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HMS Eagle-Photos-1951-1972 World Naval Ships Forums Archive

HMS Eagle-Photos-1951-1972

Posts 1 to 42

These 4 photos were taken by a member of Eagles photograhic department (1955). [B][I][See Post #11 below].[/I][/B] The newspaper cutting shows 2 galleries which were known as "goofers gallery" where off duty personnel could view the landings and take- offs.By some miracle it was unoccupied that day.Eagle later returned to UK for repairs.
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Westland Wyvern Crashes Into Hms Eagles Funnel Definitely not a controlled crash, the description of landing on a carriers deck given by Fleet Air Arm pilots. Hope the pilot involved escaped any serious injury or death.

Said to have been a high approach and airframe stall.Never heard whether pilot recovered or not.

More photos taken by Eagle's photographers.(1955)
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Hi Brourke, Have merged your two threads together and re-titled. You can now post any further 1955 photos here in the same thread. Keeps it all nicely together then, Cheers

OK .Will do .

Line ahead in Trondhiem Fjord.Eagle,Albion,Centaur and Bulwark.Others unknown.
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Another 2 photos of Eagle.
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[quote=brourke;148144]These 4 photos were taken by a member of Eagles photograhic department. The newspaper cutting shows 2 galleries which were known as "goofers gallery" where off duty personnel could view the landings and take- offs.By some miracle it was unoccupied that day.Eagle later returned to UK for repairs.[/quote] Great historical Photographs, many thanks for posting. Any chance of re-posting at higher resolution.

Yes,now I'm getting the hang of things,I'll give it a go!

Re Westland Wyvern crash into funnel.Photos have been improved as requested.
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Very interesting shots, altho was more pilot training needed???! DFO :eek:

Interesting photos thanks, I remember the funnel crash and the newspaper report.

One photo shows Wyverns over Mnt Vesuvius.Another, RFA Wave Sovreign in the background.
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A few scans of photos of HMS Eagle all MOD(N) copyright. Sorry, can't improve on the quality. Jim
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A few more Eagle scans, all MOD(N) photos Jim
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[QUOTE=jbryce1437;10065992]A few more Eagle scans, all MOD(N) photos Jim[/QUOTE] Good pics, Jim. Thanks for posting. Steve

[QUOTE=oldsalt;148159]Westland Wyvern Crashes Into Hms Eagles Funnel Definitely not a controlled crash, the description of landing on a carriers deck given by Fleet Air Arm pilots. Hope the pilot involved escaped any serious injury or death.[/QUOTE] This occurred 17 May 1955, when EAGLE was going through her paces with the Fifth Sea Lord, Rear-Admiral ANC Bingley onboard. The entry in Neil McCart's book reads "...Fortunately there had been no spectators on the goofing deck and there were no casualties onboard and, miraculously, the pilot of the Wyvern survived, which indicates just how strongly built the aircraft was..." I joined her in '56 and the crash was often mentioned. The goofing platform was almost always well attended in my time so it was a miracle that there were no goofers when the Wyvern crashed!

By the way, there is another much larger thread "HMS EAGLE 1946-1978", with lots of photos. Perhaps someone could merge this one with the other one? Best wishes

[quote=al1934;10112967]By the way, there is another much larger thread "HMS EAGLE 1946-1978", with lots of photos. Perhaps someone could merge this one with the other one? Best wishes[/quote] That thread is in the Ships and Crews Section - for general discussion, whereas this thread is in the Photo Galleries and is, primarilly, for posting photos and commenting on them. Jim

Just catching up... Here are some of my collection from '56 when I was onboard her:
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Nice photos Alick, thanks for sharing them. Jim

[QUOTE=al1934;10132058]Just catching up... Here are some of my collection from '56 when I was onboard her:[/QUOTE] Many thanks

[QUOTE=al1934;10132058]Just catching up... Here are some of my collection from '56 when I was onboard her:[/QUOTE] I am trying to upload more photos of that commission but keep getting a message "Invalid Post specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator". I have followed the "notify the administrator" link twice and am hoping I will be advised of the problem idc. I am not doing anything different from my previous uploads. Help!!!

