Your most interesting ship type

[John Arton]

This subject has been alluded too in many threads so I thought it would be nice to start a thread dedicated to descriptions of your favourite type of ship you sailed on, so here we go, and i'm going to be a bit long winded with my starter.
Of all the types of ships I sailed on from general cargo to bulker, passenger, tankers etc. the one I enjoyed the most was the dedicated forest product ships in C.P. that I sailed on as cadet, third mate and 2nd Mate.
The history of the dedicated forest product ship goes back to the middle 60's when an American naval arcitect in Seattle sat down to try and solve the growing problems of transporting the growing amount of timber and timber products in ships. Up to that point they had been carried in conventional cargo ships but the design of these ships led to large amounts of wasted space in the cargo holds and the need for large amounts of dunnage required to shore up the stow's. Also the length of time taken to load and discharge these ships together with the number of stevedores required to work them was making the trade almost totally un profitable.
This guy came up with the concept of a 6 hatch ship, with each hold being exactly the same size and of such dimensions as to allow the stow of tandard sized rolls of newsprint, paper pulp, plywood etc. to be stowed without the need for dunnage. They were also designed so that their hatch covers could be loaded with standard sized packages of timber. The next problem to be solved was the type of crane to be used to load and discharge this cargo and some way of automating the way the various lifts were picked up that did away with the time tested method of cargo slinging.
All of these problems were solved by the use of the Munck travelling gantry crane where the crane driver can be positioned almost directly over the load to be picked up. This meant that the need for a hatchman was done away with.
The actual picking up of the load was also automated. For instance, a device was invented that could pick up three rolls of newsprint at a time. It consited of a rack with three downward facing prongs that fitted into the center of each roll, the driver then pressed a switch in his cab and the prongs expanded gripping the rolls and allowing them to be lifted safely.
Similar devices were invented to lift bales of paper pulp. All of this meant problems with the U.S. and Canadian stevedores but eventually an act was passed that allowed for the mechanisation of these products. This was probably the first act that allowed for cargo handling to be mechanised, a fore runner to the contairisation growth.
The first ever dedicated forest product ship was built in Norway in the 60's and its designed revolutionised the trade in timber and timber products the Canadian and U.S. west coasts.
To allow for the forward lines of these ships to maintain some sort of proper hull design the number 1 hold was not a perfect cude as the other 5 were. Instead at its forward end it sides had "boxes" built into them of the exact size of the rolls of newsprint etc. so that the remaining space still could be totally filled with cargo without the need for dunnage.
This allowed for a more conventional looking forward section of the ships.They also had the largest and strongest hydraulic hatch covers (designed and built my McGregors) in the world at the time. This also had the advantage of reducing the numbers of persons in the shore gangs required to open and close hatches as they were one man operated.
Canadian Pacific got in the act with 3 ships that had three munck cranes each weighing 200 tonnes fitted, which I think were the only ships built with three of that particular model of crane. Instead of hydraulic hatches we had slab covers. Each hold had 6 slabs, three port and stbd. Down the center line between the port and stbd. hatch covers ran a line of flat topped "toadstools" that gave a virtual continous flat surface upon which the timber deck cargo could be stowed without the reed for dunnage.
The story goes that originally the ships were designed as normal open hatch geared bulk carriers fitted with luffing cranes but when the long term charterers of the ships demanded munck cranes then the design was rapidly altered. Not wanting to have the underwater hull size altered, all they did was flare out the ships side hull from the load waterline up to the main deck level for the length of the cargo holds , by an amount that gave sufficient deck space to fit the rails and electrical supply to the cranes whilst still maintaining the required hold and hatch cover width.
This gave them a rather strange look when viewed from the waterline and gave us nightmares as pilot ladders etc. had no flat surface to sit against, leading to many disgruntled pilots.
We all had to learn how to drive these cranes as ships crew had to pen and close all the hatches, rig the cranes for use etc. When the arms were unfolded to allow the trolley that had the crane drivers cab, cargo hoist motors and winches etc. on it to move out over the ships side in order to pick up or drop off its load, we had rain covers that extended out to cover the space between the arms and form a roof over the dock area. There were also rain curtains that came down over the whole athwartships sides of the cranes to form a "tent" over the open hatch cover and the dock space underneath the crane which allowed for loading and discharging to go on in weather that would have normally shut down cargo operations.
Apart from being very interesting technically, these ships were also famous party ships when on the B.C. Coast.
Our run was ballast across the Atlantic to Jacksonville wher we loaded phosphate that was discharged (using the ships cranes fitted with hydraulic operated grabs that were stowed at the discharge port for use by the next ship) in Port Moody, B.C.
We would then clean ship, change the crane wires from the two required for the grabs to the 4 wire rig required for the the special loading equipment for the timber and timber products. We used to spend up to 3 weeks discharging and loading round the B.C. coast and then it was usually a European discharge with Newport, Tilbury, Rotterdam being the main discharge ports but occasionally a discharge on the East Coast of the U.S.A came about.
When their contract ended they went onto world wide tramping. On one trip I did we actually carried a drilling rig on our deck from Houston to the Persian Gulf amongst other cargo.
We also had some tragedies. On one occasion a cadet and a Munck engineer were killed in Tilbury when the crane trolley they were working on came off the crane and fell onto the dockside, we lost one man overboard homeward bound and yours trully ripped his ankle nearly off whilst hitching a ride on a crane whilst closing hatches one night and got his foot trapped between the travelling crane and the stationary cargo hold vent, with the foot coming off worse.
rgds
Captain John Arton (ret'd)

[Tony Wilding]

