Victor Alexander Montagu's father was the second son of
the seventh Earl of Sandwich and his mother, a daughter of
the Marquis of Anglesea, who commanded cavalry at
Waterloo.
The forth Earl of
Sandwich, John
Montagu,was a
prominent statesman who served as First
Lord of the Admiralty and is remembered for
sponsoring the voyages of Captain James Cook, who named the Sandwich Islands in his honour, and as the namesake of the sandwich.
After six weeks in naval
college, in December
1853 Montagu joined HMS Princess
Royal,a 91-gun screw-propelled
second-rate, as a midshipman junior officer.
He was
immediately appointed as his uncle's A.D.C. and, at the age of 12 and a-half, Montagu was given his first
command- his uncle's "12-oared cutter,
a boat which he preferred to the usual 6-oared galley."
Right: H.M.S. Princess Royal, of 91 guns,
December 1853. Below: Open boat under sail, detail.
Montagu
was a long time member of the Royal Yacht, competing in the Corsair, 40 tons, for the Queen's Cup in 1891.
The Meteor(previously theThistle),
captained by the club's newest
member, Fredrick III, the Emperor of Germany,
finished
first, however, Montague "came up with
a smart breeze, saved her time, and won."
Montagu saw active service during the Crimean War, 1854-1856, the
2nd China War of 1857 and the Indian Mutiny in 1857.
He survived the shipwreck of frigate Raleigh off the coast of China in 1857, won five service medals and retired
as a Rear Admiral in 1886.
The Seal of Sandwich, 1238.
One of the Cinque (Five) Ports, the seal of Sandwich
illustrates a vessel derived from the ship of the Vikings,
the knarr, and employed .
under William I's Royal
Charter of 1155 to maintain and supply ships, essentially as a military
force.
Their corporate duty was to provide 57 ships for 15 days a
year, with each port contributing a proportion in receipt
of privileges.
Note that the circular seal
is unfavourable for the representation of a masted ship,and such
depictions may represent generalised or stylised
interpretations by artists unfamiliar with ships.
Additionally, carvings tend to be less detailed than
paintings and this image is clearly not to scale. While the seal is depicts a
ship of war, it is more likely a merchant vessel
converted to military use by addition of the castles, which were probably removable. It appears to be an open
boat, with castles fore and aft and a smaller one
near the top of the mast. She flies four
banners or pennants, with a fifth carried by one of the crew on a staffwhile another holds an axe.
The Seal of Sandwich, 1238.
It shows that the practice of
furling sails while aloft, however, the
yard-arm is lower to
fit the inner area of the seal.
It also shows, possibly for the first time, the ship carrying a
boat on deck, at the foot of the mast.
Ship
Depictions
The seal of Sandwich (1238) shows a style of ship that appears to
have derived from the knarr, which would be appropriate for the
centuries immediately following the service contract with the
king.
Castles are shown at either end of the ship, as well as a smaller
one at or near the top of the mast, and a ship's boat can be seen
at deck level.
The ships flies four banners or pennants, and one of the crew displays one on a staff, while another
holds an axe.
Figures
carrying banner and axe, as well as banners above the
castles, indicate that the intent was to depict a warship,
although the ship may well have been a merchant vessel
converted to military use by addition of the castles.
To fit the inner area of the seal, the yard-arm has been
shown lower than would have been the case.
The seal of Dover (1284). Its main castles are larger than
those in the Sandwich portrayal, and extend over the sides
of the ship; a steering oar is conspicuous near what ought
to be the stern.
Nonetheless, sufficient detail is often given to allow
historians to trace the general development of ship
types and to reveal changes in ship design. For
instance, the Cinque Ports' seals show variations on a
general ship type, while a twelfth century
representation of a hulk on the font in Winchester
cathedral is the earliest known illustration of a stern
rudder having superseded the long ship's steering oar.
We
have, unfortunately, very few illustrations of the
thirteenth-century ships, and those which we do possess are taken
from the corporate seals of some of the Cinque Ports and other
southern seaport towns.
Fig. 28 is a representation of the seal of Sandwich, and dates
from the year 1238.
The circular form of a seal is not very favourable for the
representation of a masted ship, but we can at least make out that
the vessel in question is of the Scandinavian type used by William
I. and his successors.
It also appears to have been an open boat, and contains the germs
of the castellated structures fore and aft, which, as we shall see
afterwards, attained to the most exaggerated dimensions.
In the case of the Sandwich ship these castles were not
incorporated with the structure of the vessel; they were merely
elevated positions for the use of the archers and men-at-arms, and
were mounted on columns, and were probably removable.
We can also learn from the engraving that the practice of furling
sails aloft was practised at that time. Fig. 29 is the seal of
Dover, and dates from the reign of Edward I. (1284 a.d.). It does
not show much progress over the Sandwich boat of nearly fifty73
years earlier, but we may notice that the castles are more
developed and of a more permanent character. This vessel also
possesses a bowsprit.
Wooden Sailing Ship History http://woodensailingshiphistory.tumblr.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinque_Ports Ship's
Boats The reliance of sailing
ships on the wind for propulsion meant that boats were needed for
many reasons - for carrying men ashore, for moving the ship by
means of cables and anchors, for communicating between ships (and
between ship and shore), and for bringing stores and water aboard.
Several types of ship's boats were required and each had a
separate function or use. The largest boat was the launch which
was well adapted for carrying heavy weights. A barge was narrower,
and often longer than a launch, and was intended mainly for rowing
- and was the preferred vessel for carrying naval officers ashore
and transferring officials parties. A pinnace was slightly smaller
than a barge, and had fewer oars. Cutters were good sea boats,
clinker built, and an indispensable part of every ship's
equipment. Most ship's boats were
designed for both rowing and sailing, though, in general, some
were more suitable at one than the other. Pinnaces and barges were
used primarily for rowing, while cutters were better at sailing.
Captains often added other types of boats according to size and
availability - these could include a jollyboat (which was
essentially a small cutter) and a gig. The larger boats were
stored in the waist of the ship, while cutters and jollyboats were
stowed near, or suspended from the stern on davits where they
could be released easily (and quickly in the case of an
emergency). Lachlan Macquarie was familiar with all types of
ship's boats, including a fortunate escape from drowning in a
pinnace while being rowed ashore at Abushehr in the Persian Gulf
on 16 April 1807.
Types of Ship's Boats.
Boat:
any small open craft without decking and propelled by oars,
sometimes assisted by a small lugsail on a short mast. Gig:
a light, narrow ship's boat, built for speed. Jollyboat:
a small ship's boat, used for a variety of purposes.
It was clinker-built, propelled by oars, and was normally hoisted
on a davit at the stern of the ship. Longboat: the largest ship's boat. Pinnace: a type of ship's boat which was rowed
with eight oars (later increased in length to take sixteen oars). Tender: a vessel employed to assist or serve
another, an auxiliary vessel. Whaleboat: the name given to an open boat, pointed
at both ends so that it was convenient for beaching either on the
bow end or the stern.
Used under oars, and had no rudder - steered by an oar over the
stern.
The whaling ship, according to its size, carried as many as six or
eight whaleboats. Whaler: the name used for the vessel, with its
complement of whaleboats, which sailed to catch whales with
hand-thrown harpoons. Wherry: a light rowing boat used chiefly on rivers
for the carriage of passengers and goods; also a shallow single
sail boat indigenous to the Norfolk broads (East Anglia).
The Sydney Gazette and New South
Wales Advertiser 24 July, 1803, page 4.
NOTICE.
EARLY on Thursday Morning last a
WHALE-BOAT was taken from the ship ALBION Captain BUNCKER,
supposed to be by an English Lad about 18 years of age,
belonging to the said Vessel, as he has been ever since missing.
Any Person who will cause the said
Boat to be returned to the Vessel shall receive Gratuity of TWO
POUNDS Sterling. And Notice is hereby given, that if
after this public Advertisement, the said Boat should be
detained, the Parties offending therein will be prosecuted with
the utmost Rigour. Trove
1803 'Classified Advertising.', The Sydney Gazette and New South
Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), 24 July, p. 4, viewed 9
October, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article625692 The Sydney Gazette and New South
Wales Advertiser 31 July, 1803, page 3.
