48 NAVY NEWS, APRIL 2007
From republican
About our
Falklands
to Royal Navy
artist...
IT IS one of the paradoxes
the Dutch off Dungeness in 1652 a status symbol the ‘State’s Navy’ right. Nevertheless he acquiesced
of its history that the
The Grove
and the escape of the Dutch fl eet had probably the most powerful the Restoration in which Monck
off Portland the following year. ship afl oat, Sovereign, (the former (later Duke of Albermarle) and
THE paintings in our Falklands
origins of the Royal Navy
Review
The resulting ‘Fighting Sovereign of the Seas) of 100 another General At Sea Edward
commemorative supplements
as a permanent national Instructions’ introduced a tighter guns. In one engagement this great Mountague (old spelling; later Earl
are the work of Dean Regan. A maritime fi ghting force
squadronal organisation (red, three-decker held off 20 Dutch of Sandwich) took a prominent
helicopter pilot and Falklands
go back to Britain’s short
white and blue, hence the ensigns) ships on her own. part.
veteran, Dean is now a full-
and ordered squadrons to keep in In an era of political and The Royal Navy was suddenly
time artist and a professional
period as a republic,
The most notable of the fi rst line. ideological confl ict ships’ names born and ships with unacceptable
member of the International
effectively a military ‘General’ trio was Robert Blake Interestingly, Barratt takes the refl ected political positions, names were renamed; it took
Society of Marine Painters. dictatorship, from 1649 to
who is the great naval hero of side in the historical argument The fl eet included great effort to replace Naseby’s
Dean’s childhood passion for
1660.
the period. Son of a Somerset that this was not a true ‘line Liberty, Naseby, fi gurehead of a triumphant Oliver
painting was put to one side
In this period the ‘State’s Navy’
merchant he gained his position of battle’ as it eventually Marston Moor, Cromwell with one more suitable
while he qualified as a pilot and
completed the transition from
from his activities on land in the developed. The squadrons and President. for its new name, Royal Charles.
flew with the Army Air Corps
the older form of the relatively
Parliamentarian cause. He had were to deploy in line The State’s Navy This ill-fated ship was to be carried
in Germany, Norway, Canada,
small king’s private fl eet – plus
doubts about Cromwell’s 1653 but then, on the was affected off by the Dutch in the next war,
Bosnia and Northern Ireland. In added merchantmen mobilised
coup but thought that “tis not for signal to engage, by political in which Lawson died in action.
the mid-80s his interest in art as required – to a recognisably
us to to mind state affairs but to close the enemy dissension and Barratt tells the story well
returned and when he left the modern fl eet designed and
keep foreigners from fooling us.” line abreast to intrigue, but so were clearly and well, concentrating on
Army he found time to hone his maintained to fi ght, and supported
Blake was not a healthy man and engage their the navies of the Dutch. operational history but with useful
skills. by permanent national taxation
eventually died after his victory of opponents. A One could not necessarily summaries on ships as well as naval
In 1997 he published his first and a system of state borrowing
Santa Cruz in 1657 as his fl agship comprehensive set trust one’s fellow captains organisation and administration.
book of paintings, a collection based upon it, writes Dr Eric Grove
entered Plymouth Sound. of fl ag signals was or subordinates, to a degree He acknowledges his debt to
of Suffolk windmills. of the University of Salford.
He was not an easy man but drawn up to allow tactical that later Naval offi cers would other authors but readers must
Over the past year he has Although Cromwell did not
Barratt assesses him fairly. He was control. have found surprising. be warned that not all his sources
been preparing for his first become dictator until 1653 his
outclassed by the skilled Dutch These tactics were intended to In the confused situation that would agree with his analyses and
solo exhibition of 25 new oil was the most powerful voice in
commanders (probably the fi nest allow the English to exploit their followed the death of Cromwell in there are no footnotes to check
paintings depicting the story of the regime. It is not too inaccurate
afl oat at the time) but he showed signifi cant superiority in fi repower. 1658 the Navy played a key role from where he is getting specifi c
the Falklands conflict. therefore for John Barratt, an
more fl air against the Spaniards, his This was a great advantage and did in defeating the military coup in interpretations and ideas.
