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thomo
Barlick Born Old Salt
2021 Posts
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 Posted -
03/06/2007
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09:31
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As an intro, to this section, I will use what is possibly the best known of them all, the "RMS Queen Mary". There is a small family conection here as my Great Uncle Angelo was involved with her conversion after her arrival at Long Beach CA. Around the base of at least one of her funnels were lockers, some of which had not been opened for many years. In one of these were found 40,000 "Tin Hats" left over from her days as a very succesful troopship.
The Queen Mary. Her keel was laid down on the 31. 01. 1931. at John Browns yard on the Clyde, work was suspended due to economic troubles and it was not until 1934 that work was resumed, she was finally handed over to "Cunard" on 11. 05. 1936. She began her war work in 1940 and during this time she travelled over 600,000 miles and carried nearly 800,000 people, amongst whom were German POWs, GI, War Brides and a great many Australian and American Troops. There is a lot more to this episode of course, but one notable and tragic event was her collision with her escort, HMS Curacoa with a loss of 329 of that ships company. She was sold to the Town of Long Beach in 1967 for the sum of £1,230,000, about the current cost of an appartment in Knightsbridge. She remains at Long Beach and is a Museum, Hotel and Conference Centre.
Also in this section I will post details of vessels that are not preserved but still exist. How well I remember the sad sight of "The Queen Elizabeth" as we steamed past her wreck on our entry to Hong Kong in 1974
thomo
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softsuvner
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Posted - 31/01/2008 : 00:01
Not sure about the leaning gin palace, but like the story about the sub and her nemesis.
I am not sure how many old ship negs I have, but I know there is at least one other tug shot there, and have found a shot of laid-up warships. Hope to post some more when I find the time to sort them.
Just wish we had taken more but, in those pre 35mm days, you only bought films for the holidays, and there weren't many on a roll, was it eight shots?
Malcolm
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 31/01/2008 : 08:08
Eight 3X3 on a 120 film. Ten I think if it was 3X2. Last 120 films I used were when I had Hassleblad cameras. Wonderful quality.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
softsuvner
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Posted - 31/01/2008 : 22:52
Many years ago, I found these two pictures in the back of a book that had been given to me. There are no details on the backs, and no print numbers, so I doubt that they are Official photos. I always assumed from the look of the vehicles in the second shot, that they were taken during the First War, and show the train ferry from Harwich. Recently. I saw a picture of one of these vessels taken at Cork in 1921, when the British were leaving Ireland after the formation of the Free State. This spurred me to find the two old photos and do a bit of research.
I now find that these ferries were built for the War Office, and didn't use Harwich until 1922. They seem to have run from either Southampton or a military port in Kent.
When I was scanning the photos today, I noticed that what I had always taken to be army lorries, are actually steam wagons. The army used three different makes during the First War, but three of those in the photo show the Foden tipping gear, so they are all probably Fodens.
Can anybody add anything about these vessels, and does anybody recognise the port where the pictures were taken?
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 01/02/2008 : 08:34
Good pics. The open wagons have heavy calibre shells in them......
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Tizer
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Posted - 01/02/2008 : 12:28
Seeing the pictures looking down into the hold reminds me of something I saw last night on a local TV station (sorry to go off topic). It was showing Avonmouth Docks (current film), and there was a 68,000 ton coal carrier. They showed shots taken from the crane looking down into the hold after much of the coal had been unloaded. What surprised me was to see a JCB digger scurrying about at the bottom of the hold collecting the last of the coal. It looked tiny in the bottom of the hold, like some kind of yellow insect that had evolved to scavenge coal and lived in the holds oh ships!
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Ringo
Site Administrator
3793 Posts
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Posted - 04/02/2008 : 09:35
If you want to see a big top heavy ship, there is one on Blackpool beach at the moment.
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Tizer
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Posted - 04/02/2008 : 10:07
How long will it take for a Blackpool entrepreneur to convert it into Stanley's leaning gin palace?
The stated cause of the accident was a freak wave - did the piers not get damaged then?
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 04/02/2008 : 14:58
What I can't understand is how was it so close to Blackpool? Was it running out of Fleetwood?
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Tizer
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Posted - 04/02/2008 : 20:26
Heysham
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thomo
Barlick Born Old Salt
2021 Posts
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Posted - 19/11/2009 : 12:19
I am now close to re-opening this thread and will shortly edit some of the earlier bits. The thread itself will now include all types of civilian vessels large and small, great ships to river craft, it may be of interest to know that in the UK alone there are 255 smaller craft that are considered as historic, add to this, there are no less than 201 listed Tall Ships afloat and most are seaworthy, just a few of these are replicas. The reason for lumping all civvy vessels together rather than sub-grouping them is to save time and space.
thomo |
thomo
Barlick Born Old Salt
2021 Posts
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Posted - 20/11/2009 : 15:14
RMS Queen Mary, Long Beach.
A splendid example of the John Browns Clydeside yards workmanship. Laid down on the 1st of December 1930 she was launched on the 26th of September 1934. At 81,237 gross tons 1019' long and 118.5' wide she was indeed a big lady. 24 Yarrow boilers supplied steam to four sets of single reduction geared Parsons steam turbines which developed 160,000 shaft horsepower giving her a speed of 28.5 knots. Tradgedy blighted her earlier career when in her role as a troopship she colided with the Cruiser HMS Curacoa off the coast of Ireland cutting the Cruiser in two and sinking her with the loss of 338 lives. In December 1942 she emberked no less than 16,082 Amercan troops bound for Europe, the greatest number of passengers ever carried on a single ship. She was retired from service on the 1st of December 1967 and moved to Long Beach, my Great Uncle Angelo Walter Walsh born in Blackburn worked on her conversion to her present role. She remains at Long Beach California to this day and will forever be a just tribute to the skills of the men of Clydeside who built her. Long may she survive.
thomo |
Bell
New Member
4 Posts
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Posted - 20/11/2009 : 19:53
I sailed on the Queen Elizabeth Peter, Southampton to New York on October 15 1964 and would often see all the great liners docked on the lower west side of Manhatten, sadly no more.
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 21/11/2009 : 05:53
I visited the QM at Long Beach in 1981. Here's a pic of the first class bar, very long exposure and no flash so excuse the camera shake. The thing that struck me most was how ther were no sharp corners on anything below deck in the public areas and even though I knew it was a riveted ship the sheer number and size of the rivets was amazing even to someone like me who knows about them.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Another
Traycle Mine Overseer
6250 Posts
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Posted - 21/11/2009 : 07:42
I used to live just behind the dock in Freemantle, Southampton where the QE2 would provision etc. When she was in port we could see the top of her superstructure from the bathroom window. Nolic
" I'm a self made man who worships his creator"  |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 22/11/2009 : 08:18
New York harbour tug in 1980, moored at the Battery.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
TGTP, Ships, Merchant, Steam
