A ‘What if?’

Posted: January 30, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Warships | 4 Comments
After I had written the blog entry about the Beardmore Aviation Ship, I began thinking about the design and wondering if it might have developed into a full-blown aircraft carrier. In my ‘what if?’ design I assumed that by raising the deck level the hangers could be incorporated into the ship’s hull rather than its superstructure. This would have allowed more aircraft to be carried and made the ship less prone to shipping water over the bows in heavy seas. I also assumed that the superstructure would have been considerably reduced in size and concentrated on the starboard side. The resulting ship looked like this:

Now I am no ship designer, but it seems to me that the design could have been developed along these lines, and if it had, it might well have meant that the Royal Navy would have had the beginnings of an aircraft carrier force available by the time of the Battle of Jutland.

The Beardmore Aviation Ship

Posted: January 29, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Warships | Leave a comment
One early seaplane and aircraft carrier that is mentioned in passing in WORLD WAR I SEAPLANE AND AIRCRAFT CARRIERS is the Beardmore Aviation Ship. It was designed in 1912 but never built … but if it had been, it might well have played an important part in the development of naval aviation.

The design would have proved impractical (the twin superstructures would have created dangerous vortices, particularly over the rear deck), but the concept of a ship with full-length flying-off and landing-on deck was ahead of its time.

William Beardmore and Company was a Scottish engineering and shipbuilding company that was based in Glasgow and Clydeside area. It was founded in 1886, and at one point employed about 40,000 people. Amongst its products were:

  • Forged steel castings, armour plate, and naval guns
  • Merchant ships and warships
  • Steam railway locomotives
  • Aircraft (both fixed-wing and airships)
  • Road vehicles (including engines, lorries, taxis, motor cars, and motorcycles)

The company went into decline in the 1930s, and was gradually broken up and its constituent parts either sold off or absorbed into other companies.

World War I Seaplane and Aircraft Carriers

Posted: January 28, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Book Review | 4 Comments
During my recent visit to the local branch of Waterstones bookshop I bought a copy of WORLD WAR I SEAPLANE AND AIRCRAFT CARRIERS.

The use of aircraft by various navies during the First World War has always interested me, and this book is quite a good, brief introduction to the topic. It includes a section that looks at the way in which the major navies introduced and developed the use of aircraft at sea, and a second section that gives a brief history of the operational use of seaplane and aircraft carriers. The third section covers the technical characteristics as well as a short service history of each of the vessels used as a seaplane and aircraft carrier.

My particular favourites included HMS Furious after her landing deck was added but before she was converted into a full-blown, flush-deck aircraft carrier …

and the French Foudre, which was converted from a torpedo boat carrier.

WORLD WAR I SEAPLANE AND AIRCRAFT CARRIERS was written by Mark Lardas and illustrated by Paul Wright. It was published in 2016 by Osprey Publishing as No.238 in their ‘New Vanguard’ series (ISBN 978 1 4728 1378 7).

I don’t know why I bought them … but I’m sure I’ll find a use for them

Posted: January 27, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: MIscellaneous musings | 12 Comments
How many time have we thought something along these lines? Too many, I suspect!

Yesterday, during a visit to the nearest branch of Waterstones bookshop, I saw that they were selling sets of magnetic playing card fridge magnets at less than half the normal price … so I bought two sets for £3.00 each.

They were a bargain … and I’m sure that I’ll find a use for them, even if I can’t think of one as yet!

The death of General Gordon.

Posted: January 26, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Colonial | 15 Comments
One hundred and thirty two years ago today, the Mahdist forces entered Khartoum. During the defence of his headquarters, General Charles ‘Chinese’ Gordon was killed.

Charles George Gordon was born in Woolwich on 28th January, 1833. (The family home faced westwards toward Woolwich Common, and was demolished as part of an urban regeneration scheme.)

His father was Major General Henry William Gordon, and after attending school in Taunton, Somerset, Charles attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, to train as an officer in the Royal Engineers.

He graduated as a Second Lieutenant in June 1852, and was promoted to be a full Lieutenant in January 1854.

He served in the Crimea before commanding the Ever Victorious Army during the Taiping Rebellion in China. After a spell in Gravesend, Kent, where he was in charge of the improvements to London’s defences, he went to the Sudan for the first time. During his time there he did much to suppress the slave trade and to improve conditions for the population.

When the situation in the Sudan worsened after the Mahdist uprising, Gordon was asked to return there to ensure the safe extraction of Egyptian troops and civilians. He chose to disobey his orders, and decided to defend the capital of the Sudan, Khartoum. After a siege that lasted many months, the Mahdists finally broke through the city’s defences, and General Gordon was killed during the fighting.

Risk: Europe

Posted: January 25, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Board Games | 10 Comments
I have played RISK on and off for many years, and when the LORD OF THE RINGS version was published, I bought a copy. I have yet to play that edition, although I have used the board in a simple campaign game and the figures to play-test my PORTABLE ANCIENTS WARGAME rules.

Until recently I was totally unaware that a RISK: EUROPE edition – which is set in the Middle Ages – existed, but I managed to find one on sale online, and I now own a copy.

I am not quite sure when I will get around to trying the game out, but I suspect that I may well use the components separately before I do so. In the meantime it can sit atop one of my storage cupboards, alongside its older compatriots.

Other people’s Portable Wargame battle reports: An operational-level battle

Posted: January 24, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Battle Report, The Portable Wargame | 2 Comments
Whilst I have been driving hither and thither attending Masonic meetings, Archduke Piccolo has uploaded a battle report to his blog that uses a modified version of the PORTABLE WARGAME to re-fight the battle of Sidi Rezegh.

As I am currently thinking about a similar modification to the rules, I found this a very useful battle report to read. Furthermore, it reads like an official history … which is what I want my operational-level battle reports to be like.

Read and enjoy … I don’t think that you will be disappointed!

Please note that the photographs featured above are © Archduke Piccolo.

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