Not Shoreham related exactly but such a fascinating, rare and historic collection of naval photographs from Shorehambysea.com long standing member and Shoreham resident John Lyne that we had no hesitation in including them on the website. The photos record some of the ships and events from John’s father William Joseph Lyne’s service with the Royal Navy during WW1 and after. William served initially from 1911 to 1921 and saw action at Heligoland Bight and Jutland. Called up again during WW2 he participated in the Dunkirk withdrawal followed by a posting to Lowestoft providing minesweeping training to Scandinavian refugee sailors.
Many of these photographs were taken by William himself, surreptitiously perhaps as no doubt there were restrictions, but amazingly with a Kodak Brownie box camera initially and later with a fold-out Autographic camera – the latter providing some surprisingly clear, good resolution images.
The following resume of William’s service with the Royal Navy and the ships he served on will help in appreciating the period of some of the photos:-
1911 to 1912 Shore establishment HMS Pembroke
1912 to 1913 Black Prince and Lord Nelson
1913 to 1920 Hecla and Moresby
1920 to 1923 Pembroke and Victory
1923 to 1926 Barham
!926 to 1928 Pembroke and Victory
1928 to 1930 Cardiff
1930 to 1932 Centurion
1932 to 1933 St Angelo (Malta base)
1933 to 1934 Revenge and Effington
1934 to 1938 Nelson
1938 to 1945 HMS Europa shore station at Lowestoft
July 1945 Demobbed
(Service between the Wars was with the Royal Navy Reserve)
