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9th October 2018, 10:28 AM
#1
Hello :)
Hi everyone, I am the daughter of Captain Bestwick who started his career in the Merchant Navy in the late 50's. He sailed on many Shell tankers, and that's really what has brought me to this forum. Sadly he passed away nearly 3 years ago and I have questions about several photographs he took with ships he sailed on in them. Unfortunately I didn't inherit the ship gene, so my research and memory can only take me so far! I'll ask those questions in the help section and cross my fingers you guys can help, but I just wanted to say hello first, so hello
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9th October 2018, 10:59 AM
#2
Re: Hello :)
Linda, welcome, and thank you for posting. We have a wide community here with extensive knowledge and experience and I am sure there will be someone who may be able to assist.
I worked for Shell Tankers for about 18 years and although your fathers name rings a bell, I dont think I sailed with him as Captain but may be in some other rank.
If there is anything I can help you with, please ask.
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9th October 2018, 11:47 AM
#3
Re: Hello :)
Hi Tony, thanks for the welcome.
I believe my dad was well known and respected in his career. He stopped sailing in '69/70 then spent the rest of his time on shore as Harbour Master on the Thames and later the Mersey. He attended the annual Master Mariners dinner in Liverpool among many other things right up until he passed away. I would imagine there are some people here that may well have worked with him or knew him.
I've opened another thread to see if anyone can help with info on the photos, I have my fingers crossed!
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9th October 2018, 12:04 PM
#4
Re: Hello :)
#1. Linda putting dates together your father seems to have passed away as a fairly young man. When he stopped sailing about 1970 as you say the likes of sites like this would not have been available to him , otherwise he might have left some sort of resume that his family might have been able to follow. I also hope there may be those on site who can fill in a few blank pages for you. I have children who are also in their 50 s themselves who I saw last July and was surprised that my son said he had thoughts of going to sea at a early age, but I never spoke of ships when at home. I kept the two life’s ashore and afloat totally apart. Your father probably did the same. If He had asked me so and he wanted to go to sea I would have helped him, but I had no wish to coerce him into doing so , and am pleased that I didn’t as he would probably be today out of work. I hope as I say there will be others on site who remember your father and you can fill in some of the blank pages of his life. Your father probably did the right thing by going ashore when he did and at least you saw something of him. It was the thing most seamen gave away which was the most missed was family. It would have been nice if you could have traced his career in his own words on sites such as this , but unfortuanetley they probably didn’t exist in his time. Good luck with your seeking of the past. Regards JS
Last edited by j.sabourn; 9th October 2018 at 12:07 PM.
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9th October 2018, 02:46 PM
#5
Re: Hello :)
Hi J.Sabourn, he was in his early 70's, a good age once upon a time but far too young these days. He actively avoided the internet lol, he used computers a lot but never online. He was very open about his days at sea, would have answered any questions I have now, but of course he's not here to answer them. It's really just putting the photos in context that I'm looking for. Hopefully people will know the ships, if not my dad
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9th October 2018, 08:10 PM
#6
Re: Hello :)
Welcome to the site Linda.
The gang here will help you all ways that they can .
Enjoy
Ron the batcave
o
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10th October 2018, 03:03 AM
#7
Re: Hello :)
I will hopefully, take a look over the next few days.
Regards,
Keith.
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10th October 2018, 08:22 AM
#8
Re: Hello :)
Thanks Ron and Keith
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18th October 2018, 07:41 AM
#9
Re: Hello :)
Linda,
I f you have a list of the Shell tankers he sailed on and the time periods, try the Helderline.com web site for crew listings and details of those ships.
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