World Ship Society - FROM THE PAST - South Coast Branch Notes
This sub-section of our Web Archive lists some of the many programs held by the South Coast Branch of the World Ship Society.
For current information on this branch's activities, click on the section under "BRANCHES" marked "United Kingdom", then scroll down to the South Coast Branch.
WORLD SHIP SOCIETY SOUTH COAST BRANCH Notes on meetings past:
Meeting Notes: Thursday 10th December 2009 — Palm Line, the Members Annual Photographic Competition and Festive Christmas Buffet. Trevor Cox concluded his Palm Line presentation, held over from our April meeting, after which members were invited to take part in our annual photographic competition which this year was in a new format. In place of our previous separate slide and print competitions modern technology allowed us (or rather Krspen, and many thanks to him for his expertise) to combine the two events into one uniform digitized presentation. Very few members take slides these days, some use prints of varying sizes while others are completely digitized, so the new format allowed all to take part “on a level playing field,” or perhaps we should say “on a calm sea.” A record 34 photographs were entered and members judged each one on a 1 — 5 scale, again a new and successful format. Nick Hall was overall winner with a beautiful view of the Swedish coastal pasenger steamer STORSKAR in Stokholm, he also came fourth with MONA LISA, ex-KUNGSHOLM, at anchor at Stockholm, while Krispen Atkinson came second with an excellent view of ORIANA passing Calshott and also thrid with the steam tug FURIE in Rotterdam. Peter Longhurst received a prize – a set of Lloyds Registers – for his high scoring set of three showing liners in Southampton Water. Afterwards, members tucked into a good spread of festive eats and drinks. It was very good to see our Chairman, David Start, back with us and we trust he is now well down the road of recovery after his recent illness. [04.2010]
Meeting Notes: Thursday 26th November 2009 — Jadrolinija, by Jimmy Poole. After an absence of four years (October 2005) members gave our WSS National Secretary Jimmy Poole a most enthusiastic welcome when he presented his well researched history of the Croatian shipping line Jadrolinija – today, Croatia’s largest liner and ferry shipping company with a hundred year long tradition. The present-day company was founded in January 1947 in Rijeka as a successor of various mergers of several small-sized shipowners which had been taking place since 1872. The basic purpose of Jadrolinija is to connect major towns and harbours along the Croatian coast as well as with the numerous off-lying islands in the Adriatic with the mainland. Jimmy gave a detailed account of all the ships that had served in the company, and many had seen military sevice when requisitioned by various Axis powers in both world wars so there were some fascinating old-timers to view. Jadrolinija currently operates a fleet of 56 vessels (5 large ferries used on long range and international routes, 37 smaller ferries used for local pasenger service, 8 catamarans, 1 hydrobus and 5 conventional ships) with a total carrying capacity of 3,600 vehicles and 27,540 passengers. Of ex-Solent interest was the former Red Funnel cross-Solent car ferry NETLEY CASTLE of 1974 which has been with Jadrolinija since 1997 as SIS, and Brittany Ferries DUCHESS ANNE of 1988 now sailing as DUBROVNIK. Many thanks to Jimmy for a fascinating evening and congratulations on your Slavic pronunciations. [04.2010]
Meeting Notes: Friday 13th November 2009 — Branch Annual Dinner, Water, water, everywhere ….( Well it was Friday the 13th ). Many, many thanks to Phil, David, Val, Cliff and Krispen for their gallant efforts “above and beyond the call of duty” in turning a disaster into a success ! A burst water main outside the Yacht Club followed by yet another during its repair meant that the caterers were unable to complete the cooking and so the planned dinner had to be abandoned. However, the committee came to the rescue in organising three dozen orders from a local fish and chip shop in scenes reminiscent of Captain Mainwaring’s “Dads Army” with their U-boat prisoners (“Don’t tell him, Pike!”)“Who wants cod, plaice, peas, with / without salt, vinegar ?” In under an hour some three dozen individual orders arrived (“No soggy chips, I like mine light brown and crispy !”) and members enjoyed a very pleasant fish and chip supper washed down with some extra draughts of good wine. After a convivial evening with their impromptu meal, members were further please to learn that this Annual Dinner will now be reorganised for January or February in the new year — just as long as it doesn’t fall on another Friday the 13th !!! Once again our sincere thanks and congratulations go to Phil and his team for their hard work and resourcefulness in trying circumstances in saving the day ! [03.2010]
Meeting Notes: Thursday 22nd October — Down Under, by David Hornsby. David Hornsby travelled up from Southampton to present “Going Down Under” in which, after a quick tour of Bangkok, he provided fascinating views of Sydney and Melbourne harbours, followed by visits to the major ports of New Zealand including Wellington, Christchurch and Denedin. With his photographs taken at the end of last year, a wide variety of shipping was seen ranging from the numerous local inter-harbour ferries and harbour craft to cruise liners and commercial vessels. Some splendid views of liners passing under Sydney Harbour Bridge — which are virtually the only deep sea vessels using the harbour these days as most commercial shipping now uses the purpose-built newly-developed Port Kembla about 50 miles to the south. Many of the ports had appealing dedicated maritime museums featuring numerous heritage craft from naval vessels — including the preserved Daring Class destroyer HMAS VAMPIRE — to square-riggers. David also included guided tours of the various waterfronts and well-known heritage sites in each city — it was staggering to see how much those ports and cities had developed since my days on the coast in 1968/69. David made a three-day stop-over in Singapore on the way home where he gave us a look round the huge anchorage. Members agreed it was a most enjoyable evening and look forward to viewing his next holiday’s high quality photographs. [03.2010]
Meeting Notes: Thursday 24th September 2009 — Val’s Video Evening. Val’s first video was “Moments in Time – All at Sea” produced by the Jersey Film Archive and based on the water-bourne activities at St. Hellier since 1913. The story of the ferry services to Weymouth and Southampton was very well documented, along with local Pilotage, cargo handling, fishery patrols and water sports. There was some most interesting footage of coastal colliers discharging to the power station in the 1920s as well as the WW2 German surrender on 9th May 1945 which took place on the quarter-deck of HMS BEAGLE anchored in St Aubin’s Bay. Also featured was the firs hydrofoil service and then coming up-to-date with the introduction of the large wave-piercing Condor ferries (aka “the vomit-express”!) The second video was “Ships of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and the Liverpool and North Wales Steamship Company” — an excellent documentary of the story of these two companies and the various ships operated over their 165 year history years of operations out of Liverpool. Some very early cine film of paddle steamers ST TUDNO, SNOWDEN and ST ELVIES was truly remarkable, and of the ferries themselves MANXMAN, MONA’S ISLE, KING ORRY, BEN-MY-CREE, TYNWALD, MANX MAID — well-known names that are now no more — they were seen in all states of weathers, and many we followed their sad farewells as they went off to the breakers yard. Thank you Val for selecting such interesting subjects. [03.2010]
