bootneck Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 Hello everyone, I am trying to find a detailed plan of the flight deck of HMS Eagle R05 when she had the angle deck 1960's/70's. I have Googled and also checked Blueprints.com without any success apart from the coloured drawing below. Does anyone have a detailed plan of this deck please? cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 The Fleet Air Arm Museum have a full set of ship builder's plans for her conversion to full angled deck on long term loan from me. Contact them and see if they will do you a copy of the sheet that covers the flight deck. Be warned though, each sheet is thirteen feet long! They may of course be able to get them reduced in size. Martian 👽 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted December 24, 2018 Author Share Posted December 24, 2018 Thanks Martian, I'll make some enquiries. cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlamgat9 Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 I’d be fascinated if you track anything down. Converting a Fujimi 1/700 Eagle to her last Commission shape is an idea I have long had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 1 hour ago, Vlamgat9 said: I’d be fascinated if you track anything down. Converting a Fujimi 1/700 Eagle to her last Commission shape is an idea I have long had. Likewise that is one of my long term plans. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa4ways Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 How I wish one of the Model Makers would bring out a 1/350 Scale Model of HMS Eagle, My special liking for this Ship is from when my Father served on her during the 1950's, he was a Leading Stoker, and he told us of all the Ships he served on, he always had a great big soft spot for the Eagle. The one thing I'll never forget, is the image on my Father standing on the shore down by Stranraer, watching as the Old Girl was under tow, heading for her final fate, I'd never until that day seen my Dad cry, he'd been aboard her during Navy Days, and even seen her sitting moored up in Plymouth, but seeing her like that broke his heart, it was a really sad sad end to such a great Ship 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 3 hours ago, Papa4ways said: ............my Father served on her during the 1950's, he was a Leading Stoker, and he told us of all the Ships he served on, he always had a great big soft spot for the Eagle. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa4ways Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 On 05/02/2019 at 19:33, bootneck said: My Mother has a few plaque's of the Eagle in her house, and some of the pictures my Dad took while on her, but she's not got this, where would I get her one of these, she'd be really pleased with this, thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted May 4, 2019 Author Share Posted May 4, 2019 I got mine in Hong Kong in 1971 whilst Eagle was still in commission. I have no idea where one could be obtained nowadays, sorry. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa4ways Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 19 hours ago, bootneck said: I got mine in Hong Kong in 1971 whilst Eagle was still in commission. I have no idea where one could be obtained nowadays, sorry. Mike Did you actually serve on the Eagle, my Dad when he was on her, I'm sure he said his Mess was PT2, having said that, I know her size, and, he being a Leading Stoker, he was forced off her in 57 when he got badly injured, they were changing something over in the Engine Room, I remember him saying what it was years ago, and that they had to use chain hoists to lift whatever it was, memory's going, anyway, the Chief told me Dad to do something with this part, and as he did, one of the Junior Rates somehow released the hoist, and whatever it was, landed on my Dad's left ankle, and when he went down with the pain, something jabbed into my Dad's eye, causing him to suffer reduced eyesight, and after operations etc, he was classed as unfit for Ship service, he would accept being stuck ashore, and so that was him out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted May 5, 2019 Author Share Posted May 5, 2019 No, I was serving on 848 Naval Air Sqn, onboard HMS Albion, at the time I got the Eagle banner. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRK4m Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 Back to the topic I would like to explore all (two, maybe three, maybe four?) stages of the HMS Eagle arrestor gear during her 20 years of service. I have several (I can't call them state-of-the-art) pre-1954 R05 drawings (straight deck, 10 wires perpendicular to the ship axis) and after 1963 (runway angled 8 degrees, four wires perpendicular to the runway axis). But the 1956-58 setup (after the first refit) had the runway axis angled only 5 degrees. My question is: have the wires been left perpendicular to the ship's axis (as suggested by the Fujimi kit), or has their layout somehow been modified as their number has been reduced to perhaps 7? Obviously the Fujimi 1/700 kit is full of bugs (the Japanese managed to engrave an 8 degree runway on the original narrow deck), so the suggestion of 7 wires (the last of which overlaps the rear elevator) might not be taken seriously. Cheers Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Our Ned Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 Neil McCart HMS Eagle 1942 - 1978 (Cheltenham: Fan Publications, 1996) contains several overhead photos of Eagle with the interim angled deck. They show five wires, perpendicular to the angled deck's centreline. The aftermost is just for'd of the after lift. That and the next three are evenly spaced, with the second from foremost about level with the crane base; there is then a larger gap between that and the foremost wire, which is level with the centre of the for'd boat bay. