I have found another picture, which might have been taken in HMS Hawke (or one of the added buildings, as it looks not as luxurous as the main building). If this has not been taken in HMS Hawke, it must have been taken in HMS Raleigh. The people in the picture are Upper Yardmen's student in the class of February 1946. They graduated at the end of 1946.

I am wondering aboust the shield on the fireplace. I can't find which 'ship' it belongs to and hope other people can shine a light on the shield, as it may reveil the location.

Thank you! I will do that now.

Hello, Thanks you for the compliment, and of course, I would not mind having this picture included in your book.
I assume that the picture indeed must have been taken near Beaulieu river, given the name 'HMS Hawke' on the life buoy. I have read that there were actually two HDMLs assigned to HMS Hawke, but I can't find the source anymore.
The picture is actually a very low-res version of a scan which is 9MB in size, so I can't upload the original version. If you send me a PM with your mail-address I can send you the original size for this picture.

I found another picture, taken when my father in law was promoted to sub-lieutenant. That must have been taken late 1946 and probably at the front door of HMS Hawke. The picture is included as an attachment to this post. My father in law is standing second left. I have no clue who any of the other officers are in this picture and I assume that the Commander was their mentor. HMS Hawke had a captain as commanding officer. (If you want to know which staff was working in HMS Hawke, the National Archives have copies of the 'Navy List' and these books give information about all the commissioned officers for each ship, whereby ship can also be a stone frigate).

Hi Erik, thank you so much. Since I wrote this post, I have written a book about HMS Mastodon, hopefully to be published next year.
I love the photo, I wonder if it was shot at Exbury on the Beaulieu River?
Could I get your permission to use in the book if I credit you please?

The ship my father in law started his Royal Navy career was HMS Newfoundland.
During my research, a blog was published regarding the experiences of a midshipman on board the same ship.
The blog gives a good idea about the British Pacific Fleet and one of the ships present;
https://wjdrnzns519.wordpress.com/

My father in law had two pictures in his photo collection showing a Gloster Meteor Jet with the letters FDJC on its nose.
Based on the registration number WF852 I have been able to find out that the place was delivered on 15-06-1951 and crashed on 31-12-1952 (without casualties).
The pictures are not dated, so I do not know when the pictures were taken, and what the purpose might have been for young naval officers to be involved in jet fighters (my father in law was working in sub-marines at that time, and shortly after joined HMS Mercury for the Long SIgnal Course).

Can anyone shine a light on hwat FDJC stands for and what the involvement of Navy officers with an RAF aircraft might have been?

Sadly I can't help you with pictures of the buildings, but my father in law was one of the first 'Upper Yard Men' being educated in HMS Hawke. He started his Upper Yardmen's Course in HMS Raleigh February 1946, but from 19 August 1946 till 1-1-1947 when he was promoted sub-lieutenant he was based in HMS Hawke. His Service record address was Hawke 42.

The photo included as an attachment shows one of the two HDML's (Harbour Defence Motor Launch) used by HMS Hawke (the name can be seen on the life-buoy) to train the students.
If people have information abut the pennant numbers of these HDMLs, I am very interested.

I have never seen an asnwer, but have found some information in the book 'British Military Landrovers; Leaf-sprung Land Rovers in Military Service' by James Taylor & Geoff Fletcher. The ISBN number is 978-1906-133-658.

Page 80 about the Series IIa mark 9 (109") states that no official records exist for the Royal Navy. For RAF and Amry these records are available, so the table on that pages only shows some fragmented information, without mentioning the registration number and chassis number you mention.

Since 2015 I am researching my father's past in the Royal Navy. He started his career as a Boy Signalman in HMS St. George in 1943 and retired in 1971 with the rank of Captain as XO of the Malaysian Navy (a post provided by the RN till that time). In between he has sailed in a cruiser, a variety of A, S, and T-Class submarines, including two Depot ships, sailed in Aircraft carriers and frigates and in a coule of shore base assignments.
In that research, the shore base assignments are the hardest to fin information about what he did (I found one NATO STANAG with his name on it...).
Information about what he did when he was appointed to a ship or boat is a lot easier. The National Archies in Kew have a lot of ship's logs which provide ample detail about the whereabouts of a ship and what happened during that time.

To make research easier for other people I compiled a document which helps to extract information out of the ship's logs for people with less experience.
This also includes means to find out where a ship has been on a certain time and date. For certain ships, I have been able to record the trips on Google maps with amazing accuracy (triangulation with errors less than 30 feet of margin...).

I hope people can use this information in the attachment and am curious to receive comments and corrections.
I also have a list with reference points, but that list is to big to be uploaded (1,3kB).

Graphic Description of Sinking of Ark Royal. News, 15 November 1941.
The Article has photos.
Above the crew promenade deck of Ark Royal.
A busy scene on the flight deck of Ark Royal, with Swordfish aircraft lined up ready for action.

GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF SINKING OF ARK ROYAL (1941, November 15). News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved October 25, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131973711


U Boat Sinks Ark Royal. The Daily Telegraph, 15 November 1941.
Photo of Ark Royal (22000 tons).

U-BOAT SINKS ARK ROYAL (1941, November 15). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved October 25, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248710408

Ark Royal Torpedoed. Advocate, 15 November 1941.
The Aircraft Carrier, Ark Royal, has sunk in tow, after being torpedoed by an enemy submarine.

ARK ROYAL TORPEDOED (1941, November 15). Advocate (Burnie, Tas. : 1890 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved October 25, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article68361332

Sinking of Ark Royal Avenged. Advocate, 22 November 1941.
The Admiralty announces the Corvette Marigold destroyed a German U Boat.
 

Sinking of Ark Royal Avenged (1941, November 22). Advocate (Burnie, Tas. : 1890 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved October 25, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article68362294

Philip L