William Mackenzie Thomson (1840–1905) “H.M.S. Triumph”, Circa 1904

William Mackenzie Thomson (British, 1840–1905) 
“H.M.S. Triumph” (1903-1915) 
Watercolour heightened with white
Signed "M. Thomson" (lower left)
Circa 1904

Measures:-
28 cm high x 49.5 cm wide

A fascinating original painting by W Mackenzie Thomson of the Royal Navy "Swiftsure Class" pre-dreadnought battleship, H.M.S. Triumph (1903-1915). The two "Swiftsure Class" battleships (Swiftsure & Triumph) were some of the last vessels to have had scrollwork decoration on their bows and they were among the first to be painted grey. In 1902, for improved camouflage, the Royal Navy had begun transitioning from a black, white and buff colour scheme on their ships, often referred to as "Victorian Livery", to a uniform grey. By 1905 this had became firmly established as the standard colouring. 

The 12,175 ton, pre-dreadnought, H.M.S. Triumph was originally ordered by the Chilean Navy as "Libertad" to the designs of the naval architect and Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy, Sir Edward Reed KCB FRS (1830-1906). She was one of the last two battleships constructed to Reed's designs and she was built by Vickers, Sons & Maxim at Barrow-in-Furness and launched on 15 January 1903.  However, in December 1903, before her delivery, she was bought by the Royal Navy, renamed and commissioned as H.M.S. Triumph on 21 June 1904.

At the outbreak of WWI, H.M.S. Triumph was in the Far East and helped with the bombardment of German positions at Tsingtao. In January 1915 she was redeployed to Europe and passed through the Suez Canal en route to Mediterranean. She was sent to the Dardanelles, where she provided fire support from her 10-inch guns, shelling Turkish positions during the Gallipoli landings while ANZAC forces made their amphibious assault. But whilst anchored off Gaba Tepe at 1.00 pm on 25 May 1915 she was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat with the loss of 78 of her crew.

An image of H.M.S. Triumph as the "Libertad" by E Sansom, dated 1902, can be found in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich [see BHC3676]. In that picture she is still painted with the standard livery of black hull, white superstructure and yellow/buff-colored funnels and masts.

W. Mackenzie Thomson (sometimes misspelled 'Thompson') was a prolific artist who specialized in naval subjects. The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich holds over seventy closely related ships' portraits by him and yet, although he is well listed, very little information is currently known about his life.