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A one month pencil and scalpel
blade drawing working by naked eye only, of course.
Measurements of original and
print: 15.1 cm. X 10.8 cm. Copyright 1999.
Price of Artist`s signed
conservation quality print each :
£55 inclusive.
Description
of Composition:
This ‘King
George V` class battleship is shown in heavy seas on the North
Atlantic in 1943 'taking it green' (shipping water over her bow
section in naval parlance).
Launched
in February 1940 and completed in November 1941, she took Winston
Churchill to the U.S.A. a month later. As part of the Home Fleet she
covered the Arctic convoys but in October 1942 transferred to Force ‘H` and the North
Africa landings. Operations off Norway followed back with the Home Fleet
and, in December 1943, she was most notably Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser`s
flagship at the Battle of North Cape – the sinking of the Scharnhorst.
April 1944 found
Duke
of York as Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Moore`s flagship for
‘Operation Tungsten` - the carrier-borne aircraft attack on
Tirpitz
in Altenfiord, North Norway.
From
June 1945 until June 1946 she was Flagship of the British Pacific Fleet
and later Flagship of the Commander in Chief, Home Fleet.
Having
been Flagship of the Reserve Fleet from July 1949 until September 1951 she
was towed to the Gareloch in November 1951 and laid-up, being finally
broken-up at Faslane from February 1958.
Where the, 'King George V' class
shone in comparison with their foreign contemporaries was in their heavy,
simple and effective armour protection.
'Second to None' - by contrast, Germany's capital ships, though fine
looking, when actually prepared - and able - to venture to sea were found
to be overrated in the face of the inherently and numerically vastly
superior Royal Navy.
The inevitable outcome of that long 'Tradition of Victory'...
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