This ship, H.M.S. Worcester, is one of many ships by that name, eight in total, starting with a vessel launched in 1651. Amongst their ranks was a ship launched at the end of the First World War which also saw service in the second, and, at first, until I found out she was a destroyer, I thought she may be ours, but she was still in service when our card was issued.
Our ship turns out to have originally been called H.M.S. Frederick William, and she was launched in 1860. She was a training ship from 1876 until 1948 and run in tandem with the ex H.M.S. Exmouth for the last three years, until she assumed the name of H.M.S. Worcester instead and ours was used no more, being sold in July 1948, shortly after which she suffered some kind of difficulty and keeled over in the River Thames. She was raised in 1953, but was too badly damaged to restore and so she went to scrap.
Curiously, H.M.S. Frederick William was ordered in 1833 under another name, which was H.M.S. Royal Sovereign - the same as yesterday`s ship. Then there was a problem that saw the order cancelled, then restored but with a delay, and so today`s ship ended up being entered into the books for a second time, in 1839, but now as H.M.S. Royal Frederick. Building started in 1841, but took almost twenty years, on and off, and just before she was launched, in 1860, without actually being completely finished, it was as H.M.S. Frederick William.
Now we have already featured another version of this card, by Peter Jackson, but that was in our newsletter for the 22nd of March, 2025, as the diary card for Sunday 23 March. However a newsletter entry does not have the scope to become a home page for any group of sets and so some of that information has been relocated here, whilst that section only now pertains to the Peter Jackson version.
This version, by Gallaher, first appears in our original reference to cards of that issuer, which is RB.4, issued in 1944. It was actually only issued five years prior, and so I ought to be able to find an original New Issues Report, or two, by the time this newsletter is published. But in that booklet, the entry is quite a good one, reading :
- 1939. 48. COASTWISE. (titled series). Size 3" x 2" (approx.) Numbered 1-48. REAL PHOTOGRAPHS. Fronts toned black and white, glossy finish, white margins and titles inset. Backs, printed in black, with descriptions and "Gallaher Ltd., Virginia House, London & Belfast". (Similar to Pattrieouex). Produced by Lilywhite Ltd., Brighouse, Yorks.
By the time of our original World Tobacco Issues Index there has been a discovery, and the text now reads :
- COASTWISE. Md. Black and white photos. Nd. (48) See Ha.564-2 ... G12-79
This text is exactly the same in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, but there is a new card code, of G075-570
As for the Ha.564.2 in the original volume, that leads us to the handbook which was published by the London Cigarette Card Company, and it tells us this set was not only issued by Pattrieouex, which we heard of in the original Gallaher reference book, but also others, namely :
GALLAHER GROUP. Four Photographic Series. Fronts glossy photographs in black and white. Four numbered series as follows :-
- 564.1 - Beautiful Scotland
- 564.2 - Coastwise
- 564.3 - Flying
- 564.4 - Our Countryside
Each series issued as follows :
- Gallaher - Medium Size, series of 48
- Illingworth - Medium Size, series of 48
- Peter Jackson -
A. Small size, series of 28
B. Medium Size, series of 48- Pattrieouex -
A. Small size, series of 28
B. Medium Size, series of 48, inscribed "SENIOR SERVICE CIGARETTES" without firm`s name. Captions in front in large or small letters