Oscar Parkes
Oscar Parkes | |
---|---|
Born | Handsworth, Birmingham, England | 18 October 1885
Died | 24 June 1958 Craigavad, County Down, Northern Ireland | (aged 72)
Alma mater | University of Birmingham |
Occupation(s) | Physician, naval artist, editor |
Oscar Parkes
Early life
Parkes was born in
Early career
After residency as a surgeon at the
Parkes was demobilised in 1919, became an official naval artist, and joined the Imperial War Museum as director of their naval photographic section.[9] He was awarded the Order of the British Empire for "valuable services in H.M. Hospital Ships during the War and at the R.N. Hospitals, Chatham and Plymouth" on 22 August 1919.[10]
Fighting ships
In 1918, Parkes was appointed an editor of Jane's Fighting Ships, a post he held till 1935.[11][12] At first, he was joint-editor with Maurice Prendergast,[13] and from 1922 to 1930 with Francis McMurtrie.[14][15] From 1930 to 1935 he was sole editor. The last edition of Jane's Fighting Ships he was involved with was the December 1934 issue.[16][11]
Parkes' book Ships of the Royal Navy was first published by
Also from 1935 to 1940, he was being widely quoted in American newspapers and the United States Congress, warning about Japanese naval development and expansion, pointing out, that is where the focus of world powers should lie. He was an advocate for western navies' future needs for smaller, faster vessels, aircraft carriers, and torpedo delivery.[22][23][24]
Between the wars, he set up a specialist practice in Hans Crescent, Knightsbridge,[25] acting between 1920 and 1924 as a neurological adviser to the Ministry of Pensions.[26] All the while he worked on Janes's Fighting Ships in the evenings from his home in Sunbury-on-Thames, with his wife Natalie acting as his assistant.[5][27] They moved to Ringwood, Hampshire in 1943, and he continued in general practice there, for a short time working at Fordingbridge Hospital.[4]
Oscar Parkes was one of the early members of the World Ship Society, founded by Michael Crowdy in 1946, as the Ships News Club, a way of distributing shipping information to correspondents. What started with some 50 correspondents quickly developed into 200–300 within a year. It is an international society devoted to maritime and naval history.
Aside from his role as editor of Jane's Fighting Ships, Parkes contributed many naval articles to the
Later life
Parkes retired from medical practice in 1957, to take up a directorship in a publishing company in Northern Ireland.[4]
After 32 years of research, Parkes' definitive book British Battleships: "Warrior", 1860 to "Vanguard", 1950. A History of Design, Construction and Armament was published in 1957.
Prior to his death, Parkes had been planning a new book listing the ships of the Royal Navy from 1820 to 1860, for which he had amassed much research.[34] However, he died just a few months after his wife, suddenly, at home in Craigavad, County Down, on 24 June 1958 aged 72.[1][4][35]
Parkes' marine artwork has often been on exhibit, including at the Royal Academy.[1] The Imperial War Museum and the National Maritime Museum have permanent collections of his artwork.[1]
Private life
Parkes married Natalie Randall in Marylebone, London, in 1921.[27] Aside from playing rugby, football and cricket at university, he was an accomplished pianist, yachtsman, gardener, ship modeler, and avid photograph collector.[4][36]
He was a member of the Savage Club.[37]
Gallery
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Argentine ARA Moreno (1912)
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Italian battleship Napoli (1909)
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German SMS Mainz (1910)
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Italian battleship Conte di Cavour (1911)
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HMS Southampton at the Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916
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HMS Lord Clive (1918)
-
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Italian cruiser Marsala (1914)
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Surrender of the German High Seas Fleet (1918)
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Hospital ship HMHS Karapara (1919)
Selected publications
- — (1922). Ships of the Royal Navy. S. Low, Marston & Company, Limited.
- From 1935 published as Ships of the Royal Navies: (British Commonwealth of Nations):
— (1937). Ships of the Royal Navies: (British Commonwealth of Nations) (7 ed.). Sampson Low, Marston and Company Limited.
- From 1935 published as Ships of the Royal Navies: (British Commonwealth of Nations):
- — (1929). The World's Warships. S. Low, Marston & Company, Limited. ISBN 9789070043520.
- —; Perkins, Eric (1930). The Detection of Disease: A Study of the Electronic Reactions of Dr. ISBN 1-68422-017-3.[38]
- — (1936). Our Rheumatism. Sampson Low, Marston.[39]
- —; Burma, L.M.M. (1956). British Battleships: "Warrior" 1860 to "Vanguard" 1950; A History of Design, Construction and Armament. Seeley.
