John Player Cigarette Cards

Note: I inherited it!!!

Written by Godfrey Dykes
© RN Communications Branch Museum/Library

To help you read the text on the images I have retyped it below. The three images have been combined into a pdf file and can be seen at the bottom of this page.

   H.M.S."HOOD", British Battle Cruiser. Begun under the Emergency War Programme in 1916, H.M.S. Hood was built by John Brown & Co., Clydebank, and cost about £6.000.000. She has a speed of 31 knots, a displacement of 42,100 tons and carries a complement of 1,341. Her armament consists of eight 15-inch guns, twelve 5.5-inch guns, four 4-inch anti-aircraft guns and subsidiary weapons, besides six 21-inch torpedo tubes. Aircraft are to be added in 1939. She is fitted with outside bulges as protection against under-water attack, and has specially thickened side armour and conning tower. The Hood, although over 18 years old, is still reckoned as a first-class fighting unit (No.4).

  H.M.S. "REPULSE", British Battle Cruiser, "Renown" Class. Provided for by the 1914-15 Navy estimates, the two ships of this class were both built on the Clyde, at a cost of about £3,000,000 each. Both have been extensively reconstructed. The armament consists of six 15-inch and twelve 4-inch guns with numbers of subsidiary weapons, including 21-inch torpedo tubes. Four aircraft with catapult are in the equipment as reconstructed. The two ships each have a displacement of 32.000 tons, a speed of 28-29 knots and carry a complement of about 1,200. Owing to the additional armour protection which has been provided, the speed has been reduced from the original 31 knots. (No 5).

  H.M.S. "EXETER", British Cruiser "York Class". This class, numbering two ships, is a modification of the three-funnelled Dorsetshire type which preceded it, being 1,585 tons lighter. Originally it was intended that there should be three funnels, but the necessity of saving space decided that the two forward uptakes should be trunked into a single casing. Built at Devonport Dockyard, the Exeter has a displacement of 8,390 tons. Her complement is 600 and her speed 32 knots with 80,000 h.p. Her armament is exceptionally heavy, consisting of six 8-inch guns, with adequate subsidiary weapons, including 21-inch torpedo tubes. She carrier two aircraft with catapults. (No 6).

  H.M.S. "NELSON", British Battleship. This ship and the Rodney were designed to Treaty limits and were completed in 1927. They have certain peculiar features which place them in a class by themselves. The straight high freeboard and exceptionally long fore deck ensure good seaworthiness and allow the main armament and most vulnerable parts to be well protected. The builders were Armstrongs (Nelson) and Cammell Laird (Rodney). The displacements are respectively 33,950 and 33,500 tons; each has a speed of 23 knots, and a complement of over 1,300. The main armament consists of nine 16-inch guns in three turrets, with many small guns. The cost exceeded £7,500,000 each (No 1).

  H.M.S. "WARSPITE", British Battleship. First built under the 1912 estimates as a unit of the Queen Elizabeth class of five ships, the Warspite was completed at Devonport Dockyard in March 1915, and was in action at Jutland. Four of these ships have been, or are in process of being modernised at a cost of approximately equal to the original contract price of £2,500,000 each. New features embodied in the reconstruction include additional armour protection against aerial attack, high trajectory gun-fire, and an augmented anti-aircraft armament. With displacements ranging from 30,600 to 31,000 tons, they are over 600 feet long, with a speed of 25 knots and a complement of nearly 1,200. (No 2).

  H.M.S. "REVENGE", British Battleship, "Royal Sovereign" class. Five ships of this class were projected under the 1913-1914 estimates, and were all completed and commissioned during the Great War, at an average cost of £2,500,000. The Revenge was built by Vickers. The armament consists of eight 15-inch guns, with an adequate number of subsidiary weapons, and 21-inch torpedo tubes. She has a displacement of 29,150 tons and a speed of 22 knots. Some of her sister ships include aircraft in their equipment. Bulges of improved types as a protection from under-water attack were fitted after the War. Their lower freeboard renders these ships rather wet in heavy weather. (No 3).

If you wish to see all three images together then see this pdf file where you can use the +/- tools to enlarge the images.

John Player Cards