CHINA STATION.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Naval officer's photographs from a tour of duty. An album compiled by an officer likely involved with the maintenance and testing of battleships and submarines, interspersing photographs taken while on duty with his tourist snapshots and shots of friends. Nine images show vessels from the China Station's fleet of L-Class submarines being put through their paces.The photographs are arranged roughly chronologically and, although many are captioned and some show the officer, he is unidentified. It commences in 1922, and seven photographs, taken onboard the battlecruiser HMS Repulse in the Mediterranean, show Repulse and HMS Hood, the largest ship in the Royal Navy, undergoing full power trials. Photographs taken in China a few years later continue the theme. During the 1920s, L-Class submarines served on the station as the Fourth Submarine Flotilla, and the album contains photographs of HMS L3 and L4 during trials at Hong Kong in 1926, as well as diving trials for HMS L5. Two photographs taken atop the main body of HMS L2 show it forging ahead at full power. He also records the process of changing the submarine's propellor.A range of images document life in Weihaiwei, the base from which British naval power radiated in north China. He has the chance to visit HMS Titania, a submarine depot ship, and he relaxes at the United Services Club, recording the appearance of the grounds and the view from the club out to sea. There is time to play some golf on nearby Liugong Island and vis

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