- Dann, john (2019). Struck by Lightning -The Story of HMS Lightning ISBN 9781784566494.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "RMG biography". RMG NMM. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8240-7735-8. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
The standard account and most comprehensive treatment is that of Oscar Parkes, BRITISH BATTLESHIPS: "WARRIOR" 1860 TO "VANGUARD" 1950: A HISTORY OF DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND ARMAMENT
- ^ ISBN 1-55750-075-4.
- ^ PMC 2025887.
- ^ a b c d e Parton, Lemuel (23 September 1935). "Who's News Today". The Evening Sun, Baltimore. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
- ^ The London Gazette: no. 29086. p. 2092. 2 March 1915.
- ^ "Expert criticizes British Naval Vessels". Reno Evening Gazette. Syndicated news. 11 June 1935. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-4738-4270-0. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-84832-276-9. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
Oscar Parkes went on to see active service with the Royal Navy in the First World War, and when demobilized in 1919 became the Editor of Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships and later Director of Naval Photographs at the Imperial War ... who became deeply interested in the Royal Navy's battleships after reading Parkes's famous book British Battleships ...
- ^ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 31516. p. 10632. 22 August 1919.
- ^ a b Khun Jr., Ferdinand (27 December 1934). "Japan's Warships Are Called Top-Heavy". The Daily Gleaner. New York Times. p. 56. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-7106-1546-6. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
... with the next edition of Fighting Ships far from completion. leaving an unenviable task for his 26 year old friend and successor Maurice Prendergast. ... It was fortunate that Dr Oscar Parkes OBE, a friend of Fred T and a maritime artist of distinction, became joint editor after completing his ...
- ISBN 978-0-356-19135-5. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
Maurice Prendergast, who had been the editor of Jane's Fighting Ships since Jane's death in 1916, had been born deaf and now began to lose his eyesight. Consequently, McMurtrie and Oscar Parkes, a practising physician and gifted naval ...
- ^ a b "British Battleships". marinecannon.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- ISBN 1-245-70763-9. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
- ^ Ships and Ship Models. 1936. p. 395. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- ^ Publishers' Association (1929). The Publisher. p. 806. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
The World's Warships, compiled by Oscar Parkes. (Sampson Lou) – A book that will prove helpful to the many who are interesting themselves in the world's naval affairs at the present time. Mr. Parkes has extracted from ...
- ^ Parkes, Oscar (1935). The World's Warships. Sampson Low, Marston.
- ^ "Estimating Navies". Oakland Tribune. Syndicated. 20 October 1935. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
- ^ "Editorial: Two Ships for One: Efficient Jap Ships". Daily News, New York. 21 October 1935. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
- ^ Pearse, Ben H. (18 February 1940). "Super-Battleship Controversy: Case for and against vessels double the size of our budgets". St. Louis Post. Syndicated. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
- ^ Annual Report. 1936. p. 59. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- ^ Fairplay International Shipping Journal. Fairplay Publications Limited. 1958. p. 44. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
The death has occurred of Dr. Oscar Parkes at the age of 72. He was Editor of Jane's Fighting Ships from ... From 1920 to 1924 he was neurologist to the Ministry of Pensions. Dr. Parkes. whose knowledge of naval ships was ...
- ^ a b "Natalie Dorothea Randall Parkes". Ancestry. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
- ^ "Articles by Oscar Parkes". The Society For Nautical Research. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
- ^ Annals of Internal Medicine. 1939. p. 1374. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- ^ "British battleships..." abebooks.co.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- ^ "Parkes (Dr Oscar)". AbeBooks.co.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ^ "au:Parkes, Oscar". OCLC WorldCat. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-85177-953-9. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- ^ Simmonds, A. J. "The Archive of Dr Oscar Parkes ..." AbeBooks.co.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ^ Shipbuilding and Shipping Record. 1958. p. 19. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
dr. oscar parkes died recently at Craigavad, Co. Durham, at the age of 72. After graduating in medicine at Birmingham he served as ...
- ^ "HMS CENTURION running trials, 1914". www.maritimeprints.com. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
- ^ Parkes, Oscar (1922). Ships of the Royal Navy – foreword. Sampson Low, Marston and Co. p. 4. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- ^ British Museum. Dept. of Printed Books (1959). General Catalogue of Printed Books: Photolithographic Edition to 1955. Trustees of the British Museum. p. 569. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- ^ "Our Rheumatism". catalogue.nla.gov.au. Sampson Low. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- "Dr. Oscar Parkes" (Obituaries). The Times. 26 June 1958. Issue 54187, pg. 12.
- "Oscar Parkes" "Obituary". British Medical Journal (5 July 1958). (5087): pg. 52.