A
Punt, or Lighter is now nearly compleated in the Dock Yard, at
the Order of His EXCELLENCY, to be used in bringing round Timber
for the use of Government. The planking is chiefly of English
deal ; the floor measures 36 feet in length, and upwards of 11
in breadth. The construction of the vessel
appears thoroughly adapted to the purpose for which it is
intended, and is likely to be productive of a considerable
saving of labour to Government. ... The Albion's Whale-boat, advertised
in our last Week's Paper to have been taken away from the ship
on the morning of the 11th ult. was picked up the following day
by the Bee Colonial vessel, with the lad on board mentioned to
be missing. Trove 1803 'SYDNEY.', The Sydney Gazette and New South
Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), 31 July, p. 3, viewed 9
October, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article625702
1838
Artist unknown: The Whale Boats starting at the Tasmanian
Anniversary Regetta.
F980 / A (Mitchell Library Printed Books Collection)
Illustrated Sydney News: Sham Naval Fight -
Sydney Harbour, 23 April 1881. The force engaged
during the day included the first and second whalers of the Alert (4 guns, 220 men) and the Beagle, Conflict, Renard, and Sandfly (all 1 gun and 30 men). http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64974245
Great
White Fleet at Farm Cove, Sydney Harbour,
1908.
Note the whalers moored
in the foreground
for shore-to ship transfers.
Postcard: Farm Cove,
Sydney Harbour.
Star Photo Company Copyright. Courtesy
Powerhouse Museum Collection on Flickr.
The competition for service cutters was
won by H.M.A.S. Encounter, H.M.A.S.
Australia being second, and H.M.S. New Zealand
third.
In the officers' race (galleys) the New Zealand
finished in both first and second places.
In the Service Montague 'Whalers event
H.M.S. Penguin was first, the New Zealand
second, and H.M.A. Submarine 15 third.
The Sydney
Morning Herald 27 January 1923,
page 12.
SERVICE RACES. MONTAGUE
WHALERS and WHALERS WITH FINS. Service
Conditions. H.M.A.S.
Tattoo, Ł5 . 1 R.A.N.R.,
Ł3. 2
SERVICE
CUTTERS UNDER CANVAS-NO FINS.
R.A.N.R. No. 1 (C.P.O. Butler) ... 1
,
R.A.N.R. No. 2 (C.P.O. McGovern) ... 2.
Service Cutters, open to crews from H.M.A.S. Tingira and Naval Cadets from the
R.A.N.R.
No. 3 boat
finished first, after a foul at the finish with R.A.N.R. Cadets' No. 2, but the
event was declared no race, owing to the judge's boat
being out of position.
SERVICE WHALERS (PULLING FIVE OARS).
R.A.N.R. Boat No. 1 (Petty Officer
H. Foote, cox) ... 1
N.S.W, Fire Brigade, No. 2 boat (E. Armstrong, cox) ... 2
N.S.W. Fire Brigade, No 1 boat (W. Richardson, cox) ... 3
SERVICE CUTTERS (DOUBLE BANKED).
Open to Navy League Sea Cadets. Balmain 1 Drummoyne 2
Won easily.
Only two boats started. Trove
1923 'SERVICE RACES.', The
Sydney Morning Herald (NSW
: 1842 - 1954), 27 January, p. 12, viewed 15 October, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16025965 . SHF Ships and Other Vessels IndexL – M
HMAS Castlemaine, 1942. http://hmascastlemaine.org.au/ Commissioned: 17 June 1942.
Decommissioned circa 1970.
MMAPSS grants awarded in 2010–201: The Maritime Trust of
Australia, Castlemaine VIC $8,000 For the restoration of
the 27-foot Montague whaler woodenpulling boat.
1947 Newcastle Morning Herald: Montagu Whaler from "HMS Reliance" 9th September 1947. Newcastle's 150th
anniversary celebrations.
In September 1797, Lt. John
Shortland entered and named the Hunter River, returning from
an unsuccessful search for a party of escaped convicts who had
commandeered the Cumberland,
one of the colony’s only two sailing vessels.
As two of the convicts, John Tarwood and George Lee, had
previously escaped by boat to Port Stephens, Govenor Hunter
ordered two "row boats" to be sent north.
It is possible that the boats were from HMS Reliance, which had
returned to Sydney on 26 June 1797 from the Cape of Good Hope,
carrying stores ordered by Governor Hunter and merino sheep
imported by John Macarthur.
Hence the re-naming of the Montagu Whaler in the Newcastle
150th Anniversary Parade of 1947. Alternatively, at least
one boat may have been
the Governor's whaleboat, of built locally from native cedar and banksia,
this vessel was later
commanded by George Bass in his exploration of
the Southern Pacific coast of Australia at the end of the year.
See: Paul Farnill: The
Background to John Shortland’s Discovery-
John Hunter’s Missing List. https://coalriver.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/the-background-to-john-shortland-discovery-john-hunter-missing-list/ Also Parade
featuring Lieutenant Shortland and crew on HMS Reliance
during 150th Celebrations of 1797 European Discovery of
Newcastle, 1947. https://www.flickr.com/photos/uon/8412968418/in/photostream
The Navy- Australia's
Maritime Journal Volume 13 Number 3, March 1950, page 30.
ANMM: Vaughan Evans: Sydney pilot vessel Captain
Cook
and the pilot boat's [whaleboat] Nantucket Sleigh Ride from the S.S. New Australia, 20 February 1955.
Vaughan Evans
reported: About 6 o'clock the CAPTAIN COOK pilot vessel came
... around our stern to the stbd, leeward, side and when off
the bow dropped our pilot in a whaleboat manned by two oarsmen
and a steerer. He was soon aboard, the bow oarsman kept hold
of the usual loop of rope put over the side, its after end was
dropped, and while the CAPTAIN COOK was manoeuvring he had a
'Nantucket Sleigh Ride' of sorts.
"Nantucket
Sleigh Ride' was the name of the "ride"
of the crew of a whaleboat when secured to a active whale.
Bible Society Australia: Their Sacfifice http://www.theirsacrifice.com/story?id=10 In July 1963, 26 midshipmen graduated from the Royal
Australian Naval College, HMAS Creswell, Jervis Bay,
NSW. They presented a Bible to the College chapel with their
names inscribed in it. Excited to begin their Naval careers, none suspected that
within the year eight would die. In October, HMAS Sydney and HMAS Anzac
were in Queensland’s Whitsunday Islands conducting sailing
exercises in the ship’s boats, 27-foot (8.2 m) Montague Whalers. They sailed from Sydney, around Hook Island and returned,
about 65 km. The fastest boat would win the Captain’s prize. ... The fourth boat left early on Thursday 17th. An hour after its expected return, a search crew set out
but found no sign. A full search and rescue operation began on Friday 18th,
assisted by RAAF Neptunes. They searched for three days. At midday on Monday 21st, the crew of the Anzac found the
missing whaler, submerged with two dead bodies trapped beneath
it. The other bodies were never found.
Four of the dead belonged to the midshipman class of 1963. But another tragedy awaited them. Many were transferred to HMAS Voyager.
RAN Montagu Whalers at Old Gaffer's Day, Sydney, 19th October 1975. Navy News,24th October 1975,
page 13.
Six
engineering students crewed the 50-year-old
whaler N1
in the recent Old Gaffers race on Sydney Harbour
recently. Photo by John Gardner.
Sunday
19th October, despite the blustery weather, was a great day on
the harbour on theoccasion
of
the "Old Gaffer's Day", organised by thee Sydney Amateur
Sailing Club. Thirty
four
vessels which hoist a mainsail spar assembled during the [morning?]
at the Sydney Amateur Yacht Club, Mosman Bay, for the annual
gathering and race. The boats were a
joy tosee,
many dating back to the 19th century, with a profusion of
running rigging and
exquisite varnished spars, coach houses, cockpit coamings and
trimmings. Many
crews celebrated the occasion by dressing in Edwardian
clothes.
The
RAN was represented by the last two Montagu Whalers remaining
in service (permanent Navy Service) and located at the RAN
Sailing Centre, Rushcutter. Whaler
N1 was sailed by the Command Sailing Officer
and crewed by the staff of the
Sailing Centre and two apprentices from HMAS NIRIMBA; N2 which
had just completed a refit by the yachtsmen of HMAS PLATYPUS,
stole the show.
