#royalnavy — Public Fediverse posts

𝗪𝗜𝗞𝗜𝗣𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗔'𝗦 𝗙𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗟𝗘

✧ Thomas Hardy (Royal Navy officer, died 1732) ✧

Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy was a British Royal Navy officer and politician. Having joined the navy sometime before 1688, Hardy was supported in his career by George Churchill, whom he served as first lieutenant during the Battle of Barfleur in 1692. Promoted to capt...

#royalnavy #navy #channelislands #england #hmspembroke #wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hardy_(Royal_Navy_officer%2C_died_1732)

https://www.europesays.com/iran/289943/ Britain’s £1,000,000,000 Type 45 Destroyers Lose All Electrical Power When the Sea Is Warmer Than About 28 Degrees Celsius. The Persian Gulf Is Warmer Than That. #destroyer #Military #NATO #Navy #PersianGulf #RoyalNavy #Type45 #UK

Nato foils Russian plot to sabotage undersea cables

Britain caught Russian submarines testing a secret new weapon designed to disable critical undersea cables, it has emerged.…
#NATO #OTAN #Europe #Europa #EU #News #attacksubmarine #DefenceSecretary #JohnHealey #Moscow #NATOcountries #RoyalNavy #Russia #Russiansubmarines #theKremlin #underseacables #VladimirPutin #Westernintelligenceofficials #Westernofficials
https://www.europesays.com/nato/13789/

Japan’s new super missile cruisers will probably be the most powerful warships in the world

Now the part that makes everyone in Whitehall wince. The first ASEV was laid down in Nagasaki in…
#EuropeSays #Japan #JP #comment #defence #defenceindustry #MinistryofDefence #nationalsecurity #news #Nihon #Opinion #RoyalNavy
https://www.europesays.com/japan/88543/

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

https://activitypub.writeworks.uk/2026/07/tuesday-july-28-2026/

Photo of the Day 5th July 2026.

https://mancavgeek.co.uk/2026/07/05/photo-of-the-day-5th-july-2026/

Photo of the Day 5th July 2026.

https://mancavgeek.co.uk/2026/07/05/photo-of-the-day-5th-july-2026/

Photo of the Day 5th July 2026.

https://mancavgeek.co.uk/2026/07/05/photo-of-the-day-5th-july-2026/

Photo of the Day 5th July 2026.

https://mancavgeek.co.uk/2026/07/05/photo-of-the-day-5th-july-2026/

Photo of the Day 5th July 2026.

https://mancavgeek.co.uk/2026/07/05/photo-of-the-day-5th-july-2026/

Manchester Monday 29th June 2026.

https://mancavgeek.co.uk/2026/06/29/manchester-monday-29th-june-2026/

Manchester Monday 29th June 2026.

https://mancavgeek.co.uk/2026/06/29/manchester-monday-29th-june-2026/

Manchester Monday 29th June 2026.

https://mancavgeek.co.uk/2026/06/29/manchester-monday-29th-june-2026/

Manchester Monday 29th June 2026.

https://mancavgeek.co.uk/2026/06/29/manchester-monday-29th-june-2026/

Manchester Monday 29th June 2026.

https://mancavgeek.co.uk/2026/06/29/manchester-monday-29th-june-2026/

HMS Naiad British Light Cruiser https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/hms-naiad-british-light-cruiser/ #Cruiser, #HMSNaiad, #LightCruiser, #MaritimeHistory, #NavalHistory, #RoyalNavy, #SecondWorldWar, #Warship, #WorldWarTwo, #WW2, #WWII

HMS Bonaventure British Light Cruiser https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/hms-bonaventure-british-light-cruiser/ #SecondWorldWar, #Cruiser, #HMSBonaventure, #LightCruiser, #MaritimeHistory, #NavalHistory, #RoyalNavy, #Warship, #WorldWarTwo, #WW2, #WWII

HMS Charybdis British Light Cruiser https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/hms-charybdis-british-light-cruiser/ #SecondWorldWar, #Cruiser, #HMSCharybdis, #LightCruiser, #MaritimeHistory, #NavalHistory, #RoyalNavy, #Warship, #WorldWarTwo, #WW2, #WWII

