Shipbucket

Just wondering if anyone can answer a question that I don't know the answer too.

Did RN capital ships still carry paravane equipment during the interwar period?
I've seen references to paravanes aboard HMS Nelson in 1939 but I wondered if they were fitted routinely before then or if all equipment was landed in 1919.

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The only thing I can find with a clear enough view is this shot of Royal Oak from 1935+ showing new bulge and what looks like a pair of paravanes below the bridge. Note the twin 4".



Photo from Siegfried Breyer p54

I have been trying to fix a date to the photo: the following is from Wiki'

The ship received a final refit between 1934 and 1936,when her deck armour was increased to 5 inches (12.7 cm) over the magazines and to 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) over the engine rooms. In addition to a general modernisation of the ship's systems, her anti-aircraft defences were strengthened by replacing the single mounts of the AA guns with twin mounts for the QF 4-inch Mark XVI gun and adding a pair of octuple mounts for two-pounder Mk VIII "pom-pom" guns to sponsons abreast the funnel.[14] Two positions for "pom-pom" anti-aircraft directors were added on new platforms abreast and below the fire-control director in the spotting top. A HACS Mk III director replaced the Mk I in the spotting top and another replaced the torpedo director aft. A pair of quadruple mounts for Vickers .50 machine guns were added abreast the conning tower. The mainmast was reconstructed as a tripod to support the weight of a radio-direction finding office and a second High-Angle Control Station.[17] The forward pair of submerged torpedo tubes were removed and four experimental 21-inch torpedo tubes were added above water forward of 'A' turret

I've been able to narrow it down due to lack of the HACS.III on the foretop in the photo. Photos taken during her Spanish Civil War patrol duty in 1937 (also note lack of neutrality bands on B and X turrets) have the HACS, as does a Wikipedia photo taken on 24 November 1938 when she returned the body of Queen Maud of Norway to Norway. Given the delays in the supply of HACS equipment I'm supposing the photo must have been taken in 1936 just after the refit was completed.


I note that Joseph Moretz's The Royal Navy and the Capital Ship in the Interwar Period seems to hint that the Two Speed Destroyer Sweep (introduced in 1926), the High Speed Mine Sweep and Paravanes were deployed together, so I guess such equipment would have been retained during the 1920s, especially since he notes the use of paravanes was frequently exercised.

_________________
Hood's Worklist
English Electric Canberra FD
Interwar RN Capital Ships
Super-Darings
Never-Were British Aircraft