The
whalers were moored in a place of honour along the jelly of
th- Sydney Amateur Club between the beautiful old timers
KELPIE and BETTY on one side and the old steam launch
EDELWEISS on the other.
(EDELWEISS would have brought fond memories toiany old sailor
who manned steam picket boats to
pre-war days).
The
race started at
1430 in blustery
North Easterly wind, just ideal for the whalers, but
unfortunately it eased for quite a while which favoured the
yachts against the whalers. The
wind rose again toward-the end of the race, providing some
excellent sailing. Although
the Montagu whalers were well down the order of
finishing the day was a success to thecrews;
N1 sailed by CPO
Tony Wynne was the dear winner in the private duel between the
whalers.
Diary of Surgeon
George Bass: Discovering the
Westernmost port of NSW
... 5th January
1798.
Most of the night my crew of six, all
volunteers from my ship HMS Resolution, had lain
dozing across their oars.
Because we had dropped the sail, we had to dip our
oars regularly to keep our 28-foot whaleboat in a safe
position offshore. I kept us about
two miles from the entrance because the surf over the
breakers or sand bars made it too dangerous to row
through the two headlands at night.
An outgoing tide, and a southerly wind blowing into
the entrance making a very boisterous lot of
whitecaps.
Extremely dangerous for us if our boat was made to
surf by the following wind into waves hitting our bow. We thought it
was the entrance to an estuary, and although we could
see the heads from about twenty miles away, it took us
long time in the afternoon to make the entrance.
It was dusk before we arrived. I had got my people to
row me into a small beach where I jumped ashore,
climbed the rise and observed the estuary entrance and
a large body of water beyond.
I decided to go into the estuary on a rising tide
that, I calculated from all my observations in the
last 24 hours, would be about 3 a.m. We are hungry
and our bellies are rumbling.
Our food is low, no fresh food at all! I decided we
should all eat a ship's biscuit, probably full of
weevil worms, and drink a beaker of brackish water.
My people won't complain about the water so long as
they can taste the dash of rum in it!
Even the rum is getting low. I must carefully measure
it out. One sailor
complained that the ship's biscuit hurt his teeth too
much.
At 24 years of age I was proud to be ship's surgeon on
HMS Reliance and I thought I could cure most ills, and
cut out or cut off most diseased parts. Not this one
though.
I inspected his mouth and suggested I would have to
cut out two teeth.
He seemed to trust me, then I said I had left my
medical instruments back in Sydney Cove, but I could
use the whaleboat mallet and one of his mate's
cutlasses to dig his teeth out.
He instantly told me he would prefer to just suck on
the biscuit to soften it.
The rest of the people laughed and laughed. We are a
very close bunch of fellows, from my ship. We get on
well. We left Port
Jackson at 6 p. m. Sunday 3rd December 1797, with the
encouragement and assistance of Governor Hunter, who
knew that my duties as ship's surgeon were very few
whilst my ship the Resolution was being repaired, and
I was very bored. How did I get
to this situation of being in charge of a whaleboat
and crew of six people on this exploration of the
coast to where no man had been before? It started on
my voyage out from England to Port Jackson.
I left England on February 15th 1795, and arrived at
Port Jackson in the Colony of New South Wales on
September 7th 1795. Captain John
Hunter had been appointed Governor of the Colony of
New South Wales.
The founding Governor, now Admiral Arthur Philip, has
retired a little while ago, and in his absence the
chief military officer of the New South Wales Corps
had filled in. Now all that changed because Captain
Hunter was appointed Governor by the Colonial
Secretary Lord Evan Nepean, to take all the powers of
the appointment and run the Colony as an extension of
English Government! On the voyage
out from England with an enormous amount of spare
time, Captain Hunter, who was the senior officer on
board, but not actively engaged in sailing the ship,
spent a lot of time reminiscing to Matthew Flinders
and myself, in regards to his naval career and sailing
experiences.
Particularly about the Colony of New South Wales, and
Norfolk Island.
The Indian, Bennelong, was also being returned to
Sydney.
What an enigma he is. Captain Hunter
fired our imagination with the possibilities of
unlimited exploration, being first, hardships,
failure, but always gaining knowledge.
Matthew in particular after his experiences in
fighting the French in the naval battle called The Glorious June,
and nearly dying, wanted to explore the unexplored in
Terra Australis and chart it for maps. I realised that
life without a challenge was merely an existence.
I will take all opportunities to explore the new land.
I clearly recall Captain Hunter telling us about the
early days of the settlement in Sydney.
The colony nearly starved to death. So Governor Arthur
Philip sent Captain Hunter to Cape Town to get fresh
supplies of food.
He decided to take a very dangerous and unpredictable
route. Instead of
battling winds in sailing down to the tip of Van
Diemen's Land and then westward to Cape Town at the
bottom of Africa, Captain Hunter sailed east to Cape
Horn and continued sailing east around the world to
Cape Town.
When his ship was loaded he continued sailing
eastwards to the bottom of Van Diemen's Land, then
northward to get to Sydney Cove.
So he actually sailed all the way around the world in
one direction, using the winds that blow in a
predominantly easterly direction.
Drake, Dampier and Cook had also sailed in those
latitudes of 35 degrees South to 55 degrees South.
Those latitudes regularly experienced freezing violent
seas and winds.
A
different view of the world: Captain Hunter sailed
clockwise from Port Jackson.
His ship HMS
Supply was a very unstable sailer, and when Captain
Hunter was at the southernmost tip of Van Diemen's
land on the way back to Sydney, a terrible storm blew
up.
The ship nearly tipped right over several times and
all aboard fully expected to drown. From Captain
Hunter's observations sailing north up the east coast
of Van Diemen's Land, he believed and hoped that a
strait of water might exist between Point Hicks NSW
and Van Diemen's Land, that would save two or three
weeks extra sailing time to Port Jackson, and might be
a much safer route and reduce the possibility of
shipwreck. There was a
shortage of men to carry out any kind of work, let
alone set off on expeditions taking other men and food
supplies away from the colony. However the Governor
saw that I was free and had previous sailing
experience to Cape Town and also exploring the
coastline to the south of Port Jackson.
He only had one boat available and that was the
whaleboat. He and I discussed the boat and decided
that for coastal exploration it was ideal so long as
we did not venture too far from shore. The Governor
wrote up my orders, and allowed us to depart for the
unknown.
Also note: Scott,
Ernest:English and French
navigators on the Victorian coast Victorian Historical
Magazine, Volume
2 Number 4, December 1912. George Bass's
whaleboat, illustration facing
page 155 and text pages156 to 158. Illustration:
Detail of engraving published in F. Peron, Voyage
de decouvertes aux terres australes ... historique
... Atlas, Paris, 1807, pl.38 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/117656
See 1912
Ernest Scott: George
Bass's Whaleboat.
Harry
& Valda Cole: Mr Bass's Western Port : The
Whaleboat Voyage Hastings-Western Port
Historical Society in conjunction with South Eastern Historical
Association, Hastings,
Vic.1997 http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/2933162
Cuthbertson, Bern: In the Wake of Bass and Flinders Bern and Jan Cuthbertson, Sandy Bay,
Tasmania, 2001. Cuthbertson re-enacted Bass' vovage in 1997 using
a whaleboat originally built to
re-enact the circumnavigation of Tasmania by Captain James Kelly
in 1815-1816.
Also see: James Kelly : Journal of the whale boat, the
Elizabeth, round Van deimens Land...in December 1815, 29 Jan.
1816, together with newspaper cuttings, 1921. http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=442863#
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bass Bass and Flinders Centre, George Town,Tasmania http://www.bassandflinders.org.au/#_=_
The Kenneth Dickenson ("KD") was built in 1929 for the Australian Navy
before finding her way to Tasmania, and then was purchased by
the 1st Tamar Sea Scouts.
The (restored) vessel was a gift from Ivan Dean MLC, and Comalco
Aluminium.
(Replica)
Tom
Thumb Constructed of Huon Pine by Don Brown
at Dover in Southern Tasmania. (Replica) Whaleboat
Elizabeth Constructed t of Huon Pine on a Celery
Top Pine keel, which has been used in re-enactments of Kelly’s
voyage since 1986. (Replica)
HM Colonial Sloop Norfolk
Constructed in 1998 by Bern Cuthbertson and his team of
volunteers at Ellendale.
