Virtually Inside HMS Cavalier

So here we are on the lowest deck, right in the bowls of the ship. The compartments down here, the engine room, two boiler rooms and gear room pushed two and a half thousand tons of ship through the water.

This is the Bridge, also known as the Compass Platform. Open to the elements.  This with awning would have been used in the Far East – and would have been stowed during any action. It must have been horrendous up here during the arctic convoys.

In here are the eyes and the ears of the ship, and its nerve centre.  This room dates from the 1957 refit – during WW2 this would have been much smaller and called the ‘Action Information Office’ where the ASDIC and Radar were co-ordinated.

Here we are in the transmitting station, the fighting heart of the ship. In here are consoles for target tracking and control equipment for Cavalier’s weapons. Don’t’ press any buttons Richard!

Barry Knell, HMS Cavalier vetern and the author of "HMS Cavalier and Her Men" walks Richard through the ins and outs of the "A" Gun

Barry Knell, HMS Cavalier veteran and author of "HMS Cavalier and Her Men" walks Richard through the Suid anti-submarine mortar system

So here we are in the forward part of the ship and this is the seamen's mess. All the sailors belonged to a specific mess and they would have slept, eaten and lived down here whenever they weren't on watch. It must have been like living in an overcrowded steel box.