disaster Rogue wave swept him away

[Amata]

Working on deck in a storm on the North Sea

 

[AdaBull]

I would attach myself all the time

 

[variometer]

I would attach myself all the time

Like a human barnacle

 

[Flatus Tube]

As I recently mentioned, my grandad was a deep sea trawler man mostly working in the North Sea.

To get into the top bunk bed, they’d just hold their hand on it and wait for the boat to roll with the huge waves, and use the weightless moment to float into bed 😂.

 

[Dr Deacon]

As I recently mentioned, my grandad was a deep sea trawler man mostly working in the North Sea.

To get into the top bunk bed, they’d just hold their hand on it and wait for the boat to roll with the huge waves, and use the weightless moment to float into bed 😂.

My Dad would do similar; he was a merchant seaman working on British cargo vessels across the Atlantic and Pacific the 50s.

 

[wiggins]

My Dad would do similar; he was a merchant seaman working on British cargo vessels across the Atlantic and Pacific the 50s.

Jut by the way, I worked my passage from Rotterdam to Melbourne on a 35000 ton ro ro container ship.

Caught fire off the equatorial African coast after our equator party and we fought it for five days. Started in the engine room and ripped up through the lift shaft through the car decks. We carried a big cargo of European cars for the Aus market. Lots of BMW's all burnt out. Crazy stuff.

I was young then and very excited. It would scare the shit out of me now!

 

[wiggins]

My Dad would do similar; he was a merchant seaman working on British cargo vessels across the Atlantic and Pacific the 50s.

I'll write up the full story some time and post it.

It turned a 3 week working passage into a 3 month ordeal. Good memories though...

The Indian Ocean swells were just enormous. I'd be on a deck 50' or more above the water line and see a wall of deep blue water coming right at me. The ship would then rise up and you could see for miles. And then she'd go back down into the next trough and again the wall of blue. All day long.

A couple of abotross cruised just above the bridge, getting lift from the wind rising up off the super structure. I'd wander up there and could see them about 20' away from me. They were there for a week or more.

 

[Dr Deacon]

Jut by the way, I worked my passage from Rotterdam to Melbourne on a 35000 ton ro ro container ship.

Caught fire off the equatorial African coast after our equator party and we fought it for five days. Started in the engine room and ripped up through the lift shaft through the car decks. We carried a big cargo of European cars for the Aus market. Lots of BMW's all burnt out. Crazy stuff.

I was young then and very excited. It would scare the shit out of me now!

That's quite a story. Philippino crew...? British cargo ships in the 50s rarely employed foreigners.

Discharging Bedford trucks onto pontoons at Christmas Island, 1958:

 

[Dr Deacon]

I'll write up the full story some time and post it.

It turned a 3 week working passage into a 3 month ordeal. Good memories though...

The Indian Ocean swells were just enormous. I'd be on a deck 50' or more above the water line and see a wall of deep blue water coming right at me. The ship would then rise up and you could see for miles. And then she'd go back down into the next trough and again the wall of blue. All day long.

A couple of abotross cruised just above the bridge, getting lift from the wind rising up off the super structure. I'd wander up there and could see them about 20' away from me. They were there for a week or more.

Cape Horn, 1956, with a cargo of 5 ton logs:

 

[wiggins]

That's quite a story. Philippino crew...? British cargo ships in the 50s rarely employed foreigners.

Discharging Bedford trucks onto pontoons at Christmas Island, 1958:

View attachment 920040

Great pics! Those trucks look like Matadors.

Shipping has changed so much since the 1950's. Containers really changed the way we pack stuff.

Roll on roll off (ro ro) makes things so easy for basic ports as you just drive on and off with what ever you want to load or unload. No need for cranes.

My dad was a shipbroker. He'd do deals with mining companies and ship owners to arrange long term charters, sometimes for 20 years. IE an Aussie bauxite mine in Weipa needs to ship to a Japanese smelter X thousand tons a year so he'd sort out the logistics with the ship owner, mine and smelter and get the deal done. He organised the working passage home for me after I finished A levels in England, where I'd been for 2 years.

The ship was the Tomburra, Norweigen Wilhelmson Line ship, out of Bergen. Crew mainly Norweigen with some Spanish guys and one Philipino. About 20 crew in all. I was 18 at the time...

 

[wiggins]

Cape Horn, 1956, with a cargo of 5 ton logs:

View attachment 920043

View attachment 920044

Jesus man, there are some great shots here! Big water too!

5 ton log loose is no laughing matter.

My dad's hand writing looks suspiciously similar to that above. Maybe we're brothers...

 

[Dr Deacon]

Jesus man, there are some great shots here! Big water too!

5 ton log loose is no laughing matter.

My dad's hand writing looks suspiciously similar to that above. Maybe we're brothers...

I've got dozens of shots from the 50s. My Dad was a 3rd (then 2nd) engineer on Prince Line (Furness Withy) ships in the 1950s and was absolutely snap happy with a camera. Took photos of all sorts and packed them into two albums between 1956 and 1959, most with hand written labels for each photo. He spent approx 7 years in the merchant navy between 1956 and 1963...sailed all over - USA, South America, Panama, all round the Pacific, Java, Aus, Far East (China, Japan, Philippines), the lot.
Those logs were loaded up at Montevideo, Uruguay and trasnsported to LA via Cape Horn...picking up and discharging various other cargos along the way.
Brothers - now there's a thought. You're a cunt like me so there could very well be a link!

 

[Dr Deacon]

Dad even mocked the occasional wog on his travels, notice the caption

Here's a bunch more swells:

Leisure time:

You'll recognise this one:

Virginia:

 

[Tinkle_Star]

Dad even mocked the occasional wog on his travels, notice the caption

View attachment 920050

Here's a bunch more swells:

View attachment 920052

Leisure time:

View attachment 920053

You'll recognise this one:

View attachment 920055

Virginia:

View attachment 920056

Awesome pics, Doc 👍🏻

 

[wiggins]

The old ship is now part of the US Ready Reserve fleet.

Cape Ducato-class vehicle cargo ship - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[dwdays]

Very cool

 

[danthaman654]

He attempted to run,the water followed,he was gone.