The exhibition opened at the experienced writer on the military
victories demonstrating “excellent much to overcome the expertise October 1659. After reading this book one
Felixstowe museum (www. affairs of this period, to use the
planning and assessment of risk, of the Dutch commanders and The radical but pro-Parliament might turn to the relevant section
felixstowe-museum.co.uk) in Lord Protector’s title in this new
combined with a growing maturity sailors. The English ships were John Lawson used his fl eet to of Nicholas Rodger’s Command of
March and runs until October survey of naval developments of
in command.” He was also very larger than those of their enemies blockade the Thames to force the the Ocean or to Bernard Capp’s
2007. the period following the King’s
concerned with the health and and carried heavier artillery. The ‘Committee of Safety’ to give way Cromwell’s Navy for a more
Dean will be attending many execution in 1649: Cromwell’s
welfare of his seamen. Dutch were reluctant to build to a restoration of the old ‘Rump’ scholarly approach. This work is,
airshows around the UK this
Wars at Sea (Pen & Sword,
Barratt gives General at Sea such powerful assets as they were Parliament. Lawson became however, an excellent and original
year with a smaller, mobile
£19.99 ISBN 1 84415 459 9).
George Monck the major credit for worried about deep-draught ships member of a new Council of introduction to a lesser known but
exhibition of framed limited
The period was a busy one with
the reorganisation of the fl eet after in their shallow home waters. State but found himself demoted highly signifi cant period of Naval
edition prints reproduced from
a Royalist fl eet to be neutralised,
the near disaster at the hands of Thanks to Charles I’s desire for as politics moved towards the history.
his original paintings.
Royalist strongholds such as
A sum of £5 is donated
the Scillies to be reduced and
to Falklands charities from
the rest of the British isles to be
the sale of each print. The
conquered.
money will be used to build
There was also an undeclared
The days of wolf packs and duels
a permanent memorial to
war with France and open wars
those who lost their lives in
with fi rst the Dutch and then
THE history of warfare is Lawrence Paterson shows in U- sank 38 warships and more Stern shines a light into an area
the conflict, and to help build
Spain.
Boats in the Mediterranean than half a million tons of the underwater war relatively
On the whole the State Navy
littered with ironies.
a hostel to accommodate 1941-1944 (Chatham, of merchant vessels. unpublicised, and like Paterson
operated with great success and
In October 1918 U-boat
veterans who return to visit the £19.99 ISBN 978-1- But, as he had he uses a wealth of unpublished
provided a vehicle for Cromwell
commander Oberleutnant zur See
Falklands. 86176-290-0). feared, Dönitz’s papers and documents.
to become something of a world
Karl Dönitz attacked a British
Dean welcomes visitors
The reason why half-hearted In doing so he champions men
statesman, probably the most
convoy leaving Malta.
to his studio in Suffolk by
Dönitz relented efforts drained who deserve to be championed,
powerful British ruler to date.
His small coastal submarine
appointment, and is happy
and sent six his Atlantic fleet such as Lt Cdr George Salt and
Even his enemy Clarendon
UB68 managed to sink one Allied
to discuss commissions of
boats to the of men and material the men of HMS Triad, and their
said that Cromwell’s “greatness
vessel; but how much greater the
aviation and maritime subjects.
Mediterranean without materially Italian foe, the Toti.
at home was but a shadow of
success would have been if he had
He can be contacted on 01394
in September affecting the balance The action between the two in
the glory he had abroad.” The
a pack of U-boats to hunt with,
210511. His website address is
1941 was the in the Mediterranean. As the Ionian Sea in October 1940 is
foundation of this greatness was
the young Dönitz lamented.
www.deanreganart.co.uk
stalled offensive by so often was the case in stirring Boy’s Own stuff. The two
Cromwell’s navy. Not for nothing
A generation later, the idea of a
Erwin Rommel, whose the Third Reich, the road to boats fought it out on the surface
did Churchill as First Lord of the
wolf pack born on an autumn night
supply lines were being everywhere led nowhere. at night for a good 45 minutes,
Admiralty before WW1 want to
in the Mediterranean became the
mauled by the Royal Navy, Another doyen among U- exchanging blows from their deck
call a battleship Oliver Cromwell
scourge of the Atlantic.
