Our Man in Gosport - Bob Shayler... World Naval Ships Forums Archive

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Our Man in Gosport - Bob Shayler... World Naval Ships Forums Archive

Our Man in Gosport - Bob Shayler...

Posts 1 to 50

Some time ago after seeing some of the excellent photographs taken by Bob Shayler of various warships as they appeared either entering or leaving Portsmouth, I came up with the idea of asking him if he would be prepared to come up with a regular monthly post showing a selection of these warships. Very Kindly Bob agreed to this proposal and this thread will be the vehicle to show his photographs. Bearing in mind the size of these digital photographs plus being acutely aware of the forums current problems in dealing with the sheer volume of stored images it has been decided in conjunction with Kc to take a different approach to this thread. Bob could either post the best couple of pictures of each warship or as we have decided to try, he will upload the vast majority of the ones he took which will then allow members of the forum to choose the photographs they wish to download - then at the end of the month I will then reduce the number back down to the best couple of each ship. This in effect will leave forum members up to four weeks to choose their pictures! The advantage of this system I believe will allow members a greater choice of pictures to download without severely impacting on the forums size of images stored. The only possible disadvantage of doing it this way is the small possibility that a member might possibly be on holiday or away from the forum for longer than four weeks. Should that happen if they drop me a PM I will endeavour to send the ones they missed by email. As I have mentioned the best couple of each ship will be left in the thread anyway, which over the year if Bob is kindly able to continue with this service, should build up into an interesting record! Of course your comments on these photographs/warships will be welcome in the usual way. Anyway I hope you will join with me in appreciating the great effort Bob is making to bring us these photographs and also thanks to Kc for allowing us the choice of approaching the thread in this way...

Great idea Terry! It's nice to see Bob back in the driving seat again. Cheers, Bob.

Hi everyone, great to be back and thank you to Terry and KC for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the forum in this way. I thought it would be a good idea to start this thread off with photo's recording the arrival at Portsmouth of the Royal Navy's newest warship H.M.S. Daring, the first of six new type 45 Destroyers. She arrived at Portsmouth at 8pm on the 27th January from the Channel Islands, anchoring at Spit Bouy overnight. I took the opportunity to photograph her there by taking the Fast Cat to the I.O.W. and back the next morning, a round trip of about 45 minutes. Conditions were poor throughout the day with a heavy mist and rain but I managed to get some reasonable shots on the way out. regards, Bob
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She arrived in Portsmouth just after 1pm. The mist had really closed in now and the gun salute fired from the seaward side of Fort Blockhouse reduced visibility to virtually zero as the smoke drifted over the buildings right accross our line of sight. As she entered port, a piper was playing and can be seen in image 033 just behind the gun. The same photo also illustrates the severe weather conditions but I managed some better quality photo's as she moved along the harbour. regards, Bob
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Very nice - and moody - pics of HMS Daring. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you Bob and Kookaburra, My final selection of Daring were taken from the Gosport ferry after she had berthed at the Victory Jetty, regards, Bob
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A really superb set Bob, especially bearing in mind the atrocious conditions.

My next photo's are of H.M.S. Edinburgh leaving port on the 12th January, regards, Bob
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Bob great photos of Daring i couldn't get as close when she came to Guernsey , we are promised a further visit ,so im hoping to be able to get some good pictures next time Nigel

Thank you Nigel, My next set are of three visiting Federal German ships, FGS Frankfurt am Main, Lubeck and Saschen, regards, Bob
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The last batch for this month. First, H.M.S. Bristol, a type 82 destroyer designed to escort the replacement fixed-wing carriers (CVAS) planned in the 60's. She was the only one of her class built after the carriers were cancelled and is now permanently berthed at Whale Island and still in commission, operates for 50 weeks of the year as a training and accomodation ship for a variety of personnel, regards, Bob
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The final 12 for this month of various ships around the harbour, regards, Bob
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Trully interesting pictures! I'll look at them more. Thanks!

Hi Bob, I do like the piccy of the "IRON DUKE and "MANCHESTER"berthed on the corner,....it takes me back to when ships were on the corner of the store,s basin at"sembawang"...the only things missing are the palm trees,you could see at the other side.......oh we do dream. cylla

A great first post Bob - you have done brilliantly, even more so considering the terrible weather you had to put up with to get some of them! In particular it was nice to see up to date pictures of Hms Bristol still alive in her role as a training ship. Perhaps if things get desperate we will have to re-weaponise her and get her back in the fleet to protect one of the new carriers. After all that is what the poor old girl was designed for in the first place! Althouigh I have quite a few pictures of Bristol in her prime I have none that really stand out. I was wondering if one of the forums other picture princes could help me out with a good one or two??

