Mark Barton brought Fanning the Coals and Forging the Weapons, the history and experience of Royal Navy engineers, to life in his fascinating talk.
Commander Mark Barton BEng, MA, PhD, CEng, FRINA, RNR completed a full career as a naval engineer officer and now has a portfolio career based around his professional fields of naval architecture and naval history. He led us through the history of the engineering branch from the days of the warrant officer through status gained by the navy’s embrace of technology to its modern equal standing.
From the commissioning of the steam tug Comet in 1822 it was clear that the technological race of the 19th century would need a new breed of seaman to run it. The Royal Navy’s engineering branch was thus established in 1837 and followed the navy’s challenges as it developed. By the second half of the century Warrior carried twelve engineers and 66 stokers.
There were many acts of heroism by naval engineers, including a VC won in support of the Crimean War. A less remarked but still remarkable incident occurred during the failed attempt to relieve General Gordon at Khartoum. Chief Engineer Benbow rebuilt the engine of the steamer Safiya under fire, saving the extraction of the rescue force. Stokers, too, found themselves called on to take a direct part in actions. Notably they made up about a quarter of the Royal Naval Division which absorbed some 25% casualties at Antwerp and 50% at Gallipoli.
The branch supported the introduction of wireless into the navy and the development of naval aviation. It supplied, in the form of ERA2 Thomas O’Connor, its first non-commissioned pilot. The RN also became the biggest operator of airships ever. Employment, training, status and branch structures developed in parallel with the demands of propulsion, aviation and weapon systems used by the navy.
Mark had several copies of his book Fanning the Coals and Forging the Weapons: A History of the Engineering Branch of the Royal Navy for sale and brought along a selection of second-hand volumes to sell in support of SNR(S). We are very grateful for the funds raised.
HTP Submarines
Douglas Denny was born and brought up in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumberland, where shipbuilding has been the major industry for 200 years, and the first British submarine, Holland 1, was built. While still at school he worked part-time in the plumbing shop at Vickers and on nuclear submarines on the slips.
Unsurprisingly, Douglas’ background in Barrow led to a great interest in submarines. HMS Excalibur was tied up in the dock close to the laboratory where he had worked, while an older friend, who was in R&D at Vickers, told him the fascinating story of High Test Peroxide (HTP) and its use in underwater propulsion.
The tale begins in the 1930s with Dr Helmuth Walter, a constant source of innovative ideas but especially anything involving HTP. He was responsible, among other things, for the V1 launch catapult and the engine of the Messerschmidt 163 rocket fighter. A special interest, though, was air-independent propulsion for submarines. An unarmed experimental boat (V80) began development in 1937, was launched in 1940, withdrawn from service in 1942 and scuttled in 1945. It achieved the previously unheard-of submerged speed of 28 knots.
It was followed by the Type XVII coastal U-boat, capable of about 25 knots submerged. Seven were built in all but the ocean-going successor, Type XVIII, was abandoned in favour of the Type XXI ‘Electroboat’ – a conventional power chain but with streamlining and enormous batteries to give high underwater performance.
The Type XVII U-1047 was scuttled at the end of the war but salvaged to become HMS Meteorite. After evaluation the RN built two new HTP submarines, Explorer and Excalibur (or Exploder and Excruciator to their crews) with further developed power plants. By then, however, nuclear propulsion was a reality and the opportunity to buy American technology had to be weighed against HTP’s drawbacks of expense, wake, noise and safety.
Please see our Events page for news of forthcoming attractions.