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News

1.Naming Ceremony
the future HMCS Harry Dewolf will actually become HMCS Harry Dewolf in a ceremony at Halifax Shipyards on October 5th. A bottle of NS Sparkling Wine will be broken on her bow.

2. This week in the Herald

I talk about container line service changes, and port state control.

3. Ferries
the Rita Joe arrived in halifax over the weekend. Compare the Old and New ferries Wheelhouses. the Woodside 1 (From 1987) and the Christopher Stannix from 2014

Notable Moves

HMCS Moncton sailed on the 28th for Baltimore for fleet week, which runs Oct 3-9. HMS Monmouth, which is working with the new RN Aircraft Carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth II off Norfolk, will also be in attendance.

Interesting

1.Mega block
We caught the Rollout out of the Center megablock of AOPS #2. there is a time lapse Video.

Shipbuilding is driving the Halifax economy, soon the navy will be driving the future Margaret Brooke. Last week she rolled out of the Module Hall uplifted by the pride of Irving shipbuilders, hundreds of #Fleetway engineering staff included pic.twitter.com/7w9UKun1Pn

— John Newton (@greatbigseas) September 30, 2018

2.Compass House

The flower class corvette, like HMCS Sackville, originally had a short Foc’sal and an enclosed compass house on the bridge. when the foc’sal was lengthened, the compass houses were removed. One still survives today in liverpool.

History

October 3 1914 –  The first members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force sailed from Halifax.

Oct 2 1758 – The Legislature of NS passes an Act to Build the Sambro Island Light.

October 1marked the 77th birthday of the Royal New Zealand Navy.

Sept 28 2003 – Just before midnight, Hurricane Juan hits halifax.

Sept 27 1938- The great passenger liner Queen Elizabeth was launched at Clydebank, Scotland.

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News

1.Tagging Sharks
Ocearch Managed to tag 2 sharks off Nova Scotia On Monday. both were Male Great White sharks.

Our first white shark tagged in Canadian waters, @NovaTheShark, is named in honor of all the amazing people here in Nova Scotia. We’re so glad we’ve had a chance to engage with this community. pic.twitter.com/BplbmPYTKB

— OCEARCH (@OCEARCH) September 24, 2018

2.Russian Ice Class Vessels
The AKADEMIK SERGEY VAVILOV pulled into Halifax on the 25th, presumably at the end of her Arctic Cruise Season. Sister Ship Akademik Ioffe was due at the shipyard in Les Mechins PQ. late afternoon on the 25th, 1 month after running aground in the arctic.

3.The Herald
The Shipping news has gone dead tree! Look for a Weekly column in the Business Section. this week is the first. You can read my previous article on the Launch of the Future Harry Dewolf  and the Grounding of the Akademik Ioffe.

4.HMCS Oriole
the RCN’s Sail training vessel returned from a Great lakes tour yesterday.

5.New Ferry
The new Halifax Transit Ferry Rita Joe, was launched on the 21st.

We would like to congratulate AF Theriault & Son on the launch of the 5th and final ferry for Halifax Regional Municipality. The launch took place on Friday September 21st. The ferries were designed by EYE Marine Consultants. Photo credit goes to EYE Marine Consultants. #Halifax pic.twitter.com/4IrP14mhot

— NS Boatbuilders (@NSBoatbuilders) September 25, 2018

Interesting

1.Know your Day Shapes

2.Thug Moby Dick

History

Sept 24, 1942 – The liberty ship Stephen Hopkins fought an epic gun duel with the German raider, Stier. Both ships eventually sank.
Sept 23, 1944 – RCN Settles on a single green Maple leaf on ships funnels.
Sept 22, 1937 – William Crowell of Dartmouth and his dog Togo arrived in Vancouver after rounding North America in his 23 foot ketch
Sept 21, 1957 – German Barque, Pamir, one of the last great square-rigged ships sank during an Atlantic storm. Eighty lost.
Sept 20, 1943 – Canadian Destroyer, HMCS St. Croix torpedoed off Greenland. Only one of her one hundred and forty seven crew was saved

*the title for this post comes from the Halifax Examiner’s Morning File, because it generated a ton of hate mail from people who don’t understand satire.

September 19 is talk like a pirate day. in that vein, this post has a parrot on its shoulder.

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News

1.AOPS1 Launched
the future HMCS Harry Dewolf Launched at the shipyard. we Covered it Here, here and here, plus the Front page of the Herald.

