seafaring stories

[Kevin Hargin]

Hi Phil,
The Hanseatic ex Empress of Scotland burned on Pier 84 in New York on 7 September 1966 and then scrapped after only 8 years service.
Here she is but with only two funnels.

were you on her when she pulled down the passenger terminal in san jaun porto rico kev.

[Peter Trodden]

Capt,Kong,
Lovely reminiscence,thanksfor sharing them. You certainly stirred up some memories of mine.
I joined the "France" just before you 11/3/58 (Your 2nd time) and I started to shiver when you were describing your visit to Saint John.N.B. What A Place.!:That Bay of Fundy is something else.With that Rise and Fall. Slack all mooring Lines. Bring in Lower Gangway.Up a few decks and send out Top Gangway. Secure All mooring lines.Stand By.Wait for the Ebb,then reverse the process.I did another trip on Her 1 year later 17/3/59.
I first met Martin Quinn when I boarded the Empress of Britain 20/9/57.(1st trip EDH)and was told to report to the Bosun with my Discharge Book and Pool-Forms.That never happend before or after in any Company,but as you say Martin was a character. Capt,you mentioned another of my old ships,the Memphis I did the Xmas trip 1963/64.Good job,Great crowd.I to had problems after 1960 strike,I have a National Seamen reform Movement stamp in my Dis,Book and Charlie Repp would just shake his head,No Dice.
Me and my mate tramped around but finally joined an old T2 Tanker on Dingle Oil Jetty. I am envious of your skill at putting your memories into words,but Capt, please keep them coming.
ttfn.Peter.

[stephen flaherty]

Refer to Original Post #1


I was lucky to get a job as a steward on a very old flat bottom ship in Jersey CI as a lot of my mates were there for the summer season, this was in 1966 " the year we won the world cup" I was the only real steward on board, the other 3 stewards were made up from the deck hands.
We would sail around the five islands on a Wednesday and have pop group aboard for the Wednesday evening and would sail just out to the three mile limit.
The cook was a Jersey guy and would stay ashore over night and would leave directly when the ship docked.
Well I went into the dinning room and Captain and the other officers were having their dinner and was told that we had run out of brown Windsor soup! I went into the pantry and found ......They had been given the gravy for the roast beef....and there was none left. just one more thing It was my 22 birthday on the 30 July when we won, I was in France watching it in a bar. Steve R804635

[Captain Kong]

were you on her when she pulled down the passenger terminal in san jaun porto rico kev.

Hey Bigman, you cant blame me for that one, I done a few things but never did that one, honest I didnt.
Hope you enjoyed it.
Cheers
Brian

Hi Peter yes it was a big problem after the strike and Charlie Repp was a real character, I still have my Reform movement card.
Memphis was a good job I left because I broke my thumb, I got bevied in GEORGES BAR in Patras and then fell down the stairs of a brothel just around the corner while chasing a young lady round the lounge. so I got paid off back in Liverpool.

Hope these yarns bring back memories of a by gone age,
We were the last of the seafarers, the world will not see our likes again.

Cheers Brian.

[Captain Kong]

PART ONE OF GEORGIC.
her history

CUNARD – WHITE STAR LINER ‘GEORGIC’ OF 1932

Built by Harland & Wolff at Belfast in 1932. Yard No. 896
Official Number: 162365 Call Sign: L H R F
Gross Tonnage: 27,759, Nett: 16,839. Length: 683•6ft Breadth: 82•4ft
Built for the Oceanic Steam Navigation Co. Ltd., (The White Star Line),
and transferred to Cunard – White Star in 1934
2 oil engines, speed: 18 knots
The Georgic was launched at Belfast by Harland & Wolff for the White Star Line on 12th November 1931. She was the final ship built for the White Star fleet. She differed from her sister – the Britannic, completed two years earlier – in a number of respects. The Georgic was designed on ambitious lines with an almost straight stem, cruiser stern, and the then fashionable squat funnels with tops parallel to the deck. Unlike her sister, the Georgic had a rounded bridge front. Slightly larger than the Britannic, her original accommodation was for a total of 1,636 passengers: 479 in cabin class, 557 in tourist class and 600 in third class.
In April 1931 it was reported that construction work on the Georgic was to be speeded up so that she could enter service in May 1932 instead of June as was originally anticipated. Behind this idea was the fact that some 25,000 Americans were due to visit Dublin to attend the Eucharistic Conference that was to be held there from 22nd until 29th June. As it turned out, the Georgic was not completed in time for the conference, and she began her maiden voyage on 25th June when she left Liverpool for New York.

