WW1 Military Motors - 1916 set x 50 cards

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Sir John Isaac Thornycroft ( 1843 - 1928 ) founder of the John I. Thornycroft & Co, Ltd.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

With reference to the ' Thornycroft ' advertisement shown in post # 2472, which depicts the Thornycroft built ' HMS Nubian ' a Royal Navy Tribal Class Destroyer launched in 1909.

During the Battle of Dover Strait, on the night of 26–27 October 1916 off Folkestone, HMS Nubian took part in a night action against German Destroyers raiding the Dover Barrage, and whilst trying to ram one of the attackers, HMS Nubian's bows were destroyed by a torpedo from a German Destroyer. She was taken in tow, and run aground near Dover on South Foreland.

15 of the crew of HMS Nubian were either killed or missing during the battle during the night of 26-27 October 1916:

James Bushell, W. Broomfield, J. Davies, L. Horsley, W, Keeling, F.H.J. Knight, W. Minors, L.E. Pronger, J. Rapson, F. Sayers, J. Sharp, J.W. Smith, W.G. Wavell and Stoker Alfred James Clewley

With her bows blown off, the remainder of the HMS Nubian made British naval history by becoming the first Royal Navy ship to be joined to another to create a completely new ship, when the bows from another damaged destroyer of the same class, HMS Zulu, were joined to the midsection and stern of HMS Nubian.

HMS Zulu, another Tribal-class destroyer, had her stern blown off by a mine near Dunkirk on 8 November 1916, and was towed to Calais.

Both HMS Nubian and HMS Zulu were towed to Chatham Dockyard and Zulu's bows were painstakingly joined to the midsection and stern of HMS Nubian, the first such reconstruction of a Royal Navy ship. The resulting destroyer was given the portmanteau name of ' HMS Zubian ' and she was commissioned in June 1917.

HMS Zubian, went on to sink the German mine-laying U-Boat UC-50 on 4 February 1918 off the coast of Essex.

HMS Zubian and was scrapped in 1919.

The general specification for a WW1 Tribal Class Destroyer :

Displacement - 860 to 940 tons

Length - 275 feet

Beam - 28 feet

Draught - 8 feet 6 inches

Propulsion - 2 or 3 shaft steam turbines

Speed - 33 knots ( 38 mph )

Armament - 5 x QF 12 pdr 12 cwt Mark I, mounting P Mark I or 2 x BL 4 inch L/40 Mark VIII, mounting P Mark V, plus 2 x single tubes for 18 inch ( 450-mm ) torpedoes.

LF

HMS Nubian at sea.

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

HMS Nubian aground on South Foreland after her bows had been blown off on the night of 26–27 October 1916.

LF

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

HMS Nubian with her badly damaged bows destroyed by a torpedo from a German Destroyer, in Chatham Dry Dock.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

HMS Zulu at sea.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

The badly damaged stern of HMS Zulu, blown off by a German mine near Dunkirk on 8 November 1916.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Both HMS Nubian and HMS Zulu were towed to Chatham Dockyard and Zulu's bows were painstakingly joined to the midsection and stern of HMS Nubian, the first such reconstruction of a Royal Navy ship. The resulting destroyer was given the portmanteau name of ' HMS Zubian ' and she was commissioned in June 1917.

HMS Zubian, went on to sink the German mine-laying U-Boat UC-50 on 4 February 1918 off the coast of Essex.

HMS Zubian and was scrapped in 1919.

LF

HMS Zubian at sea.

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

The 1915 Royal Navy Crest for HMS Nubian.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

HMS Zubian, built from HMS Zulu's bows and the midsection and stern of HMS Nubian, shown at anchor.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Period coloured postcard of the Torpedo Boat Destroyer ' Usugumo ' ( fleecy cloud ) built by Thornycroft for the Imperial Japanese Navy, as shown in the Thornycroft advertisement in post # 2459.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[David Filsell]

I trust HMS Zubian was more fortunate than her doners!

[GRANVILLE]

On the subject of ships I recently read about the scuttling of the German fleet at the end of the war in Scapa Flow. Apparently it was thought to be the best thing to be done with it, but then before long tremendous lengths were gone to to raise and salvage the vessels. Are there any pictures out there of this taking place or was it all done on the quiet?

David

[Lancashire Fusilier]

I trust HMS Zubian was more fortunate than her doners!

