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Thread: SS Royston Grange

  1. #11
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    Default S.S. ´´Royston Grange´´ - 40th. anniversary - 1972-2012

    11th. May 1972 - 11th. May 2012
    SS ´´Royston Grange´´

    A service of ´´Remembrance & Thanksgiving´´, in memory of the Crew, Passengers and River Plate Pilot who perished as a result of the collision in the River Plate, between this vessel and the M.T. ´´Tien Chee´´, 40 years´ ago, will be held at the British Cemetery, Montevideo, Uruguay on Friday 11th. May, 2012 at 10:30 a.m.

    Family members of the deceased will be present at the ceremony.

    Contacts (in Montevideo)
    Cynthia Myers Dickin - cynthiadickin@gmail.com
    Ian Dickin - iandickin@adinet.com.uy
    Diana Beare - dibeare@hotmail.com

  2. Thanks Charlie Hannah thanked for this post
  3. #12
    Keith at Tregenna's Avatar
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    Dear Cynthia,

    Thank you so much for your kindly and informative post, I will e.mail direct.

    For now I am certain many are both concerned. interested and thankful for this.

    At present may I add for now some words by Captain Joe Earl, these words that he penned may show some of the support, tribute and remembrance from ourselves and all members on this site.

    LINK: http://www.merchant-navy.net/forum/n...on-grange.html

    Regards,

    Keith.

    IN MEMORY OF:

    Captain George Boothby and the crew of the "Royston Grange" lost with all hands in the River Plate 1972.

    RIP.


    S.T.V. Royston Grange

    Worse things happen at sea they say, worse things happen at sea,
    In `72 this came true with the tanker `Tien Chee`,
    Within dense fog near the River Plate, she collided with a freighter,
    Crude Oil gushed from shattered tanks exploding seconds later.

    The other ship the `Royston Grange ` in fatal rendezvous,
    Lost seventy four razed on her - all passengers and crew,
    Full cargo holds of butter ignited overall,
    Fused in mighty fireball that left no chance at all.

    Ten thousand tons of vessel went up in lethal blaze,
    No time then for rescue or warning sound to raise,
    Montevideo close at hand, bodies still entrapped,
    The Houlder`s ship towed away and later on just scrapped.

    By the Tower of London in All Hallows Church,
    There is a stained glass window - if carrying out research,
    In commemoration colour with burning red repands,
    Depicting Royston Grange in memory of all hands.

    Worse things happen at sea they say,
    Worse things happen at sea.


    Capt J S Earl
    2005

    We have permission to use the works of Captain Earl and do so in tribute. We advise the same of those that wish to copy such work. We again thank Joe for all assistance.

    LINK: Message Board - Her Name Was "Royston Grange"

    Her Name Was “Royston Grange”

    The STV Royston Grange was a British cargo liner which was destroyed by fire after a collision in the Rio de la Plata on 11 May 1972. She was the first British ship to be lost with all hands since World War II. She had been built in 1959 and was owned by the Houlder Line.

    Disaster

    The 7,113 ton Royston Grange, carrying 61 crew, twelve passengers (including six women and a 5-year old child), and an Argentinian pilot, was bound from Buenos Aires to London with a cargo of chilled and frozen beef and butter. As she traversed the Punta Indio Channel, 35 miles from Montevideo, Uruguay, in dense fog at 5.40 a.m. she collided with the Liberian-registered tanker Tien Chee, carrying 20,000 tons of crude oil. The Tien Chee immediately burst into flames and a series of explosions rapidly carried the flames to the Royston Grange, which burned particularly hot due to the cargo of butter and the oil escaping from the Tien Chee. Most of the crew and passengers were asleep. Although the Royston Grange did not sink, every person on board was killed in the fire, most of them probably by carbon monoxide fumes emanating from the refrigeration tanks, which burst in the collision.

    However, the refrigeration system on the Royston Grange was a modern electrical powered Freon system situated in a separate refrigeration room at the starbord side of the engine room. The freon gas was compressed and then cooled and injected in to a large evaporation cylinder which then super cooled brine that was circulated through the evaporator. The super cooled brine was pumped at three temperature levels to the various cargo holds where the brine circulated through fan blown radiators to cool the cargo. It would appear more probable that the crew and passengers were killed by the initial fierce fire caused by the crude oil leaking from the tanker and igniting after the collision, causing a very sudden high temperature with the fire consuming most of the oxygen. If the Freon refrigerant containers and evaporation tanks burst, it would have needed a very high temperature which would have probably been reached after the death of all persons on board.

