Introduction
This picture (Fig. 1) of the crew of HMS Superb was taken in 1912 or 1913 by H.W. Hewett, Army and Navy photographer, of Portsmouth. The original has descended to us with information that among the officers is the Antarctic explorer Edward Ratcliffe Garth Russell Evans (1880–1957). We write to ask if anyone can verify his presence in this photograph.
HMS Superb by H.W. Hewett of Portsmouth 1912 or 1913. Top right: officer believed to be Evans. Top centre: Ernest Henry Cooper (1891–1970).
‘Teddy’ Evans was second in command on Captain Scott's second Antarctic expedition (1910–1913) on Terra Nova. He later earned the epithet ‘of the Broke’ and the title Lord Mountevans. HMS Broke was the vessel under Evans’ command in 1917 that achieved acclaim for engaging six German destroyers off Dover, ramming one of them (Thursfield Reference Thursfield2004) and repelling its boarding party (Pound Reference Pound1963).
Two faces have been enlarged in this image. At the top right is that remembered in the authors’ family as Evans. This closely resembles a later image of him aboard HMS Repulse (Pound Reference Pound1963). This officer is seated in the third row above the upward arrow. The other enlarged image is the original owner of this photograph, Ernest Henry Cooper (1891–1970) who served as a stoker aboard HMS Superb from 30 May 1911 to 5 May 1913. Cooper is standing beneath the lifeboat four rows below the downward arrow. He was great grandfather to the authors. The image is in the possession of his son, Eric Francis Cooper of Lower Stratton, Swindon.
Cooper's service dates aboard HMS Superb confirm that if Evans is in this photograph it must have been taken during his 1912 return to England or very shortly after his final return from the Antarctic in early 1913. For this reason details of Evans’ return to England in 1912 are presented here. The photograph also shows a regatta trophy known as ‘the cock of the fleet’. It is possible that this picture was taken to document its presentation to the ship. The authors have been unable to ascertain from Royal Navy records the date this was awarded to HMS Superb.
Evans' recuperation and return to England in 1912
There is no evidence that Evans was formally linked with HMS Superb. Terra Nova expedition members serving in the Royal Navy were nominally gazetted to the ‘imaginary’ HMS President (Hawera & Normandy Star (New Zealand) 28 October 1910). HMS President was a series of vessels (and is now a shore establishment) used for training.
Little has been published about Evans’ return home from the Antarctic in 1912. Biographies provide few details (Evans Reference Evans1921: 150; Mountevans 1946: 82) or even fail to mention this voyage (Bond Reference Bond1961). His autobiography simply states: ‘I travelled home to England and made sure of sufficient money being forthcoming to relieve my leader of any further financial anxiety, and having in my own opinion sufficiently recovered to face the Antarctic once more I returned to New Zealand’ (Mountevans 1946: 82). Further details of this voyage are presented below.
The details of the journey of the last supporting party to Scott's polar party are well known. The party left Scott on 4 January 1912. At their farewell Scott noted that ‘Evans [was] terribly disappointed. . . poor old Crean wept and even Lashly was affected’ (Scott Reference Scott1927: 412–413). On their epic return Evans fell ill with scurvy (The Times (London) 22 August 1957) and needed to be dragged back aboard a sledge by his companions. Crean famously walked the last 35 miles alone, arriving at Hut Point on 19 February. After a week's rest ‘in the hut’ under the orders of Dr Atkinson (Grey River Argus (New Zealand) 4 April 1912), Evans was taken back to Cape Evans (Evening Post (New Zealand) 18 December 1912). Terra Nova arrived on 28 February (Pound Reference Pound1963) and Evans departed feeling ‘a physical wreck’ (Evans Reference Evans1921). Terra Nova arrived in Akaroa harbour, New Zealand, to learn of Amundsen's success on 1 April (Evans Reference Evans1921; Pound Reference Pound1963). One newspaper reported that she arrived in Evans’ ‘beloved port’ (Mountevans 1946) of Lyttleton on 3 April 1912 (Evening Post (New Zealand) 18 December 1912). Whilst staying with his wife's family Evans was visited by Amundsen (Pound Reference Pound1963). Evans left New Zealand on 2 May with his wife to board the Orontes at Sydney bound for England (Evening Post (New Zealand) 18 December 1912).
