This silent movie shows the ships of the Royal Navy just prior to WWII and includes footage of destroyers throwing depth charges, an aircraft carrier with Fairey Swordfish torpedo planes and other aircraft conducting mock dive bomb and torpedo attack exercises (1:30 mark), anti-aircraft defenses (3:15 mark), HMS Havock laying down a smoke screen (5 minute mark), the battleships HMS Rodney and HMS Nelson (6 minute mark), and various crew exercise and entertainments including boxing aboard ship.
HMS Nelson (pennant number 28) was one of two Nelson-class battleships built for the Royal Navy between the two World Wars. She was named in honour of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson the victor at the Battle of Trafalgar. The Nelsons were unique in British battleship construction, being the only ships to carry a main armament of 16-inch (406 mm) guns, and the only ones to carry all the main armament forward of the superstructure. These were a result of the limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty. Commissioned in 1930, Nelson served extensively in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indian oceans during World War II. She was decommissioned soon after the end of the war and scrapped in 1949.
HMS Rodney (pennant number 29) was one of two Nelson-class battleships built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1920s. The ship was named after Admiral Lord Rodney. The Nelsons were unique in British battleship construction, being the only ships to carry a main armament of 16-inch (406 mm) guns, and the only ones to carry all the main armament forward of the superstructure. As her superstructure was located aft of midships like RN fleet oilers whose names carried the …’ol’ suffix, she was sometimes derisively referred to as “Rodnol”. Commissioned in 1927, Rodney served extensively in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean during World War II.
Rodney played a major role in the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941. During and after Operation Torch and the Normandy landings, Rodney participated in several coastal bombardments. In poor condition from extremely heavy use and lack of refits, she was scrapped in 1948.
HMS Havock was an H-class destroyer built for the British Royal Navy in the mid-1930s. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, the ship enforced the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides as part of the Mediterranean Fleet. During the first few months of the Second World War, Havock searched for German commerce raiders in the Atlantic Ocean and participated in the First Battle of Narvik during the Norwegian Campaign of April–June 1940 before she was transferred back to the Mediterranean Fleet in May where she escorted a number of convoys to Malta. The ship took part in the Battle of Cape Spada in July 1940, the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941 and the evacuation of Greece in April 1941. She was damaged during the Battle of Crete the following month, but participated in the Syria–Lebanon Campaign in June.
Havock began escorting supply convoys in June to Tobruk, Libya until the ship was damaged in October. She was repaired in time to escort a convoy to Malta during the First Battle of Sirte in December and was badly damaged whilst protecting another convoy during the Second Battle of Sirte in March 1942. Repairs were attempted in Malta, but the ship was further damaged in an air raid in early April. The Admiralty decided that further attempts to repair her at Malta were pointless and ordered her to Gibraltar for permanent repairs. On 6 April, while on passage to Gibraltar, Havock ran aground near Cape Bon, Tunisia, and her crew was interned by the Vichy French at Laghouat in the Sahara.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
