Anyone Interested in Ships

[IWCR]

Any of you Bibby people served on the Australian Bridge?.

I was on her at a later date as a first trip cadet, she was then the Cast Puffin.

Rather a rough old ship by then and a lot of work to keep together.

 

Pete

[New Haven Neil]

1 hour ago, IWCR said:

Any of you Bibby people served on the Australian Bridge?.

I was on her at a later date as a first trip cadet, she was then the Cast Puffin.

Rather a rough old ship by then and a lot of work to keep together.

 

Pete

 

 

Not me but my dad did at least one trip as 2/E/O on her when new-ish.  Of the bridge boats I have been on the Atlantic Bridge, English Bridge and Liverpool Bridge (later Derbyshire ) and the Stirling Bridge which was owned by Silver Line but managed by Bibbys at that time - previously Denholms IIRC.  She was a lovely ship.

 

[380John]

4 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

I never met another modeller at sea, but a few artists. #ahem# of both types....  ;-)  I was an engineer, there were a lot of car and bike enthusiasts down below, but never another modeller.  One old man was interested in what I was doing (K's loco kit) he was one of the (art) artists, nice bloke, on LPG tankers (Staffordshire) so he was more technical-mechanicky than many deck officers I met on other types of ship.  Happy days....

 

 

Less artists now Neil, since the dry rules came in! If ships and art is your thing may I recommend Robert Lloyd's works. Each one is a masterpiece, his books are fantastic and cover the golden age of shipping right through to present day. In our current fleet here I'm one of four modellers which is pretty good going. Many of my ex college lecturers were/are railway modellers. Funny the circles we move in. 

 

I've attached a picture of my vessel in drydock... The humble tugboat is quite a thing in the port I work. When built, she was one - eighth of the most powerful escort towing fleet in the world. 

Edited March 4, 2021 by 380John
Choice of words!

[Bon Accord]

On 03/03/2021 at 00:11, 380John said:

Thank you for the welcome! Me too... Mahinabank and Boularibank then beachy head and Longstone (as a cadet) . Been Master now with my present company 8 years. I love the boat handling and niche operation here. I'd still love a "westabout round the world" though! 

 

John 

 

John,

I should imagine we know quite a few of the same people. I ended up doing 8 years in the Foreland ships and did all 6 of that class although I only managed the Baltic pair once each; a few weeks filling in aboard Longstone whilst my 6 week trip on the Beachy turned into 4 months. Those two were on charter to Transfennica at the time and it was all very civilised (in summer at least) except for the occasional express days in Lubeck where I'm still amazed nobody was ever flattened by a Tug/MAFI going far too fast.

One of the regular masters of the Teignbank/Boularibank was an old shipmate of mine and we still meet up for a pint in Shields whenever I'm in the vicinity now that he's in happy retirement, or at least we did pre Covid.

[Bon Accord]

9 hours ago, JeremyC said:

 

A 1960s GPO film about marine communications.

When I went to sea in 1972 this was how all comms were done, by the time I retired in 2016 I could direct dial a call from my cabin or the Engine Control Room to a shore number and send or receive emails all via satellite.

 

For all the convenience gained we did lose a lot with the advent of GMDSS and the advent of e-mail and high speed connections - the huge increase of shoreside micro-management now that the ship was constnaly accessible being one enormously negative aspect of it. 

The ritual of Sparks getting the football results every Saturday on HF, Interflora requests, hugely expensive link calls, the only news being via crackly BBC World Service broadcasts via shortwave radio attached to all manner of creative home made aerials etc.

It was never quite the same latterly, not forgetting bar receipts suffered massively once the Marconi Sahib was eradicated!

[St Enodoc]

7 hours ago, Bon Accord said:

 

For all the convenience gained we did lose a lot with the advent of GMDSS and the advent of e-mail and high speed connections - the huge increase of shoreside micro-management now that the ship was constnaly accessible being one enormously negative aspect of it. 

The ritual of Sparks getting the football results every Saturday on HF, Interflora requests, hugely expensive link calls, the only news being via crackly BBC World Service broadcasts via shortwave radio attached to all manner of creative home made aerials etc.

It was never quite the same latterly, not forgetting bar receipts suffered massively once the Marconi Sahib was eradicated!

I remember link calls from my yachting days in the 80s. In 1982 we were sailing back from Gib to Weymouth at the same time that the Falklands fleet was returning home. We waited ages to get a word in edgeways to make a link call through Start Point Radio . When we finally got to the top of the queue the operator was amazed that we were still there and hadn't given up.

[peach james]

I spent 14 days looking off the west end of an eastbound tug- in the form of USNS Salvor, with HMCS Protecteur riding astern...
 

 

[steve W]

18 hours ago, Bon Accord said:

 

For all the convenience gained we did lose a lot with the advent of GMDSS and the advent of e-mail and high speed connections - the huge increase of shoreside micro-management now that the ship was constnaly accessible being one enormously negative aspect of it. 

