Vol. 58 December 2010 No. 242 - Ship Society of South Africa

Vol. 58
December 2010
No. 242
When beauty went to sea - CANBERRA departs Hong Kong for Cape Town, 1997
Flotsam and Jetsam
The Ship Society of South Africa
P.O. Box 50835 Waterfront 8002
The trick with the annual dinner is to find somewhere affordable, somewhat nautical, preferably
convenient and then persuade enough members to come to make it viable. Last month we seem
to have ticked all the boxes with our Friday evening soiree at the Hildebrand’s Ratings Room,
overlooking the V&A and next to our old premises at the Pierhead. Many thanks to Pauline for
all her hard work; in spite of the proliferation of eating establishments, this job becomes more
difficult every year. Cynthia Bacon’s wonderful Christmas cake raised R620 for the Society and
was won by ex Chairman Peter Du Toit.
All things considered we have had a good year, the rooms are looking quite superb and
renovations are ongoing. It all started with Guinalda asking if we might have a little spruce up as
she felt slightly embarrassed about bringing potential Corporate Members down (she may have
been looking at the floor at the time). Even the aforementioned Peter had some fairly straight
things to say about the lounge carpet one night so that was it; one can only ignore reality for so
long, and we did have a new lease.
The last six weeks have been rather quiet of a Saturday due to the Springbok tour of the UK and
the games starting at 4.30pm. Next year we shall all watch together at the rooms as the satellite
dish went in last week. It is not the intention to run a sports bar, but well attended Saturdays are
crucial to our survival and we have been asked by a Ship’s skipper if it would be possible to
enjoy the facilities and watch the game - enough said. Brendan has (as usual) provided the
decoder and a paid up card, when the situation requires a financial sacrifice he is the first to step
forward; hopefully this fact is appreciated by all.
You may notice an emphasis on cruising in this issue, it is the season after all and this editor has
a weakness for passenger ships, the old advert on the back cover is what started the passion.
Compare that itinerary with today’s brochure from our local operator; mainly 3 and 4 days jaunts
to exotic shores like Walvis and Mossel bay, punctuated by the odd 9 day long haul to
Madagascar or Mauritius (and we shall not mention all the below-the-radar, hidden charges
here). Call me old fashioned if you must, but I’ll take the 30 days to South America via Rio and
Buenos Aires anytime, this is real proof that things really were better then; where did we find the
time though?
A Very Merry Christmas to you all - and success for the Society in 2011.
Philip Short.
one of two swimming pools on board the MSC Melody
Cruising in South African waters just got a lot bigger. With the return to South Africa of the
cruise ship MSC MELODY (35,143-gt, built 1982) on Saturday next week (18 December), the
grand dame of local cruising introduces a new itinerary of short Atlantic Ocean cruises out of
Cape Town to Walvis Bay and the Indian Ocean to Mossel Bay, as well as exotic new Indian
Ocean destinations to Madagascar, Mauritius and Reunion.
The classic 1,500 passenger cruise ship which has proved so popular in South Africa during
previous cruise seasons because of her elegance and luxuriously intimate appeal, left Genoa,
Italy on 1 December for the start of her 17 night southbound cruise. En route she is enjoying
ports of call in Barcelona and Cadiz in Spain, Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands,
Mindelo in the Cape Verde islands and Walvis Bay in Namibia.
MSC Melody, picture by Trevor Jones
Cape Town will be her first port of call in South Africa on Saturday 18 December.
MSC Melody departs the same day on her opening coastal cruise of the South African season to
Durban in KwaZulu Natal, where she arrives on 21 December.
Her calendar will then feature both Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean itineraries out of Durban
and Cape Town through to 7 March 2011 when she returns to the Mediterranean.
The festive season takes the ship to the tropics. There is a nine night Christmas cruise from
Durban to the popular Indian Ocean island of Mauritius featuring a two day stop- over in the
capital city of Port Louis - one of the best known of the Indian Ocean islands for South Africans.
The stop-over in Port Louis allows time to indulge in the myriad of water sports and beach
activities as well as explore the tropical island’s fascinating spice and craft markets, the French
and Asian influences in the restaurants, shops and beach resorts as well as marvel at the
spectacular tropical plants and forests of its towering volcanic peaks.
The six night New Year cruise is from Durban to the two new destinations of Port d’Ehoala and
Fort Dauphin in Madagascar. Both ports provide perfect starting points for discovering the
magnificence of this large tropical island long regarded as one of the Indian Ocean’s most
extraordinary islands.
dining on any cruise ship is often one of the most enjoyable and looked-forward to activities
Port d'
Ehoala is a new port in Fort Dauphin on the South East of Madagascar which is
considered one of the island’s most beautiful stretches of coast and popular as a tourist
destination. Dominated by the Anosy mountain chain the area offers sumptuous landscapes,
examples of the rare and endemic fauna and flora which attract tourists from around the globe,
gorgeous white sandy beaches, diving and other water sports and a warm, hospitable population
with a rich and fascinating cultural heritage.
Toliara (Tuleur) is a relatively modern port town with a university, museums and markets to
browse and shop for local delicacies and hand crafts such as traditional lambas (pareos). The
Municipal Museum and the Sea Museum offer remarkable exhibits including erotic tomb
sculptures and masks from the Mikea hunter gatherers and a preserved example of the world
famous Coelacanth - the prehistoric fish thought to be extinct since the end of the Crustaceous
Period.
MSC Melody returns to Cape Town on 5 January for the first of three scheduled cruises to
Walvis Bay on the Cape West Coast, the first of two cruises to Mossel Bay on the southern Cape
coast and the first of three surprise ‘cruise to nowhere’ voyages.
The Cape cruises in the Atlantic hold the promise of whale and dolphin sightings plus a rich
variety of migrant sea birds, and long days brought to a close with glorious sunsets into the
ocean.
Guests can also expect magnificent views of the Cape Peninsula mountains from the sea. They
will also enjoy the rare treat of sailing past both Cape Point (where the Atlantic and Indian
Oceans meet) and Cape Agulhas (Africa’s most southerly tip), twice each on the cruise to Mossel
Bay and back and understand why early explorers named the region the ‘Fairest Cape of them
all’.
Mid-season sees the MSC Melody back in Durban for a six night cruise to Ilha de Mozambique
and two further cruises to Madagascar – one a six nighter to Port d’Ehoala and the other a five
nighter to Port Tulear.
The ship’s itinerary also features a bumper 11 night/ three islands Indian Ocean cruise departing
Durban on 6 February 2011 and featuring stops in Mauritius, Reunion and Madagascar.
Pointe des Galets , capital of the French island of Reunion offers the wondrous sophistication of
downtown Paris in a tropical climate. Although a small volcanic island it is lush with palm trees,
rain forests and an abundance of flowers and tropical fruit trees amid its rich locally adapted
French culture. Visitors can hike the volcanic mountains to enjoy panoramic views of the
rainforest.
MSC Melody is the smallest ship in MSC Cruises’ fleet, and is designed to meet the highest
standards of Italian style and sophistication, whilst offering a relaxed and informal cruise-ship
experience. With a capacity of just over 1,500 guests, MSC Melody creates a welcoming, almost
intimate feel on board, especially being the only ship designed with family in mind with 5 bed
cabins available. Graceful public areas with grand high ceilings lend the MSC Melody to a sense
of openness with comfortable, stylish staterooms, spacious and well-appointed. The ship'
s
retractable, transparent Magrodome allows you to enjoy one of the two swimming pools and
whirlpools even if the skies cloud over.
For further information about either MSC MELODY or MSC SINFONIA, which is also cruising
in South African waters this summer, visit: www.msccruises.com or www.starlight.co.za for the
full 2010/11 SA season.
World's largest cruise ship clears bridge obstacle in Denmark
The world's largest, and latest, cruise liner narrowly passed under the Great Belt Fixed Link in Denmark on 30th
October 2010, a feat that required smooth seas and adjustable smokestacks.
The Allure of the Seas, sister ship to Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, is as long as four football fields and
accommodates 8,300 passengers and crew. Hans Nilsen, an official at the Korsoer Naval Station, said the passage
went fine, with about a 20-inch (50-centimeter) gap and 1.5 inches (4 centimeters) to spare to the safety margin when
it squeezed under at around 1420 GMT after lowering its telescopic smokestacks. Fortunately, traffic on the bridge did
not have to be stopped during the passage as the voyage was made during the day, reducing any risks.
Royal Caribbean's new mega-liner, worth $1.5 billion, measures 1,200 feet long, and 236 feet high (from sea level).
Not only does it house a two-deck high dance hall, a 1,380-seat theatre and an ice skating rink, a number of pools,
spas, gyms, but also a plethora of bars, restaurants and cafes as well as a shopping street with a park with trees.
The Allure of the Seas left the shipyard in Turku, Finland, on Friday and is expected to reach its new home port in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in a few weeks. The building of the ship began by shipyard owner STX Finland in February
2008.
Thomas Miller's Chairman, Hugo Wynn-Williams
Thomas Miller celebrates its 125th anniversary by supporting the renovation of Africa's oldest ship
Built in Glasgow in 1898, Chauncy Maples will become a floating clinic serving the health needs of
villagers living around the shores of Lake Malawi.
Believed to be the oldest ship still afloat in Africa, the 38m long motor ship Chauncy Maples is to be
renovated as a floating clinic to bring primary health care to half a million of the world's poorest people
living around Lake Malawi. The necessary funds are now being raised by the Oxford- based Chauncy
Maples Malawi Trust with considerable support from Thomas Miller, a London-based specialist
insurance company, which has chosen to make the renovation of Chauncy Maples the focal point of its
125th anniversary celebrations.
The Trust needs to raise up to £2m in order for the planned refit to be completed within a 12 month time
frame. Thomas Miller is contributing £250,000 from its own resources and has already raised a similar
amount from its friends, employees and business associates even before the official launch of its appeal
on 17 June. The Government of Malawi is also expected to make a substantial contribution towards the
local labour costs.
Half a million people living along the coastline of Lake Malawi, which is 560km long and 75km at its
widest point, have neither access to health care nor medical protection from malaria, tuberculosis,
dysentery and HIV-Aids. Malawians seeking medical attention currently paddle dugout canoes up to
80km to reach medical aid, risking fatal attacks by hippos and crocodiles.
