Naval History Forums

HMS Dreadnought.

Thanks Alberto and OpanaPointer, both your additional images are appreciated and help clarify the stowage and deployment of these booms with their attendant nets.

Alberto, as seamanship was understood Internationally the procedures would have been similar allowing for the differences in ship types as i mentioned previously and becoming refined as newer ships entered service.

OpanaPointer, a well known image of Dreadnought and her nets deployed. The sheer complexity is patently obvious and how you do not end up with a right bunch of b*stards (in English nautical parlance) is beyond me. I expect many a good fish dinner was enjoyed by the ships company.

In the British RN the final fitting of torpedo net defence was in HMS Iron Duke, she had them fitted during trials but not on commissioning, her 3 sisters never had them fitted and the Queen Elizabeth class were the first not designed to carry them. Tiger was the first Battlecruiser not fitted but the 3 acquired battleships Agincourt, Erin and Canada did have them when completed.

Move on to Jutland and it would be interesting to see which RN and German ships still carried net defence as it was certainly defunct by then.

Then there are all the other navies to consider. Much research needed here, France, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Japan amongst others.

Culverin, remember the complexity just a few years earlier:
(This is just a frigate.)

Come come OpanaPointer. You cannot be serious.
What is this, join the dots.
Okay, name them. That is all of them in the correct order. No cheating.

Seriously, it illustrates the sheer complexity of a small ships rig and the seamanship skills of the men who sailed in them. So, we return to the net defence in effect - rigging.

These 4th and 5th rate ships would have been a sight to behold. Blackwood in Euryalus at Trafalgar. Even Nelson had admiration for her.

I'm just saying that the rigging and unrigging of torpedo nets wouldn't have been a challenge. This would have been done in port, and not 100 feet in the air.