Ship design and development

Breaking Up is Hard to do

September 27, 2016

The title of the 1960s worldwide hit song recorded by Neil Sedaka seems appropriate to our next story concerning the disposal of warships. Living in an age of global consumerism we daily observe abuse of precious resources and the adverse impact this has on our environment. As a means of placing limits upon the use of resources, environmental controls become more restrictive and naval services must acknowledge these developments and factor them into lifecycle models.

Our navy’s most conspicuous assets are its ships; with inbuilt obsolescence these have a lifecycle of about 25 years. In days gone by little thought was given to their disposal. Some ships were sold or gifted to friendly neighbours but most were stripped of useful materials, became hulks and eventually sank and/or wasted away in forlorn estuaries. In more recent times obsolete ships have gone through a production line process drawn up on Bangladeshi beaches by men desperate for work, performing dangerous tasks in cutting-up materials into recyclable components. This unregulated market has health and security issues and causes pollution. Accordingly more sophisticated means are being sought for ship disposal. While these methods increase costs they are environmentally sound, reduce pollution and demonstrate that nearly all materials are effectively recycled.

Until the 1960s ship breaking was concentrated in industrial countries, mainly the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. But since then it has gravitated towards countries with low labour rates and less stringent environmental controls. For the calendar year 2015 latest statistics indicate that out of 768 commercial ships recycled globally 469 were scrapped on beaches of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, representing 74% of the gross tonnage. However, with government subsidies a substantial ship recycling market is now growing in China and Turkey, which have better environmental controls.

An informative documentary was aired on Britain’s Forces TV News Channel on ‘How to Scrap a Warship’ with permission sought to summarise this material.

How to Scrap a Warship

In recent years a number of former Royal Navy warships have made their final journey ahead of being dismantled. In 2012, the Ministry of Defence announced the ‘difficult but necessary’ decision that former flagship HMS Ark Royal would be sold for scrapfor around £3 million. A year earlier, HMS Invinciblehad met the same fate. In August 2015, meanwhile, HMS Edinburghset sail for the final time, to be dismantled in Turkey. And we’ve seen some surprising outcomes – an Indian company is now making motorbikes out of scrap from the former aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.

But have you ever wondered how the mammoth task is taken on? Commissioned in 1988 by Princess Diana, the 5,300 ton Type 22 frigate HMS Cornwall undertook duties across the world during her time in service, including being part of the Royal Navy Task Force involved in the invasion of Afghanistan. After being decommissioned in June 2011, she was put up for sale in 2013, and sold to the UK company Swansea Drydocks for demolition in summer of that year. She was towed from Portsmouth to Swansea in October.

Upon arrival she was secured on a wet berth and steps were taken to ensure security as well as the upkeep of environmental and health and safety controls. She was to stay in the wet berth repair area until May 2014. During this time holes were cut in the side of the vessel to allow materials to be removed.

Electronics and items of interest to other navies were catalogued and documented to help attract potential buyers. Over 200 tonnes of items like davit cranes, the anchor and chain, lights and doors were sold for further use.

Metals not containing iron were removed: In May the hard strip and recycling began in dry dock, with the main foremast the first piece removed:The propeller, once removed, was completely stripped down to reveal all of its component parts. Each ‘petal’ weighed approximately 800 kg.

HMS Cornwall dismantling forward structure in Swansea Drydock

By June, dismantling of the forward structure had begun: In the dry dock Cornwall was set on blocks for stability bracing and shoring:By July recycling of the sonar dome had begun. The sonar array was removed from inside the dome in one piece. It weighed 15 tonnes and consisted of 64 transducers that yielded over 7.8 tonnes of non-ferrous metal. Surprisingly, 182 tonnes of lead ballast was removed.

The final pieces of HMS Cornwall were removed from dry dock on 30 October 2014,a year to the day of her arrival.Thorough cleaning of the dock was then undertaken prior to re-flooding in preparation for the next ship arrival.

You can take a look at the final statistics below:

Materials recovered (all figures in Tonnes)	Expected	Actual	Destination
Ferrous Metals	2,591.00	2,270.705	Recycled
Non-ferrous Metals		761.404	Recycled
Other Products	1,229.70	356.342	Sale/Recycled
Waste		234.718	Disposed
Total	3,820.700	3,851.32

Final Destination	Tonnes	Percentage of total
Sold or Recycled	3,616.60	94%
Disposed	243.718	6%
Totals	3,851.32	100%

So there we have it – Breaking up is Hard to Do – but as this example demonstrates in respect to ship disposal, with careful planning it can be achieved with excellent results. In another successful attempt at recycling in Britain they are using redundant dry-docks as ship breaking facilities. Does Australia still possess any such facilities?

Worldwide initiatives

Scientists from the College of Transport and Communications at Shanghai Maritime University have postulated a better understanding is needed of the links between nature, economy and society. In particular in the maritime environment the environmental problems stemming from air borne pollution caused by ships using low-grade marine fuel oils, expanding harbours necessary to accommodate ships of ever increasing size destroying coastal ecosystems and, finally the scrapping of obsolete vessels polluting seas and soils and endangering workers’ health, especially in the developing world (1).

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) which regulates international shipping with concerns about energy efficiency and pollution has brought into effect the International Convention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) with air-pollution limits for shipping adopted in 1997, which came into force in 2005. The IMO has produced an Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) encouraging owners of merchant ships to reduce their carbon footprint. The development of marine engines is now influenced by this index, while warships are presently excluded from the index this is being questioned. As an incentive a number of major ports are now offering reductions in port dues according to a vessels EEDI score.

Ship scrapping can lead to heavy pollution through the release of many toxic materials. The European Union has required ships registered within its jurisdiction to be broken up in licensed yards that meet strict guidelines. However a ship’s registration can be easily changed to circumvent these regulations with demolition taking place in a country with a more lax approach to labour and environmental protection. The IMO adopted the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safety & Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships in 2009. However as of early 2016 only France, Norway and Congo have accepted this convention.

While the disposal of obsolete ships is a necessary part of their operating cycle, ship breaking also follows a cyclic pattern. With high mineral prices, processed metal becomes expensive, and during these times the scrap metal industry is lucrative. At present with an oversupply of materials, metals prices have declined, as a result ship breakers are reluctant to purchase more stock. This again poses further problems for those seeking disposal of obsolete vessels.

