The Portsmouth Gun Carriage
Written by Godfrey Dykes
© RN Communications Branch Museum/Library
DO NOT FORGET TO BOOK EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENTbecause surely, this is preferred to the normal black hearse?
Before I begin, this is a story about a very famous gun carriage which today, is very rarely seen. Now, it could be argued that that is a good thing because it might be a pointer to fewer people dying, but that is not the case. It is rarely seen because few people do not require its use, opting instead for family private funerals with conventional funereal trappings.
"This, the Portsmouth Gun, has already been used by many resplendent clients and is considered (by whom I am not sure) the ONLY way to go! But don't worry, I am sure that HMS Drake has a comparable vehicle for all you West Country Janners and Jaggers. What you Jocks and North Country/Midlanders do, I am not sure because I am told the wheels wouldn't stand the challenge of our motorways.
I took these pictures when the gun was in its shed in HMS Collingwood having just been unwrapped from the green plastic sheeting you see on the deck. Normally, this shed is full of competitive field-gun pieces which are used in various field-gun events staged at the establishment. They were all out at the time, and the sheer weight of this gun precluded me from 'arranging' it in a position where good photography would have been possible; hence the strange angles.
The limber box shaft handle is resting on a limber box (without its two wheels) from an active field-gun piece and the box on the deck is not part of our posh piece. Just in case you are not fully familiar with this vehicle, here is a very quick guide to its various parts.
The overall vehicle is in two parts and each part has two wheels. The two parts are joined together rather like a car pulling a caravan. The front part is called the limber, and this is a box on wheels which contains the shells which the gun fires. On arrival at the scene of action, the vehicle is split into its two parts, the limber goes to the rear, and the shells are carried by hand across to the gun for firing. Apart from the tiddley adornments, the limber is a standard ammunition box. The gun has been modified, and over the top of the barrel and breech, a wooden platform has been built on which the coffin is placed. The gun always travels backwards, that is, the end of the barrel which emits fire and brimstone, points towards those following behind the deceased person.
HMS COLLINGWOOD is the keeper of a very Special Gun Carriage. Compared with the State Gun Carriage, which is kept in HMS EXCELLENT, it is small and ordinary, and the combined gun and limber are pulled along with the use of very few men. Today it is painted black, except for the woodwork on the wheels which is plain and heavily varnished. The limber has highly polished brass plates on the outside of the box lids. On the towing bar of the gun, just behind the eye, and facing upwards therefore hidden by the coffin platform, are several brass plates each telling of the history of the gun, who owned it, and who was conveyed to their funeral ceremony on it. The first attached brass plate mentions that this gun belongs to HMS PEMBROKE and that it was used for the funeral of non other than Admiral of the Fleet Sir Charles Madden at Westminster Abbey 7th June 1935. Subsequent plates show that it was also used for the funerals of:
| Admiral of the Fleet Earl Jellicoe | November 26th 1935 at St Pauls Cathedral |
| Admiral of the Fleet Earl Beatty | March 16th 1936 at St Pauls Cathedral |
| Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Kelly | November 6th 1936 at St Martin in the Fields |
| Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound | October 25th 1943 Westminster Abbey |
| Admiral of the Fleet Lord Keyes | January 4th 1946 Westminster Abbey |
| Vice Admiral Sir St John Tyrwhit | October 19th 1961 at sea |
| Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Cunningham | June 18th 1963 at sea |
| Admiral of the Fleet Lord Chatfield | March 22nd 1967 at sea |
The hauling ropes are not fitted to the gun
&ems[;Finally, before booking this vehicle, think of all the people who will be told-off to pull this thing - none of them will know you and all would have preferred you to use the Co-op: as everybody else does. Think about it!
The following has been added to the story 28 Mar 2021.
Our greatest Admiral in and post WW2, was undoubtedly Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope. On the 12th June 1963, he was sitting in the House of Lords when he was taken ill - he was 80. He was rushed by taxi to the nearest hospital, St Thomas's, literally opposite Victoria Tower in the Houses of Parliament on the opposite side of the river, but died in the vehicle shortly after transiting Westminster Bridge. His body lay in the Chapel at RNB Portsmouth [HMS Victory] guarded by four lieutenants keeping four hour watches before being embarked [on the 18th] in the destroyer HMS Hampshire for a burial at sea off the Isle of Wight in a near gale force conditions. On return back to Portsmouth from the NAB Tower, it was too rough for Hampshire to enter harbour, so the mourning party and the mourners had to be transferred at Spithead onto a tug which by all accounts was a hairy and near dangerous operation. Many of the elderly Admirals who had been peers of Cunningham were in attendance which included Admiral Sir Casper John First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Wilfred Woods C-in-C Portsmouth, Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Creasy and most of the Board of the Admiralty. Also in attendance was Lieutenant J.C.K Slater RN, Cunningham's great-nephew who went on to become the First Sea Lord. Because of his initials, he was always known as Jock Slater. He was a popular and well liked officer.
