How Sailors Fight

For a little holiday reading I am reading 'How Sailors Fight' by John Blake. I was quite pleased that it described the 12-pounder as "perhaps for it's size the finest gun of the Navy" since I am planning a project with one this year, more of which later. One thing that is surprising me from a modern perspective was that there has been absolutely no mention of the growing power of Imperial Germany. The book was published in 1901 so only 13 years later Germany would become the British Empire's enemy in the largest war up until that point. All comparisons against potential threats are against France, which was to be on our side during that war. It was not until after 'The Riddle of the Sands' was published in 1903 that the power, and possible danger, of Germany would enter popular consciousness. The author event went so far as to imagine fictional engagements against various enemies to illustrate the points that he was trying to make; such as pitting the newly launched HMS Drake against the French armoured cruisers Montcalm and Admiral Gueydon in order to help with his argument that larger armoured cruisers were better fighting ship's than smaller ones. However no such fictional engagements were created against German ships, the ones the Royal Navy was next going to fight in reality.

Salcombe

Having sailed back across the English Channel yesterday we decided to take the shortest route, which lands in the beautiful little port of Salcombe. As a port it is fairly under developed being completely without any Marina facilities, though as a high priced toured destination I suspect that the golden sands and private coves have had just about as much money wrung out of them as is possible. There is not much in the way of historical interest in this particular port; just a small, ruined, Tudor block house that used to guard the mouth of the estuary. Not that the estuary needs much guarding, the reputation of the sand bar across it is generally enough to do it. This bar lies only a meter or two beneath the surface at low water, and during rough seas can have a meter of swell running over it. This means that if you get things wrong the sea will simply pick your boat up, then slam it down again breaking the vessel's back. This is exactly what happened to the collier Ensign on January 30th 1915 when they decided to try navigating over the bar without a local pilot and got it wrong. The ship sank instantly leaving just it's rigging above water. The reputation of the bar is also the reason for Salcombe Life Boat, operated by the RNLI. Over the century that it has been operating they have saved many lives in the most dangerous sea conditions, but not without tragedy for themselves.

On October 27 1916, the Salcombe lifeboat, William and Emma, was launched to go to the aid of a stricken Plymouth schooner Western Lass that was aground at Lannacombe Bay.

Fifteen men took her out in the teeth of a furious southwesterly gale. When they got to the ship the cox'n, Samuel Distin, could see the rocket line hanging off the schooner and in the pale light of dawn realised that there was no one left to save as they had already been rescued by the Prawle Rocket Company.

There was nothing left but to get safely back, though that was easier said than done with all the lifeboats crew were by now soaked right through and freezing cold. As they approached the Bar with its huge turbulent breakers they streamed a sea anchor from the stern and took in most of the sail, exactly as they had been trained to do. Just as these preparations were complete a massive wave hit the stern of the boat throwing it broadside to the waves. All the crew were thrown in a great heap to the other side of the boat so when the next wave hit, it just turned the boat over and threw all the men into the sea. Several of the men managed to hang on to the upturned hull of the boat for a while, but in the end all but two were swept away. 'Eddie' Distin and William Johnson were the only two to still be alive when the wreckage of the lifeboat was washed up under Rickham.

Not that this stopped the brave volunteers of the RNLI. Within months a new lifeboat was found and with it a new crew. The Cox'n was one of the survivors, 'Eddie' Distin.

There is not much military history in Salcombe, through it was used as one of the muster points for the US Army before D-Day. The only bit of Royal Navy history here is a rather more embarrassing story that happened just a few years ago. Britannia Royal Naval College has amongst it's stock of boats a number of Contessa yachts. These are mainly used for teaching the cadets about handling small craft and getting them used to the sea. However the cadets are also allowed to take them out during their free time for some leisure sailing. A group of cadets in several yachts decided one weekend to go to Salcombe. They navigated the bar and spent a pleasant evening in some of Salcombe's other bars before retiring to their boats for the evening. The next morning they must have decided to give the boats a bit of a scrub down using the hose pipes on the town quay before heading for home. The town quay has a channel beside it that is well dredged, and well marked: however just beyond the markers it goes very shallow very quickly. The young gentleman navigating one of the boats must not have known this and tried to cut the corner. His boat shuddered to a halt as it dug it's keel into the sand. They tried to used the engine to wiggle it free, but they were stuck fast so they had to wait, stuck in the sand, in front of the entire town for the next six hours for the tide to recluse them. The boat was undamaged, and there was no harm to any of the cadets; except perhaps a bit of bruised pride.

Cornet Castle

Just spent a very enjoyable day at Castle Cornet just across the harbour at St. Peter Port in Guernsey. It is a good place to look around anyway with hundreds of years of history layered on top of each other, but for the Easter weekend they were also staging a living history event. This was not like a living history event on the mainland as it was by a troupe of professional actors performing a series of plays to highlight some stories from the islands history. It certainly worked an really helped to engage with the audience. It might be good if the groups that I belong to could get together more regularly so as to be able to rehearse, but since we are entirely volunteers and from all across the UK that is much more difficult.

Privateering in the Channel Islands

In Guernsey at the moment and it is noticeable that there was a sudden influx of money at the start of the nineteenth century. The main evidence for this are the number of stone cottages with dates from around this period. The reason for this sudden wealth was the wars against Napoleon. The wars might have cut off the trade with France and destroyed the traditional trade routes, but it did bring with it a whole new way of making a living: privateering. Privateering is basically legalised piracy. A privateer carries a letter from the government allowing them to attack any and all shipping belonging to the enemy. The profit come if they capture anything because it gets taken as a prize so any cargo can be resold, as can the ship itself, which would raise a lot of money. Many privateers ran out of the Channel Islands harassing the French coastal shipping, and they brought back a lot of money. So much money that for a brief period these tiny islands became one of the worlds major maritime powers.

RAF Airmen in Torquay

It might seem a little odd for a hilly port without even the possibility of every having an airport built there but during the Second World War 55000 airmen were trained in Torquay. Many billeted in the Rosetor Hotel during their stay, and like the US Coastguard officers at Greenway House, they left their mark in this case by signing one of the shutters. When the Rosetor was demolished to make way for the Riviera Centre this shutter was saved by Ian Sampson. On his death in 2009 the shutter was to be donated to the Imperial War Museum to be displayed, but when it was found that the museum planned to simply lock it away in a drawer his friends rallied around to make sure that the spirit of his gift was honoured, and so it on the 22nd of April it was put on public display in the Rivera Centre itself close to where it was originally signed by those men 70 years ago.

Grand Opening at the Brixham Battery

While I will not be able to be there because I am sailing, the Brixton Battery Heritage Centre is having an event this Easter Sunday to celebrate the restoration of more parts of the battery. Dave will be opening the harbour defence pill box, or shelter rooms and tunnel, and restored 1940s cottage room. Volunteers in period uniform will be giving guided tours from 11 AM.

Off Sailing

I am in now off already few days to do some proper sailing, so hosting will be light. The idea is to use the long bank holiday break and go across the English channel, plus probably up to the Isle of White. We shall start on crossing bricks, where William of orange landed the last successful invasion of the British mainland, and strike out for the Channel Islands, the sight of the last successful invasion of the British Isles when they were occupied by Nazi Germany in 1940.