An Australian Policy and Initiatives

There is an RAN environmental policy which states the RAN accepts its environmental obligations for obsolete vessels. The primary aim is disposal of de-commissioned warships by finding an ongoing role for the vessel with a new owner. If this is not possible, the ship will likely be scrapped, sunk as a dive wreck, or gifted to a museum. A more detailed explanation is provided in Defence Instruction (General) DI(G) LOG 4-3-008 which only refers to planning for disposal to be considered in life cycle costing with provision made for disposal.

A more informative statistic comes from a Clean Up Australia Factsheet of November 2009 on recycling metals which can mostly be recycled indefinitely. This reminds us of a few simple facts:

Recycling steel requires 80% less energy than using raw materials.

One tonne (1,000 kg) of steel recycled saves:

1,131 kg of iron ore, 633 kg of coal and 54 kg of limestone.

In putting policy into practice the RAN’s final three landing craft ex-HMA Ships Balikpapan, Betano and Wewak were handed over to the Philippines Navy at a ceremony held at Darwin in March this year. They will be sealifted to their new home where they will be refitted before entering upon a further stage in their long and venturesome lives.

On 12 April 2016 the Minister for Defence, the Honorable Marise Payne, announced that the decommissioned vessels, ex-HMA Ships Tobruk and Sydney, will be offered to the States and Territories for the creation of dive wrecks. The Minister said: ‘There are significant challenges with preparing ex-Navy vessels for dive wrecks to assure the safety of recreational divers, however I appreciate the tourism and economic benefits that the creation of a dive wreck can have to local communities’. Defence authorities will schedule inspection of the vessels in June 2016.

Merchant ship experience in difficult conditions

MV Baltic Ace was a 24,000 gross registered ton Bahamian-flagged car carrier loaded with 1,400 vehicles which sank on 5 December 2012 off the Dutch coast after colliding with the Cyprus-registered container ship Corvos J (2). Although extensively damaged the latter ship survived the collision and helped in the search for survivors.

Bow section recovered from wreck of MV Baltic Ace

Within 15 minutes of the incident Baltic Ace capsized and sank in shallow water of 35 meters about 50 km off the coast near the large port of Rotterdam on one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. Eleven of her 24-person crew died or remain missing.

With potential dangers to shipping, in March 2014 the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment awarded a contract to Royal Boskalis Westminster and its partner Mammoet for the removal of the wreck. Owing to potential winter storms recovery operations could only be conducted between March and October. Following the removal of 540 tonnes of solidified fuel oil, which had to be heated before it could be pumped clear, using a specially designed wire cutting system the vessel was precisely sliced into eight sections which were then raised from the seabed onto barges and towed inshore. Divers then scoured the seabed for any remaining debris. The total recovery of the wreck was completed in September 2015. Most of the materials, totaling over 13,000 tonnes, were successfully sorted and recycled.

Summary

Environmental concerns and more demanding regulations are causing naval and merchant ship owners to implement plans which include recycling of materials on the disposal of obsolete vessels. From the above examples concerning Cornwall and MV Baltic Ace there appears to be ample evidence that successful recycling of ships is possible even under difficult conditions. It will be interesting to see what fate awaits the disposal of older, larger and possibly less attractive vessels in the RAN inventory.

Zheng Wan, Three steps to a green shipping industry, The International Weekly Journal of Science, Vol 530 Issue 7590, 18 February 2016, pp 275-277.
Details of wreck removal of MV Baltic Ave can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/embed/pva5NwCwwGk

Steam Picket Boats: Some Reminiscences

December 21, 2015

In the last (September 2015) edition of this magazine we asked Leyland Wilkinson, the author of a Letter to the Editor on Picket Boats if he might favour us with more information on this topic. Leyland, in conducting further research, came across this beautifully crafted article by the late Captain George C. Blundell, CBE, RN (1904-1997) using the pseudonym ‘Bluebell’. The article was first published in The Naval Review Vol 73, No 3, July 1985and is reproduced with their kind permission.

From November 1923 to October 1924 I was fortunate enough to be midshipman of HMS Hood’s first picket boat. This period included ‘The World Cruise,’ sometimes called ‘The Empire Cruise’. Both Hood’s picket boats were oil-fired 50 footers. Each had a double crew of one midshipman, one petty officer coxswain, two able seamen bowmen, one able seaman sternsheetsman, one stoker petty officer for the engineroom, and one stoker for the boiler room. At the time one did not give a thought, but, looking back, their competence – and loyalty – were incredible. Not once during the whole of my time did my boat run out of fuel, fail to have steam immediately after being hoisted out, fail to carry out the whole trip ordered on leaving the boom, or be manned speedily by the proper crew. On the ‘World Cruise’, when in harbour, the two picket boats ran almost continuously the whole day, the early morning up at midnight and the late boat at 2 am or later.

Many will be familiar with these steam picket boats, so it will be sufficient to mention only a few points. The engines were twin cylinder compound reciprocators complete with condenser, air pump, circulating pump and lubricating pump. The boilers were of the small tube ‘Yarrow’ type, fed by feed and fuel pumps. Forced draught could be applied by closing the boiler room hatch and running the fan. Communication between the stoker P.O. and the stoker was usually done by hitting the bulkhead with a ring spanner! The large propeller was right handed, and because stern power was equal to ahead power, stopping power was enormous, so that when going ‘astern’ on coming alongside the stern could kick quite viciously to port. A good stoker P.O. was a great help in going alongside and in stopping in the right place. How marvellously the crew backed me up: they provided all the thrill of a close and trusting team.

When one heard the pipe ‘Away First Picket Boat’ it was a point of honour to try to man the boat before one’s crew. I used to hare up from the gunroom, race along the shelter deck, charge along the lower boom, and dive head first down the lizard. Once I lost my dirk doing that. On the World Cruise picket boat midshipmen always wore their dirks, whether in monkey jackets or bum freezers, and, at least in Hood,manned and left their boats at the boom, never at the gangway.

Probably it is not generally known that the brass casings and bell tops to the funnels of the ships’ picket boats were not supplied with the boat; they had to be ‘acquired’ in some way. Hood’s first picket boat’s brass funnel was acquired from HMS Lion when that lovely ship was lying a sad hulk alongside the dockyard wall at Rosyth.