The hull is Huon Pine and the mast and deck are made out of
Celery Top Pine.
Not a screw or a nail was used – trunnels, or treenails, hold
the vessel together. Surf Board – (Banana Board)
Built around 1963-65 by John Lunnon from Riverside, originally
for use at East Beach, Low Head.
It has a King Billy pine frame covered with marine ply and used
until mid-1980s.
The Shoalhaven News and South Coast
Districts Advertiser
Nowra, Saturday, 12 June 1920, page 2
Big day at JervisBay on Monday
next— visit of the Prince
of Wales.
The
Railway Department announces
in this issue the running of
cheap trains to Sydney and intermediate
stations in connection with the
visit of H. R.H. the Prince
of Wales.
Handbills giving full particulars
may be obtained from all station
masters.
Trove 1920 'LOCAL AND GENERAL.', The Shoalhaven
News and South Coast Districts Advertiser (NSW : 1891 -
1937), 12 June, p. 2, viewed 15 September, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112543985
The Telegraph Brisbane,
Tuesday 15 June 1920, page 6.
Prince of Wales. Visit to Jervis Bay. From Sir. John Sandes, Special
Representative of
the Australian Press .Association. - Sydney, June 15.
The
battle cruiser Renown
arrived at Jervis Bay at
1.30 p.m. yesterday I punctually to schedule
time, after a fair weather run from Melbourne;
which she left on Sunday morning at 6.30.
She entered Jervis Bay,
passing
between Point Perpendicular and Bowen
Island, in bright sunshine, with a fresh
south-westerly wind right ahead.
At the anchorage lay the light cruiserBrisbane flying the new,
flag of the Australian Naval Board at the main
mast.
The Prince of
Wales and Admiral Sir Lionel Halsey took
their places on the Renown's bridge and scanned
the new Admiralty flag through a
telescope.
The Brisbane flew the Australian flag on her
foremast, and on the jack-staff in
the bow.
She showed a white ensign at the stern, and
was dressed with signal flags
The Renown had the royal standard flying, also
the rear-admiral's flag, and a white
ensign.
The Australian naval yacht Franklin was
anchored near her.
The Brisbane's crew, who were lined
up on the deck, cheered as lthe Renown steamed in.
Saluting guns rung out over JervisBay, and
when the Prince left
the Renown in a launch for the
landing stage a royal salute was fired by both
ships, with alternate gnus.
As soon as theRenown
dropped anchor, Rear-admiral
Grant came aboard with his staff, and was
received by the Prince.
(From our other correspondents).
Sydney, June 15.
The Premier (Air. Storey) was in
communication with the Renown by
wireless yesterday, when he exchanged the
following messages with the Prince of
Wales.
"His Royal Highness, Prince of
Wales, on il.AI.55. Renown, Jervis Bay :
As Premier of New South Wales, I
desire most respectfully to welcome, your
Royal Highness to the shoresof ' the
mother Kttttc.
From all parts of the country, loyal atul
affectionate greetings await you.
YVo earnestly: wMi your Royal Highness may spend many
happy hoars with us and safely rel
urn lo tho Royal- household ' with
lasting .impressions of the loyalty and
goodwill of the people of Now South
Wales.
(Signed) Storey, Premlor."
'Fills reply, from (he Prince was
received by the Premier : —
" nnY much touched by your cordial
message of welcome, on behalf of New
South YValos
I am looking forward most
keenly to' my visit.
I offer thy sincere apologies for being a whole week
late.
(Signed). .Edward. Prince."
The Renown arrived in
Jervis Bay
punctually at 1.30 p.m. yesterday'
afternoon.
The warships received a great welcome.
His Royal Highness witnessed a football match, and
subsequently inspected the Naval College.
The Prince
finally addressed the naval
cadets.
Motoring will be indulged in
to-day.
MELBOURNE. June 15.
The Lieutenant -Governor (Sir Wi liam
Irvine) has received the following
message by wireless from the Prince of
Wales :
"I cannot pass Hie frontiers of
Y'ieioria without sending you a. message
of my deep appreciation .and
gratitude for the wonderful lime I have
hail.
I shall never forget my. first stay in
Melbourne, which welcomed' nic with, a
kindness find affection beyond any
thing ( was vain enough to expect.
1 also greatly enjoyed ray short
journey up country, and only wish 1 had time
to see much more.
My warmest thanks to your Excellency, tho
Premier, and Government of' Victoria, and
also to tho people of tile capital of
vour' State."
Sir William Irvine has despatched the
following reply :
"Allow me to convey to your Royal Highness
the grateful thanks of the people' of this State
for your extremely kind message of fare well
and the assurance that you have
awakened in their hearts deep and lasting
affection."
Trove 1920 'Prince of Wales.', The Telegraph (Brisbane,
Qld. : 1872 - 1947), 15 June, p. 6, viewed 15 September, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article179037040 The
Shoalhaven Telegraph
Nowra, Wednesday, 16
June 1920, page 2.
District Notes
Mr. T. Marriott, who tor
the day skippered one of the Huskisson launches, was the first
Nowra man to greet the Renown
and to cheer the Prince as the warship turned to enter
Jervis Bay on Monday.
The Renown was disappointing to
most people on Monday as to size, but cleared for action in a
naval engagement she would doubtless prove a formidable foe. She
represents a cash value of some Ł4.000,000 stg.
The Prince of Wales must
have wondered, when he saw the wide expanse of Jervis Bay and
its many miles of deep water, why the State and Federal
politicians had not made greater use of so magnificent port.
Messrs. Murray Bros. (Rissmore,
Conjola) and P. Connolly sent horses to the Naval College
for use by the Prince of Wales and his staff. Mr.
H. F. Halloran has received an assurance from the Prince of
Wales that he has approved the name 'Prince Edward Avenue'
being given to the main thoroughfare from the Crookhaven
embankment to the Heads. Those who were responsible for
the alteration in the arrangements for the Prince's visit
.to the Naval College, Jervis Bay' had absolutely no
consideration for the people of this district. H.R.H. cannot be held to be
responsible for the change of programme from.Tuesday to
Monday, but. the authorities who are to blame should be
severely reprimanded for so distinct a breach of faith with
people in these parts who were anxious to pay their respects
and duty to the representative of Royalty and the
King-to-be. Someone has badly blundered, and
the blunderer should be exposed and made to feel all the
ignominy he deserves.
At Sydney To-day From Sir. John Sandes, Special Representative of the Australian Press
.Association. -
H.M.A.S RENOWN; June
15 .
The Prince of Wales spent
the day quietly motoring and riding through the bush around
Jervis Bay, where wild flowers were growing luxuriantly, with
native flowering shrubs, flame-coloured bottle brush, pink and
white heather, the boronia in bloom, the wattle, blue
corrnflower, grass trees, and honeysuckle, which all flourish on
the shores on Jervis Bay. The Prince and party rode
through typically Australian bush scenes. A few full blooded
blackfellows still are to be found in this, region, and one of
them presented a boomerang to the Prince. During this afternoon a
hockey team and a Rugby football team from the Renown visited the Australian Naval
College, and played a match against the cadets, who won the
Rugby match by 19 points to 9, but were beaten in the hockev
match by 9 points to nil. The Renown's hockey team is very strong. It I includes one member
who has played for his county, and another who has played for
the Royal Navy on the hockey, field. The Renown sailed for Sydney to-night.
Cuthbertson,
Bern: In the Wake of Bass and
Flinders Bern and Jan Cuthbertson,
Sandy Bay, Tasmania, 2001.
Cuthbertson's re-enactment of Bass' voyage was completed in
the whaleboat Elizabeth,
originally built to re-enact James Kelly's circumnavigation of
Tasmania in 1815-1816.
Franklin Working Waterfront,
Tasmania: Montagu
Whaler update - slideshow, 2015. http://www.fwwatas.org/news.html The Living Boat Trust Inc
Franklin, Tasmania. A significant piece of naval
history ... this 27 foot naval whaler is one of the few
remaining examples of a once ubiquitous boat type. All major warships from Canada, Australia, New
Zealand and of course the British Navy would have used
them as ships boats from the 1890's right up to the
1960's. Whalers would have been on the scene at Gallipoli,
Jutland, Dunkirk, D-Day and Korea. http://lbt.rforster.org/about-us/latest-pictures-and-news/montaguewhalerjutlandcentenaryspecial
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich: Ships models- Service vessel; Whaler; Montagu
whaler. http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/67460.html
Scale: 1:36.
