Star Objects - On patrol 1914-1918 by GF Bradshaw

Oil on canvas, circa 1920, measuring approximately 174 x 123 centimetres. The boat depicted is an E class submarine.

Lieutenant Commander George Fagan Bradshaw was a distinguished submarine officer who won a Distinguished Service Order during the First World War whilst in command of HMS G13.

During the inter-war period he had the misfortune to be in command of two submarines that were lost through accident. On the first occasion he was temporarily in charge of HMS G11. When coming back into harbour Bradshaw sensed something amiss, but nothing could be seen through the thick haze of fog. He ordered the engines to be stopped anyway, but it was too late as the fog had obscured both the lighthouse and the coastline. The submarine ran aground and the keel was completely torn off.

HMS G11

On the second occasion Bradshaw was in command of HMS K15. K boats gained the nickname the 'Kalamity Ks' during the interwar period due to the high number of accidents in them. Bradshaw had no better luck with them. When K15 was alongside the cruiser Canterbury in Portsmouth she sank due to a design fault. Her crew watched from the Canterbury helpless to stop her.

HMS K15

The Admiralty decided that to lose was one submarine was bad luck, but to lose two must be carelessness. Despite having been previously described as "a very sound and efficient officer with good judgement" , he was court martialled and discharged from the Navy in August 1921.

After this Bradshaw pursued his interest in painting maritime life, becoming one of the founder members of the internationally significant St Ives Society of Artists. The Submarine Museum holds several of his submarine paintings.