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Thread: Events you incurred while in another country

  1. #11
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    Default Re: Events you incurred while in another country

    my oldest brother kenny was at tristan da cuna when that went up? and my other brother freetown when that was burned down? jp

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    Default Re: Events you incurred while in another country

    I joined the GEORGIC taking 3,000 emigrants from Liverpool to Australia .a good job on deck
    plenty of young ladies in bikinis all day in the tropics. I got me a lovely lass and it lasted over two years after.

    Then after the last immigrant left in Sydney. things changed. We loaded 3,000 Australian Troops for Malaya for the war going on there.
    Then we went and anchored off Singapore to await orders. We were hoping it was for home.
    The orders came in, Go to Viet Nam to rescue the French Foreign Legion
    We were nearly killed. We anchored just over 3 miles offshore and put ten lifeboats down. two men to a boat with engines,
    On the hillside and on the beach were around 3,000 survivors from the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, The French had lost several thousand men, These men on the beach were being forced marched for 40 days across Viet Nam to another POW Camp by the Chinese border and they had escaped when they got near the coast..
    We were pulling them into our boats and running back to the ship with bullets and mortar bombs exploding around us.
    I pulled one man in and he was dead so I removed his helmet and put it on,and threw him back into the sea, He didnt need it any more. I still have it in my garage after 68 years, It took us 3 days and nights to get 2500 men to our ship 500 left for dead on the beach,
    These men were like skeletons out of Belson they had been starved for months.
    A few died during the Voyage and we sewed them up in canvas and buried them in the sea,
    We called at Algiers and put a thousand ashore for Sidi Bel Abis and the rest we took to Marseilles then sailed back to Liverpool
    Brian
    Last edited by Captain Kong; 21st March 2023 at 06:43 PM.

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    i was one of four brothers after our sea time and we could all go for a pint together all the tales yarns and down right lies came out we had the pub hanging on every word although there is only two of us left now the stories are still with me but one day i hope we will all cast of together..jp

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    Default Re: Events you incurred while in another country

    !970 was second mate on a bulk carrier discharging in Kobe and spent a day at EXPO 70. Very interesting.

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    Default Re: Events you incurred while in another country