HRH The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) presented
this model to Mr R. H. Curran as coxswain of the winning
crew of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Inter-Port Whaler
Race, 1931.
The model comes with two small silver oars, one marked
‘R.H.Curram S Whaler 1931‘.
It is a nicely made trophy depicting a 27-foot Montague
whaler (circa 1931), still a standard boat in the Royal Navy
at the time of this race. They were used for service,
training and recreation.
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich: Service
vessel; Whaler; Montague whaler http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/68784.html Scale: 1:12.
A half longitudinal sectional model of a fully equipped
pulling and sailing service whaler (circa 1900), mounted on
crutches secured to a baseboard.
The hull is built in plank on frame fashion and is complete
with a variety of fittings including thwarts, floors,
gratings, mast tabernacle, copper buoyancy tanks and a
rudder with tiller.
It is quite probable that this model was made as a training
aid for teaching seamanship to naval cadets.
It is painted in the traditional battleship grey with
varnished wood on the gunwale and seating in the stern
sheets area.
Walter Cook and Son, Maldon,
Essex Walter Cook
established a Thames sailing barge building business in 1894
on the bank of the River Blackwater.
...
In 1907 Cooks were contracted by the Admiralty to build a
prototype of the newly designed Montague Whaler.
This resulted in many years of work on subsequent orders.
The yard built a hundred whalers during the second world
war, launching roughly one every three weeks.
Flickr:
Whaler race, Coxside: 27'
Montague whalers, c1947
Plymouth Libraries, Plymouth, UK https://www.flickr.com/photos/plymouthlibraries/2267920090
Commander Thomas Woodroffe, R.N: British Navy Summer Holiday,
1949. Kalgoorlie Miner
Western Australia, 10 January 1949, page 1.
THE BRITISH NAVY
PRIVATE SUMMER HOLIDAY
When the Admiralty
announced that the Home Fleet would carry out a summer
cruise this year it was news. But in normal times
three cruises a year was the natural order of things in
any fleet (writes Commander Thomas Woodroffe, R.N., in
'Tit-Bits'). In summer the Home
Fleet generally went to the north of these islands, the
Mediterranean fleet used to visit the eastern part of that
sea and on the way various exercises and manoeuvres were
carried out. But all anyone in
either fleet was thinking about was the most important
sporting event of the naval year- the annual pulling
regatta. The fleet normally
goes to some deserted landlocked harbour for this- to
Scapa Flow or in the Mediterranean to some Greek is land
which saw its last regatta in the days of Ulysses. Practically
everyone in the ship has some part in the regatta as there
is a race for every sort and kind- petty officers,
marines, sea men, boys- anyone under 18- stokers, cooks,
signalmen, bands men, down to veterans- usually four
bald-headed and rather heavy gentlemen in a skiff- and a
very popular race it generally is.
Commander
Overboard
I once saw a much feared and respected commander, who was
acting as cox'n in the veteran officers' race, disappear
over the stern in his excitement.. This he
considerately did just abreast of his own ship to the
delirious delight of his crew. His boat won, but
was disqualified for carrying underweight! The rivalry between
the ships gets keener as the regatta draws nearer. For weeks- the
crews have been away practising, starting at 5 in the
morning and going on until after dark- no practising, of
course, is allowed in working hours. The chances of the
crews are discussed every minute of the day. Boats from other
ships, away practising are watched and clock ed by
eagle-eyed experts from the mast-head and the times com
pared. Secret trials are held in some secluded bay; trials
in rough and smooth water; in different boats. During all this
preparation the boats themselves are taken in hand one by
one. Their spotless
enamel is burned off; they are planed down; the thwarts
and stretchers are adjusted. In every ship there
is always one particuar boat that is considered to be
better than the others. She is known as the
'flash' boat, and is given as much care and attention as a
Derby favourite. A squad of
volunteers scrape off her paint very carefully. She is planed and
sandpapered. Every night she is
covered with a tarpaulin and for a final touch an old
sailor appears with a bottle of some weird concoction
which he rubs lovingly into her timbers. He wouldn't give
away the recipe for all the tea in China. I once got as far
as learning that the mixture contained, amongst other
things, the whites of some canteen eggs and the old chap's
tot of rum, but the other ingredients are still a secret.
Two-Day Regatta
This brew is intended to make the boat slip more easily
through the water. Even if it does not
the crews who use the boat will race all the better for
thinking that it does. This all sounds as
if I was talking of those eggshells used in the 'Varsity
boat race, but a ship's cutter, which has a crew of 12,
weighs two and a half tons; so dope, however magical,
could hardly have much effect. The regatta takes
two days- about 22 races- and the ships anchor in two
lines and form a lane for the boats to come down. At half -past nine
to the minute the first race starts. Two miles away a
lot of black dots seem to be creeping nearer; then, as
their racing flags become visible, the cheering of the
ships farther down the line is picked up as the boats pass
each ironclad grandstand. Then, as the boats
pass the finishing line, there is a puff of smoke from the
flagship and the roar of a gun. A hoist of coloured
flags goes up, repeated by each ship giving the result and
time, and picket boats fuss round the finish tn nick ud
their exhausted racing crews and
tow them home. Losers are greeted
at the gangway with sympathetic applause, while winners
are met by cheers and 'See the Conquering Hero' from the
band. But the next race
has started by now, and so it goes on. There are points
for each race and the ship with the most wins the 'cock'-
a much coveted trophy. Sometimes the
winning of the cock depends on the very last race. I remember once at
Scapa Flow the Flagship, the Nelson, had to get a first and second in the last race of
all to beat her nearest rival, the Rodney. It was a whalers'
race for signal and wireless ratings. The four boats from
the two ships were well clear of the others and came down
the course almost in a straight line abreast. At the finish the
yelling died away and there was an expectant hush as the
flags ran up, and as they shook out in the light breeze
everyone saw that the Flagship had got it; and there
wasn't a couple of feet between the four boats. When the regatta
has been lost and won, the successful ship serenades the
rest of the fleet that evening. Her drifter hoists
a huge crowing cock (secretly made by hopeful carpenters
some time be fore) and with the band playing lustily but
uncomfortably in the bows, and crammed with hoarse
enthusiasts, every ship is visited, and cheers and jibes
exchanged.
Gruelling Races Ashore
But the shouting soon dies away. The boats are once
more dreams of shining enamel and spotless woodwork- the
apple of the commander's eye- and the marathon team has
started to practice. There is a trophy
for a cross country race in every Fleet, left by a
distinguished officer who was killed at the Battle of
Jutland. Each ship enters a
team of 30, so once a year as many as 33$erofts counto
runneia plough round the muddy wastes of
Northern Scotland, or cut their feet up and down the rocky
hills of Crete, over paths that are normally only used by
goats, or melt through three gruelling miles of steamy
jungle in Ceylon. The name of the
illustrious officer who initiated these trials has been
cursed in almost every country in the world.
I once had the misfortune to run in one of these contests
at Port Said. The course took us
out of the town through the Arab quarter and a new
experience in smells.
The flies forsook their usual pursuits and accompanied us
out into the desert and back.
Delighted crowds of Egyptian youngsters on donkeys or on
foot yelled at us in derision and spurred us on with quite
untranslatable remarks.
As we came down to the finish in that boiling sun, we felt
like the Iraelites after forty years of it, and thought
longingly of cool waters on board.
On the way back to the wharf after the race we were
pestered by tactless hawkers of Turkish delight— and I
don't think I've ever touched the stuff since.
On board, in the evenings- and that means any time after
four p.m.- the fo'c'sle is a busy place.
One or two men will be stretched out fast asleep -
watch-keepers making up for lost time; round them hop a
boxer and his spar ring partner, eagerly watched by a
couple of self-appointed trainers, full of advice; others
in leather jackets and visors are practising bayonet
fighting or fencing, while others pad cease lessly round
at a slow jogtrot runners keeping fit- dodging groups
yarning or playing cards, or scrubbing clothes.
Twice a day in harbour, where possible, the hands are
piped to bathe, and there are games of water polo.
