Weather conditions.

[Captain Kong]

Was in many a storm similar to some quoted here.
One of the worst was the search for the Princess Victoria in January 1953. 153 people were lost, we had sailed from Heysham for Belfast on the AMITY, a small Everard tanker, and with the Pass of Drumochter and Donagadee Lifeboat, HMS Woodbridge Haven and HMS Consort we searched in some of the worst seas I have ever seen. The wind, Hurricane Force, 120 knots, blowing down the North Channel was horrendous. We found nothing. We were litereraly under water most of the time. Next day Sunday, we anchored in Belfast Lough and the two warships sailed slowly past us with some of the dead lay on their after decks. a Very sad sight. The PV was blown 30 miles south of her reported position so no one could findv her. The Radio Officer was awarded the George Cross or something similar. , he stayed right to the last and went down with the ship when she capsisized.
The sad thing was , she was never out of sight of land in all that time.
Brian

[English Margaret]

In 1993 i worked my passage on a norwegian container vessel from fredrikstad to boston. When we reached sweden it snowed heavily, the deck of the ship looked so beautiful under snow. Not extreme weather conditions but an unforgetable experience none the less.

[happy daze john in oz]

In 1993 i worked my passage on a norwegian container vessel from fredrikstad to boston. When we reached sweden it snowed heavily, the deck of the ship looked so beautiful under snow. Not extreme weather conditions but an unforgetable experience none the less.

An unforgetable experience! the snow or working your passage?

[English Margaret]

An unforgetable experience! the snow or working your passage?

both john, haha

[alf corbyn]

with regards to the weather. there is a rumour that they are bringing back the wartime barrage balloons to keep the uk afloat.

rms stratheden aussie bight 1948. my first trip. a wave hit us about 3am and took away the foc'sle railings, parts of the winches, went down and along two decks and up into the galley. one of the crew who had been on her throughout the war was standing by his lifeboat station ith a small suitcase.
second trip, i was on an athel tanker taking the officers food from aft to the centre-castle and had just got to the mast when a wave took the food from my hands then picked me up but i managed to hang on to the chains whilst horizontal. sandwiches for dinner.
i also experienced sailing between two waterspouts whilst on a castle boat.

[Lou Barron]

While i have been in some very bad weather at sea ,being atsea in the Duchess of Bedford she would roll on wet grass they did not callit the drunking duchess for nothing

[Captain Kong]

Here she is Lou, the Drunken Duchess of Bedford as the Empress of France.
Cheers
Brian

[Lou Barron]

Hi Brian yes that photo reminds me of a few times on the Duchess was the deck boys cabin in the middle of the forepeak no port holes stinking hot in the tropics ???

[Captain Kong]

Hi Lou,
Cant quite remember where the deck boys cabin was, I know we were in the focsle on the port side, the bathrooms were in the middle so they may have been forard of that. In winter it was bloody cold, when frozen in up the St Laurence or in St John in one of their winters. with 2 inches of ice on the outer bulkhead of the cabin from the condensation freezing. The Toilets froze up and were unusable for days, we had a crap in an empty corn flake box and then threw it on the ice. We had Ice breakers getting us out of Montreal one winter for 800 miles. Seven ships were locked in until the following March.
And no winter clothing issued in those days.
I wore a blanket over my head and then an old Kapok lifejacket over that to keep warm on deck.
Cheers
Brian.

[Lou Barron]

Yes i remember the the layout of the bathroom and there was little ventilation in that part of the ship another thing if im right to get into the crows nest you had to go inside of the mast .wring that mop out nice and tight