The Georgic’s forward funnel was a dummy and housed the radio room and the engineers’ smoke room. She was designed as a cabin-class ship but her passengers had surroundings and comfort equal to those provided in any de lux liner of the day. The Georgic’s trials took place in early June 1932 and a large party of guests was taken to join the ship in the Belfast Steamship Company’s motor ship Ulster Monarch which was specially chartered for the occasion. The completion of the ship attracted great attention, and in welcoming her to the Mersey for the first time, the Lord Mayor of Liverpool offered his congratulations to the owners. The Georgic made the outward passage of her maiden voyage to New York in rough weather, but even so managed to arrive some twelve hours ahead of schedule.
In November 1932 the Georgic’s sailing was brought forward two days in order that she could fit in with the postal arrangements for the Christmas mails to the United States. On 11th January 1933 she made her first sailing from Southampton to New York, having moved south to replace the Olympic whilst that vessel underwent an extensive engine overhaul.
A record fruit cargo of 51,687 cartons, representing about 3,000 tons, was discharged by the Georgic at Liverpool in October 1933. On 10th May 1934 the vessel was amalgamated into the Cunard – White Star Line fleet. In June 1934 the Georgic was turned into a floating ballroom in aid of the Liverpool David Lewis Northern Hospital’s building fund. During January 1935 there was fire among some cotton bales in the ship’s forward hold.
On 3rd May 1935 the Georgic joined the Britannic on the London (King George V Dock) – Southampton – New York service, and was the largest vessel to use the Thames, being fractionally larger than the Dominion Monarch. In 1939 the Georgic reverted to the Liverpool – New York service and made five round trans-Atlantic voyages on commercial service with cargo and passengers, although she was hampered by the fact that Americans had been ordered not to travel on her as she was a belligerent ship. While she was homeward bound on 11th March 1940, the Cunard – White Star company was informed that she would be taken off commercial service. After discharging a large cargo at Liverpool, the Georgic was ordered to the Clyde on 19th April where she was converted into a troopship for 3,000 men.
At the end of May 1940 the Georgic assisted in the evacuation of British troops from Andesfjord and Narvik, and as soon as she had landed these men at Greenock, she sailed south to assist in the withdrawal from Brest and St Nazaire. She was under repeated air attack and was indeed fortunate in not being hit. Between July and September 1940 the Georgic made a trooping voyage to Iceland, and another to Halifax NS, embarking Canadian troops after landing the evacuees she carried on the westbound passage. From September 1940 until January 1941 the Georgic was employed on a trooping voyage from Liverpool and Glasgow to the Middle East via the Cape, and afterwards trooped from Liverpool to New York and Halifax, and back to the Clyde.
On 22nd May 1941 the Georgic left the Clyde under the command of Captain A.C. Greig, OBE, RNR, with the 50th Northumberland Division for Port Tewfik, Gulf of Suez. She was part of the convoy which had to be left almost unprotected during the hunt for the Bismarck. She arrived safely on 7th July 1941, but a week later on 14th July she was bombed by German aircraft operating from Crete while at anchor off Port Tewfik, with 800 Italian internees on board. Her fuel oil caught fire and the ammunition exploded in the stern area. The Georgic was gutted and the engine room flooded, but her crew managed to slip the anchor cable and beach the ship on 16th July, half submerged and burnt out.
On the after deck at No5 hatch was a new German tank to be taken to England to be tested, It had been captured in the desert. A barge came alongside and several members of the Norfolk Regiment climbed on board and although they were surrounded by flames and explosions from the ammunition exploding in No.5 Hold they got slings and the derrick and lifted the tank over the side and onto the barge. a few medals were won that day. The flames swept forard through the decks and accommodation and when the fire reached the bridge they had to slide down ropes on the fore part onto the fore deck where they waited for rescue, a young lady, who was being evacuated from Cairo to England with her baby, as the flames advanced to the fore deck she tied her baby to her back and jumped over the bow, when she surfaced her baby was dead. It took a couple of weeks for the ship to cool down sufficiently for anyone to board her. she was a burnt and blackened hulk, Eighteen feet of water in her engine room. Thus started one of the biggest salvage operations ever attempted.