Meeting Notes: Thursday 27th August 2009 — History of Balkans Shipbuilding, by Dr. Allan Ryszka-Onions. Allan made a most welcome return to the Branch, when he presented “The History of Balkans Shipbuilding.” A renowned expert in the field of shipbuilding and shipping in Eastern Europe, Allan, has thoroughly researched his subject and covered it in his knowledgeable and informative style — especially with the pronunciation of the ships’ named and places — and followed the histories of the ships from the building yard through subsequent changes in name and owner, and their eventual fate. Unfortunately there was not enough time to complete his talk but Allan has kindly agreed to return at a future date to give the concluding part of his programme. [11.2009]
Meeting Notes: Thursday 23rd July 2009 — A Voyage on Grimaldi Line’s GRANDE ELLADE, by Ken Johnston. In November 2007 Ken and his colleague Tony Dyer joined the car carrier GRANDE ELLADE as passengers in Southampton Docks for a voyage out to the Eastern Mediterranean and back. The ship, built in 2001, 52.085 grt. and with a mainly Italian crew. The first port of call was Piraeus after a stop at Savona had been cancelled as the ship was behind schedule. The ports of Izmir, Alexandra, Limassol, Salerno — from where a railway trip to Naples featured — then followed. Savona was included on the return leg and there we saw six large liners of the Costa fleet as it was their hub-port — including COSTA CONCORDIA, COSTA SERENA, COSTA MARINA and COSTA MAGICA. The shipping in the other ports enroute was equally well covered as was the passage through the Gibraltar Strait and docking at Setubal. Equally fascinating was Ken’s account of the various adventures and experiences of life on board a working cargo ship — a martinet of an Italian Captain not well versed in public relations, the problems of shore leave, and disembarking in Bristol on a Sunday and having to get to Southampton to collect the car ! Thank you for an absorbing evening Ken, and we most certainly look forward to some more of your adventures. [11.2009]
Meeting Notes: Thursday 25th June 2009 — United Africa Co. / Palm Line Ltd., by Trevor Cox. It is some 20 years since the well-known palm tree house-flag and funnel emblem of Palm Line vanished from the ports and seas between Northern Europe and West Africa yet the memories of the ships, their crews and their work lives on. The origins of the company - the shipping arm of Lever Brothers / Unilever - can be traced back to its firm foundations in the United Africa Company and prior to that 1916 when William Lever purchased the eight ships of the Bromport Shipping Company. Four of these ships were lost to enemy action in 1917 and the remainder were sold in 1923. Three years later Lever re-entered the ship owning world with a shipping arm of the United Africa Company. In 1949 it was decided that this arm should stand alone as a shipping company and Palm Line was born. Working along the West African coast was a fascinating experience navigating the shallow and narrow creeks and rivers in the Niger Delta and working cargo off shore from surf boats where ports did not really exist - it was an era of sefaring and way of life now virtually disappeared forever. The demise of Palm Line started in the mid 1970s and the palm tree emblem vanished from the seas in 1985, not so much due to contairnerisation seen with some other companies as Palm Line kept abreast of new innovations in cargo handling, but really due to political and thus trade instability and organisation in the newly emerging independent countries. The presentation, covering these latter years, unfortunately over-ran and will be concluded at a future meeting when time permits. (Lesson learned : 300 slides max in an evening !) [09.2009]
Meeting Notes: Thursday 28th May 2009 — Travels in 2008, by Bill Mayes. Bill's "travels" last year totalled 15,300 miles on board 86 ships, including 59 nights at sea, and we were treated to a very well presented photographic record of his various voyages — each of which merited a show on its own. We started in the Baltic with Tallin Ferries before journeying from South Shields to Harwich via various Scandinavian ports ! Irish Ferries OSCAR WILDE was then featured after which we went out to Istanbul where Bill managed to fit in 47 trips on 36 local ferries as well as covering the shipping moving between the Bosphorus and the Black Sea. We viewed a splendid series of photographs of the liner s.s. ROTTERDAM arriving home at the Hook of Holland after which we boarded SAGA RUBY (ex-VISTAFJORD, ex-CARONIA) for a voyage to Ancient Egypt including transits in both directions through the Suez Canal. This was followed by a German Ocean Liner Cruise from Bremerhaven to the Norwegian Fjords featuring MAXIM GORKIY, then a cruise to the Ballearic Islands on board AIDADIVA, and finally a farewell tribute to QE2. Thank you Bill for a thoroughly entertaining and varied evening and congratulations on the high standard of photography and presentation. [09.2009]
Meeting Notes: Thursday 23rd April 2009 – Branch AGM, followed by the Branch Quiz set by last year’s winner, Nick Hall. Under the guiding hand of our Chairman, David Start, the Branch A.G.M. proceeded efficiently and without controversy. All members of the Committee were unanimously returned for another year in office and were thanked for the success and smooth running of the Branch. To mark 22 years continuous service as our Treasurer, Phil Simons was presented with an elegant engraved silver hip flask, while Cliff Walder received a bottle of fine claret for hosting and providing the hospitality for the various committee meetings.
After the interval members enjoyed the annual quiz, this year set by Nick Hall who read out 50 questions set by topic in groups of five – liners, naval, lifeboats, geographical and accidents to name a few. (For those who missed the quiz, or wish to see it again it will be reproduced in the next issue of South Coast Packet.) David Start took first place with 40% with Alan Watt taking second with 36%, and a play off for third place with your editor saw Krispen Atkinson successful with 32%. Many thanks are due to Nick for the hard work involved in the preparation which – by reason of having the honour of winning – will see next year’s quiz being set by David.
Meeting Notes: Thursday 26th March 2009 – The Port of Cartagena, a WSS slide Show. As a prelude to the National A.G.M. in May a visit to the venue on the Spanish Mediterranean coast was enjoyed by members when we viewed Bert Novelli’s (of the Manchester Branch) DVD of “The Port of Cartagena.’ The format was a PowerPoint slide show accompanied by a text commentary. The town, port and its facilities were very well covered along with the Navantia ship repair yard and ship breaking areas. It was interesting to learn that some of the historic fortifications surrounding the harbour had been clandestinely used as German U-boat pens during WW2: today they are utilised as armament stores. The shipping ranged from cruise liners and large gas-tankers to fishing vessels and tugs. The varied surface and submarine units of the Spanish Navy were also included in the tour. A visit northwards along the coast to the salt-exporting port of Torreviieja was included where the loading process was followed from stock pile to cargo hold. Members warmly congratulated the DVD’s producer, Bert Novelli, on his expertise.
