Athel tankers

[Gulliver]

Hello Geo Knight
I too had the misfortune to sail on the Athel Crown at the age of 17 as a galley boy in January 1966, from Holland to Porto Padre in Cuba for Molasses, forever to get there and you were right! even longer to get back! it was my first trip, just out of the Vindicatrix training school. I am unable to find any photo`s of the old 'Rust Bucket'
Regards
Kevin McSweeney

Hi Kevin.I had posted some pics in an earlier reply in this thread. but the links had expired,so here they are in more permanent form.
Best Regards.

ATHELCROWN (Off.No.183734) and built in 1949. and was broken up after 22 years service at Burriana,S.E.Spain on 12.10.71





Gulliver

[ray-c]

Some of you may have this and been to the NMA

[Jasper Cecil]

Hi Guys,
Hoping that a few of you may remember me and be interested in my first book which is based around my time at the Gravesend "Peanut" factory and my first trip to sea onboard the Anco Empress in 1974.
Details are on the website www.jcecil-peanut.com but if anybody would like a signed copy please message me for details.
It would be nice if this book takes off as I was with Pan-ocean/Anco until 1989 so there are many more tales providing my memory holds up.

Best wishes,

Jasper.

[j.sabourn]

Sailed with a Ch. Engineer 64/66 ex Athol Line from North Shields. Believe he had been badly burned on one of their vessels previous to these dates, don't think he was Ch. Engineer then. His surname was Candiotis anyone know him or which ship he had himself overcooked. Cheers John Sabourn

[cappy]

don't know him john I will as about .....had a cook on a tanker badly burnt......ship started to bounce of the lizard...the the big chip panspilt oil on the galley stove and set alight he then went to pick up the pan ,,,and she did a hard roll him running backwards till he hit the bulkhead and then it just covered him from chest down.....we went about to Falmouth and put him ashore I don't think he would of made it.....por man cried and roared the ship was very quiet for many days after not happy days regards cappy

[alan vickers]

I sailed on the Athel Duke in the 50s and Athel Beach in the 60s San Pedro de Marcoris and La Romana Dominican Republic for molasses. I can still remember the smell! The only thing wrong with the Duke was the cockroaches.

[Frederick Lacey]

Hi David.. previous thread of Athel Tankers.

Fred.

[John Arton]

Just been going back through this post and regarding ~26,27,28 from Marina and Denise speaking about the deaths of their relations in 1978. I am pretty sure that that disaster was caused by the use of methanol as a solvent to clean down tank bulkheads. I those days is was quite common for crew members to enter the cargo tanks without any breathing apparatus and hand wipe down, using methanol, the tank bulkheads to remove the last traces of previous cargo. This would be done with just a water driven fan providing some means of ventilation for them. If I am right in my memory the ship was in the tropics at the time and no one realised that the high temperature was causing the methanol to vaporise and so the men were breathing in methanol vapours. The effect of this is akin to drunkenness where you start staggering around and shortly afterwards you collapse in a stupor and if not removed very quickly to fresh air and administered a counter medicine {possibly liquid charcoal} you rapidly suffer respitory collapse and die.
I did 2nd mates and mates with a couple of Athel line guys and one of the first Masters of the PAN OCEAN {that's what Athel line ended up in} ships ended up as a lecturer at Warsash lecturing on the safety officers course, his first name was Roger but cannot remember his surname. Only in his mid-late 30's in 75/76.
rgds
JA

[Andreas Reuner]

ATHEL EMPRESS 1937

Hi,

I am new to this site.
I am looking for relatives of crew members tanker ATHEL EMPRESS in summer 1937.

We are fulfilling the history of sailing yacht "STORTEBEKER III" (33ft. Yawl).
She was built 1937 by A&R and crossed the atlantic singlehanded by Capt. Ludwig Schlimbach
aged 61 in summer 1937. (Lissabon to NY, 57days)

"STORTEBEKER III" met "ATHEL EMPRESS" in the middle of Atlantic ocean. They had contact (via morse light and flags). "ATHEL EMPRESS" sent a position by shortwave radio to Hamburg, Germany.

We hope to find out relatives of the crew, who have private photos of this meeting.

Do you know how to find out the crew list of summer 1937 and hopefully contacts to relatives of the crew ?

Thank you very much for any tips.

Regards

Andreas Reuner, Hamburg, Germany

[Doc Vernon]

I know you are trying all avenues Andreas and hope you get lucky!
But as said best to go to the Canadian Site and start from there!
Cheers