Calling all Royal Navy V-class & W-class fans

[Laurence Batchelor]

To Mike E please find some photos I have done for you quickly of Vampire some of which show her in her early war guise.
To all I have added a few more of various RAN V/W's which I think may be of interest for this thread.
I apologize in advance for the poor quality, but I had to compress them right down for this forum as there is now this silly rule 'Your images may only be up to 800 pixels wide.' to abide by

I hope me doing this scanning, compressing and writing this long post is of some help to you chaps:

1) HMAS Vampire leading her sisterships off Jervis Bay late 1930s going past the fleet flagship in "review" order:



2) HMAS Vampire 1938:



3) HMAS Vampire in March 1940 in drydock at Malta being refitted:



4) For those intrigued by the Alexandria style camouflage worn by some of the the 'Scrap Iron Flotilla' this is HMAS Voyager in 1941:



5) 2 views of the sinking HMAS Waterhen taken on the 30th June 1941.



6) Note on this 2nd one you get a good view of the 3-inch 12pdr used to replace the aft torpedo tubes.



7) HMAS Vendetta en-route to Australia March 1942 being towed from the drydock at Singapore due to the advancing Japanese forces.



8.) This one seems mis-labeled to me at a quick glance, perhaps this along with the others might start some good debate here and we can work it out together.
It is stated to be Vampire escorting Eagle in 1942, but look at Vampire's fit and she shows her aft torpedo tubes still in place and her searchlight still in its bandstand.
Further is that shadowing or actual camouflage on Eagle? looks the former to me possibly from the flight-deck casting a shadow on the hull?
Did Vampire operate with Eagle in the Med in the early war period, before she was refitted and the date is 1940? Over to you! Either way if it is indeed Vampire then its a useful on-deck shot.

Finally what were those shoot things suspended from the searchlight platform please....it is on both sides (see photo below). There appears to be one forward close to the aft funnel also, they rather remind me of the shoots builders use when working high up on multi-storey buildings and have them as something to chuck their rubbish down. What are they and what are they used for please?



9) This one appears to be taken at the same time as the photograph above, but looking forward along the port side. No caption or date is given on the photo, simply V/W class.



10) It is not great quality this one but this is HMAS Vendetta in December 1942 as part of the 7th flotilla. Note the flotilla banding and also the quad vickers in the foreground.



11) Another of HMAS Vendetta note now she has 20mm in the bridge wing and canvass matting around her bridge.



12) HMAS Vendetta November 1944 at Jacquinot Bay refitted as an escort destroyer



13) This one is undated and apparently HMAS Vendetta heeling to starboard



14) HMAS Vendetta again looking aft



15) Finally HMAS Vendetta's quarterdeck showing a twin Lewis gun undated.



Enjoy!

[Quincy]

Wow ! What great pics.

Thank you Laurence.


Bob Pink.

[Michael E.]

Laurence:

Thanks for sharing these wonderful photos with us. Wonderful eye candy and much food for thought.

A few comments:

1) A different photo of HMAS Voyager wearing the same light/dark gray scheme (the fourth photo here) can be found in "Australian Warships: Through the Lens, 1901 to 1940."

2) The eighth photo, a V class destroyer with HMS Eagle, is NOT Vampire, as the searchlight platform on the latter was mounted on an oval compass platform. The destroyer here is fitted with a simple latice mounted searchlight.

3) A different photo of HMAS Vendetta wearing the same scheme depicted in the fourteenth photo can be found on the AWM web site, and in the aforementioned book on Australian warships (there were actually two variants of the same irregular camouflage scheme: one in light and dark gray, with medium gray borders between the irregularly shaped "stripes," and the other (apparently) in medium and dark gray (shown here).

Once again, Laurence, thanks for posting these.

Yours,

Mike E.

[RNfanDan]

With regard to photographs #8 and #9, they are the same general vantage point but #9 has been printed in reverse. Note the fitting at the yard changes sides, as does the carrier's deck edge (just visible at extreme left).

We know #8 is alright, in that Eagle's island is properly to starboard. Here it is, in correct orientation:

As to the carrier's image, those are shadows.

Could the rigged chutes be something to do with temporary exhausts? It looks as if there is an umbilical near the base, possibly connected to a vent or deck fitting for the purpose....perhaps a maintenance belowdecks that generates toxic fumes in one of the machinery or boiler spaces?

Superb images, Laurence!

[Laurence Batchelor]

Thank you Bob Mike, & Dan

Mike I don't have that book and that will be yet another to go on the ever increasing wants list!

Dan 8 and 9 are two different images. I initially thought, like you, it was the same image reversed, but look closer. Look at the what looks like a Petty Officer chap with his back to the camera, in the two photographs he is in a different pose (look at his arms!) and also the crew up on the bridge wings are in a different positions and the crew around him. It is NOT the same photo reversed, they are merely taken within minutes of each other by the same photographer: first on the stb side looking forward and then on the port side looking forward. The hint of a warship you can see in 9 I suspect to be a different ship entirely not Eagle.

[Timmy C]

Laurence, if you leave the images as the URL and not use the IMG tags, you can have the images as wide as you want.

[Laurence Batchelor]

Surely the point of having [img] tags is to be able to use them no?
Also when commenting on photos it is easier to have them into the actual post I think, especially if there are several.
The [url] one's are meant for websites, but I will use them next time and make the images bigger now that this newer BBcode forum has a width gap on embedded images into posts.

