Photographed on 30 October 2013 in Portsmouth Naval Base Class 29 Monitor HMS M33 sits in dry dock whilst behind her is one of the latest additions to the Royal Navy, Class 45 destroyer HMS Diamond (D34).

Built by Workman, Clarke & Co in Belfast she was ordered on 15 March 1915 and completed on 24 June 1915. She has a displacement of 580t and is 177ft 3in Long, 31 ft 9 in wide with a 5ft 11in beam.

Her top speed was 10 knots.

She was armed with 2 No. 6 inch Mk XII guns, 1 No.x Hotchkiss 6 pounder and 2 No. 0.303 Vickers Machine Guns.

Her complement was 5 Officers and 67 men.

Designed for coastal bombardment her first active operation was supporting the Allied landings during the battle of Gallipoli in August 1915 where she remained stationed until the evacuation in January 1916. 

For the remainder of the war she served in the Mediterranean acting as a guard vessel at Salonika which was the allied base for the war in Bulgaria as well as retrieving the guns whilst under enemy fire from the beached Monitor M30. 

In July 1916 she provided covering fire during a cattle raid on the Turkish coast and the following month together with M32 assisted the French with their bombardments on the South coast of Turkey.

She was also involved in the seizure of the Greek fleet in September 1916 and In December 1916 was tasked with protecting the bridge between Euboea and mainland Greece from Greek Royalist troops.
In May 1917 she bombarded enemy batteries near Suvla and the Anzac Beaches on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

During November 1918 she was one of the vessels supervising the armistice with Bulgaria at Stavros and with Turkey at Syra.

In April 1919 she returned to the UK but In May 1919 she was involved in Russia with other monitors covering the withdrawal of Allied and White Russian troops.

Following her return from Russia she became a tender and in 1924 the ship became part of the Reserve Fleet at Chatham. The following year she was converted to a mine laying training ship and re-named HMS Minerva.

During the Second World War she was converted to a boom defence workshop and in 1944 was towed to the Clyde where she formed part of the rivers boom defences.

After the war in 1946 she returned to Portsmouth where she became a floating workshop and office servicing local Fleet Auxiliary craft at the Royal Clarence Yard where she was renamed RMAS Minerva Hulk C.23.

She was sold in the 1980's and is now undergoing preservation in Portsmouth. 

I took the above photograph which shows part of the Spur Redoubt when I was walking back from Portsmouth naval base towards the Hovercraft terminal at Southsea.

Spur Redoubt was built in 1680 by Sir Bernard de Gomme. 

Originally constructed as a redan which was a crude triangular earthwork commonly used in fortifications during the English Civil War it was extended and rebuilt in stone and by the 1750's it had been transformed into a powerful battery. 

It consisted of a small fort separated from the towns main fortifications and was designed to strengthen the seaward line in front of an exposed corner of the Kings Bastion. 

Nelson's last walk on land reputedly took him through a sallyport in Spur Redoubt. 

From here Nelson boarded a vessel which took him to HMS Victory which was anchored at St.Helens off the Eastern tip of the Isle Of Wight.

Photograph taken 30 October 2013.

Seen on our trip to Portsmouth from Ryde on 30 October 2013 Jack James is a Damen Stan Tug 1605 operated by J.Butcher & Sons Ltd which ceased trading earlier this year. I believe that along with the rest of the fleet she is up for sale. 

Having a GT of 44.42 she was built by Damen in the Netherlands in 2002 and is 16.89m long with a 5.29m beam and 2.51m draft. 

Propulsion is via two fixed pitch propellers in nozzles powered by two Caterpillar type 3408C TA/C main engines giving an output of 1080 bhp at 2100 rpm.

Top speed is 10.4 knots with a bollard pull of 14 tons.

Deck equipment includes an anchor winch, towing hook and pushbow with rubber fender.

The wheelhouse is fitted with a dual control position whilst sanitary facilities and a store are located below deck.