SS Chauncy Maples as she was in her heyday, on the occasion of the Jubilee Celebrations
Chauncy Maples was built in Glasgow in 1898 for British missionaries working in Central Africa and was
named after the 6th Bishop of Nyasaland who drowned in a storm on Lake Malawi. Shipped to
Mozambique in 3,481 small parts plus an 11 ton boiler mounted on wheels, the vessel components were
subsequently moved by river and then overland, local tribesmen carrying and dragging them the final 100
miles to the lakeside for assembly.
The two year rebuild was well documented and photographed. Since then, Chauncy Maples has served as
a gunboat, a trawler and even a refuge from Arab slave traders. Until recently, she has been administering
to the needs of the local population as a bar, a far cry from what is now envisaged for her future.
According to Thomas Miller director, Mark Holford, the trust is not only seeking financial contributions:
“Several potential donors have already come forward to ask whether they can offer more practical support
by way of equipment or services. We are already in detailed discussions with a major manufacturer of
diesel engines who we hope will offer us a new main engine on favourable terms.”
Chauncy Maples as she appears today at Monkey Bay on the shore of Lake Malawi
Currently Chauncy Maples is fitted with a Crossley diesel engine that itself replaced the former steam
plant in 1967. The original steam machinery is now in a museum in Malawi while the last boiler
languishes in shallow water at the side of the lake. Originally Chauncy Maples was fired using local
timber.
Thomas Miller's Chairman, Hugo Wynn-Williams, explained the background to the company's decision
to support the Chauncy Maples project:
“In former days, organisations would celebrate major anniversaries with lavish parties and dinners but
even before we all felt the full impact of the current global recession, there was a growing feeling
amongst the more forward-thinking companies that it would be more appropriate to devote time and
resources to projects that benefit the community.
“In Thomas Miller's case, we were looking for a project that reflected not only our global reach and our
maritime heritage but one that would appeal too to our UK clients such as members of the legal
profession, patent agents, housing associations and pension fund trustees. The Chauncy Maples project
ticked both boxes - and a host more.”
Sketch of how Chauncy Maples will appear as a clinic, drawing is by Naval Africa, Durban
Chauncy Maples is owned by the Government of Malawi and Malawi State and President Ngwasi Dr
Bingu Wa Mutharika has announced his full support for this unique undertaking in the fifth poorest
country in the world.
Patrick Zimpita, Director of Planning, Ministry of Health, Malawi, believes that the Chauncy Maples
project is important because it fits into the Government's key objective to ensure access and availability of
health services to all Malawians, regardless of income, status or geographical position:
“The people who live on the lake shores have many socio-economic problems. Cholera is common in the
wet season because the shallow wells become contaminated with sewage. These communities along the
lake have no infrastructure and large numbers of people are still severely challenged for health care.
“Chauncy Maples will go a long way in improving the lives of these people. Rainy season is October to
March during which there is a high prevalence of malaria. Immunisation coverage is very low because it
is expensive, or even impossible, for a mother to take her children to the nearest clinic. It might be only a
mile away but with a mountain on one side, and the deep and stormy lake on the other, it's not a simple
journey.
“This is a Golden project. The demand for this service is huge - it will be several decades before roads
will reach these sea-locked villages.”
Qualified local marine engineers, supported by a number of apprentices, will renovate Chauncy Maples.
With support from international donors, the floating clinic should be fully operational in one year.
Janie Hampton, the Director of the Chauncy Maples Malawi Trust, is confident of success:
“Sailing between the small village communities scattered around the lake, Chauncy Maples will bring
free treatment for common diseases, dentistry, maternity care, immunisation for babies, family planning
and information on safe sex. Presently, Malawi citizens have a life expectancy of just 36 years; with only
one doctor for every 52,000 people, the infant death rate is 111 per 1,000 births - 20 times worse than
Europe. We are certain that the team of nurses that will be living and working aboard Chauncy Maples
will reduce mortality rates of both adults and children.”
Despite their country's acute poverty, Malawians are slowly improving economic conditions by good
management of minimal resources. Poor health is still a millstone to progress. The Chauncy Maples
project on Lake Malawi combines health service delivery; preservation of Africa's marine heritage and
training for local apprentices and will be a catalyst for both national pride and tourism.
The then Archdeacon Chauncy Maples, after whom the ship was named, with Revd WP Johnson, a fellow
missionary of the Universities Mission to Central Africa
Footnote
Established in 1885 as the manager of the UK P&I Club www.ukpandi.com, Thomas Miller is celebrating
its 125th anniversary this year. A global leader in the management of transport mutual insurance clubs it
provides insurance services to approximately 50 percent of the world's shipowners as well as many of the
world's leading ports, terminals, logistic operators, ship brokers, ship agents and other types of transport
intermediaries. In recent years, it has also extended into non-marine activities and today provides
professional indemnity insurance services to barristers, solicitors, patent agents, housing associations and
pension fund trustees.
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Christina-O the Onassis yacht: Stepping back to the 1950s
On his famed yacht, the Christina, Aristotle Onassis hosted everyone from Marilyn
Monroe to JFK. Walking up the gangplank now you would find yourself spirited back
to the 1950s.
"Christina-O" and her tender
It was once the most exclusive bar in the world, where stellar fame and fortune gathered by invitation
only. A small, intimate lounge panelled in dark wood said to have come from a Spanish galleon, it
was a discreet rendezvous where Monroe laughed, Garbo glowered and Churchill savoured fine
brandies.
Tucked into the aft section of the luxury motor yacht Christina O, moored at Monte Carlo, it is still
called Ari's Bar, after the vessel's late owner, Aristotle Onassis. For two decades, until Onassis's death
in 1975, the bar was an inner sanctum of world power and prestige, presided over by the shipping
magnate known as "the Golden Greek" on account of his Midas touch.
Then named Christina, after the daughter born to Onassis in 1950, the yacht was the ultimate society
venue where John F Kennedy first met Churchill in 1957, where Elizabeth Taylor played out her
tempestuous romance with Richard Burton, and where Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly held their
wedding reception. It was also the scene of an ill-fated love affair between Onassis and the diva Maria
Callas – La Divina.
Aristotle Onassis with Elizabeth Taylor in 1964
Half a century later, Callas's spirit has returned to the Christina O, with recitals by leading
singers featuring arias from her best-known operatic roles. The performances take place on
overnight cruises between Monte Carlo and Cannes that also include a champagne reception,
an eight-course gastronomic dinner and post-prandial snifters in Ari's Bar.
If the first view of this iconic yacht is from the rooftop terrace of Monaco's Port Palace Hotel
a grand panorama of the pocket principality will be seen that once scraped a living from a tax
on lemons and now boasts more Ferraris and Maseratis than fruit trees. Below, the Quai des
Etats-Unis is lined with fibreglass gin palaces crammed together like expensive sardines.
Beyond them, haughtily alone on the Quai Rainier III, lies the long, sturdy form of the
Christina O with her rakish curved bow and distinctive pale yellow funnel.
After Onassis's death, his daughter passed her on to the Greek government who in the 1990s,
neglected and dilapidated, she was again put up for sale. Now, under new owners, the 325ft
vessel has been modified and refurbished to accommodate more guests for cruises and private
functions. The seaplane that Onassis parked on an aft deck has been replaced by a Jacuzzi;
and with steam power giving way to diesel, the old engine room has become a dining salon,
with gleaming marble floors. Otherwise, the yacht remains largely as the glitterati of the 20th
century left it.
The Famous Mosaic Pool / Dance Floor
The seawater swimming pool, tiled with mosaics modelled on a design in the Palace of
Naxos, still empties and rises to form a dance floor. Inside, the spiral staircase with pillars of
onyx still soars three decks above a mosaic floor bearing Onassis's omega insignia. Beside it
is a large-scale model of the 72-gun frigate La Reunion, made by French prisoners during the
Napoleonic Wars. Elsewhere, the decor and ambiance of the public rooms are reminiscent of
an elegant English country house that happens to be parked off the Côte d'Azur.
Guests are welcomed on board by a small army of smartly dressed attendants bearing
champagne and offering to press clothing for the evening's black-tie reception and recital. A
wander downs below will find the various suites including the Onassis suite and the Andros
suite, which once resonated to Callas's formidable voice. Churchill, apparently, was across
the corridor on several Atlantic crossings. The suites are smaller than in most modern yachts
of this class, but eminently comfortable, and their brass portholes heighten the sense of being
on a real ship.
The aim of the new owners is to recreate the artistic ethos of the 1950s and 60s, particularly
evoking the spirit of Callas. A stroll through the vessel's dining area will pass a Steinway
piano beside which Frank Sinatra is looking up with an enigmatic smile from a framed
photograph. At that precise moment, his voice is likely to fill the room with "Someone to
Watch Over Me" issuing from an unseen sound system. It will sound as if he is crooning next
door in Ari's Bar. Winston Churchill is not amused. At the end of the passageway, he glowers
from a portrait by Sir Reginald Leums in a classic posture of defiance.
The Onassis Suite
Ari’s Bar
There are other ghosts, staring from photographs of scenes that sparked scandals and
headlines. Callas, svelte and severe in a dark gown, stands beside a fresh-faced woman in a
light summer dress – Onassis's first wife, whom Callas would replace in his affections. On
the covers of Time and Life: Jackie Kennedy, for whom Onassis would ditch Callas to marry
– then resume his affair with La Divina. Marilyn, in a skin-tight dress, sings "Happy Birthday
Mr President" for JFK at Madison Square Garden.
As the yacht sails from Monte Carlo the ghosts are left to savour what they once saw with
Onassis: the Côte d'Azur gliding by as dusk falls, with final shafts of sunlight creating
brilliant splashes of silver on gunmetal water. The darkening hills resemble a high sea
surging below the Alpes Maritimes, and already lights are twinkling in Nice and Juan-lesPins.
The ghost of Onassis also lurks on the boat. He was a compulsive wheeler and dealer, and the
ritual is maintained in discreet conversations and exchanges of business cards after dinner by
men sporting expensive gold watches. For Onassis, corporate empire-building eventually
became a game: "After a certain point, money is meaningless. It ceases to be the goal. The
game is what counts." Along with attractive women: "If women didn't exist, all the money in
the world would have no meaning."
