'Our fathers have told us' , HMS 'Actaeon', 1918 RMG PU6219, Donald Maxwell

'our fathers have told us' , hms 'actaeon', 1918 the former screw frigate 'ariadne' (1859) became a cadet training ship in 1884 and in 1905 was hulked as a torpedo school at sheerness and renamed 'actaeon'. In november 1906 she was joined by the former screw corvette 'dido' (1869) which was renamed 'actaeon ii'. The establishment was also used as an auxiliary first world war patrol base,1914-18. The establishment closed in 1921 and the vessels were broken up in 1922. An american-built elco motor launch (bearing the number 'ml134') of which a large number were supplied to the royal navy in 1915 is on the right. Donald maxwell (1877-1936) was a successful writer (including verse) and illustrator of books on travel and picturesque aspects of southern england. He lived on the thames, medway and later in kent from about the same time as w. L. Wyllie moved to portsmouth (1906). Like wyllie he and his younger brother gordon became keen yachtsmen and served as official admiralty artists in the first world war. Date: 1918. Dimensions: Mount: 210 mm x 164 mm. Collection: Fine art.