Jump to content
News Ticker
  • I am now accepting the following payment methods: Card Payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal
  • Latest News

    Royal Navy Cap Tallies


    Recommended Posts

    I don't know why some had a full stop and others differed , apart from maybe a change in manufacturer or a Wartime shortage of braid.
    I do know that during WWII, Royal Naval personnel were forbidden to wear the ship's name on their cap, for security reasons, so each 'tally' normally only had 'H.M.S.' on it. There were some who were allowed to have 'destroyer' or 'minesweeper' on it, but not the ship's name.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    I thought this was true. didn't Lord Haw Haw claim on " Germany Calling " that the German navy has sunk several British ships that were land bound training facilities like HMS Nelson.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Nelson was actually the British Navies first 16-inch gun Battleship, completed in 1922 with her sistership Rodney. Very distinctive ships with three triple turrets forward of the Superstructure. They were built within the confines of the Washington Treaty of 1922, and were originally intended to be much larger 'Super Battleships'. The design, which had been laid some time before, literally had an entire centre-section cut out to drop the tonnage to that allowed by the Treaty. This apparently left the ships with very poor handling on the seas.

    Luckily Haw Haw was wrong. She happily made it through the War in one piece, despite being torpedoed off Normandy. She was scrapped in 1948.

    I get ever so hot in my anorak in this weather........ wub.gif

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Just of interest to the Chairman, i have actually visited the site of Royal Oak in Scapa Flow. It involved a short but quite scary ferry journey over the Pentland Firth at Orkney, one of the most treacherous stretches of water in the world (which i can certainly vouch for).

    The ship was attacked on the night of 14th October 1939, by the U47 commanded by one Gunther Prien. She still lies there today, apparently visible from the air at low tide. All i saw was the marker buoy close to the shore and possibly a dark shadow in the water. An official War Grave to 833 men. It was a very moving experience for a naval buff like myself.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    You can't see anything now, i think the salvage work finished in the mid-fifties. There are still a few wrecks down there but they were so deep as to make it uneconomical to try work on. I had a fantastic short photo book called 'Wrecks of Scapa Flow' but somehow lost it when i moved into my new gaff, gutted. It had pictures and maps of all the wrecks. I think people don't realize just what a massive expanse of water it is till they see it. A very eerie and baron place.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    • 1 year later...

    I heard that in recent years oil was removed from the Royal Oak as the contents of the rusting bunkers threatened an on going potential for a major pollution incident.

    The Royal navy (I am almost certain) dived and removed what oil they could from her.

    Also in the past few years special permission was given to place the ashes of a widow of a crew member on the ship, this again was done by the Royal Navy.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Just of interest to the Chairman, i have actually visited the site of Royal Oak in Scapa Flow. It involved a short but quite scary ferry journey over the Pentland Firth at Orkney, one of the most treacherous stretches of water in the world (which i can certainly vouch for).

    As I don't know the area, why is the ferry ride scary, and what makes the waters treacherous.

    Nice cap tally Mr Chairman

    Edited by Laurence Strong
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    • 5 years later...

    a person told me than all pre war and ww2 royal navy cap tallies had a full stop behind the ship name and cap tallies without full stop behind ship name are post-war and my question is:could anybody confirm or not this point of view or anybody who posted a ww2 period cap tally with no full stop behind the ship name?cheers.gifcheers.gifcheers.gifcheers.gifcheers.gif

    Edited by SICHERHEITSDIENTS
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
    ×
    ×
    • Create New...

    Important Information

    We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.