There is a step by step guide on attaching images on this thread [url]http://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7500[/url] You can PM me if you still have a problem after working through it. Jim

The photos may be duplicates of those you have posted on this thread [URL]http://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/showthread.php?t=367[/URL] If that is the case, the server will not allow duplicate filenames Jim

Alick, Your excellent images in posts #14 and #21 are much appreciated. Perchance would you know who owns the copyright or who is the source to be credited if a picture is used in a presentation. Thanks David

David, Post 14 was not mine. Regarding Post 21, I purchased the originals from the Photshop onboard EAGLE in '56, as many of us did who were onboard at the time. (Our complement was 2,500 so a lot of photos were sold from the Photshop.) So I am the owner, having purchased them. I doubt that there is any question of copyright in this case?

[QUOTE=jbryce1437;10132098]The photos may be duplicates of those you have posted on this thread [URL]http://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/showthread.php?t=367[/URL] If that is the case, the server will not allow duplicate filenames Jim[/QUOTE] For my previous photos, please go to the link which Jim has kindly posted above. The full story of Operation Musketeer is in "Crises do happen" (The Royal Navy and Operation Musketeer, Suez 1956) by Geoffrey Carter and is well worth reading. I also commend to all and sundry Neil McCart's excellent book "HMS EAGLE 1942-1978", which includes many facts and photos. We paid a visit to Toulon in September 1956 and here is a photo of what has been aptly termed "Full House in Toulon". I invite members to name the ships in the photo - stand fast tjstoneman, who is more clever than we mere mortals. Best wishes
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Thanks Alick for very quick response. Brourke -- thanks fo ryour postings of pictures which I can see are credited to the Photography Department of HMS Eagle. Very photogenic ship and planes ... I'll leave it to Jim Bryce to decide if Ark Royal (IV) was more of a pictorial star; my own favourite([I]as a bystander[/I]) is HMS Victorious.

[QUOTE=al1934;10132117]For my previous photos, please go to the link which Jim has kindly posted above. The full story of Operation Musketeer is in "Crises do happen" (The Royal Navy and Operation Musketeer, Suez 1956) by Geoffrey Carter and is well worth reading. I also commend to all and sundry Neil McCart's excellent book "HMS EAGLE 1942-1978", which includes many facts and photos. We paid a visit to Toulon in September 1956 and here is a photo of what has been aptly termed "Full House in Toulon". I invite members to name the ships in the photo - stand fast tjstoneman, who is more clever than we mere mortals. Best wishes[/QUOTE] This is the Toulon French Navy harbour, around 1958. D622 is the destroyer named Kersaint, D623 was named Cassard. The cruiser, in the middle of the picture is the De Grasse The first aircraft carrier is the Arromanches, ex Britsh Colossus. The second aircraft carrier is Eagle. The last one can be Le Lafayette or Bois Belleau. Courtesy of Ship's Nostalgia.com

[QUOTE=limeybiker;10132128]This is the Toulon French Navy harbour, around 1958. D622 is the destroyer named Kersaint, D623 was named Cassard. The cruiser, in the middle of the picture is the De Grasse The first aircraft carrier is the Arromanches, ex Britsh Colossus. The second aircraft carrier is Eagle. The last one can be Le Lafayette or Bois Belleau. Courtesy of Ship's Nostalgia.com[/QUOTE] The 3rd T47 destroyer with its pennant numbers obscured is Surcouf or Bouvet as no other ships of the class had been commissioned by this date. Surcouf did take part in Operation Musketeer so maybe it is her. Geoff

Stop calling me clever! ;) I just have quite a few references! The photo in post #29 also appears in the November 2002 issue of [I]Warship World[/I], where the caption says it was taken in September 1956 (not 1958), and the ships are identifed in the magazine as KERSAINT, ???, CASSARD, LE PICARD, DE GRASSE, ARROMANCHES, "an Italian cruiser of the Abruzzi class", EAGLE, "an unidentified tanker" and LA FAYETTE [sic]. A letter in a subsequent issue correctly identifies the "Italian" cruiser as a French ship, either MONTCALM or GEORGES LEYGUES.

