Hi Folks
Apologies for the lack of posts over the last fortnight but I have been away on work and then took a few days off over the Easter break.
Yesterday I took Shedson round the M25 and off to Chatham to visit the Royal Dockyards, Fantastic visit and worthy of a big recommendation !
Just a few piccies of our adventure
A massive barn (covered shipyard revealed many goodies including this midget sub)
Shedson found the TARDIS !!
HMS Cavalier - a 1944 Destroyer (still in service in 1971) - you can explore all over this ship
The Victorian Ropery - over a quarter of a mile of brick buildings dedicated to rope making.
They use bicycles to get from one end to the other.
In the top right you can see the spinning machine coming towards us
Here it goes past - creating rope
1/48 scale model of the Jarvis Bay - its enormous and certainly shows how big 28mm boats really ought to be
HMS Ocelot - diesel sub built in 1961
the Torpedo room - having never been in a sub before I can testify they are small , smelly and total admiration for those who sail in them.
HMS Gannet - Victorian Sloop - Sail & Steam combination
The front of the ship has one 64lb muzzle loader that can be traversed to either the front left or right porthole
Shipboard gatling gun
View across the deck
The visitors pass gives you access to three ships, the ropery all the model exhibits and loads more.
Great day out...
I am glad you enjoyed it. It is only 3 miles from me and I remember it when it was a working Naval dockyard. I have been since it has closed and it just seems quiet and empty by comparison. But when it was busy boy was it busy.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff. Thanks for the photos.
ReplyDeleteI believe that multiple barrel weapon is a Gardiner. I learned how to fire the Seven inch rifled muzzle loader gun at the Halifax Citadel back when I was part f the student garrison in 1995
ReplyDeleteThanks Eric. Now the docks are on my list of must see.
ReplyDeleteGreat report and photo's. I do enjoy a good stroll around a warship.
ReplyDeleteSo that's where the Cavalier ended up, I had a mate served on her and I remember she had a race in the Firth of Forth with HMS Rapid to see who was the fastest ship in the Navy. Neither ship was modern, even for back then, nothing else we had could touch them.
ReplyDeleteI visited the dockyard and ships back in 2001 - great stuff!
ReplyDeleteshiptastic !!!! did you ask anyone if they can help retrieve my U boat :-) , or as my dear friend says does Minnie Driver actually drive a mini ??
ReplyDeleteDidn't know there was so much to see there! I used to have to visit the Lloyd's Policy Signing Office there when I worked at Lloyd's in the eighties but don't think all that stuff was there then.
ReplyDelete