Nets are rigged along side each ship and teams play home
and away matches.
The Big Splash
When the fleet is at sea in shark-free waters like the
Mediterranean, at four in the evening a wisp of bunting
will run up to the flagship's mast-head.
'Stop engines,' it reads.
As it is hauled down the ships slow up and ride sluggishly
in the swell. Another hoist of
flags goes up, 'Optional hands to bathe.' In a few seconds
everyone not on duty is in a bathing costume at the ship's
side. The lifeboat is
lowered and lies off in case any :one gets into
difficulties; then the signal in the flagship comes down
and there is a huge splash and shouts of joy as everyone
takes to the water. The water seems
fresher and more invigorating out at sea. It is a queer
feeling to be floating in the swell with the nearest land
two miles immediately underneath one. A boom is dropped,
that is. lowered so that its end is in the water and the
bathers can run up this on board again. After a quarter of
an hour op so, the warning signal goes up. As it comes down,
the bugler sounds the Retire, the lifeboat is hoisted at
the run by the dripping bathers who then hurry down to
tea. In a minute or two
the fleet is on its way again. As for games like
football oi cricket, the sailor plays these wherever there
is a flat piece oi ground, but he doesn't seem tc need
playing fields to keep himself fit. He has the
priceless gifts of never being bored and can make
amusement for himself whatever the surroundings. And it is largely
due to this, I think, that the sailor is so efficient and
so happy.
Ben Pester: Just Sea and Sky: England to New Zealand the
Hard Way. Bloomsbury, UK,
2010,
Chapter 2: Joining Up.
Page 15
Chapter illustration [Montagu Whlaer]
Page 17 [Circa 1950s, 1.]
They were interesting days and rewarding ones. My sailing plans
were coming to fruition and I was enjoying serving in [HMS]Eagle. (2)
She
was very much under scrutiny throughout the fleet and her
performance closely watched. An occasion for this was the Home
Fleet regatta held at Invergordon, the centrepiece of this being
highly competitive intership whaler racing. Ships carried the Montague
whaler as their sea boats, these being slung out in their davits
and ready for immediate use at sea as safety boats for such
emergencies as man overboard.
Twenty-seven foot long, clinker
built of wood and with no engine, they were pulled by five oars. This was a carry-over from
an era when manpower was considered more reliable in an
emergency, when the chips were really down, than this newfangled
motor power. Additionally equipped for
sailing with a standing lug yawl rig, they were used both as
working boats and for recreation. They came into their own
at regatta times and, being of standard design, provided keen
competitive racing. Each ship entered pulling
crews to represent individual departments, including wardroom
officers' crews. Rivalry was intense, and
winning was of great importance to the ship's complement, from
the commanding officer down.
Because of her status, in no ship
within the fleet was it of more importance to win than in Eagle. This was doubly so for
Hill-Norton. To win the regatta was not
only a litmus test of the organisation and training given the
crews, but a highly visible indication of the ships spirit and
morale. A large measure of this
was generally considered to be attributable to the executive
officer. Success in the regatta
could only serve to assist him up the promotion ladder. Ours took a keen interest
in the training of the
Page18 various crews, with a
particular focus on the wardroom crew, of which I was a
member, pulling at number three. Having him as our cox,
we were to feel the full effects of this interest, with
training sessions at every opportunity, the ships routine
being made to suit. Taking it one stage
further, out of his own pocket he had arranged to be made for
each of us Nelson-era sailors' outfits, and for himself an
officers rig of the times, complete with cocked hat. We had no option but to
win. The great day came and
late in the forenoon our moment of truth was upon us. Over the ships broadcast
system came the pipe:
' 'Away wardroom racing
whalers crew, Man your boat!" Down the gangway we
filed to be met with a no-nonsense look on the face of our
cox. We pulled out to the
starting line and went on to win. The ship, moreover, won
the regatta overall. Hill-Norton was on his
way up the promotion ladder and we had helped to put his foot
on the next rung up. He was to end up Admiral
of the Fleet Lord Hill-Norton, and I, for one, was happy for
him.
It was party time in the
wardroom and quite a party it was too. The commander being the
president of the mess meant there was little difficulty in
keeping the bar open. Late in the evening
someone was heard to remark, ''Anyone seen the commander
recently?" No one had, so a manhunt
was mounted. In due course, there,
behind an anteroom settee, was a recumbent figure, flat on its
back with a happy smile on its face. As the winning crew we
were given the honour of carrying its owner up to its cabin
and putting it to bed. It was a kinder
variation on the traditional practice of the successful crew
throwing their cox over the side. It had been a good day
for the commander, as it had been for the rest of us. Next day it was business
as usual.
Pester
possibly recalls the Review of the Fleet, Invergordon, Scotland, 27–28 May 1957. 1. HMS Eagle
was one of Britain's first post-WW2 aircraft carriers,
launched in 1946, and served 1951-1974] googlebooks.com Just Sea and Sky: England to New Zealand the Hard
Way Film British Navy sailing a Montagu Whaler, Malta, 1955, in
three parts. youtube.com: uploaded by saab223,on 14 May 2008.
A big warship would have
carried a number of different open boats.
One of these is well known because of its later use by sea
training organisations:
The Montagu or Montague whaler was quite similar to the gig, a
rowing-sailing boat about 6' wide, but lighter and shorter at 24'
or 27' long.
Both the naval whalers and 30' gigs were carried on the decks of
warships.
They were used to go from ship to shore, and for training in
seamanship, rowing and sailing, and as service boats in dockyards.
The Story of the Painting
It is March in the early 30s and a lively day in Plymouth
Sound with a fresh breeze. A Royal Navy Montague Whaler is in
its element slicing through the choppy seas of wind against
tide, spray sluicing over the lea side, shortly they will
harden up into the wind and beat up past Cremyll into the
Hamoaze. Beyond them, under the craggy outcrop of Drake's
Island, is the newly completed Armadillo under steam, with the
helmsman enjoying the full benefit of the elements, whilst his
passengers exchange pleasantries in the relative shelter of
the aft well deck. In
the 1890's the Montague Whaler was adopted by the Royal Navy
as a general purpose sea boat being named after Admiral
Montague who was responsible for its development. Either 25 or
27ft long they were used throughout the fleet for more than
150 years. They were excellent sea boats and as lifeboats have
made voyages of thousands of miles. Naturally the Navy raced
them with ferocious competition between ships and shore bases
for the trophy in the form of a cockerel, so that the winner
could have the accolade of being called the "cock o' the fleet". The
Armadillo was built for the Mount Edgecombe Estate in 1926, to
be used as a ferry between the Estate and Admiral’s Hard. It
had a teak lined cabin for the family and upholstered seats,
elsewhere were slatted seats for the general public, and the
very same boat and the same seats are still in use today. Now
renamed the Northern Belle, after almost 80 years she still
plies her way between Admiral's Hard and the Mount Edgecombe
estate as the Cremyll Ferry.
keyhavenpotterer, 02-05-2015:
The British and American 'Whaleboats'
were used from ships for whaling.After the whaling finished, the usefullness
of the type was acknowledged by the RN, who often kept a 'whaler'
on board for sail training, R&R, racing, teamwork development
with some notable voyages too. Basically for the people on a RN
ship who like boats, to get off the ship and have some fun in. The
RN wanted its crews to still know how to sail a boat in the age of
power. The type became classified as 'Montagu Whalers' after
Admiral Montagu who wanted them in use. They are very well
regarded. The sail plan was slightly different from the
whaleboats, for a different focus.
Dick
Wynne:1943 Montagu Whaler,
intheboatshed.net http://intheboatshed.net/2009/03/27/1943-montagu-whaler-good-condition-for-sale-in-london/
Vancouver is an ex-Royal Navy ship’s boat, a 27ft 6in type K Montagu whaler, built in 1943.
Construction is mahogany and larch on oak, with gunwales,
thwarts etc in solid teak.
Equipment includes 5
matching 15ft spruce Admiralty oars, full sailing rig –
lug main, jib and mizzen, two paddles (for tight spots), and an Admiralty pattern anchor.
The Montagu Whaler At the same time the
great navies of the world were developing large fleets
of ships which needed a wide range of ship's boats. Many
of them adopted the whaleboat or whaler as the smallest
ship's boat, that could be hoisted on board by hand
rather than by crane.
