For Those in Peril......

[j.sabourn]

Where I live in a Retirement Village which is of RAAFA vintage and there are others the Head one being at Bulls Creek which also holds their museum whose latest addition is a Tornado Aircraft. As a lot of reference has been published about this aircraft in their magazine, called the Mercury and as they are always asking for stories, I answered with the following.........
Another small today but not small at the time, which may be of interest to those ex RAAFA personel living at the village.
First congrats. to Bull Creek for obtaining the fuselage of such an aircraft. My only knowledge of such an aircraft was about 1980 ish when such came down in the Irish Sea. At that time it was a NATO aircraft and was piloted by two continentals who did not eject. The aircraft itself was still on the secret list so apart from the humanitarean task of retrieving the bodies the wreckage had to be retrieved as well. During the course of this exercise the incoming naval helicopters reported a Russian fishing vessel in the area. The following is the only light hearted bit of this not too good a task. The senior naval vessel of this operation was HMS Reclaim the oldest commissioned vessel in the RN I think only HMS Victory was older. The Reclaim has long gone aged long before her time. However the C/O of such called us up and asked us to put a boarding party on such a suspected fishing boat and go through his nets to see if they contained any wreckage. His excuse was he had insufficient manpower to do so. I told the two biggest of our 5 man crew to launch the Zboat and pointed out the vessel and told them not to dawdle and get back as soon as possible. They came back 30 minutes later with their tails between their legs saying they had climbed on board with their request , and told by the fishing boat skipper in a Yorkshire accent to get off his ***//&&.Ship before he threw them off. Anyhow the remains of that particular Tornado was a crumpled mass , but as was the habit of any downed aircraft was to rebuild it to find how it happened I hope the one at Bull Creek is not it. Just joking of course. the aircraft hit the sea at an estimated speed of 1000 knots. John Sabourn

Reprinted as shown will they Print ???? JS

[j.sabourn]

Further to #1 . I also sent the following a day previous to the same source . However I got the dates wrong and had to send another email trying to correct so the chances are they will throw in the waste paper basket. The following is the corrected version after a couple of drinks ..
For July Edition of Mercury..
Subject to approval ..
“ We shall Remember them”

As to title this does not always refer to our War Dead. The present media scares about fuel shortages should draw peoples minds to those who produce that commodity and also die doing so. On July 6th is the 34th Anniversary of the disaster in the North Sea at the Piper Alpha Platform which I believe produced 40% of the UKs oil and gas needs. Between the hours of 2200 hrs. And 0100 hrs. British Summer Time in the space of 3 hours 167 men died. Some in situations too terrible to describe . Of the 15 rescuers who went in 13 came out and others have died since. Of the 61 survivors some have died also, unfortuanetley , and I know some by their own hand, which you wont see in any media reports. 20 plus their bodies were never recovered . The people of Aberdeen erected a monument to those who died with their names on, and every year the relatives and others for the past 34 years attend a ceremony where every name is read out. So on July 6th spare a thought for those who work to get products to keep warm or cool as the case may be. And to all those relatives who congregate every year to honour their dead , some were not even born at the time. But their names live on.

To the Producers of the Mercury .
You can print or not as the case may be ,if you are unaware of the disaster I have a full personal account which I have for future great grandchildren which you can read to familiarise yourself with the subject, this however is not for use of the outside media, who from experience take anything and everything out of context to suit themselves .
J.Sabourn.

As said have had to make corrections to the original as Should have been what is now showing . Will do for my annual contribution to the disaster. Fouro will probably keep people advised per newspaper reports of any outward events,
Cheers JS...

[Bill Morrison]

#1 John S. The R.A.F. seems to suffer from planes going down in the sea. This one was a Phantom F.G. R2 III Sqn. On route to an offshore instillation received VHF report of R.A.F. jet down in the sea near our position. The visibility was very poor about two hundred yards. There were several vessels in the area all searching, never made visual contact with any. After about two hours a coastal tanker reported wreckage in the water. In a very short space of time a message from R.A.F. control, thanking all for their efforts and please leave the area. I found the official report later. It stated, on 04/08/1978 Phantom F.G. R2 III Sqn. Flew into the North Sea 58 miles off Aberdeen Grampian during a practice intercept. Both crew killed.
Bill.

[j.sabourn]

Bill were you in Seaforths when they proposed to the oil companies of buying the Ark Royal and converting her to an offshore accomodation platform for oil workers ? The idea being to fly workers out to by short winged aircraft and from hence when required to various installations by helicopters . Don’t think the idea got too far into the advanced stage as rather think it got knocked back by the oil companies , probably cost prohibitive. What I could never get my head round in the North Sea was the way the law was manipulated to suit, I heard of a few cases where supply vessels were fined for bringing more than a couple of passengers back rig to Aberdeen as did not have the lifeboat accomodation for such. And yet these scrap heaps of old trawlers were certified to. Carry up to 300 passengers ? With no lifeboats . JS

PS The Seaforth Clansman could be a hive of industry at times and at others very mundane. The civilian passenger helicopter which came down off the Scillys in the time frame I was there had I believe well over a dozen deaths. I’m pleased I was home on leave at the time. Another case of aircraft salvage of crew and helicopter was in the English Channel , when there were dead bodies to land ashore if service people was always low key, usually at night in Portsmouth in body bags on the back of a low loader with the wreckage . There was little or non information by the media on such . Their reputation preceded them . Cheers JS

[j.sabourn]