One of my early picket boat memories lies in taking some officers from the Hood, alongside the detached mole at Gib., to land at Flag Staff Steps. The more junior officers, including the snotties’ nurse, were sitting on the gratings on the casing, whilst the engineer, paymaster and surgeon commanders were in the stern sheets. I misjudged the alongside badly and ran the bow firmly on the submerged bottom stone platform of the steps. Being the senior officers in the boat, the three commanders, looking somewhat shaken, made to land over the bow. In ringing tones I sang out ‘Nobody is to leave the boat’. I then ordered my passengers, including the three commanders, to stand on the stern sheet gratings. As the officers of commanders’ rank appeared somewhat hesitant at carrying out my order to stand on the stern, perhaps I was over-peremptory with them. However, the stern went down and the bow rose up and the crew were able to right the boat’s precarious attitude. Much relieved, I sang out ‘Carry on ashore’. I can see the faces of the three commanders now: the engineer looked very angry, the paymaster nonplussed, but the PMO (Dudding) was beaming. In due course I was reported for insolence, my leave was stopped and I received a dozen from the sub. (Punishment was applied whilst bending over the ejector pipe from the sump in the subordinate officers’ bathroom.) The stoppage of leave hurt me most because my uncle, a captain in the Gibraltar garrison artillery, was taking me out to dinner at the Bristol and to a performance of The Pirates of Penzance. Two days later, my divisional officer, A. M. Carrie, a submariner doing his big ship time, and the snotties’ nurse, H.H. McWilliam, an unusually quiet and capable gunnery specialist, invited me to spend the evening ashore with them and to see the Pirates. (Carrie, whom I worshipped, was lost when M1 was sunk off Portland.)

On another occasion at Gib., three of Hood’s lieutenants (nicknamed by the gunroom ‘Pip, Squeak and Wilfred’) decided to entertain their reigning popsies at the Reina Christina, Algeciras. We took them over in calm weather in the 1st picket boat and were ordered to return for them at midnight. We duly arrived at a quarter to twelve with the weather starting to blow up. Nobody appeared until just after 2 am, by which time the weather had got really nasty, howling wind and rain. They were very merry and got into the boat singing and cheering. As we set back to Gib., with the ‘dodger’ rigged snatches of ribald song and girlish giggles wafted up from the cabin. But, with the considerable chop, there was uneasy movement on the boat, and gradually a deathly silence prevailed, followed by heart-rending moans and fearful retching. We, the crew, huddled in our oilskins, felt that life was not quite so unjust.

As many will remember, a very strong current runs in the roads off Freetown, Sierra Leone. Hood, with Repulse, was anchored in the appropriately named ‘Destruction Bay’. One evening I was taking the first picket boat up to the boat rope on the starboard lower boom, but overshot the mark, the boat lifted on a huge swell, the top of the funnel caught the boom and the whole funnel snapped off at its base. It was prevented from going overboard by its after guys. The Commander (Goolden) whose cabin was starboard side aft on the shelter deck, heard it, came out and stopped my leave until it was repaired. I was very ashamed, but my dear coxswain and stoker PO helped me hoist it up on to the boat deck where we lugged it along to the coppersmith’s ‘caboose’. It was in the First Watch, but he came straight up from his mess, and was so sorry for this penitent midshipman that he sat up all night brazing and welding and hammering the severed funnel back on to its base. By ‘Place Spitkids’ time next forenoon the funnel was all back and the boat running in the afternoon. That shipwright seemed a very old and fatherly man to me, and I shall never forget his kindness. In fact, ships’ companies of those days seemed nearly always kind and sympathetic to the ‘middies’. Perhaps they saw in them a kindred ‘depressed class’; what in to-day’s language would be called ‘under-privileged’.

I suffered another disaster at Singapore, owing to my unobservancy. Things were hectic and the picket boats had been running no-stop from ‘Hands Fall in’. I had had no time to go inboard, or even to have my breakfast, and I hadn’t a clue to what the day’s programme for the ship was. Returning to the ship from landing the Admiral’s orderly, the officer of the watch (Atkinson: shot later when controlling the evacuation from Singapore) hailed me and told me to proceed inshore and bring off the Bishop of Malaya. The Bishop duly came down to the pier but was very late and in a hurry. We tore back to the ship which was moored in the roads 2 miles out, and surrounded by a dense mass of sight-seeing craft of all shapes and sizes. I approached broad on the starboard quarter intending to go alongside the starboard gangway; my sacred passenger was a Bishop! Just as I was about a cable off, a fairly large yacht-like steam vessel slid round the Hood’s stern and made as if to pass up the starboard side. She was covered with awnings which had tassels hanging from their edges; gay flags flew from every point, the bow, the two masts, the stern, the funnel, and a large number of passengers dressed in spotless white and wearing solar topees lounged in negligent attitudes on deck, even on chairs. Just another ‘goofing’ party, I judged. By the rule of the road she was ‘giving way’ to me, so I forced her to do so. After all, I had a mighty Bishop on board and he was in a hurry! The big yacht had to go full astern as I slid alongside to the most colossal din! Everybody on the quarter deck was bellowing and waving their arms. ‘Get to Hell out of it’ and ‘Lay off’ I distinguished from the general hubbub. I did so, and saw the white-painted yacht recover its dignity and proceed majestically alongside. As I lay off waiting I heard the saluting guns booming, bugles sounding. The Major Royal Marines giving orders to the Guard, the shrill whistle of pipes. The Governor of Malaya, accompanied by the Sultan of Johore, was paying an official visit to our Admiral, Sir Frederick Field. Oh! Merciful Oblivion draw a veil over my subsequent fate!

At Albany, Hood was weighing to proceed to Adelaide. The first picket boat had her slings on ready to be hoisted in. The floor gratings in the stern cabin were up, revealing the spotless clean red oxidised bilges. I was called alongside and Admiral Field ran down the ladder, jumped into the boat and sat down in the cabin. He told me to proceed to HMS Delhi, which was further inshore. At Delhi he was received by Rear Admiral Sir Hubert Brand, flag officer of the 1st Cruiser Squadron. The two men conferred on the quarterdeck, then went down below together. Shortly my Admiral re-appeared looking very grave and sad. I took him back to the Hoodfeeling very pleased he had seen how clean my bilges were. Later on I learnt the reason for his sudden visit. He had had the unpleasant duty of informing Admiral Brand that Hood’s wireless had received the sad news of Lady Brand’s death.