BZs all round, KC, Bob and Terry! Mik

Great photos Bob, I didnt realise that we still had so many ships, we must nearly be into double figures;) Keep them coming

Thank you Terry, John, Cylla, Mik and JB. Really pleased the thread started well and I will endeavour to make each month's contribution as varied and interesting as I can, regards, Bob

Hi Bob. The photos of "BRISTOL" are good .......,bad news to any buntings tosser on board ,hardly any space for any flags,you would have thought they could have left the yardarms in place ,the flag officer,s flag ,looks like a bit of dobying been put up . On a harbour cruise i took some pics of her ,but not as good as yours Bob. cylla

Here's a Brizzle pic for you Terry.
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Thanks Bob for some outstanding photographs, brings a tear to the eye having left and returned to Pompey on many occasions on different ships. Derek

Thanks rik - a great picture of Bristol indeed. Much appreciated.

Than you Dereck and Cylla. Great photo of Bristol Rik, thank you for posting it, regards, Bob

Bob, i dont want to steal your thunder,......but here is my offering,as you can see i am note the best "snapper" in the world.I THINK i had lost my sea legs::p at the time. H.M.S BRISTOL.
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Bob, Outstanding! Very nice job indeed. Regards CGRET

Thank you CGret, pleased you enjoyed the thread. Cylla, you are not stealing my thunder, thank you very much for your excellent photo of Bristol, regards, Bob

As can be seen I have carefully gone through Bobs pictures and weeded out those that were obvious duplications without I believe losing anything of the character and substance of his original posts. Should anyone in the future wish to see all of the pictures originally posted here then please send me a PM. The good news is that in the next day or two we can expect Bobs second installment of his "Man from Gosport" thread.:)

Thank you Terry, I will post a small selection tonight and continue again on Wednesday. My first photo's are of H.M.S. Kent arriving in port on Friday 6th March and most are taken from a different vantage point than my usual one, regards, Bob
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I will finish today with a few photo's of H.M.S. Gloucester and Ark Royal taken a while ago at sunset when dark clouds stood the ships out in stark relief, many more to come, regards, Bob
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Thanks for those Bob. A real professional touch there! Bob.

Than you Bob, pleased you enjoyed them, regards, Bob

Great photos Bob, with some great atmosphere created by the sky and the setting sun.

Well done Bob, these ones look fantastic against the backdrop. Thanks for posting them and for the time and effort in taking them. Regards Alan

Thank you JB and Alan, More posting's on Wednesday, regards, Bob

Sorry I missed the launch Bob - I have been out for the day! Some great pictures as always - catch you later.

Thank you Terry, regards, Bob

To start today's contribution, H.M.S. Daring in better weather conditions, returning to port just after H.M.S. Kent on the 6th March, regards, Bob
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The last few of H.M.S. Daring, regards, Bob
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The next few photo's were taken on my behalf by Chris, my wife. They are the F.G.S. Emden and the Alvares Cabrai of the Portugese Navy, regards, Bob
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The final post for today: H.M.S. York being taken accross the harbour to swing her compass' early one morning. Final post on Saturday, regards, Bob
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Bob Thanks for those and all your efforts, its a bonus to have a man on the spot!! Nice if we had the same from Guz. Regards gerry

There is very little at Devonport these days Gerry. I took a load of pictures between 1979-2000 but things have changed for the worse since then. Oh yes some lovely pictures of Daring Bob. Very many thanks my friend. As Gerry said we are very lucky to have you covering events at Gosport. I hope all of our members appreciate the effort you make for us my friend.

Thank you Terry and Gerry, Only too pleased to be able to contribute in this way. More to come on Saturday, regards, Bob

Gerry I'm afraid that I have to agree with Terry regarding the chances of pix from Guzz - it's a good job that Vengeance is in dock so at least they can say it is a 'naval' base!!! Most of the traffic these days is wrt FOST and they play musical chairs around the Breakwater and hardly venture alongside. Not being the holder of a large lens it is not worth taking pix when they are that far out - plenty of water and not much ship!!! Of course the Dockyard is SO crowded they still can't find a berth for the former HMS Plymouth!! Mik

My final contribution for this month. The first ship is the F.S. Tourville. This is a brief description of her: The Tourville is a F67 type large high-sea frigates of the French Marine Nationale specialised in anti-submarine warfare, though it also has anti-air and anti-surface capabilities. She is named after the XVIIth Century admiral count Anne-Hilarion de Cotentin de Tourville. Between 1994 and 1996, the Tourville (and the De Grasse) was refitted with the modern SLAMS anti-submarine system, an active Very Low Frequencies sonar. The three ships of the class are • D610 Tourville • D611 Duguay-Trouin (decommissioned in 1999) • D612 De Grasse
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The final few photo's of the Tourville, regards, Bob
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Bob, Another great set of photo's! Thanks ever so much. Regards Charles

Mik/Terry If we have got Pompey covered and theres nothing at Guzz...where are they all...Rosyth ???? Regards gerry

Thank you Charles, Just a few of H.M.S. Ark Royal and R.F.A. Fort George, regards, Bob
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As I've said before Bob, I ALWAYS get a lot out of your photos, and that's become a given. Thanks for them again.

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