MODEL SHIP UNDER RADIO CONTROL

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 68, 13 December 1939, Page 11

MODEL SHIP UNDER RADIO CONTROL

Planned For Naval Exhibit

ADMIRAL NIAS’S DRESS UNIFORM

In the course of the next few days, a wireless-controlled model ship is to be installed iu a special tank in the naval exhibit at the Exhibition, where it is likely to attract considerable attention. A special model has been constructed and the tank is now being prepared. It is hoped to have it in the court in time for the holiday rush of visitors.

The naval exhibit at present consists of a number of fine models, pictures of ships connected with. New Zealand history, and several historic articles.

Outstanding among these articles are the full-dress garments worn once by Admiral Sir Joseph Nias, who was in command of the Herald when she brought Hobson to New Zealand as Eieutenant-Governor, and who afterward proclaimed British sovereignty over the South Island from the islet at the mouth, of Cloudy Bay. What Nias Wore. Tlie garments are an ’ interesting sidelight on the dress of a naval officer of a century ago. They are actually the parts of a vice-admiral’s uniform. They consist of a heavily braided, many-buttoned tailed coat, of navy blue and gold, a cocked hat, an embroidered shirt and a high-cut waistcoat which must entirely have covered the beautiful hand-worked linen, cuffs, gloves, gold-braided belt, and sword. There is also a pair of braces, apparently of Chinese handicraft, also elaborately embroidered; and it will be interesting to present-day sartorial students to know that Admiral Nias wore a separate individual brace over each shoulder, instead of the combined pair as is worn today. There are some some 50 or so buttons on the uniform, and the Admiral’s man must have had a busy time polishing them on mornings when a dress parade was contemplated. ■ A detailed model of a 70-guii frigate of a century ago, the predecessor of tlie warship Leander, is a feature of the naval exhibit. It was made by a bluejacket on board the present Leander, and took him nine months to complete. It is remarkable for its detailed perfection. One side is cut away to show the arrangement of the vessel below decks, and not only is every detail of hull and rigging perfect and to correct scale, but the furniture and fittings below decks are equally meticulously finished. This beautiful model, which attracts close scrutiny from every visitor, is electrically lighted from within to enable the detail of the interior to be appreciated. The intricate rigging, with tiny blocks and bull’s-eyes, must have taken many hours of patient labour to set up. More Modern Craft. The other models are builders’ models of more modern naval craft. There is the destroyer Grasshopper, one of a type buiit in 1909 and scrapped about 1920, a triple-screw coal-burning vessel. The model is particularly fine, detailed down to a chart ■of the North Sea on the navigating 'bridge. Another model is of the cruiser Cumberland, built in 1927, a •fast, modern warship of the County class.

• Then there is a model of a submarine, of recent British type. This is particularly interesting in view of the present submarine activities in British home waters, and has been accorded considerable attention by visitors. It shows the submarine with her gear erected, as though for running on the surface, the tiny derricks and railings retracting and folding away to streamline her for submersion. ■ A kindred exhibit is a section of an 18-ineh torpedo, dissected to show the motive power. The valuable gyroscope is absent, but the compressed-air motor, automatic steering gear and depth adjustments, are to be seen, and of course the twin tandem propellers, revolving in opposite directions ou .concentric shafts, as the torque of a 'single screw would swing the torpedo from its course. The paintings of ships consist of a series of water-colours by*- Wellington draughtsmen, depicting among others the Heemskirk and Zeehen, Tasman’s ships. Captain’s Cook’s Endeavour, 11-I.M.'S. Herald, tlie Calliope in the hurricane at Samoa, Scott’s Terra Nova in Antarctic ice, and the Philo,mel, which, after serving in the Great iWar, was presented to the New Zealand Government and is now a training ship at Auckland.