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Balsa Raft

October 22, 2021 / efoeth

The Kipling Society: A copper punt was a small raft, often, if not usually, made of balsa wood, in the form of a catamaran, little more than six feet long and about four feet in beam. Originally it had been used by the shipwright, in the days of wooden ships with copper sheathing, which covered the underwater parts of the ship to just above the waterline. After a storm, it was quite usual to find much of the copper peeled off at the waterline, and the shipwright would launch the copper punt, and would go round the waterline, his mouth full of copper tacks, hammering the copper sheets back into place. In the steel navy, the copper punt remained, and was used by the painter to go round the waterline ‘cutting-in’ the boot-topping, i.e., painting the nice straight line that marks the change from the ship’s side grey to the underwater anti-fouling paint. An example of a copper punt can be seen on board HMS Warrior in Portsmouth.

HMS Richmond: The name given to the raft used by the Side party for work about the ship’s water line. The name originates from the days when ships were sheathed with copper, the raft being used by shipwrights for making repairs to the sheathing. The raft is often also called the Balsa Raft since this latter life-saving raft was replaced by Carley Floats.

10 ft or 13.5 ft long

From N.J. McDermaid, Shipyard practice as applied to warship construction, 1911, Longmans, Green, And Co.

A 13.5 ft Balsa raft stored on top of HMS Prince of Wales’ engine room vent, showing damage after the engagement with Bismarck leaving nearly all of the boats damaged or destroyed. Missing (presumed destroyed), 1x45 ft FMB, 1x 27 ft Whaler. Damaged beyond repair: 2x 25 ft FMB. Damaged: 1x45 ft FMB, 1x 25 ft FMB, 1x 30 ft Motor Cutter, 1x 27 ft Whaler, 1x 45 ft Motor Launch (light type) and 2x 14 ft Dinghies.

THE ROYAL NAVY DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR © IWM (Q 18011)

Now hear this

September 7, 2021 / efoeth

A few very large speaker are dotted around Hood;s superstructure (Tannoy system?). These speakers were added late in Hood’s career and do not show up in most photographs. The one at the breakwater is the most prominent but others were more difficult to spot. I managed to find one near the conning tower and one attached to the fwd bulkhead near the second funnel. One pair appears to be fixed to the aft searchlight platform below the two upper searchlights? Update 10/2022: spotted another one on the barbette on X-turret, image updated. A small selection of speakers was built using rod, an etched part, and finished using Magic Sculpt.

37.5 ft RAF Seaplane Tender

July 3, 2021 / efoeth

For your ‘false positives’, the 37.5 ft RAF Seaplane Tender built by the British Power Boat Company.

https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/collections/seaplane-tender-st-206/

The launch of HMS Prince of Wales

June 7, 2021 / efoeth

HMS Prince of Wales was launched at Cammell Laird’s shipyard in Birkenhead on Merseyside on the 3rd of May 1939. A number of photographs of the launching ceremony is being held by the Wirral Archives service; a number of these images show the keel laying ceremony as previously posted Laying the keel of HMS Prince of Wales.

A brief press clip can be viewed at British Pathe.I find this clip of particular interest as it mentions other nations not keeping to their treaty limits as well as the Royal Navy soon receiving three more ships of the same class Duke of York, Jellicoe and Beaty, (the latter renamed Anson and Howe), plus, the Lion-class battleships Lion and Temeraire. The keels of both of these ships would be laid a few months after HMS Prince of Wales was launched but work on both ships was suspended in 1940.

Please note these images have been reproduced with the permission of both BAE Systems and the Wirral Archives.

I would like the express my gratitude to both the Wirral Archival Service and BAE systems both for their assistance and for making it possible to publish these photographs.

You can visit the Wirral Archival Service here:https://www.wirral.gov.uk/libraries-and-archives/wirral-archives-service

Note the many cameras in the background recording the launch.

Although some welding was applied in HMS Prince of Wale’s hull construction, most of it was still riveted. The overlapping hull plates were caulked and then a sealing compound called Aranbee was added to vertical raised plate edges (roughly perpendicular to the flow direction), between butt ends, and, in the bow and stern region—outside the region of the main armoured belt—to all raised plate edges in steamwise direction, giving the hull a smooth appearance

In the background the foremast and funnels of RMS Mauretania, launched a year earlier, are visible (not to be confused with RMS Mauretania from 1906).

The Princess Royal prior to her commissioning speech.

(This particular image is from my private collection, not part of the Wirral Archive collection)

HMS Prince of Wales takes her place in Cammell Laird’s wet basin next to the RMS Mauretania.

A particularly striking view. Note that the side armour has not yet been fitted.

This collection contains only one well-known image of HMS Prince of Wales during her fitting-out. HMS King George V was the only of the class to have square scuttles at the Admiral’s dining and day cabin located in the stern. Although the scuttles here are clearly round, six rectangular cut-outs appear to be visible in the hull; the yard considered the square scuttles ‘incapable of watertightness‘. At right, next to the ladder, the storage rack for the night lifebuoy can be seen. This rack was removed before she sailed for her historic Atlantic Charter meeting.

Thrown in for good measure; the launch of HMS King George V. Note: the scuttles of the Admiral’s dining and day cabin are not yet present.