ianw Posted 4 October , 2006 Share Posted 4 October , 2006 John - see above. Netley almost certainly a cover name for the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Lund Posted 4 October , 2006 Share Posted 4 October , 2006 I always thought Netley was the name of the Royal Navy's Mental Hospital, but it seems it was called the Royal Victoria Hospital and Netley was just the location and the common name for the place. Tony. Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 4 October , 2006 Share Posted 4 October , 2006 Netley Hospital - Yes, a grand and rather scary place which has a fascinating adjacent grave yard with military graves from the 1860's to the 1960's. I suspect latterly it may have had a wing or associated building for mental patients. Netley also has some nice abbey ruins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 4 October , 2006 Share Posted 4 October , 2006 A bit of the mystery solved, I think. Netley is a place a couple of miles from the Thorneycroft yard on Southampton Water. It could well have been selected as a pseudonym for the Hyderabad (easier to spell at least !) and a simultaneous in-joke and tribute to Southampton and the area local to Thorneycrofts. Theory: the ship was built and launched as Netley, but it was then suggested that the name of a place just up the road from Thornycroft's yard, which had been used several times in the past for RN warships, was a bit of a give-away and that something rather more nondescript and mercantile was needed — Hyderabad, for example. The proof or disproof presumably lies in the Thornycroft archives — along with the dates of laying down and completion. Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshdoc Posted 4 October , 2006 Share Posted 4 October , 2006 quote name='ianw' date='Oct 4 2006, 02:14 PM' post='528683'] Netley Hospital - Yes, a grand and rather scary place which has a fascinating adjacent grave yard with military graves from the 1860's to the 1960's. I suspect latterly it may have had a wing or associated building for mental patients. Netley also has some nice abbey ruins. This is a pic of the Welsh hospital Netley Circa 1915 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 4 October , 2006 Share Posted 4 October , 2006 This is a pic of the Welsh hospital Netley Circa 1915 Looks suspiciously ply-woody to me — how do we know it's not some other hospital tricked up to look like the Welsh Hospital? Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 4 October , 2006 Share Posted 4 October , 2006 Netley Hospital was built on the shore of Southampton Water with a quay for hospital ships to dock at. It had extensive grounds and many huts were erected on these. It is now a rather nice country park with only the chapel remaining standing as a museum. I walked through its half mile central corridor when it was derelict in the late 60's. I only did this once and me and my pals did not repeat the experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 5 October , 2006 Share Posted 5 October , 2006 Philip I looked through a sheaf of 21 photographs this morning,filed under "NETLEY" in the City Archives in Southampton Civic Centre. For all interested Mates there is a filing cabinet full of cards for the ships they have built, over more than 100 years,from Thorneycrofts to the recently demised Woolston yard of Vosper Thorneycroft. These cards refer to a photo file,which is produced on demand from within the Archives fortress ! I have reproduced a few select pics,the focus leaves a bit to be desired ( the digicam fell out of a Christmas cracker) but interesting nonetheless. I hope that eventual transfer to this thread goes to plan ! There is a picture of a crew in Naval uniform,cap bands of the ratings says HMS HYDERABAD. There are 2 sets of 2 pictures showing the apparent "innocence"of the vessel and the true "danger"from beneath "collapsed" deck housings ! The is a photo of a model of the vessel as Yard No 966 annotated "Secret and Confidential" I have further contacted a document depository in the city,who have Shipyard records for the period,so hope to provide a bit more on the subject later. Sotonmate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 5 October , 2006 Share Posted 5 October , 2006 Philip First pic,bit fuzzy,RN crew of HYDERABAD. Sotonmate Philip First pic,bit fuzzy,RN crew of HYDERABAD. Sotonmate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 5 October , 2006 Share Posted 5 October , 2006 Philip Sorry,mate,having a bit of trouble with size.Later ! Sotnmate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 6 October , 2006 Share Posted 6 October , 2006 Philip As you may have gathered,a technophobe I ain't ! If you want to see a particular photo I will e-mail it to you. I also meant to comment upon the names Netley and Hyderabad. Being resident in the Southampton area I have heard the story,some years ago,that the plans for Netley Military Hospital and one for our then Dominion in India were mixed up and the resultant edifices built in the wrong place ! Maybe the use of names for the Q ship have reflected this incident in a whimsical way ? Sotonmate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshdoc Posted 6 October , 2006 Share Posted 6 October , 2006 Philip As you may have gathered,a technophobe I ain't ! If you want to see a particular photo I will e-mail it to you. I also meant to comment upon the names Netley and Hyderabad. Being resident in the Southampton area I have heard the story,some years ago,that the plans for Netley Military Hospital and one for our then Dominion in India were mixed up and the resultant edifices built in the wrong place ! Maybe the use of names for the Q ship have reflected this incident in a whimsical way ? Sotonmate LOve the story hope its true Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 6 October , 2006 Share Posted 6 October , 2006 Sotonmate, Are the crew pics the same as these?: http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/q_-_ships.htm I'm a little unclear about what you found in the archive — were the Hyderabad crew pics associated with the Netley file? Hopefully the documentary records you're following up will finally clarify everything. The hospital story is lovely. I gather, from reading Google refs on Netley, that there was a lot of criticism of the fact that it was more decorative than functional — so maybe