Meeting Notes: Thursday 26th February 2009 -- Another Magic Victorian Lantern Show by "The Marriot Family". Members enjoyed a non-nautical evening when "Lanternists" Allan, Rene and Paul Marriott made a most welcome return with their Victoria lantern and acompanying numerous original glass slides. Steam railways, stations, trams, local piers including the Chain Pier, windmills from Rustington to Ocklynge, and Sangers circus elephants parading through the steets of Hove from a century ago made fascinating viewing, as did the very early days of Brighton's Volks Electric Railway of 1883 and the "Daddy-Longlegs" of 1896. The latter was the elevated train which ran in the sea from Black Rock to Rottingdean and which was required to be commanded by a ship's captain — at very low tides you can still see the concrete blocks which acted as sleepers for the rails. Views of Littlehampton, Shoreham and Newhaven harbours at the turn of last century were intriguing. All the slides were accompanied by an informative and topical commentary to which some of our members were able to contribute further details. A different but truly fascinating evening giving a perfect glimpse into the social history of the late-Victorian / early-Edwardian era — the "Golden Age" — and which was thoroughly enjoyed by the large number of members present. A return visit will be most welcome. Meeting Notes: Thursday 22nd January, 2009 -- Roger's Mystery Ships by Val Thompson. For our first meeting of the year Val had put together a fascinating selection of colour slides taken by Roger over a 30 year period. We saw a wonderful mixture of shipping covering the years c.1965 - 1995 ranging from coastal traffic in local waters and harbours to bulk carriers in Hamburg and container ships on the New Waterway. Of particular and nostalgic interest were the views of the ports of Shoreham, Littlehampton and Newhaven in the days when their wharves were lined with shipping. We were reminded of Shoreham in the days when wine was imported in tankers, steam-powered colliers regularly delivered their cargoes to the power station and gas works, and when a wide variety of coasters of the Fred Everard fleet were regular visitors. In those days it was also usual to see at least one ocean-going ship berthed in Newhaven discharging frozen or chilled foodstuffs from ports on the other side of the world. After the show Val very kindly allowed members to select any of the slides they wished to add to their own collections. Thank you Val for a most entertaining and absorbing evening, we certainly look forward to the next part.
Thursday 11th December, 2008 -- Annual Branch Photographic Competition and Christmas Buffet. Congratulations to Krispen Atkinson who took first place in the slide competition with a fine business-like bow-view of the coaster WILSON RUHR underway on the New Waterway. Nick Hall came both second and third with the Swiss paddle-steamer LÖTSCHBERG at Interlaken and the German STADT WEHLEN at Dresden. In the print competition, which this year attracted 29 excellent entries, Phil Simons gained first place with the former Shorley-Harwich-Felixstowe ferry BRIGHTLINGSEA at Harwich, Nick Hall came second with the Swiss paddler MONTREAUX, and Krispen third with a night-time view of QE2 on her final departure from Southampton. Well done to all who took part. After the competitions members enjoyed themselves from a heavily laden table buffet — again many thanks to all those who supplied the eatables and drinkables ! And so ended a most successful evening and year !
Thursday 27th November, 2008 -- A Shipping Miscellany or Maritime Mixture. Due to the indisposition of the advertised speaker members found themselves watching "A Shipping Miscellany," or "A Maritime Mixture," in place of a presentation on the Sussex Association of Naval Officers. The subjects viewed covered a wide range, including Peter Roberts own and original 1930s Canadian Pacific photographs taken in Southampton and the Solent, R.N. Type 15 anti-submarine frigates, Everard's "Empire" and immediate post-war coastal tankers, and thanks to the Internet: Maersk's new container ships, some rough seas and ships in trouble, the building of OASIS OF THE SEAS 220,000 grt and 5400 passengers, 1975 Cod War, and a tribute to the QE2. Many thanks to Peter Roberts, Krispen Atkinson and Nick Hall for ably assisting with the commentary.
Thursday 23rd October, 2008. -- R.N.L.I. Evening by David Start. David provided "For Those in Peril" from "The Call of the Sea," a series first screened in 1997. This mainly featured excellent pre-war footage from the Moelfre, Clovelley and St. Ives stations, and also covered the loss in 1939 of the latter boat when it tragically capsized, and the heroic service on 27th October 1959 when the Moelfre boat saved the crew of the 506-ton coaster HINDLEA. For the second part of the evening David brought members up-to-date with the planned rebuilding of the Shoreham Lifeboat Station in order to accommodate the new boat due on station in November 2009; the new boat will be kept afloat during the rebuilding. Shoreham has had a lifeboat on station since 1865 although there is evidence to support one provided by the Harbour Commissioners since 1845. He also gave a talk about history of the Rye lifeboat, including the loss of the sail/oar powered MARY STANFORD 80 years ago on 15th November 1928 when she capsized with the loss of all 17 members of her crew. Another aspect of local history in that area was the WW2 "DUMBO", the codename given to the fuel-carrying undewater pipeline that ran across Romney Marsh to Dungeness and then across the English Channel to Ambleteuse in the Pas-de-Calais, as did the more well-known "PLUTO" which ran from Shanklin Chine on the IoW to Cherbourg. By the end of the war 14 such pipelines had been laid. Thank you David for a most interesting and varied evening.
Thursday 25th September, 2008. -- Val's Video Evening by Valerie Thompson. Val provided two very good videos for our viewing. The first was "Manchester Ship Canal, Volume 1" in which we saw the varied traffic seen on the lower part of the canal from Eastham Locks to Latchford. Some excellent scenes from the 1950s to 1970s of ENUGU PALM and CLAN ANGUS were notable among those flying the Red Ensign along with tankers BRITISH OAK, LONDON VICTORY and the Dutch CRANIA. Other British companies included Furness Withy, Strick Line, Royal Mail, Manchester Liners and Houlder Brothers. It was remarkable how narrow the canal is in places where the tugs have to be used to keep the vessels in the middle of the waterway. Val's second video was "The Great Liners, Part 1" and featured the P&O and Orient Line in the 1940s to 1960s. The liners featured were CHUSAN departing from London, ORCADES leaving Southampton, HIMALAYA, ORONSAY, ORSOVA on a voyage from Vancouver out into the Pacific, ARCADIA and CANBERRA passing through the Panama Canal. The films taken and used were almost as good as a ship visit, and considering many were taken as home movies some 40 years ago their transition to video tape shows remarkable quality. Thank you Val for providing such excellent material and we look forward to "Part 2" of both next year.
Thursday 28th August, 2008. -- Trinity House by Chris Bancroft. Chris, a former coxwain of the pilot launches operating out of Ryde, IoW, from 1967 - 1988, travelled over from the island to give us his pictorial panorama and history of buoy tenders, yachts, pilot cutters and launches operarated by Trinity House, or to use the correct title, "The Guild Fraternity or Brotherhood of the Most Glorious Trinity and of Saint Clement in the Parish of Deptford Stond." The supply and maintenance of buoys, lighthouses and other navigational aids around our coasts and harbours, along with -- until recent years -- the training and provision of horabour and estuary pilots, were all the responsibility of Trinity House. The charitable organisation remains the General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar, and is still a Deep Sea Pilotage Authority providing expert navigators for ships trading in Northern European waters. Trinity House, first granted a Charter by Henry VIII in 1514, obviously pre-dates photography by nearly four centuries and so we joined the story at the end of the 19th Century. We were treated to excellent views of the various cutters and classical yacht-like vessels through to the prurpose-built high-tech vessels of the modern era. Thank you Chris for a fascinating insight into this taken-for-granted and somewhat neglected but yet absolutely vital service without which shipping would be unable to operate.
