HMS Belfast February 22, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in British Isles, England, Great Britain, London, Museums, Second World War, aircraft, ships.Tags: 38th parallel, 4-inch gun, 40mm gun, 6-inch gun, Admiral Frobisher, Admiral Nelson, Admiralty Disruptive Camouflage Type 25, Barracuda, battleship, British Army, Canadian Army, Chance-Vought, Communist, Corsair, cruiser, D-Day, dazzle camouflage, Fairey, Fleet Air Arm, floating museum, German Navy, Gold Beach, Grumman, Hellcat, HMS Belfast, Imperial War Museum, June Beach, Korean War, London, magnetic mine, Normandy, North Korea, Norwegian coast, Operation Tungsten, Pro Tanto Quid Retribuamas, River Thames, Royal Navy, Tirpitz, triple 6-inch mounts
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HMS Belfast
An 11,000 ton, 6-inch gun cruiser is an impressive ship; in this case HMS Belfast is made even more impressive by being anchored in the centre of London. Cared for by the Imperial War Museum, this veteran of both World War Two and the Korean War, serves as a living reminder of the ‘big gun navy’, when the art of naval gunnery was practised aboard battleships and cruisers by the direct ‘descendents’ of admirals such as Nelson and Frobisher. Twelve 6-inch guns are carried in four triple mounts, and there is a secondary armament of 4 -inch and 40mm guns, also. Commissioned just prior to the outbreak of WW2 (5th August 1939), the ship was almost lost when hitting a magnetic mine in November of that year, and repairs took nearly three years. Here you can see her wearing a particularly fetching ‘dazzle camouflage’ – Admiralty Disruptive Camouflage Type 25 – of the middle of the Second World War. Perhaps her most notable role was bombarding targets in France during the D-Day landings in Normandy, where she used both her 6 inch and 4 inch guns to great effect (she could reach targets more than 11 miles inland); her main role was supporting British and Canadian landings on Gold and Juno beaches.
Operation Tungsten – an aerial attack on the German battleship ‘Tirpitz’ , by Fairey Barracuda, Grumman Hellcat and Chance-Vought Corsair aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm – saw her providing cover for the aircraft carriers stationed off the Norwegian coast.
HMS Belfast’ s last taste of action was during the Korean War when she regularly bombarded Communist targets ashore on both sides of the 38th parallel. She was in almost continuous action from July 1950 to September 1952, when she finally sailed for her home port.
Saved for the nation by a vigorous campaign lead by ex-officers of the ship, she entered retirement, and was moored in the Thames as a floating museum. She is, technically, a branch of the Imperial War Museum. I have visited HMS Belfast on a number of occasions, and am always struck by a sense of history, when onboard.
Truly, as the ship’s motto says, Pro Tanto Quid Retribuamas (For so much, how shall we repay?)
‘Is it a bird, is a ‘plane…no, it’s a paddle steamer (minus paddles)’ January 24, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in London, Second World War, ships.Tags: art gallery, conference centre, England, ferry, Humber Bridge, Hungerford Bridge, King's Reach, Lincoln Castle, LNER, London, New Holland, nightspot, paddle steamer, PS Tattershall Castle, pub, railway, River Humber, River Thames, Second World War, Victoria Embankment, Westminster, Wingfield Castle, WW2
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PS Tattershall Castle, London
Viewed from the south bank of the Thames, here we can see today’s mystery object. A paddle steamer? A ferry? An art gallery? A wartime transport? A conference centre? A nightclub? A pub? A railway company asset? Well, yes, just select the box that says, ‘all of the above’.
Built in 1934, to the order of the London and North Eastern Railway Co., the PS Tattershall Castle (the PS stands for ‘Paddle Steamer’) was used as a ferry on the LNER route across the Humber Estuary from Hull to New Holland – a journey of approximately 4 miles. She did this about 8 times a day, carrying up to 1,000 passengers, freight and some vehicles. The Second World War saw her take on wartime duties, ferrying trops and supplies all over the estuary. Demobilised at the end of the war, along with her two sisters, she went back to the ferrying work, along with a series of pleasure charters. In 1973, she was retired, having reached the end of her useful life. It is likely that when the Humber Bridge was finally finished in 1981, it would have spelt the end for the ferry service anyway. The scrapyard did NOT beckon, however, as she was snapped up by a London businessman who wanted to open a floating art gallery in the centre fo London, on King’s Reach in the City of Westminster. That venture, unlike the PS Tattershall Castle, foundered after a few years and she was taken over by a pub chain. After restoration, modifications (her paddles were removed, and the paddle box space utilized) and repairs, she was towed back up the Thames to her present postion. If you fancy a really spectacular river-side venue for a meal, then you could do much worse than the Tattershall Castle. By the way, by an amazing stroke of good fortune, both of the other ‘paddlers’ on this ferry route, Wingfield Castle and Lincoln Castle survived and are in preservation!
