Submarine Museum Seeks a New Alliance

March 2009

 

The Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport Hampshire is home to HMS Alliance Britain's only walk- through WWII era submarine on display in the UK. The Alliance saw active service from 1947 until she was decommissioned in 1973. Alliance then served as a static training facility at HMS Dolphin , the submarine training depot, until she was transferred to the museum in 1978 and subsequently opened to the public as a visitor attraction in 1981.

 

The museum is now seeking former crew of the submarine Alliance to take part in a “personal testimony” project. The aim is to collect recollections to help convey to the visiting public what life onboard Alliance was really like.

 

Part of the forthcoming Heritage Lottery funded “ Alliance” restoration project will involve new innovative methods of interpretation. To make sure this is as accurate as possible, curatorial staff will be collecting information that will provide future generations with a unique resource of recorded first hand testimony. This will be collected directly from the men who served on the submarine.

 

Former submariners, officers or ratings, who served on HMS Alliance and who wish to register their interest in taking part in the project are asked to contact George Malcolmson (ext 226) or Debbie Corner (ext 234) from “personal testimony project team” (without obligation) at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum by telephone on: 02392 510354 or e mail at: archives@rnsubmus.co.uk

 

Participants can be recorded or filmed at the museum. In certain circumstances members of the curatorial staff can visit participants at home to conduct interviews.

 

For further details click here.

The Future of Nuclear Energy

Learns from WW2 Engineering

February 2010

Nuclear apprentices from British Energy, part of EDF Energy, have achieved one of their biggest challenges to date - getting to grips with the engineering of HMS Alliance , the WW2 submarine at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport . Trained at VT's engineering academy at HMS Sultan, the second year apprentices and the ex –submariner museum guides have developed comprehensive maintenance schedules for systems within the diesel powered “boat” and retro-fitted nuclear warheads to the torpedoes.

Since the New Year, 50 students have studied HMS Alliance's engineering systems including propulsion, hydroplanes, snort and air circulation and two sets of torpedoes: conventional forward and “nuclear” aft. The ex-submariner guides instructed the apprentices on how these systems both worked and were maintained on A Class submarines from WW2 through to the end of the Cold War. The apprentices were also required to use their own visual and technical knowledge with no manufacturer guidelines or data being available.

As nuclear torpedoes played no part in HMS Alliance's arsenal, VT trainers devised a simulated nuclear workplace in one of the torpedo rooms for the apprentices who are ‘embryonic' nuclear professionals. This introduced students to British Energy radiological safety regimes, with protective clothing worn at all times within the room..

Team building and professional organisation formed part of the project, with the apprentices working in one of five multi-disciplined teams. Each group had an appointed team leader supported by students taking on the roles of trade discipline managers and Health and Safety managers. Collectively they developed their maintenance programme to include all supporting documentation including tools, spares holdings, manpower with skill level, handover procedures, health and safety and environmental considerations.

Mark O'Brien, VT Group Trainer at the Academy said: “As part of the apprenticeship programme we look to engage and develop students beyond the training skills matrix. What was originally planned as an easy afternoon away from training proved to be one of their biggest professional challenges – and they passed with flying colours! The success of this project and support of the museum team have initiated a yearly challenge for apprentices to look forward to. I would like to thank all staff at the museum for helping make this possible.”

Andrew Poole, Corporate Services manager at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum said, “This has been a great opportunity for our ex-submariner guides to pass on their knowledge and skills from a past age.”

The culmination of this training saw a special event at the museum for guests from VT Group and British Energy, including representatives from each of their seven nuclear power stations. The day included a presentation by the students.

 The British Energy students are being trained on an advanced apprenticeship scheme run by VT Group, the UK 's largest vocational training provider. As part of this, they spend the first two years living at HMS Collingwood and working at HMS Sultan, studying for a BTEC qualification. The qualification requires students to prepare a maintenance programme for a specified engineering system as part of one of the units.

 

Homage to the Reindeer Submariner in Grotto onboard WW2 submarine

Nov 2009

 

The reindeer submariner Pollyanna of HMS Trident in 1941 will be remembered in the Santa's grotto being built for Father Christmas at the North Pole at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December.