Fleet Air Arm and RAF. boat historians is Robert Stern, guns. Toti fired torpedoes at Triad
– but George V would not let him. But in the sea where the
The U-bootwaffe quickly scored who has turned his hand to the – which failed to detonate. Triad
The new republican regime concept took root, Karl Dönitz’s
some notable successes: Ark Royal murky world of submarine versus in turn tried to ram Toti – but
abolished both the Union Flag and efforts were half-hearted; he was
and Barham were sunk before the submarine actions in the excellent missed.
the title of Lord Admiral replacing reluctant to divert his submarines
year was out. And before the year The Hunter Hunted (Chatham, Salt broke off the battle, trying
it with a ‘General at Sea’ – at fi rst a from the main effort.
was out, too, the force had swelled £19.99 ISBN 978-1-86176-265- to dive. As he did at least two
collective title put into commission That made the war beneath
to more than 20 boats. 8). shells struck his fin, one exploding
with three incumbents. Only later the waves of the ‘Middle Sea’
As in the Atlantic this is a story A recent BBC Timewatch his signal rocket locker sending
were senior offi cers appointed
no less bitter, no less decisive to of terrible attrition. The ‘happy documentary highlighted the case a magnificently tragic firework
themselves as ‘Generals at Sea’.
the outcome of the conflict as times’ beloved by U-boat of HMS Venturer’s dogged display into the Ionian night.
crews were brief, and by the pursuit of U864 in Triad plunged bow first into the
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HMS INVINCIBLE
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Operation Anvil – the invasion low outline of a submarine
By Neil McCart
of southern France. The U-boats by torpedo or deck gun was
The well illustrated story of the first of
ended the war in Greece, with an extremely difficult affair.
the Royal Navy’s new generation of aircraft
carriers from the Falklands War to the early
no hope of escaping the Middle Indeed, as Stern demonstrates,
years of the 21st Century.
Sea; Dönitz ordered his men to simply identifying the foe was
Hardback Price £19.95+ p&p. ISBN 1 901225 08 9
fight their way back to Germany hugely challenging.
Also Still Available in Hardback:
over land, which they did after His book is littered with
a merciless retreat through the depressing stories of
FEARLESS & INTREPID 1965~2002 £24.00 + P&P
Balkans. ‘fratricide’ – ‘friendly fire’
COLOSSUS-CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS 1944-1972 £24.00 + P&P
Paterson has drawn on countless in today’s terminology
HMS HERMES 1923 & 1959 £24.00 + P&P unpublished official documents, – when friendly boats
THREE ARK ROYALS 1938~1999 £23.00 + P&P personal accounts, letters and duelled with each other.
TIGER, LION & BLAKE 1942~1986 £21.50 + P&P
memoirs to fill in an important German, British and
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gap in our understanding of the Italian boats all fell
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war at sea; he has also rooted victim to the guns
HMS GLORY 1944-1961 £19.95 + P&P
out some excellent images of the and torpedoes of
Please add £2.75 p&p for the UK & EU or £4.50 for worldwide surface mail. Payment
boats, the men and their leaders. their own side.
by sterling cheque, postal order, or by VISA/MASTERCARD/SWITCH. Telephone/Fax/Email orders welcomed.
The Mediterranean U-boats Like Paterson,
From FAN PUBLICATIONS, 17 Wymans Lane, Cheltenham, Glos GL51 9QA.
Tel/Fax:01242 580290 / Website: www.fanpublications.co.uk or order from good bookshops.
● A rare candid picture of a laughing Karl Dönitz
from Lawrence Paterson’s book
48_NN_Apr.indd 1 19/3/07 10:03:56 49_NN_Apr.indd 1 20/3/07 09:53:22
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