M33 were designed to facilitate the firing of a big gun, which in 1915 meant a 6 inch (152mm) Mk XII main gun mounted forward.

HMS Roberts

A 6 inch doesn't sound like much of a shore bombardment gun when you consider the capabilities of monitors like HMS Roberts with her twin 15 inch guns used in WWII, but a 6 inch gun used close in for pin-point accuracy could really mess up your day.

I remember touring the German D-Day gun battery at Longues sur Mer battery where the emplaced guns got into a duel with the cruisers Ajax and Argonaut who, close in, managed to place their 6 inch shells straight through the gun armour and front embrasures.

Similarly I toured a German gun bunker complex near to Utah beach where the USS Texas performed a similar feat and you could see the passage of the 14 inch shell as it ripped up the gun mount and passed through hitting the rear reinforced concrete wall before exploding among the gun crew - nasty.

Longues sur Mer battery

The magazine for the 6 inch up top

M33 didn't have to wait long before her first taste of action as she was ordered to join the naval task force sent to force the passage of the Dardanelles and later to support the allied troops ashore as Turkish resistance proved more capable than anticipated.

The one thing that strikes the modern observer of this ship is that for a vessel designed to get 'up close and personal' with the enemy she has very little in the way of armour protection. In fact I have seen cross-channel car ferries with more armour than this little ship. The passage ports through the hull and upper works reveal paper thin steel sides and upper works which must have given her crew a few sleepless nights.

The upper-works, deck and hull are not heavily armoured

Fortunately for the crew of the M33 it turned out that this little ship was a lucky one and none of her human cargo suffered any mishap during her tour of action in 1916.

The 'business end' of HMS M33 with her single 6 inch gun and a modicum of protection for her crew with an open backed armoured shield

A range of 6 inch ordnance on display behind the gun

Tom and Will check out the firing mechanism - 'what do you think happens if I pull this?'

You wake up, peer out the port hole and see a Turkish gun emplacement pointing straight at your bunk!

The bridge on a modern warship in 1915 was full of the gadgets any 20th century man of war would need, nothing like HMS Victory!

Like I said a bridge full of high tech. gadgets - Pass me the sexton

Ah a slight concession to modern naval warfare, a wireless.
This site gave me a warm feeling as my old Grandpa used to work for Marconi

It was great to see another old lady from WWI has been preserved for the nation. My only wish would be to see her in the colour scheme she wore in 1916 rather than the dazzle look.

On our visit last year I pictured the fast boats tied up close to the big boat house where restoration work on some of the smaller historical vessels is carried out. We were busy last year checking out HMS Warrior seen in the background of Motor Gunboat 81 pictured below.

A beautifully restored MGB 81 with HMS Warrior in the background

MGB 81 was commissioned and accepted into service in 1942 with her primary task to intercept and attack enemy torpedo craft in the English Channel.

She was based down in Devon at Dartmouth, attacking five German E-boats on the 21st/22nd April 1944 in Lyme Bay, engaging two at close range and suffering damage herself.

She took part in the D-Day operations between the 6th to the 30th of June 1944, later transferring to Gosport with her flotilla.

Overnight on the 23rd/24th June 1944 she attacked a German convoy leaving Cherbourg.

Known as the 'Spitfires of the Sea', these small fast vessels were originally equipped with three Hewlett-Packard built Rolls Royce Merlin engines giving a maximum speed of 45 knots, but with just a mahogany hull and 3,000 gallons of aviation fuel aboard had to rely on that speed and the cover of darkness for protection.

Saved from scrapping in late 1945 and later taking part in an illegal smuggling operation in the 1950's, MGB 81 was restored and saved for the nation in 1988 and thanks to funding from the National Heritage Memorial Fund to Portsmouth Naval Base Property is on permanent display and available for charter.

World War One has been very much in the nations consciousness over the last three years with the centenary commemorations happening since 1914 through to the present.

The British tend to remember WWI for the carnage experienced in the trenches in Flanders with every village, town and city having a memorial recording the names of local people who served and didn't come home.

Curiously, for a great naval power it is not the fact that WWI was effectively won on the 31st May/1st June 1916 at Jutland where, in spite of a tactical defeat, at best draw, the nation won a strategic victory that condemned the German nation to starvation through blockade and revolution from within, that destroyed their will to wage war.

No we, the nation, prefer to focus on our greatest tragedy and the fact that over 57,000 men were made casualties on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on the 1st July 1916.