    The Tien Chee also caught fire and ran aground, blocking all traffic in and out of the port of Buenos Aires. Eight of her forty crew, who were mostly Chinese, also died, but the remainder (and the Argentinian pilot) managed to abandon ship and were picked up by cutters of the Argentine Naval Prefecture.

    K.
    Last edited by Keith at Tregenna; 6th May 2012 at 10:28 PM.

  4. #13
    Tony Morcom's Avatar
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    Default SS Royston Grange

    Since the SS Royston Grange is such an important vessel in Houlder Fleet history, I am today taking the liberty of amalgamating all the threads and posts on this site under one roof.It is perhaps time this was done since the 40th anniversary of this disaster occurs next month and this will be a particularly poignant time for all those of us who have sailed on one or more of the Houlder Fleet.

    The following is a website that I came upon whilst researching Houlder's history last year. The translation is not perfect but none the less it gives a very good local insight into the tragedy.
    Many other sites exist with references to this fine ship and her crews and links can be found HERE

    Last edited by Mike Hall; 22nd April 2012 at 09:36 AM. Reason: extra wording

  5. #14
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    Many thanks to all who have written. Wonderful to read you! Have copied the poem and messages (as I´m doing on another forum: Ships´ Nostalgia), in order that, at the service on May 11th., we may be able to share them with those present. Will continue to be in touch, as the days unfold. If you wish to send anything directly to me, feel free to do so:
    cynthiadickin@gmail.com
    Warm wishes from Montevideo, Uruguay
    Cynthia Myers Dickin

  6. #15
    Keith at Tregenna's Avatar
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    Default Please also see: Royston grange:

    IN TRIBUTE VIA MUDCAT CAFE:

    Subject: Lyr Add - ROYSTON GRANGE
    From: Ross Campbell
    Date: 30 Apr 08 - 02:01 PM

    ROYSTON GRANGE
    (Ron Baxter et al)
    Tune: Ross Campbell

    You men that sail the ocean, come listen to my song;
    And find a lesson, if you can, in a voyage that went wrong.
    For when you leave the land behind, your luck may quickly change -
    Sit down, I'll tell to you the tale of the vessel "Royston Grange".

    Her cargo it was frozen beef, sent from the Argentine;
    Her crew they hailed from London, from Glasgow and the Tyne.
    Off the River Plate they met the fog, and in that lies the blame;
    For through that fog there came a ship - the doom of the "Royston Grange".

    The RADAR was revolving, for an echo could be seen;
    Coming fast, but it would pass by on the starboard beam;
    But that heavy-laden tanker, for reasons never found,
    Put her helm to starboard and the "Royston Grange" ran down.

    Though the Captain called for "Full Astern" and the wheel was spun around,
    The tanker's bows drew nearer, and through her sides they ground;
    No explosions lit the sky, no tanks went up in flames,
    But silent as a marble tomb, lay the "Royston Grange".

    For her Phreon tanks had ruptured and the gas had quickly spread;
    And all within a minute, the whole of the crew was dead.
    And though they searched from stem to stern, no-one was left alive;
    More than eighty men were dead, not one of them survived.

    So let's drink to their memory, as another song we sing;
    But don't forget today, lads, what tomorrow it might bring;
    For Death, she stalks silent, and she strikes both swift and strange,
    As when she took into her arms the crew of the "Royston Grange".

    Notes (RJC) The Royston Grange

    Approaching each other in a narrow channel of the River Plate, seven miles from the port of Montevideo, Uruguay, two freighters collided on May 11, 1972. A violent explosion devastated both ships and killed eighty-four persons. Destroyed were the Houlder Line's Royston Grange, a British cargo ship carrying grains and refrigerated meat to London, and the Liberian-flagged tanker Tien Chee carrying 20,000 tons of crude petroleum.