I never sailed on many different types, 1 coastal Tanker the Pass of Glenclunie, decided then i was not a Tanker man, 1 small Coaster 640 tons MV Corncrake, they were good, lots of small Ports visited, not good in bad weather, but enjoyable , friendly ships, 1 passenger Ferry, that was ok, but too much drinking, 1 Cargo /Passenger but no passengers that trip, my preference was general cargo ships, i never had more than 2 to a cabin, sometimes one, the only good feature of the Tanker was my cabin, i was` Donkeyman and had a huge single berth cabin, but the ship was a floating disaster, Engine Fires, Breakdowns, and near Collisions, either i was a jonah or the ship was Jinxed, so i paid off. then Trinity House Buoy Tenders, not very nice in bad weather, especially in the Irish Sea, the Ships were ok, cabins single berth, food and pay ok, 2 weeks paid leave every month.

[John Albert Evans]

I was, and still am, a tankerman at heart, not the huge things they have of today but the ones of the 1950s. 12000 tonners with the exception of a T2 tanker, the San Leonardo, Eagle Oil Shipping Company, I enjoyed them all. Also sailed on a coastal tanker then deep sea on Iron Ore, Sugar, Timber and Fruit Carriers. I have no complaints about any of them but my preference was oil tankers.
John Albert Evans.

[john sutton]

Mullers of Rotterdam used to run 2 small coasters between manchester,rotterdam,rueon and paris.To get into the centre of paris we had to take the roof off the wheelhouse,chimney off the galley and drop the boat davits.apparently if there had been a lot of rain the decks would be loaded with sand.the pilot steered and had to duck going under the bridges.also.as we couldnt navigat at night we sometimes had to tie up to a tree on the bank,outside a lock
john sutton

[Captain Kong]

After the demise of real cargo ships, twenty or so derricks and Jumbos, and good runs, where I was happy on and felt good doing a real Seamans job. Containers came in, did`nt like the look of those or the big bulkers, I then went into ESSO Tankers then VLCCs. I was very happy with those. Good long voyages around the Cape to the Gulf to load for Europe, the Far East, States, Australia and so on. Two months to go round the Cape to the Gulf and another two months back was quite pleasant, a nice routine of watchkeeping, mostly good weather, Excellent Food with wine with dinner, Horse racing on Saturday evenings in the bar lounge, Win a few bob or loose a few bob, Sunday evenings were for the Darts contests, Crowd V Oficers. Sunday mornings, throwing the Welly contests over the fore deck with explosive sound effects as the welly landed on the otherside of the flying bridge, from the wheel house loud speakers. Good fun, latest movies and so on. We had a good social life and a good working life. Sorry when it all came to an end and the VLCCs went to Taiwan. But an excellent hand shake that has set me up for a very comforable retirement.
What more can an old sailor ask for .
Brian.

[Capt Bill Davies]

Those ships where the agency intimated were difficult and the owners needed a speedy resolution and a success bonus would be paid.

Bill

[j.sabourn]

Bill, I took one of those jobs from an agency. There was a 400 pounds bonus for the well running of the ship so to speak. However for every day the ship was off charter you lost 40 pounds. This bonus disappeared after the first month as the ship was continuously breaking down. As was a 12 month agreement you were stuck with it. A sprat to catch a mackerel so to speak. Cheers John Sabourn

[Capt Bill Davies]

John,

You were unlucky. I made it my preference in the final 15 years and financially regret I did not start sooner but, there is the catch, without the previous experience with the USA FOC majors I could not have been considered for the work.

Brgds

Bill

[Trader]

Mullers of Rotterdam used to run 2 small coasters between manchester,rotterdam,rueon and paris.To get into the centre of paris we had to take the roof off the wheelhouse,chimney off the galley and drop the boat davits.apparently if there had been a lot of rain the decks would be loaded with sand.the pilot steered and had to duck going under the bridges.also.as we couldnt navigat at night we sometimes had to tie up to a tree on the bank,outside a lock
john sutton

Hiya John,

I spent two years on the "Somme" of Mullers as AB and Mate. One inland port to another, a great run but not very nice in the winter trying to get round Lands End in a S.W. gale. As you say we dropped every thing at Rouen for the run up to Paris, masts, davits, funnel and wheelhouse. It could take two days sometimes if we got fog which was frequent in the winter. Here are a few photos of her. The coloured one I didn't take so thanks to whoever did.
Somme in Bougival locks Paris_edited.jpgSomme flattened out for Seine bridges_edited.jpgAttachment 10328Somme-03.jpgSomme in Bougival locks Paris_edited.jpgSomme flattened out for Seine bridges_edited.jpgSomme-03.jpg

I was in her from 1961 to 1963 and years later I joined another Muller ship in 1967, the "Scheldt" running from London to Paris as AB and Mate. Another great run from one great river to another, about 24 hours at sea and a week on the river Seine from Le Havre to Paris and back.

I got the pictures wrong, some have been duplicated, I am not very good at this. When were you there?.

Paris and Rouen were good runs ashore, we had a few scams going, whisky was a good seller and a bottle got you a good night ashore.

Alec

[Trader]

John, many thanks for you very informative post about the above type of ship. I was brought up in Blue Funnel and so know a bit about cargo handling gear but never came across the cranes mentioned in your post.

We carried a lot of newsprint in Manchester Liners from Canada and know how careful you had to be with it. I can imagine a purpose built ship would make life a lot easier as regards loading, stowage and discharging and no dunnage required.

How about this for dunnage, we were loading grain at Baltimore so had to bring it all out on deck.

Alec.