2. Ioffe repaired
I was told that as of Sept 13th repairs are complete. she sailed for Kugaaruk, where she will met a TC inspector who cleared the Ioffe to sail. She will be escorted through the Ice by CCGS Henry Larsen, bound for Les Mechins PQ, where Verreault Navigation has a large dry dock. Her ETA is the 24th, 1 month from when she grounded. Updates posted here.

3.Kingston class guns dispersed

MCDV’s now feature a large table forward.
The 40mm Bofors, dating to the second world war have been striped from the Kingston class MCDV’s, and will be installed in their Name Sake Cities.

4.Tidal Turbines
The open Hydro turbine is broken, and not spinning. I heard speculation that the turbine actually broke just after it was re-deployed, which is what caused the French parent company of Open Hydro to pull the plug.

Black rock tidal put  their test platform in the water for the first time, and will be deploying it in  Grand Passage. this unit was previously used in Scotland, and set power production records there. We covered the various turbines in this post.

5. Tag your.. a shark?!
DFO tagged its first Shark off Nova Scotia. Ocearch is in town to also run a shark tagging expedition. these are the folks who tagged Hilton the Shark , who summers of NS.

6.Cook’s ship Found

HMB Endeavour, the ship commanded by James Cook, has been found off the coast of the US.

Movements

Atlantic Raven Spent the weekend at woodside, departing for the west coast via panama

HMS Monomonth and HMS Queen Elizabeth II are in Norfolk VA. (Above, RN Photo Via twitter)

Interesting

Port History of Ch’town

I recently discovered Sailstrait  which describes itself as “Telling the stories of the history of the port of Charlottetown and the marine heritage of Northumberland Strait on Canada’s East Coast.”

Just saw this ⁦@BigSpruceBrew⁩ sticker on a car in a supermarket car park in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Wonder what the story is?? pic.twitter.com/LGElRNanby

— Jonathan Smith (@jonps60) September 15, 2018

the above tweet possibly relates to this story about cars passing through ports, and at least in Montreal, Police Not Caring.

History

Sept 18, 1809 – 6 seamen are executed for mutiny on the sloop HMS Colombine. They were tarred and hung in iron cages on McNabs Is.

Sept. 17, 1949 – The S.S. Noronic catches fire – Toronto’s greatest single loss of life tragedy with at least 118 lives lost.

Sept 16, 1939 – HX1, the first convoy bound for Great Britain in WWII leaves Halifax
Sept 14, 1942 –  The aircraft carrier USS Wasp was sunk by the Japanese submarine I-19.

Sept 8, 1942 -SS Norfolk, ex-Glenbuckie (Canada Steamship Lines, Montreal) struck by two torpedoes from U 175, sinking in less than a minute, off British Guiana

if you like HalifaxShippingNews.ca, consider becoming a member. 2$ a month really helps cover costs, and in return you get the site Ad Free.  For latest port conditions, Including Weather,Wind, Tides, Arrivals and Departures be sure to visit the Port Report (Members get the information in realtime, not every 2 hours)

News

1. The Floggings will Continue..
the National Post reports on the case of 2 rival Pirate troupes who have a disagreement over the carriage of floggers.

2. Frigate Upgrades
Janes is reporting that DND is buying an additional decoy launcher for the stern of the the Halifax Class Frigates. the ships are already equipped with 2, one on each bridge wing.

3.Dead Tree.
I had an article in yesterdays Chronicle Herald. You can find it Online .  Continued updates on the grounding will be posted at https://blog.halifaxshippingnews.ca/2018/08/akademik-ioffe-runs-aground.html

Movements

Bluenose is in Boston. HMCS Kingston returned from OP Nanook in the North. Cruise Ship Anthem of the Seas turned around off Herring Cove last week while outbound to drop off a sick passenger.

