Description
Object description
Silent 8mm footage shot by Lieutenant-Commander George C Blundell in the first months of the Second World War whilst HMS Kent was hunting for German commerce raiders and blockade runners off Japan and in the Indian Ocean.
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START 00:00:00 Views filmed inside a drydock (probably the one at Whampoa Dock from 21 to 24 October 1939) showing the starboard side of HMS Kent during dockyard repairs; clearly visible are the draught marks in Latin numerals painted on the bow below the waterline starting at 7 feet above the keel and ending at 22 feet, the keel blocks of heavy timber upon which the massive 10,000-ton vessel rests, the curvature of the hull from the centre keel, the bilge keel running along much of the starboard side below the waterline, the starboard outer and inner propeller shafts with their three-bladed propellers, the stern with its large balanced rudder and the starboard inner propeller and shaft and draught marks in Latin numerals from 7 to 11 feet. A view of the admiral's sternwalk at the stern, showing a dockyard worker sitting in a bosun's chair painting one of the supporting stanchions. More shots of the rudder and the starboard propellers and propeller shafts and the shoring timbers placed between the hull and drydock wall that help keep the 630 feet long, 68 feet wide vessel in position. Water is seen pouring into the drydock as its lock gates are slowly opened up.
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00:03:44 Views of the Admiralty S Class destroyer HMS Tenedos in Hong Kong harbour moored alongside a local fleet auxiliary vessel, showing her armament, a single QF 4-inch gun on the foc'sle and another one between the two funnels and a long row of sea mines on the main deck from the second funnel to the stern.
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00:04:06 Scenes filmed on 5 November 1939 in Yokohama Bay off mainland Japan during a sweep for German disguised commerce raiders and blockade-runners believed to be in Japanese ports with the snow-topped semi-inert volcano, Mount Fuji, looming over the horizon. A modern Japanese freighter steams past through the choppy seas. Another officer on board HMS Kent films the scene with his cine camera. Long lens views of the 12,300-feet tall Mount Fuji rising high over Yokohama Bay with the Japanese freighter in the distance.
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00:05:15 Scenes filmed on 7 November 1939 showing an officer identified as Mr Skinner wearing anti-flash headgear and a gas mask on deck on the port side of HMS Kent, watched by a petty officer and several naval ratings who, judging by the straps across their chests, are carrying gas masks on their backs. With his cap perched on his head, Mr Skinner throws a mock salute for the camera.
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00:05:53 Scenes on the bridge of HMS Kent showing her new skipper, Captain Douglas Young-Jamieson, puffing away on his pipe, his naval cap on the ledge of the bridge, an officer identified as 'Baron' Clifford standing on his left next to him together with shots of two petty officers (identified as Riley and Holford by Blundell) peering through binoculars at air lookout positions. Scenes showing ship's officers (named as Pat Matheson and Peter Arbuthnot) and the captain (now wearing sunglasses) scanning the sky through their binoculars. Shots showing the wash created by a paravane being trailed in the sparkling tropical waters along the port side of HMS Kent and the paravane being lifted out of the water.
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00:07:23 Scenes filmed on 21 November 1939 in Singapore naval dockyard as HMS Kent steams past the shore and through the anchorage past the submarine depot ship, HMS Medway, and a floating dock housing the Southampton Class light cruiser HMS Liverpool. Shots taken from HMS Kent as she heads through the Straits of Johore past the 10,000-ton French heavy cruiser Suffren and encountering on her port side an Albury Class coal-fired fleet minesweeper, an ancient-looking dredger with a tall funnel, a Hunt Class minesweeper, and, as she clears the boom defences on the approaches to the Straits of Johore, two Bar Class boom defence vessels and a Moorgate Class boom gate vessel (whose crew is seen lined up on the upper deck to salute the cruiser as she steams past).
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00:10:12 Views of the French heavy cruiser Suffren steaming at high speed in the Indian Ocean ahead of HMS Kent, her Tricolour flying from the mainmast and a Latecoere seaplane on her starboard catapult. Close up shots of Suffren's crest and motto 'Dieu Y Pourvoira' in honour of Count Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez, a distinguished 18th century French naval commander.
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00:11:08 Scenes in the Nicobar Islands showing the fleet oiler, RFA Penleaf in Nancowry harbour and five of HMS Kent's officers (including Peter Arbuthnot) dressed up in a mix of casual clothes and sports wear (especially to create a 'Plus Fours' look) and armed with shotguns posing for the camera on the quarterdeck. Filmed by Blundell on board his own boat, the shooting party heads for shore in one of HMS Kent's motor launches passing a large motor launch full of French sailors from the Suffren (or Libertymen as Blundell describes them). Scenes on shore on Nancowry Island showing the shooting party walking along the shoreline past fishermen's huts and local inhabitants looking at what's going on; nearby are square patches of ground where freshly-gathered cashew nuts have been left to dry. A naval officer poses for the camera in front of a mass of palm trees. Shots of a memorial plaque to 'Sammy' (an Indian sailor ?) left by the crew of the Royal Indian Marine Service survey ship Investigator in November 1922 and the grave of Dimati Brij Kunwa, widow of Lala Ratti Lall, who warned the British of the approach of the German light cruiser Emden in October 1914. Close up shots of a delicate fern grass leaf. Scenes shot during a fishing expedition showing freshly-caught fish, to which two more are added, and one of Blundell's torpedo man priming an explosive device he has made from torpedo detonators (?) and dropping it overboard, a spreading ring of foaming water after the device has exploded and more fresh fish in buckets.
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00:14:03 Scenes in Colombo harbour in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) where several large ships are moored, including the armed merchant cruiser HMS Antenor, a Saint Class Admiralty tug (seen steaming through the harbour), an ex-Blue Funnel Line passenger ship, the French Compagnie des Messagieres Maritimes D'Artagnan (a large two-funnelled passenger liner), and two more armed merchant cruisers (the one on the left is possibly the ex-Bibby Line passenger ship HMS Cheshire and the one on the right nearest the camera is the ex-P & O passenger ship HMS Ranchi). All the armed merchant cruisers seen here have dark grey hulls and buff upper works, masts and funnels.
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00:14:49 Scenes filmed on 5 December 1939 showing two large passenger ships on the horizon, large smoke generators on the quarterdeck of HMS Kent being primed and emitting thick white smoke and a smoke screen on the water. A distant view of Suffren on the port beam steaming at high speed, with smoke streaming from her aft funnel, and firing a salvo with her forward 203mm guns.
END 00:15:48
Physical description
8mm