Newbuild of the Month FORGOTTEN FLEET J EQUATOR Fishers of Newry Shipping TODAY AND YESTERDAY 2, 4M. October 2015 www.shippingtandy.com | fl \ Vlasov me pe From Russian Revolution to s _ Shipping Revolution Port of C: Los Ange Through the eyes of the artist™ South-America Part Three‘Mainmast Books Pee eet oy Cea Foren cies MAINMAST BOOKS 2 Teas eee some antl Brave Faces: One pam Marine Art of Sealnk Legacy 30 Cruise Ship: A Woman's Journey ‘ Harley Years Since Very British any from Privilege to Grassley NOW Privatisation ain Institution ick Service in the MeCal Route by Fobins looks atthe ia 160 year istry of Ficst published in route ilustrated 2010 in hardback. 126pp. PB. 16@ survey of Sealink WRNS Mary Arden \ / Evocative memoir ‘the British crise of agit breaking x 246mm £19.99 [34043] post privatisation. ship and explains how the industry free from her privileged upbringing ‘Gtyp. PB. 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PB. acinar ce reat containerisation boom of the ‘160pp. HB. lx 248 mm . . oe aoe me 170 x 248 mm €17.99 (33407) 14dgp, PB. 226 x 248 mm. 1970s and 1980s. 128pp. PB. » FS ae ee 21 Gaol ‘Mroughout 24.99 (2008) 4 (33089) 2 SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015shed by Ss HPC Publishing, Druy Lane i Leonards-or Sea, East Sussex, TNSB OB, UK a +48 (0144 723167 Fax +44 oyidaa 234086 Emait atmin@hpepubishing com ITORIAL Editor Nigel Lawronco Emait edtor@shipingandy com The Editor weleores the submis: sen of editorial materia which sould be accompanied by return psiage ad submited tothe ness above. HPC Pubishing ssp resp os large oats Sed Nou have a questo oF ey 20 wisn ae wi the Ete oy shou be race ring pe HPC Pblsing ass, fhe Pior snot onad a he EC Ping oes and ass al puree apc hs tc ste patent Fesseunotan at hes HPC Pung 8 wie aan ft romation ouraqure ane etre cae awe" uesions one sone NPC blenny cael aoa researc spot or oe ares JASCRIPTIONS Sasson Bec ses and bree sable Yor HP niisnng ira sbi les Uk 4500, Europe £65.00 RoW $7500, Sak ses: UK £485, Euope 550, RoW 600 snd: UK £850, Euepe £10.00 Cros 050 ohana Orders in tong sy posse 0 PC Aubahng oo accept mos cele ca HPC Pubting, Duy Lane S Leonrs-o'Sen, Cast Sissex TN38 8) UK T4444 725167 Fc 04 (0144 434005, Ema sibscbtons ges on ADVERTISNG dover Manager Simon Sra Toes (0)1273 04455 Fox a )1279 sos Epa eten@ucharotng cok HPC Publhing recor th ott Suspend or se any ae Somer bo ing Wass Wt very cate taken od tities HRC Puoisngeamnet Pe lable in any way for any erors de omissions. Nor can he pubis er acnep pons forthe bona tes of adverse Picture guidelines We can accept pins, sides or Silal mages, Please ensure that your name and adress wien an the back ofeach photograph. Al cite images shout be at bast 00dp! and with a pit sizo wath of lem. They ean be sent by emal but on individually. Copyright Aaicles ad iustratons pub- Ished in Shipping Today and Yesterday are stcty copyright of the authors and publisher and may rote reproduced in any form vithou won pormission. Al pho tos are the property and copyrcht ofthe Edtor unless otherwise Stated. GHPC Publishing TODAY AND YESTERDAY Features 12 Memorable Ships rome and Salween 18 Bulk Carrier Consortia 24 Vlasov From Russian Revolution to Shipping Revolution 30 Interview Captain Niels V. Pederson 31 Titanic Whiskey 32 Slow Passage 38 Capt. William Geoffrey Jameson’s Memoirs 1999: The clouds begin to gather 42 First Trip The Columbia Star 44 Through the eyes of the a ‘South America Part three 50 Port of Call Los Angeles and Long Beach 56 Forgotten Fleets Fishers of Newry Regulars 4 News Report ‘The latest news from around the world 6 Cruise News Costa goes large, Fred. Olsen ships meet in Bergen 7 Cruise Ships Ports of Call Cruise ship calls around the UK in October 8 Ferry News Condor Ferries verdict, Felixstowe celebration 10 Newbuild of the month MV Barito Equator 34 Photo Gallery Ferries of Tahiti and Thames Coasters 60 Editor’s Mailbox Readers’ Letters. 62 Readers’ Corner Unknown Ship 64 Book Reviews Chasing Conrad, A year in the life of the Cunard fleet, Cruise Ships, CalMac e @ October 2015 IDDING == ISSN 0958-7683 . 8 Gini J) FRonr cover: “The 30,7199rt bulk cartier Eagle Arrow was Bult in 1977 by Kawasaki at Sakaide ‘as the Hoegh Mallard. She joined Gearbuik in 2004 ‘and was broken up ‘at Alang in 2008. See antle on page 18 FotoFite THE NEXT EDITION WILL BE ON 66 Classified Adverts SALE ON 13th OCTOBER SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015 3.EDITOR’S LOG NEWS News Report by Andrew Cooke Nigeria's state oil company NPC. has banned 113 oil tankers from the country's waters, citing a directive from President Muhammadu Buh- ai. “The vessels, which include mainly VLCC ‘crude oil tankers, re banned from calling at Nigerian crude oil terminals and also from Nigerian waters with immediate effect, said a letter circulated by NNPC, "pending a noice to the contrary by gov: emment* The letter, a copy of which was seen by Reuters and which gave no reason for the ban, was dated 18th July, NNPC did not immediately respond to requests for com- ment ‘Since taking office in May, Buhari has ‘been working fo fui a campaign promise to tackle corruption, pariculaiy in the oil industry. He has dissolved the NNPC board and ordered an investigation into a ‘scheme through which the country swaps Crude for oil products such as gasoline. But some oil traders and vessel owners ‘noted the lst included ships thet have not called al Nigerian ports for years, as well as several tankers, such asthe Happiness, the Huge and the Diona, operated by Iranian group NITC, which has had tite bbusiness for Nigeria for some time. A sam- ple of 75 vessols on the list showed only around 14 had been to Nigeria or neigh bouring countries in the last 180 days. ‘Atrader with @ major cil company said there was no obvious reason forthe ban, while @ source close to operations at Incian Oil Corporation, a key buyer of Nigerian crude, said the refiner would definitely be impacted i the lists accurate. "it the news is correct treight rates could go up and choice of vessels will be limited," the source said India has been a top outlet for Nigerian oil in recont years as its ight sweet crudos have been pushed out of the once-domi- nant destination, the United States, by the shale oll boom ‘Some oil majors are attempting to inro- duce charter party clauses requiring the ‘owner to warrant thatthe vessel is not sub- Jectto any Nigerian bans or restrictions due fo failure to report any outturn figures for prior voyages. INTERTANKO said it had advised members to avoid such a provision. “Owners whose vessels aro biackiisted willhave tobe caretul that they do not com- mito trading fo Nigeria whilst the threat of > iols_V_ Pedersen, experiences Niissecmstne end capa of re fiat ever Tile. the doomette Maar Mexinney Moller This engineer Ing marvel was named 2019 afer the in Arnold: Mansi MoKinney: Moller foundoroftho AP Maller Mees Group. Nils ols us about hs exetng. and Grae rl What do you like most about your role as captain of such an iconic vessel? | have always liked the role as a Captain | like the responsiblity, the co-operation between the team on board, and the co- ‘operation with my company, agents, cus tomers, and media all over the world. And ‘of course ! love to sail and explore the sea. Tell me about the Mc-Kinney Moller team and what makes them special. From the maiden voyage the team has been hand picked. All crew members are very dedicated, and are working hard to make everything work smoothly. What has been your greatest achieve- ‘ment of your career? My greatest achievement in my career is definitely the day | was asked if | would take command of the Maersk Mc-kinney Moller the first Triple-E container vessel, named after the iconic A. Maorsk Mc- Kinney Maller | also lke the interest shown to the vessel and my company, from all over the globe, Still after almost 2 years, me and my colleague Captain. are participating in many media and cus- tomer events, live tv, documentaries, interviews, etc. | like ita lot to be a part of the game. What has been your greatest challenge ‘onboard the Mc-Kinney Moller? ‘The maiden voyage was a great chal- lenge. Especially the first 6 months after delivery of the vessel, all crew members were busy starting up the vessel. Such a \vossel is dalivered "empty" meaning that the crew will have to fil up all stores rooms, offices, provision rooms, mainte nance, and preparing the first audit, etc., at the same time as keeping the vessel on. Va How concerned are you about piracy and what more can be done to reduce this risk? |Lam not very concemed about piracy, but ‘of course it's on my mind. We have proce- dures when transiting the piracy areas, which | cannot go into details with. If you were not a Master Mariner, what ‘career would you have pursued in life? 30 SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015 Airline pilot, for sure. My father was a pilot, and some of my very closest friends are working in the airline industry as both captains/pilots, and mechanics. | love to hear them tell stories from thelr work life. What is the first thing you do when you reach dry land? I have the time the first thing | always do is to go and have some local food and ennjy life in the various countries we reach. ‘And often one of the first thing is also to buy Gifts to my wife and two children. | live in a small town in Denmark named Hundested, by the sea. When I arrive at home after months at sea, | love being with my family again, and enjoy time off for ‘some months, What would you say to a friend or fam- ily member if they told you they were planning on following your footsteps? | would toll them that they were bound for ‘a great and interesting job in a very high- tech world, That means travelling, a lot of technical insight, and working in close co- ‘operation with a multi-national crew. Favourite book. | have many favourite books, but general- ly I love reading biographies. Favourite ship. Ihave had many favourite ships, but at the ‘moment my favourite is the iconic Mzersk Me-Kinney Moller | think that most cap- tains like the vessel they are in command of and are very dedicatednis year we operated another of our special voyages for ex seafarers and ship enthusiasts, aboard the MV Saga ‘Sapphire. This was a voyage around the UK and one of our ports of call was Bangor in Northern Ireland, Knowing we would be in Bangor and Beltast, the people looking after the restora- tion of the last surviving White Star ship the Nomadic, asked if we could help raise money for them so they could buy a new ‘mast for the ship and put her lifeboats back, which | agreed we would, Void them that we would pay to visit their ship, which would bring in much need: fd funds ut would also look to see if we Could raise more money in other ways, one ‘of which was to see i we could come up with something unique Titanic-wise, that could possibly raise big sums, and so | set about seeing what we could do. Then | had a rather outrageous idea. ‘Many years ago when the Titanic was all but ready to leave Belfast and put to sea for ‘Southampton, she took onboard supplies in Belfast including some fine old Irish Whiskey. What i | could find the same old distillery that provided this whiskey and what if they stil distilled whiskey in exaclly the ‘same way, then surely such whiskey would prove extremely popular with so many peo- ple, especially the Titanic enthusiasts, [spent many months chasing all over the place in search of such a place, but always met with a blank. Then one day an ‘ld local told me of a litle dstilery that had ‘ceased trading but that in its heyday would have almost certainly provided whiskey for the Titanic. He also told me that he believed the business had beon taken over by the Belfast Distillery. then got in touch with the Beltast Distilery and ater much running around, ‘managed to talk with the head people. They told me that when they took over the old dis tilery, they had actually come across a small Consignment of vary old whiskey, which had been distiled exactly as the whiskey taken aboard the Titanic. ‘They couldnt tell exactly how old it was, but it was certainly very special, so | asked if we could buy it as part of our efforts to raise money for the Nomadic. They werent too keen to start with, especially as there was so litle of it available, which they estimated at the time as somewhere lke 1,500 bottles, which was stil suficent to raise quite alot of money, ‘Attar months of talks the Belfast Distilery finally agreed to let us have the whiskey, but only on condition we provided the original artwork and guaranteed to cover all the costs in ful, which we did We asked one of the world's top mar- itime artists if he would do a painting of the Titanic to incorporate into the label for the bottles and also for us to sell, with all pro- ceeds going to the Nomadic, which he ‘agreed to do. Sadly for personal reasons he was