 Cdr Sladen with Polyanna 1941

“Pollyanna” the reindeer was a gift from the Russians at Polyarnoe in Northern Russia to the captain, Commander Geoffrey Sladen D.S.O, D.S.C and crew of HMS Trident during World War 2. She spent six weeks as a “submariner” living onboard whilst HMS Trident was on patrol off Norway after rumours that elements of the German fleet were on the move.

 

George Malcolmson, archivist at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum said, “Accounts show that Pollyanna became quite settled with life on the submarine and moved about easily. She had taken up residence in the captain's cabin next to his bunk and got used to the noises of the submarine. She would be the first to trot into the control room to be ready for the main hatch to open and the fresh air to pour in. On diving she would go back to her resting area.”

 

“After the barrel of moss ran out, she would help herself from the buckets of leftovers from the officer's mess and got a taste for condensed milk. She even ate some of the navigation charts”

 

When HMS Trident finished her patrol and arrived at Blyth Northumberland, Pollyanna had to be hoisted out of the main hatch as she had put on weight. Eventually Pollyanna was presented to Regents Park Zoo London where she became a firm favourite .

 

George Malcolmson said, “Trident survived the war, but by a sad irony both perished within a week of each other five years later, Pollyanna in Regents Park Zoo and Trident in the breakers yard. It was rumoured that she never forgot her submarine career for whenever she heard bells or a sound like a submarine tannoy she would lower her head as though preparing for diving stations.”

 

Father Christmas, his elves and homage to “Pollyanna” can be seen in his grotto onboard HMS Alliance , the WW2 submarine that is the centrepiece of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport as part of the festive family event Father Christmas at the North Pole on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December.

Full speed ahead for Submarine Museum restoration plan

July 2009

The heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has given the green light to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport to work up plans to restore and conserve the Musem's most important asset the WW2 submarine HMS Alliance.  It was announced today that the Museum has been awarded a £159,700 Development Grant to help progress their plans towards achieving the £3 million restoration grant.

Bob Mealings, Acting Director of the RN Submarine Museum said, “We are of course absolutely delighted that HLF have recognised the value of HMS Alliance and importance of the project. The Staff, Trustees and Volunteers at the Museum have all worked long and hard to reach this stage. Now we look forward to moving onto the detailed planning work”

“HMS Alliance is in desperate need of restoration, suffering from severe corrosion and decay. The grant will allow the Submarine Museum to realise ambitious plans not only to restore the vessel but to build a hard standing platform under the vessel that will make its care and maintenance sustainable for the long-term as well as increasing the level of access that visitors have to the submarine and the fabulous waterfront of Portsmouth Harbour ”.

Rear Admiral Roger Lane-Nott, Chairman of the Trustees of the RN Submarine Museum said “ This is tremendous news and I am very grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund for their support on such a worthwhile project. We are confident that we can restore HMS ALLIANCE for future generations and in a sustainable way. We have much to do but this is a very important milestone.”

 

HMS Alliance is the only surviving WW2 submarine preserved in the United Kingdom . The vessel's importance to Britain 's maritime heritage was confirmed by her inclusion in the “core collection” Historic Ships Register. Alliance first went on display to the public in 1981 and remains the Museum's most important heritage asset. Over 1 million people from all over the UK and the World have visited the submarine. It is recognised as valuable educational asset and is used in a variety of ways for both formal and informal learning. The submarine is also a Memorial to all RN submariners lost while on active duty.

The HLF first-round pass means that the Royal Navy Submarine Museum can now progress can now progress to the second stage of the HLF application process. The Museum has up to two years to submit more detailed plans and apply for the £3million grant that will be critical to funding this urgently needed project which in total will cost £4.8million.

The Royal Navy Submarine Museum is open everyday throughout the year and offers the unique experience of actually going onboard HMS Alliance with former submariners.

Oldest surviving Jolly Roger on show at Submarine Museum

3 July 2009

 

The oldest surviving Jolly Roger flag from the Royal Navy Submarine Service will be on show for the first time in new exhibition Skull and Crossbones due to open on Saturday 25 July at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport, Hampshire . It will be exhibited alongside the newest Jolly Roger that the museum has in its collection which has been flown in recent times in Iraq.