Interesting

MOB Drill

Some candid, seafarer submitted shots of the Star at work. . . #horizonstar #osv #offshorevessel #oilandgasindustry #workoffshore #workatsea #canadianvessel #seafarerphotography

A post shared by @ horizonmaritime on Aug 30, 2018 at 6:47am PDT

History

Sept 2, 1998 –  Swiss Air Flight 111 crashed near Peggy’s Cove, NS. All 229 aboard were killed.
Sept 1, 1985 – An expedition led by Dr Robert Ballard located the wreckage of TITANIC
Aug 30 1943 – HMCS Haida is Commissioned. She is now a Museum operated by Parks Canada in Hamilton.
Aug 29, 1942 – 1st course of 67 probationary ‘Wrens” for the newly created Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service begins at Kingsmill House, in Ottawa.
Aug 27, 1960 – Replica of HMS Bounty launched at Lunenburg. She was built  for the MGM movie staring Marlon Brando. She Sank in a hurricane in 2012.

if you like HalifaxShippingNews.ca, consider becoming a member. 2$ a month really helps cover costs, and in return you get the site Ad Free.  For latest port conditions, Including Weather,Wind, Tides, Arrivals and Departures be sure to visit the Port Report (Members get the information in realtime, not every 2 hours)

News

1. Oceanex Fire

In the early morning hours of August 16th, the Oceanex Connaigra bound for Montreal from St. Johns Newfoundland suffered a fire in her cargo hold. She docked in Trois Riveres Quebec, where the local fire department extinguished the fire, and the ship continued on later that morning. Oceanex Tweeted that “a fire was reported on a piece of equipment being carried onboard Oceanex Connaigra . It has been extinguished and confirmed there are no injuries.” and that “there is no damage to the vessel or its cargo.” Oceanex Connaigra is the Newest vessel in Oceanex’s fleet of ships, she runs a weekly service between St. Johns and Montreal with Oceanex Avalon. She was built in Germany, and entered service in October 2013. 

2. Laker to the East Coast.
Canada steamship lines’ trillium class laker Thunder bay is doing an east coast run. She sailed from Thunder Bay on Lake Superior to Sydney N.S., before moving through the locks at canso to load rock, for Charlottetown PEI. Built in China, and intended for inland waters, the trillium class lakers crossed the ocean with extra reinforcing to deal with ocean swell. This trip is notable as it’s the first coastal trip for this class of ship since they entered the lakes

3. Saudies and grain
the current diplomatic spat with the saudis may cause problems for G3 (Global Grain Growers), which is what the Canadian Wheat Board became after privatization in 2012. the Ownership is G3 is 49.9% with Canadian Farmers, and the 50.1 held by a Joint Venture with Bunge Canada and SALIC – the Saudi Agricultural and livestock investment company. originally the joint venture was a 50/50 split, but SALIC bought half of Bunge’s share, and now controls 37% of g3. G3 controls a number of terminals, and owns one bulk carrier G3 Marquis  operated by Algoma.

4. Dutch Runner Sails
former Halifax regular Dutch Runner has sailed for the Caribbean, for a shipyard in the Dominican Republic. The ship has been idle, since the contract for the Saint Pierre Run went to Fusion, and then Nolhanava.

5. Ice Breakers Arrive

the 3 AHST’s purchased by Davie for conversion for the Coast Guard arrived in Quebec Monday.

Interesting

1. Cargo Cruising
Halifax Magazine interviews a Couple that crossed the Atlantic on the Atlantic Star.

2. Old Ads

Admiral John Newton – @greatbigseas on twitter, tweeted some old Halifax maritime ads.

3. Dun-duh dun-duh

The latest ping from @HiltonTheShark is almost the farthest north we’ve ever tracked him. He’s nearly to Halifax pic.twitter.com/6ncTmnPRn4

— OCEARCH (@OCEARCH) August 28, 2018

History

AUgust 28, 1942 – HMCS Oakville sank U-94 in the Caribbean. Her quick thinking crew boarded it before it sank and snagged vital documents. The Movie U-571 gave credit to the Americans.

August 24, 1990 – Canadian Warships Terra Nova, Athabaskan and Preserver depart for the (first) Gulf war. Terra Nova was hastily fitted with gear meant for the then under construction CPF’s.

August 23, 1750 – The ship Alderney arrives at Halifax with 370 volunteer settlers, who would go on to settle and found East Halifax (Dartmouth)

August 22,1944 -the Canadian Crewed escort carrier HMS NABOB torpedoed by U354, in Barents Sea, killing 21. Effective damage control saved the ship and she arrived at Scapa Flow under her own power.

if you like HalifaxShippingNews.ca, consider becoming a member. 2$ a month really helps cover costs, and in return you get the site Ad Free.  For latest port conditions, Including Weather,Wind, Tides, Arrivals and Departures be sure to visit the Port Report (Members get the information in realtime, not every 2 hours)

News

1.Back to Norway
Roald Admunsen’s ship Maud has been raised and returned to Norway.