On 14th September 1941 it was decided to salvage the vessel and the hulk was raised on 27th October. The hull was plugged, and on 2nd December the Georgic was taken in tow by the Clan Campbell and the City of Sydney. She reached Port Sudan on 14th December where she was made seaworthy. It had taken 12 days for the tow to cover 710 miles
The Georgic left Port Sudan on 5th March 1942 and was towed by T. & J. Harrison’s Recorder, with the tug St Sampson steering from astern. On the following day a strong north-westerly gale rendered the wallowing Georgic almost unmanageable. The southerly course had to be abandoned and the ships hove to. For five hours the Recorder battled to bring her charge head to wind, and in the process the tug St Sampson was damaged. The tug was rapidly filling with water and slipped her tow rope and drifted down wind. Shortly afterwards she foundered and her crew were picked up by the hospital ship Dorsetshire, which was passing at the time.
For twelve hours the Recorder and the Georgic rode out the gale and then, as the winds abated, cautiously swung back through 180 degrees to resume their course. Meanwhile they were joined by another tug, the Pauline Moller and the British India steamer Haresfield and together they guided their labouring charge past Abu Ail and the islands of the southern Red Sea into the Gulf of Aden, and on to Karachi. The salvage crew responsible for the Georgic lived on board the Recorder and every few days boarded the liner from a motor launch in order to pump out a steady ingress of water.
On 31st March 1942, 26 days out of Port Sudan, the ships arrived off Karachi where the Georgic was taken in hand by eight harbour tugs. The Recorder and her consorts, having covered 2,100 miles with the Georgic, had completed one of the most successful salvage operations of the war. Captain W.B. Wilford of the Recorder was later invested with the OBE.
The Georgic remained at Karachi until 11th December whilst temporary repairs were carried out. She then sailed to Bombay, arriving on 13th December, where she was drydocked for hull cleaning and further repairs. Finally she loaded 5,000 tons of pig iron ballast and on 20th January 1943 the Georgic left Bombay under her own power for Liverpool where she arrived on 1st March, having made the passage at 16 knots. Shortly afterwards she sailed for Belfast, but had to anchor in Bangor Bay until 5th July awaiting a berth. After seventeen months the Georgic emerged on 12th December 1944 with one funnel and a stump foremast. She was now owned by the Ministry of Transport, with Cunard-White Star as managers. After trials, the Georgic left Belfast for Liverpool on 16th December 1944, three years and five months since she was bombed at Port Tewfik.
During 1945 the Georgic trooped to Italy, the Middle East and India. On Christmas Day she arrived at Liverpool with troops from the Far East, including General Sir William Slim, C-in-C South East Asia. Early in 1946 the Georgic repatriated 5,000 Italian prisoners of war. In June 1946 on a homeward voyage from Bombay there was trouble between civilian women and service women, and this led to the barring of civilians on troopships unless no other transport was available.
In September 1948 the Georgic was refitted by Palmers & Company at Hebburn for the Australian and New Zealand emigrant trade. She retained her White Star livery, and could accommodate 1,962 passengers in one class. In January 1949 the Georgic made her first sailing on the Liverpool – Suez – Fremantle – Melbourne – Sydney run with 1,200 ‘assisted passages’. However, as she was leaving Princes Landing Stage a rope wrapped round one of her propellers and she had to re-dock. During the summers from 1950 to 1954, the Georgic was chartered back to Cunard and she made seven round voyages to New York each year as a one-class liner. In 1950 she was based at Liverpool, but Southampton was her terminal port from 1951 until 1954.
In the winter of 1954/55 the Georgic resumed ‘assisted passage’ voyages to Australia, and on 16th April 1955 she arrived at Liverpool with troops from Japan. She was then offered for sale, but the Australian Government chartered her for the summer. The Georgic’s final voyage was to Australia via Cape Town with British emigrants, then Australian Troops , 2RAR, to Penang and Butterworth ,Malaya,
After loading 2000 French Foreign Legionaires at Cape St. Jaque, now renamed Vung Tau, Viet Nam we took them to Algiers and Marseilles.

