H.M.S. Manxman  

Photograph taken by my Father on board the convoy which took him and hundreds of British troops to Malta. The first leg 12th July 1941 from Gourock was on  HMTS Pasteur. The second from Gibraltar to Malta was on HMS Manxman. My Father, he was Sgt. William (Bill) Lazell, served with the 7th Regiment, 27th Battery, Royal Artillery, on Malta between 1941 and 1944 . Bill operated radar and anti aircraft guns in various places on the island. He was a keen photographer and collector of photographs.

Regards Paul Lazell.

Click the image for an exert form Bill's diaries.

These photographs are difficult to date my feeling is they were taken during the war  at Millfordhaven (note there are no markings on the hull) so they probably date from 1941/1942. We know that the ship was out of commission from Dec 1942 until Apr1945.

This ship was the fastest ship in the Royal Navy, and fully loaded, she could sustain a speed of 38 knots for 1000 nautical miles. Her top speed was 41 knots. At this pace, she could outrun torpedoes, destroyers, torpedo boats, and dodge even the most accurate shellfire, weaving as the salvo was fired.

Manxman  had two mine tracks, much like a railway line .One on  the  starboard  side and one on the port side. There were large sliding  doors at the rear of the ship from which the mines were dropped.

In the second and third  photograph  you will notice that  a censor has "dogged out " something from on top of the gun range finder (behind the aft funnel) must have been secret at the time.

Left - Chief Engineer
Centre - Captain Geoffrey Thistleton-Smith
Right - Executive Officer     

identified by H.W. Smith (Bert) Manxman 1945 - 1946.

This photograph was taken much later ,mid 60's note the large reels at the rear of the ship and the redundant forward funnel .The number N70 was painted on her hull in the 1961 - 63 refit at Chatham.

Another distinguishing feature which the Manxman had,  was the strange superstructure located at the rear of the ship where the (X - Y)  4 inch gun mount used to be. It was housing and offices for the FO2 Med Fleet Rear Admiral Holland-Martin, whenever he was on board. When he was not in occupancy Captain David Tibbets (1956 ) used it. These modifications must have been carried out late 1955 at Malta.
Photograph courtesy of Dave Page (see link page)