In the Nineteenth Century the Royal Navy carried only
fairly primitive whaleboats, lightly rigged and without
centre-boards.
At the end of the century Admiral Montagu modernised the
type, fitted a centreboard, added rocker to the keel and
the ketch lug-rig, and created the best known of all
ship's boat, the Montagu whaler, which was built to his
design at the height of Empire in Hong Kong, Bombay,
Malta, the Carribean and of course in contracted
boatyards around the coasts of Britain: a truly
international open boat.
The Montagu whaler was first
designed in two lengths, 24 and 27 feet, and was the smallest
member of a fleet of ship's boats which, on a capital ship,
included the Captain's Gig (30 feet) the 32-foot Cutter and a
variety of Pinnaces at over 40 feet and rowed with 12 oars
each side!
In 1990 they (Charles
Street and Roger Gould) had rowed a Montague Whaler from the
Houses of Parliament in London to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. A
Montague Whaler is a clinker built rowing boat which is 27'
long, weighing in at 27 cwt, and capable of supporting 27
persons in and emergency. The
Royal Navy had advised that the trip would take ten days to
complete if the boat was crewed by fit people rowing 24 hours
a day, and that they would need to take at least 27 spare oars
as they (The Royal Navy) break them at an alarming rate. In
the event, the teams from the Metropolitan Police Force who
took part finished in an astonishing five and a half days
exactly! Moreover,
they did not break any oars at all.
The Montague Whaler Written by
Bernie Bruen (Later commander RN)
Well your lacings are frayed And your
sheets disarrayed And your
travellers jammed at the yard You've lost
crinkle and bone And your
planking is thrown And the grease
in your pintle's gone hard Well your
garbut strake's split And your
stretchers don't fit And your
paintwork's beginning to peel Your gunnels
have slipped And your
tiller's unshipped And the
deadwood's adrift from your keel They once
sailed you proud Sang your
praises out loud The pride of
the fleet that you served No more will
they shout As they bring
you about Is this the
reward you deserve? For your
legend's been told By the sailors
of old Of the lives
that you saved from the sea You're the
last galley 'ots You've been
left here to rot Now who's
going to save you for me? When you shake
out your reef Take the wind
by its teeth And you sail
into history and song Though they've
thrown you away Please recall
what I say Forgive us for
being so wrong So away with
your kelson And away with
your yard And away with
your mizzen and main For the days
of the Montague Whaler Are the days
we shall not see again
Hi
Folks, Glad to see there are
still people interested in the Montague Whaler. I wrote the song after
passing the 'dead Boat pound', just inside the dockyard gate in
Pompey, where I saw a large number of these once well-loved
boats left to rot. That night I woke with
the words in my head and quickly scribbled them down and they
were still there the next morning. The song has not changed
since. Shep [Woolley] recorded
it on his album Goodbye Sailor (or was it Songs
for Oars and Scrubbers?) and still sings it to this day. I have come across it
sung all around the world and it is published in the latest
edition of the Oxford Book of Sea Songs - Boxing
the Compass. Apart from the Montagues
upon which I lavished much time in the RN, I once owned (saved)
the Montague Swan, last heard of somewhere in Cornwall and I
hope still going strong. I was once asked for
permission to sing the song by a well known Folk singer and my
reply was then and is now, "Songs are for singing." - Bernie Bruen.
Also see:
http://www.shepwoolley.co.uk/
(Shep should not be
confused with Sheb
Wooley, famous for his recording The Purple
People Eater of 1958)
New Zealand
Paul Mullings: Montagu Whaler Sailing Regatta, Auckland ,
c1960. http://intheboatshed.net/2009/04/08/racing-montagu-whalers-off-auckland/ The New Zealand forces used to hold a regatta,
at the end of which they challenged a team of
representatives from the Auckland Yachting Association to a series raced in the whalers.
Details of RNZ Navy Montagu
Whalers and 32 ft cutters.
In 1990 the Navy disposed of all 14 remaining wooden
boats.
Illustration:
Several photographs of
whalers and cutters, and plans of both types.
New Zealand Navy Montague Whaler, Tamaki, Motuihe,
1958. ABZ 0064 Photograph courtesy of
Andrea Hemmins Photographic Archivist
- National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy. www.nzdf.mil.nz
Picton Men’s Community
Shed, NZ. Images: 27 foot Montague Whaler being restored – Colin King
checking Bills progress and Ken busy sanding and varnishing oars. http://menzshed.org.nz/south-island/upper-si/picton-mens-community-shed/ NZ
Montagu Whaler the star of BBC documentary, 2015.
A Montague Whaler was used in the BBC's recreation of the fight
for survival after wreck of whaleship Essex, a 238 ton vessel that was sunk in
the South Pacific in 1819.
The Essex was twice rammed by an aggressive sperm
whale, the second blow fatally holing the ship
below the waterline. Following the sinking of the Essex,the
crew manned three whaleboats and, fearing the
cannibalistic natives of the western Pacific
islands, set sail for South America.
After
a month at sea they landed on a small island, but a lack of
water and food saw 20 men set sail again leaving 3 volunteers
behind to await rescue. The three left behind on the island
were rescued and, after 3 months afloat and travelling 3500
miles, one whaleboat was found , the five crew only surviving
by resorting to cannibalism
Herman Melville who used
the story of the attack on the Essex
as the basis for The Whale,
or Moby Dick, published in 1851..
Few
Montague whalers survive now, but this boat, number 235, built
in Devonport, Auckland in 1984 was modified for her TV debut.
Yachting
Monthly
http://www.yachtingmonthly.com/news/nz-whaler-the-star-of-bbc-documentary-19768 Canada (and Ireland) 27ft
type K Montagu whaler
Kevin McNeill
April 3, 2009 at 5:40 pm When I joined the
Canadian Navy in 1965 there were still a few of the
wooden Montagues around and for many years after the RCN
used a fiberglass version. I can still
remember sailing across Esquimalt harbour under full
sail in a wind we really shouldn't have been sailing in
with four young officer cadets hung out over the weather
rail trying to keep her upright. What a hoot!
Art Van Veen
Have sailed wooden and fibreglass
whaoers since 1974.
Am an officer in the cadet instructor cadre in 2012, still
inspriing cadets and officers in the Royal Canadian Sea Cadet
program in Canada.
I relaay need the construction and production plans to build
more of the GRP fibreglas vessels to continue the program.
any and al assistance greatly appreciated. Yours aye, Art Van Veen
and Dave Keeley
October 18, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Great memories of first sailing a Montague with the Irish Navy
Reserve of Dublin in the late 70's, they were a great sea boat
with a good crew.
Don, St Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada 20-08-2011: When HMCS Sackville was being restored in Halifax, the
shipwright apprentices in Esquimalt were given the project of
building a traditional wooden whaler for her.
It was a fine job and the whaler is now displayed on board
Sackville. So the skills and techniques still survive. The whaler as a seaboat survived
(in fibreglas form) in the RCN until the last of the steam
destroyers paid off in the mid 1990's. As an officer cadet I
spent many hours in whalers, pulling and sailing. We became very
adept at rigging them for sailing. They also had a well for an
outboard motor which came in handy at times. World Naval Ships Forums http://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/showthread.php?t=262 Also see: HMCSSackville https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMCS_Sackville_(K181) United States Arthur B. Cassidy:The
Standard Navy Boats
Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, NY (1898)
Hichborn, Philip: Standard
Designs for Boats of the United States Navy
GPO, Washington (1900)
Includes steam cutters, launches, cutters, whaleboats, gig
whaleboats, barges, dinghies, balsa boats and punts.
A definitive work on small boat building
The Royal Navy Whaler 3 in 1 . Pictures borrowed from the www.nmm.co.uk -
collections -model boat collections. "Full hull model of a motor and sail
whaler (1960), built at a scale of 1:12.
The model is decked, equipped and rigged, with the sails set. On
the base are plaques inscribed ‘27ft Motor Whaler Sea Boat with
its regatta rig’ and ‘3 in 1 Whaler scale 1" equals 1'
Model by the ship department’.
Also on the base is the number ‘55’. Used as an all-purpose sea-boat by
the Royal Navy, the whaler replaced the traditional Montague
27ft pulling and sailing type in the 1960s. Although the types
are very similar, the three in one is fitted with a petrol
engine, which increased its efficiency in performing its primary
role as a sea-boat.