2. HMS Queen Elizabeth goes to America
the Royal Navy’s new Aircraft Carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is headed to America for tests with the F-35B. the F35-B variant is the vertical takeoff model, and is the aircraft the new british carriers were designed to Carry.

She was due to sail from Portsmouth, Aug 18, at 1800 local time.

3. 1907 Yacht Sails at Chester Race week.

The CH has an article about the Seneca – a yacht built in 1907, and still racing 111 years later

4. $$ for Harbours
Ottawa is set to spend $42million on Small Craft Harbours in Nova Scotia. Harbours being improved will be announced next week.

Interesting

1. Wear your PFD
the port of Summerside PEI is enforcing TC rules requiring a PFD within 1m of the edge of he Wharf, even for people who arn’t working. I wonder if Pants would work.

2. Avro Arrow Models found

We are pleased to announce the first historic relic of the Avro Arrow free-flight program has been recovered on Aug 13 after 64+ yrs in Lake Ontario. While the @raisethearrow team is continuing its search for the free-flight models, the discovery is the grandfather to the program pic.twitter.com/M55AUdafCd

— Raise the Arrow (@raisethearrow) August 20, 2018

History

Aug 22 1731 – a lighthouse was erected at Louisbourg, by the French; the first in Canada and the 2nd in the New World. Louis XIV was king of France at the time.

Aug 21 1944 – HMCS Alberni is sunk by mine off St. Catherine’s Point, England. Thirty nine were lost.

Aug 20 1956 –  major fire at the Irving Oil Plant threatened the Halifax waterfront. HMC Dockyard and @hfxfire poured a million gallons of water on the fire

Aug 20, 1864 – The Confederate cruiser, Tallahasee, escaped from Halifax harbour through  Eastern Passage. The Union Navy was waiting outside the normal approaches to the harbour.

Aug 18, 1833 – The Royal William sailed from Pictou to England, proving a steamship could speedily make the transatlantic crossing. the Ship was funded by Brwer John Molson, and Samual Cunard.

#CansoLock to #AuldsCove. #APAPilot @dennis.dorey.5 helped to make #CansoLock & Dock approach look like I’d done this before! #Noob #FirstTimer #EastCoastRookie

A post shared by Captain Jason Church (@navig8r01) on Aug 20, 2018 at 11:57am PDT

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For latest port conditions, Including Weather,Wind, Tides, Arrivals and Departures be sure to visit the Port Report (Members get the information in realtime, not every 2 hours)

News

1.TEU’s By Port
Halifax has handled just under 276,000 TEU in the first half of 2018. Here is how that stacks up with other Ports:

for Comparison,  Vancouver did 1,637,440 TEU, and Montreal 813,665 TEU

2. Fires
A boat from the Discovery Series Cold Water Cowboys caught fire in Twillingate. In Vancouver, A barge loaded with crushed cars caught fire off Surrey.

3.Tidal Power
Emera has withdrawn from the Cape Sharp Tidal project, saying with open hydro’s insolvency, there is no point in continuing the venture. The turbine however remains on the ocean floor, and BBC Shipping has a Lein on the barge required to remove it.

4.NSP Spill Bigger then Reported
CTV News is reporting that the Oil spilled at tufts cove is actually 5 times larger then the Less then 5000 liters NSP originally reported. the other 19000 liters was contained to NSP’s property and didn’t enter the harbour.

5. Port goes digital
The Port of Halifax announced it has joined the IBM/Maersk led Tradelens. Tradelens uses blockchain to do stuff with logistics tracking. The port also is publicly tracking container dwell time, and other key performance metrics. you can check it out yourself at https://www.portofhalifax.ca/port-operations-centre/#!/

Ship Movements

3 new vessels showed up in the past few days, all of which i missed. Alexandra At Fairview cove, and Seamax Stamford and San Allesio for Maersk at Halterm. Nirint’s ship Augusta Sun spent a week tied up at the ocean terminals, while they resolved a mechanical issue. they reloaded containers, and sailed yesterday (Aug 14th)

Interesting

1.The Most Important RN Cats

The Royal Navy Banned cats on ship in 1975, However, up until that point, they played an important role in Ships life. to that end, Forces.net complied a list of the top 10 RN Cat photos.

One small issue – only 9 are RN Cats. one appears to be the Late Erik the Red, who served as the Maritime Museums Rodent Control officer, aboard CSS Acadia.

