News
Look here for news of what the Society for Nautical Research (South) has been doing lately. To find out about forthcoming attractions see our Events page.
Operation Corporate Commemoration Conference
On Saturday 9th July SNR(S) held a special all-day conference to mark the 40th anniversary of the Falklands conflict. To our great regret Paul Brown our keynote speaker was [...]
Classic Boat Museum, IoW
Members had a fascinating day trip to the Classic Boat Museum and Gallery at Cowes on 7th June, ably organised by member Nick Hawkins. It was an eye-opening reminder [...]
Visit to Boathouse 4
At the invitation of the Society of Model Shipwrights several of our members joined them in a visit to Boathouse 4 at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard on 24th May. We [...]
Dunkirk Plaque Unveiled
On 28th May the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth unveiled a plaque commemorating the evacuation of over 300,000 servicemen from Dunkirk in May and June 1940. The moving ceremony remembered [...]
May 2023 Meeting
Our main speaker was Jacob Thomas-Llewellyn on PLUTO – a successful failure. His talk was excellent both for content and delivery and sparked lively discussion afterward. Jacob holds a BA in War, Peace and International Relations and a master’s degree in strategic studies and has recently completed doctoral studies with the Department of History at the University of Reading. He has been published by the Independent, the Conversation and the Royal Logistic Corps. He has also advised and been interviewed by Michael Buerk as part of the Channel 5 documentary, How Britain Won WW2.
John Bingeman’s talk went far beyond its nominal subject of Vasa’s Whipstaff Steering circa 1628, covering illustrations of his and Jane’s rare privilege of an internal inspection of the ship and the corrosive effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG) on iron – a conservation issue relevant to the Mary Rose. Again, a brisk conversation followed.
April 2023 Meeting
Roger Smith gave a fascinating talk on Shinano – the brief story of the Biggest Carrier of WW2. She was converted from the hull of the third Yamato-class battleship mid-build and had a short, profitless life, setting an unhappy record on the way when she was sunk just seventeen hours into her maiden voyage. Roger’s gripping, moment-by-moment account gave a real feeling of ‘being there’.
Continuing the Far East theme, Derek Nudd had the unenviable task of following Roger with a chat about WW2 Japanese language training in the Royal Navy. When war struck the Pacific and Indian Oceans too many linguists were trapped in newly occupied territories, leaving the Allies deaf to enemy intentions. The story of their efforts to catch up has its own interest and provoked a lively follow-on discussion.