Whalers were also used as recreational boats by the Navy both
for leisure and racing, hence the regatta rig on this model."
Dan Miller
12-21-2007:
The Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, NY where there are a
bunch [of whalers] on display, taking up half of the small craft
building, and an additional half-dozen or more in the skiff
livery (rowing and sailing versions) for museum visitors to use. I expect they will be featured in
the museum that is being developed on the Canadian side as well.
- http://www.abmgan.org/
robin burnham
04-25-2008:
I served my time as a boatbuilder in a small boatyard
behind the Naval college, mainly on 27’ whalers, 25’ motor
cutters and 16’ fast motor boats which were pigs to plank as
they had a very sharp turn around the first mould. The Whalers were lovely boats to
work on, English Elm clinker planking, American Elm Timbers and
thwarts etc; I am in the process of building a
model to the same scale as the gig. 14 planks per side. I hold a
copy of an original tendering specification, and plans. There were two whalers in the
service, 27’ "K" Montague & 25’ "L" The Montague was rowed with 5
oarsman, 3 one side two the other, (naturally you might say),
but could be rowed double banked although this lost you a lot of
leverage. I have seen some whalers with the
cappings not swelled out over the crutch plate position, and
small cheek pieces fitted on to cover the swell pieces, this was
on a mahogany whaler which was probably built in Malta. The overseer in this country would
not let you do that. The capping had to run in one piece
from bow to stern, over lapping the swell pieces. This was obviously to stop moisture
getting down behind the swell pieces.
r.blackney
@ flickr: 27 foot, 1943 Montague Whaler
undergoing restoration at the Blackney Boat Yard, [2010]-2012.
Ansel, Willits
D.: The Whaleboat : a study of
design, construction, and use from 1850 to 1970. Mystic Seaport
Museum, [Mystic,
Conn.], c1978. 147 pages,
illustrations.
For extracts and
illustrations, see: 1878 Willits
D. Ansel : The
Whaleboat.
Chatterton, E. Keble: Whalers and Whaling The story of the Whaling Ships up to the Present
Day. Fisher Unwin, London, 1925. Second edition 1925. J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia,1926.
Ph. Allan & Co. Ltd., London,
Nautilus Library No.16, 1930. P.
Allan, London, The
Deep Sea Library, 1930. W.F. Payson, New
York, [1931].
See
1925 Chatterton, E. Keble : Whalers
and Whaling.
Chatterton, E. Keble: Sailing Models- Ancient and Modern. Hurst and Blackett, London, 1934.
Crabb,
Peter: Jervis Bay and St Georges
Basin 1788-1939 : An Emptied Landscape. Lady Denman
Heritage Complex & Maritime Museum
PO Box 123 Huskisson NSW 2540, 2007 76 pages,
illustrations, maps.
Cuthbertson, Bern: In the wake of Bass and Flinders 200 years on : the story of
the re-enactment voyages 200 years on in the whaleboat Elizabeth and the
replica sloop Norfolk
to celebrate the bicentenary of the voyages of
George Bass and Matthew Flinders. Bern and Jan
Cuthbertson, Sandy Bay, Tasmania, 2001. 321 pages,
illustrations, maps.
Gatty,
Harold: The Raft Book. Lore of the
Sea and Sky George Grady, New York, 1943.
Newton, John: A Savage History : Whaling
in the Pacific and Southern Oceans. NewSouth
Publishing, Sydney, 2013. 310 pages, black
and white and colour illustrations.
Scott, Ernest:English and
French navigators on the Victorian coast Victorian
Historical Magazine, Volume 2 Number 4,
December 1912. George
Bass's whaleboat,
illustration facing page 155 and text
pages156 to 158. Illustration: Detail
of engraving published in F. Peron, Voyage
de decouvertes aux terres australes ...
historique ... Atlas, Paris, 1807, pl.38 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/117656
Vader, John: Red Gold : the tree that built a nation. New Holland, Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.,
2002 240 pages, plates, illustrations, maps.
Previous editon: Red Cedar: the tree of
Australia's history. Reed, Frenchs
Forest, N.S.W., 1987.
These are either 25 foot or 27 foot yawl
rigged boats fitted with a drop keel.
They are clinker built and constructed of wych or sand
elm in England, or mahogany at Malta. The mainmast is stepped at
the second thwart, where it is held by an iron clamp
and set up by two shrouds and a forestay.
The mizzen is stepped abaft the stern benches through
a specially fitted crosspiece.
The sails consist of a stay sail, standing lug
mainsail and a small leg-of-mutton mizzen sail fitted
with a boom. A trysail is also provided for use as a
stormsail and as a spinnaker if desired.
The
fore halyards consist of a single whip and the main of a wire
pendant tailed with a whip.
A tack tackle is supplied for the mainsail. A tack tackle is supplied for the
mainsail.
The
foresheet consists of a single part, the mainsheet of a double
whip rove through bullseyes, and the mizzen sheet is rove
through a block on the stern post.
The mainsail is fitted with brails and the mizzen with a topping
lift.
Bearing out spars are provided and washboards only in the
earlier types of boats.
Whalers of recent construction have been built with an extra
strake in the hull, and this renders washboards unnecessary. In destroyers and sloops, where the
whaler may be required to lay out an anchor, a strong back is
supplied to fit from gunwale to gunwale across the boat.
I
think she should certainly have a centreboard.
Several of the smartest yachts' cutters use instead a
half-moon-shaped keel of galvanised iron, clamped on to the keel
of the boat.
I cannot see that this contrivance, which makes a boat useless
for anything but deep-water sailing, has any advantages of its
own over a centreboard, and its disadvantages are serious.
It makes it impossible to beach the boat, or to attempt
any landing-place when the water may be shallow, and whenever
the boat runs aground or hits a rock, as she is sure to do
sometimes when fishing or exploring, it is nearly certain to get
broken or bent; and whenever it is left behind, a boat of this
kind will cease to be very weatherly, and may even miss stays.
Moreover, it must be rather an awkward thing to put on and take
off when the boat is in the davits.
[Illustration:
Black Pearl's' cutter,
midship section.]
A wooden false keel of more
graduated shape, deep in the middle and tapering to nothing at
the ends, is a better contrivance, but it is open to some of the
same objections about landing, in a minor degree. It is hardly necessary at the
present day to combat the prejudice against centreboards.
But for many years there was a curious dislike and distrust of
them among British boat-sailers and builders.
They were excluded altogether from most regattas; and not one in
twenty of the boats that would have been vastly improved by them
were ever fitted with them.
They were regarded, for some mysterious reason, as unseaworthy,
unsportsmanlike, and unfair; and when the average boating man
found his craft beaten out of sight in going to windward by a
centreboard boat, he considered the discovery that she had a
centreboard a satisfactory explanation of his defeat, and seldom
drew the further conclusion that a centreboard was an excellent
thing. And yet, after nearly twenty-five
years' experience of them, I have never been able to discover
what the objections to them are. The case of the centreboard is
said to get in the way; but unless you want to load your whole
boat with very bulky cargo, I am unable to conceive what it can
get in the way of.
And the merits of a centreboard are many and obvious.
It enables you to combine the advantages of deep and shallow
draught.
You can run your boat up on a beach, and be holding your own to
windward against a deep-keeled yacht ten minutes afterwards. It
makes the most ordinary boat weatherly, smart, and handy to
steer. It gives you timely warning of shallow water, and the
only result of its touching the bottom or striking a rock is to
send it up into its case.
I have never had my centreboard either bent or broken by such
contact.
But it is well to have it lowered on a chain or wire rather than
on an iron shank, with a joint or two near the handle, as in
most of White's boats.
Because when the centreboard hits the bottom and is forced up
into the case, these joints will double up inside the case, and
the solid part of the shank be driven through the top of it;
which would be unpleasant for anyone who happened to be sitting
there. A centreboard, except in so far as
its weight makes ballast, does not make a boat stiffer, as the
uninitiated often suppose, but in the case of a broad, shallow
boat, rather the reverse, as it prevents her from being blown
away to leeward.
And in a boat such as is being here considered, it should not be
too heavy for one man to haul up.
It should be made of a thin sheet of galvanised iron.