2. Fire Boat Failure
You may remember the fiasco that was the Halifax Fire Boat. the department bought a new boat from a California firm, despite objections from the Nova Scotia Boat building Industry. anyway, it rolled over and sank on trials.

Someone has found video of it being towed back to the dock by the Coast Guard.

History

August 15, 1914 – the Panama Canal Opens

August 11, 1968 – Angus James Walters died (b. in #Lunenburg, 1881). He was athe first captain of the Bluenose from 1921 to 1938, winning five international sailing races and was undefeated for seventeen years.

August 10, 1628 – the Swedish warship Vasa sinks on her maiden voyage. 300+ years later she was raised, and is preserved in a museum.

Navigation Troubles

No bow lights, no problem. Just hang some glow sticks off that bad boy 👍🏻 #qualified #onewaytodoit #uscgapproved #legitaf #cheepbastard #googancity #poontoon #pontoonwarrior #doityourself #pleaseaddressmeascaptain #glowsticksforthewin #energysaver #goinggreen #goinggay #getsomeleds #cheepalternative #stupid #or #genius #youdecide #itwouldpissmeoff #beingontheotherside #boateroftheday #kookoftheday #humpdayspecial #haveagoodday 📸 @jakerproffitt

A post shared by THEQUALIFIEDCAPTAIN (@thequalifiedcaptain) on Aug 8, 2018 at 6:47am PDT

if you like HalifaxShippingNews.ca, consider becoming a member. 2$ a month really helps cover costs, and in return you get the site Ad Free.

For latest port conditions, Including Weather,Wind, Tides, Arrivals and Departures be sure to visit the Port Report (Members get the information in realtime, not every 2 hours)

News

1. Harbour Hoppers.
After my article about the safety of the Harbour Hoppers, Halifax Today and  the Herald ran articles on the safety of the Vehicles. Indecently the preliminary report from the NTSB has been released. U.S. Coast Guard announced that it was convening a Marine Accident Board to investigate the accident.

2.Trade War and Boats
Apparently the Trump trade war is Causing headaches for US Boatbuilders – Both driving up their input costs, and adding 25% cost to buyers. Since Canada has free trade with Europe (And a large supply of aluminum) this could be good news for domestic industry.

3.New Scallop Vessel

Comeau’s Sea Foods, based in Saulnierville NS, has ordered a new Factory Scallop fishing vessel. The ship will be built in Spain, but was designed by Bedford based Allswater Marine. It is expected to be delivered in 2020. The ship will be named Lady Comeau III after Thérèse Comeau, the wife of Comeau’s Sea Foods founder, Bernardin Comeau.

Interesting

1. GTS Katy Incident
This Twitter thread is interesting- it tells the story of the GTS Katie, a commercial ship carrying military equipment back to Canada. A dispute among the ship owners and the company hired by the military to bring our kit back, so the ship was ordered not to enter Canadian Waters by her owners.

In the End the ship was Boarded,  arrested, and escorted to a Canadian port.

#HISTORY: 30 July 2000, #RCNavy destroyer HMCS Athabaskan received orders to close with GTS Katie about 225 km off Newfoundland.
14 Sailors began a heli-borne assault to take control of the ship. @RLitwiller
I took this horrible external 50 foot elevator lift, with other SMEs pic.twitter.com/6TlSFqY0qG

— Rasta ™ (@NSRasta) August 3, 2018

2. Container Ship Cruising
JOC has a piece on a Container ship Cruise. recall you can actually sail to Vancouver from Halifax on CMA-CGM’s Columbus loop.

3. Hiding Ships
We are all familiar with dazzle schemes used in the first and Second world wars. It was meant to Disrupt the eye and make ships courses harder to determine. It was Proposed by Painter Norman Wilkinson (who painted Canada’s Answer), In part to Discredit the Cubist Movement. (How can it be art, if its Utilitarian) Clever – but then I came across this Tweet

In 1942, while stranded in enemy waters, the Dutch warship HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen evaded detection by the Japanese and escaped to Australia while disguised as a tropical island. pic.twitter.com/iVwOinS5bs

— Quite Interesting (@qikipedia) July 31, 2018

after which, I was sent the image below of a Swedish warship.

