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This week in Navy History 23 Aug Print E-mail
Monday, 23 August 2010
DID YOU KNOW?

Preserving Admiral Nelson - One of Nelson's dying wishes was that he not be buried at sea. Therefore he was placed into a casket about 1.5m high. The body was shaved of hair, the clothes removed, and folded into the cask. Although the myth has it was rum, brandy was used instead due to its medicinal properties. At Gilbraltar wine was added as Nelson's body had absorbed some of the brandy. The cask arrived in England in December 1805 and Nelson was laid to rest in St Paul's Cathedral In January 1806. His casket was lead-lined, filled with brandy mixed with myrrh and camphor.

"It takes three years to build a ship - it takes three centuries to build a tradition" - this was a quote from Admiral Andrew Cunningham RN, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1941 when it was proposed that he should withdraw his warships from the waters around Crete due to the losses incurred by German dive bombers.

THIS WEEK IN NAVAL HISTORY
  • 23 August 2008 HMNZS Taupo is named by the wife of the Governor General
  • 24 August 1831 Long Service and Good Conduct Medal are introduced into the Royal Navy.
  • 25 August 1914 - Royal Marines landed at the port of Ostend on the Belgian Coast. In order to prevent their capture by German forces, they are withdrawn on 31 August.
  • 26 August 1941- The Bird-class minesweeper HMS Tui launched by the Countess Jellicoe.
  • 27 August 1976 - the nuclear-powered USS Truxton visits Wellington.
  • 28 August 1914 Battle of Heligoland Buight - first contact between the RN Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet in the North Sea. HMS New Zealand is present as part of the Battlecrusier force.
  • 29 August 1939 HMS Achilles departs NZ for her war station in the South Atlantic
  • 29 August 1945 HMNZS Gambia and the Allied Fleet anchor in Tokyo Bay for the formal surrender

 
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