    Quote Originally Posted by Robert George Young View Post
    Just wondered what momentous events happened in the country you sailed to whilst you were there?
    SHARPNES – HITTEEN – Second Voyage (Sharpnes), Jebsens Ship Management Ltd., Jebsen House, 215 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 1EJ. 2/E 13/7/83 Hamburg (fertiliser) via Yangtse Kiang (River), Jiangsu Province of China, Vancouver (sulphur) to 28/11/83 Chittagong.
    King Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was on the bulkhead of the saloon in place of the Queen’s portrait as the port of registry had changed to Aquaba with the Jordanian flag replacing the Red Duster so we saluted him with a pork chop.
    We took our cargo of fertiliser from Hamburg to the Yangtse Kiang (River) in China’s Jiangsu (Kiangsu) Province in the vicinity of Suzhou although near Shanghai is easier to find on a map. Meal with company and shop
    Our cargo of yellow powder i.e., sulphur was loaded in Vancouver on the West coast of Canada for Chittagong in Bangladesh on the coast of the Bay of Bengal, a cargo which now you could not give away. Anchored off Chittagong the radio reception was very bad so to reach Portishead Radio Station we had to relay via other company vessels. Off the mouth of the river leading to Chittagong we could see a ship which appeared inland according to our charts. This turned out to be the Clan Alpine which on 31st October 1960 while on voyage from Glasgow to Chittagong with general cargo, the vessel was caught in a cyclone while anchored off Chittagong. Driven from her moorings by 135 knot winds pushing before it a 35-foot tidal wave. She was carried eleven miles up the river dragging her anchor which would not hold in the mud and left high and dry with all the crew safe in paddy fields at Skonai Chori, 11 miles N.N. W. of the entrance to the Kharnapuli River. The vessel was declared a constructive total loss, and the cargo was discharged into lorries. Even our Queen and Prince Philip went to see it while on a tour of the area. On February 14th 1961 she was sold to East Bengal Trading Corporation Ltd. and broken up as she lay. Twenty-two years later she was still recognisable so progress was slow. As I was being relieved while still at anchor an immigration officer came out to the ship and met me in my cabin where he asked for cigarettes. I told our Captain who shrugged and gave me a carton to pay the extortion no doubt booking it on expenses as O.C.S., on company service. We might pontificate in the West about the evils of bribery and corruption but this is how the rest of the world operates. Sitting next to me on the shore-going launch this official informed me that England is a fine country and he would like to live there. I told him that next time I met the Home Secretary I would tell him but I am still waiting to meet him. In the dock area there were a row of about twenty white United Nations UNICEF lorries which looked familiar. On asking I was told they were the same ones I had seen on the Wandby twelve years earlier but no one had paid the baksheesh to get them out of the docks. So much for charity! Instead of the airport as I was expecting I was taken by the ship’s agent to an hotel in its own grounds while he kept my passport. I later found out the hotel manager and he were related which explained the delay and instead of being safely in the air and out of the country a civil insurrection started as the BBC World Service referred to it. The BBC informed me that there were minor disturbances and the military had fired blanks which was in contrast to our hotel guest intelligence service. We came out of the swimming pool and headed inside as a mob walked past the main gate with an obviously dead body being carried lying on a door. Another Brit was there building a lighthouse and phoned his foreman who told him a couple of policemen had been thrown off a bridge. A couple of nurses from the W.H.O. also had contacts and between us we accounted for nine killed. The upset locals had no grievance with foreigners so I went to the nearby agent’s office to find it closed and of course my passport locked inside. After a couple of days another resident managed to organise with official permission a coach to the airport for those adventurous enough to wish to leave. On the road to the airport each roundabout was guarded by the army then the air force and I was able to note that the ammunition had pointed ends denoting live rounds rather than blanks. Luckily, we were not stopped and arrived at the airport where I was able to buy a flight ticket to London using my credit card and grateful that its limit was sufficient. I asked later for it to be increased just in case of future incidents. I flew and presented my red Seaman’s Card at immigration in Heathrow and explained the situation but there were no problems. I phoned the office and explained all what had happened and asked for my passport to be returned.

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  8. #16
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    Default Re: Events you incurred while in another country

    Quote Originally Posted by John Pruden View Post
    my oldest brother kenny was at tristan da cuna when that went up? and my other brother freetown when that was burned down? jp
    John
    They both must have had an up and down sort of life.
    Des
    R510868
    Lest We Forget

  9. #17
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    Default Re: Events you incurred while in another country

    Well having been to over 90 foreign countries in my sea and shore career, alas I cannot compete with any of the above, but I did lose my cherry in Cuba at the age of 16 and never did find it again!

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    Default Re: Events you incurred while in another country