J.Butcher & Sons Ltd had connections dating back to 1809 as licensed Waterman & Foy boatmen i.e. boats and men available to give assistance to shipping. The company was based in Portsmouth's historic camber where they had offices, slipways and workshops.

Over the years the company provided a wide range of services to ships of all sizes using the docks and moorings in Portsmouth. Services included towage assistance and mooring as well as the transportation of personnel and stores to ships using anchorages in the Solent and off the Isle of Wight.

Jack James is one of a pair of Stan 1605 tugs introduced in 1995 and 2002 to cater for larger vessels using the ports facilities. In spite of introducing these two more powerful tugs/workboats a decline in services and the increasing size of commercial vessels seems to have forced the company to close.


MMSI - 235007528
REG -  UK, Portsmouth
IMO - 9277682
Call Sign - VQBP3
Tug
Built - Damen, NL
Yard No. - 
L 16m W 5m
GT 44.42
Year -  2002
Portsmouth, 30 October 2013

I took the above photograph on 2 November 2013 from the back of the Red Funnel Ferry just before we headed from East Cowes on the Isle of Wight back down the Solent to Southampton.

I have used the chain ferry many time to cross the tidal River Medina which separates Cowes and East Cowes. The ferry crosses the river about every 10 to 15 minutes running from very early in the morning until late at night.

The Chain Ferry operates between the East and West banks of the river by hauling on two chains, each approximately 165m long which span across the estuary and are permanently attached to both river banks.

It is the only way to cross the river without taking a ten mile journey upstream via Newport.

The first floating bridge between East Cowes and Cowes was established in 1859 and has been owned and operated by the Isle of Wight Council since 1909. The vessel in my photograph is the fifth vessel the Council have used and the eighth ferry to be used on this service, she was built in 1975 and can carry up to 20 cars. 

Before the chain ferries a rowing boat ferry operated across the river. This service was owned and operated by the Roberton family from 1720 to 1859. From 1842 animals and other large items were transported across using a pontoon which was winched across under horse power. 

In 1859 the Floating Bridge Company was formed which bought the ferry rights. 

In 1868 the ferry was bought by The Steam Packet Company who put a new ferry into service in 1882. This was used until 1896 when another vessel was acquired. 

When the route was taken over by the local authority in 1909 a new ferry was put into service named Bridge No.1, this vessel is noted as being significantly better than its predecessors being constructed from steel with powered ramps and electric lighting. 

In 1925 Bridge No.2 was built, this was the the last steam powered vessels and the largest ferry up to that point that had operated on the route being 30m long and able to carry eight cars. 

Bridge No.3 was built and arrived in 1936, this was the first diesel-electric powered vessel. 

Bridge No.4 entered service in 1952 with a capacity for 12 cars. This was used until 1975 when the current vessel - Bridge No.5 arrived with a capacity of up to 20 cars.

Rose Des Vents (BL.341174) is a wooden hulled trawler built in St.Valery Sur Somme in 1972.

She is 9.26m long and was powered by a a 81kW engine.

She was decommissioned in 1991 and now sits in a small landscaped area next to the road in Crotoy. 

We sat in the sun and had our lunch next to her on 8 August 2013.

Albion House was built in 1896 at 30 James Street in Liverpool. 

It was designed by the Architect Richard Norman Shaw for the Ismay, Imrie and Co. Shipping Company, which later became the White Star Line. 

The facade is constructed from white Portland stone and red brick. 

During World War II the gable was damaged during a bombing raid but the damage was repaired and rebuilt after the war.

The President of the White Star Line was Joseph Bruce Ismay and his office was believed to be located at the bottom of the turret closest to the camera.

Ismay together with his secretary William Henry Harrison and his valet John Richard Fry boarded the Titanic on its maiden voyage at Southampton as First Class Passengers. 

