Historic soft shackle

[Neeves]

The thread is drifting, as they do.

I confess I was not there so cannot confirm the report.



The fate of Canterbury was available from The Times. They had, maybe have, a section repeating key moments from the past and my father collected them if they had 'family' relevance. I still have the cutting - somewhere (scouring the recesses of my memory - these historic snippets might have been titled "50 years ago today' or '75 years ago today')

HMS Canterbury was scrapped in Rosyth, Scotland, to Metal Industries in July 1934, after her armament was removed.

Her bell and the ensign she wore at Jutland (which was her commissioning cruise) are both on display in Canterbury Cathedral.

Rosyth as a naval dockyard was well known, Inverkething may actually have been the destination, but scrap yards of historic vessels has the wrong connotation. I too lived not far away, in the shelter of the Ochils, but we went to Edinburgh vie the Kincardine Bridge - it was quicker than going via the ferries. The, road, bridge changed all that.

I think 'Caroline' in Belfast is the only vessel of the Arethusa class to survive.

Jonathan

 

[Neeves]

The second photo is a red herring.

There are many ways to skin a cat, or rabbit.

If you thread the device through the top, the hem, of a kit bag, the sort a seamen might use then you don't need the outer sleeve - used on soft shackles. The hem through which you thread the device is the outer sleeve - and if your kit bag is full then the rather long loop and the Turks head would secure the closure.



Jonathan

 

[Neeves]

Bosun's Persuader
Antique Bosuns Boatswains Persuader - Etsy Australia

Based on the responses a persuader seems an unlikely item on Hood, maybe Hood is a red herring.

Jonathan

 

[Rum Run]

There are many ways to skin a cat, or rabbit.

If you thread the device through the top, the hem, of a kit bag, the sort a seamen might use then you don't need the outer sleeve - used on soft shackles. The hem through which you thread the device is the outer sleeve - and if your kit bag is full then the rather long loop and the Turks head would secure the closure.



Jonathan

That sounds like an excellent excuse for having one: "It holds the top of me kitbag shut Chief" rather than "they keep telling me it's my turn in the barrel again and I'm sick of it Chief". Or "the girlfriend's husband is back from the China Station and he's massive Chief"

 

[Poignard]

When it comes to securing kit bags, I know whereof I speak, having used one to carry around my kit whilst in the Royal Navy.

One of the first things one acquires after being issued with a kitbag is one of the above.

 

[[194497]]

I don't think a 40mm Turk's Head would be heavy enough to make a meaningful weapon unless there was a slug of lead inside it. And the loop looks too big for use as a soft shackle. It's s hard to think of a real purpose for it, although no doubt it had one - it's a very utilitarian-looking object.

 

[Poignard]

It may have no purpose at all but simply be a test piece made by an apprentice rigger to demonstrate his skill.

During my fitter & turner training in the RN we were required to make various useless objects to show that we had reached a certain level of proficiency. I fondly recall the many happy hours spent making: the E-piece and blocks, the Geneva mechanism, the copper cigarette box with its hinged lid, et al.