unable to finish the painting in time, but another great artist, Kevin Walsh, came to ‘our rescue with a wondertul painting he had dine ofthe Titanic preparing to sot sail from eee act are ra Southampton. ‘Then came another disappointment for when the Belfast Distillery double checked the amount of rare old whiskey it turned out that there was only enough for just 100 bot ties and, because there was so litle the cost peer bottle would be even higher. Having done so much work on this It was now far toa late to back out, for we had already promised the people traveling with Us on this Maritime Memories cruise that we would by hook or by crook, somehow get those special bottles of Titanic whiskey for them. Iwas all turing into a mini disaster and ‘even the day before arriving in Bangor | was sill far from sure iit would actually happen. The more | thought about it the more | realised what an almost impossible task | had set myselt. When we arrived in Bangor we took all ‘our Maritime Memories people on what we hoped would be a very special day out to Belfast, starting with a VIP visit to the Titanic Exhibition, followed by another one to the truly handsome ‘Nomadic’ where we were ‘ving lunch and another very special wel- During the visit to the Nomadic the directors of the great Harland and Wolff ships yards came with special souvenirs for ‘every one of our Maritime Memories people, which really meant so much to them. Those directors knew that so many of our people had sailed aboard or been involved with ships builtin their yards, so they welcomed the opportunity to be able to show their ‘appreciation for us all ‘As yet there was stil no sign of the rare whiskey and of course, it was a constant FEATURE - by Des Cox ‘worry, 80 much so that | tied to push itto the back of my mind. ‘At the end of the day we boarded our ‘coaches and journeyed back to Bangor ‘everyone so pleased with their special day ‘out, but even 0, | sill wished that we could have somehow come up with something ‘nuly special in the way of Titanic memorabil- ia, but anything original was just so rare and ‘out of the question, and as for all those nor mal Titanio souvenirs, well everything that could possibly be made and been made in their milions, so other than our special whiskey, there really wasnt anything else let. When we eventually returned to Bangor |Lwas pleased with the day but disappointed that we hadnt the whiskey | had worked so hard to try to ge, then as we boarded a ton dr to take us out tothe ship, one of the crew hurried over and with a big smile on his face told me that earlier in the day a lorry had dolivered several cases of Titanic Whiskey to the quayside, which they had carefully taken back tothe ship. My litle heart missed a beat {and then jumped for joy, for we had some- how managed to do the almost impossible! ack on the ship there was the beautiful whiskey, hand flled and sealed in special bottles, all stacked up and looking truly mag rificent.. Yes, we had actually managed to do the aimost impossible. Now, not only did all our people have wonderful memories of a special day out, they also has thelr specially made Harland and Wolff souvenirs and, our very special Titanic Whiskey as welll 1” am sure those bottles will be so collectable, and although very expensive, worth every penny ‘and every minute of all that went in to mak: ing it possible, SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015 31FEATURE - by Simon Hall Je listened to the fall of Saigon on the BBC World Service as we crossed the Indian Ocean on the Benlawers on a hot week in April, west- bound for South Africa again with 2 full cargo from the Far East. | followed the news intensely, having had my escapade there fifteen months beforehand. | knew several people who were now sailing on the Singapore to Saigon run, carrying jet fuel to Nha B8, as | had done. The BBC. ‘coverage was graphic, the event stood out ‘as_an iconic moment in history. The ‘American administration under President ‘Noxon had seen the writing on the wall and agreed a ceasefire with North Vieinam in January 1973, as a prelude to the USA getting out. The next two years saw the US forces disengage from South Vietnam and return home. South Vietnam was left to prepare itself for the final conflict. North Vietnam, under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, largely ignored the ceasefire, they continued to harry and hassle the South, Eventually, in early 1975, there was a col- lapse of resistance from the South Vietnamese army’ the towns of Hue and Da Nang fell in March, allowing the North Vieinamese war machine to roll south down the country and take everything in its path. Qui Nhon was captured after a brief fight, then Nha Trang, then Da Lat Finally, Xuan Loc, the last line of defence before Saigon, fell in early April, and Saigon was left wide open. The place was in a panic, the roads to the alrport were jammed, all fights out were booked, the army and police beat people back. North Vietnamese rockets destroyed the run- way. The US embassy was besieged by people waving their passports, begging 10 be let in, US Marines held them back at gunpoint. The North Vietnamese entered the city at the end of April, US helicopters. airlifted the last Americans off the roof of the US embassy and took them to the US. Seventh Fleet waiting offshore in the ‘South China Sea. Itwas a massive retreat of power Commentators speculated whether the dominoes would now start to fall to the communists all over the Far East: Laos, Cambodia, Thalland, Burma, Malaysia. Perhaps even the Philippines, perhaps even Indonesia. We were all Far East men, we talked about it nightly. We ‘wondered whether China would use the ‘occasion and the atmosphere to roll over the border into Hong Kong, crushing the tiny British garrison. Saigon fell and was renamed Ho Chi Minh City and all news of what was going on in the inside of Vietnam dried up. Rumours of horrors. filed the airways: mass executions, city clearances, re-education programmes for all. Itwas an Orwellian nightmare to make you shiver The fall of Vietnam didn't affect our lives, apart from the boat people. The boat people were refugees fleeing the Vietnam. regime, hundreds of souls crammed into SLOW PASSAGE small craft and heading out into the South China Sea, intent on being rescued by big ships and taken to a better world. Many merchant ships had orders to steam on by, some boat people adopted the tactic of opening the valves and starting to sink when a big ship was close, so they had to pick them up. Most ships did, but some still steamed on by. Our orders from Head Office were to avoid areas where we ‘would be likely to encounter boat people, although if we did come across them we were to drop supplies and only stop to stop and pick them up if they were in obvi- ‘ous distress. We never came across any boat people while | was on the Benlawers. We arrived in Durban after a second round tip of the Far East, and were told to {g0 to the anchorage again for an estimat: ed ten days. We also received notification that virtually the entice officer complement ‘and crew were being relieved when we berthed, We celebrated with a massive party. For us the trip was over a few days idling at anchor before we went alongside to hand over the ship for others to do the cargo work, The stewards were livid because passengers traditionally tipped when they left the ship and the current passenger crop was due to depart in Cape ‘Town. This meant that the now stewards, who by that time would have been on board for two or three weeks, would get all the tips. The stewards slouched around the ship with wounded faces, sighing the: alrically at every request, occasionally banging our food down in front of us in the dining saloon (Our leaving party was arranged as a hhuge beano on Saturday. To accommo- date the different watches, it would start at half past five in the afternoon, which would allow the twolve-to-four watch and the day-workers to kick it off The evening ‘meal would be a butfet served in the bar so that the party could carry on uninter- rupted. After eight o'clock, the four-to- ‘eight watch would arrive, after midnight, the eight-to-micnight watch would arrive, land so on, until things wound down in the eaarly hours, | paced the bridge for my four- hour anchor watch from eight until mid- right, clockwatching, The second mate arrived at ten past midnight, looking ill after having stayed up to0 late before hit- ting his bunk. | did a 30-second handover ‘and vaulted down the steps to the bar The whole crowd was there, the Old Man, chief engineer chief mate, first mate, fourth mate, cadets, Sparks and most of the engineers. They were all well-oiled and making a merry racket, the bins behind the bar were overtiowing with empties. They hooted when I came in, "Just in time to solve the crisis, Third Mate,” said the (Old Man. | signalled for a beer and looked at him enquiringly. “We need someone in sober authority to go and get the padlock key for the beer locker from the second steward, we're 32 SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015 running out. No one wants to go and get it from him.” The stewards had all been in a foul ‘mood for the past few days over the loss Of tips from the passengers, and no one wanted to wake up the senior second steward for the key in case he pretended hhe couldn't find i, or gave them a hard time, The second steward was very prick- ly, @ pinched and angry litle man who ‘people didn't lke to upset. | said, ‘Why hasn't someone just gone ‘and said to him, “Give me the key for the beer locker?" That sounds simple enough tome. They all looked away, coughing and ‘muttering and scratching their heads and ‘mumbling that he was asleep. It apparent- ly wasn't that simple. Someone muttered that they had knocked on his door several times but there was no answer It was plain they were scared of the angry litle Second steward, and no one wanted to wake him up. | looked at the chief mate. “il tll you what. The second steward keeps the key to the beer locker hanging on the hook just inside his cabin. Let me have your master key and I'l quietly open his door and take the key. No fuss.” The chief engineer banged his glass on the bar and shouted, “Briliant! Give him the master key.” | went down to the next deck and slowly slid the master key into the lock. | ‘opened the door as quietly as | could, ‘There was a pale yellow light inside com ing from the overhead bunk light. | peered around the edge of the door My jaw ‘dropped on its hinges, | stared. The big beoly cabin steward was frozen. | had ‘caught them in a very embarassing posi- tion, Both their heads turned towards me, ‘eyes wide like startled rabbits in the head- lights, mouths hanging open, the dim bunk lamp ‘causing a halo of light on the dark pelt that covered the cabin stewards back. No doubt his manhood was wilting fast. We stared at each other Several seconds passed. | reached in and plucked the key from the hook. |/said, “Carry on chaps,” then closed and locked the door | returned to the bar with a case of beer under each arm, Everyone cheered. “No trouble getting the key, Third Mate?" said the Old Man. °No Captain, he didn't say a word, he just stared at me.” At breakfast tho next day, the two stewards eyed me with terror as they served breakfast, smiled at them, They didn't bang down my plate. This is the final extract taken from Simon's ‘book “Chasing Conrad” Chasing Conrad is published by Whites Publishers, Dunbeath, Caithness, Scotland, We 6EG www whittespublishing.comWe've combined PICTURESHIPS.COM and COLOUR-RAILPRINT.COM into one Brand New Feature Packed Website! Sarr ae PICTURE OF iba 12° 8°) Spat eae Fed £250 Sareg, Faso era Sad sting Si or sy ih, Don't have access to the internet - then ‘you can still send for a list by sending £3.95 to the address below." Please mention Shipping T&Y when replying to this advert 100 Years Ago Significant Merchant Ships lost in October 1915 Date Namo ult grt owners position 2nd Sailor Prince 1901 Prince Line Shelled (U-38) 5nm SSE of Cape Sidero, Crete 2 2nd Arabian 1892 Ellorman Lines Shelled (U-33) 18nm W of Cerigo, Greece ‘4th Craigston 1911 Seville & UK Carrying Co. Shelled (U-33) 35nm W of Ovo Island, Greece sth Bursfield 1902 Burrsfield SS Co. Shelled (U-83) 70nm W of Cape Matapan, Greece 4 5th Novocastrian 1915 1181 Tyne-Tees SS Co Mined 3.5m ESE of Lowestoft 6th Silverash 1904 3,753 St Helens SS Co. Shelled (U-38) 184nm E of Malta 6th Scanby 1911 3658 A. Ropner & Co. ‘Shelled (U-83) 220nm of Malta 7in Halizones 1902. 5,099 British & S. America SS Co, Shelled (U-39) 122nm ESE of Cape Martello, Greece 8th Thorpwood 1912 3.184 Constantine SS Co, Shelled (U-39) 122nm S of Cape Martell, Greece 9th Apollo 1905 3.774 Angjier SS Co, Shelled (U-89) 63nm S of Gavdos, Greece 10th Newcastle 1809. 