The Golden Greek had both, and more, and no evening on his old yacht would be complete
without a nightcap in the bar where he assembled his collection of the rich and famous. It is a
night well stocked with spirits, not all of them in bottles.
Christina O is one of the world's longest private yachts at 325 feet 3 inches (99 m). She was
originally a Canadian River-class frigate called HMCS Stormont and was launched in 1943.
She served as a convoy escort during the Battle of the Atlantic and was present at the D-Day
landings. After the end of the Second World War she was one of many surplus naval vessels
and the Greek ship-owner Aristotle Onassis acquired her (naval surplus) for just $34,000. He
spent $4 million to convert her into a luxurious yacht, and flagship of his maritime empire,
and renamed her Christina after his daughter.
The yacht was designed by Cäsar Pinnau and the childrens room was designed and painted by
the illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans.
Christina O in her previous life as HMCS Stormont
When Aristotle Onassis died in 1975, he left the yacht to his daughter, who later gave her to
the government for use as a presidential yacht in 1978. She was rechristened the Argo but
was allowed to decay and was put up for sale at $16 million in the early 1990s, but found no
takers. In 1996 a sale to an American fell through (he was later
la convicted of wire fraud in
relation to his attempt to purchase the yacht). Finally in 1998 she was purchased by Greek
shipowner John Paul Papanicolaou who had sailed on her as a child. He changed her name to
Christina O and undertook a major refurbishment between January 1999 and April 2001. As
of 2006 she was available to charter at between 45,000 and 65,000 Euro per day.
Christina O has a master suite, eighteen passenger staterooms, and numerous indoor and
outdoor living areas, all connected by a spiral
spiral staircase. Compared to a typical 21st-century
21st
super yacht,, her staterooms are small and Christina O lacks the indoor boat storage that is
now standard; but on the other hand, the number of living areas is large, and the amount of
outdoor deck space is very
ery generous. The aft main deck has an outdoor pool with a mosaic
floor that rises at the push of a button to form a dance floor, and there is a helicopter platform
on the promenade deck. In Ari's Bar
Bar,, the barstools retain the original upholstery made from a
very soft, fine leather made from the foreskin of a Minke Whale.
Christina O (mychristinao.com)) is available for charter from £39,000 per day. The price
includes return flights to Nice, helicopter transfers and nights on the Christina O
O, with
operatic recitals and gastronomic dinners.
dinners
BY QM2 TO OZ
By Morris Alexander
When on 8th September 2004 I watched the new and massive QUEEN MARY 2 sail out of Southampton
Water, en route to New York. I never thought that I would one day sail in her. I also formed no wish to
do so. However, I did hope one day to visit Australia having been twice thwarted in my attempts to go
there.
In December 1976, from my hospital bed in Genoa, I watched the GALILEO GALILEI sail out for Suez,
Australia and then return to Genoa via Panama. As I was booked to sail in her I said aloud 'there goes my
ship'. The next day I got my first visitor, the local Seamen's Union rep. bearing gifts – red hammer and
sickle emblazoned Italian literature. Lloyd Triestino refunded my boat fare.
In April 2000 we were booked to fly to Australia where we were to take-in the Indian-Pacific unmatched
trans-continental train trip. But, alas, unfair Australia baulked at giving me a visa for health reasons. Rail
and air refunded our fares.
When I saw their advertisement, and hoping to be third time lucky, I booked to sail on QUEEN MARY 2
on the fourth segment of her 2010 World Cruise. For forty days, starting on 13th February, we would sail
from Hong Kong to Cape Town via Australasia. For Americans and European Continentals Cunard were
offering fly-cruise specials for all segments of the QUEEN's three month cruise. Our segment took in
Shanghai and Nippon and also to sail to part of the Pacific Ocean's Ring of Fire of active volcanoes,
earthquakes and their resultant tsunamis. 'Somewhere east of Suez where the best is like the worst',
Rudyard Kipling wrote.
The obvious first visa to seek was the Australian and that proved to be no problem. Their Immigration
Department thought better of my ageing health than they did ten years' earlier. Visas were not required
for Hong Kong, New Zealand and Mauritius. There was no difficulty with the Communist China, Japan,
Guam (USA) and Rabaul (New Guinea) visas. Costs ranged from R250 for Japan and over R1000 each
for our Guam, USA visas.
So we, as it were, packed for Perth and flew to Hong Kong where we alighted at its new island airport and
not, as hitherto, over the Kai Tak rooftops. We marvelled at the spectacular big new bridges linking the
new island airport to mainland Kowloon and at the forest of old and new ever taller skyscrapers. There
can be no more exciting place from which to start a cruise.
On Christmas Day, 1941, Hong Kong was the first stronghold taken by the Japanese in World War II. The
British Admiralty later, in 1957, closed down its Hong Kong Kong dockyard. Hong Kong is now a City
State in greater Communist China. When we got to our hotel we received an Emergency Notification
informing us that due to tidal restrictions in Shanghai QUEEN MARY 2 would depart Hong Kong at 1600
and not 1800 hours. We also at the last minute, learned that she was not berthed at the nearby old Cruise
Liner Terminal but in Kowloon's modern, and distant, Kwai Chung Container Port. We got there just in
time.
As we had gone from a Cape Town high summer to an Asian high winter QUEEN MARY 2 slipped her
moorings on the Saturday in drizzle and gathering gloom. Ships, tied-up or moving, big and small
custom built – including the perennial, busy Star Ferries – were all around us as we threaded our way out
into the open South China Sea.
Shortly thereafter we had our Segment's Emergency Drill conducted over the loud-speaker by the Ship's
Master, Captain Nick Bates, himself. And next day, at the customary cocktail party, he officially
16
welcomed the big batch of us new passengers aboard. Similar lifeboat drills and welcoming parties were
held for new guests (as they called us) at the beginning of every segment of the QUEEN's World Cruise.
The sea in that fourth segment was calm and QM2 sliced through the water at a speedy 26.8 knots. She
was certainly no slow boat to China.
What appealed to me about the cruise was the lure of its exotic ports of call. The first was mystic
Shanghai which, for many years, was a closed book. Shanghai means 'up the river', the Huangpu, which
flowed into the might Yangtse near its broad mouth. We got there at midday when a local pilot took QM2
up the twelve miles of buoyed channel. After making an 180° turnabout, with three tugs helping, QM2
was safely alongside in Communist China's chief port and now claimed to be the world's busiest.
The air temperature was 6°C but having arrived late proved to be a bonus as we saw Shanghai, both by
day and by night. It was the first day of the Chinese New Year, in the Year of the Tiger. In celebration the
huge city was lit up with countless coloured lights and lanterns on buildings and on trees. The myriad of
lights reflected in the river's big bend as viewed from the 88th floor of the spanking new Hyatt Hotel.
Shanghai's skyline now matches those of Hong Kong and Tokyo whilst its winding raised road-works, tier
upon tier, astounded me.
Today the Chinese Dragon's booming economy makes it the new powerhouse of Asia. Its Bund, the wide
old waterfront of solid British bank buildings, is once again thriving. Shanghai has lots to offer currently,
historically and romantically. It was one of the world's most popular tourist destinations in the 1930s and
it was the West's gateway to China until the communists took over in1949. Noel Coward wrote Private
Lives there and James Hilton's Conway set out from Shanghai on his quest for Shangri-la beyond the
'Lost Horizon'.
In their local wars the Japanese invaded the city in 1937 having previously bombed it in 1932. Foreign
residents fled when the Japanese again attacked in December 1941. In return the Allies thereafter bombed
the city, carefully sparing the Bund. The Chinese took over in 1945 but by 1949 their Communists were
in control and had trapped the Royal Navy frigate HMS AMETHYST 140 miles up the Yangtse. At 3400
miles the Yangtse is the world's third longest river. Having been shelled and kept a virtual prisoner for
four months, AMETHYST made a daring escape at night slipping out of the river's wide estuary and into
the East China sea.
Next for our QUEEN MARY 2 was konnichiwa – hello Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun. A short haul
across the Yellow Sea brought us to picturesque Nagasaki. Its fine natural harbour and the city were set in
a ring of low mountains. Nagasaki's undoubted centre of attraction was its near and spacious Peace Park
with its emotive but simple memorials. It is the site of the atom bomb unleashed by a U.S.A.A.F. Bomber
on the city on the 9th August 1945. Group Captain L. Cheshire V.C., of the R.A.F. was on board the plane
as an official observer. The bomb was twice as powerful as the one dropped three days earlier on
Hiroshima. The devastation was so great, with 70,000 people killed and the city centre so vaporised, that
the Japanese surrendered five days later. It ended WWII and its heavy death toll on both sides. And with
it the setting of the sun on the once mighty British Empire. Two rusty, half embedded girders are all that
can now be seen of the original city centre structures. Sole reminders of the day 'indelibly burned into
world history'.
Nagasaki was an obvious target choice as the huge Mitsubishi armaments factory was there. They were
the builders of the O.S.K. 'Spirit of Maru' Japanese liners that were regular callers at Cape Town and
Durban in pre-War years. Nearly all of them were lost in the war. To me those old 9000 tonners with
their single tall funnels were as appealing as they were gaunt. They were the epitome of the romance of
sea travel and the raison d'etre for our Ship Society.
17
Making its maiden call at Nagasaki our QM2 got a great welcome by a fifty-strong brass band and a row
of young women wearing bright kimonos. An official commemoration presentation was made to Captain
Bates later in the day. On our coach tour of the city we passed a lone cherry tree in pre-Spring blossom.
On QM2's 6 pm departure the morning's welcomers were back on the quayside to wish us a colourful
sayonara – goodbye. Two nights and a day later we were in Yokohama, Japan's principal seaport and
gateway to Tokyo. There was lots of other shipping activity and another welcoming band – drums
beating. Being a container harbour there were, on the dockside, ranks of hundreds of motorcars awaiting
shipping.