At Suva, Fiji, I was sitting in the gunroom smoking my pipe (pipe tobacco in sealed half pound tins was one shilling and threepence), when I heard the call ‘Away first picket boat at the double’. I dashed up on deck, hastily thrusting my pipe into my right hand monkey jacket pocket. I tumbled into the boat, the crew following. We let go and, passing the quarterdeck, the officer of the watch (Gladstone) shouted my orders. As we set off for Suva I saw one of the boatmen face aft to house his boathook, then, without any orders from me, seize a bucket to which a lanyard was attached, heave it over the side, scoop up some water, come aft and hurl the contents over me. It was done in the twinkling of an eye. I was horrified! ‘Mutiny’, I thought, ‘What do I do now?’ But there was my bowman, grinning and saying ‘Sorry, Sir, but you was on fire’. My coxswain, standing beside me with his attention on something else, had not seen my pocket burst into flames, but the bowman had acted quickly, good seaman that he was.

I have often reflected on what a lot the petty officers tactfully taught me on how to behave. One day we landed a number of officers just after lunch: the ship’s company was still at work. On return I asked the coxswain (Jeffreys was his name; he was a darling man) ‘What do the men think of the officers going ashore in working hours’? Jeff looked at me with that ‘three badge’ twinkle in his eye. ‘Lor, bless you, Sir,’ he replied, ‘We likes to see them out of the way.’ I have never forgotten that wise remark.

Shades of Grey

December 21, 2015

As Father Time catches up with us all strands of hair turn to lighter shades, perhaps not unlike warship livery which is again changing to a different shade of grey. Our small research team has compiled this article with information mainly taken from our archive and library.

Two years ago in December 2013 the then Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Ray Griggs, announced that the RAN would progressively change the colour scheme of its surface fleet to meet modern war-fighting and regional environmental conditions. It was claimed that the new ‘Haze Grey’ paint scheme, using reflecting pigments, reduces the ship’s infrared signature and also the external shipboard temperatures by up to 20 degrees Celsius, compared to the current ‘Storm Grey’ colour. Research has also shown that the new polysiloxane paints provide improved durability and fire resistance over older polyurethane systems. The results are now being demonstrated as ships leave refits in their new livery.

So what is the history of paint colour adopted by warships? An analysis of paint samples taken from HMS Victory confirms that her now dramatic orange ochre scheme is unlikely to have formed part of her original hull colour. This was mostly black with varnished upper works, black pitch being used extensively as a hull covering on earlier ships owing to its preservative qualities. If we therefore had black ships when did they become grey? And has the shade of this colour changed over time?

Early Colour Schemes

Until the late 1800s the selection of colour schemes for warships was made without considering the need for concealment. British warships of those times had black hulls, white superstructures and buff (yellow) masts and funnels. Many contemporary German naval vessels were painted white overall, while the ships of other nations displayed varied colour schemes. In about 1895 when the first thoughts of war were looming and with considerable increases in the range of naval guns, the German High Seas Fleet was painted a uniform shade of warm grey. Their French counterparts were painted a dark grey.

During the Spanish-American War of 1898 the United States Navy turned to a neutral grey colour scheme for its ships and the Royal Navy followed suit in 1903. In 1912 Russian Fleet Instructions specified a two-tone scheme for both Baltic and Black Sea fleets, with a dark grey hull and light grey upper works.Subsequently all other major navies made similar changes, so that well before the outbreak of WWI grey was recognised as the appropriate colour for all types of warships excepting submarines, which were mostly black.

This simple form of aiding concealment helped reduce the range at which ships were visible in a wide range of sea and weather conditions, when applied generally to mid latitudes in the northern hemisphere. The risk of submarine attack led to the application of camouflage systems in an attempt to disguise and confuse attacking submarines, leading to the ‘Dazzle System’ which has been widely discussed elsewhere.

Colour Schemes from 1901

Early black and white photography tells us little about colour, so where better to start than artistic representation. Much valuable information can be found in ‘The Royal Tour 1901,’ based on the journal of the cruise of HMS Ophir by Petty Officer Harry Price, DSM. The author came from an artistic family and his brother was a Royal Academician. He possessed a copperplate hand of wondrous clarity and was an accomplished artist. At the time of his enlistment his trade was given as a painter and decorator. We must however be careful in observing colour from an artist’s palette, as this can vary with the composition, the amount of natural light and the need to provide contrast between sky and sea. There is also of course the desire of the artist to attract attention, which can lead to undue emphasis on certain features.

There are similarities between the circumstances of the 1901 Royal Tour and those of today. There was a new but now unglamorous elderly king, who had been too long in the royal waiting room. An appealing younger couple found favour on the celebrity stage – the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later King George V and Queen Mary). Their nine-month tour of an empire on which the sun never set was immensely popular way of saying thank you for supporting the mother country during the Boer War. It was also of great importance to the Commonwealth as Their Highnesses officiated at the opening of the first federation parliament of the Australian states which took place in Melbourne on 9 May 1901.

The Orient liner Ophir was chartered for this tour as no existing royal yacht could span the distances between coaling ports. From the coloured painted sketches in Price’s journal we are able to identify numerous ships involved in this tour. As a commissioned ship Ophirhad a white hull and upper works and buff funnels. She was escorted from home waters by the cruisers HM Ships Diadem and Niobe with black hulls, white upper works and buff masts and funnels. En route they met Portuguese and Spanish men of war with similar paintwork to those of the Royal Navy. In the Mediterranean and through Suez as far as Aden they were escorted by a number of HM Ships, all with similar paint schemes to Diadem and Niobe.

At Aden they were met by HMS Racoon. This ship had a white hull and white upper works with a buff masts and funnel. This livery was maintained by other escorting ships of the East Indies Squadron and China Squadron. At Singapore they were joined in the anchorage by other men of war, a Dutchman in similar livery to the Royal Navy, and an Italian with a white hull but brown masts and funnel. A picture of a Frenchman and Japanese warships is also shown. For the first time we see ships painted grey overall with the exception of funnel tops which have black bands.

Later the royal yacht is met by ships of the Australian Squadron, namely HM Ships Royal Arthur, Ringarooma, Wallaroo and Mildura.All had black hulls with white upper works and buff masts and funnels. On the Australian Station they meet a Russian cruiser with a white hull and buff funnels with a black band at the top, and an American cruiser also white hulled with brown upper works, masts and funnels. A German cruiser has a white hull with buff upper works and funnels. We also met His Majesty’s Colonial Ships Cerberus and Protector with a black hulls, white upper works and buff funnels.

