Steam Pinnace 199 – Newsletter – February 2016

Notes from the Chief Engineer - Two cans

of Marine Shine have today been

presented to the “deckies” courtesy of the

Marine Engineering department. (Yes, I

know, we are all heart!).

(By editor – we have been going through it

fast -see article below)

Brackets for mounting the Auxiliary Steam

Manifold to the casing, and for resiting the

fuel header tank have been manufactured

and painted. Shortly to be finally fitted.

The lay-apart store has been relieved of all

the old "come in handy gear".

I have purchased 5 lts. of GP detergent

(non- acidic) to be used for washing down

(10 mls. to be diluted in a bucket of warm

fresh water) - this detergent will not cause

any skin complaints (sounds like a cue for

Fairy Liquid?).

Please put the word out that all rags are to

be kept in the cleaning gear box, and lid to

be shut and clipped. Also upper deck and

casings to be swept down of dust / dirt,

and rubber mats to be put down prior to

polishing (stops dirt being trod into the

wooden deck); please stow after work.

Buffing the Brass

As Buffa observed in his cartoon last month, 199 is now on view to the public 7 days a week. Thus it is

essential to keep up the shine on her brass work as well as cleaning paint and deck surfaces. To bring some

order to this upkeep, in true naval fashion Group 199 has formed a port and a starboard watch who take it

in turns, on a weekly basis, to spend a few hours in Boathouse 4. It seems our efforts have been recognised

with some positive feedback from the public.

Unlike the BBC, this newsletter is under no restraint in terms of product placement and mention has to be

made of one of our sponsors - Granville Oils - who have kindly provided us with Autosol Metal Polish, or

more recently Marine Polish and Marine Shine, which does a fine job for us, as you can see below.

Some of the brass

Vere - RIP Many readers may recall a two-part

article in January/February 2013 about this lovely

old steam pinnace built in 1905. She has been

tragically lost in a major fire on the Isle of Wight

which broke out at the Medina Village on Monday

22 January. She is believed to have been an

Admiral’s barge on HMS Dreadnought and, in later

life, she also achieved fame for her role in the 1940

Dunkirk Evacuation when she is credited with the

rescue of 346 British and Allied troops. For some

years, Vere has been undergoing a major

restoration in Cowes, Isle of Wight, at the former

yard of J. Samuel White where she may have been built. The editor has copies of the articles available on

request.

Vessel owner event to be held in Portsmouth National Historic Ships UK is holding a small networking event for vessel owners and heritage organisations on Thursday 11 February in Boathouse 4, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard to celebrate their First World War project. Their pop-up exhibition will be on display and members of the National Historic Ships UK team will be on hand to answer questions and give a brief presentation on the project. If you own a registered historic vessel, this is a chance to find out whether she played a war-time role, as well as to seek advice on conservation and funding issues. To book a place at the event, please contact: hannah.cunliffe@nationalhistoricships.org.uk Nautical Chic talk by fashion historian Amber Butchart - Thursday 25th February 6.30pm, Eldon Building,

University of Portsmouth. NMRN(P) are running this event in association with the University, who have

kindly offered their facilities free of charge. Join fashion historian Amber Jane Butchart, for a talk on her

new book Nautical Chic tracing the relationship between maritime dress and the fashionable wardrobe,

uncovering stories, tracking the trends, and tracing the evolution of the style back to its roots in our

seafaring past. To book your free place please use the link below:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nautical-chic-talk-by-fashion-historian-amber-jane-butchart-tickets-

20551176121?utm_campaign=new_event_email&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eb_email&utm_term

=viewmyevent_button A fashion section - must be a first for this newsletter!

Osborne (Steam Pinnace?) – on the upper level

of Boathouse 4 in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

is another interesting steam boat called Osborne.

Built in 1896 by J S White at East Cowes she was

used by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to

travel to and from the royal yacht, Osborne. She

served three royal yachts – the first was called

“Victoria and Albert” but was renamed Osborne

herself in 1894 and the name Victoria and Albert

was transferred to another yacht and then on to

a third. However, Victoria died before this last

yacht was completed.

Osborne was decommissioned in 1936 and used for

dockyard service. Primarily owned thereafter and saved

from destruction by A J Kitson in the 1950's, she was

converted for use on the River Thames and then unused

for many years until purchased by A. L Spencer in 1972.

Re-launched in 1979 after a 7-year restoration period

she was used extensively on the Thames and the south

coast until 1992 (photo - top right). She was then

preserved and maintained at Buckler's Hard until

moved to Sandringham in 1997. She was moved to

Portsmouth Dockyard in 2007 where she was placed

in the back of Boathouse 7 café. When Boathouse 4

was developed she was moved, very carefully, to her

current position.

Although labelled a “Steam Pinnace” in Boathouse 4,

the Steam Boat Association describes her as an

Admiralty cutter. She is 31 feet long and the hull is

double-skin, diagonal inner, fore & aft outer with a

rounded stem, counter stern, varnished deck and

interior and tiller. A knowledgeable contact advises that

steam pinnaces were ships’ launches generally 40ft or

over, with covered machinery and a small cabin. Steam

cutters were less than 38ft and were completely open,

so on this basis Osborne is a steam cutter i.e. Admiralty

cutter….unless you have other evidence?

