~ HMS Fleetwood Grimsby Class Sloop 1936 1959 Watercolour By Eric Tufnell ~
The watercolour depicts HMS Fleetwood on a choppy sea. It is presented in a black and gilt glazed wooden frame with a lined single mount. Pencilled details are to the reverse. It is titled lower left and signed lower right.
~ HMS Fleetwood ~
HMS Fleetwood was a Grimsby-class sloop of the Royal Navy. Built at Devonport Dockyard in the 1930s, Fleetwood was launched in March 1936 and commissioned in November that year. She served in the Red Sea until the outbreak of the Second World War. Fleetwood served as a convoy escort during the war, which she survived, and sank the German submarines U-528 and U-340. Post-war, the ship served as a radar training ship, remaining in use until 1959, when she was scrapped.
~ Eric Erskine Campbell Tufnell ~
Eric Tufnell was born in 1888 and his career in the navy started at the age of 15 where he became a cadet at HMS Britannia. By 1904 he had joined HMS Albion and was appointed the midship man who was required to keep a log book where he kept his sketches, photographs and newspaper cuttings (which is now kept in Surrey County Library’s).
He worked on many naval ships and was part of the operational team to try and salvage the HMS Montague, however eventually turned to servicing the naval submarines. He was promoted to Lieutenant on the HMS C7 in 1910 and gained his first Commander position in 1913 aboard the Submarine HMS A8. He then became a Commander across a selection of submarines including the HMS B8, D4, M18 and more.
He turned to art after he retired from the navy as a way to top up his pension and support his family. The majority of his customers were naval officers who commissioned him to paint accurate depictions of the boats they served on.
He had a studio at the tailors Gieves and Hawkes on The Hard in Old Portsmouth, this work was displayed there, until the premises closure.
~ Condition ~
The watercolour is in excellent condition. The frame is in good order with a few minor chips.
~ Dimensions ~
The frame is 39 cm (15.25 inches) wide by 32.5 cm (13 inches) tall.
The exposed watercolour is 26 cm (10.5 inches) wide by 19 cm (7.5 inches) tall.
304404055563PQI0#11901