Thursday 24th July, 2008. -- An Evening of Everards by Krispen Atkinson. A switch with our August meeting saw the branch welcome Krispen Atkinson with another of his well researched PowerPoint presentations. We were treated to the story of shipowners F.T. Everard from the company's inception in 1892 through to is purchase last year by James Fisher — 115 fascinating years of coaster and short sea trade history. We viewed Everard's first ships — Thames spritsail barges, then their first mechanically propelled vessel TOSCAR, and their first tanker, ALCHEMIST. The company became a family business in 1922 with the formation of F.T. Everad and Sons Ltd. based at Greenhithe. They were continually looking to expand their fleet and trade with the result that they frequently bought other ships and cosater companies along with their trade routes. They managed many vessels during WW2 for the Ministry of War Transport and after the war purchased many of these vessels to replace their own war losses. They also operated a large lighterage fleet on the Thames. Everards eventually became a tanker company, but by the start of 2007, following financial difficulties mainly caused by delays in the building of new vessels in China, the company sold its assets to James Fisher and Sons with the new company becoming James Fisher Everard. An excellent and most informative production and members centainly look forward to Krispen's next presentation.
Thursday 26th June 2008 —Ports in Chile by Peter and Christine Ives. Peter and Christine travelled down from Rochester to present the shipping they saw in a variety of Chilean ports during a two-week visit in December 2004. We started in Santiago and from there visited Valparaiso, San Antonio, Concepción, the naval base at Talcahuan, and Coronel. As well as container ships, reefers and bulk carriers we saw ex-RNLI lifeboats, ex-RN warships in the form of three Leander Class frigates and two County Class destroyers, tugs, fishing vessels - many ex-European, preserved ships and hulks undergoing breaking up. Of particular interest, still afloat and moored off the naval base, was the immaculate 1866 pre-Dreadnought ironclad Small Armoured Turret Ship HUÁSCAR, built at Birkenhead for the Peruvian Navy, but captured by Chile in 1879 and still in use for the training of naval cadets. ALso seen was the somewhat neglected PSNC 1911-built tug PODEROSO with its original triple-expansion steam engine. At Coronel Peter and Christine sought out the almost forgotten memorial to those lost in the armoured cruisers HMS GOOD HOPE and HMS MONMOUTH, both sunk on 1st November 1914 in the Battle of Cape Coronel when Rear-Admiral Cradock's force was defeated by a German Squadron under the command of Vice-Admiral Cradock's force was defeated by a German Squadron under the command of Vice-Admiral Graf von Spee. A most interesting evening covering an unfamiliar area of the world and we hope to see Peter and Christine back at our branch in the future with more of their shipping from far-away places.
Thursday 22nd May 2008 —Digital Ships by John Davidson. John's presentation was a selection from his collection of over 13,000 images from his digital photographic collection which he has accumulated over the last ten years, including his successful scanning from slides. We visited a wide variety of ports from Southampton and Great Yarmouth to Hong Kong and Viga, and saw a wide selection of shipping with an emphasis on working ships. A visit to Hapag-Lloyd's 2006-built, 8,600 TEU container ship CHICAGO EXPRESS alongside in SOuthampton was covered in detail including a well-illustrated visit to the engine-room. Equally fascinating was another Southampton visit, this time to Royal Caribbean's new 160,000 grt. INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEAS during which we were treated to a detailed tour of her passenger areas and facilities which included a shopping complex, casino, crazy golf course and a climbing wall - a distant far cry from the amenities which we found on board the two post-war QUEENs. Thank you John for providing a fine example of the new era of digital images (including Tiger Wood's private aircraft arrier !) and we look forward to a follow up visit next year. Thanks also to Krispen Atkinson for travelling down from Reading in order to provide the use of his laptop computer to load and feed the presentation.
Thursday 24th April 2008. — Branch A.G.M., followed by Branch Quiz set by Michael Hearn The Branch AGM proceeded efficiently and smoothly under Chairman David Start's guiding hand. The Committee, along with the Officers, were unanimously re-elected to their posts to serve for the forth-coming year after which Nick Hall gave a vote of thanks for all their hard work behind the scenes which keep the branch funchioning in its present healthy state. After the business was concluded Mike Hearn, winner of last year's quiz, set this year's quiz - 50 lively questions covering the Royal Navy, lakes and seas around the world, ports and harbours in Britain, shipping in general, and "terms in navcalese." Nick Hall won the competition in scoring 75% and now has the honour of setting the questions for 2009 - our 50th Anniversary year. Your editor came in second with 64% and breathed a sigh of relief in avoiding having to find more questions in addition to those in S.C. Lookout and S.C. Packet. Many thanks go to Mike for his time and work in providing the questions which certainly is not as easy as it may appear. It was a most interesting and thought-provoking end to an enjoyable evening.
Thursday 27th March 2008 — Baltic Capitals Cruise by David Hornsby David travelled up from Southampton to present his slide show covering a 15-day cruise on board Voyages of Discovery's 1972-built DISCOVERY in June-July 2006 to some of the major ports situated on the Baltic. We sailed from Harwich, calling first at Copenhagen, then onto Stockholm, Helsinki, and St. Petersburg, returning via Tallin, Klaipeda, Gdynia, Warnemünde and the Kiel Canal. David photographed the numerous ships he saw and he must be congratulated on the extremely high quality and claity of his work, along with his meticulous notes and commentary. Quite apparent were the large number of bulk carriers and refrigerated cargo ships using these ports, along with container ships and their feeder vessels, and the heavy reliance on efficient ferry services both within and connecting the ports. In Helsinki we saw the fleet of ice breakers which in recent years have seen little use in the Baltic and Gulf of Finland - perhaps one of the side-effects of global warming ? In St. Petersburg numerous ships were berthed in the 26-mile long Moscow Canal as well as the preserved 1897-built cruiser AURORA, while at Klaipeda, the former Russian centre of deep sea fishing, was situated an impressive maritime museum. Numerous large ocean-going fishing vessels and fish factory ships were obvious in most ports providing a graphic illustration of Eastern Europe's relentless "harvesting of the seas." A most interesting evening and we look forward to David presenting another evening.
Thursday 28th February 2008 — The Eagle Oil Tanker Fleet in Peace and at War, by Trevor Cox This was a PowerPoint presentation following the story of Eagle Oil and its tankers from its formation in 1912 by Lord Cowdray through to its acquisition by the Shell Group in 1959 and the subsequent renaming of the ships taken over. In its early years the company became well-known not only for building the largest tankers in the world, but also for incorporating such "modern" innovations as oil-fired boilers, radio rooms, and a very high standard of crew accommodation and facilities. The company also gained a most proficient reputation in the 1920s when it started carrying crude oil from California to the Caribbean via South America through the treacherous Magellan Strait, one ship's master making some 30 voyages. The company had a distinguished war record in both of the world wars during which they lost a high proportion of their fleet. Perhaps the most distinguised episode was that involving the reboarding and salvage of the severely damaged SAN DEMETRIO in November 1940; also the tanker OHIO, which eventually got through to Malta in August 1942 in the convoy code-named Operation Pedestal, was managed and manned by Eagle Oil officers and crew.