 

The oldest Jolly Roger was flown from the WW1 E54 submarine that sank the German U-boat UC10 off Schouwen Bank, North Sea in August 1916 and the German U-boat UC81 off South West Ireland in May 1917. It was donated to the Submarine Museum in 1964 from the Exeter branch of the Submariners Association and has been kept in the reserve collection till now.

 

The Jolly Roger adoption as the battle ensign of the Royal Navy Submarine Service began when Lt Cdr Max Horton RN, in command of HMS E9, raised the Jolly Roger in September 1914 on return from the patrol which he sank the German cruiser Hela and the destroyer S-116. He had remembered the words of Vice Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson, when he has spoke out against the adoption of the submarine by the Royal Navy in 1901, “The Crews of all submarines captured should be treated as pirates and hanged”

 

Mr Bob Mealings, Acting Director of the RN Submarine Museum said “ Made by the crew themselves, the Jolly Roger very quickly became a proud, visible expression of the bravery and daring of the Royal Navy Submarine Service”

“We are very proud to be able to show this Jolly Roger for the first time alongside its modern equivalent”

 

The symbols on the Jolly Roger flags represent different activities and became standardized during WW2. The latest Jolly Roger which will also be in the exhibition, from HMS Turbulent, was last flown during Operation Telic, Iraq in 2003. The Tomahawk symbols on this flag represent Tomahawk missiles fired and the Dagger symbols represent cloak and dagger (secret) operations.

 

Skull and Crossbones at the RN Submarine Museum will run throughout the year and is designed to be a family exhibition. Young children will be able to learn how to speak pirate, command their own boat, discover treasure and set sail for a tour of the museum. The exhibition will also explain why Submariners are known as the pirates within the Royal Navy and how the Royal Navy Submarine Service combats modern day piracy.

 

Son comes face to face with his dad,

the iconic face of the Submarine Service

 3 July 2009

Paul and Annette Read from St Clement, Jersey visited the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport Hampshire to finally come face to face with the image of the iconic “Submariner Statue” They had only recently discovered Paul's father Reginald had been the model for this statue.

 

The “Submariner” has become an iconic representation of the Royal Navy's Submarine Service and has been reproduced in a multitude of materials including, bronze, porcelain and even the lead from the batteries of Holland I (Royal Navy's first submarine 1901). Her Majesty the Queen was given a silver replica of the “Submariner” on 8 th June 1958 when she presented the Queen's Colour to the Submarine Command.

 

Mr George Malcolmson, Archivist at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum said, “Leading Electrical Mechanic (Leading Torpedo Operator) Reginald Lawrence Read was picked to model for the artist Gilbert Ledward RA. How he was chosen remains something of a mystery but the popular story is that Reginald's handsome looks and fine jaw line meant that he was volunteered .”

 

Paul's father died in 1987 and only one member of his family ever knew about his connection with the statue. A casual remark by Paul's elder sister Mavis, led Annette Read to contact the museum Archivist George Malcolmson. The story began to unfold and after several years the couple have now managed to visit Gosport from their home in the Channel Islands to see the museum and the traditional home of the Royal Navy's Submarine Service.

 

After his visit to the RN Submarine Museum and tour of HMS Alliance, Paul Read said, “Looking at the confined space my father must have worked and lived in, I can now finally understand why he always chose to work out doors when he left the Royal Navy”

 

Reginald Read had served with the Royal Navy Submarine Service throughout the war from1939 until he was discharged in 1947. He served on the submarine HMS Sealion (1940-1942) under the Command of the famous Captain Ben Bryant and HMS Sea Dog (1942) and HMS Varangian (1943-1944), HMS Uther 1944-1945) and HMS Storm (1945)

 

The sculpture was originally designed as part of the memorial installed in Westminster Abbey to commemorate the men of the Submarine Service of the Royal Navy, the Commandos, the Airborne Forces and Special Air Service. The World War II memorial was unveiled on May 21 st 1948 and Winston Churchill gave a speech at the unveiling and dedication service.

 

Anniversary of Submarine Sinking remembered in China and Gosport

9 June 2009 

At 12:12 today Tuesday June 9 , former Submariners and their families will be marking the loss of HMS Poseidon on site in Weihai, China and at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport . In China, there will be several British families who are related to crew members present at the observance alongside the Naval Attaché from Beijing, Captain RN and a submariner. In Gosport ex submariners and staff of the museum will be present. The short observance will be followed by laying of wreaths at both sites.

