Portsmouth Naval Museum Pt 3

Evening all.

This is the very much delayed third part of my photo record of a trip to Portsmouth Naval Museum. 

In this part I get to visit another of the Dockyard's attractions I've been hankering after for a long, long time. 

HMS M.33, also known later as HMS Minerva, was built as a Monitor during WW1. This was a new class of warship designed to bombard enemy shore positions from the shallows while being cheap and much more expendable than the valuable battleships and cruisers which were needed elsewhere. While some monitors were built to house spare battleship guns that happened to be lying around  M33 and her sisters were much more modest, housing a brace of 6" guns. After service at Gallipolli and during the British intervention in North Russia in the Civil War she was refitted as a minelayer before being hulked at the start of WW2.

After several years of restoration M33 was finally given a  snazzy coat of paint and a new home in a drydock next to HMS Victory. 

Now we're up to speed, time for some photos. Starting with the RN's newest and coolest ship.

 I have to admit that the Queen Elizabeth looks very striking and has the sort of presence that's rare these days. Currently top of my list of things I want to visit one day.  

Interestingly I have a book from the 1970s which talks about the new carriers which the RN was hoping to get - sadly cancelled - and the design has that same two-island layout.


By contrast with the high tech marvel over the way, the little M33 is very much a no-frills kind of ship.

 

The only thing remotely electronic on this whole ship is the radio

The crew quarters are minimalist as well.

This is where the ordinary matelots lived and slept.

Note that there's stuff all in the way of ventilation.

Now imagine being in this metal box on a scorching hot Turkish night with water in short supply.

This is an officers cabin. 

These days it would be considered unsuitable for a ship's brig.

What you can't really see from these pics is how crudely the whole thing was put together.  

M33 is all bolted plates and sharp corners. A cheap ship, built quickly because it was needed in a hurry. 

Here's the ships galley.

A somewhat restricted diet was on offer, I suspect. 

No wonder the matelots looked forward to their rum tot so much. 

They were a a hardy lot back in them days, weren't they? 

The M33 is well worth a look if you get chance. 

Not only is it the only remaining example of a Monitor and Gallipolli veteran 

but it's a really great example of the sort of small, utilitarian ship that 

served the RN well in both World Wars. 

Stay tuned for part 4.