    Quote Originally Posted by Ken Atkinson View Post
    SHARPNES – HITTEEN – Second Voyage (Sharpnes), Jebsens Ship Management Ltd., Jebsen House, 215 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 1EJ. 2/E 13/7/83 Hamburg (fertiliser) via Yangtse Kiang (River), Jiangsu Province of China, Vancouver (sulphur) to 28/11/83 Chittagong.
    King Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was on the bulkhead of the saloon in place of the Queen’s portrait as the port of registry had changed to Aquaba with the Jordanian flag replacing the Red Duster so we saluted him with a pork chop.
    We took our cargo of fertiliser from Hamburg to the Yangtse Kiang (River) in China’s Jiangsu (Kiangsu) Province in the vicinity of Suzhou although near Shanghai is easier to find on a map. Meal with company and shop
    Our cargo of yellow powder i.e., sulphur was loaded in Vancouver on the West coast of Canada for Chittagong in Bangladesh on the coast of the Bay of Bengal, a cargo which now you could not give away. Anchored off Chittagong the radio reception was very bad so to reach Portishead Radio Station we had to relay via other company vessels. Off the mouth of the river leading to Chittagong we could see a ship which appeared inland according to our charts. This turned out to be the Clan Alpine which on 31st October 1960 while on voyage from Glasgow to Chittagong with general cargo, the vessel was caught in a cyclone while anchored off Chittagong. Driven from her moorings by 135 knot winds pushing before it a 35-foot tidal wave. She was carried eleven miles up the river dragging her anchor which would not hold in the mud and left high and dry with all the crew safe in paddy fields at Skonai Chori, 11 miles N.N. W. of the entrance to the Kharnapuli River. The vessel was declared a constructive total loss, and the cargo was discharged into lorries. Even our Queen and Prince Philip went to see it while on a tour of the area. On February 14th 1961 she was sold to East Bengal Trading Corporation Ltd. and broken up as she lay. Twenty-two years later she was still recognisable so progress was slow. As I was being relieved while still at anchor an immigration officer came out to the ship and met me in my cabin where he asked for cigarettes. I told our Captain who shrugged and gave me a carton to pay the extortion no doubt booking it on expenses as O.C.S., on company service. We might pontificate in the West about the evils of bribery and corruption but this is how the rest of the world operates. Sitting next to me on the shore-going launch this official informed me that England is a fine country and he would like to live there. I told him that next time I met the Home Secretary I would tell him but I am still waiting to meet him. In the dock area there were a row of about twenty white United Nations UNICEF lorries which looked familiar. On asking I was told they were the same ones I had seen on the Wandby twelve years earlier but no one had paid the baksheesh to get them out of the docks. So much for charity! Instead of the airport as I was expecting I was taken by the ship’s agent to an hotel in its own grounds while he kept my passport. I later found out the hotel manager and he were related which explained the delay and instead of being safely in the air and out of the country a civil insurrection started as the BBC World Service referred to it. The BBC informed me that there were minor disturbances and the military had fired blanks which was in contrast to our hotel guest intelligence service. We came out of the swimming pool and headed inside as a mob walked past the main gate with an obviously dead body being carried lying on a door. Another Brit was there building a lighthouse and phoned his foreman who told him a couple of policemen had been thrown off a bridge. A couple of nurses from the W.H.O. also had contacts and between us we accounted for nine killed. The upset locals had no grievance with foreigners so I went to the nearby agent’s office to find it closed and of course my passport locked inside. After a couple of days another resident managed to organise with official permission a coach to the airport for those adventurous enough to wish to leave. On the road to the airport each roundabout was guarded by the army then the air force and I was able to note that the ammunition had pointed ends denoting live rounds rather than blanks. Luckily, we were not stopped and arrived at the airport where I was able to buy a flight ticket to London using my credit card and grateful that its limit was sufficient. I asked later for it to be increased just in case of future incidents. I flew and presented my red Seaman’s Card at immigration in Heathrow and explained the situation but there were no problems. I phoned the office and explained all what had happened and asked for my passport to be returned.
    just another day at the office then ....lol ........R683532

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    Venezuela were women out number men a land full of enthusastic amateurs, Had a long term girl friend there in Porto Cabello.

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    I was on a gas carrier in Tunisia when the Arab Spring kicked off. Bit of a shock as I had always found Tunisian easy going on previous visits. Cars burning, mobs on the streets, guns being fired at random, (not a pleasant experience when you've got half a gas cargo still on board), helicopter flew over us on its way to shoot up the presidential palace.
    This is the only time I've been on a ship where the ISPS code level 3 was implemented. I had a plane ticket to fly out before the ship sailed. Friendly Customs officer strongly suggested I stay on board. He said there was at least 2000 at the airport trying to escape. I phoned the UK Foreign Office for advise and was told "We don't have anyone there at the moment, can you appraise us of the situation?" So much for protecting British citizens abroad!!! Eventually we got permission to leave, no pilot, but a ramshackle coast guard launch to escort us. Not sure what that was going to achieve if someone had taken a pot shot at us. Sailed to Marseille and got off there with a big sigh of relief.
    R860757

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