HMS Spartan was a British light cruiser commissioned on 12 July 1943. In Jan 1944, Spartan was stationed off Anzio during Operation Shingle. On 29 Jan she was attacked by German aircraft using a guided bomb, probably a Henschel Hs 293 radio-controlled glide bomb. Spartan sank quickly in shallow water with heavy loss of life among her crew. https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/hms-spartan-british-light-cruiser/ #cruiser #hmsspartan #LightCruiser #maritimehistory #NavalHistory #royalnavy #secondworldwar #warships #worldwartwo #ww2 #WWII

The HMS Trinidad was a British light cruiser of the Royal Navy In Mar 42 Trinidad took part in the escort of Convoy PQ 13 to Russia During fighting against German destroyers she fired a torpedo at a destroyer, but it malfunctioned curved back and struck HMS Trinidad After temporary repairs, she attempted to return to Britain in May 42 but was damaged by aircraft and sunk https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/hms-trinidad-1941-british-light-cruiser/ #cruiser #hmstrinidad #LightCruiser #maritimehistory #naval #navy #royalnavy #secondworldwar #warship

British Light Cruiser HMS Southampton (1937) Pre-War https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/hms-southampton-1937-british-light-cruiser/ #secondworldwar #cruiser #hmssouthampton #LightCruiser #maritimehistory #naval #navy #RoyalNavy #warship

The British heavy cruiser HMS Cornwall was one of the Royal Navy’s County-class cruisers. Cornwall intercepted and destroyed the German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin in May 1941.
Sunk by Japanese dive bombers on 5 April 1942. https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/hms-cornwall-1928-british-heavy-cruiser/ #secondworldwar #cruiser #heavycruiser #HMSCornwall #maritimehistory #naval #navy #royalnavy #warship #NavalHistory

HMS Gloucester enters Malta during the late 1930s. Note the neutrality markings on her turrets for recognition during the Spanish Civil War. Gloucester was sunk during the Battle for Crete on 22 May 1941. https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/hms-gloucester-1939-british-light-cruiser/ #royalnavy #cruiser #HMSGloucester #LightCruiser #maritimehistory #naval #NavalHistory #navy #secondworldwar #warship

HMS Fiji was the lead ship of the Fiji-class (also called the Crown Colony-class) of light cruisers. Commissioned in 1940.

On 22 May 1941, after exhausting much of her anti-aircraft ammunition during repeated attacks, HMS Fiji was struck by bombs from German aircraft off Crete. Severely damaged and unable to defend herself effectively, she capsized and sank. https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/hms-fiji-1940-british-light-cruiser/ #SecondWorldWar #cruiser #HMSFiji #lightcruiser #maritimehistory #naval #Navy #RoyalNavy #warship

Royal Navy Ironclad HMS Captain under construction. HMS Captain was an innovative but ultimately ill-fated ironclad turret ship of the Royal Navy, launched in 1869. Due to poor design, she rolled over and sank during a storm less than 6 months after commissioning https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/royal-navy-ironclad-hms-captain/ #maritimehistory #navalhistory #RoyalNavy #HMSCaptain #battleship #ironclad

Investigation also reveals previously undisclosed contracts between Palantir & AWE #Nuclear Security Technologies, agency that underpins Britain’s #nuclear deterrence programme

https://www.thenerve.news/p/palantir-technologies-uk-government-contracts-size-nuclear-deterrent-atomic-peter-thiel-louis-mosley

#corruption #USAggression #USThreats #RoyalNavy #UnitedKingdom #VassalState #outsourcing #privacy #Military #CapitalismFail

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Manchester Monday 12th January 2026.

https://mancavgeek.co.uk/2026/01/12/manchester-monday-12th-january-2026/

Manchester Monday 12th January 2026.

https://mancavgeek.co.uk/2026/01/12/manchester-monday-12th-january-2026/

Manchester Monday 12th January 2026.

https://mancavgeek.co.uk/2026/01/12/manchester-monday-12th-january-2026/

Manchester Monday 12th January 2026.

https://mancavgeek.co.uk/2026/01/12/manchester-monday-12th-january-2026/

Manchester Monday 12th January 2026.

https://mancavgeek.co.uk/2026/01/12/manchester-monday-12th-january-2026/

British Heavy Cruiser HMS Vindictive https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/british-heavy-cruiser-hms-vindictive/ #AircraftCarrier, #Cruiser, #HeavyCruiser, #HMSVindictive, #MaritimeHistory, #Naval, #NavalHistory, #Navy, #RepairShip, #RoyalNavy, #Warship