Ismay (aged 49 at the time) survived the sinking in collapsible lifeboat C.  Both Harrison (aged 40) and Fry (Aged 39) died during the tragedy. Fry's body was never found but Harrison's body was recovered and he was subsequently buried in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

On 10 May 1934 Cunard and the White Star Line merged and the office was subsequently closed.

Photographed in Yarmouth on the West side of the Isle of Wight Needles
is a 300m³ capacity self-propelled split hopper barge. 

She is noted as being a manouverable vessel capable of accessing more restricted sites and is one of a pair of vessels operated by Jenkins Marine for capital and maintenance dredging, beach replenishment and coast/pipeline protection projects.

Her length is 44.1m with a 8.2m beam and 2.8m draft.

Powered by a Caterpillar 3412 (650 bhp) engine she can make 8 knots loaded or 10 knots unloaded. 

Jenkins marine are based in Poole, Dorset and for over 25 years have been operating a range of Hopper Barges, Deck Cargo Barges, Multi-use vessels,  tugs, Modular Pontoons and Workboats.

Photographed,  29 October 2013 

Photographed in Yarmouth on the Isle Of Wight on 29 October Galwad-y-Mor (SU 116) is a fishing vessel registered in Southampton.

She has a NT of 29.75 is 11.95m long and was built in 1986 by C.Toms and Son, Poluran-By-Fowey in Cornwall. This is a family run boat yard dating back to the 1920's which started building their own boats in the 1940's. Although the majority of their builds are fishing vessels they have also built small tugs, workboats, passenger and car ferries.

Galwad-y-Mor became 'infamous' in May 2010 when three men were charged with importing cocaine found attached to lobster pots.

While on patrol in international waters on Sunday 30th May 10, the UK Border Agency Cutter HMCC Vigilant observed the Galwad-Y-Mor acting suspiciously.

Surveillance was carried out and later the same day the same vessel was again observed acting in a suspicious manner in Freshwater Bay off the coast of Isle of Wight. The vessel docked at Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, and the three men were subsequently arrested.

On the morning of Monday 31 May 2010 officers attended a location off Tennyson Point and recovered 11 rucksacks containing approximately 30kg cocaine each attached to Lobster pots.

Following the recovery of approximately 300kg of cocaine all three men were charged with conspiracy to import Class A drugs.

This is where I took my kids for an afternoon walk on Halloween.

All Saints church is surrounded by a partly overgrown graveyard on a hill overlooking the small village of Godshill on the Isle Of Wight.

Access to the church is via a relatively steep foopath, the path starts at the base of the hill between some 16th / 17th Century cottages and gets progressively narrower as it curves up to the church.

Godshill is located on the Isle of Wight and is an ancient parish that existed before the compilation of the Domesday Book in AD 1086. The first recorded spelling of the village was Godeshulle.

The church was given by William Fitz-Osbern who died in 1070 to the Abbey of Lyra in Normandy.

The church today largely dates from the 14th Century and is the fourth church to be built on this site.

The hill on which the church stands was once a place of pagan worship and legend tells that the building of a church was begun at the foot of the hill but that on three successive nights the stones were removed unseen to the site of the present church. Work was restarted on the first two mornings but on the third day it was assumed that God wished the church to be built on the hill, hence the name Godshill.

A damaged and overgrown mausoleum within the grounds of the church.

Most of the gravestones I saw were so eroded or covered in lichen they
were unreadable.

Another view of the church.

Godshill church has a peal of six bells.

They were recast in 1887 from the old peal which had been recast in 1815 with the village gun of 1543 being cast into the tenor bell.

Photographs taken 31 October 2013.

Seen In Bembridge on the Isle Of Wight on 29 October 2013 is what I believe to be Motor Torpedo Boat MTB 24 which is now in use as a houseboat.

She was moored amongst a number of houseboats and other vessels.

MTB 24 was built by Thornycroft in Hampton-on-Thames, England and was a 73 ft type MTB which was ordered on 15 August 1938 and commissioned on 19 December 1939.