On a voyage to New Zealand they encountered heavy seas before being met by a squadron comprising HM Ships Archer, Pylades, Sparrow and Torch, all in the traditional livery as per Royal Arthur etc. On the homeward voyage at Albany, accompanied by Royal Arthur, St George and Juno, they were saluted by Australian troops in a white hulled SS Britannic on their way home from the wars in South Africa.

On leaving Australia under varying escorts the Ophir made for Mauritius and then South Africa and Canada before proceeding home. On reaching home waters they were met by the Channel Squadron of six battleships and six cruisers.

The flag ship was HMS Magnificent and Petty Officer Price has a picture of her in what he terms ‘War Paint’. He says: ‘Magnificent in full war paint black and grey, and she looked much more formidable than if she was painted in the ordinary naval colours of black, white, yellow and red.’ From these comments it is assumed that this is the first occasion that Price, a seasoned petty officer, had seen a British warship sporting grey livery.

The Duke and Duchess were officially welcomed home by their Majesties in their Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert. She notably had a black hull, white upper works and buff masts and funnels. The author and artist also shows a sketch of HMS Victory, which was then afloat, with black hull highlighted with white gunports.

Colour Schemes from 1914

Mal Wright is another commentator who says at the commencement of WWI Royal Naval capital ships used a colour scheme officially termed ‘Battleship Grey’ which was very dark, almost charcoal grey. This was changed during the first year of the war to ‘Mid Grey,’ partly because of a shortage of dark pigments. However, the new shade proved popular and was retained. When camouflage was first introduced at the time of the Dardanelles campaign it was usually confined to vertical lines of pale grey over dark grey on the funnels and upper works.

Earlier classes of Torpedo Boat Destroyers were black, but dark grey for newer vessels. Eventually, by 1917 most were painted mid grey. HMA Ships Parramatta and Yarra originally had black hulls but after delivery to Australia these were soon changed to grey. Early submarines were black but during WW1other schemes were tried including dark grey, dark green, mid grey and pale grey.

The practice in many ‘Tiddly Ships’ of painting areas around anchor cables and turret tops Brunswick Green continued in many ships throughout the war years. In coal burning ships metal decks around the funnels were painted black, but this was discontinued on oil fuelled ships. Corticene was a mid-brown linoleum-type decking used in many RN ships as an alternative to wood. The Germans used a similar material but coloured pale tan.

Tales from HMS Caroline

The cruiser HMS Caroline is unique to the Royal Navy, remaining in commission from shortly after her launch in 1914 until 2011, and is now being retained as a museum ship. In May 2015 during her restoration it was revealed that during the past one hundred years she had received thirty-eight shades of grey paint, ranging in colour from beige-cream to a rather dark grey at the time of her launch in 1914. An example of these changes is shown on the colour chart on the inside of the back cover of this magazine. The above clearly demonstrates that the colour and consistency of grey paint applied to warships has varied over time.

During the inter-war period the ingredients and formula for mixing Pattern 507C Grey Paint was laid down in Admiralty Fleet Order 1658/27, with similar guidance contained in Commonwealth Navy Order 109/1934. Larger ships where a Painter rating was borne were expected to mix their own paint to the given formula, but smaller ships could draw quantities from Garden Island Dockyard which was mixed to the same formula.

Since WWII the British Standard for ships’ hulls was BS381C Light Grey and a similar Australian Standard was AS1700 42 Storm Grey. Decks are painted BS381C 632 Dark Admiralty Grey, also known as Australian Standard AS1700 N63 Pewter. The Royal Navy experimented with other shades from the mid 1950s with a blue grey tinge, but in 1968 they standardised on BS381C 676 Light Weatherworks Grey for their hulls.

In the 1950s the RAN adopted and retained ‘Storm Grey’ with its greenish tinge. ‘Storm Grey’, a British Navy colour suited to overcast skies of the North Atlantic rather than Australia’s tropical waters. During her conversion to the anti-submarine role at Cockatoo Island Dockyard in 1954 HMAS Queenborough was the first RAN vessel painted Storm Grey. For more than sixty years this colour has served us well and our ships have stood out when berthed with those from other navies. The new colour ‘Haze Grey’ refers to the contrast between the dark blue of the sea and the lighter blue of the sky, which on the horizon merges into a strip of grey. Ships painted this new colour will therefore blend better into the horizon.

The Seamanship Manual

Early editions of that masterpiece of information on ship’s husbandry, the Admiralty Seamanship Manual, are surprisingly reticent on this topic other than advising on the organisation required for painting ship. Gems from Volume II of a 1923 edition include:

The annual service allowance for a fully commissioned ship is eight coats of grey paint for outside and weather parts, two coats of white for inside parts, and one coat biennially of grey and white enamel for definite spaces. The shade of grey used for outside work is laid down.

While the supply of paint at these times appears copious the quality was possibly not of the highest standard. Usually two coats were required and then, when ships were measured by their appearance there was a continuous touch up process.

Summary

From Colonial times to the present day the colour schemes adopted by ships serving on the Australian Station has been one of constant modification and change. The new, lighter shade of ‘Haze Grey’ should be well suited to our environmental conditions.

Bibliography

Admiralty Seamanship Manual Volume II, London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1923 Edition.

Gardiner, Richard & Brown, David K. (Editors),The Eclipse of the Big Gun: The Warship of 1906-1945, London: Conway Maritime Press, 1992.

Price, Harry, The Royal Tour 1901, Exeter: Webb & Bower, 1980.

Wright, Mal, Warship Colour Schemes of World War 1, accessed 1 October 2015, http://www.gwpda.org/naval/s1200000.htm

Obituary: LCDR Eric Charles Talbot-Booth, RNR

September 15, 2014

The March 2013 edition of the NHR contained an article A Paymaster and a Master of Ship Recognition on LCDR Talbot-Booth who gained world fame for his books on ship recognition. One of our members has forwarded a copy of an obituary to him published some years ago in a nautical magazine which provides further information on this rather mysterious and interesting character.