some wag at the time invented the story about it being intended for India. It would be wonderful if the naming and re-naming of Thornycroft's Q-ship could be linked to that story. I found this in the story of a WW2 nurse on the BBC 'People's War' site: We had to report to Netley Military Hospital. We found ourselves quartered in one huge room. There was no heating and washing was on the veranda with a screen around. We were a group of about 30 S.R.N.s and all had tropical kit so the guess was “India”. There was a story about Netley Hospital, that when it was built, so was one in India. Unfortunately the plans got mixed and the wrong one was built in each place. Most of the doors and windows at Netley were on the North side of the building and it was dreadfully cold, especially as we were there in November. The opposite happened to the hospital built in India which had all its windows on the hot South side. Thanks for tracking down these records — we're very lucky to have you there. Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 6 October , 2006 Share Posted 6 October , 2006 Mick The file index card and the pics in the phtograph file were for NETLEY. The pics you referred me to were all different to the ones I saw,from a different angle,but probably taken on the same day. There were also pics of the ship's officers and some dignitaries mixed in,like it was an Admiralty photocall or even a set of JLThorneycroft "grand fromages". The lead on the vessel plans has shrunk for the moment,it seems that anything of worth was sent to the NMM at Greenwich. So if there is anyone nearby there,take a look ! I shall try to source down the story about mixed plans later. While I am on that subject I can refer members to the true Netley Hospital,I got the impression that one correspondent thought that a pic of the wooden extensions during WW1 was the actual hospital ! It was much more ELEGANT than that. The big tragedy when it was burnt out in the 70s (I think) the military casualty records went up in smoke as well. See http://www/hants.gov.uk/rvcp/history.html Best wishes Sotonmate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 6 October , 2006 Share Posted 6 October , 2006 Sorry,the / after www.should be a . as you will no doubt work out for yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 6 October , 2006 Share Posted 6 October , 2006 While I am on that subject I can refer members to the true Netley Hospital,I got the impression that one correspondent thought that a pic of the wooden extensions during WW1 was the actual hospital ! It was much more ELEGANT than that. The big tragedy when it was burnt out in the 70s (I think) the military casualty records went up in smoke as well. See www.hants.gov.uk/rvcp/history.html I think that was me, mucking about and pretending I thought the 'Welsh Hospital' was a Q-ship style fabrication. I'm not sure if I'm being especially thick today, but it's still not clear to me whether your research confirmed that Netley was Hyderabad , or found that Netley was a different ship entirely. Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 6 October , 2006 Share Posted 6 October , 2006 Mick There was no positive info to say that the Netley was the Hyderabad,merely that in the Netley photo folder were pictures of the Hyderabad. The previous notes in this thread seem to indicate that the comparison of the lines of each vessel in the photos provided prove conclusively for me that they are one and the same. Sotonmate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 6 October , 2006 Share Posted 6 October , 2006 The previous notes in this thread seem to indicate that the comparison of the lines of each vessel in the photos provided prove conclusively for me that they are one and the same. Sotonmate Thanks — I think so too. But still no sign of Vervos, or of David, who took up the challenge to try and prove that Netley wasn't Hyderabad. Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted 6 October , 2006 Share Posted 6 October , 2006 Mick, Did the Hyderabad have Torpedo Tubes? Regards Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historydavid Posted 6 October , 2006 Share Posted 6 October , 2006 Charles, Hyderabad, aka Coral, Netley, Nicobar, SSS 966 Purpose built 1917, 624 tons, armaments: guns 1x4 in, 2x12pdr, 1x2.5pdr (visible), 4x3.5 in BT, 2x18 in TT, 4xDepth Charges. Refitted as Depot Ship and served in North Russia in 1919. Sold 5/20 as Lemnos Best wishes David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 6 October , 2006 Share Posted 6 October , 2006 ... still no sign of Vervos ... Sorry, I'm confusing two threads — I should have said 'no sign of Oak' who posed the original question. Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted 7 October , 2006 Share Posted 7 October , 2006 Just chucking in my t’penths worth, a Fiver is a Fiver Mick!. The date early 1916 and Thorneycroft building in 4 months is throwing me off, on the face of it it’s the Hyderabad, which is documented as being the first purpose built decoy. My thought is was it a Secret and like David said did it fall through the crack, was this the first P Boat built as a Decoy (PC Boat) which in my opinion became the first purpose built decoys. Regards charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 7 October , 2006 Share Posted 7 October , 2006 Charles, I've been looking for P/PC boats or Flower Class sloops built by Thornycroft and can't find any. One question we've never asked is whether Oak knows where the Netley photograph came from — which might just give a clue. Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted 7 October , 2006 Share Posted 7 October , 2006 Mick, This is PC68 as a Decoy, Regards Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 7 October , 2006 Share Posted 7 October , 2006 Interested Parties, A further morsel from my contact with the Curator of the Southampton Archives Annexe,yesterday by e-mail concerning what he had in relation to the vessel. He writes: "........two images that relate to HMS HYDERABAD. One is a pencil drawing of the ship underway. The other is a photo of a company-owned delivery lorry and it's female crew,which advertises on it's side the "Mystery Ship HMS HYDERABAD",not much of a mystery ship there then ". Sotonmate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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