gothic.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Chris.
Welcome to the site, plenty of nostalgia and good stories, as the post is an older one it may take time for Tony to see it so sit back and enjoy. Go to the top right hand of the page and type in Gothic then click on the spy glass and references will come up.
Also post the names of the ships you where on there may be other shipmates on site.
Cheers Des

[christopher mccluskey]

thanks Des .Regarding pc knowledge im like a deck boy on his first trip.

[Bill Morrison]

Hi Susan, I too lost a friend in that terrible incident. Eddie Skelly 3rd Electrician from Liverpool. We both joined the company on the same day. Before the Gothic sailed from Bluff we sat drinking in the pub and he told me this was his last trip. He could not settle to a life at sea. Fate is a strange thing but I have never forgotten him.
Regards Bill

[joseph connor]

I have a hardback book on the account of that voyage with her Majesty on board , it is written by the then Captain David Aitcheson , later " Sir David".
It tells of the highs and lows during the voyage, one in particular was the sudden death of a popular member of the crew , but that apart it seems everything went swimmingly well as one would expect of a ship flying that flag, it is some time since I read it and I seem to have mislaid it, it is a realy good read with many glossy B and W plates .
I have looked on line and used copies are on sale for a tenner , joe.


ps it was published by Pall Mall press.

[Doc Vernon]

Royal Standard, Red Ensign: With the Queen in the "Gothic"

Aitchison, Sir David

Published by London: Pall Mall Press First Edition, 1958

Used / Hardcover / Quantity Available: 1

From Cheshire Book Centre (Buckley, United Kingdom)
Bookseller Rating: 4-star rating

Available From More Booksellers
›2 Used fromUS$ 12.86

[Neil Morton]

One of the best ships I ever sailed in.Two trips Aug 58 until April 59.and still have two mates that sailed with me,of course we are in our late 70's now. I will be spending a week with one of them later this month on Queensland's Gold Coast , Johnny Murray by name and I am Godfather to his eldest son. The other is Peter Troy; give his book a go it's called BELOW DECKS available from Amazon.

[joseph connor]

Thank for that Doc,I lost the original post,then forgot to put the title in the re,write, Joe.

[Captain Kong]

The GOTHIC went through the Pool in Liverpool in November 1953 for the Royal Voyage, most everyone was turning it down s they were saying it would be like being in the Royal Navy , So I turned it down and joined the New Zealand Star instead, and near got Drowned that trip. we met the Gothic in Wellington in January/February 1954;.
Cheers
Brian

[Richard Quartermaine]

I have been busy doing my bi-annual supplement retirees newsletter on the Singapore branch in 1967 being half a century from the time I took over the SEA operations from there. just came across this.

It is 65 years ago today that I was being shown around Mombasa and on returning to the Royal Yacht Gothic saw her flag was at half mast and all the bunting had gone. I raced up to the bridge (Being the Skipper’s Tiger) to learn the news of the King’s death and the cancellation of the World Royal Tour from when Elizabeth and Philip were to embark on the morrow. Here is a link to my website You might care to see the home page too on the Merchant Navy Day about another royal Yacht. Royal Occasions. that gives some coverage of the Gothic as I experienced. Also there are also photos on my 'Gallery' on this site. I would like very much to see any photos of the Gothic for I spent nearly three years on her. My cabin was a three berth at the end of the starboard side alleyway, midships. I had the bunk under the porthole.

For years I did not know about the fire but returning to my job with my wife and two kids to Singapore on the Dutch 12 Passenger Straat Cumberland in late June 1969 we were sailing up the Yarra Yarra River to berth when I was stunned to see the the Gothic in a very dilapidated state berthed. I learned later that she was en route to the breakers in Japan.

There could be an interest in the 8 page photoed supplement I have just completed. How do I put a PDF on the site???
Richard
Picture:Captain AV Richardson Gothic and Capt James of the Arawa on the Gothic during the aborted Royal Tour photographed and printed with a story in the Dunedin Evening Star. I was galley boy on the SS Raranga (SS&A) in 1947 when Capt James was the skipper.
.

[Richard Quartermaine]

Reading through this, my cabin was on the Port side, not the starboard.
Richard