View From Tower Bridge

Not only do I love steam power but I love battleships. My dad did his National Service in the Royal Marines and served on HMS Implacable,  an aircraft carrier.

Implacable’s first mission was to relocate the German battleship Tirpitz. The ship was sighted by two Firefly aircraft from the carrier. Two days later on the 28th October her Barracudas carried out the last airborne torpedo attack by the Royal Navy.  7 merchant ships were sunk and 7 others damaged with the German U-boat 1060 driven onto a reef and destroyed. During this mission one aircraft was lost. The carrier was damaged by heavy seas on the 28th of November 1944 and returned to Scapa Flow. In March 1945 her refit at Rosyth Dockyard was completed in three months. In July 1945 the ship’s aircraft flew over 100 sorties against Japanese targets. She was again refitted in March 1946 at Sydney, and two months later set sail for the UK, arriving in Portsmouth on the 3rd of June 1946. On the 1st of September 1954 she was paid off into reserve and placed on the disposal list, and arrived at Inverkeithing in November 1955 for scrapping.

My Dad joined the service after the war – Implacable was part of a fleet that esscorted the Royal Family on a tour of Africa.

I took this snap just before Christmas 2008. I went to the Rothko exhibition. ….both were powerful in their day (HMS Belfast & Rothko).

Tower Bridge Power Plant