On 11th December the Georgic was laid up at Kames Bay, Isle of Bute, pending disposal. In January 1956 the Georgic was sold for scrapping and on 1st February arrived at Faslane for demolition by Shipbreaking Industries Ltd.

The GEORGIC SUNK in SUEZ BAY 1941 and as she was after rebuilding.

[Captain Kong]

THE LAST VOYAGE OF GEORGIC.


The voyage of the Georgic.........................I did her last voyage then took her to the breakers, sad.


The `Georgic` was a good job on deck, and always on a good run.
We took emigrants, £10 Poms, to Oz, via Capetown , Freemantle, Melbourne, Sydney, then loaded 3000 Australian troops for Malaya when the war was on against the Commies, calling at Moreton Bay, Thursday Island and then put them ashore at Penang for Butterworth, then to Singapore to await orders then we had to go to Viet Nam to rescue the French Foreign Legion, survivors of the battle of Dien Bien Phu, then we took them to Algiers and Mardeilles via Aden and Suez coming back light ship from there. we had a six week work by in the Sandon Basin before taking her to the Clyde.


Yes the Georgic was in a mess physically,
All the shell plating down both of her sides were very corrugated and inside the main working allyway down below that ran from the focsle to down aft the full length of the ship was just a wavy line.
When she was bombed and burned out and then submerged in Suez 1941
would have been the end for any ship today but they knew how to build good ships then.
From a beautiful luxury liner she became just a transport. She was actually owned by the MOWT and managed by Cunard after the war.
Her time was mostly spent trooping or transporting refugees, sometimes in the summers in the early fifties she carried students from the US to Europe.
she was used transporting troops to Korea and Japan, then immigrants to Australia and New Zealand.
The accommodation for passengers was not good, there were ten to cabin,
when we had the £10 Poms on, the families were split up. all the females in one cabin and all the males in a separate one.so on a six week voyage to OZ they were not getting any conjugals.
A few of the crew used to rent out their cabins on an hourly basis , I think it was £1 an hour, so a husband and wife could get together and give it some welly.
She did four trips to OZ with the migrants and each time she filled up every gaol house from Freemantle to Sydney, and every alehouse on the way was destroyed by the lunatics in the `catering` side of the crew.
When I was on her we were alongside the stage for five days in August 1955 with 2500 passengers onboard but no cooks or stewards.
The women were working in the galley doing the cooking and waiting on in the saloon. Cunard were paying the women 12 shillings a day to work.
No Steward would join the ship as she had a bad reputation and most of all there were no tips from the migrants. In the end I believe they went to Walton Gaol and asked for any ex seafarers to volunteer for a voyage to Australia. and six coaches full of "stewards and cooks" came down to the pier head and were herded aboard, we let go as soon as the last walked up the gangway before they could escape.
They didn`t start work , they just went on the ale and stayed on the ale for the next few months. Some of these guys were gangsters and completely uncontrolable.

On the way to Cape Town in the good weather, in the evenings we would sit on the fore deck by the stair way to the pig, we had guitars and I played the base, a tea chest with a broomstick and a piece of Boat lacing. all the young girls who were passengers would come out on the fore deck with us and soon we were all dancing, jiving all over the fore deck, this is what seafaring is all about, I met a lovely young girl there and we stayed together all trip, Shiela, saw her for the next two years.

