Silver Lines Shipping Company!

[Robert Denzel]

Hi,
I have just been talking to my grandfather how's 93! (Andy Wright) And served on silver line ships during WW2 He sailed on the silver walnut and Silver sandal (all types of wood) this involved sailing down to North Africa to supply the 8th Army and returning with cargo, or battling through the North Atlantic. He told me the usual crew was 12 or so men. He also told me some very funny stories about time spent in Portugal, in 41. Apparently the best bars were the German ones! He'd get drunk with the Germans then try and get out of port as early as possible next morning before they came hunting for them!
If any of this rings a bell with any ex sailors here please get in touch so I can pass on any messages to my grandfather.
Cheers. Rob

[Ivan Cloherty]

Robert thers will come up with better information, but only 'Silver Walnut' info I could find is built in 1939 with a grt of 6770 tons which means she wuld have a deadweight (cargo capacity) of approx 9 -10,000 tons and that type of ship would normally have a total crew of 38/44, if he was on deck then it would have a 'deck crew' of 12/14 which is what he is referring to when he says a crew of 12 men

If you give his date and place of birth and any other scrap of information our lads and lasses will paint a fuller picture for you

[Doc Vernon]

Link here Robert of Silverline Ships!

The Allen Collection|Silver Line

Ship Name: Silver Walnut Gross Tonnage: 6770 | The National Archives

Silversandal.jpg Silversandal

Silverwalnut.jpg Silverwalnut

And the Silverpalm was Sister ship to Silverwalnut

[charles allan]

Hi All
I sailed with Silver Line from January 1960 on the Silvercrag for 11 months as apprentice, then Silverlake from January 61 until april 1963 latterly as third mate. Great company, the crag was an ore carrier chartered by BISCO and the Lake was a tramp, typical 5 hatch with derricks, great ship happy Days
Love the site by the way.
cheers

Mike Allan

[Robert Dewick]

Hi
I have recently come across this Company,and wonder if any here may have served with any of their Ships in the past,i see all of their Ship names begin with Silver (then whatever) eg Silverhow (Tower Bridge)




Cheers

I joined the OBO Eden Bridge in November 1979. At the time, she was a Silver Live vessel. I am not sure if that was her name while she was in Silver Line because a week or so after I joined, she was taken over by Denholms, and Eden Bridge was the only name I knew her as. She was an OBO, and during my tour on board, we carried coal and iron ore. I'm afraid that it's so long ago that the old brain doesn't allow me to remember the names of the guys on board.
Bob Dewick

[happy daze john in oz]

Would they in any way be related to the cruise line Silver Seas?

[Chris Thompson]

Would they in any way be related to the cruise line Silver Seas?

Silver Line were a London based company operating chemical tankers and bulk carriers mainly. They were part of seabridge consortium operating large OBOs. The bulk carriers loaded all over the world and were regular visitors to your neck of the world, the last trip I did we called at Sidney(Woolamaloo), Adelaide and Freemantle.
In short to answer your question though, Silver line in this thread have no connection to cruise line Silver Seas. Though I must say we might not have realised it at the time but they were a good company to work for!

[Don Foster]

I joined Silver Line in 1967 as a Deck Cadet. My first ship was the Aldersgate (Later renamed Silvershore). Later vessels were the Silverweir, Silvercape. I moved on to Houlder Brothers in 1971 and Panocean in 1972. The Ore carriers were great for those who liked to be home regularly and the tramps were usually away for a long time so crew got to know each other quite well. The chemical tankers were very small and in those days quite dangerous to be on. I remember a young Officer with the surname Snowdon who died in one of the tanks. I was on the Silverweir in China when she was crushed br ice and sprung a leak in one of the holds. A very memorable adventure.

I was also on the Silverweir with you as the Radio Officer. I still have some rather scratchy photos of our time in China.

[Lee Steven Olney]

Was on The Silver Merlin in 81

[Anthony Allen]

Hi Doc, I was on the MV Silversands on 28 March 1963, I joined it at Falmouth, where it had been laid up for almost a year, I remember it as a lovely general cargo ship, very well appointed and the catering was full silver service when I was serving on it.