History

Aug 7, 1996 – After spending 26years on the bottom, the Oil Barge Irving whale is raised, and the hulk towed into Halifax. She still sails today as the deck barge Atlantic Sealion

Aug 6, 1942 – HMCS Assiniboine rams and sinks German submarine U-210 south of Greenland

Aug 3, 1492 – Christopher Columbus, working for Spain, sailed for the Orient, But found south America

Aug ,1 1798 – The battle of the Nile – The British defeat the French fleet.

Help keep the Lights On! Yesterday I tweeted a map of all the harbour traffic that passed through Halifax in one month. there is a couple hundred dollars of equipment required to provide the realtime positions of ships in the harbour, and its been replaced once since it went into operations.   if you like HalifaxShippingNews.ca, consider becoming a member. 2$ a month really helps cover costs, and in return you get the site Ad Free.

For latest port conditions, Including Weather,Wind, Tides, Arrivals and Departures be sure to visit the Port Report (Members get the information in realtime, not every 2 hours)

News

1. Fishing Gear and Whales
A couple of university students are developing rope-less fishing gear –  there is actually still a rope, but it will only deploy when the gear needs to be retrieved. Timely, as there are reports of a Right whale tangled in gear in the Mouth of the Bay of Fundy. Rescuers are hampered by weather trying to find the Whale.

2.Tidal Power
apparently the French Naval Defense Firm DCNS has applied to shutdown OpenHydro, and liquidate it. the Company that is working with Emera in a joint venture Cape Sharp Tidal, to test turbines in the Bay of Fundy. the project just installed their second turbine last week.

Apparently the bankruptcy was known to the company before the turbine was installed, and has potentially left many Local businesses holding the bag.

This may be something that makes sense for Emera to buy outright. given the interest in Oceans sector research in Nova Scotia, and as a source of Renewable Power – this could be a great thing – certainly better then Wind Tubine parts.

3.Shearwater Turns 100
Shearwater began life in the waning days of the first world war as a Naval Air Station. today, 100 years later, it still serves in that capacity. Of note, Seakings have been flying from that base for more then half of its existence. (Seakings are to be retired in December, 55 years after entering service).

4.Yarmouth Ferry
A Maine company has submitted a proposal to operate a ferry between bar Harbor and Yarmouth. Seemingly a more modest operation then bay Ferries Cat, they seem to think they can make a go of it. BFL is also proposing to relocate from Portland to Bar Harbor to save fuel costs.

5. Wednesdays.
Im moving news bits to Wednesdays. hump day seems to be a better fit then Thursday.

Interesting

1.Small Craft Advisory?!?

Here’s another cautionary tale of what should not be crossing the harbour! They were bailing and apparently have no idea how to trim their rowboat so that it doesn’t ship water! And yet, they refused assistance.

A post shared by Peter Greathead (@peterpasha) on Jul 30, 2018 at 12:35pm PDT

2. Nautical History.
I stumbled across the blog of author Phillip K. Allen its full of interesting nautical history, including this description of a Upper class, Victorian tattoo. apparently

Lord Charles Beresford, a distinguished rear admiral… is said to have had a large tattoo of the hounds of the Waterford Hunt in full cry. The dogs poured over his shoulder and down his back in pursuit of a fox. Only the tail of the fox was visible, the rest of the animal having apparently disappeared up Admiral Beresford’s arse.

SO yah – Check out the blog – its relatively new, but good.

So On that Tattoo.. the internet has turned up no pictures of that, though there is apparently one (or one like it) in Desmond Morris, Bodywatching (1985), 179.  and the British parlement’s Hansard turns up descriptions of it in Tattoo Debates.

(Thats Beresford and his Bull dog on the right)

Week in History

July 31 1970 – Black Tot Day – this was the last day on which the Royal Navy issued sailors with a daily rum ration. Canada Followed suit on March 31,1972.

July 31 1942 – An Order in Council creates the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS). Nearly 6,500 women will enlist for service during WWII. Also on this Date, HMCS Skeena and  HMCS Wetaskiwin sink the German submarine U-588 mid-Atlantic.

July 30 1768 – James Cooks first voyage to the pacific is Authorized by the Admiralty. Prior to his pacific trips Cook spent time in Canada, charting Halifax and Newfoundland, taking part in the Siege of Quebec, and the Fall of Louisbourg.

July 29 1572 – A small fleet of English ships commanded by Sir Francis Drake, attacked Nombre Di Dios,in modern day panama, making off with silver.
July 27 1758 – Louisbourg falls to the British for the final time.