    How the collision came about was never determined; all aboard the Royston Grange, ten passengers and sixty-three crew members, were killed; ten on the Tien Chee were never found. The ships locked bows, and the Liberian ship's holds were ruptured, causing tons of oil to spill into the Plate and spread out for miles onto the Uruguayan beaches. Fire then erupted, and the oil-coated water was soon aflame.

    No time was available for either ship to lower lifeboats, and only thirty-one of the Chinese crew on the Tien Chee managed to jump overboard and swim through the fiery waters before the two ships disappeared in a titanic explosion. One of the desperate swimmers was so badly burned that he died only minutes after being dragged from the flaming water. Despite the immense damage, both ships remained afloat and were later towed away to be scrapped.

    LINK: http://www.mudcat.org/detail_pf.cfm?...age_ID=2329945

    K.

    LINK: http://www.merchant-navy.net/forum/n...html#post86964


    A remarkable tribute to the Royston Grange: A relative of a former crew member has named his Canal Boat Royston Grange in tribute to his father, a crew member not on board on that fateful day but never forgot his shipmates and shared in the agony of the loss of the ship and many friends.

    K.

    LINK: http://www.merchant-navy.net/forum/p...nal-boats.html
    Last edited by Keith at Tregenna; 25th April 2012 at 11:01 PM.

  7. #16
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    Talking s.s.royston grange

    I did two trips on this ship.
    19/09/1960 to 03/11/1960,london,sao vincente,buenos aires,la plata,buenos aires,london.
    18/11/1960 to 05/01/1961,london,sao vincente,montevideo,buenos aires,la plata,montevideo,,sao vincente,london.
    Gallery Manager and Friend of the Website

    R 693816



    Please visit the Gallery to see the latest photos

  8. #17
    Keith at Tregenna's Avatar
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    Last edited by Keith at Tregenna; 26th April 2012 at 01:15 AM.

  9. #18
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    Excellent!
    Thanks tons!
    Copying each mssge as it´s posted and they will be handed to relatives who will be with us, from the UK, on 11/May/2012
    Have been contacted by another relative who´s recently read the news re the service of ´´Thanksgiving and Remembrance´´.... who was unable to come down in ´72 and who, hopefully, may make it!
    Good to know that the news is being shared around the globe....
    Warm wishes for each one of you... as we remember...
    Cynthia Myers Dickin - cynthiadickin@gmail.com

    ---------- Post added at 03:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:07 PM ----------

    https://picasaweb.google.com/1177445...eat=directlink

    Hi again,
    See whether you can access the above link, which is what we´re beginning to put together and after the 11th. May 2012, we´ll add photos of the service.
    There´ll also be someone filming the service, for those abroad, who will not be with us.
    Warm wishes and if you can´t access the above, let me know and I´ll try another method.
    Cynthia Myers Dickin - cynthiadickin@gmail.com

  10. #19
    Keith at Tregenna's Avatar
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    Default Stv rs:

    Hi Cynthia,

    George Boothby, 55, Master: was a resident of my home town, Barry Dock, Barry, S. Wales.

    His local church, St. Paul's has a similar window to all Hallows, London, dedicated to the memory of all those from and of Royston Grange.

    Thanks for: https://plus.google.com/photos/11774...129?banner=pwa

    K.

    Attached tributes.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Keith at Tregenna; 3rd June 2012 at 12:37 PM.

  11. #20
    Tony Morcom's Avatar
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    Default From Mike Houlder

    I have received an email from Mike Houlder and he has asked me to pass on the following. (I realise it is a duplication)

    "Tony, I've been asked to pass on news of this remembrance and thanksgiving service in Montevideo to any Houlder Bros contacts.


    The notice is rather short for anyone who might want to attend. But you might like to publish it yourself.

    I enclose a copy of the invitation I received which gives the details and contacts.

    I am planning to attend myself to represent my father.



    Best wishes
    Mike Houlder"



    11th. May 1972 – 11th. May 2012
    M.V. ´´Royston Grange´´
    A service of ´´Remembrance & Thanksgiving´´ , in memory of the Crew, Passengers and River Plate Pilot who perished as a result of the collision in the River Plate, between this vessel and the M.T. ´´Tien Chee´´, 40 years ago, will be held at the British Cemetery, Montevideo on Friday 11th. May 2012, at 10:30 hs.
    Family members of the deceased will be present at the ceremony.

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