Thursday 24th January 2008 — A Nautical Magic Lantern Show, by Allan and Rene Marriott For the first time at one of our meetings we welcomed "Lanternists" Allan and Rene Marriott, complete in Victorian dress, - with their Victorian lantern show - now electric powered instead of by arc light - with numerous original glass slides on a nautical theme, most being over 100 years old. All members thoroughly enjoyed the evening which covered unique very early views of Shoreham, Newhaven and Dover harbours, as well as the cross-Channel paddle steamers, sailing ships and fishing craft of the late Victorian era. The TITANIC and OLYMPIC featured, along with J Class yachts, tall ships and clippers, the early years of the RNLI, Portsmouth Dockyard and fine views of HMS VICTORY while she was still afloat. The quality of the photographs was probably higher than possible with a modern camera. We were also treated to Victorian visual humour in the days before moving pictures. It was truly a most enjoyable evening, as was shown by the number of questions raised at the end and while our guests were packing their valuable equipment away. We certainly would welcome Allan and Rene back to view more of their Victorian delights. It was most pleasing to see Phil Simons back with us again and well on the road to recovery, while members took the opportunity to pass on their best wishes to Cliff Walder for an equally speedy recovery from his recent illness.
Thursday 13th December 2007 — Members Photographic Competition, followed by Christmas Buffet Our Chairman, David Start, opened the evening thanking his fellow committee members for all their hard work during the year. Members also wished Phil Simons, our Treasurer, a speedy recovery on hearing the news of his recent illness. This year, for the first time in the memory of members, there were no slides entered in our annual photographic competition - no doubt an indication of the ever increasing popularity of digital photography. This year's competition was won by Cliff Walder with a fine view of the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry SEVEN SISTERS leaving port stern first. Second place went to David Start with an excellent view of a fishing vessel, and Sheila Watt took third place with a perfect view of HMS BRISTOL in early morning light from the upper deck of a ferry. Well done to all who participated. After the competition members tucked into the festive eats and drinks - and many sincere thanks are due to Sheila Watt and Valerie Thompson for their hard work in laying out the impressive spread which was enjoyed most heartily by all present, and with nothing left over at the end !
Thursday 22nd November 2007 — A Personal Voyage through the 1970s by Andy Skarstein (North Surrey Branch) Andy served as a Radio Officer with the British and Commonwealth Group in the 1970s and his presentation this evening was shipping seen during his voyages from Port Said to Cape Town aboard CLAN MACINDOE and CLAN MACILRAITH. We had a grandstand view of a north-bound convoy, along with the various local craft with somewhat suspicious health and safety concerns. We transited the Canal, passed down the Gulf of Suez and then altered course to the north-east into the Gulf of Aqaba where we moored off that port. After viewing the shipping at anchor we then sailed south for Djibouti, Mombasa, Dar-es-Salaam, Makara, Beira, Durban, Lourenço-Marques, East London, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. At all these ports we saw numerous impressive-looking conventional cargo ships of all nationalities - and a few tankers - at the time when containerisation was starting to replace break-bulk carriage. Sadly most of the ships we saw have long since been broken up and we are left wondering if, in thirty years time, members will view today's ships with as much nostalgia. Also included were some fine views of the magnificent South African Railways and Harbour steam tugs. Despite the forthcoming laying up of Andy's branch, we trust we will see him and his photographs again at our future meetings. Many thanks Andy for a magnificent evening.
Thursday 25th October 2007 — R.N.L.I. Evening By tradition October is devoted to the R.N.L.I. Unfortunately, due to retirement, we no longer have representatives from the Shoreham Station with their films and “shop,” but David Start and Philip Simons ably filled the gap with lifeboat videos. The first was a short privately-made film taken at Shoreham and featured many of the crew. The second film was “24/7, the Story of the RNLI” in which we saw the very many aspects of the work of the institution which maintains 232 stations and 4800 crew; incidentally, last year there were 8377 launches accounting for 8015 rescues. The third video was “Boat’s Wanted Again” and featured Sennen Cove lifeboat, her crew and some services (as launches are known). We also saw the construction of the new boat house, launching and the not se easy recovery, exercising with Coastguard helicopters and the Scitlly Islands ferry SCILLONIAN, and the all important fund raising on which the RNLI is totally reliant. On a “vessels in trouble theme”, the evening concluded with some images of the salvage of MSC NAPOLI, most of which had been “acquired” from the MCA website and had not appeared in the national press.
Thursday 27th September 2007 — Video Evening by Valerie Thompson At our annual video meeting Val presented two major ports: Hamburg on the Elbe and London on the Thames. The first video was “Shipping in the Port of Hamburg, 1991-1992” and featured the shipping viewed on several society visits to the port. At the time it was Germany’s largest port and annually handled 6 million tons of cargo. We were able to view the wide variety of shipping using the port from container ships and ferries to visiting warships and Russian fish-factory vessels. Also featured were the extensive repair yards and floating docks as well as preserved ships. The second video was “London’s Lost Docks and the River Thames” dating from the 1980s. Included in the now archive footage were some early excursion trips on the Thames and into the docks. Steam railways played an important part in the movement of cargo and these were not neglected. In a scene shot in the 1950s even “Prefabs” were shown “temporarily replacing bombed housing” – some were temporary for 50 years! Evocative names such as Canada, Milwall, King George V, Royal Victoria, Royal Albert, Surrey, Greenland, and West India Docks have now vanished under modern housing and commercial developments with any shipping above Rainham being a fairly rare sight. The commentary on a trip down the Thames today is a constant litany of what has gone, been filled in, demolished, or built over.
Thursday 23rd August 2007 — Cargo Ships of Western Europe by David Salisbury Another speaker to make a welcome return was David from the North Surrey Branch when he presented non-UK cargo ships of Western Europe, and evening of pure nostalgia. We saw a fascinating array of dry cargo ships of the 1960s to 1980s arriving and departing from ports as far apart as London and Singapore, Durban and Vancouver, as well as many underway on the New Waterway. It was interesting to see how, in the early days of containerisation and its rapid uptake, many ships were quickly adapted for the new trade with containers being carried on hatch tops or other available spaces, some ships were lengthened, while others had their cargo gear removed to create more flat space. It was also depressing to hear how many of the conventional cargo ships with their forest of masts, king posts, and derricks rapidly became obsolete and met an early end at the hands of the shipbreakers – ships built in the 1940s frequently survived until the 1970s, while those built in the 1960s were being scrapped in the 1980s after being made redundant when just halfway through their expected working lives. We will view the today’s container ships with the same nostalgia in 30 years? Although our neighbours of the North Surrey Branch are “decommissioning” at the end of the year it was gratifying to learn that David will be continuing to give such presentations and we will certainly look forward to welcoming back again to the south coast in the future.
Thursday 26th, July 2007 — Solent Shipping 2006 by Allan Ryszka-Onions Allan made a most welcome return to our branch with his presentation of a year of shipping movements in the Solent as viewed through his camera lens. From his favoured and excellent position near Calshot we saw the whole range of shipping that daily transits Southampton Water: purely functional care carriers, oil tankers large and small, gas tankers, cruise liners, large container ships and their smaller feeder vessels, not to mention the I.o.W. Red Funnel ferries, a variety coastal craft and some ships and the huge number of TEUs they now carry starkly illustrates just how much this country – and to an extent Europe – is today almost totally reliant upon imports and just how little we now manufacture and export. To conclude the evening Allan took us over to the Dutch waterways at Terneuzen, Amsterdam and Rotterdam on last year’s Solent Maritime Society’s outing. Again we viewed a wide variety of underway shipping through Allan’s magnificent photography. We certainly look forward to Allan making another return visit next year.
