Feet wetting incident

[David mullins]

Following a couple of weeks break at home after a 2 year jag on the “ MV British Monarch” trading between Japan, Aussie, NZ and the Guano islands of Nauru and Ocean Island I’d had enough deep sea at least for a while so I opted for a a nice little coaster which would provide much needed time at home.
I joined the Coast Lines ship MV Denbigh Coast at Permona dock in Salford.
She was an old timer with radial davits and really cramped accommodation.
She was on a regular run with general cargo between Manchester and Belfast spending every weekend in Permona. Just what I needed for some normal shore life and a regular lady friend.
After clearing Eastham locks in the Mersey we navigated seaward to the Bar lightship. The weather was fair with a nor-westerly running at about 3 to 4. Vis was was 10 miles+.
After clearing the Bar we set course for Belfast and the Skipper relieved me and took over the watch, which coastal skippers did in the 60s.( perhaps they still do, I don’t know)
I went below to the galley and had a cuppa with the cook when I suddenly remembered I’d left my all weather Canadian parka on the bridge.
Nipping back up to the bridge and grabbing my coat I noticed a cargo ship about one point off the starboard bow coming towards us with a feather in her mouth. I leaned against the bridge window and chatted to the skipper waiting for the other ship to pass on our starboard side. I remember the skipper telling me there was a Vesper scooter in number 2 (hold) which was for his daughter as a present for getting a place in university.
The other ship was the 10000 ton MV Irish Maple bound for Liverpool and our passing distance, I estimated would be about 200 yards or so. Bit close I thought, the skipper knows what he’s doing.
The skipper ordered“ nothing to starboard” to the helmsman on the wheel behind us, who repeated the order back to him.
The Maple was about 1000 yards off our starboard bow when I noticed a worrying drift of our bow to starboard. “Port 10” the skipper shouted to the man on the wheel. The swing to starboard increased alarmingly and I looked behind at the helmsman and the rudder indicator and to my horror he’d applied the wheel hard over to starboard. In desperation I ran over to the wheel and pushing the guy aside spun the wheel hard over to port at the same time relating what I was doing to the skipper.
Through the bridge windows I watched in shock as the bow of the Maple struck us just aft of the focsle head on the port side ripping the complete bow section off the Denbigh Coast and forcing her over 90 degrees on her starboard side. The bow was pushed under as the Maple rode completely over the foredeck.
I slid sideways down the 2 companionways on the port side from the bridge deck towards the boat deck. The bosun was already there and it was obvious a lifeboat launch was out of the question so we desperately tried to release an inflatable life raft from its brackets, but try as we might it wouldn’t budge, probably due to the extreme deck angle.
I saw the chief engineer climbing up from the engine room muttering effing hell, effing hell and jumping straight into the sea leaving the engine still running at full ahead.
The forward part of the ship was now well below the surface with the stern starting to raise itself above the water.
It was about 2230hr and in the darkness I glanced around for a life jacket or life belt and unable to see either I pulled myself over the bulwark and slid down the port side of the ship into the sea.
After the initial shock of the cold water I realised I was in imminent danger from the prop which was somehow still spinning and thrashing the surface with an almighty sound. The action of the half immersed propeller was causing the stern to move sideways and towards me. I swam like I’ve never swam before and fortunately out of range of the prop.
Initially I could hear other crew members in the sea shouting to each other, although in the dark we couldn’t see where each was.
It was just a matter of running in the sea to stay afloat and it became more difficult as one descended down a wave into a trough with gravity forcing one’s head below the surface. As time passed the calling to each other ceased and I tried several times to call without reply. Thoughts went through my mind that the others had drowned and I wondered how long I’d last. Apparently, the tide and currents created the increased distance between ourselves.
I seemed to have been in the water all night and anticipated dawn on the horizon.
I suddenly saw a silvery shimmer of light from over my shoulder on the tops of the waves and turning around saw a searchlight in the distance sweeping from left to right across the sea.
My heart leapt as I felt the possibility of rescue. “Over here” I screamed as loud as I could, “over here, over here.” I tried waving at the same time but the weight of my arms above water pushed my head below the surface.
The searchlight seemed to be getting closer and the sweep passed over my head several times before finally settling on me.
Several minutes later a pilot boat ships cutter pulled up alongside me.
I was so exhausted I couldn’t even grab the gunwale of the boat.
My voice had completely gone hoarse with shouting but I managed to repeatedly gurgle “thank you”.
The time was just after midnight and I had been picked up by the Liverpool Pilot Boat Arnett Robinson who was en route from her pilot boat station at Point Linus in Anglesey to Liverpool when she picked up the Mayday signal from the MV Irish Maple.
After a short leave at home to replace all my lost gear, I went back deep sea having had enough of the coast.

[Keith Tindell]

Thats what you call a close shave, when you mention the prop still turning, made me think of this incident in the Solent last week, sorry if its been posted before,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-eng...shire-60639923

[Graham Shaw]

DENBIGH COAST(INFOlINK)

A well told and interesting article David.Not many of us are survivors of such a collision and are here to give first hand account.You were indeed very lucky,and not many of we true mariners like getting our feet wet !

The Miramar Ship Index gives a little history.
[mv DENBIGH COAST. O.N. 164312, 484grt coaster compl.1/1937 as Yard No.562 by De Noord,Alblasserdam,NL. 49.9M X 8.0M.Diesel 9.5kts.Owner Coast Lines Ltd,Liverpool.
1951-1959 was renamed LAIRDSFERN before reverting to original name.
Fate ; On 18th July 1960 was in collision in the Crosby Channel,Mersey with IRISH MAPLE O.N.400053, cargo vessel,8,288 grt,built in 2/1957,owners Irish Shipping Ltd,registered in Limerick.
Denbigh Coast was outward bound from Manchester to Belfast.]