[ARH]

You are correct in what you say Dan about #9 it is reversed, as laurance said taken some seconds later.
The dead giveaway is the wheel on the searchlight, it changes from left to right.

[Laurence Batchelor]

Ron always a beacon of sense! Me & Dan just half right on our own.
As you say then, it is a different photo taken some seconds later, but has been reversed also.
Now which V/W is she?

[Laurence Batchelor]

According to notes I have on Vampire she did operate with Eagle in July 1940 are we still sure that isn't her in the 2 on-deck photos 8 & 9.

[ar]

According to notes I have on Vampire she did operate with Eagle in July 1940 are we still sure that isn't her in the 2 on-deck photos 8 & 9.

Photos 8 and 9.
Appears to have a TWIN TT mounting forward, also what appears to be a minelaying winch in the foreground.
Therefore could be Vanoc.

Have fun

[Mike W]

Does anyone have both Tamiya's HMAS Vampire and the WEM etch set and is building the Vampire as at Dec 1941? If so help is needed figuring out which bits to use - plus I'm also still confused about the exact weapons fit and locations!

[nightsurfer]

Hi,
Here are some pictures from the Glasgow Transport Museum of HMS Veteran circa 1919.
Cheers,
George

Hello, I have just joined this forum and read through all of the posts. I am hoping someone may be able to help me:
My uncle served on HMS Volunteer from 1942 to 1945. I have managed to find some information on the ship and would dearly love to build a model of it, initially a small static model, but eventually a RC model.
These pictures of the Veteran are great as it is, I believe the same version, but I would like to obtain drawings or plans of the modified W class.
Please can anyone point me in the right direction?

[awetherhorn]

There is a diagram of Volunteer in early war camouflage in Alan Raven'a Royal Navy camouflage - volume 4. What do you need; Information about the ship design and conversion appearance? or about available model kits?

[Tim Stoneman]

There's a photo of VOLUNTEER in a Western Approaches camouflage scheme, taken in May 1943, in the Imperial War Museum collection (Ref No FL10356). A low-resolution copy is available on the Museum website (http://www.iwmcollections.org.uk/qryMain.php). A different scheme (same as the diagram awetherhorn mentioned) is shown in a photo on pingbosun's website (http://picasaweb.google.com/pingbosun/T ... 1288602978); this one was taken at an earlier date before she was modified into a long-range escort ship (conversion was Aug 42 - Jan 43, so before the period nightsurfer requested.

[Tim Stoneman]

For nightsurfer - beware of using the Glasgow model of VETERAN as a template for VETERAN. The funnel arrangement and location of the bridge varied between the first group of Modified "W" class (which included VOLUNTEER) and the second group (to which VETERAN belonged) - see my post on this thread of Fri Aug 22, 2008. In addition, the 1942 conversion altered VOLUNTEER's appearance considerably, with the removal of the forefunnel and significant changes to armament and sensors.

[Tim Stoneman]

Sorry - first line should read "beware of using the Glasgow model of VETERAN as a template for VOLUNTEER"

[nightsurfer]

There is a diagram of Volunteer in early war camouflage in Alan Raven'a Royal Navy camouflage - volume 4. What do you need; Information about the ship design and conversion appearance? or about available model kits?

Many thanks to both you and to Mr Stoneman for pointing me in the right direction.

Having spent some time on the search engines, I have located photos of the Volunteer before it was changed into a Long Range Escort.

What I am searching for are plans, photos and if possible, models of post conversion ships, even though it seems they all had variations on the theme of armament.

Deans marine has a type V, but given its price (�230+) and my non-experience, I think a smaller, cheaper model will be more appropriate.

[Tim Stoneman]

There�s a photo of VOLUNTEER captioned as May 1943 in the long-out-of-print Alan Raven & John Roberts Man o' War 2: 'V' and 'W' Class Destroyers (Arms & Armour Press, 1979) � you may be able to get this through inter-library loan. Changes from as-built configuration include:

�A� gun replaced by Hedgehog ahead-throwing antisubmarine mortar and reload lockers
Modified bridge structure
SW RDF �lantern� replacing rangefinder on bridge
AW RDF aerial at foremast head
Removal of forefunnel
Galley chimney rerouted up foremast, instead of against forefunnel
Single 20mm Oerlikon mountings in enlarged bridge wings and in platforms just aft of the remaining funnel
Both torpedo tube mountings removed
Raked mainmast replaced by aerial spreader on site of former searchlight platform
12-pounder HA gun on site of former after torpedo tube mounting
HF/DF aerial on vertical polemast just for�d of �X� gun
'Y' gun removed
2 depth-charge throwers and reload charges fitted on each side of quarterdeck
2 depth-charge rails at after end of quarterdeck

Photos of other ships of VOLUNTEER�s group after similar conversions (noting that, as you identified, none are identical in weapon fit or appearance!) can be found at:

VANSITTART: http://picasaweb.google.com/pingbosun/T ... 7173050562
WHITEHALL: http://picasaweb.google.com/pingbosun/T ... 6181408274 and http://picasaweb.google.com/pingbosun/H ... 4291326786

[Filipe Ramires]

Greetings,

Starting gathering some information here regarding HMAS Voyager but finding very little so far. Only 3-4 photos of very low resolution and those of her wreck off course. Got her TROM in the naval-history.net site which is fairly good regarding operations she was involved during WWII. Very little so far and I only have a general idea of what was her fit in her last days. Any ideas where to start with?
Regards,

Filipe