By the time we got to Cape Town three of the lunatics from Walton were taken ashore and charged with attempted murder. All the catering staff walked off on strike most of them forced ashore by the big hard cases , one was big Jossie Peters from Bootle, a giant of a man with a big iron fist driving them down the gangway.
When the three were being brought from the gaol to the court on the third day, they rushed the police and got them away and ran back to the ship and big Jossie drove them back up the gangway again. Old Captain Fitzgerald thinking the strike was over shouted to us to let go and we sailed out into Table Bay, followed by a Police Boat calling us to stop so we anchored. The Police came on board and searched the ship from fore to aft and they found the three men and took them ashore again. they got ten years each on the attempted murder charges.
They were battling and trying to kill each other all the way to Fremantle, A steward was smashed around the head and face in the shower with a large glass jug, he was found in a pool of blood and had to have 120 stitches to keep him in one piece.
Another steward was in the B Deck saloon having his dinner after the passengers had left, he was attacked by a gang and battered with a water jug and then a heavy saloon chair was smashed over his body. Every time a battle started they always called the watch on deck to help the six Master at Arms, we would wait until the battle had finished before going in, we didnt want to be targets.
The watch on deck and the Master at Arms were at it every day trying to stop them and the gaol on the ship which was down in the forepeak was full of lunatics and we had to guard them while we were on watch, not a pleasant job when the lunatics were full of ale trying to break down the door to the gaol house flat. The flat was a room with nine cells off it and we would have to sit at a table with the door locked, we would get abuse and threats off the guys in the cells and then around midnight when the others were full of ale they would come down the alleyway and start battering the door trying to break out their mates. I would be on the phone to the Bridge shouting for help. No fun being on the 12 to 4 at night,
When we hit Fremantle every alehouse in town was smashed up. Men were flying through windows out of The HM Hotel, Cleos , The Orient the P&O and so on, the cops had reinforcements coming in from Perth and when we left for Melbourne 27 men were left ashore in the big gaol house in Fremantle.
The first two alehouses by Station Pier in Port Melbourne were destroyed, and the battle continued along the pier and back on board followed by the police and during the battle several cops were badly injured ,more reinforcements had to be brought in from all the districts outside. About 30 men were left ashore there in the gaol house on Russell Street. I had met a nice young lady , one of the migrants to Melbourne, Sheila Robinson, very attractive and we would do our courting up in the crows nest in the afternoons on watch, she became quite good at climbing the mast. Instead of doing a two hour look out I always did the four. Sadly Sheila left at Melbourne but we kept in touch and the following two years I went to see her, on the Dunedin Star and Adelaide Star
When we hit Sydney they were waiting for us, The headlines in the `Sydney Truth` " She`s her again! the `Battle Ship Georgic `hit the Australian coast again last week and since then has been taking on all comers."
The ale houses at Woolloomooloo , the Tilbury, the Bells and the Macquarry were all destroyed.
One man got 11 years gaol for cutting another man`s throat on board the ship.
and many others were locked up there. The last of the passengers got off there and what a relief it was for them. Six weeks of hell.
We stayed there for 2 weeks and every time I went ashore the Aussies were stopping us asking if we were off the Georgic, if you said yes then you were filled in. I learned to speak with a Norwegian accent and denied any knowledge of a ship called Georgic. In the pubs in town no one would serve any one from the ship.

[Captain Kong]

PART THREE OF GEORGIC
In Sydney at the pier in Woolloomooloo, we spent a week loading arms, weapons, explosives, bombs for the RAAF, shells, bullets, vehicles, guns, etc. etc, all the logistics for a war zone. about 2000 tons in all. We also had several dingoes and six baby dingo pups, the dog handlers told me that when trained from being a pup they made the best sniffer dogs of all.
We then loaded 3000 Australian troops, 2RAR, for Malaya, as they were all lined up waiting to embark , the flags were flying and the bands were playing `Waltzing Matilda` and so on very impressive, people were cheering, all very exciting, reminiscent of wartime with the troops embarking to go to war.
The lunatics were on the fore deck throwing beer bottles at them on the jetty,
When we sailed , that night was the biggest battle ever seen at sea. and next day for the very first time in six weeks the stewards and cooks went to work and what a quiet ship it was. All the troops were Korean war vets and were a lot harder than those guys
When we sailed down Sydney Harbour to the Heads we were followed by hundreds of boats and the ferries with hundreds of screaming girls, "G`bye Snowy, dont be shaggin` those native sheilas Bruce " and so on, all very exciting, waving banners, Australian music `Waltzing Matilda` blasting from loud speakers,
I was walking for`ard along the Prom deck when I saw an Australian soldier stood in a corner and weeping, I said `What`s up Mate`, and he just said "I am not coming back from this one, I did Korea and I know I am going to get killed this time" , I stood there with my arm around his shoulders as he sobbed on my shoulder. `You`ll be all right mate` I said. We stood there for quite a while until he composed himself. an unusual experience, holding onto a weeping soldier, I always wondered if he survived, quite a few did get killed in Malaya,
We called at Moreton Bay at the entrance to the Brisbane River to load about two hundred more Troops from ferry boats.
When we left Morton Bay in Queensland we had two Royal Australian warships as an escort all the way to Penang, They were HMAS WARRAMUNGA AND HMAS ARUNTA, They were in position one on either side of us. The RAAF would be flying their Shackleton planes all around us all the way up the reef to the Timor Sea, they had to leave when we got into Indonesian waters. We sailed the full length of the Great Barrier Reef, 1500 miles, the first liner ever to do it and put the pilots ashore in Thursday Island, with a load of food stuff and 12 churns of milk for the Islanders, who dont get the best of victuals. The whole scenario was quite exciting.. The 2RAR were the first Australian troops to go to Malaya since 1941 and it was a big event for them.
The Troops were rationed to four bottles of beer a day, but we got to know a few and in the end we had ten soldiers coming to the cabin every evening, The beer was Wrexham Lager at and old eight pence a pint from the Pig. They would give me a pound note and say get the ten pints in and keep the change. It cost six shillings and eight pence a round so I was making a lot of money every night, more than I was earning on wages and overtime.

