NAVY NEWS, MAY 2011
Chatham stays on heritage shortlist CHATHAM Historic Dockyard has taken another major step forward in earning recognition as a world-class attraction. The dockyard and its associated defences have been on the UK shortlist for nomination onto the World Heritage Status scheme since 1999. That list was opened to scrutiny by the Government, and 38 applications were made by interested organisations; just 11 made it through to the new shortlist, announced by Tourism and Heritage Minister John Penrose - and Chatham was one. The proposed site includes more than 60 scheduled ancient monuments and 150 listed buildings, covering the dockyard itself, Fort Amherst, Upnor Castle, Brompton village and Barracks, the Great Lines and the River Medway. Chatham is the world’s most complete example of an historic dockyard from the age of sail and early age of steam, covering the period from around 1700 to 1865, and played a crucial role in securing and maintaining Britain’s worldwide influence, leading the world in industrial design, naval architecture and military technology. The Leader of Medway Council, Cllr Rodney Chambers, said: “This is a major step forward in our bid for World Heritage Status, which will be a well-deserved milestone in the regeneration of Chatham and recognition of its rich and vast history.” The Chief Executive of Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, Bill Ferris, added: “This new much shorter list of just 11 sites confirms the international status of the Historic Dockyard and its defences.” Chatham’s bid is the first on the list of potential nominations to be completed, an occasion marked by the burial of a time capsule containing a collection of commemorative items representing Medway’s heritage at the Great Lines Heritage Park last September. The government will now forward the list to UNESCO, and it is allowed to propose one candidate each year, starting in 2012. There are currently 27 World Heritage Sites in the UK. ! The Historic Dockyard has also won praise from Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, for the site’s heritagebased business model. Using the principle ‘preservation through re-use’, the dockyard is making a name for itself in the UK heritage sector as a beacon of imaginative cultural regeneration. During his tour of the dockyard, Mr Hunt said; “The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a fantastic example of a site that has encouraged philanthropy, developed innovative partnerships between local and national institutions such as the National Maritime Museum and the Imperial War Museum, and also involved the local community in its plans. “The recent launch of No.1 Smithery is a fine example of this; the restoration of an historic building allowing visitors to look at previously unseen maritime artefacts and heritage inspiring learning and education, and it’s wonderful to be able to see this first hand.”
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Code centre unveils 2011 programme
even had a mast raised ion her. Her only sea voyage was the one that saw her towed to Dundee – but she remains a significant example of the classic sailing frigates. Dr Dominic Tweddle, Director General of the NMRN said: “The opportunity to welcome HMS Unicorn, an historic ship of national importance, as an affiliate of the National Museum means that the story of the Royal Navy, its ships and its people can now be told on a national scale. “The sharing of skills, knowledge, and in the future artefacts means that we can tell the story of the Royal Navy in a way that would have been impossible before.”
THE NATIONAL Codes Centre at Bletchley Park has announced its programme for the 2011 season, aiming to build on a record-breaking year. Last year saw a 20 per cent increase in visitor numbers over 2009, and with extensive media interest and support from individuals and companies such as Hewlett Packard, 2010 was a special year. The 2011 programme of events will again bring out the best of Bletchley Park, with a range of activities to suit everyone, from families to computer geeks, photography buffs to 1940s enthusiasts. There will be traditional events like the well-established Forties Family Festival, plus new offerings such as a photographic competition, ‘Picture Bletchley Park’. The season kicked off with the family Easter Eggstravaganza, which will be followed by one of the Park’s most popular events, the Forties Family Festival (May 29-30), which last year brought in a record number of visitors and re-enactors. It will feature wartime re-enactors bringing the atmosphere of 1940s Britain back to life and also featuring 1940s dancers, music, vintage vehicles and a 40s fashion show. The annual Polish Day is on July, 17, celebrating the vital contribution made by Polish codebreakers into breaking Enigma. Bletchley Park’s annual Classic Car and Motorbike Picnic is held on August 7 featuring classic vehicles large and small – last year attracted more than 300 vehicles. And there will again be a series of Family Fun Wednesdays planned for the school holidays, designed for children from the age of four upwards. This year Bletchley Park will be combining the annual Enigma Reunion with an Armed Forces weekend, including the Cadet Field Gun competition between Army, Navy and Air cadets, to be held on September 3-4. As well as World War 2 re-enactors and displays, visitors will be able to mix with and talk to men and women who worked at Bletchley Park during the war when the veterans return to Bletchley Park on the Sunday. Bletchley Park was credited with cracking the German Enigma code, which periodically allowed Allied forces to read key German messages and pre-empt enemy movements. It also had a vital role in the development of modern computers.