 

George Malcolmson, Archivist at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum said from China ” It is moving to take a moment to not only remember the loss of HMS Poseidon, but to acknowledge the fact that we are doing the same thousands of miles away in China on the spot where the accident took place”

 

The Royal Navy Submarine Museum was set up as the "submarine memorial complex" with a key objective to commemorate the thousands of submariners lost on active service, including both the wars and the many peacetime accidents. The Museum has an Area of Remembrance which is free for all to visit.

Submarine Museum Archivist aids

Time Team Research

27 May 2009 

George Malcolmson, Archivist at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport is helping the researchers from Channel 4's Time Team and Cranfield University to piece together the fascinating story of the patients and staff of Haslar Hospital in Gosport.

 

George has found a Victorian article detailing the hospitals past back to the time of Nelson and rare early photographs of staff, patients and views of the grounds of Haslar depicting the site where Time Team are filming the dig of the old burial grounds.

 

Many skeletons from patients of Nelson's navy have been recovered. One skeleton shows the breaks a sailor sustained falling from a great height, possibly the rigging or crows nest of a Nelsonian warship. This skeleton also shows that the sailor survived with his injuries for a couple of months, whilst being cared for at Haslar hospital.

 

Mr Peter Masters, Research Fellow at Cranfield University and Project Manager of the Archaeological Site at Haslar said, “ The photographs that George has shown us, many of which we have not seen before, will be very useful in helping us build up a picture of Haslar's fascinating past”

 

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the site where the Royal Navy Submarine Museum is situated today, provided the access for the wounded from the warships in Portsmouth Harbour. The wounded would be unloaded at the jetty and moved on wagons straight into the hospital. The tram lines for the wagons are still present throughout the museum site.

 

It is free for visitors to walk through the site to the waterfront.

PRINCE WILLIAM TO BE PATRON OF THE HMS ALLIANCE CONSERVATION APPEAL
11th June 2008

Prince William is to become Patron of the HMS Alliance Conservation Appeal. The patronage has been announced on the day The Prince will tour HMS Alliance during a visit to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport, Hampshire.

HMS Alliance is the only surviving World War II submarine preserved in the UK. Launched in 1945, Alliance was one of fourteen "A" class submarines built for service in the Far East. In commission for 28 years Alliance had a long and distinguished career that took her all over the world. She is now a member of the ‘Core Collection’ of the National Historic Ships Register, and with this joins icons such as HMS Victory and HMS Belfast.

As the submarine has been on public display at the museum since 1981, she is in urgent need of conservation and restoration. The appeal was launched in October 2007 to run for two years in order to raise funds for her restoration and future maintenance.

Prince William, Patron of the HMS Alliance Conservation Appeal, said: “I am delighted and honoured to become Patron of the HMS Alliance Conservation Appeal. It is of great importance that such heritage is safeguarded to help future generations to understand the past heroism and sacrifice of Britain’s submariners. I wish the Appeal every success in its crucial efforts to preserve this historic submarine for the Nation.”

Vice-Admiral Sir Tim McClement, Chairman of the Appeal, said: “I am delighted that Prince William has agreed to be the Royal Patron for the Alliance Appeal. HMS Alliance is the only surviving World War Two submarine and needs to be maintained as a lasting memory to those who served in submarines during the war. Equally importantly, she also stands as a tribute to all submariners who have lost their lives in the service of their country.”

Prince William, who is currently serving on attachment to the Royal Navy and is Commordore-in-Chief, Submarines, is visiting the Royal Navy Submarine Museum today to open the Area of Remembrance. The memorial lists some 5300 names of submariners who gave their lives in service from 1904 to the present day.

Portsmouth News 10/06/08 article and video

Prince William unveils the Area of Remembrance plaque.

Prince William is greeted by the Museum's Chairman Rear Admiral Roger Lane-Nott, the Museum's Director Marion Budgett and the Head of the RN Submarine Service, Rear Admiral David Cooke MBE.

Prince William leaves the Museum with the Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Mary Fagan JP.

For press enquiries relating to the HMS Alliance Conservation Appeal, please contact Andrew Poole at The Royal Navy Submarine Museum, 02392 510354 ext 230 or corporateservices@rnsubmus.co.uk

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