An hour in heavy motorway traffic brought out tour coach into central Tokyo. We went up the 1092 foot
Tokyo Tower and ogled the vast metropolis around us. We could not, however, see sacred Mount
Fujiyama seventy miles away which, as so often, was under cloud. Tokyo was twice rebuilt in recent
history, firstly after being razed by the 1923 earthquake and fire and then again during World War II. In
the war both Tokyo and Yokohama took a pasting by American conventional bombers. The first of these
was a surprise token raid in 1942 by aircraft-carrier borne medium bombers led by Col. Doolittle. After
hostilities ended the Emperor of Japan proclaimed that he was no longer to be considered divine. And
Japan's old Rising Sun national flag finally set.
As a popular tourist magnet and now thoroughly bilingual, Japan has come a long way since a 1969
Tokyo hotel notice read 'Is forbidden to steal towels, please. If you are not person to do such is please not
to read notice'. (Vide QM2 daily bulletin). The only Japanese we needed to know was arigato – thank
you. We spotted only one lady in traditional Geisha mode with piled-high hairdo, walking on stiltlike
shoes and wearing a colourful wide-sleeved kimono. She was waiting at the gate of a school from which
a rush of neatly dressed little boys was emerging. Even more lucky, we saw the famous Bullet Train
which, on a raised viaduct, crossed over our city centre road. And for Chinese expatriates there were lots
of Chinese New Year decorations and lights.
On the way back to Yokohama harbour we saw a field full of cherry trees, their pinks just beginning to
show. An hour after we had sailed out into the Pacific we could see, to starboard, the twinkling lights of
Japan's south coast. For the next week we sailed on a south south east course and saw only one passing
ship. Part of the appeal of this cruise was the prospect of sailing to far-away places in an area visualised,
both romantically as one of idyllic palm treed islands and grimly, as a major WWII battle zone. It
stretched from Japan to Australia and through one sea after another, each one full of loveliness and
sombre memories.
After cruising 1300 nautical miles, we arrived at one of those very islands, Guam. One of the Marianas in
Oceana's Micronesia, it was discovered in1520 by Ferdinand Magellan. QM2's route was far to the west
of tiny uninhabited ring-shaped Bikini Atoll which was obliterated by an American nuclear test bomb in
1946. We were also far from Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, which the Japanese, without having declared war,
attacked on 7th December 1941. Their submarines and over 300 aircraft destroyed almost all of the
American Pacific fleet and attendant war planes at their base. That 'Day of Infamy' as American President
Roosevelt called it, brought his country into World War II. For the Japanese it was the start of their Great
East Asia War involving Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Burma and distant Pacific Ocean islands and
countries. In QM2 we were sailing to some of them. The coded Pearl Harbour victory signal the
Japanese bomber leader radioed to his admiral was Tora Tora Tora – Tiger Tiger Tiger. It began a
Japanese year of the tiger. Years later Divine Wind (Kamikaze) zero aeroplane pilots died trying to save
Japan.
Hours after the Pearl Harbour attack Japanese forces captured Guam. The Americans recaptured it, in
fierce fighting, in July 1944 – a step in their costly island hopping campaign to close in on mainland
Japan. And years later the Americans used Guam as a strategic military base in their Vietnam War. More
18
salubriously, they provided our QM2 with a frigate escort whilst there. Being one of their eternal warm
sunny days, we chose to spend the morning on the beach where bikini bathers 'under an awning of silvery
palms, sported their charms … down where the trade winds played' (sang Bing Crosby). Grass-skirted
hula hula dancers and their musicians saw us off on QM2's departure. All so lovely. Back on board I had
a Budweiser to celebrate our visit to U.S. territory.
We were far out in the Pacific, the world's largest ocean and where it was at its deepest, many thousands
of metres. Its volcanic islands were steep and densely afforested: its little horseshoe-shaped coral islands
were flat-topped – truly micronesian. Captain James Cook explored them in the 1770s : on our way we
passed a few of them. We crossed the equator on 24 February and were given handsome certificates to
prove it. It was hot out on deck and the sky a steely blue so we skipped the traditional Crossing the Line
ceremony. At noon the day before QM2 was on a 165º heading at 146.41º east and 07.17º north.
Twentyfour hours later and still on the same course, she was 148.47º east and 00.23º south. All in the
doldrums of the Horse Latitudes where the Pacific lived up to its name. The surrounding Bismarck Sea
was the scene of a fierce naval battle in March 1943.
QUEEN MARY2 made her next stop, the next day, in the bay of Rabaul, Papua, in the New Guinea
archipelago which gloried in names like New Britain, New Ireland and New Hanover. Volcanic Rabaul
was as grim – and for that reason interesting – as coral island Guam was pleasing. The place was doubly
cursed having been bombed flat in WWII and, recently, devastated by volcanic explosions. Japanese
forces occupied the island from early 1942 until they surrendered to the Australians and Americans in
1945. Shipping hulks lie entombed in Rabaul bay, a Japanese wartime submarine base. We saw the
rusted remains of one of their submarines. And sailing around us some quaint little outrigger boats.
In a letter home, written from his jungle funk-hole, Japanese Lt. Kubuta said 'Summer is always here in
these islands. Quiet palms stand above us and weaving fire-flies fly between the stars.' Those graceful
coconut palms were decimated in September 1994 when two of the Rabaul volcanoes erupted. One of
them was billowing steam during our visit whilst thousands of nearby palms were just sticks. Stunted
white frangipani stood out starkly against the lava black soil and bubbling sulphuric mud. By happy
contrast our tour minibus took us to a hilltop with magnificent views of the harbour, our great QM2 riding
at anchor and of the surrounding steaming volcanoes. Ours was a truly memorable stop in Melanesia –
black kindly people and ash blackened earth.
After Papua we were Australia-bound and for our convenience the Australian immigration officials
boarded QM2 at Rabaul. From its Solomon Sea setting we went immediately into the Coral Sea, scene of
the May 1942 naval battle which arrested the WWII Japanese progress towards Australia. But their
planes did get to bomb Darwin in its Northern Territory. Of passing interest was seeing, close by to port,
long low Tuluga island. After a fortnight out of Hong Kong we were back in pleasant Summer Holiday
weather: and I no longer needed to wear a waistbelt! In our on board daily newspaper I read that the
Little Master, Tendulkar, had scored the first ever ODI cricket double century – against South Africa!
As we headed due south under a full moon we had Moon at Sea and, reflecting it, a passing patch of
sparkling phosphorescence (which I regret I missed seeing), filling the sea with stars like the skies at
night. And also at night we sailed through the Hydrographer's Passage in the famous Great Barrier Reef.
Some sixty miles off the Queensland coast the Reef is said to be the world's richest maritime habitat. We
did not see anything of its long line of coral islands and shoals.
On 28th February QM2 dropped anchor in Pioneer Bay in Australia's Whit Sunday Islands, close to the
mainland. A ship's tender (lifeboat) took us ashore on a 30 minute bumpy ride in the swells. For me it
was OZ at last and despite my Australian Nemesis. But the black beast did make one last attempt to stop
me …I missed my footing and fell heavily on my way down the stairs to the ship's tender.
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Coconut palm covered Airlie beach was delightful, full of holiday-makers enjoying the sunshine … and
the choice of mango treats! Tours arranged for QM2 passengers included one for the intrepid in a minisub exploring the Barrier Reef and another, for the languid, in a sailing vessel cruising nearby islands. It
seemed that no sooner were we in Australia than we were gone again – to New Zealand on the markedly
different heading of 132°. That OZ to NZ haul was QM2's longest since we boarded her, some 1780 sea
miles. We sailed east about the northern tip of New Zealand's North Island and, early on 4 March, were
alongside in Auckland. Once again it was at a container quay and not at the cruise liner terminal. And
once again, it was in a fine natural harbour ringed by volcanos (over 40 of them, dormant or extinct). The
city CBD featured modern skyscrapers and some distinguished old-world buildings but, for me, it was the
harbour that impressed.
Of the land tours on offer that to the Rotorua Thermal Valley with its spouting geysers, hot springs and
boiling mud pools was the most inviting – despite the 0700 early start. The 150 mile drive up the valley
of the wide Waikato river was through gentle farmlands much akin to England's … clearly 'where sheep
may safely graze'. The tour included a sheep herding and shearing live show whilst the buffet luncheon
was complemented by local wines and Maori singers. QM2 departed Auckland in the dark, sadly without
the traditional, lovely Maori song of farewell 'Now is the Hour'.
Our other New Zealand stop was in their Bay of Islands' Maritime Park far to the north of North Island.
On our overnight way there QM2 reached the furthest east point of her 2010 World Cruise – not an
Around the World cruise as she turned back when about 175° east. We were just short of the 180°
International Date Line where you either gain or lose a day, depending on which way you were sailing.
When half way around you would be neither east nor west. 'And east is east and west is west but there the
twain shall meet.' In the Islands we once again anchored off and were taken ashore by tender. The twenty
minute trip was to Pahia, a pretty little seaside village with some evocative old buildings of the tin roofs
and wide verandahs era. Fittingly the small supermarket's background music was soft lilting Maori. The
beautiful bay was dotted with rocky little islets. The setting was altogether lovely : how much beauty are
we allowed to enjoy? The inlets were also full of yachts. No wonder New Zealand is a recent proud
winner of the prestigious yachting America's Cup. Dutch navigator Abel Tasman got there first, in 1642.
20
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
Sixty years ago
July 1950
Under a canopy of cirrus clouds with the bright sunlight glittering on her silver-grey
hull and cream upperworks, the CIRRUS, fastest cargo liner in the world, made a
graceful debut to Table Bay Harbour on June 24. The Swedish Transatlantic Line
are famous for their splendid cargo-liners; to the watchers on the quay all the beauty
of those ships appeared to have been moulded into the CIRRUS. For every cleancut line of the lovely ship, from the sharp, raking stem and swept-back masts,
derricks, and super-structure to the rounded bridge, raking, teardrop funnel and
terraced decks, gives the impression of concealed power and easy speed.
A ship of 7,800 gross and 10,200 deadweight tons, the CIRRUS is 526 ft. long and is
powered by two 8,900 h.p. Getaverken-B & W diesel engines which give her a
service speed of 19½ knots. Despite her huge engines, she has six cargo holds with a
total bale capacity of 586,000 cu. ft. Two strong rooms of 9,400 cu. ft. are provided
for special cargpo and 57,000 cu. ft. are for refrigerated cargoes.
