Container ship aground

[Des Taff Jenkins]

I was never on a ship that went aground but, heading for Kuwait around 54 we were passed by I think one of the first American Super tankers, the ones with no handrails but chains, as the hand rails carried no oil and were extra weight, she was steaming at about 15knots,
I was on the wheel when the Skipper shouted out, "She is heading straight for that reef", she gave a sort of jump and bounced on then off the reef, the end result was damage to her hull. We loaded and sailed to Aden , then on the way back up the Gulf, way we passed that ship being towed by another Company ship and both were loaded.
Des

[j.sabourn]

When I was on the Pennyworth an ore carrier , we drydocked after I had been there 6 months. On going onto the dock bottom to check with the shipwright that the correct plugs were pulled found about the centre line close to the keel a huge indent about the size of a Lancaster gun turret. One could stand upright in it and head and shoulders would disappear. The steel plating wasn’t fractured in any way , just this huge indent. She obviously had at sometime sat on the bottom probably whilst loading. As most of the previous 6 months we had loaded in the Baltic ports , there was a frantic search through the log books so as to claim for the Insurance. If she had sat on a boulder whilst loading she must have been well overloaded as the draft figures would not have given a true reading. That part of the argument never arose. Anyhow some sort of story was patched up to explain how it got there. JS

[happy daze john in oz]

Never been on one that ran aground but do recall the Windsor hitting the quay as we docked in Las Palmas.
Put a considerable dent in the starboard bow.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi John S.
Interesting seeing the underside of a ship, we were in drydock in Sydney twice on the Ferry South Steyne, went for a look see, i9f I remember correctly they had some I think lead bars attached under the hull.
Des

[j.sabourn]

They were probably Anodes Des , Zinc probably for the Cathodic rust protection system .most British ships had them around the propellor aperture where rust was most likely to be the severest due to the constant agitation of the water. Cheers JS.

Pity they weren’t gold bars JS .

[Graham Shaw]

They were probably Anodes Des , Zinc probably for the Cathodic rust protection system .most British ships had them around the propellor aperture where rust was most likely to be the severest due to the constant agitation of the water. Cheers JS.

Pity they weren’t gold bars JS .

A good anagram of ANODES is " O ANDES ! " ,perhaps--the wailing,heart rending lament from a hundred queens down in the glory hole of that venerable old lady cruise ship ,the RMS ANDES,when those 'ladies' were told of the impending final cruise to the scrapyards of Ghent back in 1971;and they would have to pack away their feather boas,plumes and those (very large) make-up holdalls for the last time.Troopers like Denis(e),Dolores (Keith,I think) ,Vera (Donald) and Teddy (Arthur).I suppose they are not around any more,'cos those ladies were very old queens back then.RIP on that campy Carnival Cloud ship in the sky,girls.

No,I was never on the Andes,but when they lost their erstwhile home from home, those that didn't call it a day and sashayed off to Brighton to become partners in an antique shop business ,or joined the 70's equivalent of Rue Paul's Drag Race were dispersed by the Southampton pool to more conventional ships in our British Merchant Navy,which of course ,coming from the Andes was for them a complete sea-change,if you pardon the pun.I well remember as a Cadet once getting a bowl of 'weeties' tipped into my lap at breakfast time because Dolores,ex-Andes, mistakenly thought I had commented about her make-up being plastered on with a trowel.It was actually my shipmate who said it and he might have said Polyfilla,but that was 50 years ago,and we know what memories are like....er,where was I?

No,I know this has nothing to do with ships running out of available water to float in ,or cathodic protection of ships' bottoms-but I thought there's so much gloom going on in the world at this time what with Ukraine,gas prices,ferry crews being excreted on et al,that I thought a little bit of remembrance of how certain things things were back in the heyday of our real Merchant Navy would be right for us.
So here's an image of your 'mother' ship for those old queens up on their cloud ! Cheers,girls !
ShipSpotting.com
Pink Jack (2).gif
© Linesman

[Tony Taylor]

They were probably Anodes Des , Zinc probably for the Cathodic rust protection system .most British ships had them around the propellor aperture where rust was most likely to be the severest due to the constant agitation of the water. Cheers JS.

Pity they weren’t gold bars JS .

Correct John, sacrificial anodes, also to protect the propeller from corrosion (phosphor bronze basically). It is much cheaper to "sacrifice" a zinc anode than to have very expensive damage to prop. and loss of efficiency.

[j.sabourn]

This chat about ships old and new is probably missing a very important history of shipping then and now and that is Scantlings,for those not aware of the word it refers to in most cases the legal thickness of a ships plating which has lessened over the years due to different factors, such as the quality of the steel , welding against riveting, and even the thickness of the coatings of paint and anti corrosives used.. May be why so many of the old bangers had a longer life ? JS

These sort of things to my knowledge were never brought up during the seaman’s strike of 1966 when those that legislated for smaller crews were successful in doing so. As regards maintainance to keep up with the scantling requirements it was brushed over when I asked the superintendent when he said we will get shore maintainance as required. I personally never saw this happen. It was one big confidence trick and had hidden concepts that many did not realise , to me it smelled of complicity between unions, shipowners and government . They got what they bargained for a smaller merchant navy , even more than they bargained for a non existent merchant navy ,and that was a labour government as well. Now or very shortly when that shipping may be required they have themselves to blame . JS

[Des Taff Jenkins]

I had forgotten the name John, We had a stack of them Anodes on the Ferry lying around under one of the forecastles, not a misspelling as she had two forecastles, she also had two props, two wheelhouses, in fact two of everything except engines. Henry Robb rest in peace
Des

[j.sabourn]

That was the Sydney ferries I assume Des. Have been on them as a passenger a few times when staying with friends over there who lived just south of Sydney. One time the wife even climbed the harbour bridge . I can vouch for that as I sat in the pub and waved to her. Makes the job much easier when can go either way without having to turn around . Went to the zoo one time the ferry was crowded . Cheers JS.