British Heavy Cruiser HMS London in Sep 1941 https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/british-heavy-cruiser-hms-london-1929/ #cruiser #heavycruiser #HMSLondon #maritimehistory #naval #NavalHistory #Navy #RoyalNavy #warship #WW2

British Heavy Cruiser HMS Raleigh https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/british-heavy-cruiser-hms-raleigh/ #Cruiser, #HeavyCruiser, #HMSRaleigh, #MaritimeHistory, #Naval, #NavalHistory, #Navy, #RoyalNavy, #Warship

HMS Effingham a Hawkins class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy. Lost during the Norwegian campaign in 1940. https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/british-heavy-cruiser-hms-effingham/ #NavalHistory #MaritimeHistory #RoyalNavy #HeavyCruiser #HMSEffingham

British Heavy Cruiser HMS Frobisher https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/british-heavy-cruiser-hms-frobisher/ #Cruiser, #HeavyCruiser, #HMSFrobisher, #MaritimeHistory, #Naval, #NavalHistory, #Navy, #RoyalNavy, #Warship

HMS Hawkins was the lead ship of the Hawkins-class heavy cruisers, built for the Royal Navy during World War I. Conceived in 1915 as a response to German commerce raiders, she was designed to be fast, have long endurance, and be heavily armed with 7.5-inch guns – larger than those on contemporary British light cruisers. Although launched in 1917, she entered service in 1919, after the war had ended.
https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/british-heavy-cruiser-hms-hawkins/ #MaritimeHistory #HMSHawkins #RoyalNavy #Heavycruiser #Cruiser #WW2

HMS York served extensively during World War II She participated in the Norwegian Campaign in 1940 and she was later deployed to the Mediterranean Sea. On 26 March 1941, she was badly damaged by two Italian explosive motor boats in a dawn attack at Suda Bay, north Crete. On 18 May a Luftwaffe air attack further damaged York. She was subsequently scuttled after her guns were wrecked https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/british-heavy-cruiser-hms-york/ #MaritimeHistory #NavalHistory #HMSYork #Cruiser #HeavyCruiser #RoyalNavy #WW2 #Navy #Naval

Nach wochenlanger Pflege wurden sechs unterkühlt an britischen Stränden angespülte Unechte #Karettschildkröten von der britischen Marine in der Nähe der #Azoren in die Freiheit entlassen. Die vom #Aussterben bedrohten Tiere waren geschwächt und dehydriert, nachdem sie vermutlich von der #AtlantikStrömung bis nach #Großbritannien getragen wurden. Dank der Unterstützung durch #Aquarien und die #RoyalNavy konnten sie nun in wärmere Gewässer zurückkehren.

https://www.n-tv.de/wissen/Britische-Marine-entlaesst-Meeresschildkroeten-in-die-Freiheit-article25258646.html

Goodyear FG-1D Corsair, take off. This aircraft was, like many other Corsairs, built by the Goodyear Co. under licence, hence the US Navy designation FG. A number of Goodyear-built Corsairs were supplied to the Royal Navy under Lend Lease during WW2. The model corresponds to the Vought F4U-1. Corsairs were also built by the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation, but that contract was terminated early. This Corsair is seen taking off from the Rhode Island Air Show. #Corsair #Vought #Brewster #Goodyear #RoyalNavy #F4U #FG1 #WW2 #RhodeIsland #USA #airshow #LendLease #USN #USNavy #avgeek #aviation #aviationlovers #photography #aviationphotography #aircraft

British Heavy Cruiser HMS York https://www.destinationsjourney.com/historical-military-photographs/british-heavy-cruiser-hms-york/ #BritishRoyalNavy #cruiser #heavycruiser #HMSYork #naval #Navy #RoyalNavy #SecondWorldWar #Ship #warship #WorldWarTwo #WorldWar2 #WW2 #WWII #York

The thread about the Calton Hill Naval Telegraph and the Forth coast’s Napoleonic communication system

Edinburgh’s City Art Centre shared this wonderful 1797 painting by George Walker this morning (July 11th 2023), showing the east of the old city as viewed from the vicinity of St. Anthony’s Chapel in Holyrood Park. This was an extremely popular viewpoint for 18th and 19th century artists and there are any numbers of etchings, watercolours and prints of this vista, making it a good record of the changes in the city over this time period.