Capable of 8 knots, she has a compound engine 4" + 7 1/2" x 5" rated at 19 HP at 485 rpm. The boiler is a

modern gunboat type, fire tube boiler built in 1977 by J.O. Lugg & Son Ltd. at Billinghurst. Fire tube boilers,

as the name suggests, have the hot gases inside the boiler tubes unlike 199’s water tube boiler.

Extract from the Annual Torpedo School Report of 1897 – By editor: apologies for the print quality but it’s

taken from a copy of a document 119 years old. It is fascinating to see the interest and comments about

Turbinia (second page), so soon after the revolutionary turbine driven vessel was demonstrated

dramatically at the Spithead Naval Review that year. She literally ran rings round the security vessels. Is this

a 199 Newsletter scoop? Thanks to Clive Kidd who passed on the text.

Two Daring-class destroyers were the very first torpedo boat destroyers ("TBDs") to be ordered for the Royal Navy, the order being placed on 27 June 1892.

Length 185 feet Beam 19 feet Displacement 260 tons Power 4,200 hp 2 triple expansion steam engines 2 water tube boilers Speed 27 knots Daring and Decoy were both built by Thornycroft at Chiswick They were armed with one 12-pounder gun and three 6-pounder guns, with one fixed 18-in torpedo tube in the bow plus two more torpedo tubes on a revolving mount abaft the two

funnels. Later the bow torpedo tube was removed and two more 6-pounder guns added instead. Only 1 torpedo per tube was carried. Two spares were held in the depot!

HMS Daring

Turbinia at speed

What A 12,000 Horsepower Steam Engine Looks Like? The River Don Steam Engine is the most powerful steam engine remaining in Europe. It was built in 1905 and ceased commercial usage in the 1970s. Now it lives out its days in the Kelham Island Museum.

The River Don Engine

was built by Davy

Brothers of Sheffield

in 1905 at Park Iron

Works in Sheffield.

It was made to drive

Charles Cammell's

armour plate rolling

mill located at his

Grimesthorpe Works.

Cammell’s was one of

the companies in the

city that supplied the

ship building industry

with tough armour

plate steel.

At a weight of 400

tons and 12,000 horsepower, it enabled the huge mill to roll steel plate up to 40cm thick and 50 tons in

weight.

The River Don Engine was one of four all built for the same purpose. The second went to John Brown's

Atlas Works, the third to the Japanese government, and the destination of the fourth is unknown.

The River Don Engine ran at Cammell's mill for almost 50 years. The engine was then transferred to what

was formerly known as the British Steel Corporation's River Don Works. At the Works, the engine

continued to drive a heavy plate mill, producing products such as stainless steel reactor shields and steel

plates for North Sea oil rigs.

In 1978, the engine ceased production and was transferred to the Kelham Island Museum site (south west

of Sheffield) where it continues to run on steam and is the most powerful working steam engine remaining

in Europe today.

Engine Technical Specification:

Cylinder bore 41 inches

Piston Stroke 48 inches

Working Pressure 160 lb/sq. in. saturated steam

Crank pin diameter 21inches

Main journal diameter 21inches

Estimated total weight 420 tons

Largest single component weight 51 tons

Overall height 28 feet

Overall length 40 feet

More info on the museum: http://www.simt.co.uk/kelham-island-museum

Note – the engine is out of action for restoration work until circa May 2016. Meanwhile there is a video of it in

operation: http://digg.com/video/12000-horsepower-steam-engine-most-powerful

Book List - Part 69

British and German Battlecruisers Michele Consenting & Ruggero Stanglini; Seaforth

Publishing; Jan. 2016; 256 pages; ISBN-10: 1848321848 ISBN-13: 978-1848321847.

The fast and formidably-armed battlecruisers of Great Britain and Germany that were

developed before and during the First World War are compared and contrasted in a way,

and at a level of detail that has never been attempted before. The authors begin by looking

at the relationship and rivalry between Great Britain and Germany and at how foreign

policy, strategic and tactical considerations, economic, industrial and technological

developments, and naval policies led to the instigation of the battlecruiser programmes in

both countries. Chapters are then devoted to the development of the type in each country, at their design and

construction, protection, propulsion plants, weapons, fire control and communication systems.

The Great War at Sea - A Naval Atlas 1914-1919 Marcus Faulkner; Seaforth

Publishing 30 Sept. 2015;192 pages; ISBN-10: 184832183X ISBN-13: 978-1848321830.

In the vast literature of the First World War there has never been a naval atlas that depicts

graphically the complexities of the war at sea, and puts in context the huge significance of

the naval contribution to the defeat of Germany. With more than 125 beautifully designed

maps and charts, the atlas sets out to visualise the great sea battles as well as the smaller

operations, convoys, skirmishes and sinkings.

