'Raising a submarine', with sketches of a dazzle-painted 'standard ship' and various figures RMG PV0052

'Raising a submarine', with sketches of a dazzle-painted 'standard ship' and various figures
The upper sketch here depicts a war-standard 'D'-type single-deck collier. Twenty-four of these were built in 1918 and three in 1919. Their names all began with 'War', e.g. 'War Battery', built by Osbourne Graham & Co Ltd at Sunderland and completed in May 1918. The lower drawing is inscribed 'Raising a submarine' and probably depicts the same event shown in PAE0056. While there is insufficient detail to identify the incident it is worth noting that on 18 March 1904 the submarine 'A1' (1902) was sunk in collision with the merchant ship 'Berwick Castle' off the Nab lightship, wst of the Isle of Wight. On 18 April the boat was raised off the bottom in great secrecy, towed inshore to St Helen's Roads, lifted to just below the surface and then brought into Portsmouth, still in this almost completely submerged state. She was dry-docked well after dark and the bodies of her crew removed. 'A1' was subsequently repaired and put back into service, being paid off and sunk as a target in 1911. No photographs of this salvage operation have yet been found but it is possible that this drawing may record it.