CHINA, HONG KONG AND JAPAN — THE ROYAL NAVY IN THE FAR EAST [photograph albums. c.1920s]. Striking photographs of Royal Navy submarines operating out of China, Hong Kong and Japan in the inter-war period. The photographs show Wei Hei Wei (modern-day Weihai, north-east China) under British rule, which was the summer port for the Royal Navy's Submarine Flotilla. The images show HMS Titania, a Submarine Depot Ship, which provided supplies to, and accommodation for, the submarines and their crews, as well as HMS Marazion, built as a mine sweeper, and later converted to a submarine tender. The photographs shows torpedoes being hoisted aboard ships, submarines on manoeuvres, and a couple of shots of submarines in dry dock in Hong Kong. Other images show street life in Wei Hei Wei, visits to Beijing and the Great Wall, views of the devastation caused by earthquakes in Japan, and visits to other parts of the world, including Borneo and Sri Lanka. The postcards mainly focus on Malta and Port Said. The photographer was obviously entranced by Japanese women, with 13 larger format photographs of this subject at the end of one volume. 2 albums, oblong quarto, thus: 1. 163 original photographs and postcards (the majority 60 x 85mm, with some 13 others, all of Japanese women, large 75 x 110mm), mounted on 49 leaves (126 x 190mm), and with 6 others loosely inserted. Original leather (joints cracked); 2. 107 original photographs and postcards (the majority 80 x 105mm, a few slightly larger or smaller), mounted on 28 leaves (125 x 190mm), and with 3 others loosely inserted. Original cloth (extremities scuffed)