HMS LONDON & CURACOA IN THE 1930s: all these images are available from Jim Payne, on CD - ebay account "throughtheireyes2" - or, throughtheireyes3@yahoo.co.uk or 07809 831411

Jim Payne says "Here I have produced a CD containing 119 high resolution scans of images from an original photo album recently added to my collection.  It was compiled by RN sailor W J Healing who seems to have served on HMS Curacoa 1928-31, and HMS London 1932-36.  I suspect he served on other ships but I can only go by the information within the album.  The CD contains great shots of the ships he served on and places visited, including Gibraltar (2 great aerial shots), Malta , Egypt and Africa .  A high percentage of the photos have written details which I have added to the scans. 

The photos also include a picture of Mussolini coming aboard HMS London at Venice on 14 September 1934, and Queen Marie of Romania visiting HMS Curacoa at Constanza.

On 2 August 1942 the ill-fated HMS Curacoa was tragically sliced in 2 by the RMS Queen Mary while providing convoy protection...  Because it was feared that u-boats were in the area, the Queen Mary's captain carried on at full steam, 338 crew men were lost.

HMS London was a heavy cruiser.  It was involved in the pursuit of the Bismark and survived the war.

Within this album there are also pictures of HMS Walrus, Curlew, Calypso, Tiger, Devonshire, Shropshire, submarine HMS Rover (alongside Curacoa), 3 of aircraft carrier Hermes (1 shows planes on deck), and few of other ships I have not identified."