[QUOTE=tjstoneman;10132179]Stop calling me clever! ;) I just have quite a few references! The photo in post #29 also appears in the November 2002 issue of [I]Warship World[/I], where the caption says it was taken in September 1956 (not 1958), and the ships are identifed in the magazine as KERSAINT, ???, CASSARD, LE PICARD, DE GRASSE, ARROMANCHES, "an Italian cruiser of the Abruzzi class", EAGLE, "an unidentified tanker" and LA FAYETTE [sic]. A letter in a subsequent issue correctly identifies the "Italian" cruiser as a French ship, either MONTCALM or GEORGES LEYGUES.[/QUOTE] You are correct - some years ago I copied the photo into my HMS EAGLE gallery in Ships Nostalgia from Warship World, after getting permission from Maritime Books. The French Cruiser DE GRASSE had only just commissioned. The other French Cruiser, between ARROMANCHES and EAGLE, was GEORGES LEYGUES (instantly renamed Georgeous Legs by all onboard EAGLE). She was decommissioned in '57. The far carrier was LA FAYETTE. We were at Toulon for a few days as guests of the French Navy before setting off to prepare for Operation Musketeer. I went onboard GEORGES LEYGUES and ARROMANCHES on duty while we were there and had to locate French officers on both occasions and deliver messages from EAGLE's Captain's Secretary. I found in both ships that the wardrooms were beautifully appointed but the impression which remained with me was that otherwise the interiors of both ships were sad and not particularly clean. I remember that the ratings appeared the same... There was an obvious enormous gap between the French officers and ratings, which I noticed on other occasions during my service. By the way, tjstoneman, the phrase "stand fast" is Royal Navy language for "except for". No offence but I knew that you would be able to identify the ships easily.

[url]https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/XAW033131[/url] Harland and Wolfe, Belfast. Photo taken in 1950. Can only be Eagle!

Agreed, Paul. After her launch in 1946 she was laid up for some time before work began to fit her out and it was not until May 1949 that HRH Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were given a guided tour of her berthed alongside Thompson Wharf. She was not completely fitted out until 1951. She was accepted and was the newest and biggest warship in the RN.

Another view of Eagle on the right of the photo. However I have no idea as to the name of the other carrier under construction. At the top of the photo there is another carrier which to me looks pre-war. Anyone able to identify her or the carrier under construction/ layed up unfinished? [url]https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/XAW033133[/url]

Looking again I can see four carriers in the photo in my last post. Also the hangers and runway at RNAY Belfast. Could the carrier with the larger island (I guessed wrongly as pre-war) be Unicorn?

[QUOTE=Paul1393;10168934]Looking again I can see four carriers in the photo in my last post. Also the hangers and runway at RNAY Belfast. Could the carrier with the larger island (I guessed wrongly as pre-war) be Unicorn?[/QUOTE] Given the date of 1950 and the incomplete state of all the ships, I would say that the carriers are:- Top next to RNAY Belfast - Majestic class HMS Powerful launched 2/45 and construction of which was suspended at the end of the war. Subsequently sold to Canada (1952) for conversion to HMCS Bonaventure (completing 1957). Middle - HMS Eagle in process of completion. What threw me was the apparent lattice mast which is in fact a crane on the quay behind her. That only becomes clear when you blow up the photo. Bottom - The other two are the incomplete Centaur & Bulwark laid down during the war and suspended in 1945 only launching in 1947 and 1948 respectively for completion in 1953 and 1954. Harland & Wolff have built more aircraft carriers than any other shipyard in the UK. Illustrious class - Formidable Escort carrier - Campania Colossus class - Glory, Warrior Majestic class - Magnificent, Powerful Audacious class - Eagle Centaur class - Centaur, Bulwark By 1950 it is only the last 4 that remain to be completed and all appear in the photo.

I agree with the identification, there was one other carrier that had a lot of work done at Harland and Wollf, HMS Hercules, built at Vickers Newcastle was sold and then modified for the Indian Navy as Vikrant finishing in 1961.

[QUOTE=PhilipG;10168945]I agree with the identification, there was one other carrier that had a lot of work done at Harland and Wollf, HMS Hercules, built at Vickers Newcastle was sold and then modified for the Indian Navy as Vikrant finishing in 1961.[/QUOTE] Hercules was built at Vickers Armstrongs on the Tyne launching on 22 Sept 1945. Construction was halted in May 1946 and she was laid up in the Gareloch. In January 1957 she was sold to India and then towed to Belfast for conversion / completion at H&W in April 1957. She commissioned as the INS Vikrant in March 1961.

Thank you for your identification. Totally agree. Centaur and Bulwark look in exactly same stage of construction. Eagle clearly larger than the other carriers and almost finished in construction terms. Quite a lot of RN/FAA history in this one photo.

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