3.403 JJ. & CM. Forster Mined 4nm SW of Folkestone tain Salemo 1912 2071 T Wilson & Sons Mined 2.5nm S of Longsand Lightship 2st Monitoria 1909 1,904 Ericsson Shipping Mined trim NE of Sunk Head buoy 2ist Cape Antibes 1903 21549 Cape Antibes SS Co, Mined in the White Sea 6 23rd Marquette 1898 7,057 Atlantic Transport Co. “Torpedoed (U-35) 36nm S of Salonica, Greece 167 23rd aro 1895 2,799 Elder Dempster Mined 4nm E of Dungeness 1 Stst Toward 4899. 1,245 Clyde Shipping Co. Mined off South Foreland iil le ie The Salor Prince was sunk on 27d Ber The Novoeasinan was Sunk on Sth Ociabor. The Marquet was sunk on 25rd October. SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015 33PHOTO GALLERY OF TODAY - Ferries of Tahiti Created in 1991, the SARL Aremiti, “The Wings. Top right: The 1,447gt Aremiti § was built in 2004 by Austal at Fremantle of the Ocean”, is a family owned company, She can carry 697 passengers and 30 vehicles and can attain a speed of based in Papeete, Tahiti. They carry passen knots, completing the journey to Moorea in 35 minutes. gers, goods and vehicles between the island of Tahiti and the adjacent island of Moorea. Throughout the years, the fleet has been renewed to offer faster and more comfortable crossings. Bottom right: The 973gt Aremiti 4 was built in 2000 by Kvaerner Felisrand at Singapore. She was originally intended to be delivered to Virtu Rapid of Malta as San Gwann but she did not meet the ow specifications and she eventually joined Aremiti. She can cary 4: passengers and 20 vehicles at a speed of 30 knots. Main photo: The 4,063gt Aremiti Ferry 2is the Bottom left: The 85: ire was built in 1994 by Saint Malo Navale nt of the fleet. She was built in 2013 by Austal as the Emeraude for Emeraude Line's service between Saint Malo and Philippines at Balamban and of 20 knots the Channel Islands. After Emeraude Lines went into liquidation she was She can carry 967 passengers and 146 vehicles. acquired by Aremiti and renamed Corsaire. She is currently for sale.FEATURE by Hugh Shuttleworth Captain William Geoffrey Jameson’s Memoirs 1939: THE CLOUDS BEGIN TO GATHER ‘SS AMBASSADOR: In April 1939, I was Second Officer of Hall Bros’ ‘SS_ Ambassador under Captain Newman, We artived at the North Island, New Zealand, with a cargo of basic slag from Immingham and we discharged cargo at Auckland and New Plymouth. While in port at New Plymouth our agent, who was a member of the Taranake Alpine Club, persuaded me to join them while they climbed Mount Egmont. Without proper gear | was petri- fied at times, but achieved the snow line and, for my efforts, was made an honorary member of the club. Our next port was to be Newcastle, New South Wales, and we sailed there in ballast. Unfortunately, whilst there, | was taken into hospital with suspected peri tonitis and the SS Ambassador had to sail without me. She dipped her ensign as she passed the hospital and the nurses had me propped up in bed and waved a sheet in reply. Fortunately the problem turned ‘out to be kidney stones. When I recovered and was discharged from hospital, | was to be sent home as a D.BS. (Distressed British Seaman). That sounded terrible and | asked the agent to find me another way home! SS SALVUS It happened that the SS Salvus, which ‘was in port discharging a load of phos- phate from Narau and was then due to load for the UK, needed a Chief Officer | was offered the job. I had a first mate's ticket but had only. been a Second Officer for 6 months and was therefore a bit doubtful, | went for Four crow were lst The 4,460grt Ambassador of Hall Bros. was builtin 1925 by Ropner at Stockton. In 1989 sho was transferred to Crest Shipping as Bancrest. She was lost off Shetland on 30th January 1940 while fn a voyage from Philadelphia to Leth with a cargo of wheat advice to the Chief Officer of another British vessel in port “Accept, and bluft ‘om mato" were his words, and | signed on Sunday. The Captain, W. C. Smith, had white hair and looked every inch a gentleman, ‘What they didn't tell me was that there hhad been a mutiny and a murder on board whilst the ship was in Shanghai, that the crew had been exonerated by the British Consul due to extenuating circumstances but were very unsettled. The Captain apparently lived up to his initials! No won= der they needed a new Chief Officer. | wondered what | had let myself in for ‘On Monday morning four apprentices 38 SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015 tured out, but no sailors. The bosun told me: "You'll get none of the deck crew to turn to, if and when they arrive!” We stood on the gangway for the remainder of that Monday and I spake to ‘each deckhand as he came aboard. The next day they all tuned to and worked, ‘and | must tell you that they tured out to be one of the best crews | ever had, ‘We left Australia with a cargo of stee! ‘and air raid shelters in June 1939 and called at Durban and Dakar for bunkers on ‘our way home. At Dakar two doves flew ‘on board and decided to travel with us, sleeping in the lifeboats at night. ‘We were off Finisterre when war was declared and the U-boats were there, ready and waiting. Ships around us were ‘caught, but wwe were lucky and arrived with ‘our escort of doves at Swansea without mishap. Seamen are superstitious, We all felt that those two birds had boosted our morale and brought us safely home. AS soon as we were snug in harbour they disappeared. Atter discharging our cargo, we sailed ‘to Cardiff for dry-dock. The first person | saw when | went ashore was the old Spanish bosun Ramirez from my appren- tice days. He had taught me a great deal (of practical seamanship in those early days, although we had always laughed at his broken English. He was now retired "You really Chief Officer?" he said as. we met Da "When I sail with you, you were one impudent boy. Now you one really gentle- The 4,815q1t Saivus was bult in 1928 by Northumberland Shipbuilding at Howdon-on-Tyne for en's What on 5 ‘Tempus Shipping of Cardiff. On 4th Aor 1941 she was bombed and sunk of the coast of Norfolk at ainccolnde from a wonder bosun!FEATURE - Captain William Geoffrey Jameson's Memoirs SS BANCREST Captain W. C. Smith wanted me to stay, but | was anxious to return home to see ‘my parents and to call in Newcastle at the Head Office of Hall Bros. The Ambassador was in dry-dock at South Shields and Captain Newman was there with her She hhad been sold prior to the outbreak of hos- ties and had been renamed SS Bancrest. Captain Newman introduced me to her new master, Captain Tuckett, ‘and with very little persuasion from the two of them I joined as Second Officer We signed on on November 13th and several ‘weeks later sailed for America. The Battle Of the Atlantic had begun, but although much happened on the outward voyage it ‘was mainly bad weather that bothered us and she was a very happy ship. Third Officer Liddle always jumped with gusto into his bunk. | decided to sub- stitute twine for his spring mattress and the next time he jumped he collapsed through into the drawers below! Nothing was said for several days and | thought "Perhaps he can't take a joke" However some days later every time I turned in, the smell in my cabin was terrible. | reported to the Chief Steward and, pokor faced, he had his department scrub out the cabin. ‘Three scrubs later the smell persisted, Until one night | was so uncomfortable that | changed my pillows round and found that large slice of salt fish had been inserted! Touché The Third Officer and the crow enjoyed the joke. All my bedciothes, mat- tress and pillows were impregnated with salt fish ‘Alas, Dick Liddle was killed in an acci- dent on board in Norfolk, Virginia. We left the USA, unescorted and Unarmed, with a cargo of grain for the UK and instructions to proceed north through the Fair Isle Channel, between Orkney and Shetland, and then south to Hull. The weather was terrible, with mountainous seas and no visbilty. For 6 days | had been unable to fix the vessel's position by ‘sun, moon or stars and I thought we must be heading for Norway! | said to the "Old Man’ "Will you please steer SSE, but dead slow?" After caling me a chump, he agreed and 4 hours later there was a com- motion up top. When I went up we were in a land locked bay with cis and snow. Captain Tuckett turned the ship round ‘and, until daylight, steamed dead slow in the opposite direction, NNW. Eventually we saw a lighthouse. ‘We had one Shetland islander on board, Able Seaman Isbister, who was at the wheel. “Och” Flugga” ‘Muckle Flugga is the most northerly lighthouse in the British Isles. We had cor: tainly missed the Fair Isle Channel and it was a good job we had tured south when We did, It was wonderful to know where We were and to be able to navigate again. The weather was sil terrible and we hugged the land, steaming at the terrific he said “That's Muckle The erew of the Banorest were rescued by HMS Javelin, speed of 1.5 knots Later despite poor visibility, we were a sitting duck for three German bombers, Who came over and bombed and ‘machine-gunned us. The after end of the ship was split open and we were helpless, although stil floating. Sparks was able to send out an S.0.S. with our position, 45 miles NE of Wick. Captain Tuckett and three crew members stayed on board in case the S.0.8. was answered quickly, but he ordered the rest of us to leave. My lifeboat had been washed off the boat deck but the ford painter had held ‘and we found her under the bows. ‘Seventeen of us boarded her The Chief Officer and others made the second eboat [had promised Captain Tuckett to keep as close as possible, but the seas were mountainous and despite all our ctforts we lost some ground as the hours rolled by. At last someone in my boat shouted: “There's a destroyer’ Rubbish’ I said, and bet them a pint of beer each that the crewman was imag- ining it. Then, as we were lifted up on the Crest of one of the huge waves, | was overjoyed to see that he was right Coming towards us was H.M.S. Javelin. ‘Commander Pugsley apologised for taking so long. “I could only manage 18 knots in this weather’ he said. | heard later that he had split his foredeck in the rush to rescue us. ‘Again we were so lucky. He had been ut searching for a lost Athel tanker had given up hope of finding her and returned to Scapa Flow when our S.0.S. was picked up. He was able to turn round at ‘once and rush to our rescue. We were picked up and, as the Banorest sank, Captain Tuckett and two crewmen were rescued from the wreckage. Alas the one ‘man last was our Shetlander Isbister After ‘a few hours search, the second lifeboat was picked up intact. Years later in the Missions to Seamen. chapel in Geraldton, Australia, | saw a painting behind the altar | have a photo- SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015 39FEATURE - Captain William Geoffrey Jameson's Memoirs ‘graph of it at home, It shows a destroyer racing to rescue some sailors stranded on a raft in rough weather and in the sea between the destroyer and the raft is the figure of Christ (On board the destroyer I was treated for frostbite. My big toes have never been the same since! Nor did my clothes sur- vive. The sallor who had taken them to be dried whilst we were wrapped up in blan- kets was washed over board and had to let go the bundles of clothes while he grabbed a feline. Fortunately he was Washed back on board. | told the First Lieutenant and he sent for A. B. Jones. “What's this about you being washed over board and why wasn’ | informed?” “Didn't think to bother you, Sir! It's the ‘second time it has happened this pas- sage" The Javelin, having at last sighted the “lost" tanker on the way, took us into Leith. ‘Some of us went ashore in borrowed clothes. Sparks insisted on travelling home as he was, bell bottomed trousers and all, He wanted his family to see a shipwrecked mariner! The First Lieutenant supplied me with a pair of white flannels, 0 big they were tied under my armpits with cord, a navy jersey that came down to my knees and a pair of sand shoes. Our agent asked one of the big stores, Thomson's of Leith, if they could ‘stay open to fit us out, so that we could travel home. The full staff, including the ‘commissionaire, stayed behind and served us like Royalty! Inthe meantime my parents had wait ed for news, The newspapers had report- ed the Bancrest sunk, but no list of sur- vivors. On the ith night of waiting Billy the canary, which | had brought home years before, started to sing. It was dark, 9 O'clock at night, and the cage was cov- ‘ered, but the bird sang and sang and my mother said “Geoff's allright” and stopped worrying. When they told me | thought they were pulling my leg, but the same thing happened when they were sitting, worried about Dunkirk and wondering if my broth- fer had managed to escape. Again | was sceptical but | was home on leave when Liverpool was being bombed night after night. My sister Eileen was nursing in a big Liverpool hospital and again, as we sat ‘one evening wondering and praying that all was well with her at 10 o'clock at night the