Anyone Interested in Ships

[62613]

19 hours ago, figworthy said:

 

Yes.

 

Adrian

Nearly had a job with them, in 1969. Engineer cadet. It got as far as telling me to reoport to Riversdale College in Liverpool, but I failed a couple of 'O' levels, and that was that!

[jjb1970]

The MOL car carrier Firmament Ace arriving in Tanjong Pagar, turning around to go alongside Stbd side to.

 

[jjb1970]

Something which looks a bit odd today but may be normal in the near future, a ship equipped with Flettner rotors.

 

[figworthy]

Some more nostalgia.

 

Panama Canal May 1960.

 

 

 

 

Adrian

[Bon Accord]

1 hour ago, figworthy said:

Some more nostalgia.

 

Panama Canal May 1960.

 

 

 

 

Adrian

 

For a wee while I was really struggling to place the ship.

There weren't many British ships with that distinctive goalpost at the break of the fo'c'sle; I know she's British going by the Mate up for'd in his whites.

Now that the surviving brain cells have had time to confer, was she one of Furness Withy's "Pacific" ships, used on their UK-Pacific Northwest trade?

 

[St Enodoc]

2 hours ago, Bon Accord said:

I know she's British going by the Mate up for'd in his whites.

..and very smart he looks too. Must maintain standards, old chap, don't y'know?

[jjb1970]

At one time companies would often put their own twist on ships even with standard yard designs. They'd ask for a different funnel, or wheelhouse for example. Some of the Maersk ships are still very distinctive, ditto Evergreen. Most others are pretty much indistinguishable apart from the paint job.

[jjb1970]

A cable ship operated by Orange, I thought the point of wireless telephones was not to have cables🤣

 

[jjb1970]

It illustrates an old truism about ship. White ships look splendid is well looked after and kept ship shape but look awful if allowed to deteriorate. At one time cable ships had a reputation for being kept in tip top condition.

[The Johnster]

The Russian ships that brought timber into Cardiff in the 60s and 70s were always white except for a red stripe around the funnel with the obligatory yellow hammer & sickle, and immaculately kept.  Father, a Cardiff pilot, was much impressed with one that was entirely crewed by women; women engineers were common on them but this was a completely female ship, even the Kommissar that the Party insisted on providing to ensure everybody toed the line...

 

 

[KeithMacdonald]

22 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

White ships look splendid is well looked after and kept ship shape but look awful if allowed to deteriorate.

 

It must say a lot about the state of mind of the crew and/or the owners that consider maintenance an unneccesary expense. Keeping things clean and "ship shape" is not just a cosmetic exercise is it? Dirt and negligence hides corrosion and decay, and, if ignored, worse things to come.

 

Prevention is better than cure.

 

Of course, a huge part of this RMWeb website is long-running evidence about the same state of mind, and then decline, of railways in Britain. Some might say of a society in general, and not just in Britain. Visitors to (for example) some parts of California now see the same being played out in the streets in real time.

[figworthy]

On 10/10/2023 at 23:03, Bon Accord said:

 

For a wee while I was really struggling to place the ship.

There weren't many British ships with that distinctive goalpost at the break of the fo'c'sle; I know she's British going by the Mate up for'd in his whites.

Now that the surviving brain cells have had time to confer, was she one of Furness Withy's "Pacific" ships, used on their UK-Pacific Northwest trade?

 

 

Furness Withy is a distinct possibility as that was one of the lines dad sailed with.  What I can't remember is which lines he sailed with and when.  The caption written on the slide was of little help, just where and when.

 

Adrian

[Bon Accord]

3 hours ago, figworthy said:

 

Furness Withy is a distinct possibility as that was one of the lines dad sailed with.  What I can't remember is which lines he sailed with and when.  The caption written on the slide was of little help, just where and when.

 

Adrian

 

Hi Adrian,

If you still have his discharge book then that'll have all the ships he sailed in and the dates he was onboard.

[figworthy]

45 minutes ago, Bon Accord said:

 

Hi Adrian,

If you still have his discharge book then that'll have all the ships he sailed in and the dates he was onboard.

 

He had a big clear out a few years back, and I suspect that such things would have been amongst that which got binned.

 

Adrian

[jjb1970]

I kept my discharge book, partly because it provides a time stamped record of a significant part of my life but probably more because when I occasionally look at it so many memories come flooding back, people and events I never think of otherwise. I still keep my old certificates of competency too. My class 4 and class 2 (class 3 is a niche for coastal and small ships most engineers don't do) certificates were really rather impressive,  old style hardback open out documents with lovely printing. They had a real gravitas and did give people a little bit of pride. My class 1 certificate is a cheap and nasty booklet like a cheap and inferior copy of modern passports.