Lt. Cdr. Eric C. Talbot-Booth died in hospital at Canterbury early on December 9th, 1989. An early member of the World Ship Society, he was world renowned for his pioneering ship identification/recognition system. Since the early 1930s he was single-handedly persevering with the naval authorities to get systematic ship recognition taught in the Royal Navy – in this he was repeatedly successful; repeatedly because the lesson had to be re-learnt by each new ‘class’ of senior ranks and fund-holders in Whitehall; with the Air Force perhaps there was less success as records of attacks by ‘friendly aircraft’ bear out. As ship-lovers we owe Talbot-Booth a great debt – not only for his system and the Ship Recognition Corps that was his creation – but for Merchant Ships, his own ‘Jane’ of the merchant shipping world, which set quite new standards for ship books in the 1930s and through the War into the 1960s. Complete with gloss paper, photographs and fleet lists as well as the Commander’s own drawings these books are now rare treasures.

Post-war Merchant Ships runs to thousands of scale profile drawings of some 20,000 current sea-going merchant ships arranged by the T-B system sequence, with essential data appended; especially valuable for tracing sisterships as well as identifying profiles; even identifying ill-reported casualties from the obscure beaches in the Far East (as I did for Lloyd’s Register).

Merchant Ships continued under the Commander’s direction until his death, edited by David Greenman at Canterbury, as one of many Ship Recognition Corps publications, with various publishers, latterly Janes. The nation as a whole may be unaware that it has lost a true patriot and a gentleman of the old school, with a deep Christian faith, who dedicated his life to his cause for his country’s good and security. May we respect the memory of a distinguished man whose contribution to the study and recording of ships was immeasurable. He would have been 86 at the end of the year.

Louis Brennan (1852-1932) – the Wizard of Oz

June 24, 2014

By Mike Turner

Louis Brennan was a brilliant and prolific inventor. Two of his best known inventions were a gyro-stabilised train for a monorail and a type of helicopter, but by far his most important invention was a torpedo that was the world’s first practical guided missile. Although Brennan spent most of his life in England he was educated in Melbourne where he commenced the development of his torpedo with technical assistance from the University of Melbourne as well as financial backing by Melbourne businessmen and the Victorian Government.

circa 1885: Louis Brennan (1852 – 1932), inventor of the dirigible torpedo. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Louis Philip Brennan was born on 28 January 1852 at Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland. He was the tenth child of Thomas Brennan, a hardware merchant, and his wife Honor (nee McDonnell). His elder brother Patrick John went to Australia in 1856 and became a teacher in Melbourne. In 1861 Louis, then aged 9, emigrated from Ireland with his parents to the gold rush boomtown of Melbourne. Louis had a keen interest in how all his mechanical toys worked, and experimented on extending their use and efficiency. He became an excellent student at evening classes at the Collingwood School for Design, founded by a prominent public figure Joel Eade in 1871 for ‘rising operatives’.¹ In 1873 at Melbourne’s Juvenile Industries Exhibition Brennan showed some of his work, such as a window safety latch, a mincing machine and a billiard marker adopted by manufacturers Alcock & Company.

Louis was apprenticed to Alexander Kennedy Smith, a wealthy Scotsman who ran the biggest foundry in Melbourne. Smith was a renowned civil and mechanical engineer and encouraged Brennan. Smith was also a Major in the Victoria Volunteer Artillery Regiment, a sister branch to the Victoria Torpedo Corps, and this was to prove invaluable for the inventor of a torpedo.² Smith was Melbourne’s Lord Mayor in 1875-1876 and a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from1877 to1881.

Brennan was associated with printer William Calvert in designs for a number of inventive devices, including an incubator and a mini lift for stairs, and in 1872 jointly registered patents for an improved weighing machine.³ He held at least 38 patents in very diverse fields.

In 1874, with advice and encouragement from William Charles Kernot, lecturer (and later Professor of Engineering) at the University of Melbourne, at age 22 Brennan commenced the development of a wire guided torpedo. Kernot performed numerous calculations, and was later paid £500 by Brennan in recognition of past assistance. Brennan and Calvert registered patents for the torpedo, and British Patent No. 3359 was granted on 4 September 1877. In the state’s legislature on 2 October 1877 A.K. Smith raised the matter of a grant to the company and £700 was received from the Victorian Government.⁴ Shortly afterwards the Brennan Torpedo Company was formed with Melbourne businessmen John Temperley and Charles and Edwin Millar to promote the torpedo commercially.

A public demonstration was conducted in Hobsons Bay, Melbourne in 1879, witnessed by various senior Navy and Army officers. A small target boat was hit at a range of 370 meters and the observers were impressed. A favourable report was sent to the Admiralty in 1879 by Rear Admiral J. Wilson RN, Commodore Royal Navy Australian Squadron.⁵ In 1881, on the invitation of the Admiralty, Brennan and Temperley went to England with the torpedo and it was examined at HMS Vernon. The Admiralty refused to bear the cost of future trials since they felt that the torpedo was unsuitable for use from ships. So Brennan and Temperley approached the War Department. The War Department showed interest and the Admiralty arranged an inspection on 23 June 1881 by Lieutenant Colonel Lyon, Royal Artillery and RN officers. Although the Admiralty was not directly interested in the torpedo it agreed to assist in trials by the Royal Engineers with a view to coastal defence. A favourable trials report prepared by a Royal Engineers committee in May 1882 recommended that further trials be conducted at the expense of the British Government.

Brennan and Temperley continued the development of the torpedo. They were assisted by the Royal Engineers and used workshops at Brompton Barracks, Chatham. In 1893 Brennan proclaimed that the torpedo was ready for testing, and Garrison Point Fort, Sheerness was selected as the trials site. On 13 March 1893 Brennan was given £3,000 to cover his expenses to date and put on an annual salary of £1,000 for three years or until two months after notification of the fitness for trial of the torpedo. Following a trial on 26 October 1886 the Admiralty declared that the torpedo was unsuitable for the Royal Navy but was very desirable for coastal defence using shore launching. The War Office recognised the value of the torpedo for coastal defence and negotiated an agreement agreed by Parliament on 10 March 1887. The payment of £110,000 was a vast sum (about 20 million in current Australian dollars), but it provided the War Office with exclusive use of the torpedo. A factory for torpedoes and associated equipment, the Government Torpedo Manufacturing Plant, was set up at Gillingham with Brennan as Superintendent and Temperley as his assistant. Brennan was to receive £1,500 per annum and Temperley £1,200 per annum. Further development of the torpedo was undertaken whilst shore stations for coastal defence were being installed, the last shore station being completed in November 1894.

