IN over a century of ship construction at Pembroke Dock, the Pembroke Royal Dockyard built 250 vessels for the Royal Navy - spanning the years from the 'wooden wallers' to sleek and fast cruisers and destroyers.
Four of these vessels are featured on a full colour print published as a fund-raiser for the Pembroke Dock Museum by the town's Museum Trust.
Entitled 'Ships of Pembroke Royal Dockyard', the A3 sized print features splendid paintings by Pembrokeshire artist George Yeomans, of HMS Duke of Wellington (1852), HMS Shannon (1875), HMS Repulse (1892) and HMS Curacoa (1917) and is the first of a planned series.
The prints are for sale at just £5 each and will fit into 'off the peg' frames. They are available in Pembroke Dock from The Nutshell in Queen Street, South West Associates in Dimond Street and R. M. Collins in Laws Street. Each comes with potted histories of the four ships compiled by Dockyard historian Lieutenant Commander Lawrence Phillips, a former Pembroke Dock man.
The histories of these vessels makes fascinating - and in one case - tragic reading. Duke of Edinburgh was laid down as a conventional sailing vessel but converted to carry steam engines. Shannon was the first British armoured cruiser and Repulse was a 14,000 ton battleship.
HMS Curacoa, the last surface vessel built at Pembroke Dock, was launched during the First World War. The cruiser survived to serve in World War II, meeting a tragic end in October, 1942, when escorting the troop-carrying RMS Queen Mary. Off Ireland the liner collided with Curacoa, cutting her in two, and 338 of the crew lost their lives.
Said museum honorary curator, Ron Watts: "All the proceeds from the sale of the prints goes to support the running of the Pembroke Dock Museum. The Royal Dockyard was the reason why the town of Pembroke Dock was established and is a central part of our unique heritage.
"We hope that the print will find a place in many homes, and we think it will make an ideal Christmas present for anyone with a connection with the area."