Warship Week, London - press photo

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1942

Overview

Photo of the London Warship Week procession. A model of a submarine conning tower with sailors aboard is being carried on the back of a lorry through the street.
The bomb damage from the Blitz is evident with buildings in ruins. Civlians and those in uniform are watching the procession go by. There is a large sign on the side of the conning tower showing the number of vessels sunk by British submarines and asking people to support the Warship Week fundraising campaign.

Historical information

The submarine depicted, HMS H51, was an H class submarine built by HM Dockyard, Pembroke Dock. She was launched on 15 November 1918 and commissioned into the British Royal Navy on 1 September 1919.

Warship Week was one of the British National War Savings campaigns during WWII. It specifically raised money with the aim of a Royal Navy warship being adopted by a civil community. .
There were similar schemes which raised money for the Army (Salute the Soldier Week) and Air Force (Wings for Victory Week).

During the early parts of the war, the Royal Navy had not only lost many capital ships but was facing increasing pressure to provide escorts for convoys in the Atlantic. While there was no shortage of sailors, ships sunk by enemy action had to be replaced.
A level of savings was set to raise enough money to provide the cost of building a particular naval ship. The aim was for cities to raise enough to adopt battleships and aircraft carriers, while towns and villages focused on cruisers and destroyers. Smaller towns and villages were set a lower figure. Once the target money was saved for the ship, the community adopted the ship and its crew.
Local charity organisations, churches and schools provided the crews of the adopted ship with gloves, woollen socks and balaclavas. Children often wrote letters and sent cards to the crew. When possible officers and men from the adopted ship visited the local community. To celebrate their visit a parade was often organised in their honour.
The ship's commanding officer exchanged plaques, objects and photographs with the city or town that reached the target set, and an adoption began. The number of warships adopted was over 1,200, number including battleships, cruisers, destroyers and trawlers.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-119-RoW00042

Item type

Collectibles

Ephemera

Photographs

Themes

War and Conflict
War and Conflict > World War 2

Material

Photographic Paper

Width

230 mm

Height or length

195 mm

Inscriptions and markings

Written on board attached to submarine:

"BRITISH SUBMARINES
Have Sunk or Severely Damaged
66 WAR SHIPS
266 SUPPLY SHIPS & TRANSPORTS
Support LONDON'S WARSHIP Week & Help the
SUBMARINES to Carry on With the GOOD WORK."

Typed title underneath photo:

"A model conning tower of a submarine in the London Warships Week procession.
The board gives some particulars of British submarine successes."

Keywords

Place made

United Kingdom

Year