Southern Cross

[happy daze john in oz]

robpage mate there were two of them, brothers. Logger Lloyd so called because he was a master at it, and Swivel eye Lloyd who could see more out of that one eye than most could with two. Mad keen cleanliness fetish.

[robpage]

I remember them both , but didn't know that they were related ,

[Derek Hain]

Hello Bill, were you on deck or in catering, I was on the star from 71 through to 72, the old man wascalled Mouldey. I served as a jos, sos and finally edh before heading to australia to live. The bosun was agyuy called Ollie, he got drunk on duty and I beleivehe was sacked did you know him?

[barryH]

I allso sailed on the Southern Cross in 1962 it was a trip i wont forget left with a bad discharge coudnt get another ship so left the sea and jioned the Parachute Regiment that woke me up

[ian cossey]

i got conned into taking a trip on the cross march 65 to april 65 just the one trip, i was lucky and signed on as an engineers stwd, and we had a great bunch of lads who stuck together, while the rest of the ship waged civil war our little area was a haven of peace and contentment, highlight of the trip was tahiti and a night out in quinns reputed to have been the roughest pub in the world, if there wasn't a fight that night you got your money back.i will say that the rush for the gangway after payoff would have put the light brigade to shame, stayed with shaw swivel for a good few years after that.

[aussie billington]

I sailed on Southern Cross for many voyages in 50's and early 60's as electrical engineer, and it was a happy ship during my time. As electrical, had the run of the ship, and had many friends in all departments.
Sad to hear that it was not so in later life.

[adrianvare]

Done 2 and a half trips on her 1970/71 just getting over it now ....run crown& anchor in pig . Was you on there when the plate-house man got stabed in the kneck..I think thats where mugging started....to get from the crew bar to yer cabin was a nightmare

[arthur alexander]

Hi Nigel, I was an A/S on that trip. We walked off the ship in Suva because the Chief Steward cancelled our overtime for the rest of the trip. I witnessed many things on that trip, however I survived and did 2 more, leaving in Sept 1971

[mickeyJ]

Hi Nigel and Alexander. I too was on that trip you mentioned. I was a Pursers Writer, the
other being John Radcliffe.
I believe the outward journey was via the Cape of Good Hope and we returned via the Panama
Canal.
After the first two cruises out of Sydney we had many disgruntled passengers as we hardly
saw the sun, as if it was our fault.
They wished they had stayed at home because the weather there was great.

The passenger that went missing fell overboard. There was a 'fish and chip' buffet on the starboard side
of the promenade deck, and he and a couple of his mates had a few too many.
He was standing with his back to the ships rail and his mate threw him a piece of fish from the buffet
but threw it too high.
He stepped up on the rail to catch it and being the worse for wear lost his balance and fell overboard, hitting
the ships side on the way down.

You are right Alexander as to why the Catering staff went on strike in Suva. The Chief Stewards reason (which you
may or may not agree with) is that we had very few passengers on board compared to outward bound, where we had a full complement consisting mostly of ten pound emigrants from the UK to Australia.

Captain Wheatley was a great guy and naturally wanted to support the Chief Steward but had to give in to the
catering staff demands and reinstate the overtime because the ship had to leave Fiji before nightfall.
The reason being,that the ship would be infested with certain bugs if she stayed and if this occurred she would
not be allowed into her next port of call, which was Tahiti, which didn't have this bug and didn't want it.
It was certainly a trip to remember


Ale

[Red Lead Ted]

She was the first Merchant Ship to be launched from the slips by an English Monarch. Queen Elizibeth ii IN 1955 Regards lads terry.