So it was great to see the Naval aspect of WWI commemorated at the spiritual home of the Royal Navy with some great exhibits capturing the events of 1916 and the climax of Jutland.

The display is dominated by an imposing portrait of Admiral Reinhard Scheer commander of the German High Seas Fleet, the man who managed to salvage his ships from disaster when he got his 'T' crossed at Jutland by Admiral John Jellicoe leading the Home Fleet.

Admiral Reinhard Scheer commander of the German High Seas Fleet in WWI

I am always wary of adopting the position of an armchair admiral/general when it is so easy to judge the efforts of men placed in supreme command, with the fates of nations and history hanging on judgements often having to be made in seconds and at best minutes, not to mention the thousands of lives placed in their hands.

That said I can't help thinking that it was German ship-building, training and tremendous courage displayed by the common sailor that salvaged the German navy in 1916 rather than any inspired leadership from the top. In fact for me WWI is the classic period of uninspired leadership from the top across all nations and it was in general the poor bloody infantry or in this case sailors who had to make up, often at the cost of their lives, for their commanders inadequacies.

This feeling about the period in general probably explains why I have only wargamed it slightly, having had collections of WWI naval ships and aircraft, but only played land scenarios with other peoples collections and rule sets.

The ensign from the British battleship - HMS Bellerophon

There are very few warships that survive from the Jutland period, with HMS Caroline, a British light cruiser that fought in the battle, thankfully now under full restoration.

British naval power reached its zenith at this time and I, as someone who will never see the splendour of a British battleship, can only get an impression of these great ships from pictures and items such as the ensign from HMS Bellerophon

HMS Bellerophon, with her huge ensign displayed astern

HMS Bellerophon (1907)

Likewise the many smaller ships in the destroyer flotillas that escorted the great battleships are captured with the ensign of HMS Obedient an M Class destroyer which was with the 12th Destroyer Flotilla at Jutland

HMCS Patriot was an M Class Destroyer similar to HMS Obedient

The ensign of another Jutland veteran - HMS Obedient

HMS Queen Mary was one of three British battlecruisers lost at Jutland, the others being HMS Invincible and HMS Indefatigable, prompting the commander of the Battlecruiser squadron, Vice Admiral David Beatty aboard his flagship HMS Lion to remark to his Flag Captain,
"there seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today".

The superb model below shows a Lion Class Battlecruiser, nicknamed "the splendid cats", to describe the marked improvement in speed and armour over the previous Indefatigable class; the three 'cats' being HMS Lion, HMS Queen Mary and HMS Princess Royal.

A model of  one of the  'Splendid Cats' or Lion Class Battlecruisers

Both Lion and Queen Mary were at Jutland and the Lion herself narrowly missed sharing the fate of her sister ship when the roof of Q Turret, positioned amidships between the funnels, was blown off by a 12"shell from SMS Lutzow, killing or wounding the entire gun crew and causing a huge turret fire that buckled the doors to the magazine. The ship was saved by the prompt action of Royal Marine Major Francis Harvey who ordered the turret magazine flooded, an act that prevented a catastrophic explosion and saw Major Harvey awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

Damage to HMS Lion's 'Q' Turret with its armoured roof blown off after the Battle of Jutland

HMS Queen Mary was less fortunate when, later, the Lutzow adjusted her fire on to the British ship, having lost sight of the Lion in the smoke and haze and, hitting her several times at a range of about 14,400 yards, caused the forward magazine to explode. The ship broke in two taking 1,266 crew with her, leaving just eighteen survivors to be picked up by British destroyers and German warships.

British battleships used letters to identify the turrets, with A and B forward and X and Y to the rear and Q in the centre

HMS Lion left surrounded by shell splashes as her sister ship HMS Queen Mary explodes

Below is a fine model of HMS Queen Mary's nemesis at Jutland, SMS Lutzow, the flagship of Beatty's German opposite, Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper.

SMS_Lützow

The Lutzow would herself pay a heavy price for her gun duel with the British battlecruisers suffering eight hits forward from HMS Invincible causing the German battlecruiser to flood forward from two hits below the waterline.

Battlecruiser SMS Lutzow, Vice Admiral Hipper's flagship at the Battle of Jutland 

The German ship was subsequently hit twice by HMS Lion causing a serious fire. The damage was serious enough to cause Hipper to abandon his flagship as it attempted to disengage not before suffering yet more large calibre hits from British gunfire.