The Irish Maple by comparison went on for another 22 years under Greek and Panama flags before being broken up at Gadani Beach in 3/1982

[j.sabourn]

#3 Graham there is a chance , but not a fact that the Irish Maple nay have been a sistership to the Irish Elm before she had name changes and finished up as the Glendalough .Harley Mullion bought two ships so the story went , the ex Irish Elm which I was on , and another one for another son. The one I worked for his initials were RD the same as on the funnel. The other ship I don’t know the name of but about 69/70 ish she was arrested in Montreal , for non payment of bills owing , sold and the crew got first settlement of their wages as per maritime law. They were a yugoslav crew at the time. I remember hearing the story second hand and only added to my woes on the heap of rubbish I was on, as getting money out of the ship was like getting teeth out of a hen. And hadn’t been paid allotment wise for 3 months. Like most ships if don’t know too much about the owners , youse pays your money and takes your chances . Cheers JS
PS Do you have the name of the master of the coaster at the time of the collision .? My fertile brain the only fertility I have left is trying to put old photographs into frames to see if they fit. JS

[happy daze john in oz]

Watching the guy in the dingy makes one realise you cannot legislate for idiots.
Did it not occur to him the container ship was a wee bit bigger than him and did not have brakes to stop?

[j.sabourn]

One query David on your feet wetting incident. Were the rules on the quick hydraulic releases for the life rafts in force then and if so did they work.? My memories of looking for survivors after a platfom had disintegrated were the number of life rafts floating around still in their hard shells. I assumed without giving it much thought that the tug lines had burned through and suggested later that they should of had a steel heart to lengthen their life. Even so going past that statement if I remember correctly the hydrostatic releases should have automatically inflated these rafts when they went under the surface . I never saw no inflated rafts and I would of known as was dodging everything else including the uninflated rafts floating still in their hard shell. Cheers JS.

[Graham Shaw]

JS # 4. 1/. John,if David Mullins looks in again maybe he would be able to tell you the name of the master of the Denbigh Coast that his coaster was run down by Irish Maple.?
I have looked in the Wreck Reports archives and unfortunately there is no Denbigh Coast v.Irish Maple report listed yet-or maybe never will be.

2/.Your GLENDALOUGH which was the IRISH ELM built 1953 was an earlier class of 5,600 grt vessels built by Gray's in 49-53. They were steamships and apart from IRISH ELM her sisters were IRISH CEDAR and IRISH PLANE both sold in 1960 to Pakistan;and IRISH HAZEL sold in 1960 to Yugoslavia.


3/.There were 4 sister motor ships of that later c.8,000 tons Irish Maple class built by Gray's ,West Hartlepool for Irish Sg.Ltd;

6/1956 IRISH LARCH.Sold 68 ALIAKMON PROGRESS (Aliakmon Corp,Piraeus) bu 79
2/57 IRISH MAPLE Sold 68 ALIAKMON PIONEER 79 ANNOOR (Gryphon Marine,Piraeus )Bu 79
9/57 IRISH ALDER Sold 70 ALIAKMON PILOT. 77 ATTICAN UNITY (Chellone Marine,Piraeus).Fire & Beached Flushing Roads 8/77.Bu 78
1/58 IRISH ASH Sold 70 ALIAKMON POWER Bu 79

(There is no IRISH STEW unfortunately,because I am feeling rather peckish at the moment).Anyway- try saying that last-named vessel IRISH ASH when you're pished!)

Have a Good Day !
Graham

[j.sabourn]

The Glendalough was always in the Irish stew when I was there and you can take my word for it , it was inedible. I well know the Steamship part of it as we started off the Trip from Rotterdam where she was discharging Copra from the Pacific area. The Copra bugs closed all the eating houses within range of these little pests. Starting off we had a chief engineer from Sunderland and a 2 engineer from Aberdeen Scotland originally but at that time lived in Aberdeen Hong Kong , the chief died in Singapore and he was only in his fourties he was replaced by Gungha Dins brother and the 2 engineer who was a raving shall we say a cross dresser by Sabu the chiefs brother, and the 3 engineer was the Chinese fireman’s ex cook. The master was ex coasting man from Ireland and the R/O was Irish and the two didn’t get on either. It is this master I was trying to fit into the photo frame and maybe was how he got the job in the ex Irish boats as he had been on the coast and in a collision with loss of life. I won’t go into it further as may finish up in a court case like our premier is at the moment with another called Clive Palmer. Australian politics may not be your top subject at the moment . It was never mine but is all what you get on the magic box. I always put a drop of Worcestershire sauce in my Irish Stew when the wife cooks it . She never puts enough salt in it . As to steam ships before the original chief died I was helping him out in the back end of the main boiler freeing the super heating elements around the boiler tubes , what a job our water consumption was 40 tons a day and after 4 days potable water was out of a 40 gallon drum with a bucket and heigh hoe for the next port of refuge . People would not just believe you. So I don’t even try , let them find out for themselves the hard way. Cheers thanks for the info. JS ..

[David mullins]

Hi JS,
My discharge book went down with the ship which obviously had the skippers name in. The replacement record doesn’t show his name and considering it was 62 years ago I’m sure I can be excused for not remembering his name. Something in the back of my brain says his name was Gregson or something similar

[David mullins]

The life raft on the Denbigh Coast was huge, probably a 10 man capacity and housed in a large cylindrical fibreglass enclosure and had been roped into the cradle. No quick release mechanism. Suspect that wasn’t legal but there you go, who needs a life raft.