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Remembered Today:

HMS Europa possibly?


Falloden

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The attached small watercolour was sketched at Mudros in August 1915 by a colleague of my grandfather's.  I am trying to identify the cruiser in the foreground, could it be HMS Europa ?

 

The cruiser with five funnels in the background is almost certainly the Russian cruiser Askold.

Mudros 001.jpg

Edited by Falloden
correct spelling of Askold
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HMS St George has my vote, but far from clear.

Edited by KizmeRD
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PhotoWW1-05csEuropa1PS.JPG

 

Looking at the bow section in the above photograph, then I don't think that it's the Europa in post No.1

Having said that, my own guess is not a lot better :(

I would have gone for one of the Edgar class

BUT, didn't they have their bulges added by August 1915?

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The Edgar protected cruisers are roughly the right size for what we are looking at (although as mentioned, they had bulges added prior to them going out to participate in the Dardanelles campaign).
I stand to be corrected, but as far as I am aware HMS Edgar, Grafton, and Theseus were all in vicinity of Mudros when this painting was done, (with Endymion under repair at Malta) so one of them may very well fit the bill. Other RN ships in the area at the time don’t really have the same look about them.
 

Edited by KizmeRD
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Unfortunately HMS ST George did not reach Mudros until much later than August 1915 as horatio2 pointed out.  The picture is uncannily similar though.

Edited by Falloden
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I do not think it is HMS Grafton as that has quite distinctive bow and blisters.
Sepoy

GRAFTON.jpg

Edited by Sepoy
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17 hours ago, Falloden said:

The attached small watercolour was sketched at Mudros in August 1915 by a colleague of my grandfather's.  I am trying to identify the cruiser in the foreground, could it be HMS Europa ?

 

The cruiser with five funnels in the background is almost certainly the Russian cruiser Askhold.

Mudros 001.jpg

 

I think we might be being deceived by a question of scale here.  Could this not be the depot ship Pyramus?  She was - according to Frank Mason, the artist responsible for the IWM image in Post #6 - the vessel immediately to the right of Europa.  Mason's painting isn't dated, but he seems to have produced a lot of work during the time of the Dardanelles/Gallipoli campaign, so August 1915, the date on the painting in question, would seemingly fit.

 

St George - again as annotated by Mason on his painting - is in the far background.  As pointed out though, by Horatio, she didn't arrive at Mudros until 25 December 1915!   Might the signature and date have been applied at a later date.   Or is this simply a case of 'artistic licence'?

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2 hours ago, pete-c said:

Could this not be the depot ship Pyramus?  She was - according to Frank Mason, the artist responsible for the IWM image in Post #6 - the vessel immediately to the right of Europa.  Mason's painting isn't dated, but he seems to have produced a lot of work during the time of the Dardanelles/Gallipoli campaign, so August 1915, the date on the painting in question, would seemingly fit.

St George - again as annotated by Mason on his painting - is in the far background.  As pointed out though, by Horatio, she didn't arrive at Mudros until 25 December 1915!  

 

Pyramus did not enter Mudros until June 1918 - see https://www.naval-history.net/OWShips-WW1-05-HMS_Pyramus.htm

 

2 hours ago, pete-c said:

Might the signature and date have been applied at a later date.   Or is this simply a case of 'artistic licence'?

 

That throws the whole question wide open

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20 hours ago, Falloden said:

The cruiser with five funnels in the background is almost certainly the Russian cruiser Askhold.

 

Regarding the date of the painting:

if the five-funneller is Askold, (and if the picture is a true representation & not based upon artistic license) then the date can be no later that March 1916 when Wiki informs that the Russian ship commenced a refit at Toulon

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2 hours ago, michaeldr said:

 

Pyramus did not enter Mudros until June 1918 - see https://www.naval-history.net/OWShips-WW1-05-HMS_Pyramus.ht

 

 

 

 

That at least rules out Pyramus!   So, Mason's painting was produced some time after June 1918.  Thanks Michael.

 

 

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The only visual clues we have are what appears to be a two-funnelled ship the size of a small cruiser, but lacking any fire direction position (crow’s nest on the foremast)


As an alternative suggestion, could it be HMS Blenheim? Or possibly Bearritz? 
 

Also, I can confirm that Mason’s painting were donein 1918, I read it somewhere on the IWM website.

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1 hour ago, pete-c said:

So, Mason's painting was produced some time after June 1918

 

1 hour ago, KizmeRD said:

Also, I can confirm that Mason’s painting were donein 1918, I read it somewhere on the IWM website.

 

He might have been there for the armistice or very shortly after. The IWM have a painting by him

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Allied_Fleet_and_Shipping_at_Constantinople_Art.IWMART2614.jpg

dated 1919 and showing the allied fleet in the Turkish capital

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2 hours ago, KizmeRD said:

As an alternative suggestion, could it be HMS Blenheim? Or possibly Bearritz? 

 

Biarritz may not have got to the Aegean until 1916/7 (on 13 October 1915 she was laying mines off the Ems)

However, the Blenheim was certainly there in August 1915 and looks like a good suggestion

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205024257

Edited by michaeldr
correction date Biarritz to Aegean
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6 hours ago, michaeldr said:

 

Regarding the date of the painting:

if the five-funneller is Askold, (and if the picture is a true representation & not based upon artistic license) then the date can be no later that March 1916 when Wiki informs that the Russian ship commenced a refit at Toulon

 

The painting is signed and dated 8/15 and is one of a small collection of various sketches of Mudros both by this painter and by my grandfather. My grandfather was master of HMT East Point which departed for Alexandria in December 1915 having evacuated 1st Scottish Horse from Suvla.  The sketch has always been in my family so the signature and date would almost certainly have been added at the time of painting in August 1915.  I believe the painter would have been an officer or master in the Mercantile Marine rather than an "artist".  He was certainly a far better painter than my grandfather and probably accurate, doubtless why my grandfather saved several of his sketches.

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According to her log book HMS Blenheim was at Mudros from 25th June 1915 to 15th February 1916 and she certainly has a similarity in appearance.

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8 hours ago, KizmeRD said:

According to her log book HMS Blenheim was at Mudros from 25th June 1915 to 15th February 1916 and she certainly has a similarity in appearance.

 

 

It certainly looks as if HMS Blenheim fits the bill, thanks KizmeRD and thanks to everyone else who responded with suggestions.  I had almost convinced myself that HMS St George was the candidate until convinced she was nowhere near Mudros in August 1915. 

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