house was full of bird song. | went into the kitohen, The room was in darkness, the bird cage was covered, but Billy was singing his heart out. Then the telephone rang and Eileen told us she and her ward were OK in spite of the blitz, ‘Those were the only times we heard Billy singing in the dark. Unbelievable but true. ‘So ended the life of SS Ambassador! Bancrest on which | served so happily, But it was not the end of Crest ships. For the ‘owner of Yugoslav Lloyd sold all his ships to England for a nominal amount. The Preradovie was renamed the Fircrest and there were many more. | served on the Fircrest, the Ashcrest, Helencrest and ‘The 5,229grt Preradovie was bull in 1907 by Bremer Vulkan at Vegesack as the Rial, as shown above, for Holand Line of Bremen. She was taken over by the British Government in 1921 and in 1927 she joined Jugoslavensko-Amerkaniske Plovidba as Preradovi. in 1940 she became the Fircrest of Crest Shppping, On 25th August 1940 she was torpedoed and sunk by U-124 off the (Outer Hebrides white on a voyage from Wabana, Canada to Middlesbrough with a cargo of Ion (re. The entire crew of 40 perished. ‘Suncrest, all of which continued the war ‘against Hitler as long as they could. Later in 1940 | was ashore in Liverpool sitting for my master's ticket when Captain Tuckett, who had been awarded the O.B.E. for the rescue from the Banorest, was lost with all hands on the Fircrest. should have been there with him, but he insisted that | stayed behind and sit the examination. My luck still held! ‘SS PRERADOVIC Twas on survivor's leave from the Bancrest when Capt. T rang me and asked me if | would join him and others to bring the SS Preradovic out of Antwerp. My second effort as Chief Officer ‘We went by ferry to Ostend, stayed a right in Brussels (where the Second Engineer gave a fifth columnist the “bums rush’ because he asked too many ques: tions!) We boarded the Preradovio in ‘Antwerp. She was German built, she had been given to the Yugoslavs after the first world war She was in wonderful condi- tion. The decks had been coated with alive oil (not common fish oil which we on. British vessels had to use) because olive oil was plentiful in pre-war Yugoslavia. We found huge barrels of olive oil, huge bar- rels of vino ((or the crew's consumption) land in the Master's locker every conceiv- able type and colour of liqueur and wine. ‘The Master and Chief Engineer pied me with a good few samples, and who was | to reluse an order from the Bridge! What fun we had pronouncing the name, and hoots when others tried in vain to pro- rnounce it! (Of course the vessel was painted with the colours of Yugoslavia, red, white and blue. The authorities ordered these to be painted out, and with tongue in cheek | agreed to do this. | gave the Bosun instructions but somehow forgot the aeri- ‘al-seen colours. | wanted to get home 40 SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015 safe! The engineers had a hard 36 hours translating German names on valves but they made it. They wore a great bunch of shipmates. | will always remember ‘Second Engineer Sigworth. One day | happened not to have heard him and | said “What?" He replied like a shot “Don't say “what?” say “Eh?” like your father does!” This was a great joke as my father was very correct in speech as in al things, This was the beginning of all too short a friendship. We sailed for the Tyne, but hadn't time to adjust compasses, so about 5 O'clock in the morning I sighted a strange light and called Capt. T to tell him | thought we were too far north and had sighted Coquet Island. In war time only a few lights were burning and it was indeed ‘Coquet Island. It was almost dawn and to Northerners it was easy to follow the coast back to the Tyne by way of Newbiggin, St. Mary ‘s Island, St. George's church, (not forgetting the Spanish City dome) and the Tyne piers. | was all set to sit for my Master's tick ct, but alas | was ten days short of “sea time" | could have stayed with the Preradovic (now renamed the Fircrest) but the others insisted that | sit for my Master's Certificate. | decided not to do this in Newcastle. When | was ashore from the Bancrest | was invited to a Merchant Venturer’s dance for the Altmark survivors, and during the Paul Jones, when dancing with a beautiful young lady, | made some incautious remarks about the Senior Board of Trade Examiner who was also present. Imagine my horror when I saw the same lady sitting chatting athis table. | asked my host who she was. ‘and was told she was the Examiner's new wife, Hoist with my own petard! | know it would be safer to be elsewhere for my examination! 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Pre-war trades were now being resumed. Then, on 16th May the long awaited telegram arrived: “JOIN COLUMBIA STAR WITH ALL ‘SEAGOING EFFECTS AM 18th 24, ROYAL ALBERT DOCK, LONDON FOR VOYAGE TO SOUTH AMERICA” Wow! ‘The overnight train put me off at Kings Dross at 0630 and a taxi took me to the. Royal Docks where a long procession of brightly painted funnels aver the wall told me the docks were full. | recognised Brocklebank, Union Castle, Ellerman, Port land Shipping Company, Clan Line, Glen Line, Ben Line, P and O {and British India and others before arriv= ing at my ship. She was asleep so | tiptoed up to the bridge and gazed around. | had of course read of the Thames sailing barges and here were four towing up in between the long line of moored ships, their brown sails limp in the moming sunshine. Dumb barges piled high with reels of newsprint seemed to drift aimlessly across the dock ‘The roads were thronged with lorries piled high with cargoes, for in 1951 these docks were the hub of world trade. [ound | was the only cadet onboard ‘80 far_my mate would join this aftemoon from Southampton so after breakfast in the officers’ messroom | changed into ‘working gear and sorted out newly arrived stores under the fourth mate and studied the loading of the full general cargo all manner of manufactured articles whi ranged from grand pianos to stationary, boxes of toffees and heavy machinery bound for Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Montevideo and Buenos Aires. Tenerife for bunkers in both directions. All the ‘would be new tome | had never been abroad before. ‘That evening | went ashore, in. uni form of course, with my old friend Mike Hatton who had recently joined the Port Vindex, one of the funnels I had seen from the taxi. Entering the dockside pub The Connaught (stil there in a somewhat sani- tised form) we ordered beer On reaching the old enough age of 18 my father had taken me to his favourite pub (Tynemouth’s Gibraltar Rock) and showed me how to drink our local beer Best Sootch, as it was called so with a non- chalant air | asked the Connaught barman for "Two pints of best scotch please.” At which his eyebrows shot up, others gasped, and he replied "Son, in this pub we sell scotch in small glasses." | was learning! Next day Columbia Star sailed and | was amazed at how quickly order came ut of chaos as we prepared for sea. Hatches were covered with tarpaulins, three each hatch, and battened down with, elmwood wedges, derricks lowered in their crutches, their guy ropes neatly coiled on cleats. Rubbish vanished. Peter The 8,29Ggrt Columbia Star was builtin 1939 by Burmeister & Wain at Copenhagen. In 1953 she swifched to Lamport & Holt as Dryden before revert ing to Blue Star Line as Palagonia Siar In 1955, In 1957 she was renamed Columbia Star belore re-joiring Lamport & Holt as Dryden in 1963. On 10th November 1988 sho arived at Kaohsiung to be broken up by Yung Tai Stee! & Irn. 42 SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015.FEATURE - First Trip and | finished scrubbing decks and pol- ished the bridge brass in time to change into uniform before the dock pilot boarded, Senior marine superintendent Captain Hunt looked in to see us on his way down from saying cheerio to our Captain Tallack. We were off. ‘Company dock pilot Fred Carr with his own quartermaster took us out of the dock and into the river lock, all the time ‘cracking jokes. "Porta iitle Charlie" then turning to me "Did you hear about the rab- bit and the elephant!" So setting off to sea was not such a frightening experience after all! ‘At Gravesend river pilot Mr Dawson handed over to a deep sea pilot who took Us down to Dungeness. One of us was on. the bridge all this time, learning all about it ‘and of course making tea, this was before teabags, we used leat toa and sweetened ‘condensed milk, (connie onnie). "Two lumps of sugar for me mate.” ‘Shortly before we salled a young bull in his pen was put aboard, secured on the afterdeck. Peter and | were introduced. "This, lads, is Burderop Joker and you will bee looking after him to Santos." Which of course we did, feeding him, mucking out in addition to our other duties, great fun. We soon learned our bull had a sense of humour when he knocked us down and then licked our faces. ‘The Bay of Biscay was rough and | was disgracefully seasick, unlike Peter who to my feeble indignation seemed to revel init. | was encouraged to keep work: ing, “with seasickness the first ten years are the worst." But | soon got over it and ‘was only occasionally seasick thereafter We kept bridge watches in our uni- forms with the officers to Tenerife four hours on and eight off, Poter with the sec- ‘ond officer on the 48s, | with the third mate on the 12-48, The 8-12s were kept by the fourth mate supervised by Captain Tallack, We were shown how to take sights of various landmarks and put our position on the chart every fifteen minutes, Columbia Star had no radar or gyro com- pass, in her we were back to basics. The chief officer was on daywork and there were three sailors in each watch, one to steer ane lookout and the ather on stand- by. In Tenerife we cadets were required to patrol the decks "to keep off stowaways" After Tenerife we were on daywork from seven in the morning until ten at night, with breaks for meals of course, every- thing over eight hours being overtime, at ‘one shilling and threepence per hour Rio de Janeiro came and went, with a trip to Copacabana Beach and horrific pic tures of car crash in the local newspa- per At Santos the Joker went ashore in his pen in good order and entering Montevideo we saw piles of bent and twisted rusty steel on the quay which the pilot told us were the salvaged remains of the German pocket battleship Grat Spee ‘which had blown herself up when forced in by Commodore Harwood's three light cruisers, Achilles, Ajax and Exeter Our old lamptrimmer Charlie Soderblom had been fan AB in the Doric Star when she was sunk by Graf Spee and was transferred to the German supply ship Altmark. Hiding from the Floyal Navy in a Norwegian fjord she was nevertheless found by the Gestroyer H.M.S. Cossack and her prison- fers released, a great moral booster to Britain in an otherwise despairing 1940. ‘There is now a memorial on that ‘quayside for the Germans seafarers lost in that battle as well as those men of the British Royal Navy, for Graf Spee's Captain Langsdorf was a humane officer who did not kill one British merchant sea- ‘man during his raids on British ships. Buenos Aires saw completion of our ‘outward cargo and time would be spent here readying our cargo holds, ‘tween and shelter decks for the refrigerated cargo we ‘would soon be loading. Visiting the mag- rificent general post office to post a letter home, | admired the huge map painted on cone of the walls. Argentina in all its finery included a few islands off the bottom end which were named the Malvinas. By this time | had several Argentine friends with whom | raised this matter. "Ah yes," they said, "You British call them the Falklands. but they should really be ours." "Would you go and live there?" "Not (on your life” For by this time I had learned that the. Argie is a city dweller a lover of the bright. lights, restaurants, and football, and that ‘most of those who farm their southern ter- fitories are those descended from the Welsh Utopians who came here in 1865, to farm the wide expanses of Patagonia, “Where's Patagonia?” "Down south, where you are now going to load frozen lamb for the British housewife." For whom meat had been strictly rationed since war began in 1939. My docking undocking station was down aft with the second mate, seeing to tugs and mooring ropes. By this time, a Saturday afternoon, the lads were well pickled with the local jungle juice and one came up onto the docking bridge to have it out with the second mate who had taken a bottle from a man and thrown it into the dock. A fight ensued in which | gleefully took part and the sailor left us. And that was the only fight | was in during all my years at sea. ‘The weather became increasingly ‘cold with rough seas as we headed south of the Falklands and Magellan Strat to the north east coast of Tierra del Fuego, @ wild, desolate San Sebastian Bay, where we anchored to await our