Replica Brennan torpedo. Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence

Prototype monorail car on a demonstration run. Science Museum, London.

In May 1892 Brennan was awarded a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) for his work on the torpedo. Louis married Anna Mary Quinn, also a native of Castlebar, in Dublin on 10 September 1892. They lived in Gillingham overlooking the River Medway. He had an incredibly fertile brain and frequently had ideas during the night. He avoided disturbing his wife by inventing the ‘Brennanograph’, a silent five-key typewriter similar to those used by stenographers in law courts. He was replaced by a Royal Engineer Officer as Superintendent in 1895, but was retained as a consultant until 1907.

Able to turn his mind to other matters and using money he had acquired from his torpedo, he invented a monorail train stabilised by a gyroscope and devoted twelve years to its development. He persuaded the War Department to let him use the vacant torpedo factory for development. The 20 tonne prototype carriage was propelled by a 60 kW petrol engine, and a 15 kW petrol engine drove two electric motors for two gyroscopes.⁶ Brennan envisaged a train of six carriages travelling at 330 kph, each carriage with its own gyro stabilisers which, inter alia, enabled a carriage to lean into a bend in the monorail. Sir Winston Churchill actively supported it and saw it as an invention which promised to revolutionise the railway systems of the world. Churchill bullied the India Office into giving Brennan a secret grant of £5,000. Using gyro stabilisation the monorail could traverse a chasm on a single steel cable, and the press dubbed the monorail the ‘Blondin railway’ after the famous tightrope walker. The Maharajah of Kashmir was convinced that the monorail would be the ideal way to traverse Himalayan foothills and he also gave Brennan a grant of £5,000. It won the highest award at the Japan-British Exhibition in 1910. But there was to be no more development after the prototype stage, apparently due to concern that the gyros might fail. Brennan had spent so much money on the monorail that he was forced to sell his home and return to work.

After being employed with the Ministry of Munitions from 1910 to 1918 he moved to the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough where he worked from 1919 to 1926 on a type of helicopter. It had an empty weight of 1,360 kg and had a single 18 m rotor.⁷ Propellers at the rotor tips produced torqueless rotation and a tail rotor was not required. Power was by a Bentley BR-2 170 kW rotary driving transmission shafts that ran down the length of the blades. It could hover successfully but proved difficult to handle in forward flight. The helicopter project was cancelled in February 1926 after the helicopter crashed, and official interest turned to the Clierva type autogyro. Brennan was devastated but continued with development as a private venture and it eventually drained his finances.

Brennan’s private life was in stark contrast to his brilliant career. At least five of his ten siblings died as small children in the 1840s during the Irish Famine. One of his two daughters died in the flu epidemic that followed the First World War.⁸ His wife died in 1931, and Brennan was knocked down by a motorcar on 26 December 1931 whist holidaying in Montreux, Switzerland. He died there from his injuries on 17 January 1932, and was survived by an only son and a daughter. His son, Captain Michael Brennan, RE, had a distinguished war record during World War I and died on 21 November 1933, less than two years after his father.

The Brennan Torpedo

Germany is generally credited with the first practicable guided weapon, the aircraft radio controlled Ruhrstahl SD 1400 (‘Fritz X’) guide bomb which entered service in 1943.⁹ It is not generally known that the first practical guided weapon was a wire guided torpedo designed in Australia by Brennan and patented in 1877.

The Brennan torpedo was similar in size to current submarine launched torpedoes such as the American Mark 48 in RAN submarines. It was much larger that the contemporary Mark 3 Whitehead torpedo which had a weight of 384 kg and a length of 3.6 m.¹⁰ Data on speed and range is conflicting. The maximum range is generally reported as 1,800 m, but appears to refer to the length of wire. Analysis of torpedo motion shows the range to be the length of wire reduced by two significant factors, one the propeller efficiency and the other depending on torpedo hydrodynamic drag and wire tension. The following speed and ranges are best estimates.

Weight: 1 tonne (approx.)

Length: 6.4 m

Cross section: Oval, 68 x 53 cm

Warhead: 100 kg guncotton

Maximum speed: 27 knots for 900 m

Maximum range: At least 1100 m

The main charge was 100 kg of wet guncotton initiated by a dry guncotton primer and a 77 grain Mark III torpedo detonator fired by an inertia pistol. The main charge had to be kept wet to prevent spontaneous detonation. The main charge chamber was regularly weighed to ensure that the guncotton had not dried out. Carbolic solution was added to restore the weight to the required value if the weight of the chamber decreased by more than two percent below the required value.

In contact with a hull the main charge was large enough to sink even the largest warships in service circa 1900. During the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905 the Russians laid their Model 1898 moored contact mine which had a main charge of only 56 kg of guncotton.¹¹ Despite the small main charge the Japanese lost two battleships.¹²

Torpedo propulsion and guidance by two wires

The Brennan torpedo had two contra-rotating propellers powered by two shafts, one shaft surrounding the other. The forward propeller was powered by the outer shaft, and the aft propeller by the inner shaft. Each shaft was independently powered by its own wire drum containing 1,800 m of 1.8 mm diameter wire. Both wires were unwound by a shore station winch, and wire tension provided propeller shaft torque. The propellers acted like tug propellers and the total propeller thrust exceeded torpedo hydrodynamic drag by a ‘tow load’ equal to the total wire tension, generally 4 kN (400 kg). Depth was controlled by the forward planes driven by a servo mechanism in the ‘depth mechanism’. Depth input for the servo mechanism was measured by a hydrostatic valve in the nose.

The wire guidance used by Brennan is not to be confused with the wire guidance used by modern submarine torpedoes. Currently ‘wire’ refers to a thin electric cable trailed by the torpedo to the launching submarine.

As shown in Figure 1, each wire is unwound from its drum and passes around a reciprocating pulley travelling fore and aft in synchronisation with drum rotation. The two wires run around two pulleys known as ‘steering drive pulleys’, then inside the aft propeller shaft before leaving the torpedo. When a shore station made the wire speeds at the torpedo different the two steering drive pulleys rotated at different speeds. The difference in pulley speeds was the input to the steering mechanism which (by some unknown means) operated the four rudders, two at the bow and two at the stern.¹³ There was a 12 volt light at the top of a mast to assist the shore station steer the torpedo, and this light was only visible from astern.