Thursday 28th June, 2007 — The Wey and Arun Canal by David Start Due to the illness of our planned speaker David brought forward his October presentation. The branch enjoyed this topic several times in its history but this portrayal was excellent. David based his evening around a locally produced DVD, “The Lost Wey to the Sea,” which retraced and recreated the Victorian diarist and yachtsman J.B. Dashwood’s epic inland voyage in 1867 from the Thames near Weybridge to Southsea, a distance of 72 miles passing through 31 locks. Canals always provide a fascinating insight into industrial archaeology and social history, and this was even more so in being “local”, with many places, sites and structures being known to members. Thank you David for a most enjoyable and informative evening.
P.S. If you would like to learn more about the canal, the classic book, and highly recommended by your editor, is “London’s Lost Route to the Sea” by P.A.L. Vine, first published in 1965 and now into its 5th edition.
Thursday 24th May, 2007 — Lloyds Register by David Littlejohn This evening we welcomed David Littlejohn, one of the Vice-Presidents of our Society, in his capacity as Joint Managing Director of Lloyd’s Register—Fairplay for a talk on the history and work of his organisation. His opening slide was of a painting by David Cobb of CUTTY SARK overtaking s.s. BRITANNIA in 1889 – a rather poignant picture given the sad news of the fire a few days earlier. Lloyd’s can trace its history back to 1688 when an Edward Brown was robbed and posted a reward collectable at Edward Lloyds Coffee House. This was a centre for people interested in ships and shipping and in 1760 a registered society was founded to classify ships. In those days hulls were classified as A,E,I,O or U and the rigging as G,M or B which was later superseded by numbers 1,2,3. In some respects that system is still with us as the highest classification a ship can have today is “A1” at Lloyds.
In 1883 the Fairplay organisation was founded by Thomas Hope Robinson and 2001 saw it merge with Lloyds. Today the organisation has offices in over 100 countries with over 180 employees with its head office in Redhill. It maintains databases of ships on order, under construction, pending order, and rumours; ship particulars with approximately 150 separate details on each ship over 100gt; ship owners and parent companies; market fixtures; casualties and demolitions; company data; and port and terminal information. A most informative and valuable evening covering, from behind the scenes, a subject to whose publications and data we frequently refer, but often overlook or take for granted the work and research involved in keeping everything up-to-date.
Thursday 26th April, 2007 — Branch Annual General Meeting, followed by “Our Chairman’s Quiz” At the Branch A.G.M. members voted unanimously to return the existing Committee for the next year. Our thanks must go to them for the efficient management and running of the branch – even more applicable when we heard the sad news that our neighbours of the North Surry Branch are to disband at the end of the year. After the business of the A.G.M. was completed all members took part in a thought-provoking and wide-ranging nautical quiz set and organised by our Chairman, David Start. Mike Hern came out top with 54%, followed in second place by Alan Watt with 44%, and then Frank Halliday and Trevor Cox both with 40%, a tie-breaker gave Frank third place – and for his “prize” Mike now has the honour of setting the questions for next year’s quiz. Many thanks to David for his hard work.
Thursday 22nd March, 2007 — “I wonder what’s in that box ?”, by Martin Wright (North Surrey Branch) Our second presentation of the year from our neighbours at the North Surrey Branch was by Martin Wright and featured the Norfolk port of Great Yarmouth during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. We were treated to a feast of vessels which used to use the port from the Norfolk Line Ro-Ro service to Scheveningen to the host of different vessels connected with the then fledgling North Sea oil and gas industry, not to mention some classic vintage coasters and fishing vessels. It was most informative to see the conversions during the early days of the Oil Rig Support Vessels and the involvement of different flags : American, Canadian, Dutch, Belgian, and Norwegian. The vessels covered numerous diverse functions such as anchor handling tugs, diving support vessels, research vessels, survey ships, seismographic and underwater operations vessels, guard, safety, rescue, and stand by ships. It was also interesting to see how the port and its installation changed during those years – comparable to Shoreham with gas works and power stations becoming obsolete. A most interesting evening covering the story of vessels not often seen in south coast ports.
Thursday 22nd February, 2007 — The Victory Cutter, by Keith Chittenden We welcomed the return of Dr. Keith Chittenden who brought us up-to-date with his engagements with the H.M.S. Victory Cutter, of which he is Coxwain and Sailing Master, during the past few years. Santa Cruz, Yarmouth, Portsmouth, Beaulieu, Dartmouth, Guildford, and London all featured during a busy 2005 and Trafalgar 200, a year in which he and his crew spent some 35 nights away from home fulfilling appointments and appearances. 25-feet in length and with a beam of 7 feet, the cutter, which can be propelled by either oars or sailed as two-masted, dipping lugsail, craft took part in the Richmond to Greenwich race in which they came second with a time of just over three-and-a-half hours. Perhaps their highlight of the year was acting as the “Chief Mourners’ Barge” on the Thames during the re-enactment of Lord Nelson’s funeral procession. We were brought up-to-date with the requirements necessary to meet Health and Safety at sea legislation, which included buoyancy teats, capsize drill, and the filling of radio communication. A most interesting evening on the hard work behind scenes of the boat frequently seen at reviews and regattas, as well as a in period films such as “Hornblower.”
Thursday 25th January, 2007 — Trafalgar 200 by Nick Hall Nick Hall set the standard for our 2007 meetings with his photographic record of Royal Fleet Review for Trafalgar 200 in June 2005. He started at Burnham Thorpe, Nelson’s birth place, before moving down to Spithead where we appropriately saw many of the visiting tall ships before reviewing the present-day naval vessels ~ one of the tall ships, the Italian AMERIGO VESPUCCI, having also been present both at the 1953 Coronation Review and the 1977 Silver Jubilee Review. We went on board the largest visitor, USS SAIPAN, and witnessed the arrival of the French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier CHARLES DE GAULLE, appropriately escorted to her anchorage by the tug TRAFALGAR. As well as covering those arriving, Nick went up and down the lines of anchored vessels before taking to the air in a Sea King helicopter which produced even more stunning views. On the review day itself Nick was on board HMCS MONTREAL, part of the steam-past flotilla and then visited the International Festival of the Sea that weekend. He concluded his presentation with the re-enactment of Nelson’s funeral procession on the Thames. Not only were all his photographs of a very high quality, they were also a most convincing advertisement for digital photography. Thank you Nick, a really excellent evening.
Thursday 14th December, 2006 — Christmas Buffet and Photographic Print and Slide Competition Our annual photographic competition was won by Peter Longhurst with a fine view of the 1930-built preserved steam tug ROEK seen at Dordrecht. In second place was Krispen Atkinson with a pilot boat approaching OCEAN ALERT off Falmouth, and David Start took third place with an action shot of a rescue rib off Eastbourne in rough seas. There were 24 entries, more than last year, but , no doubt reflecting the changes in photographic technology, the number of slides was less. However, Krispen took first place with a fine view of the ferry CHRISTIAN IV at Kristiansand, while Peter took second and third with the former ferry FRIESLAND which is now owned by the Zuiderzee Museum at Enkhuizen, and a group of preserved tugs berthed abreast each other at this year’s Dott in Stroom (Dordrecht Steam Festival, May 2006). The second part of the evening was devoted to our Christmas Buffet – many thanks to Valerie Thompson and Sheila Watt for all their hard work in laying out the festive goodies. The December edition, No. 9 of the South Coast Packet was distributed with a reproduction of a seasonal painting on the front cover depicting holly being delivered by open boat to a paddle steamer – a “first” as it was printed in colour.
