Coming Home

It was quite an event at the old Hancock's Boatyard on Monday, December 17, when members of the West Wales Maritime Heritage Society celebrated the return of something rather special to Pembroke Dock. That something is a set of five apprentice's notebooks hand-written by John Charles Froyne when he was a signed apprentice at the Royal Dockyard, Pembroke Dock. The society was able to purchase them from a dealer in America thanks to the generosity of the Milford Haven Port Authority and Valero. Their representatives Stella Hooper and William James came along to join the celebration and inspect the valuable purchase.

John Charles Froyne

J. C. Froyne is an important figure in the history of both Pembroke and Pembroke Dock. He came from an old Pembroke family and in 1849, at the age of 15, became an apprentice in the Royal Dockyard. An able and intelligent lad, he is reported to have come first in every examination he sat, and subsequently led a brilliant career which saw him promoted to assistant constructor at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard in 1872, then assistant surveyor of dockyard in 1881. In 1883, he returned home as chief constructor to Pembroke Dockyard, where he oversaw the building of several warships, including HMS Nile, HMS Anson, HMS Repulse and HMS Empress of India. 

He lived in Pembroke in Castle Terrace and during his retirement was an Alderman and Mayor of Pembroke Borough in 1897/98. He did a great deal for Pembroke and was a major benefactor of St. Mary's Church, commemorated by a plaque in the nave.  He was also responsible for the replacement of the town clock.

The Journals

The books are full of handwritten information and diagrams for building ships. Much is written in question and answer form, questions taken from John Fincham's text book of shipbuilding, a standard work of its time. The questions and answers cover everything from the type of wood used, to listings of ships in the British Navy with their measurements, tonnage, armour, also mathematical equations including geometry and algebra. There are several hand-drawn diagrams and illustrations of parts of ships

Said Tony Ward (chairman of the West Wales Maritime Heritage Society): "This is a great acquisition for our society and we are delighted that we have been able to secure the return of these journals which throw an invaluable light on shipbuilding. We are planning to digitalise them for access by students, and they will be deposited with a local museum until such time as the Pembroke Dock Museum may succeed in re-establishing itself."

Our Japanese Connection

David James, who is secretary of the West Wales Maritime Heritage Society, recently gave a talk to a meeting of the Pembroke and Monkton Local History Society which included the story about the building of the Hiei (the first ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, built at Jacob's Pill, Pennar, in 1877). David highlighted the connection between our towns and Japan and I wrote about this in our edition of November 23. Now we have, as it were, a sequel to this story as David was recently introduced to a Japanese diplomat from Brussells: the Deputy Director General of the European Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry.

One of David's many talents is model ship building, a hobby pursued for over 30 years.

"My first model boat was the Tenby Lugger, now in Tenby museum," he told me. "This boat is incidentally the logo of the West Wales Maritime Heritage Society and we are currently trying to raise funding to restore an original Tenby Lugger, obtained from the National Museum of Wales."

His many models include the Kathleen and May which is exhibited in Pembroke Town Hall and the Hiei in the Sunderland Trust's 'Fleets to Flying Boats' Centre in the Dockyard. It was this model that our Japanese visitor, Jun Yamada, was interested to see.

Continued David: "He had heard about the Hiei, but didn't know the full story. He hadn't realised that Admiral Togo, Japan's most eminent admiral, had, as a lieutenant, lived in the Master Shipwright's House in the Dockyard for two years and when he heard there was a model of the Hiei in the Dockyard he wanted to see it. He was most impressed that I had even written the name on the ship in Japanese: Hiei means Sacred Mountain.

I also told him about how Admiral Togo, on his return to Japan, had sent a ginkgo tree back to his lodgings to be planted as a mark of his appreciation for the kindness shown to him during his stay. It can still be seen growing in the garden of the Master Shipwright's House and is now about 150-foot tall!

The wreck of the Hirano Maru

I also told him about the wreck of the Hirano Maru. The ship was a merchantman bound for Liverpool in WW1 when she was torpedoed by a German submarine. She went down with all hands and when the bodies were washed up at Angle and Freshwater West they were taken to Angle churchyard to be given a proper burial. It seems for many years afterwards a small sum of money was sent from Japan anonymously to the vicar of Angle to maintain the grave. The Japanese are keen to show proper respect and Jun Yamada was pleased that people who didn't even know these sailors would have given them a marked grave.

He was delighted with these two stories and the depth of the Pembroke - Japanese connection. His immediate reaction was to say that he would discuss it with the Japanese naval attaché of the Japanese Embassy in London. Another thing that came out of our meeting: he said that Japan is still very grateful to the British for all the aid given to them in the mid to late 19th Century which enabled them to develop their technology to defeat both Chinese and Russian navies and avert the threat of invasion.

These stories just go to show how the influence of Pembroke has spread out to the world. Perhaps it will bring home to the authorities here that if the Japanese will come down here to see us, that they could make the effort to give us more backing.

Contact

If you have any stories, photographs or feedback for this column, please contact me, Linda Asman, on 01646 622428, email [email protected]">[email protected] and visit our website http://www.pembrokeandmonkonhistory.org.uk">www.pembrokeandmonkonhistory.org.uk.

Next events

We meet for our first meeting of 2013 tomorrow (Saturday, January 5), 10.30 - 1, at Monkton Priory Church Hall. There will be a coffee morning and exhibition 'the Story of Pembroke' by Linda Asman and Terry John, accompanied by a slide show at 11. Entry is free.

Friday evening, January 18, will be quiz night at 7.30 pm (£3.50 includes buffet). Also at Monkton Priory Church Hall.