What Goes Around Comes Around?
At just after 0700 on the 10th November 1961,THE LADY GWENDOLEN(blt 1953 and of 1164 tons),one of the famed Guinness Tankers,and carrying 642 tons of the delightful black stuff both in her tanks and casks in her hold,glided swiftly at 10 knots into the buoyed channel of the Mersey,just past the Bar. Her Master,Capt.M*******,was no stranger to this,in fact he had gained a reputation with both Head Office and other company seagoing personnel as the one who could keep the tightest schedule.
And this schedule was tight,13 hours from Dublin to Eastham was allowed,plus a further 5 hours transit of the Manchester Ship Canal,which enabled a round departure from Dublin every alternate evening.
Only there was just one thing about this trip which 'tripped' him up.It was foggy,and he was not proceeding at a reduced speed,as the Collision Regs demanded. OK ,he was using radar,but obviously could not devote his full attention to it and keep a proper lookout,although he did have a man on the wheel.But the Regs are explicit-speed must be reduced in these circumstances.
Shortly before the Guinness ship entered the channel, the coaster FRESHFIELD(blt.1954 and of 518 tons-owned by Liverpool based Zillah Shipping Co.) had encountered this same fog whilst also inbound and had anchored on the edge of the buoyed channel,not wishing to proceed further at this time.
She began sounding the appropriate fog signal for a vessel at anchor.
This was when the Guinness tanker,on full speed of 10 knots hit her,almost cutting her in half,and sinking her very quickly.It is by the greatest luck that all 9 crew of the smaller coaster escaped by inflatable liferaft.
Captain M******** received a 6 month suspension of his ticket,and £250 costs-leniently I suppose,considering the lives that could have been lost.
This case was also notable in that it was also the first Company to be censured,in the fact that their schedules,being clearly unattainable ,were causing Masters to be reckless,and the Company were 'turning a blind eye' to this fact.....
When THE LADY GWENDOLEN was eventually replaced,and sold to new owners in 1977 she became m.v.Paros flying the Cyprian and then the Greek flags.
Her end came when she was rammed by the tug/supply vessel Alexandra Tide,outside the port of Ravenna,Italy in 1979.
The twist in this tale is that the date was the 10th November...18 years to the day since her collision in the Mersey,but not only that......she was also at anchor!
Third Time......Not So Lucky
Now,I'll tell you a bit more about that little coaster,the FRESHFIELD.
After being salvaged,she was sold to the Norwegians,becoming the Joika.
Her second collision then happened whilst voyaging from Reykjavik to London when she was in collision with the Lebanese 'Claire',but she managed to arrive in London aided by a tug.
She was repaired again and sold on several times
Her luck finally ran out on 5/10/93 named Seabec,whilst on passage from Barcelona to Genova, she foundered.
That was a very eventful career of nearly 40 years for this small coaster.
Gulliver
R878267
http://www.photoship.co.uk/JAlbum%20Ships/Old%20Ships%20T/slides/The%20Lady%20Gwendolen-03.html
http://www.photoship.co.uk/JAlbum%20Ships/Old%20Ships%20F/slides/Freshfield-03.html
