Sale date:

Paintings, Books and Furniture Sale on Thursday 10th March 2005

Lot numbers:

226-345 of 711

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The following three oil paintings were painted for Vice Admiral Sir Richard Fortescue Phillimore (1864-1940) after the First World War. They show three key actions from that war in which he played a prominent part. He commissioned the paintings from the young marine artist, Montague Dawson (1895 – 1973). It was an inspired choice. Dawson, the son of the yachtsman Charles Dawson, was brought up at The Hythe on Southampton Water and from the start combined his passions for painting and sailing. He served at sea as a Lieutenant in the First World War and his paintings of war subjects appeared in the Illustrated Papers. Dawson began exhibiting at The Royal Academy in 1917 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1936. He was a founder member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists and by the 1960's he was reputed to be highest paid living artist after Picasso! Dawson was well known for the accuracy of his work. This, and the fact that the paintings were commissioned by a man actually present at the actions depicted, explains the meticulous detail evident in these works.

Richard Fortescue Phillimore joined the Navy in 1878 following in the wake of his illustrious father, Admiral Sir Augustus Phillimore. He rose rapidly through the ranks being promoted to Captain in 1904. At the outbreak of the war he was serving as Chief of Staff to Admiral Sir Berkeley Milne and flew his flag from the Battle Cruiser Inflexible. All three of these paintings show battle cruisers, the type of warship with which Richard Phillimore is most closely associated. HMS Inflexible was one of the first of this entirely new class of war ship. Combining the speed of a cruiser with the guns of a battleship these huge vessels made all existing cruisers obsolescent.

On leaving the Inflexible, Phillimore served as Beach Master at Gallipoli. He led a British Naval mission to Russia in which he was able to establish good relations with the Tsar, in spite (as a British Diplomat rather sourly noted) of his habit of rising at 6am every morning at a court where no-one else emerged before 10am!

Richard Phillimore ended the war commanding the aircraft of the Grand Fleet Aircraft – the worlds first carrier Admiral.

We are grateful to Alan Goodearl for preparing this introduction and for his assistance in cataloguing the paintings.

MONTAGUE DAWSON

"HMS Inflexible opening fire December 8th 1914",

signed,

oil on canvas,

18" x 36".

Provenance: Vice Admiral Sir Richard Fortescue Phillimore and thence by descent at Shedfield House, Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Exhibited: The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich until 2004.

See illustration            £6000-12000

Up until the 1980's the Falkland Islands were known in naval circles only for the battle fought off them on 8th December 1914: The Royal Navy's most complete victory of the First World War. On 1st November 1914 the German Pacific Squadron under Vice Admiral Graf Von Spee had annihilated a weaker British Squadron at the Battle of Coronel. Defeat had to be avenged and at the personal insistence of the first Sea Lord, Jacky Fisher, and with the close support of Winston Churchill, two of the Navy's fastest and most powerful ships, the Battle Cruiser's Invincible and Inflexible were sent south in pursuit.

The British Squadron was commanded by Admiral F.C.D. Sturdee in the Invincible. Battle was joined on 8th December 1914. Sturdy used his superior speed to fight beyond the effective range of the German guns. All but one of the German cruisers were sunk.

This painting shows the Inflexible at speed commanded in this action by R.F. Phillimore, who commissioned the painting. Launched in 1907 she was completed in 1908 at a cost of £1,677,513. She was 530 feet long and weighed 17,290 tons. The Inflexible carried eight 12" guns and could steam at 25 knots. Sturdee's cautious tactics in this action kept his ship safe. The Inflexible was hit only three times. She lost just one man with two others injured. Richard Phillimore had the senior surviving German officer to dinner, where they re-fought the action with matchsticks!

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MONTAGUE DAWSON

HMS Inflexible, the Dardanelles, 1.15pm, March 18th 1915",

signed,

oil on canvas,

18" x 36".

Provenance: Vice Admiral Sir Richard Fortescue Phillimore and thence by descent at Shedfield House, Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Exhibited: The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich until 2004

See illustration            £8000-12000

This painting shows the culmination of the Royal Navy's attempt to force the Dardanelles in the spring of 1915. It was commissioned by RF Phillimore, the captain of the ship shown, the Battle Cruiser HMS Inflexible. The Inflexible is one of the most powerful ships in a fleet that included one dreadnought battleship and fourteen older British and French battleships. She principally engaged the Turkish Hamidieh II Battery. The Inflexible was hit several times by Turkish howitzers and her bridge was set alight. Later in the day she struck a mine in a previously unknown Turkish minefield. Twenty nine men were killed and the ship rapidly began to fill with water. She was saved only by the fine seamanship of Captain Phillimore. Three battleships were mined and sunk that day and the failure of the Royal Navy to break the Turkish defences led to the even more disastrous Dardanelles landings.

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MONTAGUE DAWSON

"HMS Repulse in Chase, November 17th 1917",

signed,

oil on canvas,

18" x 36".       

See illustration            £5000-10000

Provenance: Vice Admiral Sir Richard Fortescue Phillimore and thence by descent at Shedfield House, Portsmouth, Hampshire

Exhibited: The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich until 2004

This painting shows the Battle Cruiser Repulse in action in the Heligoland Bight on 17th November 1917. Sir Richard Phillimore, who commissioned this picture, flew his flag from The Repulse as Rear Admiral in Command of the First Battle Cruiser Squadron. Launched in 1916 the Repulse was one of the most modern Battle Cruisers to serve with the British Grand Fleet in the First World War. She could steam at 30 knots, an extraordinary speed for a capital ship at that time. Her 15" guns were larger than those carried by most battleships in the war. However, like all of the British Battle Cruisers, she was lightly armoured. She was sunk by Japanese aircraft on 10th December 1941.

The action depicted in this work was a confused one. British cruisers pursued a much weaker German force, which survived by making skilful use of smoke screens. Most of the heavier British ships were recalled when the Germans escaped into a minefield. Phillimore, showing characteristic courage, carried on with the chase. It was fortunate that he did so, for the British light cruisers ran into the battleships Kaiser and Kaiserin. The Repulse covered their retreat.

In what was overall rather a disappointing day from the Royal Navy's point of view, Phillimore was singled out for praise by Admiral Beatty, the Commander of the British Grand Fleet. This was the last action of the war in which capital ships from both the Grand Fleet and the German Highseas Fleets were engaged

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