#1 and #2 ...Am pleased to say both items as shown were printed in the local newsletter . JS
However saying that is it just me or do those associated in writing media articles have to have some of their own input to anything in print ? as to Article 1 the producer of this Newsletter had to have his own Rider added. As follows and taken obviously from Google.
" Piper Alpha was an oil platform located in the North Sea approximately 120 miles (190 kms)north east of Aberdeen it exploded and sank on 6 July 1988 killing 165 of the men on board , plus a further two rescue workers after their rescue vessel , which had been trapped in debris and immobilised , was destroyed by the disintergrating rig. 61 workers escaped and survived , and 30 bodies were never recovered . The total insured loss was about 1.7 billion pounds."
This prompted me to reply to his rider in as a suitable manner as I could without giving offence.
To the Editor....
" Thank you for printing my small edition to your many subjects in your News Letter. On the off chance that you may receive letters of disclaim and for any ammunition you may require for reply to, which should not be necessary, the following may assist.
I made the mistake of not clarifying the situation I was mentioning, and assumed readers would know. So thank you for the rider. However if necessary would like to add to your rider.
the following enquiry into the huge loss of the production platform which at least 2 other nearby platforms contributed to the products being pumped through common pipelines , continued pumping for an undisclosed time -thus feeding the fire .
the people on board the piper , as the media stated as not 229 as i had stated in the log book as coming from the OIM ( Offshore Installation Manager).
The FRC ( Fast Rescue Craft) as stated tangled up with debris , the statement coming from the 1 survivor from the boat Ian Letham Who died a few years ago at an early age. The other 2 members and the 6 survivors dying. the fireball which blew them away passed within feet of me and thought at time it was a present from someone who didnt like me. Instead it ploughed into the boat which I suspected was waiting to pass the survivors to me.
some years ago on the 25th anniversary I received an email from some newspaper asking for 4 instances I could remember, I gave him 5 for good measure , I could of giving him 50. They printed 2 and both out of context. I have a copy of my reply to same if they wanted an argument. Such was my anger at the huge loss of life and some of the stories printed. Anyhow Thanks once again. JS.

Today being THE day , maybe in some way it maybe appropriate.
JS

[James Curry]

Who remembers the Harrier that landed on the deck of a Spanish container ship because he ran out of fuel?Royal-Navy-Sea-Harrier-Alraigo-Incident-(Att)-Cropped.jpg The Alraigo incident occurred on 6 June 1983, when a lost British Royal Navy Sea Harrier fighter aircraft landed on the deck of a Spanish container ship. Its pilot, Sub-Lieutenant Ian Watson, was a junior Royal Navy pilot undertaking his first NATO exercise from HMS Illustrious (R06), which was operating off the coast of Portugal. Just noticed the number on the Harrier 001, So commander Bond was not the pilot.

[Graham Shaw]

Who remembers the Harrier that landed on the deck of a Spanish container ship because he ran out of fuel?Royal-Navy-Sea-Harrier-Alraigo-Incident-(Att)-Cropped.jpg The Alraigo incident occurred on 6 June 1983, when a lost British Royal Navy Sea Harrier fighter aircraft landed on the deck of a Spanish container ship. Its pilot, Sub-Lieutenant Ian Watson, was a junior Royal Navy pilot undertaking his first NATO exercise from HMS Illustrious (R06), which was operating off the coast of Portugal. Just noticed the number on the Harrier 001, So commander Bond was not the pilot.

I remember !

The crew of the 1977-built 2,300 -ton Spanish container ship Alraigo won a salvage claim and shared £340,000, with the remaining £230,000 going to the owners of the vessel.

Doesn't time fly! Alraigo was scrapped in May 2011,28 years later after the incident in 1983 and subsequent operation under Maltese,Cyprian,Ukrainian,Georgian and Moldovan flags....

[Fouro]

Re posts #1,2 and 5 I would like to add my part to remembering the 167 men who were killed on the night of 6th July 1988 during the Piper Alpha disaster.
On the South face of the Memorial plinth above the Celtic Cross the names of the 30 men with no resting place on shore are inscribed.
A casket of unknown ashes is interred behind the Cross.
On the east face of the plinth are inscribed the names of the two heroic crewmen of the Sand haven who made the supreme sacrifice for their fellow men.

Regards from
Fouro.

[j.sabourn]

#8 Good on you Fouro. It goes without saying only those who work and make a living from the sea will have feelings on the deaths of so many. Needless to say most of these deaths were not to seafarers and such but to ordinary workers usually of the land variety. They were like the proverbial lambs to the slaughter not having any experience on what was happening to them . However it happened and there is no good trying to find excuses as is too late in the day . The answers such as they are made are there for the future workers as an example of what can and will happen again sometime if safety precautions are not made and carried out by all hands. Starting with the oil company’s themselves who have to carry the onus of most of the blame. It will always be at the back of my mind whether right or wrong is why ? Did the operators of the two adjacent platforms not have the authority to shut down production and thus reduce the fuel source to the fire. People who are on the job itself should have that authority not some waffler sitting in a comfortable office ashore or in the case of the PA probably in bed. Cheers JS.

[j.sabourn]

There are certain jobs today and in any civilised society always will be regardless of monetary cost where the working day is 24 hours and seagoing is one of them. This has been damaged and will be further damaged by the reduction of manpower. A good example of the saying penny wise pound foolish.If people are to rely on machines for the likes of lifesaving then there has to be people there to oversee those machines otherwise the whole endeavour is a farce. Some employers seem to think and act accordingly by investing millions in technology thinking it will save them likewise in labour , it may save them hundreds but will never cover their investment in machinery which will more than likely cost more in technical maintainance than the usual. The only way that big industry can have a win win , will be by gullible people in government changing laws to suit the industrialist , mind saying that you show me any government who is not gullible and more than often bent and twisted to go with it.JS