A gratifyingly well attended meeting found much to enjoy and discuss.
Richard Blake’s long experience of holding a class’s attention came through in a lively and interesting talk on Manning the Fighting Fleet in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Starting at a time when there was no such thing as a naval rating, just seamen employed (or pressed) for a specific commission he reviewed the challenges of crewing a fleet which rapidly expanded sixfold in wartime from its peacetime strength. On the other side of the coin, matelots whose skills were invaluable at sea had nothing to sustain them once paid off and dumped shoreside. Richard looked at the incentives that attracted men to the navy (and the contrary deterrents), and traced the gradual evolution of the regularly paid, and trained, contracted bluejacket.
Deryck Swetnam’s talk on Researcher Beware focussed on his investigation of the last patrol of UC56.
This WW1 coastal U-boat armed with mine chutes and torpedoes was commissioned at Danzig in December 1916. After operations in the Baltic, it joined the Flanders Flotilla in January 1918. On 26th February, under Kapitänleutnant der Reserve Wilhelm Kiesewetter, it sank the hospital ship Glenart Castle. In May UC56 was attacked by the US armed yacht Christabel, and forced to seek shelter in Santander, where it was interned. Kiesewetter was on the ‘wanted’ list after the war but succeeded in disappearing.
So far so good. Deryck’s illuminating talk (which proved that it’s possible to hold an audience’s attention without Powerpoint!) traced multiple different accounts of where and when the final engagement took place. Persistence and careful analysis finally paid off, revealing one of the untold yet intriguing stories of the Great War.
Please see our Events page for news of forthcoming treats. And anyone who missed Mark Barton’s fascinating talk on naval duelling (or even those who didn’t) might be interested to know that he will be giving an online lecture about the history of the Royal Navy cutlass – finally withdrawn only in 2014 – on 24th January. See this link for registration details.