Comment on H.M.S. Warspite
My Older brother served on HMS Warspite at Narvik. Crete and Matapan with the Royal Marines Kings Squad.I am told by my parents that he had his 18 Birthday at Narvik?His Name is Cecil Atkinson.
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite posted 2008-03-28 by Derek Atkinson from Queensland. Australia
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite
Message for Denis Bedford in Market Deeping, you can contact me re: the photograph of H.M.S. Warspite at my email address: Caziam@aol.com
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite posted 2008-03-25 by Carolyn Eddy from Paignton
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite
The decking from the grand old lady was laid in the Greenbank hotel Falmouth, Cornwall. I take my wife to the resturant now and again and we both feel tremendous pride standing on the floor looking at a large painting of HMS Warspite on the wall with a large gin & tonic in hand.
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite posted 2008-03-12 by Chris Clark from Falmouth, Cornwall
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite
HMS Warspite is an icon. She fought in just about every major engagement between 1916 and 1944. From the fast, new battleship at Jutland with the problematic steering, supporting the speedy battlecruisers, to the gallant old lady off Normandy in 1944, with only three turrets and partially fixed boilers. She epitomises the Royal Navy and the detah of the battleship as a major weapon of war.
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite posted 2008-02-11 by Stewart Nicolson from Runcorn
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite
HMS Warspite was indeed the most decorated ship in the Royal Navy with the most battle honours going back hundreds of years. Sadly we do not have an Operational Warship at this moment in time which carries that great name, the last being HM/Submarine Warspite which decommissioned in the early 1990s. But her name lives on! I am the present Chairman of the HMS Warspite Association which was founded by the veterans of the Battleship Warspite, affectionately known as the "Grand Old Lady". The Association was formed in the mid 1980s and now consists of both Battleship veterans and Ex HM/SM Warspite submariners and we number in excess of 500, shipmates, families and friends. The union of both Battleship and Submarine evolved in the very early 1990s, when a group of Battleship veterens were invited to Devonport Dockyard to look at the Submarine Warspite while undergoing a major refit. Sadly, this was never completed and the Submarine remains to this day alongside at Devonport Dockyard. In amalgamating both veterans and submariners, and in rememberance of the Battleship HMS WARSPITE, who broke free from her towing moorings and sank just off St Michael's Mount in Marazion, Cornwall, a dedication stone was unveiled on the sea wall in memory of the ship over looking St Michael's Mount. The stone commemorates the two World Wars in which the "Grand Old Lady" so gallantly fought and remembers the men who served onboard during those conflicts, especially those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. The Association is now in its 23rd year and meets every May at the Rembrandt Hotel in Wemouth Dorset for our AGM weekend comprising a get together on the Friday, AGM and Dinner on the Saturday, followed by a Rememberance Service on the Sunday morning at the Cenotaph on Weymouth Sea Front. In September of each year we also have a further commemoration week-end down in Marazion, Cornwall where we have a very good affiliation with the people of the small town and where we all meet upon the Friday and Saturday with a rededication service by the memorial stone on the sea front on the Sunday morning. For those visiting Marazion, please look for the dedication stone on the sea wall and if you wish to see further HMS WARSPITE memorabilia such as photographs, plaques, articles from the ship, please visit the local museum where you will be made more than welcome. If you wish to come along and join our AGM weekend in May at Weymouth, or dedication weekend in September at Marazion, please contact the HMS Warspite Association through our own website: http://warspiteassociation.org.uk/ We would be delighted to see you. Andy Kirk Chairman, HMS WARSPITE ASSOCIATION, ex RN Submariner.
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite posted 2008-01-30 by Andy Kirk from Lee-on-the-Solent Hants
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite
She is more than an icon she is England. The pride, the spirit, a call to duty and a call to war. She was there in two world wars fighting for our liberty - our freedom, our way of life. She stood in defiance against the dark that threatened to engulf us. Always ready for action never to retreat. Battle honours alone make her a true icon. She should never be forgotten and should have been preserved for the nation.
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite posted 2008-01-22 by Colin Fairclough from Milton Keynes
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite
As a little boy on holiday in Cornwall in the early fifties I was taken to see the castle on St Michael's Mount, but the only thing that has stayed in my memory of that day was seeing the remains of the battleship, H.M.S. Warspite being cut up for scrap. A friend of my late father had accompanied us that day and he told me a little of the story of how famous she had been. That she had served in two world wars and that the Germans could not sink her however hard they tried. Of how one night, after the war in a storm, she was being towed to the breakers yard and broke free only to crash onto the rocks where I could then see her. My father's friend told me that men went when the tide was out, cut pieces of steel from her and dragged them back to the land. I can still see the sparks from cutting torches, but by that date it was difficult for me see just how big she had been. When I went home and told my chum what I had seen, he said that his Grandfather, who only lived around the corner, had helped make the big guns for the Warspite. So we went round to talk to him about the making of the guns, but regrettably now I cannot remember the story or where he had worked. That day fired my imagination for battleships, cruisers, destroyers and torpedo boats but strangely never carriers.
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite posted 2008-01-22 by David Clegg from Rochdale
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite, crew photograph
I would be very interested to contact Carolyn Eddy from Paignton regarding her photograph of HMS Warspite's crew in 1916; my father, Edward Bedford, was a young Royal Marine and also fought at Jutland. Be great if you could get in touch Carolyn...
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite posted 2008-01-02 by Denis Bedford from Market Deeping
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite
The ship that refused to die. When she was built she was one of the most powerful warships afloat and remained so for years. She seemed to be alive - always at the right place at the right time, never giving in and keeping her crew - her family safe. A true mark of an English man? Or should I say woman.She is, and always will be, the greatest battleship the Royal Navy ever processed. Personally, I'd say that she was the greatest battleship ever. I can not think of any other battleship that has come close to achieving what Warspite managed from 1913 to 1947, when she ran aground saving herself from the brakers yard. From Jutland to Matapan and beyond, she left port; did her duty for king and country and brought her crew home safely. What more can you ask for? HMS Warspite the ship that refused to die, I thank you.
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite posted 2007-11-16 by Mark Sharp from London
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite
I recently found a letter addressed to my Grandmother from a crew member of the HMS Warspite who was married to my Grandmother's sister. Victor Buxton was the crewmans name and he appearently was in the US while the ship was undergoing some maintenance. Can you tell me more about the repair or the crewman?
Comment on H.M.S. Warspite posted 2008-04-01 by Robert Lagana from Howell, Michigan, USA