Historic Warships News Sheet (News of the Historic Warships based at The Historic Dockyard Chatham)

December 2009

Welcome to the latest edition of the News Sheet which marks the second anniversary of publication. It won’t have

escaped your attention that there haven’t been regular monthly News Sheets for a while with the last edition being published in August. With other commitments and time constraints placed upon the editor it hasn’t been, and won’t always be, possible to produce an issue each month. Also, because of the overheads and time involved in printing individual copies for 30+ people, the printing of named copies will have to be discontinued. Starting with this edition, there will be three printed copies which will be placed in the Mess Room of the Historic Warships Volunteer Group for all to read. However, people receiving a copy by e-mail will continue to get one this way and anyone wishing to join the e-mail circulation list is welcome – please provide me details of your e-mail address. As usual, copies of the News Sheet will be available for download on the website the address of which is: www.historicwarships.btik.com

Finally, at this time of year can I wish everyone a Very Happy Christmas and many good things during 2010!

HMS Gannet Dry-docked – This October HMS Gannet was, as planned, dry docked for cleaning, inspection and repairs. At the same time the opportunity was taken to clean and re-paint the docks’ caisson. A number of people were able to watch the ship being ‘put on the blocks’ which was accomplished very smoothly. A number of large pumps were hired-in with half being rigged up inside the dock to pump the water out, and the other half rigged up in the river to pump the water back in. A couple of smaller pumps were used for both purposes being ‘swapped over’ after the dock had been pumped out.

The cleaning of both Gannet’s hull and the dock caisson was effected by use of some very high pressure washers fitted with special heads which produced a ‘rotating’ affect and provided the equivalent of 9000 psi – not something you would want to get in the way of! When the hull had been cleaned, a visual and ultrasound inspection was carried out which showed everything was in order with no repairs being required. It was also noticeable how well the copper sheathing on the hull cleaned up!

The caisson, after cleaning, was re-painted using a two-part epoxy type paint which has an extremely long life. The same paint was used to paint the underside of Gannet’s Cutter which had been lifted out of the dock and placed on blocks ashore.

In early November, repainting having been completed, the dock was flooded up, Gannet refloated and the

Cutter was also lifted back into the dock.

Hopefully, Gannet will not need dry-docking for another 10-15 years and next year (planned for the Spring) it’s Cavalier’s turn!

The picture on the right shows Gannet viewed from

the stem, sitting on the blocks in dry dock.

Cavalier Update During the past few weeks and months, work has continued aboard Cavalier with the

Seacat Missile Magazine and Handling Rooms receiving attention.

A significant amount of rusted steel has been cut out and replaced and both areas are now watertight for the first time in years.

In addition, the Ops Room Flat has received a fresh coat of paint and the canvas dodgers have been removed so they can be used as templates for new ones. These should be ready for fitting in time for the new visitor season in mid-February.

More work is still needed on Cavalier but the next major project will be the dry-docking planned for next Spring.

Then, the hull below the waterline will be blasted back to bare metal, rusted plates cut out and replaced and the lower hull repainted with a black ‘two-pack’ paint the same as that used on Gannet’s Caisson. The intention is to complete repairs and re-painting enabling the ship not to need dry-docking again for many years.

The photographs above show Gannet in dry-dock and being re-floated.

Small progress…. In that a fair amount of work has been taking place in Number 3 Slip on some of the small boats. The

CMB (Coastal Motor Boat) built in 1923 has received much attention with the hull being subject to repairs and currently in the stages of repainting. The wheelhouse is also to be repaired and when completed, she will look as good as new! Continued…

….continued from overleaf

As well as the CMB, the 32 foot cutter has had it’s rigging replaced and the sail hoisted. Getting the mast back into position was a challenge but we managed. The following photographs show various parts of the CMB under repair.

Salute to the 40’s a real success. This year’s event was, once again, a major success with many re-enactments, displays and visitors. During the weekend of Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September, several thousand visitors attended the event. All the attractions were open with HMS Cavalier proving very popular, as always.

Fires (artificially generated of course!) were extinguished, the Home Guard patrolled and SPIVs plied their wares. There were also many uniforms in evidence from the RN to the USAF.

Above – port side planking replaced

Above – deck primed around wheelhouse

Above – some rotted planking on port side removed, awaiting replacement.

All hands on (Gannet’s) deck.. well, a few hands anyway as during the better weather in September and October, some re-caulking of Gannet’s decks was carried out. There have been a number of leaks allowing rain water to get through and the more severe of these were dealt with. The re-caulking was carried out on both the main and poop decks, the focsle deck having been completed earlier this year by a team from Cutty Sark.

Some leaks still remain and will have to be dealt with next year as soon as some reasonable weather is in evidence. Clearly, it needs to be dry and frost-free before this work can be done.

The photo to the right shows re-caulking in progress with the old material being raked out.

A Cleaned up Cutter.. the boat in question being Gannet’s cutter which, whilst Gannet was dry-docked, was removed and placed on the dockside to allow cleaning and re-painting. A number of people helped with this task which wasn’t the easiest of jobs as the old paint had to be scraped off first. That was ok for the upper part of the hull but

the waterline and below proved a little more awkward. Several of our volunteers spent some time lying on the ground underneat the cutter, scraping away, but the end result speaks for itself. The pictures show work in progress and the finished product – looks nice doesn’t it!

Whaler takes shape.. if you have a look in the workshop behind the mess-room you will see the work on the 3-in-1 Whaler has really moved ahead. The Whaler is now in the throes of being repainted and it’s easily possible to get an idea of what she will look like.