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Invernahaille
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26/06/2006
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04:02
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Edited by - Invernahaille on 10 April 2007 04:41:19
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Invernahaille
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Posted - 16/11/2006 : 14:40
Stan your best bet would have been to send your letters to Naval Architects. However, before doing so, get your ideas registered with the patents office. Shipping companies do have marine superintendents etc, but in the end they rely heavily on the firms that specialise in ship design and Naval Architecture.
I feel sad saying that because I believe your thoughts like most people are the conservation of life at sea. Unfotunately in this world there are plagerist's, who will take your ideas modify them and implement them in new design, and claim the glory.
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 16/11/2006 : 18:58
Who cares as long as the ships don't fall over? I sent it to Stena and the Architects..... I sent it off on another little flight today...... I once had a brilliant idea for fire fighting in tunnels and they gave that some very serious thought.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Invernahaille
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Posted - 17/11/2006 : 15:42
Sounds Good.
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 17/11/2006 : 16:24
It was the time they had a fire in the Channel Tunnel and I pointed out that when the steam locos took on water from the troughs at speed it enveloped the train. Just imagine doing the same with a scoop on the trains in the tunnel, it would fill the air with spray, best sprinkler system ever. Plenty of water in the tunnel and the slope needn't have been too big a problem. Dead simple and very effective.......
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Invernahaille
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Posted - 10/12/2006 : 14:51
Here's a story from when I was on the Hebridean Princess.
A couple were cruising on the princess, and made enquiries regarding charter of the vessel for a wedding party. The ships purser gave them a price and they agreed to charter the ship for a weeks wedding cruise for 30 guest's. The week prior to the cruise the purser stocked the ships beverage locker with the finest liquors and wines you could buy, with the view to making great profit from bar takings.
The following week the wedding party joined the ship, to great pomp and ceremony. That evening at the captains reception it was revealed that the wedding party were Mormons, and they didnt drink alchohol.
A little perk that the crew had was that they could purchase wines etc at cost. I was drinking bottles of the finest Chiante for weeks at the dinner table.
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Flutterby
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Posted - 10/12/2006 : 20:38
Doc,My hubby served on H.M. S.Fearless 1974-76
Kmp |
Invernahaille
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Posted - 11/12/2006 : 15:11
Hi Flutters.
There is another posting on the site. It's posted by Thomo, and it concerns his family at sea. I think its called "Family at Sea"
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Invernahaille
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Posted - 14/12/2006 : 13:53
Tyne for change on shipbuilding river
By Bill Wilson
Business reporter, BBC News, Newcastle
Sunset industry: The death knell has sounded for Tyne shipbuilding
The New Year often means a new start, and as 2007 approaches the focus is on what the future holds for a historic artery of North East life and labour: the River Tyne.
Industry on the river was dealt a body blow this summer when work at the Swan Hunter shipyard on an unfinished ship was handed over to BAE Systems at Govan in Glasgow.
The Ministry of Defence's decision meant the Tyneside yard, one of the most famous shipbuilding names in the region, was mothballed.
As the months dragged on, no further shipbuilding contracts were secured, and a proposal to change tack and become a breaking business did not come about.
In an effort to keep the river as a major site for industry in the region, a task force was set up featuring North Tyneside and Newcastle City councils, and development bodies One North East and TyneWear Partnership.
Its brief was to explore the options for employment-led regeneration on a 520 hectare site along the north bank of the river, from North Shields Fish Quay up to Walker riverside in Newcastle.
'No future'
But already one thing is clear. The river, which for decades rang to the noise of shipbuilding and engineering, has witnessed the end of an industrial era.
"Shipbuilding is a non-starter," says Swan Hunter boss Jaap Kroese.
"Both on Tyneside and in the UK as a whole it has no future.
We want to see employment here again - whether it is engineering or offices or whatever
Jaap Kroese, Swan Hunter
"I am very sad that ship making has ended. But we knew two and a half years ago that things could not go on."
Just five years ago, he had told the BBC business website that shipbuilding was "a sunrise industry, and not a sunset one".
Now, though, Swan Hunter is putting the yard up for sale, the iconic cranes which dominated the skyline for decades are set to come down, and Mr Kroese is hoping that something can be done to provide a new future for the site.
Many famous ships such as the Mauretania were made on the Tyne
The 67-year-old Dutchman has already held a number of meetings with the task force members and is due to meet North Tyneside mayor John Harrison very soon.
"We want to see the land used properly in another way - one that provides jobs. We want to see employment here again - one way or another, whether it is engineering or offices or whatever.
"Whoever buys the land will have to work with the local council and the other agencies."
A task force examining the future of industry on the River Tyne will report on how to use rundown and abandoned sites on its north bank.
Shipbreaking non-starter
All potential employment, and other uses, for the riverside site are being investigated, including industries such as oil and gas.
Fewer than 10 people are still working on Swan Hunter's site and recent plans to re-establish the yard as a ship breaker have been axed.
This is a hugely significant gateway into the North East
North Tyneside mayor John Harrison
Swan Hunter had applied for waste management licences this autumn, to begin ship breaking operations, with many predicting a new future for the yard cutting up naval vessels and defunct North Sea oil rigs.
"We had some contact with the Ministry of Defence about looking at shipbreaking contracts, but it was not feasible," says Mr Kroese.
However, industry minister Margaret Hodge has said she is confident that manufacturing still has a future along the Tyne.
She said the changes along the river had to be seen as an "opportunity" for the future, while lamenting the loss of 260 jobs at Swan Hunter in the summer.
