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Remembered Today:

Monitor


Wdragon

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The Bavarian State Archives have just released a set of aerial pictures taken by a German squardron in Palestine during 1917-18. The unit the bayerische Fliegerabteilung 304 flew in support of the Turks. The pictures can be found here - http://www.gda.bayern.de/. The quality is excellent zooming in revealing lots of detail.

This pictures shows what appear be be a British monitor underway - anyone guess her identity?

http://www.gda.bayern.de/bestaende/viewer/viewer.php?show=/bestaende/palaestina/bayhsta_bs_palaestina_0495c

Regards

David

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The monitors M.15, M.29, M.31, M.32 & HMS Raglan all took part in Gaza III

Sorry, forgot to say great link & thanks

Michael

Edited by michaeldr
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Raglan was broader in the beam and had a twin 14" turret, so it's not her. M29, M31 and M32 all had single 6" gun turrets fore and aft, and I can only see a smaller calibre gun at the stern of the monitor in the aerial photo. Deferring to Michael's encyclopaedic knowledge of this theatre, if the choice is between the monitors he mentions, I would say this one was M15.

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Deferring to Michael's encyclopaedic knowledge of this theatre

Never defer!

Michael cheats - he uses books, like the OH

and sometimes these are mistaken

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Okay - 'without deference or prejudice, of the monitors mentioned by Michael, I think the only one that seems to match the photo is M15' ... :thumbsup:

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David,

It's a pity that the usual information (date/time/altitude/etc) appear to be missing from this one

If Mick is correct and it is M.15, then it must have been taken before she was sunk by submarine on the night of 11 November 1917 [per Military Operations Egypt & Palestine, June 1917-end of war, Part I] HMS Staunch was was sunk in the same attack

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The forward gun in the photograph does not seem to occupy enough deck space for a long 9.2" (when compared to photographs of M15). This is more of a query than a challenge :innocent:

Perhaps M21 with her short 9.2" should be considered although she seems to have departed Palestinian waters in August, 1917.

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I'd go for m16, M17 or M18: 1x 9.2 inch and 1x 3inch. But take that guess with a grain of salt... you can't see under the awnings thus if there's a AA gun above, and fore, of the aft gun?

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