When we arrived in Penang on the 19th of October 1955 , they went ashore and were put into British Army camps on Penang Island. Much to the dismay of the British National Service man, they were on 28 shillings a week gross, the Australian Soldier was on many times that amount, and also had a an extra allowance for using British facilities, and so the price of beer and the girls went up considerably.
The Troops were to be sent to Butterworth across the Strait on the mainland where the action was against the Commies, A British Army Camp had been evacuated for them. We took the Georgic across and spent a week discharging all the 2000 tons of equipment into barges, we had Australian soldiers down the holds and us Sailors drove the winches and landed the gear into the barges, and the soldiers took the barges ashore. There were no native Malay labour involved at all in case of sabotage.
Then for the Australian Army, politics took over, The Australian Prime Minister at the time said the Troops could not go to Butterworth as it was a war zone so they had to stay in Penang, which was safe. This was in October 1955, and the General Election for a new Government was to be held in January 1956, he did not want any body bags coming home to ruin his election so they had to stay there until the election was over.
Later several body bags did go back to Australia. I believe 15 were killed and 27 were wounded. Politicians never change.

If there's a life that follers this
If there's a "Golden Gate",
The welcome that I want to 'ear,
Is just "Good onya Mate"
Lest we forget. Australian Army.


When this was completed we sailed down to Singapore and anchored there awaiting orders. There was no shore leave there as it would have been difficult to transport a few hundred crew back and forth to the shore.
Then we had orders to go to Indo China, to Cape St. Jaques, now renamed Vung Tao, at the mouth of the Meekong River to rescue the French Foreign Legion who had had a rough time at the hands of the Viet Min. This was not long after they had been battered at the battle of Dien Bien Phu..
I went back to Vung Tau, two years ago and it still looked exactly the same as it was then.