Mr Kroese is consulting with local council leaders about the way ahead
And, referring to possible future uses for the land, North Tyneside Council's elected mayor John Harrison, says: "We have ruled nothing in or out.
"But some of the industrial land along the north bank of the river has become under-used over the past few years.
"This is a hugely significant gateway into the North East.
"We believe it has tremendous potential for job creation which would benefit not only the residents of North Tyneside and Newcastle but the rest of the North East."
He said the task force had a responsibility to local people and the whole region to make the most of the site's potential.
"We are working closely with partners and stakeholders during this major study to ensure all opportunities are considered."
False dawn
For most of the 20th century a River Tyne without shipbuilding would have seemed unthinkable.
At its peak the Tyne built 25% of the world's shipping, while at one stage the UK was the world's largest shipbuilding nation.
The only major ship on the River Tyne now is a floating nightclub
Among the ships built on the Tyne was the Cunard liner Mauretania, which on its launch in 1906 revolutionised steamship design and was the largest and fastest ocean liner in the world.
But between 1993 and 2003 not one ship was launched from Swan Hunter's yard.
In 1995 Mr Kroese took the decision to invest and rescue Swan Hunter, and things appeared to go well, with a number of refurbishment contracts and then the construction of Largs Bay: a 16,160-tonne ship operated by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
However, its sister ship, Lyme Bay, was never finished on the River Tyne, being taken to Scotland for fitting out.
It was the first time in the 145-year history of Swan Hunter that a ship left the yard unfinished.
'Working hard'
It was a blow for Mr Kroese, who had first seen the yard in 1955 in an era when - as he says - the Tyne was "a river where there was nothing but shipyards".
Now, despite the closure of Swan Hunter, he says it is "fantastic the two councils and the development agency are working to try and find a future for the river".
The river study, being carried out by three groups of independent consultants, is due to see the light of day in an interim report early in the New Year, with a full report later in the spring.
By then it should be clear what industries, if any, can take the place of the defunct shipmaking industry on the River Tyne.
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 14/12/2006 : 14:55
Funny isn't it that at a time when more ships are being built than ever before we have allowed a major industry to die. One of the original commanding heights of the economy. Is it any wonder you can't find a good plumber when everyone wants to be a whizz kid in the city.......
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Invernahaille
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Posted - 14/12/2006 : 19:50
Stanley. You know what my opinions are on the loss of any major industry. The reality is that once again we saw it coming, and did very little to attempt to sustain the British Shipbuilding Industry. Once again it's one of those industries that no-one really wanted to work in because of the conditions, but it was an industry that paid a little more than the mainstream industries.
It's sad, just so sad.
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 15/12/2006 : 07:22
It's just another demonstration of what a blunt instrument pure monetarism and acceeding to the forces of the market is. When Rolls Royce went bank in the late 50s the government stepped in because of the name and look at what a good decision that was. The root of the recent decline in smokestack industries is on the whole the use of windfall profits from the North Sea to finance a sustained attack on the unions. Eventually this will be seen as the biggest mistake of the second half of the 20th C.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Invernahaille
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Posted - 18/12/2006 : 21:54
The Hebridean Princess (ex Columba) returns to George Prior ship repairers in Great Yarmouth every winter after the cruise season is over, for a major refit. At least some skills survive because of that.
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 28/01/2007 : 08:36
I've brought this back up because of the new topic on large diesels..... Pick your way through this!
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Invernahaille
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Posted - 01/02/2007 : 04:03
I am a member of the "Manxman Preservation Society" now called the "Manxman Steamship Company Ltd"
When she finished service with the I.O.M.S.P.co she was moved to Preston where she became a floating nightclub. The venture was a failure and she was towed to Liverpool, where she was laid up for a number of years. I dont know how many members travelled to the Isle of Man, but I would think that of those that did some of them would have sailed on the Manxman.
The last time I saw her she was sinking in a dock in Hull. All that we could do to save her, was drain the dock below the hole in the bow so that she would not take on more water. Some brainless wonder had cut away part of her bow so she could fit into the dock, but didnt seal the bow so she was exposed to the elements and took on water, and started to sink in the dock. I believe she is now moored on the River Wear in Sunderland. So if any members have a spare week-end why not pay a visit?
Gross
The Manxman in better days.
Here are her specifications
Registered Tonnage 2,495
Net Tonnage 946
Passenger Capacity 2,393 (Max)
Crew 68
Car Capacity 16 to 20 although this reduced the passenger capacity by 5 to 600
Official Number 186349
Order Placed 24th March 1953
Keel Laid 15th April 1954
Launched 8th February 1955
Sea Trials 12th May 1955
Handed over to owners 14th May 1955
Builder Cammell Laird & Co. Birkenhead
Maiden Voyage 21st May 1955
Machinery 2 x Pametrada ahead all impulse steam turbines with double reduction gearing
Boilers 2 x Babcock &Wilcox Superheated, pressure 350 psi, 650 degrees F
Main engine power 7,500 to 8,000 shp
Bunker Capacity Fuel oil - 156.4 tons, Diesel for generators 14.12 tons
Range 1,000 nm
Fuel Consumption Fuel oil - 3 tonnes per hour
Length 325' b/p 344' loa
Beam 47 ft
Depth to main deck 18'
Loaded draft 12' 3"
Call sign M T Q C
Service Speed 20 knots
Maximum speed 22 knots
Edited by - Invernahaille on 01 February 2007 04:13:33
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 01/02/2007 : 07:44
Always a shame to see a nice piece of machinery neglected......
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Marine Engineers
