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[tonyH]

Hello all! On 16th May 1941 the troopship Archangel was bombed and sunk with a sizeable loss of lives, in the North Sea. She was carrying a large number of troops, mainly Royal Artillery, from Kirkwall to Aberdeen. My dad should have been on board but was held back with appendicitis. I reckon it's the right thing to finally build a model as my memorial to him, his mates and his archangel!So, she was built by John Brown, Clydebank as St Petersburg in 1910 for Great Eastern Railways, Harwich. I presume Glasgow Uni should have plans, unless you know different. Harwich archives should have more info and they're not a million miles away. If anyone knows any more I'd be grateful.With Koningin Wilhelmina at the point where lots of fiddly bits need to be made it'll give me a decent time for preliminary plotting over the wintery weeks.
Thanks
Tony 

[ballastanksian]

She'll be a super memorial Tony. I look forward to see your progress.

[tonyH]

It's quite good fun, this research bit, especially when the rabbit holes lead to the unexpected!                                            So, for example, Archangel could easily have ended her military career very early when, at the end of the first naval action of WW1 at the start of April 1914 when she was taking the German ambassador back home. She was, unfortunately ( ) wearing Imperial German colours as was correct, so when she was noticed by the RN flotilla, who had just sunk an enemy minelayer disguised as a passenger ferry, it was "Tally Ho chaps" and almost a nasty until she raised her Red Ensign.   From the start of WW2 she was based at Southampton and was involved at Dunkirk but she was also involved further up the coast and although not really her story it's when the words "diamonds", "crown jewels" and especially "heavy water" crop up.......... http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/against-all-odds-%E2%80%93-saint-valery-en-caux-june-1940.101461/           Just to add, this is what happened where my dad (182/65 RA) could have been involved.
Tony

[tonyH]

Ah well, getting there slowly so here is the current state of TSS Archangel. Should be ready, finally, to sail with Nick (Raflaunches) train ferry at Wickstead 2027 since they were both in the same LNER fleet in peacetime. Lots of bits to add, of course, and I've finally come to the conclusion that she would only carry Lewis guns as A/A protection. Colours are, of course, a gamble and the main deck has still got to have a coat of grey but I've used the pic of her after being bombed as a rough guide.

[Colin Bishop]

Looking very good Tony, do you anticipate any stability issues?

Colin

[tonyH]

Hi Colin,
Thanks for the comment. I'm quite pleased with her.
GRT at 1/72 is about 14.5 lbs and she currently comes in at about 8 lbs including running gear and an allowance for the rest of the bits, mainly cast PU, but excluding batteries so, hopefully, she should be OK. Triple shafts with smallish props mean there should be minimal corkscrew effect but, as always, one lives in hope
Tony