Thursday 23rd November, 2006 — Members’ Interest Evening Jerry Rycroft opened the proceedings with the WW2 career of “31-knot” Admiral Arleigh Burke USN with special reference to operations off the Solomon Islands and in the Bismark Sea. Cliff Walder then gave an illustrated account of the loss and subsequent salvage of the car carrier TRICOLOUR, all courtesy of the Internet. A brief history of the Eagle Oil tanker fleet was given by Trevor Cox who was followed by John Davidson presenting some late 1940’s and 1950’s professional photographs taken at this year’s AGM in Newcastle which included a trip on the Tyne (unrecognisable since your editor was there in drydock during the late 1960’s !) Alan Watt presented Japanese coastal, inshore and lake pleasure craft – including “reproduction” sailing ships from former centuries – which are currently in service, while Bill Martin closed the evening with some photographs of ships he had either travelled on or served in during the late 1930’s and 1940’s. A most informative evening was enjoyed by an excellent attendance of 25 members. It was interesting to see how computer technology not only projected the images, but in many cases had supplied them as well. Many thanks to all the contributors, and to Val for the loan of her laptop computer as several of the lecturettes were prepared and illustrated as a PowerPoint presentation.
Thursday 26th October, 2006 — Lifeboats and Ferries A slight change in the advertised R.N.L.I. programme resulted in a video and DVD evening. We watched a unique video mainly featuring the Shoreham lifeboat and crew which included some most interesting views of launching and on exercise as well as some remarkable “trick photography.” The second film covered the design and construction of the Atlantic 75 along with other R.N.L.I. inshore craft, followed by the new off-shore Tamar Class lifeboat was well as it taking part in trials. It was most interesting to see the very high-tech computerized navigational equipment they carry, all of which must be waterproof and able to withstand a capsize. The last presentation was “Life on the Line,” a detailed account following a 48-hour working shift aboard the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry CHARTRES which was filmed in 1986 when the crews worked 48-on, 48-off. One fact that was not mentioned and may not have been obvious to members was that usually the ships had just two officers to cover the 48-hour shift during which they crossed the Channel eight times – the longest period of rest each would have in that time would be 3½ hours during a night crossing. Many thanks to Phil Simons, Dick Kilbey and Trevor Cox who supplied the films.
Thursday 28th September, 2006 — An Apprenticeship with Shell Tankers (or “Serving Uncle Joe”) by Trevor Cox Trevor Cox gave his first PowerPoint presentation with “An Apprenticeship at Sea with Shell Tankers.” It was a personal account of four years at Plymouth School of Navigation and service aboard the tankers CAPULONIX, HARPULA, VELLETIA, and VELUTINA, the latter, entering service in 1950, becoming Britain’s first supertanker. The ships covered voyages as far apart as Suez and Kuwait, Nynasham and Montevideo, fuel oil deliveries to the north-eastern seaboard of the United States in winter, and time on the dreaded Lake Maracaibo shuttle to Curacao. His accompanying personal anecdotes illustrating the hard work alongside the Company’s excellent training provided a most entertaining and informative evening of life aboard a tanker 40 years ago. [Jerry Rycroft]
Many thanks must be extended to Krispen Atkinson for travelling down from Surrey to provide his expertise in setting up the electronic projector as well as loaning his lap top computer, and also for Val for bringing her lap top as a standby.
It was very good to see Alan Bishop, a former Chairman of our branch, back with us once again – I well remember his warm welcome on my joining the WSS and attending my first meeting way back in 1975!
Thursday 24th August, 2006 — Singapore 1976 and 1983, by David Salisbury In 1976. and again in 1983, David visited Singapore for a few weeks and spent a great deal of his time out in a boat with his camera amongst the numerous ships at anchor in the harbour. This evening we watched his superb and informative presentation in which we viewed an immense variety of shipping from super tankers to small inter-island coasters. Many of the ships were sailing under the house flags of new owners, but were recognisable as being originally built for prestigious U.K. or European companies before the advent of “box-boats.” Some ships had been built for the Australian, New Zealand and south-west Pacific basin trade and were of a type not usually seen in our coastal waters. Others, with their characteristic bridge forward, high superstructures, and permanent awnings, were constructed for trading amongst Indonesian Islands. All still retained their cargo handling gear – a sight almost now unseen in our waters. From a personal point of view it was fascinating to see two ships I had served in with China Navigation, the ANKING which became KLIAS, and TAIYUAN as KOTA PATANG. A fascinating evening of a wide range of classic cargo ships, tankers and coasters – we certainly look forward to welcoming David back for another evening.
Thursday 27th July, 2006 — The History of Shipbuilding in East Germany, by Alan Ryszka-Onions. Following his visit last year when he gave a most interesting account of Polish shipbuilding, this year Alan presented a fascinating account of the work of the East German shipyards. He commenced with an account of the post-war history of the region, the effects of the break up of the former Soviet Union in 1990, German Reunification, and the imposition of shipbuilding quotas impose by the European Union. We saw the work of the shipyards on the Elbe at Boizenburg and Rosslau where, due to their extreme distance from the sea, the vessels that can be constructed are limited to fishing vessels and small coasters which have to be launched sideways into the river. The major yards at Rostock, Warnemunde and Wismar were covered in detail with reference to the numerous different classes and varieties of cargo vessels, factory fishing vessels, box-boats, liners and tankers which were constructed in huge numbers. Alan not only had superb photographs of the ships as built, but also in many cases when they had undergone several changes of owner and name. It was a complex subject which Alan had researched in great detail yet he covered it in an easy-to-follow informative manner and we look forward to welcoming him back again next year for a follow up of Polish shipbuilding.
Thursday 22nd June, 2006 — Falmouth and Neighbouring Ports, by Krispen Atkinson Our new media projector was used for the third time in five meetings when Krispen gave the first PowerPoint presentation compiled by a branch member. We started at Truro and worked our way down the river until we reached Pendennis Point and Falmouth Bay, visiting all the harbours, creeks and berths on the way. We saw redevelopment, laid up shipping in Carrick Roads, ships under repair in Falmouth Docks, tankers, car transporters, reefers and visiting passenger liners. One of the great benefits of computer scanners is that old photographs and illustrations are just as easy to include in such presentations as today’s digital images, and Krispen took full advantage of this to include many old views of the 1950s and was able to show scenes “then and now.” He must also be congratulated for the most informative maps which he produced himself on the computer so that membes knew whereabouts various views were taken. This was his first presentation for our branch and we certainly look forward to his next.