[Bon Accord]

14 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

I kept my discharge book, partly because it provides a time stamped record of a significant part of my life but probably more because when I occasionally look at it so many memories come flooding back, people and events I never think of otherwise. I still keep my old certificates of competency too. My class 4 and class 2 (class 3 is a niche for coastal and small ships most engineers don't do) certificates were really rather impressive,  old style hardback open out documents with lovely printing. They had a real gravitas and did give people a little bit of pride. My class 1 certificate is a cheap and nasty booklet like a cheap and inferior copy of modern passports.

 

If you think the most recent passport type tickets were bad you should see the new credit card/driving license type. I renewed mine last year and got one of them back.  I've resorted to using a magnifying class to read the details on the new cards. They have QR codes on them etc so hopefully the time will come when it'll all be on the card rather than having to carry half a filing cabinet of paper around with you.

On the upside you can revalidate electronically now and submit all documents via email, with only a small percentage having to submit all their original bits of paper as a sample. Must say sending my entire working life off in an envelope entrusted to the Royal Mail every five years was always heart in mouth stuff for me.

I'm on my third discharge book, alas the newer types are too small for my Tennents Lager book cover. I wonder how many out there still have one of those covers, or the rarer Watneys version?!

[AncientMariner]

18 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

I kept my discharge book, partly because it provides a time stamped record of a significant part of my life but probably more because when I occasionally look at it so many memories come flooding back, people and events I never think of otherwise. I still keep my old certificates of competency too. My class 4 and class 2 (class 3 is a niche for coastal and small ships most engineers don't do) certificates were really rather impressive,  old style hardback open out documents with lovely printing. They had a real gravitas and did give people a little bit of pride. My class 1 certificate is a cheap and nasty booklet like a cheap and inferior copy of modern passports.

 

 

My discharge book was issued more than 50 years ago, and I have to admit that I get a nostalgic kick out of fingering through the pages once in a while.

Also, I’m old enough and lucky enough to have been able to retain my original hardback class one certificate.  As JJB says, it has a gravitas that cannot be found in the flimsy booklet that I needed to use in my final seafaring years.  This fortysomething year-old document is framed and hangs on a wall in my model railway room.   

 

John H

[KeithMacdonald]

Slight change of subject - the new Maersk Containerships - but explained with Lego.

 

 

[Bon Accord]

Another jolly boys outing on Sunday, this time aboard WAVERLEY for her last sail of the season.

This was another opportunity for a bunch of old shipmates to meet up, go for a sail and destroy a few brain cells.

I took all three photographs as she approached Tighnabruaich on the homeward leg - we'd jumped off there prior to her cruise to the south of Bute - she then called again (as seen) prior to returning to Glasgow via Rothesay, Largs and Greenock.

She had a near capacity crowd onboard that day, some 740 odd passengers. Apparently this has been WAVERLEY'S most successful season in some four decades.

 

 

The brakes going on approaching the pier. Unlike a conventional screw driven vessel, as a paddler WAVERLEY can stop in near her own length.

 

 

Alongside Tighnabruaich pier for her last call of 2023.

 

[Teabag]

This sailed past Taormina, Sicily yesterday before mooring off of Giardini Naxos just down the coast.  I don't know much about ships, but it looked interesting.

 

Teabag

[J. S. Bach]

It looks like a very modern sailing ship with some kind of "automatic" or electrically operated sails. No more standing out on the yardarms!

[chris p bacon]

Looks like 'Windstar' or ???(I've forgotten the name)  First saw them in the Caribbean possibly 25 years ago. 

[drmditch]

A good friend (and former crew) is currently in Lisbon, expected to board this ship* tomorrow.

She will be sailing across the Atlantic to Barbados, and I am very envious!

 

I need to find some money!

 

 

* and yes, the Royal Clipper is a 'ship'. A five masted full-rigged ship. The first since Preussen went aground of Newhaven in 1910. 

To my eyes, the newer ship looks a bit under-rigged, (56,000 sq ft compared with 73,000 sq ft) but she doesn't have to carry 8,000 tons of cargo!

[New Haven Neil]

Chat about discharge books and tickets had me raking in cupboards - found one of each, and a floppy bit of paper with my Class 2 Part A pass on it.  UK056425 and the proper Class 4 foldy-out Maroon ticket, hadn't thought about hanging it on a wall somewhere.  I had Dad's discharge books from a 40 year career ending as Chief but passed them to my Brother when we left the UK - mistake.

[jjb1970]

A further sign of the demise of the old Tanjong Pagar container terminal, cranes loaded onto a heavy lift ship. No idea whether they're being moved to another terminal in the Port of Singapore (Pasir Panjang, Tuas), being sold to another port or going for scrap. Sorry the pic is poor.