Cammell Laird.

[Jim Brady]

Good news for the ship repair business back on the Mersey.
Regards.
jim.B.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/...m-navy-6932503

[John Arton]

Jim
Good one for Lairds, they do loads of RFA work.
Also it was very nice to see that an old pal of mine, Spencer Atkinson, was named as project director.
In Stolts we used Lairds for many voyage repairs and Spencer was our contact there.
rgds
JA

[Jim Brady]

I notice in the gallery they refer to the Thetis as HMS Thetis and I have often seen it refered as this,did she ever become HMS or was she just Thetis until maybe taken over by the RN.
Regards.
jim.B.

[j.sabourn]

Good Question Jim. I always thought of it as HMS. However thinking back she had a lot of Dockyard fitters etc. on board so dont know whether she had been handed over to the Admiralty. My brief experience of such before handing over there were official photographs taken of the ship I was on, and after all systems were checked and accepted as working was the time the Red Ensign came down and the White went up. Dont know if that was standard procedure for the Navy or not. Navy personnel on here will know better. Cheers John S

[Jim Brady]

I seen a good documentary on the Thetis.What they put it down to was,on the torpedo tube there is a small tap which is opened to see if there is water in the tube no water comes out safe to open.One tap was turned on water did't come out so the tube door was opened resulting in water flooding in.The findings were that the tap hole was full of paint thus not allowing water through.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[j.sabourn]

Something so simple and yet so lethal. JS

[Jim Brady]

It does mention here a speck of enamel paint,
Regards.
Jim.B.

http://www.cyber-heritage.co.uk/thetis/subs.htm

[j.sabourn]

After any diasaster such as this, or the Hillsborough or the ferry disaster all mentioned somewhere in these posts, you always have these courts of enquiry and one is bound to accept them as this is all one gets. My own disaster that I was involved with have to accept the findings of the court. However at the time, the same as now with the downed flight in the Indian Ocean there was all this speculation as to cause. Before the Official Enquiry which I didnt have to attend for nearly 8 months and was on another 4 ships in between, was questioned privately if I thought it could have been sabotage, re. an explosive charge. This was shortly after the disaster and my mental state of mind was not of the best and all I wanted to do was erase from the memory, which is never going to happen unfortuanetley. Why I answered so quickly and so positively I will never know but I said no I didnt think so. Personally at the time if someone had told me it was a bomb I would have believed them. I often wonder if I had not been so certain in saying no, more time may have been spent on other avenues of investigation. The final analysis I have never really had the inclination to read and understand, but what little I did follow would bamboozle the average layman, re Risers and blow and non return valves etc etc etc. it was all in engineering language. People can sit back 20 30 40 50 years later and discuss it as if they have all the answers, they dont. The only one who hold all the right answers are dead and died at the scene. This is the case in most disasters. The downed aircraft a certain amount of knowledge from the black boxes (if found) will be gained but even then a lot of the final flight of this aircraft is also going to be on speculation. Who does that speculation depends on what you get. Cheers John S

[robpage]

The engineering based report is a must for all engineers to read , it told of mistakes we all made at that time , and opened the world to paperwork and the rigours of the much despised Permit to work scheme , but the lesson we all learned will save endless lives .

[j.sabourn]

#9... Rob realize what you are saying. The out come of such and other disasters depend on the findings of those looking for the causes of such. Even some of this is not conclusive as a lot is also speculation. I am sure anyone making these inquiries are extremely competent, however they are not infallible. A result is always required so it can be put to bed. Reading that report on the Thetis most is newspaper reports and one can always take them with a pinch of salt. Usually an enquiry is to find a reason why people lost loved ones, so sometimes are watered down to make the results more acceptable to those wanting answers.I gave the Piper A as an example. I still say that although the report on such was very professionally done, a lot of the answers would of been taken from statements. I know some of the questions I was asked I was not skilled enough in that sphere to answer with 100 percent accuracy.If you want a sure found beyond the pale answer would be from the person where the original explosion occurred and he/them were killed on the spot. Even the initial explosion where it occurred my statement differed with others. Whose they took I wouldnt know and dont particularly want to. The P.A. was not a cut and dried answer when there is a difference of opinion where even the cause of fire is situated in different areas. There are always pieces lost in any jig saw, I dont by any means decry the investigators, they have to work with what they have got. Cheers John S,