A striking feature of the cargo hatches and winches is the manner in which all
winches are placed on platforms above the hatches leaving the deck free of
obstructions and with ample space for deck cargoes. The elongated fore section
houses three holds with two hatches on the main deck and one on the forecastle.
The fourth hatch lies immediately aft of the funnel and the last two are on the main
deck aft. The CIRRUS is some 1,000 tons larger and 35 ft longer than the similar
ships NIMBUS and STRATUS, both well known in Cape Town for their record
breaking trips to and from Australia. This extra length is partially absorbed in the
extra hold abaft the funnel.
Like the two smaller ships, the CIRRUS carries twelve passengers in accommodation
that can only be described as palatial. Each of the spacious single berth cabins has
an entrance hall, private bathroom and a luggage space and is tastefully furnished in
mahogany. There is also a suite de-luxe with private lounge …..
July 1950
On June 23 the CARNARVON CASTLE (20,141 tons) arrived in Cape Town on her
first post-war voyage in the Union-Castle Line's regular mail service, under the
command of Capt. J.F. Oakley. The return of this vessel after reconditioning will
enable the DURBAN CASTLE, at present temporarily employed as a mail vessel, to
be released for the intermediate service from London. With the expected return of
the ARUNDEL CASTLE in September to the mail service after reconditioning, the
WARWICK CASTLE will also be released for the intermediate service, whose
complement of ships will then number seven as against eight in the mail service.
The CARNARVON CASTLE has had a distinguished career. Not only was she the
first motorship to be engaged in the mail service but was also the first vessel in the
South African trade to exceed 20,000 tons. On the outbreak of war, she was
immediately taken over by the British Government as an armed merchant cruiser and
in 1940 she intercepted the German raider THOR, on which she inflicted heavy
punishment during a fierce engagement. In February 1944, the CARNARVON
CASTLE proceeded to New York for a complete refit as a troop transport. After her
trooping duties during the course of which she was one of the first vessels to bring
USA service personnel to Southampton, the CARNARVON CASTLE was made
available in March 1947, to the Union Government for the transport of immigrants.
The process of reconditioning the CARNARVON CASTLE has taken 17 months and
has been most extensive. The first class accommodation has been reinstated to take
a total of 216 passengers, and includes five double-berth de luxe rooms fitted with
folding beds, and one suite with bedroom and sitting room, all with bathrooms.
21
July 1950
is
July 1950
The decision of the Clan Line to issue to each of the Clan ships a flag incorporating
the tartan of that particular Clan has aroused considerable interest. When the CLAN
MACKELLER was in Durban recently, the 'strange' flag flying from the jackstaff
aroused considerable comment, especially when it became known that the centre
comprised the Mackeller tartan. Since then observant visitors have been seeking out
the tartan flag of units of the fleet as they have called. So far not all the ships have
received their flags but it is intended to have all ships wear their own tartan in time.
In all respects the flag is a replica of the Clan Line house flag. The only difference
that instead of the red lion rampant in the centre the Clan tartan has been substituted.
The sight of the clan tartan aboard the ship carrying the clan's name will arouse
interest and sentiment throughout the world among those whose family name is
carried by the ship.
The round-Africa services of the Union-Castle Line are shortly to be supplemented
so that from September, 1950, six vessels will be engaged thereon. Three vessels
will proceed outwards from London via the Mediterranean and Suez Canal and the
other three will operate in the reverse direction. This improvement in the service has
been brought about by the release of the 17,300 ton motorships DURBAN CASTLE
and WARWICK CASTLE from the mail service to South Africa in which they have
been temporarily employed since reconditioning after the war.
The DURBAN CASTLE began her first post-war voyage in the round-Africa
services in June, whilst the WARWICK CASTLE will join her on the same route in
October. The addition of these two fine ships on this route for the time being will
help to relieve the demand for accommodation to and from East Africa which, up to
the present, has been catered for by the DUNNOTTAR CASTLE, LLANGIBBY
CASTLE, LLANDOVERY CASTLE and LLANSTEPHAN CASTLE.
The Mediterranean
Of these, the first will make the outward journey in the round-Africa service through
the Meditteranean, but the others will maintain the service the opposite way. Ports of
call on this service include Gibraltar, Marseilles, Genoa, Port Said, Suez, Port Sudan,
Aden, Mombasa, Tanga, Dar-es-Salaam, Zanzibar, Beira, Lourenco Marques,
Durban, East London, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, St. Helena, Ascension and Las
Palmas, and vice versa. A further addition to the company's intermediate service was
made in April last by the introduction of the new one-class ship BLOEMFONTEIN
CASTLE of 18,400 tons, fitted to carry 739 passengers. Her future regular employment after her maiden voyage, when she circumnavigated the continent of Africa,
will proably be from London to Beira and back via the West Coast of Africa,
although circumstances may arise when the ship will again make a round-Africa
voyage. The Union-Castle Line have placed orders with Messrs. Harland & Wolff
Ltd., of Belfast for two further 17,300 ton passenger and cargo vessels, to be named
RHODESIA CASTLE and KENYA CASTLE, for the round-Africa service.
August 1950
Some of the first details of the two new ships (these ships would be launched as the
AFRICA and the EUROPA respectively) building for the Lloyd Triestino Line's
service to the Union have been released. For some time it has been known that the
company was engaged preparing plans for the new ships for this service and the
decision to provide motorships in the 18 knot class is proof that the company intends
to enhance its reputation for owning good ships. The two new vessels, which it is
hoped will be ready for service in the second half of 1951, will have a gross tonnage
of 11,400 and a top speed of 20 knots and sea speed of 18 knots which will bring
Italy within 16 days of Durban
Provisional plans for the new passenger vessels, which are a departure from the
22
present schedule of the GERUSALEMME, allows for her to go to Cape Town to
pick up passengers and then return to Durban to sail for the East Coast and Italy. It
is not yet known whether calls will be made at Port Elizabeth and East London. Full
details of the accommodation to be provided are not yet available but the broad
outline of what passengers may expect indicate that it will be of a very high order. A
total of 350 passengers will be carried in first and tourist class accommodation. All
single and two-berth cabins in the first class have their own private bathrooms, and
the provision of a bathroom for every two cabins is a very big break from tradition
affecting the transport of tourist class passengers in any ship. Fresh water will be
available to baths and showers in both classes. With such high-speed ships it will
be possible to travel from Durban to England in 17½ days – the final 'leg' overland
across the Continent taking approximately 30 hours – which makes it the quickest
way of getting there other than flying, either all the way or to Cape Town and
catching the homeward bound mailship.
September 1950
The visit of the Osaka Shosen Kaisya's OSAKA MARU to Durban last month
aroused more than usual interest. Apart from being the first ship from Japan to visit
the port since 1941, she is also the fist post-war built vessel from Japan to be seen in
Union waters and those who saw her are convinced that Japanese builders and
designers have lost none of their ability. The OSAKA MARU was constructed to
the former limit imposed by the American Shipping Control Authority and is just
under 5,000 tons gross and has a service speed of 13 knots. Externally she bears a
strong resemblance to some of her pre-war predecessors except for the fact she
carries a much more sharply raked stem. Her good hull lines terminate in a cruiser
stern and all winches are steam operated, although electricity is used widely
throughout the ship.....
September 1950
The Union-Castle RMS ARUNDEL CASTLE returns to the Company's Mail Service
this month after an interval of more than ten years. She has been reconditioned by
Messrs. Harland & Wolff Ltd., of Belfast, after her war service and will take her
place in the weekly Mail Service from Southampton to South African ports via
Madeira. Her return will bring the Mail Fleet up to its pre-war strength of eight
vessels and will enable the WARWICK CASTLE, at present utilised in the Mail
Service, to be released for the company's service from London. The part which the
ARUNDAL CASTLE played in the war was long and varied. Requisitioned by the
Government as a transport in January 1940, she made many trooping voyages to
African, Mediterranean and Far Eastern ports. In 1946 she established a record for
the company's vessels by accomplishing in 160 days a single voyage of 45,225
miles.
In Actions
After taking part in the North African and Sicilian landings she was employed in
trooping. While in convoy through the Mediterranean in November 1943, the vessel
was attacked by the Luftwaffe, with bombs and pilotless missiles but fortunately she
suffered no damage and succeeded in shooting down at least one of her attackers.
Later she made two repatriation voyages, to Gothenburg and Marseilles, for the
exchange of wounded British and German prisoners. It was not until April 1948 that
the ARUNDEL CASTLE returned to peace time duties after more than half a million
miles of wartime voyaging, during which period she carried over 200,000 troops
and Government passengers.
Immigrants
At the request of the South African Government the ARUNDEL CASTLE was
engaged in the Immigration Service to the Union, from April 1948 until June 1949,
when she was again required by the military authorities for trooping to the Middle
East. She was finally released from Government service in September 1949, and
was sent to Belfast for reconversion. When she was originally built, the ARUNDEL
23
CASTLE was distinguished by her four funnels, but in 1937 these were replaced by
the present two large streamlined funnels, and the opportunity was taken to give the
vessel a new curved stem, which is now a feature of all the later Union-Castle liners.
These alterations considerably improved the appearance of the ship and there are
many who even now declare her to be one of the handsomest vessels afloat. Up to
the time she was converted to a troop transport in 1940 her passenger accommodation was divided into First, Second and Tourist Classes, carrying a total of 594
passengers, with separate public rooms for each class.
During the ARUNDEL CASTLE's post-war reconditioning many alterations and
improvements have been made to bring her up to the standards of the company's
latest Mail vessels. In the First Class 169 pssengers will be accommodated in rooms
which include a suite and several enlarged de luxe cabins. The public rooms at their
disposal will include the dining saloon, lounge, smoking room and writing room.
There will also be an enclosed swimming pool situated on the boat deck. As the old
Second Class has been dispensed with, the space thus made available has enabled
greatly improved accommodation to be provided for the 371 Tourist Class
passengers. Part of the space freed has also been used to extend the crew's quarters.
