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John Pettitt Naval Art
| John Pettitt |
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During WW2 John Pettitt spent his childhood living in and around RAF and USAF Air Bases that included both fighters and bombers. This created for John a huge interest in aviation both early and modern, aspects from which he draws his inspiration for his paintings. Although primarily an aviation artist, John also paints maritime topics too - submarines being a particular favourite. He is mainly self-taught with brief periods at art colleges. He has exhibited in Athens, New York and Melbourne, Australia and has regular one man shows in the UK. His work can be seen in many air and navy bases and museums in the UK and abroad. John has also painted 3 works on commission depicting 617 Squadron Dam Busters, prints of these works were signed by 10 members of 617 squadron crew. |
| Naval Art by John Pettitt Naval Art |
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| Text for the above items : |
HMS/M Thrasher by John Pettitt. HMS Thrasher was on her 8th patrol when on the 16th June 1942, an unsuccessful torpedo attack was made on the German merchant vessel Arkadia off Crete. Later, at 1155 hours, they spotted a deeply laden merchant vessel of about 3000 tons and turned to attack. The vessel had 5 escorts and aircraft circling overhead. At 1234 hours they fired the first salvo from 2000 yards, and immediately the submarine shook from a muffled explosion - probably a bomb from an aircraft, and machine gun bullets were heard striking the water above soon after. Three minutes later, two distant explosions were heard a few seconds apart - perhaps the torpedoes exploding or it may have been depth charges. Thrasher dived and at 1245 experienced the first of 33 depth charges, an uncomfortable experience with minor damage caused to the submarine. The following day, at 0150 hours, the crew discovered a large hole in the side of the gun platform and an unexploded bomb laying on the casing just forward of the gun. With a protion of its tail still attached, the bomb could not roll off of the casing. At 0240 hours, Thrasher went full astern and lowered into the water to dislodge the bomb. After, it was discovered that a further unexploded bomb was inside the casing and lying on the pressure hull. To remove this meant dragging the device 20 feet through the casing with great danger of it exploding. Lt P S W Roberts and PO T W Gould carried out this task and safely disposed of the bomb over the side at 0330 hours. For this action, they were both awarded the Victoria Cross. The painting depicts HMS Thrasher in her blue liver heading for Alexandria at the end of this patrol. |
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This website is owned by Cranston Fine Arts. Torwood House, Torwoodhill Road, Rhu, Helensburgh, Scotland, G848LE Contact: Tel: (+44) (0) 1436 820269. Email: cranstonorders -at- outlook.com
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