Guest wrote:
Regarding the ships' boats of the Royal Navy in the round: I am moderately familiar with the more well-known ones but the best source is the National Maritime Museum, though I know from experience that the record will not be complete (at least as far as I went into the matter). As far as I know, there is only one good Reference on the subject: WE May's "Ships Boats of the Royal Navy" (use that information as a "starter"), however it "stops" around the turn of the 19th/20th Century. There is no modern work that covers the subject, though one is probably needed but would it interest a publisher?
I am not aware of a volume like May for the first half the the 20th century. I have a fairly lengthy list compiled of all types that I know, some of them drawn by John Lambert, but a comprehensive list is a mer a boire. Seaforth Publishing expressed in interest in doing a boats volume (mainly Lambert's drawings), provided someone would write it. My first address to find such a person would be the NMM, in particular the boat house. Lambert had a large collection of drawings other than his own work and would occasionally slip in a copy of some variant I was looking for. I wonder where all that material is now.
Guest wrote:
I seem to recall that there is a small amount of information on Carley rafts in one of the 1951 editions of the Manual of Seamanship, otherwise you will have to use photogramatic (sic?) interpretation. Regarding those carried by the ship at "River Plate:" I would advise caution unless someone can provide evidence but I see none in the photographs of the ship taken at, or near the time.
Carley floats. Type, dimensions, tube diameter:
5 3ft 6in x 6 ft 12in
6 3ft 9in x 6ft 6in 13in
7 4ft x 7ft 14in
8 4ft 6in x 7ft 6in 14in
19 5ft x 8ft 14.5in
20 5ft x 10ft 15.5in
14 6ft x 10ft 16in
15 6ft6in x 10ft6in 17in
16 7ft x 12ft 18in
17 8ft x 12ft 19in
18 9ft x 14ft 20in
From: Ashton, J., Challenor, C., & Courtney, 1993, R.C.H., The scientific investigation of a Carley float at the Australian War Memorial, Technical Papers of the Australian War Memorial, No 1
Attachment:
35ftMotorPinnace.jpg
Re Exeter: the small boats with the cabins both look a 35ft motor pinnace (for each type many variants are often found making it ever more difficult to classify them, some unique to a specific ship). Pics at the NH show a variety of boat compliments, but at one pic with two 35ft pinnaces, both without a center cabin?
The more forward one: looks like a 32ft cutter to me.
(see also:
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/NH-60000/NH-60807.html)