The Tourist Class public rooms will include the old Second Class lounge and
smoking room, as well as the original Tourist Class lounge, and an open-air
swimming pool is also provided. There will be a children's playroom in both First
and Tourist Classes and an enlarged shop and hairdressing saloon. The ARUNDEL
CASTLE is scheduled to sail from Southampton on her first post-war Mail voyage
on September 21, when her Commander will be Captain C.G. Gorringe, who until
recently was in command of the DURBAN CASTLE.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
Fifty years ago
July 1960
What is prohably the largest single cargo of citrus fruit to be loaded in Port Elizabeth
was taken last month by the Union-Castle Line's new refrigerated ship ROTHESAY
CASTLE. The ROTHESAY CASTLE, which was on her maiden voyage, travelled
light from Britain and was instructed to load her first cargo in Port Elizabeth while
on her way out. The citrus cargo of 153,184 cases totalled 8,575 measurement tons.
It will be discharged at North European ports and London. Although she took her
main cargo in Port Elizabeth, the ROTHESAY CASTLE also put into Cape Town for
a day to load drummed petrol and diesel oil for St. Helena and Ascension.
Launched by Lady Cayzer, the wife of Sir Nicholas Cayzer, Chairman of the British
& Commonwealth Shipping Company Limited and of the Clan and Union-Castle
Lines, the ROTHESAY CASTLE has been constructed to Lloyds 100 A.1 Class
under special survey of hull and machinery. She is the second of a new class built
for Union-Castle by Greenock Dockyard Company. Her sister ship ROTHERWICK
CASTLE has been in service since January this year. Principal dimensions of the
ROTHESAY CASTLE are : length between perpendiculars, 480 ft; breadth moulded,
65 ft. 9 in; depth moulded to upper deck, 37 ft. 10½ in; and she is designed to carry a
deadweight of about 10,000 tons on a mean draft of 28 ft. 5 in. The gross tonnage is
9,650. She has a designed service speed of about 16¼ knots, although on trials she
reached 18.89 knots.
The vessel is air-conditioned throughout and, like her sister ship, a special feature is
that every member of the crew has his own cabin. She is almost identical to her
sister ship but her funnel has been made 6 ft. taller. The ROTHESAY CASTLE is
the line's ninth wholly refrigerated cargo vessel in service and will extend the
refrigerated space facilities for the carriage of fruit from South Africa to Europe …..
24
July 1960
The WINDSOR CASTLE left from the fitting out basin at Cammell Laird & Co.
Ltd., at 11 a.m. on Thursday, June 23, for her official sea trials. Speed trials on the
measured mile off the Isle of Arran took place on Sunday, June 26. The trials were
completed on Monday, June 27. The WINDSOR CASTLE is due to sail from
Southampton on her maiden voyage in the South African mail service on Thursday,
August 18, 1960. A full, illustrated description of the new mailship will be
published in the August issue of the South African Shipping News and Fishing
Industry Review.
July 1960
Freak swells which rose to an estimated height of 40 feet, were encountered last
month off the Wild Coast, between East London and Durban, by the 10,396 ton
Liberian steamer DORSET while she was travelling to Durban from Canada with a
full cargo of wheat. Her Master, Captain Michael Sakis, said that the ship was
running before a moderate sea with a swell of between 10 and 13 feet. 'Suddenly', he
said, 'the swells rose to a terrific height – we estimated it at about 40 feet – and they
continued for about 15 minutes before subsiding as quickly as they had risen.
Before this, we had had some rough weather coming round the Cape but conditions
were moderating when these huge swells came up. While they were running – they
came up from the south-west astern of us - the main deck was continually awash. At
the time, the chief officer and some of the crew were on deck preparing for our
arrival in Durban but, when these high swells came up, there was a rush for cover
until conditions eased.'
Capt. Sakis said this was not the first time his ship had suddenly encountered
mountainous swells without any apparent explanation. The last time was when she
was in the North Atlantic some years ago and approaching the American coast. For a
short while the ship was heavily buffetted but received no damage. Officers in the
ship, and seamen in Durban generally, wondered whether there was any association
between the freak swells encountered by the DORSET and the tidal waves which, at
that time, were responsible for widespread damage in the Pacific. At the time – May
25 to May 28 – shipping off most of the Union coastline had a rough time with
strong westerly, south-westerly, and southerly gales sweeping wide stretches of the
coastline. The DORSET was built about two years ago in Japan, and is owned by
the Inter-Continental Transport Company of Monrovia. On a draught of 30 ft. 6¼
in., her deadweight capacity is 15,212 tons, making her one of the largest dry cargo
carriers to call at Durban …..
August 1960
The 20,000 gross ton passenger liner PRINCIPE PERFEITO now being built at the
Walker-on-Tyne Neptune shipyard of Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd., in
North East England, will be launched for her Portuguese owners on September 22.
The liner, ordered by Cia. Nacional de Navegacao, Lisbon, will be named by Exma
Senhora d'Ana Guimaraes Jose de Mello, wife of a prominent Portuguese businessman. The keel was laid last year and the vessel is scheduled for delivery next year.
She will enter the owners' service between Lisbon and Portuguese East and West
Africa. This yard built the 12,976 ton liner MOZAMBIQUE for the same owners in
1949.
August 1960
Steel from the two tugs, the SIR DAVID HUNTER and the J.W. SAUER, which
between them, served the Administration for nearly 90 years, will go to Transvaal
steel mills. Accessories from the two old ships will be sold locally. Late last month
the tender for their purchase and breaking up was awarded to K.Nathan (Pty). Ltd.,
of Durban.
Built in 1915
Both tugs were built in 1915 by Ferguson Brothers of Glasgow and the SIR DAVID
HUNTER arrived in Durban in December of that year. She was requisitioned by the
25
Royal Navy for service in East Africa where she co-operated in salvage work in the
clearing of the harbours of Dar-es-Salaam and Zanzibar. In 1941 she was sunk in
Durban harbour after a collision with the hopper ROCKWELL. A year later she was
re-commissioned and with her consorts did valuable work during the war. For ten
years she was the duty tug at night until relieved by the J.D. WHITE and finally
replaced last year by the oil burning tug F.C. STURROCK. The J.W. SAUER spent
most of her active life in Cape Town, only coming to Durban about ten years ago.
During the time she was in Cape waters she was associated with several salvage jobs
and for many years maintained the monthly service to Dassen Island with stores and
staff for the lighthouse there.
August 1960
Built for the Union-Castle Line at a cost of more than £10,000,000, the 37,640 gross
ton twin-screw passenger steamer WINDSOR CASTLE entered the South AfricanUnited Kingdom mail service on August 18. She is the largest liner to operate in this
service and is the largest ship ever to run regularly to South African ports.
In size, in appearance and in the many innovations throughout her accommodation,
the third WINDSOR CASTLE represents the greatest single advance in mailship
design since the ARUNDEL CASTLE and the second WINDSOR CASTLE started
the era of the big ship nearly 40 years ago. She was the first of the company's
vessels to be air-conditioned throughout the passenger and crew accommodation; she
was the first to have a special cinema and a garage for pssengers' cars; and by the
addition of another deck, her first and tourist class public rooms extended along the
length of the ship. With these new features, in her cabin and public room designs,
and in her bright furnishings, the WINDSOR CASTLE is the fulfilment of the
promise of the PENDENNIS CASTLE. This earlier liner was already on the stocks
when the Union-Castle Line came under Cayzer management, and her design could
not be substantially changed. The WINDSOR CASTLE is, therefore, the first
passenger ship to be planned from the keel up by the British & Commonwealth
Group. And, although limitations imposed by her dual function as a passenger and a
cargo ship, keep her within the same broad pattern of earlier mailships, she is very
much the passenger liner of the 1960's – a gay, spacious vessel that will surprise and
delight the thousands who will travel in her.
This twin-screw turbine-powered ship was built and engined in the Birkenhead yards
of Cammell Laird & Co. (Shipbuilders & Engineers) Ltd., under the survey of the
Ministry of Transport and Lloyd's Register of Shipping. She was laid down in
December 1957, was launched by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, in June 1959,
and ran trials a year later. The new flagship of the Union-Castle fleet is the largest
passenger liner to be built in Britain since the (war).....
September 1960
To the farewell wail of ships' sirens, the 20,001 ton mailship, WINCHESTER
CASTLE sailed from Union ports for the last time at the end of August and early
September. Replaced by the WINDSOR CASTLE which she met for the first and
last time in Port Elizabeth on September 3, the 30-year-old liner has been sold to
shipbreakers in Japan. Built by Harland & Wolff of Belfast in 1930, the
WINCHESTER CASTLE, with her sistership WARWICK CASTLE, was one of the
company's early motorships.
September 1960
At 5.30 in the morning of August 26 the 788 ton coaster NAHOON, one of the best
known ships at Union ports, crossed the bar at Durban harbour for the last time on a
commercial voyage. Her next, and final, voyage will be to the shipbreakers. Almost
24½ years ago the NAHOON left Durban on her first commercial voyage; for the
past two decades and a bit she has traded between Durban and Cape ports and was a
familiar sight to dock workers at all four major ports. The NAHOON, which was
built by Scott & Sons, Bowling, on the Clyde, had the distinction of being the first
coaster specially built for the South African trade and was followed not long
26
afterwards by the GAMTOOS. With the exception of when she grounded during
heavy fog after leaving Cape Town in 1937 and sustained considerable damage, she
enjoyed a trouble-free career.
During the war when a number of coasters were commandeered for war duties the
NAHOON rendered outstanding service along the coast transporting thousands of
tons of transhipment cargo from Cape Town and destined for the other Cape ports
and Durban. Like the GAMTOOS, the NAHOON derived her name from the trade
for which she was primarily built, the Durban-East London run. With the exception
of periods when she has relieved other ships of Smith's Coasters on the longer hauls
to Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, she has traded between Durban and the Border
port. She was linked with the early days of Durban when Sir Charles Smith invited
Mrs. Henry Ballard of Southampton to launch her. Mrs. Ballard was the widow of
Durban's Port Captain between 1884 and 1904, and at 80 years of age, was believed
to have been the oldest woman ever to have launched a ship on the Clyde.