This image of course poses the question: “what on earth is that enormous mast on the Calton Hill?!“

Well then, what on earth is that enormous mast on the Calton Hill? The answer is that this was a telegraph. No, not an electric or wireless telegraph, but a naval flagstaff for communication with ships in Leith Roads during the period of the French Revolutionary & Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The word telegraph of course long predates more modern uses and literally means “writing from a distance” and that’s exactly what a systems such as this could do; as and when daylight and the ambient visibility allowed, the mast could communicate by coded messages transmitted by hoisting various combinations of flags and marker balls up the staff.

The telegraph pole is clearly marked on John Ainslie’s 1804 map of the City:

And we can also very clearly see it in an advertising print for one of Robert Barker’s panoramas from 1806 that was exhibited in Leicester Square in London. His first panorama of this view, from 1792, does not show the mast in place.

An earlier print – also in the collection of the city – shows a similar scene to that of George Walker’s painting, however as the Bridewell – Robert Adam’s prison on the lower slopes of the Calton Hill – is missing from this scene it suggests that this is prior to 1795 and therefore that the mast pre-dates the installation of the Admiralty’s signal telegraph chain. The mast is absent in a plan of the city by James Watson and Thomas Brown dated 1793, suggesting it was erected between those dates. A chain of very similar telegraphs had been installed around the Channel Islands in 1792.

This Calton Hill signal post was at the western end of a telegraph chain that stretched between Edinburgh and St. Abbs Head, to forewarn of any French incursions into the Firth of Forth (bear in mind that in 1779, a small American squadron under John Paul Jones had tried just that) and allow the reporting of shipping traffic in and out of the Forth back to the Admiralty in Leith (formally the Commander-in-Chief at Leith and on the Coast of Scotland) . Interception and boarding parties could then be sent out to any unexpected or unknown vessels. This signal chain was apparently constructed in 1801, so would have been an addition to the pre-existing Calton Hill flagstaff. It is likely that the mast was first erected for communicating with ships anchored in the Leith Roads out in the Forth, at this time an important forming-up point for naval convoys.

With thanks to Chris Wright for his assistance in finding a copy of the relevant paper, I have plotted the Forth & East Coast flag telegraph chain onto a map (below). The 8 stations spanned 41 miles of coast from St. Abb’s Head in the east to Calton Hill in the west, for the Admiralty HQ in Leith. Messages that would otherwise take the best part of a day to carry could be transmitted (weather dependent) to and from Edinburgh and Leith in a matter of minutes.

Each station was manned by a lieutenant on half pay, a petty officer or midshipman plus as his deputy and two men. All to have been classed as “unfit for sea service”, meaning they were too old, young, or injured. The structures were hastily constructed and temporary, built largely from timber with canvas for roofing and little remains apart from perimeter walls to keep the sheep out or some levelled platforms for the signal staff and support guys. The wooden huts were painted with a mix of tar, ochre and sand. Life must have been dull, cold and uncomfortable.

For communication purposes, each telegraph was provided with 1 x large red signal flag (18 breadths x 7 yards size), 1 x large blue pennant (5 breaths x 50 yards size) and 4 x hollow canvas signalling balls, painted black (43″ diameter). A system of coded signals used combinations of the red flag, blue pennant and a certain number of balls. For instance the blue pennant plus 3 balls = “Enemy landing to the west“. The below diagram for the Port of Leith flag signals in the 1860s, shows how with just 3 flags and 2 balls, it was possible to unambiguously communicate the numbers 10 – 26 (and the halves in-between). Now make those depth numbers signals in a code book, and you’ve got yourself a telegraphic communication system.

Each station was provided with an inventory that included:

• 163 yards of roofing canvas
• A 30 foot flagstaff
• A 50 foot topmast for the staff
• 100 fathoms of 1.5 inch and 77 fathoms of 2.5 inch rope
• officer’s bath stove
• fire grate for the men’s quarters
• 6 chairs, 2 tables

Four chaldrons of coal (about 5.25 m3), £3 of candles and £1 of stationary were allowed per annum. It wasn’t until 1803 that the Admiralty made an allowance for 1 x cot bed (for the officer) and 3 x hammocks (for the men), and only upon written application. I have also inferred that the officer may not have lived permanently on site as he was given a travel allowance. The illustrations below, made by Royal Engineer Captain William Smith, show the telegraph station at Malin Head in Ireland in 1804. The flagstaffs and cabins would have been similar on the East Coast of Scotland.