first shipload of cargo. This arrived in the coaster Lucho from the tiny port of Rio Grande, sixty miles south towards Cape Hom, in which it had been decided the third mate and 1 should return to her port and take up resi- ‘dence in the hotel there, to tally the cargo in, lamb by lamb, as there were discrep- ancies in the first load count. | was told | was chosen because | had learned ‘Spanish on the Conway. | had in fact won ‘a Spanish prize there which | had foolish- ly revealed to my shipmates. But the lan- ‘guage spoken by these lads we now found ourselves with in very few ways resembled the Spanish | thought | knew. But we soon began to get on with ‘each other, counting the frozen carcasses in their litle rail trucks uno, dos, etc. before the truck whizzed down the railway to the coaster She was not refrigerated but so cold was the weather that the "lamps" remained hard until being loaded into the Columbia Star several hours later The Lucho had no passenger ‘accommodation but the third mate slept in fa spare cabin while | was given a bunk in the radio room. ‘This was early July, the depths of the southern winter, and snow was falling as we came alongside a wooden wharf which seemed to be somewhere out of a west- ‘em movie, Unsurfaced streets and wood- en sidewalks still showed yesteryear's, hitching rails though horses were now replaced by Fords and Chewies, driving ‘on the right. Driving had recently changed ‘rom left 0 right and we were told they had ‘spread this change out over three days “to avoid confusion.” (ur hotel, the only one, was basic but clean and comfortable “and we all adjourned there in between Lucho load- ings. Of course we English were rare birds in these parts and, after a few beers in the bar, we were asked to sing an English song. | felt it was probably a few years ‘since Blaydon Races had been sung so far south. Then our cheerful comrades would teach me a very sad Argentinian song, which they sald had to be sung very loudly. When had mastered the words, Whose meaning was quite unknown 10 ‘me, and got the tune, I held forth at the top cof my voice. Half way through the bar door was flung open by a crimson faced proprietor who demanded to know who was singing such a vile song in his respectable hotel. When he saw my face he joined the ‘others lost in mirth, and backed out, wav- ing a mock administrative finger From San Sebastian Bay we pro- ceeded north to Deseado on mainiand Patagonia, where | met some of the Welsh speakers who, when they learned | had ‘spent two years in North Wales (Conway) welcomed me as though | was one of theirs, Deseado was a tricky place to enter, strong and various tidal currents, no tugs and we were ten feet longer than the stone wharf. But Captain Tallack, pilot and sailor on the wheel managed it, and it was only a short walk up to the frigorifico for tallying, by which time we automatically found ourselves counting posts in a fence, bricks in a wall... in Spanish of course Last loading port was Buenos Aires, where on every wall were painted in large letters, PERON CUMPLE Y EVITA DIG- NIFICA which means "Peron fulfills. his promises while Evita adds dignity” It was only revealed after they had both passed fon that this precious pair had liberally helped themselves to Argentina's Old Age Persons' fund. Frozen lamb completed, we loaded unrefrigerated bags of bones and bone: meal, twelve passengers, and set off for Tenerife and Liverpool | was no longer a frst-ripper SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015 43FEATURE by David Eeles South America Part Three - The other non-US Lines We have already looked at the main Britsh, French and German lines engaged in trade with South America in Parts 1 and 2 in this series, and now itis the turn of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Japanese Lines. Next month the final part will cover the North (US) land South American Lines. ‘SPAIN Bearing in mind that most of South and Central America were under Spanish rule for three centuries after Columbus discovered the ‘Americas in 1492, and that there are estimated to have been over three-quarters of a million Spanish emigrants during that period, itis perhaps surprising that Spanish lines did not come to dominate steamer services to that continent in the 19th and 20th centuries. ‘There were however a few notable companies, Compaitia Trasatléntica founded in 1881 whose roots went back to services to Cuba and Puerto Rico started in 1861 by Don Antonio Lépez who was also the first Marqués de Comillas. His tiled name was given to the 1928-built 9,922g7t steam turbine liner buit at El Ferol on the North-West tip of Spain and ilutrat ed on the reproduction poster-card (ight) despite its reference to another ofits well known ships in the text. The Marques de Comillas was in fact employed mainly on the New York and Mexican Gulf services, but the 10,348qrtinfanta Isabel de Borbon, ilustrated (below left) by E- Martinell, alate 19ih century Barcelona ilustrator and arts, was built with her sister Reina Victoria Eugenia specifealy for the River Pate trade. Both were built by British yards, the former bby Wn. Denny & Bros. at Dumbarton and entered service in 1913. 17 knot ships, they could cary 250 in fistlass, 100 in second and a mere 75 in third class. They usualy called at Genoa, then Barcelona, Malaga, Caciz, Tener, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo and Buenos Aires, After the abdication of King Alfonso XII in 1991 it was thought poitic fo rename the ships and the Infanta Isabel do Borbon became the Uruguay but unfortunately both sisters were sunk in the Spanish Givil War the Uruguay at Barcelona by Nationalist air attack, The card (below right) by aris J Lsbona, probably also features the two sisters. Josep Bm Lisbona was another Barcelona-based ithograph- Be and artist of the 20th con- tury, who is not known for his, LINEA DE BUENOS AIRES maritime work Alter 1939 the pares company. was_known as TAT SBE BRE Gompaiia Trasatlantica Espaiola but passenger services to South. America wore not resumed. However 2 rathor attractive. set of cards by an unfortunately unknown artist with avery distinctive style were pro- {duced forthe company in the Postwar years of which the Montserrat (lef) is. typical example. She was. bult inf 1945.as the Wooster Victory in California, rebuilt. by Simar Line (See article on page 24) as an emigrant ship fo Central America and Australia in 1953 as the Castel Verde and sold to = Trasatiantica in 1957 Naviero Pinillos This line also started services to South America atthe end of the 18th century, confusingly building a ship called Infanta isabel to compete with the then newly | 4 builInfanta Isabel de Borbon. One postcard (ight) which has survived from this | tne ilusrates the il-ated 4,9999r Valbanera, also by E. Martnel. She was com- pleted by Charles Gonnel in 1908 and carried 1,200 passengers on routes to Brazil and Argentina as well Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico. However in 1919 she sailed from Santiago de Cuba despite an impending hurricane warning and was ‘overwhelmed in the storm off the coast of Florida, with 488 lost, the worst Spanish maritime tragedy in peacetime. Strangely 732 passengers had been landed at Santiago despite most of them being bound for Havana, which should | have been the next port of cll. Did they have a premonition ofthe impending ds aster? The company did not recover from this and other dsasters and thei last | Ship was sold in 1925. 44 SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015FEATURE - Through the Eyes of the Artist Ybarra y Compariia ‘Although the venerable Yarra company acquited its first steamer in 1860, it was not until the 1920s that a passenger service to South America was offered. Pethaps sensing a gap in the market after the demise of the Pinillos company and the, by now rather elderly, Trasatlantico sisters, Yoarra bought three 12,275grt. motorships into operation for the Genoa, Marseilles, and Barcelona to Montevideo and Buenos Aires service in the early 1930s. Sadly their careers were to be ended prematurely as Ybarra were ‘on the wrong side’ in the civil war and lost their entire fleet in that bitter conflict which broke out in 1936. During the Second World War the only place the company could find ships to rebuild the decimated fleet was in the United States, and accordingly two 12,600grt ships of the American President Lines were purchased. The 18-knot steam turbine President Wilson, which had been launched in 1920 as the Empire State by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, became the 12,597art Cabo de Hornos, see below right in an attractive Unsigned watercolour card probably by J. Tonelli, and she and her sister Cabo de Buena Esperanza operated on the Bilbao and Cadiz ‘Service to Montevideo until they were replaced in 1956 by a brand new pair of modem motor-iners. The two 14,500qr sisters Cabo San Roque and Cabo San Vicente (below left by Tonell) were bult by the Sociedad Espaiiola de Construccién Naval at Bilbao in 4957 and 1959 respectively. However the inevitable air competition killed off the service and by 1977 both ships had new owners, land the company itseif, by then only acting as agents, became part of Hamburg Sd in 2005 as we have already seen. No more can the unusual intertwined V and Abe seen on funnels in Spanish ports. PORTUGAL In 1500 Brazil was claimed by Portugal when a fleet led by Pedro Alvares Cabral landed in 1500, and the first colony was established jn 1532, Sugar cane, then gold and diamonds bought a measure of prosperity, and in 1808 the Portuguese ruler fled to Rio de Janeiro to escape the French invasion of Portugal with 10,000 of his estab- lishment. In a ‘metropolitan reversal’ the Portuguese empire was ‘governed from Brazil. Although the King himself returned to Portugal at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, his son Prince Pedro, with the King’s agreement, proclaimed Brazilian independence in 11822, Since then despite a bref falling out of relations, the two countries, both Portuguese speaking of course, have remained very Close, but it was not until 1918 that a Portuguese steamship com- pany provided a regular link between the two countries. However it Is the Companhia Colonial de Navegacao, which did not start services until 1940, which has left us an art postcard legacy. In that year the company, which had been established mainly to trade to the Portuguese African colonies in 1922, bought the Yugoslavian Princesa Olga. She had been built as the 8,267grt Ebro for the Royal Mail Line by Workman Clark in 1915, and was renamed Sorpa Pinto, as seen in the attractive card (above) by an unknown artist. She was named after the Portuguese explorer who opened up Angola, Alexandre de Serpa Pinto. Her claim to fame came as the star of a remarkable book about her wartime travels by Rosine de Dijn called Das Schicksalsschiff (The Ship of Destiny), Rio de Janiero-Lisbon-New York in 1942. The Serpa Pinto was able, despite close scrapes with the German navy, to operate as a normal packet ship crossing the Atlantic for the duration of the war She helped Brazil-based Germans, who were under pressure in a nom- inally neutral but Alied-leaning Brazil, to return to the homeland and fight for the Fuhrer Based on letters, diaries and interviews de ijn showed how these German descendants of settlers in Brazil, who had very much retained their German identity and felt an affin- ity with the Third Reich, eventually became disillusioned with their old homeland, and after the war the survivors ended up returning to Brazil where their families had retained their Brazilian citizenship. No sooner had these Nazi sympathisers disembarked in Lisbon than the Serpa Pinto became the Ship of Destiny for thase they sought to oppress. In June 1942 she embarked 700 refugees from Belgium, most of them Jewish, for a voyage to New York after many of them had endured traumatic journeys to Lisbon. De Dijn sim- liarly narrates the difficult start many of these refugees had to life in the USA, The Serpa Pinto reverted to more mundane cuties after the war and was not scrapped until 1956 after 40 years service that included both World Wars. ‘After the war two larger steam turbine liners were ordered trom John Cockerill at Hoboken in Antwerp for the service. The 20,906grt. Santa Maria (left by the very able but relatively unrecog) "ised English artist Gordon Elis who had a feature ta himself earl- er in this series), made her maiden voyage from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Montevideo and Buenos Aires in 1953 and her sis- ter the Vera Cruz a year earlier The Santa Maria hit the headlines when she was hijacked in 1961 by a band of Portuguese and ‘Spanish armed insurgents who had gone aboard in Curagao posing ‘as passengers, They were antifascists opposing Salazar in Portugal and Franco in Spain, who had the intention of sailing to ‘Angola and freeing it from colonial rule. Eventually they were found ‘by American navy ships and forced into Recife in Brazil where they ‘were able to claim political asylum. Both ships had respectable 20- ‘year careers and were scrapped in 1973. The last CNN ship to visit Brazil was the 1960-built Infante Dom Henrique on a cruise in 1972. SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015 45FEATURE - Through the Eyes of the Artist ITALY [Not surprisingly in view of the enormous number of Italians who emi- grated to South America, particularly Argentina, Italian lines were some Of the earliest after the British and the French to provide regular servic- fs to that continent. At various times all the major ttalian lines, La Veloce, N.G.I. (Navigazione Generale Italiana), Lloyd Italiano, Cosulich and Lloyd Sabaudo amongst many others, were involved in the trade. ‘Many cards were produced ilustrating these ships, some of which were seen in the article on Italian artist Paulo Klodic in July 2013. The card. |” below, by an artist whose florid signature is unfortunately unreadable, shows the Principessa Giovanna in Italia Flotte Riunite colours near ‘Sugarloaf mountain. She was built at Taranto in 1923 for Lloyd Sabaudo which became part of the Flotte Riunite in 1992, at which time her fun- nels were increased from one to two. She was requisitioned by Britain in 1944 and became a hospital ship and later a troopship. On her return to Italy in 1946 she was renamed San Giorgio and became the first Italian passenger liner to sail for Buenos Alres from Genoa after the war Rather more notorious Principessas’ were the two that were built for the Loyd Italiano in 1907/8 in an attompt to launch a fast luxury service to South America, They were built at the picturesque bay of Riva Trigoso, to ‘the West of Genoa, one of the few shipyards where ships are launched directly into the sea, (another was the Bartrams yard at South Dock, ‘Sunderland, but this location lacked the sunbathing beaches either side of the slipway!). The Cantieri Navale di Riva Tregosa was established in 1897 by Erasmo Piaggio who was also CEO of the NGI shipping line. The Principessa Jolanda was launched 22nd September 1907 The ship which had been built to designs by Erasmo Piaggio himself was launched virtually com- plete with funnels, masts and engines all in place (above left However it quickly became apparent that all was not well as the ship heeled over to port and began to sink {As the dramatic postcards here show, to the shook of the genteelly dressed onlookers she slowly came to rest on her side with only a few feet showing above the sea, fortunately allowing enough time for all on board, including her short-lived Captain, to disembark. into the assisting tugs. However nothing could be done to save the ship and she was scrapped where she lay although her engines were retrieved and re-used. In the subsequent enquiry no blame was attached to the ship design but there were faults in the launch procedure leading to the bow cradle perhaps catching fire and possibly resulting in the ship hitting the water too fast and at too steep an angle, which put strain on the ships longitudinal axis leading to leaks which were not helped by portholes which had been left open, Despite this setback the Riva Tregosa yard, technically the Societa Esercizio Bacini, went on to build the Principessa lolanthe’s sister the Principessa Mafalda (left by Bohrdt in NGI colours as that company took ver the Lloyd Italia in 1910) on 22nd October 1908 without any trouble, but this time with no masts, funnels and upper superstructure. She went (on to serve for 19 years on the South American run and was a popular and well-regarded member of the Lloyd Italiano fleet. However by October 1927 she was on her Soth round trip and was reputed to be in ‘bad condition and on her last voyage. By the time she was approaching the northern coast of Brazil she had already broken down more than ‘once and on 25th October about 70 km west of the Abrolhos Islands three loud bangs were heard and it was evident that the port propeller shaft had broken leading to either the screw or the shaft puncturing the = —— — hull, or the shaft leaving the tunnel, (depending on accounts), and allow- ing water into the rear compartments, Shorlly afterwards the telegraph operator sent out a request for help and eventually no less than six vessels including the nearby British ship Empirestar responded. In the calm seas with the rescue ships close by and with a slow leak it should have been possible for an orderly evacuation to have saved all those aboard, but unfortunately panic ensued and knives flashed especially when the bollers exploded on contact with the ingressing sea. The situation was probably not helped by the presence of a motley contingent of steerage passengers including 118 Syrians and 38 Yugoslavs many of whom could not speak Italian, had probably never been to sea before and could not swim. Although the ship was afloat for over four hours after the acci- dent 314 people, 25% of those aboard, were tragically drowned including the Captain Simon Guli. Only 11% of the crewmen perished compared with 47% of the First Class passengers, leading to allegations that some of the crew had escaped earlier and then held back from rescuing those stil on board, Rather bizarrely, the ‘real’ Princess Mafalda (right), the daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele Ill of Italy, as was lolanda, also came to an unfortunate end. She martied a German prince and her family was associated with the Nazis, but it seems Hitler distrusted her and when lialy surrendered to the Allied powers in 1943 she was arrested and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. When the ales bombed the ammunition factory in the camp she was [ injured and appears to have died as result of a botched operation to amputate her arm. 46 SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015,FEATURE - Through the Eyes of the Artist Unione Austriaca/ Cosulich Line ‘The Unione Austriaca was founded in 1903 by the Cosulich brothers and operated out of Trieste, then part of the Austrian Empire Initially they started services to the USA but with the help of German funding were able to extend services to Brazil and Argentina in 41907 After the First World War Trieste became Italian and the Cosulich brothers were able to re-establish the line under their own name, still using the striking red, white and black funnel colours of the Austrian company. The attractive 8, 45grt Martha Washington seen below by Austrian-born artist Karl Feiertag (1874-1944) was built by Russell & Co., Port Glasgow in 1907 for the Unione com- pany but she operated mainly on the North Atlantic before the war It wasnt until 1927 that she made her first voyage from Trieste to South America. After briefly Becoming the Tel Aviv for Lloyd Triestino she was scrapped in 1934, “Aro mrana. 15:5 "MARTICWASHINGTON® ling pss Nee Fratelli Grimaldi-Armatore Aller the second World War a number of Italian ship-owners sought to take advantage of the increased pace of emigration to South ‘America following the devastation of the war Amazingly the Grimaldi company can claim an unrivalled ancestry as a shipoing com pany as there was a reference in 1348 to Queen Giovanria of Naples giving three Grimaldi brothers a collateral for the lease of three Ships in the form of a precious gold relic. In 1949 they bought the veteran New Zealand Co. steamer Ruahine (below left by H. Rooke), built in 1909 by Wm. Denny at Dumbarton, which had already survived two world wars, and fitted her out as the emigrant ship Auriga (below right by unknown artist), She soldiered on for another 8 years mainly on the River Plate service, before going for scrap in 1957 Perhaps more representative of the magnificent liners built by ltalian owners for the South American trade is the 32,650grt ‘Augustus illustrated right by the foremost Italian artist of the peri- d, Paolo Klodic. Bult for the NGI by the Ansaldo yard at Sestri Ponente, when launched in 1926 she was the world’s largest fever passenger motorship. Her maiden voyage was from Genoa to Buenos Alres via Naples. In 1932 she became part ofthe Italia. fleet under the merger, as Klodic shows, but stayed on the South ‘American run. During the Second World War both she and her near sister the Roma were partially converted into aircraft carr- ‘ers but neither saw action of survived the war Costa Line / Linea “C’ ‘Another old-established company, Giocomo Costa fu Andrea founded his company in 1854 and made a success out shipping live oll around the Mediterranean. In 1947 the company bought three American steamers to run on a service to Montevideo and Buenos Aires from Genoa. These were replaced by the 10,917 Southern Prince (left by unknown artist) which had been built by Lithgows at Port Glasgow in 1929 for the Prince Line's New York to South America service. She had been a troopship during the ‘war and after some heroic modifications including lengthening, she emerged as the Anna C (see overleaf by unknown aris), able to carry over 1,000 passengers and, after re-engining in 1952, al a speed of 18 knots. She was scrapped in 1972. SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015 47FEATURE - Through the Eyes of the Artist ‘At this time many Italian and Greek shipowners were desperately ‘casting around for war survivors to convert into passenger ships given the impossibilty of finding berths or finance for new ships in the post-war boom, Another interesting conversion was the 6,822grt Franca C (below left by artist Andel about whom nothing seems to be known). Almost unbelievably she had been built as a steam freighter in 1914 at Newport News for the Clyde-Mallory Line, In 1847 she was bought by a Panamanian company who Converted her at La Spezia into a one-class liner able to take 925 passengers and renamed Roma. In 1952 the Costa company ought her and installed diesel engines before making her first voyage to Buenos Altes from Genoa. In 1959 she went cruising in the Mediterranean but in 1978 she was sold to the German chari- ty “Good Books for All” and renamed Doulos (servant) under the Maltese flag (as shown below). Amazingly she continued working in a charity role (later as an evangelist ship) until 2009 by which time she had become the oldest fare-taking passenger ship in the world. SOLAS requirements meant she was sold out of service in 2010 but happily is being refurbished in Indonesia at present with ‘a view to becoming a preserved restaurant ship in Singapore, There is a link between one of the ships illustrated earlier in Part 2 of this mini-series and another of the eclectic collection of liners Costa accumulated before it went on to become one of the fore- ‘most cruise companies in the world. It is nice to be able to show the handsome lines of a Swan Hunter built ship again, the Enrico (left by Stephen Card) is almost recognisable as none other than the SGTM Provence. Bought by Costa in 1962 she continued to run to the River Plate before turning to cruising until she was sold in 1994. She then sailed under various names and owners Until the beach at Alang claimed her in 2001 Japan We finish with a country not usually associated with South America but in fact the inter-war years saw a massive increase in Japanese emigration to Brazil, This had started in 1907 and by 1940 164,000 Japanese are estimated to have moved to Brazil, many attract fed by work on the coffee plantations that did not yield enough to provide for their return home as had been hoped. Brazil now has the largest population of Japanese descendants outside Japan. The OSK Line began services to South America in 1918 as part of ‘a worldwide network, as shown in the map (below left). The Rio de Janeiro Maru, shown appropriately in her name-port by Kizo ‘Yoshida (below right), was built by Mitsubishi at Nagasaki in 1930 and could carry 1.140 passengers. In the war she became a trans- port then a submarine tender earning a reputation as a ‘Hell Ship' for those POW's unlucky enough to sail on her She was sunk along with 70 other ships in Operation Hailstorm at Truk, East of the Philippines, in 1944. ig cn ‘ie 48 SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015,www.worldshipclub.com website for details or write to our address for your free infopack Se Kell a Sea a Lc es Rng ei ses eu CR en RS Create ae Sa eeu hue Mee mre urce of aerial ship photographs to the ship enthusiast eras GONE. WEST HIGHLAND PUFFER AHOY! CLYDE RIVER AND THE LOG OF THE puerta ae ‘STEAMERS. Actor tepetesstsotads OTHER STERNER CUTTY SoveRIC ‘hp nmin pg eM beak eae spn te We De eof tes as he werd Ay ft os nd ot Schncetwodemesemtea: Weds on S| Tei pt te tess “eat met of te Coe pe aS cond hr ‘devon Ruel soy onan Khas een oth bh Se a as peed Wee eos san when en faefalthedes ‘Sess hyo metre eer coset fe, rp. wl ey ce Tee is eon ws it, tC fom er og od, ber