The run back to port proved unsuccessful as the ship's bow settled lower and lower in the water and the pumps failed to cope with the flooding causing the ship to be abandoned and later torpedoed by accompanying destroyers. Lutzow had been hit by 24 British heavy calibre shells and lost 115 men killed and 50 wounded from her compliment of 1100 men.

The bow of the German ship took the brunt of British hits leading to its eventual sinking

Next up is a 'builders model' of the only surviving ship from Jutland, the light cruiser HMS Caroline moored at Belfast and part of the National Museum of the Royal Navy since 2014. This ship is definitely on my 'must visit' list and I am really looking forward to seeing her some time.

Builders Model of the only surviving ship from Jutland - HMS Caroline

"Guns were hurling 15" shells into the opposing fleets with roars and flashes, as if scores of thunderstorms had met and got angry. The sea, which before had been calm, became churned into waves and foam, this being caused by the speed and movements of scores of ships of all sizes."
Officers' Steward 2nd Class Albion Smith, HMS Caroline

And finally, perhaps the most poignant display in the whole dockyard is the bell of the last great British Battlecruiser HMS Hood, lost on the 24th May 1941 at the Battle of the Denmark Strait when, in company with the newly commissioned battleship HMS Prince of Wales, the two ships met and engaged the German battleship KMS Bismarck and the cruiser Prinz Eugen as they attempted to break out into the Atlantic to attack allied shipping.

The last moments of HMS Hood photographed from the deck of the German Bismarck

The Hood achieved immortality through her dramatic loss and fired a Royal Navy at the time for a thirsting revenge that would see the Bismarck 'put down' three days later following a famous hunt and destroy mission.

Of her 1,418 man crew, there were only three survivors and my personal memories of this great ship were as a young boy in my home town having just bought an Airfix model of the Hood which I was clutching as I walked into a nearby sweet shop to buy something to accompany my new model. The lady who served me saw my prize, remarking to my parents that she had lost her son aboard the Hood some twenty five years previously, a memory I find quite moving today.

The Battlecruiser experiment proved a false one in imagining the combination of speed at the expense of armour, particularly on the upper decks to act as proof against plunging high explosive large calibre shells, would allow these ships to tackle bigger better protected battleships. The losses of HMS Indefatigable, Invincible, Queen Mary and the Hood were a terrible price in young mens lives to discover this truth.

The majestic HMS Hood seen in 1924 and described at the time as the most beautiful ship in the Royal Navy

That said I think the quote that accompanied the Hood's bell is a worthy testament to the bravery and sacrifice of the crews lost

"There is no headstone among the flowers for those who perish at sea. For the 1,415 officers and men who lost their lives in HMS Hood on 24 May 1941, the recovery of her bell and its subsequent place of honour in the National Museum of the Royal Navy will mean that future generations will be able to gaze upon her bell and remember with gratitude and thanks the heroism, courage and personal sacrifice of Hood's ships company who died in the service of their country.
Rear Admiral Philip Wilcocks, Former president of the HMS Hood Association, whose uncle died on the ship.

One of two ships bells, this one recovered from the wreck of HMS Hood

Finally we ended our first day at Portsmouth with a look around the the boat repair and restoration shed that had some remarkable small boats on display.

The first "wreck" that drew my eye was what looked like the remains of an LCM 3 landing craft in desperate need of some TLC.

Is that an LCM 3?

The next two small boats are what young boys brought up in the 1970's on a diet of 'Commando' paperback WWII story books will be very familiar with.

These Mark 7 and Mark 2 Canoes are the same type of boats used in the famous 'Cockleshell' raids against German merchant runners docked in Bordeaux, Operation Frankton, which saw Commandos using their boats to move among the enemy ships at night placing limpet mines against the ships hulls; and later Operation Jaywick an equally daring attack at Singapore performing a similar exercise against Japanese naval forces.

Operation Frankton

Operation Jaywick

So there we are a 'melange' of fascinating displays and exhibits that can be seen at Portsmouth that, when added to those covered in my two previous posts, shows what an extraordinary place to visit, the historic dockyard is and we thoroughly enjoyed our day, finished off by relaxing our tired feet with a well earned curry.

The next day we were off to explore a very famous castle and Roman fortress, before catching a boat from Portsmouth to Gosport, home of the Royal Navy's Submarine Museum, to be covered in a future post.