Steering a torpedo

There were various versions of the ingenious system used in shore stations to guide the torpedo, and the data in this paper is for the final version. The shore station winch was driven by a steam engine of about 190 kW. The winch had a separating plate on its drum, and the two wires were wound onto their half of the drum at the same wire speed. Wire tension was automatically controlled by a hydraulic governor and recorded by a dynamometer. Torpedo speed and range could be varied by varying the wire tension.

Each wire passed around a steering pulley that could be moved along each side of a horizontal steering girder above the winch, and these two pulleys were initially side-by-side above the winch drum. Whilst the steering wheel was being turned the two steering pulleys moved at the same speed v in opposite directions along a horizontal beam, the steering pulley speed depending on the steering wheel speed of rotation. The difference in wire speeds was four times the steering pulley speed, Figure 2 refers. When the helmsman stopped turning the steering wheel the wire speeds at the torpedo reverted to the same speed and the torpedo rudders retained their angle when the steering pulleys stopped. Rudder angle returned to zero when the helmsman returned the two steering pulleys to their centralised side-by-side location.

This type of steering differs from conventional steering for a vessel where the rudder angle only depends on the steering wheel angle of rotation instead of the steering wheel speed of rotation.

Shore stations

The torpedo was accepted into service in 1887. Shore stations were installed at eight sites – River Thames (Cliffe Fort), Sheerness (Garrison Point Fort), Portsmouth (Cliff End, Isle of Wight), Plymouth (Pier Cellars), Cork Harbour (Fort Camden), Malta (Tigne and Ricasoli) and Hong Kong (Lye Mun). The Lye Mun station was for the Lei Yei Mun channel to Victoria Harbour. All sites had a Directing Station, Slipway, Wire Room, General Store, Boiler Room, Engine Room, Torpedo Room and Coal Store. Some sites had an Accumulator Room, Engine and Generator Room, and Workshop. The station was under the command of a Station Torpedo Officer responsible to the Local Officer Commanding Submarine Mining. The number of men at a station varied. At Cliffe Fort in 1904 the detachment was one Officer, one Mechanist, one Engine Driver, and seven other ranks, sometimes referred to as Brennists. There appear to have been twelve torpedoes at a home shore station and twenty four at shore stations abroad. When a torpedo was launched it ran down the slipway on a four-wheel trolley and the propellers were running before the torpedo entered the water. The torpedo was never fired in anger but there was an annual competition for the Brennan Torpedo Challenge Cup, shore stations firing twelve torpedos. Cliffe Fort won the 1906 competition and the results give an indication of the effectiveness of torpedo guidance. There were six hits and five misses by less than 30 m for twelve firings against targets at 28 to 31 knots and ranges of 450 to 1100 m.

Shore stations were operated in conjunction with minefields controlled by an electric cable from another shore station. Both types of station were manned by the Submarine Mining Branch of the Royal Engineers.¹⁴ Defence Electric Lights were used to define the areas of responsibility for controlled minefields and torpedoes.

Security was a prime concern and ‘All officers, non-commissioned officers and men employed in torpedo installations shall make and sign a declaration of secrecy, before the Commanding Royal Engineer.’¹⁵ Civilian workmen were restricted to their actual working area and also signed the form. To assist in torpedo security the depth and steering mechanisms were factory sealed, and the seals were regularly checked and recorded in a register by the Station Torpedo Officer. The Colony of Victoria provided financial assistance for the early development of the torpedo and requested the supply of torpedoes. This request was denied by The Secretary of State for War ‘until experience has shown what precautions may be necessary for the protection of the secret’.¹⁶

The Rifled Muzzle Loader Gun was replaced by the far more effective Breech Loader 9.2 inch gun. The latter was adopted for coastal defence (including Australia circa 1890) and Brennan stations were closed by 1911. The remains of some stations, such as Cliffe Fort, are still visible. Brennan torpedo No. 18 is on display at the Royal Engineers Museum, Gillingham, and a replica torpedo is on display at the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence, Lye Mun.

Final Tribute to the Inventor Extraordinaire and Wizard of Oz

Louis Brennan was buried on 26 January 1932 in an unmarked grave in plot number 2454 at St Mary’s Cemetery, Kensal Green, London, an inconspicuous final resting place for such an internationally renowned and talented inventor. To redeem this situation, on 11 March 2014 Mr Enda Kenny, the Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), unveiled a new headstone and plaque at a Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance dedicated to the man credited with inventing the steerable torpedo and monorail system. A wreath was laid by the Australian representative CMDR Dylan Findlater, RAN.

Eade, Joel (1823-1911), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4, (MUP), 1972.
Smith, Alexander Kennedy (1824 – 18881), Australian Dictionary of Biography,

adb.anu.edu.aui/biography/smith-alexander-kennedy-4597. (10 February 2014)

Melbourne, The City Present & Past, Multimedia Content, Brennan Torpedo,

www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM00231b.htm. (10 February 2014)

Melbourne, The City Present & Past.
Brennan Torpedo, en.wikipedia.org/wik/Brennan-torpedo (15 February 2014).
Louis Brennan’s Heavyweight Balancing Act – The Gyro-Monorail, theoldmotor.com/ ?p=109924. (15 February 2014)
Brennan helicopter –development history, photos, technical data

www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/brennan.php. (13 February 2014)

The Brennan torpedo, Submerged, www.submerged.co.uk>Special Reports>Bombs And Bullets. (15 February)
Glide bomb, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Glide_bomb. (22 January 2014)
Whitehead Mark 3 Torpedo, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehead_Mark_3_torpedo. (22 January 2014)
Russian/Soviet Mines, www.warships1.com/ WEapons?WAMRussian_Mines.htm. (18 February 2004).
Cowie J.S., Mines, Minelayers and Minelaying, Oxford University Press, London, 1949, p35.
Beanse reports that it has not been possible to examine the steering mechanism, and some components of the only extant torpedo are missing.
Controlled mines were detonated when a target was seen to be in a suitable location. See Cowie, p24. All controlled minefields became an Admiralty responsibility in 1905.
Memoranda for Station Torpedo Officer, Public Record Office (PRO) (UK) WO32/6065. (cited by Beanse).
The Brennan Torpedo 1881-1887, PRO WO32/6065. (cited by Beanse).

Ship design and development

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