X 1 The Royal Navy's Mystery Submarine Roger Branfill-Cook; Seaforth Publishing

(2013); 192 pages; ISBN-10: 1848321619 ISBN-13: 978-1848321618. The 'X' stood for

experimental and X-1was the world's largest, most heavily armed, and deepest diving

submersible of the day. A controversial project conceived behind the backs of the

politicians, this book explores the historical background to submarine cruisers, the

personalities involved in X.1's design and service, the spy drama surrounding her launch,

the treason trial of a leading RN submarine commander, the ship's

chequered career, and her political demise.

Barrow-in-Furness in the Great War (Your Towns and Cities in the Great War)

Ruth Mansergh; Pen & Sword Military (2015); 160 pages; ISBN-10: 1783831111 ISBN-

13: 978-1783831111. This book is about how Barrow's output of war materials was vital to

the Great War effort, and it is about the Barrovians and men from the surrounding south

Lakeland area - from all walks of life - who fought abroad, the area's women war heroes,

shipbuilding, and lists vessels built at Barrow pre- and during the war with information on

what happened to them. These vessels include Mikasa and HMS Vanguard.

British Secondary Small Arms 1914-1918: Part 4 Royal Navy Small Arms A. O. Edwards; Solo

Publications Sep 2009; 55 pages; ISBN-10: 0955186277 ISBN-13: 978-0955186271. Last in a series of 4

books on British small arms of WW1 and cover the Royal Navy. Appears to be hard to find at the moment.

Solo will only sell to those wishing to complete the set!

The Royal Naval Air Service During the Great War (Voices in Flight) Malcolm Smith;

Pen & Sword Aviation 2014; 224 pages; ISBN-10: 178346383X ISBN-13: 978-1783463831.

Malcolm Smith has collected a compendium of reminiscences from pilots who flew for the

RN and the RM during the WW1. He includes first-hand testimonies from pilots manning

early seaplane stations, an enthralling account from F.J. Rutland (the 'Rutland of Jutland'),

who became the first pilot to take off in a Sopwith Pup from a platform on the roof of one of

HMS Yarmouth's gun turrets, the true tale behind Rudyard Kipling's short story 'A Flight of

Fact' amongst many other personalized and illuminating stories.

Pincher Martin OD. A Story Of The Inner Life Of The Royal Navy Taffrail;

W & R Chambers (1928) - Hard Press Publishing 2012; 370 pages; ISBN-

10: 1290320195 ISBN-13: 978-1290320191. Can be downloaded or read at:

https://archive.org/details/pinchermartinods00dorliala

The British Navy in Battle Arthur H. Pollen; Published by Doubleday, Page & Co., Garden

City, New York (1919) and Published by Forgotten Books (2015)

ISBN 10: 1330797655 ISBN 13: 9781330797655. Can be downloaded or read at: http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t78s5jd8w;view=1up;seq=1

Generally considered to be a leading naval critic, Sir Arthur Pollen had access to official naval

reports.

The British Navy At War W.MacNeile Dixon; Original published 1923 -

Nabu Press reprint 2013; 166 pages; ISBN-10: 1287657583 ISBN-13: 978-1287657583

Can be downloaded or read at:

https://archive.org/details/britishnavyatwar00dixo

From Dartmouth to the Dardanelles - A Midshipman's Log - Edited by his Mother.

William Heinemann 1916; ASIN: B000HQJBDO. Can be read or downloaded at:

https://archive.org/details/fromdartmouthtod00unse

British Sailor of the First World War Quintin Colville; Shire Publications Ltd

2015; 72 pages; ISBN-10: 0747814406 ISBN-13: 978-0747814405. In 1914 Great

Britain's navy was the largest and most powerful the world had ever seen - but what was the

everyday experience of those who served in it? This fully illustrated book looks at the British

sailor's life during the First World War, from the Falkland Islands to the East African coast

and the North Sea. Meals in the stokers' mess and the admiral's cabin; the claustrophobic

terrors of the engine room or submarine; the long separations from loved ones that were the

shared experience of all ranks;

Blighty's Railways Alexander J. Mullay; Amberley Publishing 2014; 192 pagesISBN-

10: 1445638576 ISBN-13: 978-1445638577. During The First World War, the railways of

Great Britain were effectively nationalised and put under Government control. Run for the

benefit of the armed services, with minimal investment and much of the workforce

conscripted, the railways paid the price for their war service. Many ships were commandeered

and never returned, some lost, others unfit for service at the end of the war, while yet others

were retained by the navy. The railway workshops were turned over to war work, building

hospital trains, armaments and munitions, the railway ports were heavily utilised while the

tracks themselves, especially in the south of England, were turned over for military use.

Leviathan - The Rise of Britain as a World Power David Scott; William Collins 2014; 544

pages; ISBN-10: 0007247540 ISBN-13: 978-0007247547. Navigating the 300 years between

the Tudor accession and the loss of the American Colonies Leviathan charts one of history’s

greatest transformations: the rise of Britain as the world’s most formidable maritime power.