The ritual of Sparks getting the football results every Saturday on HF, Interflora requests, hugely expensive link calls, the only news being via crackly BBC World Service broadcasts via shortwave radio attached to all manner of creative home made aerials etc.

It was never quite the same latterly, not forgetting bar receipts suffered massively once the Marconi Sahib was eradicated!

Ah, nostalgia! I remember it so clearly ; 1971, mid April, Indian Ocean. Quietly flushing the system with a couple of Tennents in the bar one Saturday lunch time. A little bell rang and voice said "wedding anniversary" an immediate panic set in as I couldn't remeber the exact date, was it this week or next week. The gathered throng made many less than practical suggestions until Sparky, a yong woman from Manchester piped up "Phone your mother, she'll know ".

A few hours later, and a turn with Portishead Radio (it seemed a lifetime)  the potentially life changing phone call was made - to be answered, not by mother, but the unmistakeable tones of SWMBO who had gone to visit for the day, "Hello what are you phoning for?"  It had been a good idea and worth the try.  As the subject wasn't mentioned in the phone call, it appeared likely that it was the following week, so I  followed through with Interflora just to make sure.

Yes, the call was expensive, so were the flowers and Sparky's beer for several days afterwards.

 

[Corbs]

Apologies if this has been posted before but it's fascinating, starting with some quite quaint tugs, moving onto getting an ocean liner in and out of port, before going on to ocean-going and salvage tugs. The attempted salvage operation at the end is a little reminiscent of the film 'Sea Fury'!

 

Also - at 3:28 see the rope suddenly go tight and the chap on the quayside back-pedalling to get out of the way! Tut tut.

 

 

 

[380John]

On 04/03/2021 at 23:29, Bon Accord said:

 

John,

I should imagine we know quite a few of the same people. I ended up doing 8 years in the Foreland ships and did all 6 of that class although I only managed the Baltic pair once each; a few weeks filling in aboard Longstone whilst my 6 week trip on the Beachy turned into 4 months. Those two were on charter to Transfennica at the time and it was all very civilised (in summer at least) except for the occasional express days in Lubeck where I'm still amazed nobody was ever flattened by a Tug/MAFI going far too fast.

One of the regular masters of the Teignbank/Boularibank was an old shipmate of mine and we still meet up for a pint in Shields whenever I'm in the vicinity now that he's in happy retirement, or at least we did pre Covid.

I'm sure we do. I'll have to get the dates from an old discharge book and see. I ended up on the transfennica route too. Paldiski, hanko, lubeck, gdynia. I know what you mean about the tug drivers at Lubeck! My overriding memory of lubeck was stood aft on the Longstone going to stations when the bow went through the trestle walkway on the berth we were going to! Still these things happen. Nice you can still see old ship mates. The great thing about the tugs is the family atmosphere and "shipmates" feel to it which in the current guise and one off contracts seems to be dying away deep sea. 

[380John]

4 hours ago, Corbs said:

Apologies if this has been posted before but it's fascinating, starting with some quite quaint tugs, moving onto getting an ocean liner in and out of port, before going on to ocean-going and salvage tugs. The attempted salvage operation at the end is a little reminiscent of the film 'Sea Fury'!

 

Also - at 3:28 see the rope suddenly go tight and the chap on the quayside back-pedalling to get out of the way! Tut tut.

 

 

 

That looks fantastic, will be watching! Amazing how things have changed. Good looking ships and tugs! Aesthetics give way to form in most things these days. Mind you seeing a large vessel wrestled alongside by tugs in bad weather is definitely still a good watch! 

[Bon Accord]

18 hours ago, 380John said:

I'm sure we do. I'll have to get the dates from an old discharge book and see. I ended up on the transfennica route too. Paldiski, hanko, lubeck, gdynia. I know what you mean about the tug drivers at Lubeck! My overriding memory of lubeck was stood aft on the Longstone going to stations when the bow went through the trestle walkway on the berth we were going to! Still these things happen. Nice you can still see old ship mates. The great thing about the tugs is the family atmosphere and "shipmates" feel to it which in the current guise and one off contracts seems to be dying away deep sea. 

 

The catwalk incident wasn't a certain short, Scottish master from Ullapool driving was it? 

He certainly clattered one but I can't remember if it was the main berth or the paper berth across the basin. If it was the same one we did start calling it the golden bridge as every time we came back the cost of repair seemed to exponentially increase.

He had an unfortunate habit of the occasional dunt including demolishing a section of the old berth further upriver by virtue of the bulbous bow crashing through it.

Paul Hamlin on Longstone started calling him "Lancaster" after that. When asked why, the response was he'd done just as much damage to Lubeck as the RAF.

[62613]

A question for all you old - timers; we were, I am sure, all familiar with the nectar which was Four Bells Rum. Is it still distilled?