We were running the lifeboats to the beach dragging these guys, who were in a terrible state, into the boats and back to the Georgic,
as we were dragging them through the shell doors these lunatics who were supposed to be assisting them were robbing them of their weapons, pistols , rifles, bayonets, machine guns, hand grenades etc.
We were supposed to pick up about three thousand but only two and a half thousand made it.
When it was all sorted out and we upped anchor and sailed they realised that all their weapons were missing.
So Military and the Master at Arms had to go round every cabin and store and space in the ship search to search and recover the weapons. What a mess these guys could have caused with all that lot.
We sewed up and buried at sea some of the Legionaires who died with their wounds and then when the rest of the Legionaires recovered from their ordeal they sorted out the `catering staff` , they were calling them Sir and grovelling to them and they were in tears,
On the way to Algiers, Every Friday the Starboard side of the Prom deck was made out of bounds, the ******s of the Legionaires had their service there, they had picked up some sheep in Aden and they slit the throats of the sheep and bled them all over the wooden decks. for the Halal meat. What a mess, we had to clean it all up after they had finished. the blood stains were very difficult to remove, we holystoned and barbarised but the stains were still there.
On the way up the Red Sea we saw an usual event. The surface of the sea from horizon to horizon was covered head to tail, side by side, with giant Manta Rays, there must have been many millions of them all heading North on the surface. From sunrise to sunset. Never seen that before or since in 45 years at sea. Next day, all gone.
So we had an uneventful voyage home, past the place where the GEORGIC had been mortally wounded in 1941 in Suez Bay, then to Algiers where we left half of the Legion to go to their base at Sidi Bel Abbes and then to Marseilles, What a wonderful reception these Legionaires got at both places, The Marseilles one was really fantastic, with a 200 piece military band with the colourful uniforms of the Legion, with their white Kepie Blancs, blue coats red lining and white trousers and black boots. Their instruments shining in the bright sun. An unforgettable moment, if only we had a video camera in those day. Some of the big tough legionaires were actually weeping, tears streaming down their cheeks, very emotional, I got one of their steel helmets and still have it 55 years later.
We sailed empty bound for Liverpool. and when we got back to Liverpool there was a big write up in the Echo all about the voyage.
Apart from all that it was a good trip.

We arrived back in Liverpool on 20 November 1955 and had three weeks in the Sandon Half tide Dock in Liverpool after that last voyage working by, just doing a fire watch, while the shore gang stripped out the ship of everything that could be moved, including baths , sinks , toilets what ever. On night watch we spent most of our time in Broken Nose Jacks on the dock road, the bridge boy had instructions to phone the pub if there was going to be a fire drill. The rest of the night we slept. What a good job that was.
On the 10th of December with only a handful of men, we sailed from Liverpool for the last time, she was doomed.
We arrived near Rothesay to some buoys and during mooring operations in a freezing blizzard, heavy snow blowing a severe gale, the Port propeller wound the chain from one of the buoys around the shaft. We were stuck. the following day barges came out to us and divers, the old fashioned type, lead boots and big helmets went down with burners and tried to burn the chains off. She did not want to go to the breakers, she put up a fight to the end. it took two days and nights working under water for them to release her. then we had to moor her to some other buoys. We left the ship on the 15th of December for the last time. We climbed into a tug which took us to Greenock.
I saw old George the Prom Deck man, hiding behind a vent on the tug, he was weeping. `Whats the matter George`? I said. He told me he had been on the ship since the day she was built and was on it when she was bombed and sunk at Suez, he stayed with her for all the three year salvage operation and now it was good bye. George was 68 years old and would have to leave the sea, he had no where to live, the Georgic had always been his home. I dont think he would have lived long after that.
We arrived in Greenock and then caught a train back to Liverpool.
And that was the end of a great ship that was much maligned due to the bad crews that sailed on her. She deserved better.

A few more bits about the trip………………
The reason we went to Australia via Cape Town was, On the previous voyage to Australia with Immigrants from Liverpool sailing in May 1955, when the ship got to the Red Sea, the ship was so hot, being built for the North Atlantic trade, no air conditioning, and poorly ventilated below in rooms for ten passengers, five young children whose parents were taking them to a better life in Australia, died from the heat and they were buried in the Red Sea. All the remaining children had to be kept in the chill rooms below the galleys, to stay cool, I think class rooms and lessons were arranged to keep them occupied. very sad for the families.
The route around the Cape was far cooler. We lost no passengers that trip. There are many other stories of the GEORGIC, it can go on forever, but this story gives you an idea of what it was like to sail on such a famous ship.
She had the largest diesel engines in the world. and the last built liner for the White Star Line.
We had four stowaways on board when we left Liverpool on our last voyage, they were put ashore in Las Palmas when we stopped for bunkers on the way to Cape Town.
I remember big Jossy Peters asking me if I had a guitar, I replied No. so he gave me one, then he came back with another two then he gave me more and more, I had twenty seven guitars in my cabin, `What yer doing this for Jossy? ` he said `I hate guitars and everyones got one so I take them off them` There was no arguing with Jossy.
.
As I said , I met Shiela Robinson, a beautiful green eyed ginger haired girl, she was with her parents and younger brother, they had sold their house in Bury in Lancashire and wanted a better life in Australia.
We had a good time for six weeks outward bound then we arrived in Melbourne on a very cold and rainy day, it looked just like a Lancashire winter. What have we come to they all said. Where is this land of sunshine.
I said my good byes to Shiela and her family, Her Dad knew my Dad, they both played in Brass Bands at home.
We kept in touch, by letter and nine months later I went to Melbourne on the Dunedin Star. The Robinson family were still in the Hostel that the Government had put them in. I got a taxi to Brooklyn, an outer suburb of Melbourne, and there it was, a fence of barbed wire and a large metal gate,.the area was full of Nissen Huts. looked just like P.O.W. camp, very depressing,.each Nissen hut held two families seperated by a wall of breeze blocks. There was no water inside the hut , just a cold water tap on the outside. These people had my admiration, they were pioneers in a new world but deserved better treatment than this. Living like refugees. They had no help once they got into the camp, they had to get a job and stay at it for at least 12 months before they could move jobs. and it was up to them to find a house. not like the bums and stiffs who are flooding into England demanding houses and money for doing nothing.