Exceptions exist however. The stations at St. Abbs, Dowlaw and North Berwick seem to have been more substantially built from the local stone, perhaps due to their isolation or exposure? Good remains of the stone buildings remain on North Berwick Law above the town.

In case there was any doubt it was a military structure, rather than a shepherd’s bothy, one of the stones has been neatly inscribed with the cipher “G. R.”

And a section of flag staff (quite remarkably, if it’s original) remained in situ during the archaeological site survey in 2018!

I can find almost no mentions of the East Coast telegraph being used in the newspapers. The earliest is in the London Oracle on 26th October 1798, which records a scare that French warships were in the Forth when two friendly Russian warships did not give the correct signals and in consequence “the signal post on the Calton Hill was at work most part of the day“. A decade later in 1808 the Caledonian Mercury reported that the St. Abb’s Head station sent a message to Edinburgh that the damaged merchant ship Cygnet had drifted inshore there. An 1802 aquatint shows that the mast was still in place at that time:

Plans of the city include it up to 1809, but construction of the Nelson Monument from 1807 onwards soon made the flagstaff surplus to requirements – however the below illustration below by John Harden clearly shows the Monument in place where the flagstaff once stood but also shows the flagstaff standing to the east of it. This suggests that the staff was moved to an alternative location while the monument was still under construction.

The Monument was designed to effectively be a 160 foot tall flagstaff in its own right, to act as a signal station, with accommodation for the signallers, the officer in the tower itself and four injured seamen pensioners in the building at its base. It was intended that the duties of the occupants would include hoisting news of British naval victories and celebrating past triumphs on their anniversaries. For the latter purposes, flags bearing the names of these events were to have been provided.

The design of the monument by Robert Burn is said to be inspired by Nelson’s folding telescope. You have to admit that it was a big improvement on the obelisk style from an earlier draft by Alexander Nasmyth that had been rejected as too expensive.

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A day of firsts; the thread about the start of the air war over Britain above the Firth of Forth

This thread was originally written and published in July 2023.

On September 3rd 1939, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany, drawing the country into what would become the Second World War. This early period of the war is sometimes called the “Phoney War”, on account of the relatively limited military activity between France, Germany and Britain on the Western Front. However on Monday 16th October 1939, the air war over Britain commenced over the Firth of Forth as German bombers made their first air raid on the country of the war and the RAF squadrons defending Edinburgh went immediately to war.

603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron – an auxiliary squadron defending its home city from RAF Turnhouse – claimed the first German aircraft to be shot down by an RAF fighter over British territory in WW2 on that very day. At about 14:45, Red Section under Flt. Lt. “Patsy” Gifford fatally damaged a Ju-88 bomber near Cockenzie. The German aircraft, from squadron KG30, crashed into the Forth 4 miles offshore. The Cockenzie fishing boat Dayspring, skippered by John Dickson, rescued the crew. They admitted that they were reluctant at first to do so, but they were sailors foremost and overcame their misgivings to help those in peril on the sea.

Rear gunner OGefr. Kramer had been killed before the plane crashed and was never found, but pilot OLt. Hans Storp and crewmen Hugo Rohnke and Hans Georg Heilscher were saved and sent to the military hospital at Edinburgh Castle, the first German military prisoners in Britain of WW2. The grateful Storp gave his gold ring to John Dickson in thanks for his life.

Earlier that morning, at 09:30, the “Chain Home” radar station at Drone Hill in Berwick shire had identified two enemy aircraft approaching over the North Sea. At 10:21, Flt. Lt. George Pinkerton of 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron became the first RAF fighter pilot to attack a German aircraft over Britain when his Spitfire engaged and damaged a He-111 bomber over the Isle of May. This aircraft – one of two from squadron KG26 – had been on a reconnaissance flight to photograph the naval dockyard at Rosyth and was chased east out to sea where it evaded its pursuers, returning safely home. 602 Squadron had been redeployed eastwards to defend Edinburgh and the Forth and had been based out of RAF Drem in East Lothian for just 3 days.

A confused game of cat and mouse now commenced between the RAF and Luftwaffe all along the East Coast of Scotland for much of the morning and early afternoon as attempts were made to intercept sporadic German incursions. The radar sets failed to work properly and broke down, phantom raiders were reported by the public and the ground controllers got their calculations back to front and sent the defending fighters in the wrong directions.

