Ben Line

[Pete Graham]

Could anyone please recall what colour Ben Line steel decks were painted i.e Main, fore and focs'le.
with thanks

Pete

[portanchor99]

They were black . Not your ordinary paint but tar like stuff and boy did it burn you when chipping ,Oh happy days!!!!!!!!

[Kevin Hargin]

most ships the decks were coated with presomet it was like a cheap tar brgds kev.

[Gulliver]

Never heard of that name,Kevin,but always interested in learning things nautical. Was that the brand name,or the generic name for the substance maybe?

Best Regards
Gulliver

[Gulliver]

Sorry Kev,Im answering myself here.I didn't 'google' hard enough earlier,but just tried another search engine and found this:-

Powell Duffryn’s coke ovens and by-product recovery plant at Bargoed were a fine example of colliery enterprise. The company used some innovative methods to fully utilise the by-products of the raised coal. This included washing small coal, coking in re-generative by-products ovens, the manufacture of sulphuric acid and sulphate of ammonia and tar distillation. There was also a benzol plant and an ammonia plant. Some of the coal by-products produced were presotim (a wood preservative), presomet ( black bituminous paint for metals) and syntharar and synthacold (tar products for road services).

So now we know
Cheers
Gulliver

[Pete Graham]

Thanks for help Lads ....needed info re. making a model of Ben Cairn.
I hadn't heard of Presomet either but probably came across it on BP and Esso without knowing what it was.

Pete