Who IS this man? January 21, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Castles, England, London, Museums, World Heritage Site.Tags: Army, beef, Beefeater, Crown Jewels, Edward IV, England, frock coat, London, Moira Cameron, Museums, ravens, River Thames, Royal Air Force, Royal Marines, Royal Navy, ruff, Senior NCO, Tower of London, World Heritage Site, Yeoman Warders
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Beefeater
Who is this man? Well, you might know him as a ‘Beefeater’ (from their rations of beef in the 15th century), but his actual title is a ‘Yeoman Warder of Her Majesty’s Palace and Fortress the Tower of London and Member of the Sovereign’s Bodyguard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary ’. A big title for a prestigeous job. Their origins stretch back as far as the reign of Edward IV (1461-83).Yeoman Warders have guarded the Crown Jewels and the Tower itself, as well as looking after (theoretically, in modern times) any prisoners of the Crowd lodged there.
Their ‘undress uniform’ is seen here; it has many Tudor touches (if you ignore the two-way radio), including the full-cut frock coat, which, when coupled with modern trousers looks exceedingly odd. On ceremonial ocassions, they wear a glorious red and gold dress uniform – and yes, red tights, a white ruff and buckled shoes!
There are only 35 Yeoman Warders, as well as a Chief Warder. Moira Cameron, a former Warrent Officer in the Army has become the very first female Warder, and will perform the ‘tour guide’ portion of her job, as well as the more ceremonial part of a Yeoman Warden’s duties. All Warders must be senior NCOs of the Army, the Royal Air Force, the Royal Marines and more recently, the Royal Navy, with at least 22 years of impeccable service. Oh yes, and what about the ravens, you say? Well, they have their wings partially clipped so they will not be able to fly from the Tower (legend says it will fall if they leave), and THEY actually are fed beef!
A view of London – from the London Eye January 14, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in England, London.Tags: Bay of Biscay, British Airways, Central Park, Charing Cross Station, Cleopatra, Cleopatra's Needle, Egypt, Hungerford Bridge, King's Reach, London, London Eye, New York, obelisk, River Thames, Thutmose III, tug, Victoria Embankment, Waterloo Bridge
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- London Eye capsule
I really enjoyed my ‘flight’ on the London Eye (British Airways, who operates the Eye, calls your ride a ‘flight’). High above the Thames you can see the north bank and the Victoria Embankment and King’s Reach. The nearer bridge is Hungerford Bridge, the railway bridge which leads into Charing Cross Station (it also has pedestrian capacity). The further bridge is Waterloo Bridge, with its graceful arches. If you look closely, you can just make out Cleopatra’s Needle on the Embankment. The Needle (and its twin in Central Park, New York) have NO connection with Cleopatra, they were commissioned by Thutmose III. After a dramatic sea journey from Egypt, including breaking free from its tug in the Bay of Biscay, the obelisk was finally erected on the Embankment in 1878. If you ever get a chance to ride the London Eye – do so!
Traitor’s Gate, Tower of London January 9, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Castles, England, London.Tags: assassination, Carl Giles, cartoon, Castles, dungeons, employer, England, First World War, fortress, government, King Edward I, London, Lord Beaverbrook, monarch, prisoners, River Thames, Sir Roger Casement, spying, St Thomas's Tower, torture, Tower of London, Traitor's Gate, water gate
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Traitor's Gate, St. Thomas's Tower, the Tower of London
Scattered across the 18 acre site which forms the Tower of London, there are many notable buildings and features. One of the most famous, or should I say infamous, is the Traitor’s Gate. This is located at the base of St. Thomas’s Tower – one of the constituent parts of the world famous fortress – and is a watergate, giving direct access to the murky waters of the River Thames. St. Thomas’s Tower was built between 1275-1279 at the behest of King Edward I; he was the monarch responsible for commissioning the large stone arch and double gates which form Traitor’s Gate.
The gate was used to convey State prisoners of high importance directly to the Tower from the River Thames in the highest security, preventing any attempts at rescue – or, indeed, assassination, in order to prevent them revealling more details of their crimes under torture in the dungeons of the Tower.
Sir Roger Casement was imprisoned here for a time during the First World War, prior to his execution (he had been convicted of spying for Germany, on rather tenuous legal grounds).
Strangely, Traitor’s Gate has also featured in at least one notable cartoon; the famous British cartoonist, Carl Giles, depicted his employer, the ‘press baron’ Lord Beaverbrook, being sent through Traitor’s Gate for some slight against the Government of the day.
The London Eye and the River Thames December 24, 2008
Posted by shortfinals in England.Tags: England, London, London Eye, River Thames
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The London Eye and the River Thames
I enjoy visiting London a great deal; it was less enjoyable working there, I admit, but I do have fun, acting the part of the tourist at large. Here we see the London Eye, which provides a fabulous view over the city and the Pool of London. Truly, this is a ‘world city’.
Windsor Castle December 6, 2008
Posted by shortfinals in Castles, England.Tags: Castles, River Thames, Windsor, Windsor Castle
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Here we see the Quadrangle, in the Upper Ward at Windsor Castle. This is the largest occupied castle in the world, and one of the oldest, at more than 1,000 years. This part looks Mediaeval but isn’t, as it dates from the great expansion phase in the early part of the 19th century. It’s easy to see why the English monarchy chose this site to fortify, as it is high on a ridge, overlooking a crossing of the Thames; plus the fact that they could always flee out of the capital during the summer plague season!
The Quadrangle, The Upper Ward, Windsor Castle