That afternoon the weather was good – clear skies with only broken cloud. At 14:20, the Royal Observer Corps, trained ground spotters whose job was to identify and report enemy aircraft over land, confirmed the presence of Ju-88 bombers in East Lothian. These were 12 aircraft commanded by Haupt. Helmuth Pohle of squadron KG30 and had been sent on a mission to attack the Royal Navy at Rosyth, based on the reports from the morning reconnaissance flight that George Pinkerton and 602 Squadron had intercepted. Once again, those Spitfires were scrambled to meet the raiders. At 14:27, the anti aircraft battery at Dalmeny reported the bombers flying up the Forth. The attackers had been forbidden to attack the Dockyard itself for fear of civilian casualties, so aimed for the ships anchored in the Firth. While the gunners frantically phoned for permission to open fire, the bombs began to fall.

The first wave of attackers targeted the cruiser HMS Southampton. At 14:35, the 500kg bombs fell around the ship but missed; however two of her boats that had been anchored alongside, including the Admiral’s personal barge, were sunk. At 14:38 – three minutes after the start of the attack – the orders for the defenders to open fire were given and every anti-aircraft gun on land and on ships that could be brought to bare opened up. At the same time, the next wave of attackers, those led by OLt. Hans Storp, arrived. They approached from the south over Threipmuir Reservoir and commenced their bombing run.

By now, both 602 (City of Glasgow) and 603 (City of Edinburgh) squadrons were in the air. Yellow Section of 603 attacked Storp and put his port engine out of action. The plane limped towards East Lothian out to sea, in a futile attempt to escape, which was where Red Section under Patsy Gifford brought it down. The victorious 603 were now ordered to return to Turnhouse to re-arm and re-fuel, leaving the defence in the hands of 602 Squadron. Blue Section, under George Pinkerton, spotted the aircraft of Helmuth Pohle over Inverkeithing and gave chase through the broken cloud. Pinkerton and his wing-man Archie McKellar attacked, killing two of the German machine’s crew and incapacitating both its engines. It headed for the sea near Crail and ditched three miles off of Fife Ness. The time was somewhere between 14:45 and 14:55, the Observer Corps putting the crash at the latter time, but McKellar and Pinkerton are credited with gaining the “first kill” before Patsy Gifford in some chronologies.

The events of October 16th had not yet concluded however. About 25 minutes after Pohle’s machine crashed, another Ju-88 bomber appeared over the outer reaches of the Forth. It had escaped interception up to this point as the ground observers had initially thought it to be a friendly Bristol Blenheim (an easy mistake, as the two were somewhat similar and the Ju-88 was a brand new aircraft and almost totally unseen by British eyes this early in the war). It found the destroyer HMS Mohawk off of the fishing village of Elie & Earlsferry and attacked; dropping its bombs and firing its machine guns at the ship.

By the time it was chased off by one of 602 Squadron’s Spitfires, 13 men including First Lieutenant E. J. Shea had been killed. Her captain, Commander Richard Jolly, was fatally wounded but refused to abandon his post and brought his ship safely back to Rosyth before dying a few hours later. In total 16 men from the Mohawk would lose their lives that day.

The last of the raiders that day appeared in ones and twos across the Lothians around 16:00 and were chased across the Forth, RAF Turnhouse, Edinburgh, Leith and Portobello by the Spitfires of 603 Squadron, but to no avail. Minor injuries were caused across the city from broken glass as bullets fired in the sky came down to earth and painter Joe McLuskie, working on a house in Abercorn Terrace, Portobello, was hit in the stomach and had to undergo emergency surgery in Leith Hospital. The raid had also claimed its first animal victim of the air war over Britain when Lady, a spaniel belonging to Mrs Mercer of Alma Street in Inverkeithing, was struck by shrapnel from falling “friendly” anti-aircraft shells and had to be put down as a result. The noise of the bombs and guns had panicked the animal and it had run off into the street.

