This is the Ward Room Mess photograph album of the H.M.S. Titania, that belonged to William Richmond Fell, grandfather of my husband, William Fell, who kindly gives his permission for some of the photos to be uploaded to Gwulo. Unfortunately the album only contains 23 photos taken by WRF, probably all from the same roll of film and not annotated. The photos are not good quality and may not have been immediately developed. It was probably hoped that more crew members would donate their photos.
The first five photos were probably taken in Malaya and show fishermen at work, followed by a rubber plantation. Nos 6-15 were probably taken in or off Hong Kong; one shows the Malayan crocodile whose skin provided the cover of the album. No 16 shows a magnificent junk. No 17 school children at a monastery? Nos 18-19 Presenting arms on board. No 20 Royal palms. No. 21 A diving platform. Nos. 22 & 23 show buildings that are probably well known, but not to me.
This album is destined to go to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum at Gosport.
A second, beautifully annotated album also contains Titania- and 'L' class submarine-related photos from Hong Kong and Chinese waters in 1928-29, but they are mixed with Fell family photos. A bin bag rescued from the loft of my parents-in-law's house after their deaths contains unsorted photos which may also be relevant to Titania.
The albums are fragile and I can't risk putting them in a scanner. I hope that our iPhone photos uploaded gradually (and not immediately) will be of some interest, despite the quality. It might be useful to create a separate H.M.S. Titania category. Because the Ward Room Mess album photos aren't annotated we should be grateful for identification of the landscapes and buildings shown. The names of the crew members shown aren't given.
I will try to upload eight photos from the mess album to begin with. They will not follow the numbering given above.