On 25 June 1912 The Times reported that he had ‘just arrived in England’ (The Times (London) 25 June 1912). His visit lasted eight weeks (Evening Post (New Zealand) 18 December 1912) and most of this was spent in London, in particular at the British Antarctic Expedition offices in Victoria Street (Pound Reference Pound1963). During this time it is reported that he ‘arranged for the supply of a large shipment of relief stores’ (Evening Post (New Zealand) 5 November 1912).
Evans’ naval records only show one entry for 1912, stating he was ‘promoted to Commander for services in the Antarctic 1 July 1912’ (Anon. 1957). At this time he was considered to be the youngest holder of the rank in the Royal Navy (Evening Post (New Zealand) 9 August 1912). Evans was informed of this promotion at the end of June when summoned aboard the Royal Yacht, whilst at Cardiff, to be presented to King George V (Pound Reference Pound1963). He also attended Buckingham Palace to give an account of the Antarctic expedition (Evening Post (New Zealand) 9 August 1912).
On 30 July 1912 it was reported that Evans would ‘shortly leave England to rejoin the Terra Nova’ (Grey River Argus (New Zealand) 30 July 1912). Ultimately he left London on 30 August to join the steamer Wiltshire at Liverpool (Poverty Bay Herald (New Zealand) 15 October 1912). Evans travelled to Liverpool by train from Euston station, where he received ‘a rousing send off’ (Evening Post (New Zealand) 4 October 1912). Wiltshire stopped at Cape Town (Evening Post (New Zealand) 18 December 1912) and arrived on 19 October 1912 in Sydney (The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) 21 October 1912). Finally, he arrived in Wellington, New Zealand, on 30 October (Ashburton Guardian (New Zealand) 30 October 1912).
Terra Nova was to take on board a full year's supplies in case she should be detained in the Antarctic (Grey River (New Zealand) 1 November 1912). Twenty tons of expedition supplies, presumably ordered by Evans in England, were due to arrive at Lyttleton on 18 November aboard Rotorua (Evening Post (New Zealand) 18 November 1912). Additional stores were loaded aboard Terra Nova from the vessel Ionic of the Shaw, Savill and Albion Company (Evening Post (New Zealand) 11 December 1912). Terra Nova's departure for the Antarctic was initially planned for the end of December but was brought forward to 14 December (Ashburton Guardian (New Zealand) 5 November 1912). Contemporary evidence shows that the vessel indeed sailed ‘from Christchurch’ on 14 December (The Montreal Gazette (Canada) 18 December 1912).
Evans’ naval records show that on 23 April 1913 he reported his arrival in England following his final return from the Antarctic (Anon. 2010a). It was during this journey home that his first wife, Hilda, née Russell, died of peritonitis and was buried at Toulon (Pound Reference Pound1963). In 1914 Evans adopted the middle name ‘Russell’ in her honour (Pound Reference Pound1963).
Reginald Skelton and HMS Superb
One confirmed link between HMS Superb and Antarctic exploration is Vice Admiral Sir Reginald William Skelton (1872–1956). Skelton was chief engineer and official photographer on the 1901–1904 Discovery expedition (Riffenburgh Reference Riffenburgh2005), having first met Scott in 1900 aboard HMS Majestic (Barne Reference Barne1957). Skelton hoped to be appointed second-in-command for the 1910–1913 Terra Nova expedition but was overlooked in favour of Evans to prevent the latter organising his own expedition and to absorb his funds (Anon. 2010).
It is known that Skelton served aboard HMS Superb between 1912 and 1914 (Anon. 1961). Can anyone verify his presence amongst the officers in this picture? Is it possible that Evans came to visit Skelton at Portsmouth aboard HMS Superb and was included in this picture?