Off of Crail, a fishing boat hauled four ditched German airmen from the sea. Crewmen Kurt Seydel and August Schleicher were already dead, Kurt Naake was mortally wounded and would not survive, leaving pilot Helmuth Pohle – nursing a broken jaw – as the sole survivor. He was sent to the naval hospital in Port Edgar. The bodies of Seydel and Schleicher lay in state at St. Phillip’s Church in Portobello, their coffins draped in Swastika flags, and were buried with military honours observed by a respectful turnout of locals at Portobello Cemetery. The proceedings were led by Henry Steel, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, and many men from both 602 and 603 Squadrons were in attendance with the pipe band of 603 providing a musical lament. The pair were re-interred in a German military cemetery in England after the war.

Both Patsy Gifford and George Pinkerton would receive the Distinguished Flying Cross award for their efforts that day. Gifford, a reservist who was in peacetime a lawyer and town councillor from Castle Douglas, was sent to command 3 Squadron RAF in November 1939. He was shot down and killed over Belgium in May 1940.

Gifford and Pinkerton both have claims to their “first”. However neither claimed either the first British or first RAF aerial victories of the war. On September 26th 1939, Lt. Cdr. Bruce S. McEwen of 803 Squadron Fleet Air Arm and flying from HMS Ark Royal (therefore a Royal Navy aviator and not in the RAF) shot down a German Do-18 flying boat over the North Sea off Norway, the first British aerial victory of the way. The below photo was taken by the destroyer HMS Somali when they rescued its crew.

Another Do-18 would become the first German aircraft brought down by an RAF aircraft flying from the British mainland, was claimed by a Lockheed Hudson patrol aircraft of 224 Squadron Coastal Command out of RAF Leuchars on 8th October. The Hudson, actually a modified American airliner and intended to be a bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, proved to have a surprising capability as a long range fighter in the early part of the war.

And two weeks after 602 Squadron’s Pinkerton and McKellar brought Helmuth Pohle’s war to a premature end off of Crail, Archie McKellar shot down an He-111 bomber of squadron KG26, flown by Uffz. Kurt Lehmkuhl over East Lothian. This was the first RAF victory that brought down a plane over land, the machine making a crash landing in the Lammermuir hills near Humbie.

Another He-111 was shot down by 602 Squadron out of RAF Drem on February 9th 1940, with Squadron Leader Douglas Farquar bringing it down in a field just outside North Berwick.

This was the first chance for British intelligence to get a close up look of such a machine in a flyable condition and it was therefore partially dismantled and towed away for onwards transport to the Boffins down south. The plane was put back together, repaired, and commissioned into the RAF as part of the “Rafwaffe” of captured machines. Here it is seen going down Dirleton Avenue in North Berwick to the bemusement of onlookers.

Remarkably, there’s a colour cine film of it going down Musselburgh High Street, exciting much local interest, on its way to RAF Turnhouse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwhXwLhWDEc

Hans Storp’s Ju-88 would suffer the misfortune of being the first pilot and aircraft to be shot down twice in the war, when in December 1939 a re-enactment of his last flight took place for the propaganda film “Squadron 992“. An RAF Bristol Blenheim (which the observers had confused with the German Ju-88 back in October) stood in for the German machine on this occasion. The Cockenzie fisherman John Dickson, his crew, and their boat the Dayspring reprised their roles from that day and played themselves for the cameras.

You can watch the film Squadron 992 on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XycuXAtLyo4

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  the cover of OU5274 Handling Ships.

I am very pleased to announce that I have scanned, and am now am making available a PDF copy of OU 5274 Remarks on Handling Ships. 

This volume from 1934 (reprinted in 1941) is the predecessor to BR 2092 Handling Ships (1954). This is a really interesting document to me. As discussed in that other post, the matter in this manual would become Admiralty Manual of Navigation, Vol 4. 

This was one of the first things I purchased once I realized that it existed. I purchased it through a store in Auckland, New Zealand, and was delighted to find out that it was actually published in Ottawa, Ontario for the use of the Royal Canadian Navy. Reprinted in 1941, this would have been one of the very last manuals to still use the OU (Official Use) numbers, which were replaced by the BR series in 1942.

The OCR’d PDf can be downloaded here.

#20th-century #admiralty #admiralty-manuals #archival-documents #archives #digital-humanities #discuss-a-doc #ou-5274-handling-ships #royal-navy

https://globalmaritimehistory.com/discuss-a-doc-ou-5274-handling-ships-1934-1941/

#AAV #AnotherAngryVoice #UK #Nuclear #Babcock #RoyalNavy #Tories #Privatisation