During the past two or three years the NAHOON and her 'opposition' the BORDER
have earned a David and Jonathan reputation over the 250 mile stretch of coast .
between Durban and East London. In this time there has hardly been an occasion
when the two ships have either not been in port together or within a few miles of
each other. On the last voyage the BORDER headed her old rival into port by a
matter of 2½ hours – at times less than half-an-hour has separated their arrival and
departure times at East London and Durban. The NAHOON's run has now been
taken over by the INTABA formerly the PEKA.
Reproduced by courtesy of 'The South African Shipping News and Fishing Industry Review'
Compiled by John Bailey
Sincere apologies for being out of sequence with the last two articles of “For Your Information”. It’s the
curse of the digital age and more accurately the editor not paying attention to the detail. This piece should
have been in the last issue and vice versa, John will not be impressed, sorry, the editor.
27
Strength in depth
The North Sea can be a forbidding environment on the surface, let alone beneath the
waves.
Looking out from the quayside at Peterhead, Scotland, the importance of the offshore oil and
gas industry to this region's economy is evident, with numerous support ships waiting to ferry
their next load of essential supplies to the many rigs in the North Sea.
Today, there's something a bit different about one ship coming into view over the horizon its size. The Far Samson, red and white and emblazoned with the familiar F of the Farstad
Shipping Company - is the world's most powerful offshore vessel. Designed and equipped by
Rolls-Royce, the UT-Design vessel tackles the underwater world of seabed trenching - laying
cables and pipelines. A hybrid propulsion system, combining diesel-electric and dieselmechanical transmission, propellers and thrusters, gives it the edge over other vessels.
The Far Samson is 121.5 meters long, has a 26 meter beam and 15,620 gross tonnes - by far
the largest of the Farstad fleet and has a record breaking continuous bollard pull of 423
tonnes using all available propellers and 377 tonnes using the main propulsion system only.
Continuous bollard pull is a measurement of how much direct pull a vessel can exert and is
measured by running a long wire from the vessel to a strong fixed point ashore. The ship then
applies full power to its propellers and the wire tension is measured over a ten minute period.
The vessel's 600 tonne winch enables it to trench safely at a depth of 1000 meters in three
meter seas and the hydraulic plough, which weighs 200 tonnes, can handle pipelines of up to
1.4 meters in diameter and is able to cut a trench of 2.5 meters in depth.
As future exploration in search of energy resources begin to target the world's more
challenging environments, vessels with the capabilities of Far Samson are sure to be in
demand. The maneuverability, versatility and of course power, puts Far Samson in a class of
its own.
Far Samson
Rolls-Royce Bergen B-type engines
provide the power for Far Samson.
The 600 tonne Rauma Brattvaag main winch
The Far Samson’s owner, Farstad Shipping ASA, is a major international supplier of large,
modern offshore support vessels.
The company's head quarters is located in Aalesund on the North West coast of Norway. In
addition they have offices in Aberdeen in Scotland, Melbourne in Australia, Singapore and in
Macaé in Brazil. Through a joint venture they also have presence in Angola. The total
number of shore personnel is 170 and the number of sailors is approximately 1,650.
Farstad Shipping has a fleet of 58 vessels. In 2009 the freight income was earned in the
following markets: 24.9% in North West Europe, 47.5% in the Far East/ Australia, 24.1% in
Brazil and 3.4% in other regions. The fleet consists of 32 AHTS (anchor handling tugs), 24
PSV (platform supply vessel) and 2 subsea vessels. Farstad Shipping has currently no new
builds. In November 2010 the company had 19 vessels in the North Sea, 13 in Brazil and 26
in Australia / the Far East.
The company has been listed on Oslo Stock Exchange since 1988 and has over the years
given the shareholders a competitive return on their investment. The number of outstanding
shares is 39 million out of which approximately 46% is owned by the Farstad family. It
achieved, in 2009, operating revenues of NOK 3,257.6 million, which is the highest in the
company's history. The result after tax amounted to a profit of NOK 1,931.5 million.
Union Castle Intermediates (continued)
Allan Mallett
1939-1945
The Second World War caused the loss of three of the Intermediates, and
GLOUCESTER CASTLE. First to go, and to be seen, was DUNBAR CASTLE, The
victim of a magnetic mine in January 1940 off Deal, breaking her back and killing
Captain Causton. Her upperworks remained clearly visible until1949, when the wreck
was “dispersed” by naval divers. Next to go was DUNVEGAN CASTLE, whose voyage
round Africa was abruptly terminated on 3rd September 1939 at East London, where
she was hastily turned round and returned to Britain for conversion to an Armed
Merchant Cruiser, in which capacity she was torpedoed on August 27th 1940 by U46
west of Ireland whilst escorting a Freetown convoy. She sank a day later.
GLOUCESTER CASTLE was the next to go. Hastily re-activated from reserve she made
two sailings on commercial account annually to South Africa. In June 1942 she
returned to Liverpool under the command of Captain T W McAllen, who reportedly
informed the irascible Chairman that she was no longer fit to go to sea and ought to be
scrapped. Sir Vernon was not sympathetic, and GLOUCESTER CASTLE duly loaded
cargo and 12 passengers for another voyage. However, ROSLIN CASTLE had also
returned that month, under Captain H H Rose, and he and McAllen changed ships,
possibly as a rebuke to the latter. At nightfall on July 15th, 750 miles south of
Ascension, GLOUCESTER CASTLE was taken by surprise when the Surface Raider
MICHEL opened fire from almost point-blank range. Her aerials were shot away, no
signal could be sent, and within 10 minutes she had foundered with 8 of her 12
passengers and 85 of her crew including the Captain. The 61 survivors were taken
aboard the raider and ultimately handed over to the Japanese at Yokohama. First
confirmation of the loss emerged in 1943 but it was not until the end of the war that
full details became known. The final loss was LLANDAFF CASTLE, which had
participated in Operation Ironclad, the invasion of Madagascar, and was taking troops
from Suez to Durban when , on November 30th 1942, she was struck by three
torpedoes from U177 off the north coast of Zululand and sank with the loss of two
lives.
Those which survived had hardly less interesting careers. PRETORIA CASTLE was
requisitioned as an Armed Merchant Cruiser, in which capacity she was involved in
operations to Capture Vichy French shipping prior to purchase by the Admiralty for
£1.25 million (her original cost had been £0.95 million) and conversion to an Escort
Carrier. The largest and fastest of the conversions, it was soon decided that she was
too valuable to risk on operational service, so she spent most of the war as a Trials
and Training Carrier. In the early 1970s I learnt that my then Managing Director, Ray
Jeffs, had done his deck landing training aboard her in 1945. The first jet powered
aircraft to touch down on a carrier, admittedly on a touch down and go basis, was an
RAF Meteor III fighter shortly before PRETORIA CASTLE reduced to Category C
reserve at the end of 1945, when Union-Castle exercised the option they held to
repurchase her, for £0.25 million, and refit her for further service, re-naming her
WARWICK CASTLE, in which capacity she joined the Mail service in March 1947 and
30
remained there until September 1950, making the passage in 14 days 14 hours. Her
sister DURBAN CASTLE, after one trooping voyage in 1939, returned to the Mail
service until December 1940 when she was again called up. As an Assault ship she
participated in the North African, Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, and South of France landings.
Released in November 1946 she joined the Mail service from July 1947 until June
1950.
DUNNOTTAR CASTLE spent the first three years as an Armed Merchant Cruiser in
between bouts of engine trouble, mainly in the South Atlantic. In 1942 she was listed
for purchase and conversion to an Escort Carrier, but the plan was dropped and she
became a troopship. Postwar she continued trooping, often on one engine, mainly in
the Mediterranean on the MEDLOC run, popularly believed to be an acronym for
Movement Eventually Despite Lack Of Control until released for refit in April 1948,
completed in January 1949.
LLANGIBBY CASTLE saw it all. Her trooping career commenced in September 1940
and thereafter the only reason why she kept out of the headlines was wartime
censorship! Damaged by bombing in Liverpool docks in December 1940, his next
challenge came on January 16th 1942 when, in convoy for the Cape and Far East, her
rudder, stern and gun were carried away, and 26 lives were lost, by a torpedo from
U402. Undaunted, Capt R F Bayer, steering on her screws, sailed her to Horta where
she remained for a fortnight until Royal Navy destroyers and a tug arrived to escort
her back to Gibraltar, taking several days. There a very relieved complement of troops
disembarked and further repairs were made, but, still rudderless, she completed a
3,400 mile voyage to Liverpool, arriving in April, where she was repaired, and armed
with a 6” gun. Thus fortified, she joined the fleet invading North Africa, where an
enemy shell destroyed her engineers’ accommodation, to which she made appropriate
response with her new gun. Re-equipped as a Landing Ship, she was prepared for her
next operation, at which point her Commander, Captain M H Williams, was granted
compassionate leave, and his place was taken by Captain T W McAllen, late of
GLOUCESTER and ROSLIN CASTLEs. Early in the morning of June 6th 1944 she
anchored off the French coast and began landing the 1000 and more Canadian troops
entrusted to her. She was the second largest merchant vessel so employed. Over the
next 9 months the Head Office voyage book records “Numerous voyages between
Southampton and the French coast” totalling over 60, and moving some 100,000
troops. This ended in March 1945 when she was damaged by the Blue Funnel
ANTENOR in collision in the Solent. The atomic bomb relieved her from her next
projected assignment, assault ship on the Japanese mainland, and 1946 saw her on
the longest voyage recorded by a company owned vessel, 7 months from departure
from Southampton to return. In January 1947 she was sent to her builders for refit,
returning in July 1947.
LLANDOVERY CASTLE was under conversion to a Hospital Ship when she was
severely damaged at Southampton during an air raid on November 1940. Her exploits
as such, mainly under command of Captain W Pace, are recorded in a recently
published crew diary “Shadow of the Hun”. October 1946 saw her at Belfast for refit,
completed in May 1947 when she made the first postwar “Out East Home West sailing,
thereafter switching to the reverse direction.
31
LLANSTEPHAN CASTLE’s wartime career commenced in September 1940 when she
was called up as a transport, immediately after she had completed a voyage from
Liverpool to Cape Town with some 300 child evacuees, aged between 5 and 15,
aboard. This was part of the short lived scheme which was abandoned soon
afterwards when another vessel, Ellerman’s CITY OF BENARES (below), was torpedoed
in mid Atlantic with the loss of most of the children she was taking to North America.
