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Re: HMS Caroline - Belfast

Posted: Tue May 14, 2019 4:56 pm
by Pelican
HMS Caroline 1914

What they didn’t mention is it’s below the water line. 6 men and a Petty Officer would man the tiller flat and the hatch was shut above them…… the sound would be deafening along with the vibrations.

Today for Museum Week, we are exploring the theme of secrets!

One of HMS Caroline's best kept secrets is the Tiller Flat - a hidden part of the ship that's not on our visitor route.

This room houses HMS Caroline's emergency steering gear. If the ship's rudder failed, six men could operate these wheels by hand and steer the ship manually until the fault was repaired!

Re: HMS Caroline - Belfast

Posted: Sat May 18, 2019 3:24 pm
by Pelican
Impressive transformation, short video - https://www.facebook.com/hmscaroline/vi ... TraKM6HG1A

Re: HMS Caroline - Belfast

Posted: Fri May 31, 2019 8:28 pm
by Pelican
Today we are commemorating the 103rd anniversary of the Battle of Jutland!

A. P. Smith served on board HMS Caroline during the battle as the Captain's steward. In his diary he writes, "It was a grand yet awful sight. The huge guns opening fire and clouds of shrapnel bursting all around. The battle continued all around us with slight lulls in between...it was a trying time for all of us, no chance of a wash, very little to eat and still less sleep."

Re: HMS Caroline - Belfast

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2019 2:01 pm
by Pelican
Can HMS Caroline pull off a famous final victory?

The decommissioned C-class light cruiser has been shortlisted for this year's prestigious Art Fund Museum of the Year. But competition from across the UK is fierce. Does the 105-year-old veteran of the Battle of Jutland stand a chance, asks Joris Minne

There is a mystery vessel in the docks of Belfast which is slowly emerging as a star attraction. While it still remains a destination for those in the know, its position as one of the great secrets of Belfast is about to be blown out of the water.

This is thanks to the fact that, following some of the most complex and expensive restoration programmes ever undertaken on a historic ship anywhere in the world, the HMS Caroline has now been shortlisted in this year's Art Fund Museum of the Year title challenge.

To give you an idea of how significant this is, the 1914 ship is up against the spanking new and magnificent V&A Dundee, the Pitt Rivers anthropological museum in Oxford, the Nottingham Contemporary, which has a huge international reputation among modern artists, and St Fagan's Museum in Cardiff, where social movements and developments are interpreted, understood and applied to modern-day community programmes.

The Ulster Museum secured the title in 2010, the Mac was a finalist in 2015 and recent winners include the V&A St Ives, the V&A in London and the Whitworth in Manchester. That's what the ship is up against.

Captain John Rees OBE, the National Museum of the Royal Navy's chief of staff and Caroline project director, says the achievement already makes the ship a winner.

He said: "If the shipyard workers in Birkenhead who built the 4,000-ton, 400-ft HMS Caroline in a record nine months back in 1914 knew that 100 years later, there would be a very cultured debate about the merits of the ship they had riveted together versus museums housing artefacts of ancient civilisations from across the world, modern design icons and some of the most modern of modern art, they would probably have raised a few eyebrows."

Ships built in the Edwardian era to go into battle with the Germans were not expected to have a lifespan beyond 10 years.

Continues at - https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opin ... 9lVenGUTOw

Re: HMS Caroline - Belfast

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 5:02 pm
by Pelican
SHORT FLIGHT DECK

In 1917, HMS Caroline was given an additional defence: a Flying-off platform for a Sopwith Camel Aircraft.It was built over the forward 6-inch gun on Caroline’s Forecastle, immediately in front of the bridge.
If the cruiser steamed into the wind at full speed, and the aircraft ran its engine at full power, there was enough lift for the Camel to take off along this incredibly short runway.
There was nowhere to land back on the ship, so once the pilot had carried out his mission he had to either ditch in the sea or make for the mainland!

Re: HMS Caroline - Belfast

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2019 10:52 pm
by Pelican
From Facebook:

HMS Caroline

Piracy was all about theft and pirates loved to steal valuable clothes and jewellery from their victims.

Sailors of HMS Caroline, has less choice with their sea-fearing outfits and instead had to wear a uniform. A sailor’s uniform differed depending on their rank on the ship. Many sailors on aboard HMS Caroline were ordinary rank sailors and wore the square rig which was the day to day uniform.

This is the last week of the Pirate Takeover at HMS Caroline so come and explore the ship and discover whether you’re a pirate or a sailor!

📸 - Garland Collection

Re: HMS Caroline - Belfast

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 3:53 pm
by Pelican
HMS Caroline - on Facebook:

Didyouknow? On the 27th June 1919, HMS Caroline was recommissioned under Captain William Law. Two days later, they left for the Royal Navy’s East Indies Station, covering the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.

By the end of 1921, HMS Caroline was wearing out. Although less than ten years old, she had steamed thousands of miles. She left Colombo to return to Portsmouth not to be placed in reserve but for disposal. She was very overdue a refit and on the passage home they didn’t exceed ten knots.

She stayed in Portsmouth for two years and the breaker’s yard seemed to be her most likely fate until she was set up as the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in Belfast in 1924.

Attached photo - HMS Caroline 1919

Re: HMS Caroline - Belfast

Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 3:32 pm
by Pelican
A nice little video about Caroline here - https://www.facebook.com/hmscaroline/vi ... 022580335/

Re: HMS Caroline - Belfast

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 10:49 pm
by Pelican
Trouble at Mill?

Staff at floating Royal Navy museum HMS Caroline face redundancy as consultants brought in.
REDUNDANCIES have hit a floating Royal Navy museum which may be moved from Belfast to Portsmouth – as consultants are called in to help determine its future.
https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defen ... ht-3016891

Re: HMS Caroline - Belfast

Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2020 11:00 am
by DaveH
Very sad . Caroline has been in Belfast for many years , my late father-in-law trained on her as a Stoker in WWII . To pull the plug on all NI's work on this Jutland survivor is criminal to say the least . However , if she is to be maintained as one of our historic ships I can think of no better berth for her than Pompey . And that is coming from a Guzz Rating .