The Ship Model Forum

Laurence Batchelor wrote:Sorry I can't whip out another survivor from HMS Intrepid out of a hat.

This above quote is taken from George Mack's book by William Kimber which is of course edited and checked through by a number of her crew before publishing and this makes it stronger evidentially.

Mack had served on both Royal Sovereign and Renown in the early 1930s undoubtively having had to scrub corticene on both ships.

When drafted to Intrepid, while at Cowes, he would surely be a creditable witness to the transition to semtex as he was now asked to scrub that also! before and after her aceptance trails.

I am not familiar with ever seeing Norman Ough produce I-class plans?
I do agree though he worked a lot of extra detail into his plans which don't appear on the 'as fitteds'.
Its a pity though some of his dimensions were wrong, and Ajax was it or was it a Dido which was highly inaccurate, he was only human after all!

Laurence Batchelor wrote:So was he wrong then?
I know he was a senior gentlemen even back in the 1950s.
Was he an adult in the 1930s? Did he go onboard these ships back then?

We all know him as a model maker par excellance, but surely we must believe the actual crew members who scrubbed the actual decks at the actual time?

Laurence Batchelor wrote:Dear ar

I quote from your article and there's one point I wish to disagree on, if I may:-

"SEMTEX: A trowelled-on non-slip composite material.
Used on destroyers from the Tribal Class (1938) onwards. Used sometimes on small working areas of wartime construction cruisers and battleships and refitted cruisers and battleships. Used on war built escort vessels.
Color: Medium dark green.
CORTICENE: A linoleum, held down by thin brass strips. Used on most new construction from around 1915 onwards, on ships of destroyer size downwards. Last destroyer class to use Corticene was the �I� class of the late thirties. Used on small working areas of large ships up to the late thirties.
Color: Medium brown - described as the colour of milk chocolate."

From a first-hand account from George Mack who was a seaman gunner who joined HMS Intrepid on her 1st commission in July 1937 he states "We had managed to sweep up, but the decks looked filthy as they were covered in a new paste-like surface, instead of the brown corticene, held down with shiny brass strips, as on other ships.....Another snag about 'Semtex' was that it wore through the soles of shoes at an alarming rate, as it was like walking on sandpaper."

So it would appear the I-class destroyers were the first with Semtex to replace Corticene and not the Tribals. Off the top of my haed the I-class mostly commissioned in 1937 whereas the Tribals were in 1938.
What was your source of this (mis)information please? documentation or interviews?

"SEMTEX: A trowelled-on non-slip composite material.
Used on destroyers from the Tribal Class (1938) onwards. Used sometimes on small working areas of wartime construction cruisers and battleships and refitted cruisers and battleships. Used on war built escort vessels.
Color: Medium dark green.
CORTICENE: A linoleum, held down by thin brass strips. Used on most new construction from around 1915 onwards, on ships of destroyer size downwards. Last destroyer class to use Corticene was the �I� class of the late thirties. Used on small working areas of large ships up to the late thirties.
Color: Medium brown - described as the colour of milk chocolate."

As soon as we arrived in Chatham our chums began to arrive aboard to see what the new ship looked like, and to renew old acquaintances.
From the jetty we looked very smart in our gleaming light grey Med Fleet colours, against the dark grey of the Home Fleet ships that were in the yard with us, but when they stepped aboard things were not so smart. We had managed to sweep up, but the decks looked filthy as they were covered in a new paste-like surface, instead of the brown corticene, held down with shiny brass strips, as on other ships.
By Sunday the POs and leading seaman had gone round other ships to borrow a supply of cleaning materials and we set to with a will to clean the upper deck. To our disgust, nothing had the slightest effect, in spite of all the skills that years of hard-won experience lavished on it! When we eventually met the rest of the flotilla we found they had been equally unsuccessful; the only real difference between the ships was that three had dirty brown decks, three dirty blue decks and three had dirty grey decks!

This curse held over us for about six months, until suddenly we noticed that the Impulsive had cleaner decks than the rest of us. In spite of her trying to keep the secret formula to herself, we soon noticed that she was washing her decks with a salt water hose, and the problem was solved. Salt water and nothing else. We now had the problem of a dirty ship's side! In all fairness however this was one of the best things that happened to destroyers. For it meant there was a really safe foothold in all weathers. Before this the decks were very slippery, and to give extra grip at sea, coconut matting was laid round the guns and along the iron deck, but the first seas coming aboard would rip the lashings, and it was a constant battle to keep it securely lashed down. Another snag about 'Semtex' was that it wore through the soles of shoes at an alarming rate, as it was like walking on sandpaper.