O Dave Wooley’s model of the Soviet aircraft carrier Kiev, which he has presented to the Fleet Air Arm Museum
A FOUR-year labour of love by a former RAF air crewman has been presented to the Fleet Air Arm Museum for safekeeping. Maritime enthusiast Dave Wooley is keenly interested in the naval deterrents of the Cold War, and in 2005 set about building what he believed to be the only large-scale working model of Soviet aircraft carrier Kiev as she was in the 1980s. Basic drawings were sourced in Russia, and much additional research had to be carried out, as well as manufacturing of parts from scratch. Photos of sister ship Minsk, now preserved in China, and chats with former Kiev sailors helped with some of the specifications. The two-metre radio-controlled model was completed in 2009 and is powered by four electric motors. On her deck stand Yak 38 ‘Forgers’, the Soviet version of the Sea Harrier, and a KA25C Komov search-and-rescue helicopter. Dave Hill, head of the curatorial division at the Yeovilton museum, said: “Whilst we have a considerable exhibition reflecting the West’s naval Cold War deterrent, this is a fascinating example of the East’s naval military power.”
O The figurehead of post-Napoleonic frigate HMS Unicorn in Dundee
Unicorn brought into national museum fold
THE National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) is expanding its empire to take in a sailing warship from the early 19th century.
And the Princess Royal, in her capacity as patron of both organisations, was due to officially mark the new affiliation as Navy News went to press. The new link brings the Unicorn Preservation Society into the fold as an official affiliate – bringing with it HM Frigate Unicorn herself, berthed in a dock in Dundee. The NMRN was established to create, preserve, explain and celebrate the contribution made by the Royal Navy during its 1,000 years, in the defence of the UK and its overseas interests. This particular affiliation aims to increase the understanding and importance of the Navy to Britain’s heritage and to display a clear link between HMS Victory in Portsmouth and HMS Unicorn in Dundee, illustrating the ships and people of the Royal Navy in the final century of sail. It will also act as a platform for publicising the role of the RNR and its predecessors in the 19th, and 20th centuries – Unicorn was the reserve HQ in the city for the best part of 100 years, and acted as a Naval HQ in both World Wars. The link is also designed to attract national support and add experience to the Unicorn Preservation Society in its battle to secure the old frigate’s longterm future – it is claimed there are only five ships left in the entire world older than Unicorn. Lord Dalhousie, chairman
of the Unicorn Preservation Society, said, “This magnificent opportunity to link Unicorn with the National Museum of the Royal Navy arose as a direct result of the Princess Royal holding a charity forum last year to mark her 60th birthday. “All her charities were invited to discuss their challenges and opportunities, and we all made some extremely relevant contacts. “HM Frigate Unicorn is no longer a commissioned warship, but she still firmly belongs in the Naval family, and this affiliation represents a very real and valuable integration of Britain’s Royal Naval heritage. “Unicorn is a wooden ship and she cannot remain afloat indefinitely. “We are determined to preserve her extraordinary originality, so she needs to be docked in a dry berth covered from the weather. “There is now also an opportunity for Unicorn to move to an ideal final berth within Dundee’s new Central Waterfront development, and it is almost exactly where she spent her first century in Dundee. “This option brings HM Frigate Unicorn into a spectacular triangular relationship with RRS Discovery and the V&A Dundee, and would bring Dundee’s two great historic ships back together.” Princess Anne was due to unveil drawings by Sir Robert Seppings, who designed Unicorn - copies of originals held by the NMRN and donated to the Unicorn. Unicorn was built in 1824, to the designs of Sir Robert Seppings, the Surveyor of the
Navy from 1813-1832, at a time when the shortage of timber and the growing availability of iron was dramatically affecting the way ships were built. Seppings, who has been described as the Navy’s Brunel, introduced engineering concepts to naval shipbuilding. His new methods of construction greatly strengthened wooden ships, and he took full advantage of the availability, strength and compactness of iron. Unicorn represents the last great flourish of wooden shipbuilding and heralds the birth of the iron ship – though she never served in the Fleet, having been launched straight into reserve, and never
Kiev arrives at Yeovilton
Capsule captures modern life
HASLEMERE Preparatory School has won the Mary Rose Museum Time Capsule competition, gaining £500 for the school and a front-row seat at the ceremony to mark the laying of the new museum building’s foundation stone. Entries were received from primary and secondary schools, as well as Scout groups, from across the country. But Haslemere’s choice of eight items was deemed a suitably imaginative mix which offered a snapshot
of current affairs and everyday life – just as the Mary Rose offers a snapshot of life in Tudor times. The items chosen by the children were a souvenir of the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, an Argos catalogue, a cheque book, the top 20 songs for March 2011, a model of the Ark Royal and a poppy, a cricket ball, a mobile phone and an energysaving light bulb. The runners-up were St John’s Primary School, Portsmouth, and Crookhorn Technology College.