Dad bought mum a new camera so I got mum's old one. The weather wasn't great but I did my best with the pics.
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Applecross Peninsula Scotland
Again
The most Northerly Point
John o'Groats, often mistaken as the most northerly point. Look at the sign
Couple of crabs and lobsters we caught
Loch Lomond
A piper and Nessie
London Bridge
An eel fisherman getting in on the act
Armour in the Tower of London
Buckingham Palace
Imperial War Museum, the 15" guns
The 15-inch GunsProbably no weapon is more representative of the great era of British battleships than the 15-inch gun. Designed in the days when modern naval gunnery was still in its early stages, the 15-inch gun was finally directed by extremely sophisticated fire control techniques. The battleships and battle-cruisers that mounted these great guns, two in each turret, were the final arbiters of sea-power. Each floating steel castle was screened by cruisers, escorted by destroyers, guarded by mine-sweepers, covered by aircraft, fed by auxiliaries, and hunted by torpedo craft. When all the skirmishing by lesser vessels was done, it was the nation which still had the most battleships afloat that controlled the seas. This was the meaning behind the Battles of Jutland, Narvik, Calabria, Spartivento and Matapan, the Bismarck action and the surrenders of the German High Seas Fleet in 1918 and the Italian battlefleet in 1943.
Yet although the 15-inch gun was built for sea-fights between opposing battlefleets, its first action was bombarding shore positions at Gallipoli in 1915. Thirty years and two major reconstructions later, the same Queen Elizabeth was providing heavy artillery support in the Indian Ocean. In two world wars 15-inch guns bombarded the coasts of France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Africa and Madagascar, supporting Allied troops on the beaches, wrecking enemy installations and thwarting a hostile invasion of our shores.
Twenty-two ships of the Royal Navy were armed with 15-inch guns: Abercrombie, Barham, Courageous, Erebus, Glorious, Hood, Malaya, Marshal Ney, Marshal Soult, Queen Elizabeth, Ramilles, Renown, Repulse, Resolution, Revenge, Roberts, Royal Oak, Royal Sovereign, Terror, Valiant, Vanguard and Warspite.
The 15-inch gun was not cast in one piece, but was built up as a series of tubes. These tubes were heated until they expanded and were then shrunk over each other. The centre tube was known as the Inner A Tube. It was replaced when the 76-groove rifling was worn. Then came the A Tube, around which 170 miles of wire were wound. Over that was fitted the B Tube, which, together with the Jacket, formed the visible exterior of the gun.
The left-hand gun (Gunbody No. 125) of the pair situated outside Imperial War Museum London was made by William Beardmore and mounted in HMS Ramillies in 1916. It was first fired in action against Turkish shore targets during operations in the Sea of Marmara in 1920. Apart from practice shoots, it was not fired again until 17 August 1940, when when a British force bombarded Bardia in North Africa. HMS Ramillies also fired several salvoes during the Battle of Spartivento in 27 November 1940. The Italian warships were out of range and no hits were scored. The gun was removed from HMS Ramillies in 1941 and stored. The tampion badge is taken from the arms of the Duke of Marlborough, and translates as 'Faithful but Unfortunate'.
The right-hand gun (Gunbody No. 102) was mounted in HMS Resolution from 1915 to 1938. It saw service in the Sea of Marmara in 1920, but was not fired in anger again until 1944, and then in another ship, the monitor Roberts. This ship was an important unit in the naval forces assembled for the invasion of Normandy. On D-Day itself, HMS Roberts bombarded Houlgate Battery, east of Sword Beach. During the succeeding weeks her guns shelled enemy positions several miles inland near Caen. On 1 November 1944 she supported the assault on Walcheren and attacked a German battery north of Westkapelle.
This gun was made by Vickers, Son & Maxim. It was stored from 1938 to 1944 and again from 1945 onwards. The breech mechanism on this gun was originally used for instructional purposes at Woolwich Arsenal. It was fitted to the barrel by Museum craftsmen with help from the Arsenal. The tampion badge - a charging knight - symbolises 'Resolution'.
The Tamzine
In May 1940 the German invasion of France led to the encirclement of much of the British Expeditionary Force around the port of Dunkirk. An evacuation scheme, Operation Dynamo, was quickly organized, using an array of warships, ferries, trawlers, yachts, and pleasure craft. The operation began on 27 May and, helped by ideal weather, continued until 4 June. Despite fierce enemy action nearly 340,000 British and French troops were evacuated to safety across the English Channel.
This 14 foot(4.4m) fishing boat, the Tamzine, was built in 1937 at Margate, Kent. During the Dunkirk evacuation it was the smallest boat used to ferry men from the beaches to larger vessels lying off shore.
Named after the eighteen-year-old wife of a sailing skipper, who was drowned off the Isles of Scilly in an eighteenth century shipwreck and is said to be buried in the churchyard at St. Mary's, Tamzine is the smallest surviving open fishing boat to take part in Operation Dynamo. She is clinker built, light yet strongly made and was designed for year-round fishing off the shore at Birchington in Kent. Her removable centre thwart - the oarsman's seat, - allowed five people to stand upright in her at anyone time and safely haul in the trawl net.
. thanks for sharing all those photo's. out of interest how long were you gone for?
Originally Posted by Keechie