Thursday 25th May, 2006 — Video Evening Our first video, supplied by Nick Jenkins, covered Tugs and Towage at various British ports. We visited the Mersey aboard the tug ALEXANDRA including her assisting EMPRESS OF ENGLAND in the river, and the tug EGERTON helping the SHROPSHIRE into the locks. Southampton with the berthing of CANBERRA, Hull, Felixstowe and Birkenhead all featured. Today, with most ships now having bow or transverse thrusters, the use of and the number of tugs has diminished, they are still needed to help ships dock in adverse weather conditions. Why their crews chose to work aboard the tugs was summed up by one skipper when he said “today tug-work was the closest thing he knew to pure seamanship.”
The second video was “A Passage to Wisbech” – a BBC2 “40 Minutes” programme made in 1986 featuring a week aboard the coaster m.v. CARRICK as she chased and carried “spot-market” cargoes around the British and near-Continent coastal ports. It gave a fascinating insight into life aboard a coaster at a time when the Merchant Navy was in a period of decline and today, 20 years further forward, it has now become an almost unknown way of life for British seafarers. Sadly, six months after the film was made CARRICK’s owner-skipper also fell victim to the recession and, along with his other two coasters, went out of business.
Thursday 27th April, 2006 — Branch Annual General Meeting / Members Nautical Quiz set by Alan Watt The Branch A.G.M. went through its reports and conducted its business efficiently with the present committee members being unanimously re-elected to serve for the forth-coming year: Chairman – David Start, Treasurer and Vice-Chairman – Philip Simons, Secretary – Val Thompson, plus Ken Johnson and Cliff Walder.
After the meeting, the Branch held an eagerly anticipated nautical quiz. This year it was set by Alan Watt, the previous winner, and was in the format of question 50 printed questions handed to members. It covered a wide range of topics with something for everybody, David Start gaining the highest marks. Thank you Alan, it takes a great deal of hard work to produce a large number of fair and balanced questions, and your efforts were gratefully appreciated.
Thursday 23rd March 2006 — Naval Videos presented by Jerry Rycroft Jerry selected two videos from his collection of “Episodes of the Royal Navy.” The first, which launched our new media projector, was “Close up for Action Stations” in which we saw Boy Seaman undergoing training at a pre-war HMS GANGES, followed by the training and drafting of Hostilities Only Ratings, and then the recruitment and work of fishermen using their vessels as minesweepers. The video also covered coastal convoys, “Hunt” Class destroyers and the ill-fated Operation Menace. The second video, “Colour Camera at Sea WW2”. was from the same era, in colour, and featured Malta and the Mediterranean Fleet, the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, 1st Battle Squadron, 1st Cruiser Squadron, Scapa Flow, action in northern waters and a visit to Hong Kong. We viewed a vast array of warships: BARHAM, RESOLUTION, ARK ROYAL, MALAYA, EAGLE, MEDWAY to name but few, and merchant ships including AQUITANIA, ORANTES, ANDES, STRATHMORE, ARCADES. Thank you Jerry for a most interesting evening and a view of shipping and our world of almost 70 years ago, and we look forward to seeing more of your video collection.
Thursday 23rd February, 2006 — A Royal Naval Miscellany A hastily re-arranged programme saw members sitting down for a naval evening instead of the anticipated Lake and River Steamers presentation by Nick Kelly, which will be rescheduled. We went back over 40 years to look at a Royal Navy Instructional Film Strip entitled “H.M. Ships and their Functions” in which we saw the aircraft carriers, cruisers and destroyers in service during the late 1950’s, a time when the “County” class destroyers, “Tribal” class frigates and the “Dreadnought” nuclear-powered submarine were still artists’ impressions. This was followed by Portsmouth Navy Days in 1982 when, although the ships were closed, the dockyard was open to allow the public to view the ships that had returned after taking part in the Falklands Campaign. How times have changed in the intervening almost quarter of a century, only the INVINCIBLE and GLEANER survive, the annual Navy Days have been replaced by the occasional Festival of the Sea which tends to resemble a cross between live theatre and a pop concert, and half the dockyard is in commercial hands.
Members will be pleased to learn that our Branch has purchased a new media projector which will help us screen either videos or DVDs, as well as taking us into the 21st Century with the facility for computer-generated shows such as those employing the Microsoft PowerPoint programme. This evening’s presentation of Royal Naval Videos by Jerry Rycoft will become the official launching show for the projector.
Thursday 26th January, 2006 — Miscellaneous Shipping by Peter Longhurst Peter Longhurst opened 2006 meetings by taking us back to the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s with a series of outstanding slides of shipping taken from a variety of ports from Norway to Aden, Yokohama to Cape Town, and together with some remarkable views taken in Shoreham. We were treated to a fleet of classic ships: the stately liners of British India, Union Castle and P and O, conventional cargo ships festooned with derricks of Blue Funnel and the Dutch Royal Interocean Lines, and bridge-amidships tankers of the Shell fleet and Niarchos group transiting the Suez Canal. The views of Shoreham were equally nostalgic as they included Stephenson Clarke’s colliers unloading at both the ‘A’ and ‘B’ power stations during the days when the number of ships in port was in double figures. Not only have these ships long gone to the breakers but their parent companies have also ceased to exist. Thank you Peter for a well received and excellent evening, no doubt you will be required to prepare another show for next year.
Thursday 9th December, 2005 — meeting highlights: -- Our end of year festive meeting started with our annual photographic print competition for which seven members entered. The winning photograph, out of 21, was of the German paddle steamer FREYA in steam on the Kiel Canal and was taken by Philip Simons, who also came second with an impressive underway view of the German coaster GERDE. Third place went to Trevor Cox with a view of the sailing ship MATTHEW passing an anchored QE2 during the Traflagar 200 Fleet Review. Only three members entered slides this year, the winning slide being of Kaiser Wilhelm's preserved steam yacht SCHAARHORN, seen alongside in Flensburg, and steamer FREYA on the River Weser (how nice to see paddle steamers doing well !) David Start claimed third place with the sailing ship GROSSHERZOGIN ELISABETH. We enjoyed a fine buffet during the interval, and many thanks to Val and Sheila for preparing the table of goodies supplied by the members. The evening concluded with member's slides, but once again the decline of this type of photography became apparent as more switch over to the convenience of digital systems (even your editor is considering making the change !)
Thursday 24th November, 2005 — Members Interests and Lecturettes Cliff Walder opened the proceedings with a most informative, illustrated account of the loss, in November 1975, of the Great Lakes ore carrier s.s. EDMUND FITZGERALD in Lake Superior. He was followed by Bill Martin giving an insight into the machinery and control gear of dock and harbour cargo handling cranes, including container cranes and shipyard cranes, drawing on his time at Allen West -- at one time there was hardly a British Ship afloat which did not have at least one item of their electrical gear aboard. Your editor then recounted the entry requirements and advice given to would-be Naval Cadets in 1900, 1930 and 1960. Nick Kelly's father recounted his days as a seas-going engineer officer aboard sand dredgers, and also brought along some of his excellent water colours of the vessels in which he had served or had seen. The most enyoyable and interesting evening was brought to a close by Peter Roberts showing us views of his time aboard QE2 at the Fleet Review, a cruise aboard ORIANA to Zeebrugge, and he then looked back to the 1930's and 1940's with his memories of the EMPRESS OF PARIS.