Spon tte 0a 07. ste be a woh pw 5, se pat sre le ‘eo nde Mos see” pan asta a oman Fag the pommel oes, due oe fies at we splays ndpuninonen ay De tier ty ft thse win seed ad tt (fie waits it aed tn epi ee gid fepdhdvessisBeeansled oxo ned ne fa fh ip oun of Peder At ase ba ge tes \eeomeced tbat RUlGapértetobiatese ppd priest of ‘The a 21s Ret The ag fe Gy Sa ds Me dyper-cage arbor ht ead, onl wih fe 10 Ue an 2 lof pss eras sr Se as ‘esi at ae ‘eset aes (55m mayo gx mest—— her fe, en al a Teethers ech ee Te wo a eal apy hols aa ea stg est CS ‘nied ses se foeed St Be Ws itd od - Sot br et Tema em ‘acai he fox te eS of Sind wld ch of By ‘ess oe Gy Sa st, oan ‘oes. en ig ae {free catalogue of our publications is avalable on request. Please write to: Brown, Son & Ferguson, Ltd. 426 Drumoyne Road, Glasgow G51 4DA ‘You can aso contact us by phone on: 0141 883.0141 of viae-mailat: infowskipper.co.uk ‘lof our publications are ako avaiable fom our website: wwwskipper.co.uk SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015 49PORT OF CALL - by Norman Middlemiss Porat LA, Los ANGELES and LONG BEACH 22... HEROS alifomnia is a thriving and prosper- ‘ous State with the adjacent Ports of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach sharing in this good fortune, The Port of Long Beach is just to the east of the Port of Los Angeles, and they are sep- arate ports that tally their trade totals sep- arately. California is a place of great beau- ty with the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail near Los Olivos and the Los Padres National Forest near Santa Barbara to the west of Los Angeles as outstandingly beautiful areas. The offshore island of Santa Catalina is separated from Los Angeles by the San Pedro Channel, and giant tankers full of Alaskan crude oil or giant container ships weave their way through the off- shore islands of Santa Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, San Nicolas, San Clemente and the Anacapa Islands into these two big ports. PORT of SAN PEDRO ‘The Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and captain of a Spanish ship named the natural bay of San Pedro as the ‘Bahia de los Fumos’ or ‘Bay of ‘Smokes’ due to the fires of the native Americans as he sailed by on 8th October 1542. Portugal and Spain then divided up the world into separate spheres of influ- ‘ence with the western half for Spain and the eastern half for Portugal. Thus, it was the Spanish in 1771 that first brought civil isation to the region by establishing a Mission at San Gabriel Arcangel, forty miles inland from San Pedro and another at San Juan Capistrano in 1777 The Mission monks decorated their churches with colourful tiles to remind them of their churches in Northem Spain. A smaller mission was founded in 1781 as the "Pueblo of our Lady the Queen of the Angels’ at twenty miles distant from San Pedro. The monks were the first traders to Use the muddy foreshore at San Pedro Using ox carts filled with hides and tallow to exchange with Spanish ships calling twice a year with provisions from Spain. Spanish speaking families arrived from the Mexican provinces of Sonora and Sinaloa to found a new town near San Pedro on 4th September 1781 American ships were not authorised to call due to Spanish trade restrictions, and the first ‘American ship Lelia Byrd arrived in 1805, lnder the command of Capt. Wiliam. Shaler with a cargo of sugar, textiles and household goods somehow’ evaded the Spanish control. However Mexico became independent from Spain in 1823, and San Pedro began to expand with ‘American settlers heading west as Spanish trade restrictions were lifted. The American flag wont up at San Pedro in 1846, and California became a Lay Beng, State within the Union of America in 1850, and a railway was built north trom San Podro to Los Angeles in 1869, This rail- track of length 21 miles was the frst rail- road in Souther California, and marked the beginning of a new era for the Port of San Pedro. The Main Channel was dredged to a depth of ten feet in 1871 and a breakwater was constructed between Rattlesnake Island (now Terminal Island) ‘and Deadman's Island. Some 50,000 tonnes of lumber coal, hides and pelts moved through the port in 1871 ‘The port handled half a milion tonnes of cargo in 1885 in the Inner Harbour and. Outer Harbour with San Pedro lumber docks an important port in 1868. In the same year of 1888 the Los Angles Chamber of Commerce was founded and the entrance channel to San Pedro har- bbour was dredged to eighteen feet. On ist March 1897 a decision was taken to con- Centrate port development at San Pedro rather than at Santa Monica or other places on the coast. Ten years later in 1907 the Port of Los Angeles was official- 50 SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015 ly founded with the creation of the Los ‘Angeles Board of Harbour Commission- ers. PORT of LOS ANGELES Work on a long breakwater began at Point Fermin on the north side in 1899, and by 1912 it measured some 12,000 feet up to the Angel's Gate Lighthouse. The Main Channel was then given an entrance of 2,200 feet, and work on another 12,500 ‘feet middie breakwater was completed in 1937 This made the water area of the Outer Harbour of the Port of Los Angeles tone of the largest in the world. The entire United States Pacific Battle Fleet easily fit- ted into this big harbour and some of the fleet was based here from 1907 until the end of World War Il. At a later date, six thousand more feet of breakwater were ‘added up to the adjacent harbour of the Port of Long Beach, with 1,800 feet for its entrance channel, and another 13,500 feet of breakwater to the east to make in total more than eight miles of breakwaterPORT OF CALL - Los Angeles and Long Beach December 1237 she ran aground on Hoishoto Island (row Green Island) of the east coast ofthe Chinese colony of Formosa. She was en route from Kobe in Japan to Marila. She was declared a total oss. for the two ports, Matson Line to Hawaii and the Los ‘Angeles Steam Ship Company to the Pacific islands, New Zealand and ‘Australia featured prominently on the front of the transit sheds of the Port of Los ‘Angles at the beginning of World War | Pier A'was the City of Los Angeles Cruise ‘Terminal for the wealthy leaving on Pacific land Round the World cruises in 1920. Dollar Steamship Lines were an important customer of the Port of Los Angeles from 1926, with the twin funnelled liner Prosident Hoover being dedicated at a wharf in a special ceremony in 1937 She was unfortunately lost by grounding on Taiwan on 11th December 1937 Toyo kisen Kaisha had begun calling at the port in 1908, and the big liners of NYK and the Found the World cruises of Empress of Canada (eastbound) and Franconia and Laconia (westbound) called in 1924. The three funnelled Empress of Britain of Canadian Pacific was a regular caller ‘throughout the 1930s and was the largest passenger steamer to onter any west Coast port. Other cruise liners called fre~ quently such as the three funnelled Belgenland of Red Star Line, the three funnelled Resolute of United American Line, and Empress of France of Canadian Pactic, and Cunard Line cruise ships ‘such as Samaria and Carinthia. ‘This major port was, however, found- fed and grew up as an oil and shipbuilding port. Oil was first discovered in California in the mid 1870s in the Coalinga area of the San Joaquin Valley, midway between Los Angeles and ‘San Francisco. Frederick Taylor had prospected for oil for several years before his discovery, and in 1879 he set up the Pacific Coast Oil Company. A refinery was built at Alameda Point across San Francisco Bay to refine kerosene from the crude oil, which was transported along the coast in coastal tankers such as George Loomis of 900 dwt completed in 1896. After a bitter kerosene price war Pacific Coast agreed to sell out to Standard Oil of New Jersey in 1900, the latter having failed to buy Union Oil Company (Unocal) of California. The financial strength of Standard allowed the building of a second refinery at San Francisco Bay at Point Richmond, and in 1908 the Standard merged the Pacific Coast Oil Company and its mid-west lowa Standard into the Standard Oil Company Cf California (Socal) and built a third refin- ery at El Segundo near Los Angeles and using the Port of Los Angeles, Union Oil of California (Unocal) was founded in 1890 and launched its first tanker in 1903, and shortly afterwards converted a former dredger into the twin screw bulk oil tanker Oleum of 3,700 dwt ; —s : The Calla Siping Copornon yard a Torna renee ‘This company was under the control of the ‘Stewart family during its early history, and as a tribute the first large deep sea tanker was named Lyman Stewart of 9,000 dwt when completed in 1914, with the similar Los Angeles and La Brea following in 1916. Three Unocal tankers of 12,000 dwt were built in 1921 at San Pedro by the Southwestern Shipbuilding Company in La Placentia, La Purisima and Montebello, with Unocal’s California wells producing three milion tonnes of crude oil by 1930 and their tankers using the Port of Los ‘Angeles. The Gonoral Petroleum Corporation, among others, needed facil ties for the storage and shipment of oil and these were buil in the 1920s. During 1911/12, the Main Channel of the Port of Los Angeles was widened to eight hundred feet and dredged to a depth of thirty feet to accommodate the tankers and cargo ships that were using the port. The Southern Pacific Railroad also com- pleted their first wharf at this time in the port. On 15th August 1914, the Panama Canal opened and the location of the Port of Los Angeles gave it a unique and strategic advantage over west coast ports, further north. As the nearest major ‘American port west of the Panama Canal, the Port of Los Angeles became the natu- ral por of call for most Trans Pacific ship- ping. ‘The 1920s was marked by a boom in the oil, shipbuilding, lumber copra and cit- rus fruit industries of the port. In the peak year of 1928, the port handled 26.5 milion tonnes of cargo, exceeding San Francisco ‘as the west coast busiest port and estab- lished a cargo total that would stand as a record for the port for the next forty years. In 1936, the top import was lumber and the top export was petroleum exports, amounting to $35 million, with citus fruit and aeroplane parts much lover than this figure. There were four shipbuilding yards a this ime in the Port of Los Angeles, and another in the Port of Long Beach, and details of these yards are now given as their sites are now the bulk and break bulk quays and container terminals of the port:- SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015 51PORT OF CALL - Los Angeles and Long Beach ‘Todd Pacific Shipyards ‘An emergency shipyard was set up in 1917 as Los Angeles Shipbuilding Company and stayed in business ater the war in the 1920s, primarily as a ship repair yard but built no ships after 1930. The USS. Navy invested $9 milion in the facil- ties in 1941 but the yard never performed satisfactorily, and was requisitioned by the USS. Navy in December 1943 and turned ‘over to Todd Pacific Shipyards to manage. At its peak, Todd Los Angeles employed 12,000 people building standard war con- struction ships, and was acquired by Todd Pacific Shipyards at the end of the war Post war output included cruisers, frigates, minesweepers, deck barges as well as the cargo ships Mormaccape and Mormacglen of 12,700 dwt in 1960/61 and Washington Mail, Japan Mail and Philippine Mail of 20,200 dwt in 1962/63, The last ship delivered on Sth August 11989 was the frigate Ingraham. California Shipbuilding Corporation (CALSHIP) ‘The most famous ship built by this yard is. now a museum ship and berthed under- neath the massive Vincent Thomas Suspension Bridge at the Port of Los Angeles, the ‘Victory’ type Lane Victory which can still steam, The site of the yard is now dry bulk Berths 212 and 213 of the port, but was originally one of the nine emergency yards built with eight slipways in 1940 for management by Todd and Kaiser for emergency war construction cargo ships with $27 milion invested by the U.S. Maritime Commission (USMC), Kaiser gave way to Todd in 1942, and the slipways were Increased in number to {fourteen for the second wave of shipbuild- ing and employed 40,000 people. Calship built hundreds of ‘Liberty’ and ‘Victory’ ships, but the yard was liquidated and cleared after the war Council Bluffs Victory was the last ship completed on 27th October 1945, and remarkably there ‘are two examples of ‘Victory’ ship afioat today from this yard, American Victory is a museum ship at Tampa (Florida), and Lane Vietory remains proudly near her birth place in the Port of Los Angeles. ‘Southwestern Shipbuilding Company ‘This yard was established by the Wester. Pipe and Steel Company in 1918 to build eighteen standard cargo ships with West’ ‘as a prefix to their names. The location flooded at high tide, and the port then pumped sand from the