On Board an S-Class Submarine: Up the Conning Tower, 1944, by Stephen Bone (1904-58), oil on canvas, 30 x 25 inches.
Stephen Bone was the son of the influential draftsman Sir Muirhead Bone, who was himself an official war artist in both World Wars. During WWIL the younger Bone served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve before replacing his father as artist to the Admiralty in 1943. In this capacity, he spent time in a variety of naval vessels, including submarines. He was a prolific artist, and his works from the Second World War include paintings from Normandy beaches in June 1944, life aboard aircraft carriers and S-class submarines, plus views of naval dockyards around Britain. The National Maritime Museum holds
Merchant Service Fireman, 1942, by Henry Carr (1894-1970), oil on canvas, 50 x 36 inches.
The work of the ship's fireman, or stoker, was brutally tough, as he needed to shovel five tons of coal per day into the ship's glowing-hot furnace. Artist H enry Carr painted this stoker after voyaging in a merchant vessel. The feeling of being enclosed in the dark and confined depths of the ship is emphasized by the vertical ladder down which another man descends. Carr was appointed an official war artist at the outbreak of World War II. From 1942 to 1945 he was the official war artist for the First Army in North Africa and Italy.
SEA HISTORY 147, SUMMER 2014
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