In August 1941 she was Commodore Ship of the first convoy to Archangel after Hitler
invaded Russia. She was considered sufficiently satisfactory to warrant substantial
sums being expended to render her suitable for further such employment, including
insulation and fitting of heating equipment. Thus reinforced, she was sent to the
Indian Ocean where she spent the rest of the war as part of the Royal Indian Marine,
serving in the Burma campaign and, postwar, visiting Batavia with the Royal Air Force
when problems arose there... She returned to her builders for refit in July 1946 and,
14 months later, returned to the Out West, Home East, round Africa service.
City of Benares
32
Making so much smoke that it is embarrassing, is the Indian Navy destroyer INS MUMBAI,
arriving in Durban harbour. Picture by Terry Hutson
Carbon reduction, carbon emissions, carbon dioxide, CO2, climate change, the environment have
become increasingly important keywords in the vocabulary of transportation, with shipping
transportation being no exception.
We all remember a time when it didn’t matter how much ‘black smoke’ a locomotive or ship
created (it was highly popular with steam train photographers and frequently produced on
demand). The old coal burners often laid down a pattern of smoke that could be followed for
miles and even today certain ships of Russian lineage in the Indian Navy are well-known for the
amount of smoke they produce, which can hardly assist the stealth intentions of their designers.
But today we live in an era where industry is expected to reduce, or even eliminate carbon
footprints and again shipping is no exception. New rules and regulations are beginning to apply,
all of them bringing new challenges of reducing costs.
It is believed that shipping, which carries a high proportion of global trade, might be responsible
for producing an annual rate in the region of 1.26 million tons of carbon dioxide – roughly 3.9%
of the global output and a much higher figure than that for aviation, which has long been
challenged to get its act in order.
According to the IMO, the UN-based regulatory body for international shipping, the target has
been set at 2.7%, but, as has been pointed out, this figure doesn’t take into account coastal
shipping along national coastlines.
Now comes an initiative of the Carbon War Room, a not-for-profit organisation seeking to bring
about market-driven solutions to climate change. The initiative has the backing of Sir Richard
Branson and could hasten the introduction of new and tighter rules for the shipping industry.
Operating with a website, www.ShippingEfficiency.org and launched this past week at the UN
Climate Change Conference in Cancún, Mexico, Carbon War Room sets out to rate 60,000 ships
currently in service, including tankers, bulk carriers, cargo ships, cruise ships and ferries on their
environmental worthiness.
The system works by means of colour-coding ships, with ‘A’ designating a ship in the most
efficient category, down to ‘G’ which reflects the worst offender. It is hoped that importers and
exporters will take note of this rating when it comes to agreeing on which shipping line, and
ship, cargo will be carried on their behalf. Using a simple search engine, users including shippers
can pull up an A to G efficiency rating for any one of the 60,000 ships. These include the
majority of the world’s container vessels.
“The Carbon War Room has been advocating the need for business to play a leading role in the
fight to reduce carbon emissions,” said Branson, Co-Founder of the Carbon War Room. “The
data hub for shipping will help the key players in the industry and their customers make better
decisions for their businesses and ultimately the planet.”
The website is publicly available, free of charge and is now live.
ports&ships.co.za
The Ship Society is grateful for the support of the following Corporate Members.
Atlatech Divers & Salvors Ltd.,
Cape Crating
Cape Maritime Electronics (Pty). Ltd.
Cape Town Ship Suppliers & Exporters (Pty). Ltd.
Carrier Marine Services
Cherbourg Projects
Dolphin Offshore Chandling
Gulf Agency Co.
Japan Marine Supplies & Services
Magellan”s Passage Lodge
POSH Semco - Singapore
Ruwekus Shipping
RNC Ships Agency
Safmarine (Pty). Ltd.
Seaguard Services cc
Svitzer Salvage Africa
Trade Ocean Shipping Services
World Shipping Agencies
SHIP SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA
P.O. Box 50835, Waterfront, 8002 Cape Town, South Africa
Website: www.shipsociety.co.za
COMING EVENTS IN THE CLUB ROOMS
Thursday, 23rd December – 8 pm – Further episode of Salvage Code Red – excellent series
Thursday, 30th December – 8 pm – 'Castles to the Cape' – Union-Castle nostalgia (tissues not
supplied!!)
2011
Thursday, 6th January – 8 pm – Further episode of Salvage Code Red
Thursday, 13th January – 8 pm – Interesting DVD will be shown
Saturday, 15th January – 6.30 / 7 pm – braaied boerewors rolls followed by British comedy – Alf
Garnett Christmas Special 'In Sickness and in Health'
Thursday, 20th January – 8 pm – DVD of shipping interest will be shown
Thursday, 27th January – 8 pm – Guest speaker Tony Voss, a South African living in New Zealand,
will discuss an essay he has written about a small vessel, the Mazeppa, which sailed the South
African coast and beyond between 1837 and 1858
NB : there is some doubt as to whether our rooms will be used by the Traditional Boat Association
on the last Thursday of each month in 2011 but this will be verified before too long.
MEMBERS
We welcome Terry Armstrong, Jay Gates and Melody Rowles plus new Corporate Members
Cherbourg Projects, Cape Crating and Dawson, Edwards & Associates. It is great to have the
support of you all and we look forward to seeing you in the club rooms on a regular basis. Alan
Mallett will visit us in our rooms between the end of February and middle of March, when he is
out on holiday from his home in Norfolk Jim and Carmilla Fitt will also be here in March. Sue
Abbott (wife of Peter who is unfortunately not able to travel) arrives on the 18th December and
returns to the UK on the 23rd. She will be staying with Pauline and it is hoped to bring Sue down to
the rooms on the 18th December. Peter wrote 2 books about Union-Castle as both he and Sue
worked on board. Robert Pabst has not been at all well but is now hopefully well on the way to
good health – best wishes Robert from all your friends in the Ship Society and we hope to see you
in the rooms before too long.
Jay Gates has now joined the Committee as Vice-Chairman.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
These are coming in slowly and membership cards will go out with F&J to those members who do
not get down to the rooms regularly. If you have paid your subs. but have not received a card please
let me know. If subs. are not received by the end of ecember those members who have not paid will
cease to receive their copy of F&J. It has been brought to my attention that members who
deposit their subscriptions in the form of cash at the bank have a portion taken off in respect
of a charge. It would, therefore, be appreciated if members do not pay subs., etc., with cash,
unless paying directly to the Hon. Treasurer.
FLOTSAM & JETSAM
As advised previously, our quarterly magazine will be available on our website and we did ask if
members who have access to a computer would be happy to receive it online. About half a dozen
members have indicated their willingness to do so. If you have not already advised Pauline that you
are prepared to receive it online please do so.. We realise that not everyone has access to a
computer and also members like to have it in hard copy form. The decision is yours.
FUNCTIONS IN THE CLUB ROOMS
On 21s October our member Tim Kenyon gave an interesting talk, accompanied by film, on the
Andrea Doria collision. Then on 18th November Philip Short gave a presentation on the
Normandie with excellent footage on this magnificent ship.. It is encouraging to have our
members giving a presentation so how about it folks?
GENERAL
The Annual Dinner at Hildebrand Restaurant on 26th November was attended by 52 members, and
by all accounts, much enjoyed by those present.
Among future guest speakers we have Ulick Brown who was the CEO and Managing Director of
Ellerman & Bucknall on Thursday, 17th February and Alan Mountain on the Birkenhead, in
March. Date to be finalised
The once a month Boerewors Braai followed by a British comedy film have generally been well
supported and Karl Cooton and Patrick Melly are to be congratulated for doing a sterling job.
Greeting cards depicting his paintings of Titanic, Windsor Castle (4 unfunnelled vessel) and
Deutschland have been produced by our member Jerry Day. We are selling them, together with
an envelope for R8 each. They do not have any wording in them so can be used for various
occasions and are exceptional. If you wish to order them please contact Pauline.
The Society was donated a beautiful original poster of the old Queen Mary by Derek Mills, who
has visited the rooms on a number of occasions. Philip Short personally paid to have it framed and
it is now in the main room.
On the 15th September the Cape Town Tourist Guide Association held their EXCO followed by a
meeting (Brian Ingpen was the guest speaker), at which 81 people were present – all of whom
thought our Society and rooms were amazing. Then on 27th October the Van Riebeeck Society
held a function in the evening to launch a book on the letters of Sir Patrick Duncan (after whom the
Duncan Dock is named) and Lady Maud Selborne, spanning the years 1907-1943. This was
attended by about 60 people. On Saturday, 27th November the Cape Town Historical Society
visited the rooms (Clyde Davidson was the guest speaker) and were most impressed. There were
approximately 30 people present. On the 7th December Bonnie Davidson of the U3A organised a
visit to the rooms for approximately 25 people. Clyde Davidson gave a talk on the Society and its
assets etc. On occasions such as these there is always a financial benefit and it also introduces the
Society to people who advise that they did not even know we existed! We are more than happy for
groups of this calibre to hold their meetings in our rooms and there are always representatives from
the Ship Society present. A number of Corporate Members have used the rooms for meetings and
training sessions and we encourage this as a way of thanking them for their support.
Our member Capt. Bill Rice advises there is a book covering the history of the East Dockyard at
Simon's Town entitled 'Simon's Town Dockyard – the first hundred years'. It is produced by the
Simon's Town Historical Society and South African Naval Heritage Trust and can be obtained from
the Simon's Town Museum. Court Road, Simon's Town and the South African Naval Museum, St.
George's Street, Simon's Town Tel: 021-787 4686. Cost R250.
Thanks must go to Buddy Bacon and Derek Stidwell for running our refreshment area so smoothly
and to Pat Downing for her excellent email circulation which keeps members and others informed
of our regular Thursday evening functions. Brendan Doyle, our new Hon. Treasurer, has got the
financial situation completely under control on his super duper computer!! KPMG would have no
problems with our accounting system!!!!
Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and only life's very best for 2011.
Year.
Pauline
See you in the New