David,

Yes, HMS Zubian was commissioned in June 1917, fought her way through the remainder of WW1 including sinking the German mine-laying U-Boat UC-50 on 4 February 1918 off the coast of Essex, and was scrapped in 1919.

Regards,

LF

[MikeyH]

On the subject of ships I recently read about the scuttling of the German fleet at the end of the war in Scapa Flow. Apparently it was thought to be the best thing to be done with it, but then before long tremendous lengths were gone to to raise and salvage the vessels. Are there any pictures out there of this taking place or was it all done on the quiet?

David

David,

Can recall seeing many years ago in an old boys book or annual an in depth feature (no pun intended!) 'How the German Fleet was salvaged', or similar, so must have been something that was freely covered in the news media at the time. Sure someone will come along with more pertinent info.

Mike.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

On the subject of ships I recently read about the scuttling of the German fleet at the end of the war in Scapa Flow. Apparently it was thought to be the best thing to be done with it, but then before long tremendous lengths were gone to to raise and salvage the vessels. Are there any pictures out there of this taking place or was it all done on the quiet?

David

David,

The salvaging of the German Fleet scuttled at Scapa Flow apparently took some 20 years to complete from 1919 to 1939, and appears to have been well covered in the media as there are many photographs of the salvaging.

Attached are some photographs, and I have others which I shall also post.

" Salvaging the German Fleet began in 1919. Warships that were not submerged or that had been beached were towed away for scrap. In 1924 Ernest Cox bought the rights to 26 of the sunken destroyers and two battleships. His company successfully raised this number plus another two battleships between 1926 and 1930. The use of compressed air to refloat ships represented a revolution in salvage technique. When the scrap metal market collapsed in 1930, the Cox & Danks Shipbreaking Company handed over their licence to Metal Industries Ltd who continued raising ships at a rate of one warship a year until 1939. The last to be raised was the battlecruiser SMS Derfflinger which broke the surface of Scapa Flow in July 1939. Derfflinger remained moored in the Flow throughout WWII. Maintenance crews based in huts on her upturned hull kept her afloat, and were on hand to help save the Royal Navy's HMS Iron Duke from sinking after she sustained damage during an air raid in October 1939. "

Regards,

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

The upturned hull of one of the scuttled German warships, SMS Derfflinger, being towed to the scrapyard.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[GRANVILLE]

Can you imagine the efforts that divers must have gone through to get his sort of task completed?!

David

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Can you imagine the efforts that divers must have gone through to get his sort of task completed?!

David

David,

Especially, when wearing all that early diving equipment, including the extremely heavy solid brass diving helmet.

Here is a photograph of two divers, who are working on the salvaging of the German fleet at Scapa Flow.

Regards,

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[GRANVILLE]

David,

Especially, when wearing all that early diving equipment, including the extremely heavy solid brass diving helmet.

Here is a photograph of two divers, who working on the salvaging of the German fleet at Scapa Flow.

Regards,

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

LF.

Precisely - I recon they could do with some medals!

[Lancashire Fusilier]

When and where possible, the submerged scuttled German warships were made airtight, and then filled with compressed air to refloat the ships back to the surface, this represented a revolution in marine salvage techniques.

In the attached photograph, note the diminutive size of the salvage workers on the wreck in relation to the size of the massive upturned hull and the compressed air-lock towers.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

The re-floated hull of the SMS Van der Tann, passing under the Forth Bridge on her way to the breaker's yard at Rosyth.

In may cases, the salvage operation took several years, during which time, structures were erected on the upturned hulls for use by the salvage workers.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[David Filsell]

Ah quite right "Don't forget the diver".

[phil@basildon]

It must have been very difficult to maneuver the upturned vessels, especially if the superstructure above deck was intact.

[BSM]

Dear LF and company, as a regular follower and sometimes contributor to the very interesting topic of mechanical transport one would have to make the casual observation that we seem to be drifting just a tad 'off topic' and there is not a single wheel to be seen. No problems with same but perhaps the thread title needs an update! Regards.

[johnboy]

Dear LF and company, as a regular follower and sometimes contributor to the very interesting topic of mechanical transport one would have to make the casual observation that we seem to be drifting just a tad 'off topic' and there is not a single wheel to be seen. No problems with same but perhaps the thread title needs an update! Regards.

I made a similar comment some time ago but was assured by LF that it wasn't.