The image below is of the funeral of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fraser of North Cape at St Barbara's Church HMS Excellent 1981 using the gun carriage now kept in HMS Collingwood. Slayer of the Scharnhorst [Boxing Day 1943] and the officer who took the Japanese surrender on behalf of the British on the USS Missouri, Tokyo Bay 1945, his body was cremated and his ashes were committed to the sea from the destroyer HMS Sheffield.
Finally have a look at this page Burials at Sea
The following has been added to the story 28 Mar 2021.
Our greatest Admiral in and post WW2, was undoubtedly Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope. On the 12th June 1963, he was sitting in the House of Lords when he was taken ill - he was 80. He was rushed by taxi to the nearest hospital, St Thomas's, literally opposite Victoria Tower in the Houses of Parliament on the opposite side of the river, but died in the vehicle shortly after transiting Westminster Bridge. His body lay in the Chapel at RNB Portsmouth [HMS Victory] guarded by four lieutenants keeping four hour watches before being embarked [on the 18th] in the destroyer HMS Hampshire for a burial at sea off the Isle of Wight in a near gale force conditions. On return back to Portsmouth from the NAB Tower, it was too rough for Hampshire to enter harbour, so the mourning party and the mourners had to be transferred at Spithead onto a tug which by all accounts was a hairy and near dangerous operation. Many of the elderly Admirals who had been peers of Cunningham were in attendance which included Admiral Sir Casper John First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Wilfred Woods C-in-C Portsmouth, Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Creasy and most of the Board of the Admiralty. Also in attendance was Lieutenant J.C.K Slater RN, Cunningham's great-nephew who went on to become the First Sea Lord. Because of his initials, he was always known as Jock Slater. He was a popular and well liked officer.
The image below is of the funeral of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fraser of North Cape at St Barbara's Church HMS Excellent 1981 using the gun carriage now kept in HMS Collingwood. Slayer of the Scharnhorst [Boxing Day 1943] and the officer who took the Japanese surrender on behalf of the British on the USS Missouri, Tokyo Bay 1945, his body was cremated and his ashes were committed to the sea from the destroyer HMS Sheffield.
Finally have a look at this page Burials at Sea
The following has been added to the story 28 Mar 2021.
Our greatest Admiral in and post WW2, was undoubtedly Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope. On the 12th June 1963, he was sitting in the House of Lords when he was taken ill - he was 80. He was rushed by taxi to the nearest hospital, St Thomas's, literally opposite Victoria Tower in the Houses of Parliament on the opposite side of the river, but died in the vehicle shortly after transiting Westminster Bridge. His body lay in the Chapel at RNB Portsmouth [HMS Victory] guarded by four lieutenants keeping four hour watches before being embarked [on the 18th] in the destroyer HMS Hampshire for a burial at sea off the Isle of Wight in a near gale force conditions. On return back to Portsmouth from the NAB Tower, it was too rough for Hampshire to enter harbour, so the mourning party and the mourners had to be transferred at Spithead onto a tug which by all accounts was a hairy and near dangerous operation. Many of the elderly Admirals who had been peers of Cunningham were in attendance which included Admiral Sir Casper John First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Wilfred Woods C-in-C Portsmouth, Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Creasy and most of the Board of the Admiralty. Also in attendance was Lieutenant J.C.K Slater RN, Cunningham's great-nephew who went on to become the First Sea Lord. Because of his initials, he was always known as Jock Slater. He was a popular and well liked officer.
The image below is of the funeral of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fraser of North Cape at St Barbara's Church HMS Excellent 1981 using the gun carriage now kept in HMS Collingwood. Slayer of the Scharnhorst [Boxing Day 1943] and the officer who took the Japanese surrender on behalf of the British on the USS Missouri, Tokyo Bay 1945, his body was cremated and his ashes were committed to the sea from the destroyer HMS Sheffield.
Finally have a look at this page Burials at Sea