Main Channel to ‘oreate an area of over forty acres protect- ed from the seawater It was leased after the war effort in 1921 to Bothiohem Stee! as a ship repair yard and was then put= chased by them in 1925. Many tankers Were then built for the Union Oil Company of Califomia (Unocal), Dutch flag Shell (NITM), and the Luckenbach family. It was reactivated as a shipbuilding yard in 1940 The TraPac Container Terminal in the West Basin withthe 59,096gt MOL Encore of Misutarrv- ing in port. She was builtin 2003 by IMI Marine United at Yokohama, 52 SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015 The Golden Gateway South Terminal in the foreground hosts wo APL vessels and the APM Terminal has three Maersk containerships docked. ‘and employed six thousand people, but feverted to ship repair after the war and was sold to Southwest Marine in 1981 The site of the yard is now Berth 240 of the Port of Los Angeles near the south western part of Terminal Island along Seaside Avenue. The present site com- prises two separate areas, a mostly ‘vacant area to the north and a paved area to the south, which is mainly occupied by World War il era buildings. A chain link ‘once encloses the entire yard with access through a large metal gate. Consolidated Stee! Corporation The steel corporation was formed in 1929 by the amalgamation of Llewellyn Iron Works, Baker Iron Works and Union Iron. Works. It immediately began shipbuilding at a leased yard in the Port of Long Beach, the former yard of John F Craig who moved to Long Beach from Toledo (Ohio) in 1907 with his 24 foremen and their families from a previous yard. Craig built ships at Long Beach until 1931 and the yard was reactivated for World War Il construction on the west side of Channel Three of the Inner Harbour of the Port of Long Beach. The Port of Los Angeles gained a new Consolidated Steel Corporation shipyard in 1940 with four berths using £13 million invested by the USMC. This yard employed seven thou- sand people and built hundreds of C1-B, C1-M-AVI and C2 standard cargo ships tnt 1946, The twin yards at the Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles were liquidated after the war, and the Port of Los Angeles Trans Pacific Container Terminal occupies the present site. The sites of these redundant ship- yards were redeveloped in post-war years ‘as break bulk, and bulk quays, and con- tainer terminals. The top import of the Port ‘of Los Angeles in 1957 was copra, and the ‘top export was steel ina total por figure of 24.1 million short tonnes. The top trading partner of the port was Japan, but the first Containers to arrive in the port came fromHawaii in August, 1958 Into Berth 135 on the war standard Matson Line ship Hawaiian Merchant. A full Matson Line container service began in 1960. with seven thousand containers shipped that year The high Vincent Thomas Suspension Bridge across the inner har- bour was completed in 1963, and replaced the passenger ferry service ‘across the Main Channel In 1982, the top import was oil and the top export was petroleum coke, and the biggest trading partner was Japan. The toial cargo value of imports and exports was $9.4 billion and container handling ‘amounted to 700,000 TEU. Seven major Container terminais have since been built at the Port of Los Angeles. These are the China Shipping Container Terminal (Berths 100-109), Yang Ming Container Terminal (Berths 121-131), Trans Pacific Container Terminal (Berths 196-139), Port ‘of Los Angeles Container Terminal (Berths 212-225), Evergreen Container Terminal (Berths 226-236), Global Gateway South ‘Terminal (Berths 302-305), and the APM Maersk Line Terminal (Berths (401-406), ‘The Port of Los Angeles became the biggest container port in the United States in 2000, a distinction it has held ever since. Container throughput at the Millennium was 4.9 million TEU, and {growth since then has increased the figure 0 6.1 million TEU in 2002, 7.3 milion TEU in 2004, 8,5 million TEU in 2006, 9.0 mil lion TEU in 2012 and today this figure is over ten milion TEU. ‘The Global Gateway South Container Terminal opened in 1988 for use by ‘American President Lines (APL) on a 232 acre site at a cost of $270 million and is. ‘equipped with a dozen gantry container cranes. The Port Intermodal Container Transfer Facility o rail and road has been an important feature of this success since it opened in 1986. The top trading partner Of the port is now China with trade valued ‘at more than $350 billion with all manner ‘of cargo shipped in containers including machine tools, furniture and paper prod- ucts, and waste newspaper exported for The 26,058gt Boron Explorer of Rosex Maritime at the Borax Terminal. She was builtin 1997 by Tsuneishi al Numakuma. In 2003 she became Ken Explorer of Vega SA and today sails as Golden Wish of Golden Wish Shipping of Piraeus. PORT OF CALL - Los Angeles and Long Beach . LONG BEACH ™ Tecycting. The picturesque former Ferry Building across the Main Channel is now the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, from Where free harbour cruises are provided Con certain days of the year by the Port of Los Angeles. Harbour tugs owned by Crowley, Foss and the Pacific Tugboat Service dock and escort the deep sea ships in both the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. World Cruise Centre ‘This major cruise terminal at the Port of Los Angeles is at Berths 91 to 93, Le three berths of total length of 2,850 fect, with @ terminal area of eighteen acres and alongside water depth of 37 feet. The World Cruise Centre has two terminal buildings and three passenger processing ‘areas with security clearance, baggage handling and passenger shuttles. Many major cruise lines call including Carnival Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Cunard Line, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, Seabourn Cruises and Silversea Cruises. All three berths are Often in use on the same day by very large Cruise ships of these lines. PORT of LONG BEACH The present City of Long Beach, part of Greater Los Angeles, was once the site of two very large ranches, Los Alamitos and Los Cerritos, The Long Beach Development Company purchased an area of marshland west of the city that was later to become the Inner Harbour ‘The Port af Long Beach was founded on 24th June 1911 on 800 acres of mudflats and Serubland at the mouth of the Los Angeles River The small steamer laqua offloaded some 280,000 square feet of redwood lumber in the harbour during ‘June 1911 as the first ship in the port. The Los Angeles Dock and Terminal Company, which had begun to reclaim the 800 acres in 1907 declared itsolf bankrupt in 1916, The Long Beach Board of Harbour Commissioners was founded that year land tured the huge project of harbour dredging over to the City of Long Beach. The first Board of Harbour Commissioners met on 29th Juno 1917 with three commissioners present, the size of the Board increased to five com- missioners in 1925 and has remained as such until the present time. Work on the Cerritos Channel to connect the Port of Long Beach with the Port of Los Angeles was completed in 1918 with a 200 feet wide channel, increased later to 300 feet wide. In 1924, Long Beach residents approved a $5 millon bond issue for Improvement of the Inner Harbour as well {as preliminary work on the Outer Harbour Pier One was reconstructed in 1928 and ‘equipped with a now transit shed, and Piers A and B at the north of the Inner Harbour were opened in 1931 for over- ‘seas traffic using the port income from SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015 53,PORT OF CALL - Los Angeles and Long Beach Cr) The 98,882g¢ Ever Libra at tho Evorgreen MTC Terminal. She was builtin 2012 by Samsung at koje ‘one milion tonnes of cargo traffic. Oil was discovered in the harbour in the 1930s and a forest of driling towers sprang up after the first well proved economically viable. The first transit sheds on Piers A and B were completed before the start of World War Il, and there was a total of over twenty small private wharves of various kinds. The harbour became Long Beach Naval Base during the war, with as neigh- ours huge lumber yards’ and a total of 126 oil wells producing 17,000 barrels of crude oll per day and generating $10 mil lion of oll revenue per annum. After the war the first of nine transit sheds was completed on Pier F in 1946, and the oil revenues continued to be extensive for the next ten years. In 1966, oll revenues of ‘over $120 million were paid to the State of California, with in future all natural gas revenue and half of the crude oil revenue to be paid to the State ‘A new Port of Long Beach ‘Administration Building opened in 1960. Sea Land Container Services Inc began operations at Pier G in 1962, and con- struction of Piers F and J in the same easter part of the harbour was begun three years later A grand total of 3.35 mil- lion tonnes of rock and thirty milion tonnes of infll created 310 extra acres in the eastern part of the Port of Long Beach for three new major container terminals in fone of the largest landfil expansions in the world, if not the largest. The three funnelled Cunard liner Queen Mary arrived to the east of the port in Queensway Bay on 9th December 1967 land berthed at her own special berth on Pier H. She had sailed from Southampton fon 3ist October after a 31 year ‘Transatlantic and World War Il career and had carried 2.112 milion passengers and steamed 3.793 million miles, She carried ‘one thousand passengers on her last voy- age around Cape Horn, being too large for the Panama Canal, and her purchase price by the City of Long Beach was $3.45 milion. She completed a conversion in May 1971 into a hotel and museum ship with her engines removed, and is still abig tourist attraction today nearly fifty years later ‘The Gerald Desmond Harbour Bridge across the Inner Harbour was opened in 4968 with four lanes of traffic and a 120 metre long suspended main span with 47 metres_of vertical clearance over the water Toyota began importing cars and vehicles al Pier Jin 1971 and opened a 55 ‘acre car yard behind the pier International Transportation Services (ITS) opened a 52 acre container terminal at a cost of $iomillion on Pier J in 1972 using a 1,200 feet long wharf and two Paceco gantry cranes to service ships of customers such aK’ Line and Zim Container Lines. Sea Land Container Services Inc. ‘moved into an enlarged 80 acre container terminal on Pier G in 1973 with a fifteen acre rail and road faclity beside it. The Pacific Container Terminal opened in 1974 fon Pier J with a 34.5 acre facility at the ‘southeast comer ofthe port. The adjoining Pier J basin expansion costing $50 milion was completed in 1975 with ten berths ‘and a dozen gantry container cranes. The new Maersk Line container ship Adrian Maersk of 2,092 TEU completed by Blohm & Voss at Hamburg began a service between Long Beach and Asian ports in 1975, and Maersk Lino opened a 29 acre ‘container terminal on Pier G in 1978. The break bulk quay on Pier E was converted from a general purpose wha info a multi purpose ro-ro berth for California United Terminals at a cost of $20 million n 1978. Hanjin Container Lines began servic: es from Long Beach to Asian ports in 1978, and COSCO of China inaugurated container ship calls at the port in 1981 at the Pacific Container Terminal. On Piers G and J, double stack container trains were in operation in 1986, with Maersk Line expanding to 54 acres on Pier J. A large area of 88 acres on Pier F Long Beach Container Terminal was also in operation by 1986. During the 1980s, a Free Trade Zone and an International Container Transfer Facility was established, the lat- ter at four miles distance from the port Toyota doubled its auto terminal to 4144 acres in the north part of the Inner Harbour in 1990. The former Procter & Gamble plant on Pier C, builtin the 1940s, was demolished to make way for a 57 ‘acre container terminal for Hanjin Post Panamax container ships in 1993. The Maersk Line container terminal on Pier J was doubled in size to 107 acres with ‘har pling given earthquake proof stress dispersal and damage reduction features. ‘Acoal storage yard was opened in 1994 by the Metropolitan Stevedoring Company at a cost of $20 milion and it has a stor- ‘age capacity of 170,000 tonnes of coal The largest container terminal of 170 acres in Long Beach opened in 1997 for The USS lowa was builtin 1939 by the New York Naval yard. lowa was decommissioned forthe last time in 1990, and was intially sicken from the Naval Vessol Rgistar in 1895, She was rein Stated from 1999 fo 2006 to comply with federal laws that required retention and maintenance of ‘ho lowa-clase battleships. n 2011 lowa was donated fo the Los Angeles-based non-proft Pacific 54 SHIPPING Today & Yesterday October 2015 Battleship Cantar and was permanently moved to Berth 87 at the Port of Los Angeles in 2012, where she was opened to the public as the USS lowa Musoum.