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Our Ned Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 There is a photo of Eagle in this configuration at https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205016371 - the wires can just be made out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRK4m Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Our Ned said: Neil McCart HMS Eagle 1942 - 1978 (Cheltenham: Fan Publications, 1996) contains several overhead photos of Eagle with the interim angled deck. They show five wires, perpendicular to the angled deck's centreline. The aftermost is just for'd of the after lift. That and the next three are evenly spaced, with the second from foremost about level with the crane base; there is then a larger gap between that and the foremost wire, which is level with the centre of the for'd boat bay. Thank you for this confirmation. I have an IWM A33593 photo from Toulon (October '56) showing these five slightly diagonal wires. The second one in front looks really "almost in line" with the cranes - actually on the port side it is hooked just behind the crane base, while on the starboard side it is just in front of the crane base. Since the base of the crane is about 8 feet in diameter and the wire span is about 85 feet, the tangent is close to 0.095, which exactly corresponds to an angle of 5.5 degrees. Building (and tweaking) this Fujimi kit is a serious struggle ... Cheers Michael PS. We were writing/typing simultanously My doubt, however, stemmed from another photo On both sides of the rear deck - next to the left and right edges of the lift - leaf springs, used to distance the arrestor wire from the deck surface., are clearly visible. Wasn't the sixth wire spanned there after lifting the elevator? M Edited March 29, 2021 by KRK4m adding PS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Our Ned Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 Thank you - I hadn't noticed the bow springs before - but, now that I'm looking for them, they're present in a number of photos of the ship at about this period! However, none show a wire actually rigged in that position, and none show marks on the lift from hook strikes, which are often present on/near the centreline for the other wires (particularly 2, 3, 4 and 5 Wires). My guess (and it's only a guess) is that 6 Wire would not normally be rigged unless one of the other wires had to be removed for some reason (defective mechanism, wire break or past its safe life), in which case the span across the deck would be fitted (the sections from the deck sheaves down to the arresting gear mechanism would have remained in place). Rigging the wire every time the after lift was operated would seriously delay aircraft moves and reduce the pace of operations. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRK4m Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 (edited) Yet another question arose when trying to build an intermediate (1955-59) configuration R05 using the ancient Fujimi kit. All sources say that in its original fit (i.e. straight deck), the Eagle was armed with 61 40mm Bofors AA guns: 8 six-barrelled, 2 twins and 9 singles. Looking at the photos, I can locate four sextuples on the port side opposite the island, two on the starboard side close to the crane, one just behind the island and one in front of it. The twins are on the stern "balcony" and the singles (as shown in the drawings) are grouped in threes: one group just behind the port fore main guns (4.5") and two others just behind the funnel on either side of the island. It is also said that during the 1954 refit the number of guns was reduced to 52, by removing three singles and one "six". However photos from 1956 Suez campaign show only 3 sextuples on the portside lower deck, stil preceded by the trio of singles. So which singles were removed - the port or the starboard side of the island? And was the "six" just behind the island kept in situ? Fujimi shows that it has been removed... The fight continues Cheers Michael Edited April 6, 2021 by KRK4m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EwenS Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 It was the 3 singles on the port side of the island that were removed in the 1954/55 refit. Here is a photo of her starboard side in June 1956 when she visited Beirut. The 3 singles are still in place albeit under white covers. https://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/attachments/1/7/6/1/43998.attach There is a photo around of a crashed Wyvern dated to 17 May 1955 that clearly shows the port side of the island with the 3 single bofors missing. You will also see in the above photo that she retained all 4 starboard side sextuple bofors in the positions you noted. The one abaft the island is definitely there. On the port side she lost the foremost sextuple bofors AND the Mark 37 director to make way for the small deck edge extension to the now angled deck. It addition she gained a platform between the aftermost pair of port side sextuple bofors to support the mirror landing aid. It was immediately forward of the CBRF drum shaped director for the aftermost sextuple bofors. Some Eagle photos here which you may or may not have come across already. https://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/thread.php?threadid=367 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRK4m Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 (edited) On 4/6/2021 at 7:38 PM, EwenS said: In addition she gained a platform between the aftermost pair of port side sextuple Bofors to support the mirror landing aid. It was immediately forward of the CBRF drum shaped director for the aftermost sextuple Bofors. Thank you - I noticed this OLS platform some time ago. Its horizontal outline and dimensions are also shown in the drawings of the Eagle. The only mystery that remains is the triangular support visible in the photos from ahead: was it single in the centre of the platform (like in HMS Albion) or a twin (as in the Illustrious and USN carriers) along both its edges? In addition, several photos from 1956 show an identical set of lights (surrounding the centre mirror) on the right side of the landing path, near the sextuple Bofors abaft the island. What was the purpose of doubling the system? When viewed from ahead, the HMS Eagle also has two sets of orange "source" lights - one on each side of the deck, close to the arrester gear. I understand that starboard one served the mirror on the main deck. However, I am not able to track these "source lights" on the side and top views of the ship. Did they fold along the side when not in use? Cheers Michael Edited April 15, 2021 by KRK4m 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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