[Bon Accord]

3 hours ago, 62613 said:

A question for all you old - timers; we were, I am sure, all familiar with the nectar which was Four Bells Rum. Is it still distilled?

 

I think I heard that the company which sold it either ceased trading or was consumed into another.

Last saw 4 Bells on sale in Shetland a good decade or so ago, the more modern incarnation had a dark blue label.

Always remember the tot received after tank cleaning.

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, Bon Accord said:

 

I think I heard that the company which sold it either ceased trading or was consumed into another.

Last saw 4 Bells on sale in Shetland a good decade or so ago, the more modern incarnation had a dark blue label.

Always remember the tot received after tank cleaning.

My late uncle (ex-RN) introduced me to Pusser's, for for which I am exceedingly grateful.

[peach james]

I'm thinking here it would be Lamb's Navy Rum- which is available from BCLDB.  I think I have a 1/4th of a bottle of dual purpose (151- good for stripping paint and stomach linings...). I also have several flagons of Pussers, but they are not to be opened (!) as they are commemorative ones...though mostly not Wade China ones.

 

[steve W]

 

4 Bells Navy is still around, but seems to be very scarce and expensive.  One source I found does not ship to UK. Lambs Navy is available in several UK supermarkets at reasonable price. Whether it matches the old real McCoy I can't advise.

[NorthBrit]

I have never tried 4 Bells Navy.     

Lambs Navy is okay  (imo)

Pusser's  is my favourite.

Pusser's Gunpowder Proof   for special occasions.

 

 

 

[6990WitherslackHall]

Jim Bean is my favourite. That and Captain Morgan

[MarkC]

I miss 4 Bells - in the 90s we used to get litre bottles from the chandlers in Antwerp for £2.80 a bottle

 

However, I can recommend Aldi's Old Hopking dark rum. £9.99 for a 70cl bottle. Lovely stuff 

[The Johnster]

As there's an Aldi 5 minutes from me, and the squeeze is there as I write, I'll phone her and give this stuff a try.  My go to for rum is Mount Gay, but this is more a plantation than a Navy rum.

[The Stationmaster]

On 05/03/2021 at 23:40, 380John said:

That looks fantastic, will be watching! Amazing how things have changed. Good looking ships and tugs! Aesthetics give way to form in most things these days. Mind you seeing a large vessel wrestled alongside by tugs in bad weather is definitely still a good watch! 

Good looking tugs definitely seem to be a thing of the past but these strange looking modern ones do seem to be rather capable witha 20.000 TEU container ship 196,878 tons Summer dwt. -

 

 

 

PS The various small craft in rather stupid positions were involved in Cowes week

 

 

 

[drmditch]

11 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Good looking tugs definitely seem to be a thing of the past but these strange looking modern ones do seem to be rather capable witha 20.000 TEU container ship 196,878 tons Summer dwt. -

 

 

 

PS The various small craft in rather stupid positions were involved in Cowes week

 

 

 

 

Some small boat sailors are really stupid.

Many years ago I saw a tow part in the Tyne.

No-one who had seen that would get anywhere near a tug and tow.

 

[380John]

1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:

Good looking tugs definitely seem to be a thing of the past but these strange looking modern ones do seem to be rather capable witha 20.000 TEU container ship 196,878 tons Summer dwt. -

 

 

 

PS The various small craft in rather stupid positions were involved in Cowes week

 

 

 

 

Definitely so. The stern tug in this position is involved in an "indirect escort". This is basically the tug providing the steerage or breaking for a vessel going around a tight turn. The tugs are usually equipped with a self tensioning winch capable of adjusting the torque for what required and the tug will have a large skeg. Basically a keel not unlike that found on a yacht. The skeg helps to balance the tug whilst going over to deck edge immersion. The simulator courses to do such are fantastic. I work in milford haven and only do such manoeuvring incase of emergency where engine or steering failure has occurred on the assisted vessel. This was brought in after the Sea Empress disaster 25 years ago. Its a dangerous manoeuvre and if anyone would like to see it done on the edge.... Type in "Smit Clyde" on YouTube! 

[380John]

On 06/03/2021 at 18:32, Bon Accord said:

 

The catwalk incident wasn't a certain short, Scottish master from Ullapool driving was it? 

He certainly clattered one but I can't remember if it was the main berth or the paper berth across the basin. If it was the same one we did start calling it the golden bridge as every time we came back the cost of repair seemed to exponentially increase.

He had an unfortunate habit of the occasional dunt including demolishing a section of the old berth further upriver by virtue of the bulbous bow crashing through it.

Paul Hamlin on Longstone started calling him "Lancaster" after that. When asked why, the response was he'd done just as much damage to Lubeck as the RAF.

 

Whooops! All I'm saying is... It wasn't the old man it was the chief officer having a go......