Nine months later I went back to Melbourne and I stayed at the farm house they were living in. That was in Melton South way out in the country, Now it is almost in Melbourne A lot better than the Hostel. Just after that Sheila, had got a job at the new TV studios in Melbourne and had met a TV Executive, so I was out..

Now did you enjoy that?? They don’t have ships like that anymore and it was a very memorable experience to have sailed on the GEORGIC.

[Phil Crawley]

Hard to say, but this could be your best yet, again thanks.
Phil Crawley

[Captain Kong]

Now here is another yarn................

MISSING IN JAMAICA
In 1954 I signed on the Tilapa, one of Fyffe`s skin boats for a four week trip to Jamaica.
When we arrived in Kingston we were only there for one night so we went ashore to sample the Appletons Estate rum and any young lady who happened our way.
We ended up in the Blue Duck Bar and I met up with a young lady by the name of Gloria Campbell,
We ended up in bed all afternoon and into the evening with a few rums in between to keep the strength up.
After a shower and some more rum I staggered out into the night and at the bottom of Kent Street I was mugged and battered unconscious by a gang of Jamaicans.
Next morning I awoke in an alley covered in blood stiff and sore all over my body and the pain was terrible.
I staggered to my feet and found all my money and ciggies were gone,
I limped around to the dock and found the Tilapa had gone.
"Kinnell, no money, no cigs, and no ship". I sat on a bollard in the early morning sun, and felt really p**ed off. .
I bummed a ciggy from a passing docker, he told me the Tilapa had sailed two hours earlier and "You look a hell of a mess man".
I flicked the end of the ciggy into the water and limped around to the Blue Duck Bar,
The bar was closed but the cleaning lady let me in when I asked for Gloria, Gloria came down and was shocked to see me in that condition she took me upstairs and bathed my wounds and gave me a shower, and got the cleaning lady to wash my dungarees and shirt, then she put me to bed for the day. I slept most of the day and awoke to find Gloria ironing my gear
" Hi Honey, how you feel now?? " A lot better than I did this morning, just a little sore where those Ba*sta*ds kicked me"
."Hey I got some chilly beans on de stove if your ready to eat" " Thanks" I replied.
After the meal and a cold beer I felt a lot better. but still had a problem. "I got no money and no ship, I guess the police will be looking for me now"
"What you want to do Honey, give yourself up and go in de jail till the next ship comes in or you want to stay with me." "I got no money and the cops will soon find me if I sit in the bar."
" No problem" she said, "I have a shack up in de Blue Mountains, and we can go up there and I will look after you" "Yes that will be OK, " I said.
" We`ll go in de morning when I have sorted out a few things to take,` said Gloria. `Meanwhile we go downstairs and have a few drinks"
Later that evening we went back to bed and made love again for most of the night.
Next morning Gloria had borrowed and old pick up truck and loaded it with a couple of bags with food and even a few bottles of beer and a bottle of rum, this gal must have really fancied me.
Then we climbed on board and set off for the Blue Mountains.
Once out of town it was a narrow winding track past the sugar plantations and then rain forest up to about three thousand feet above Kingston. We pulled off the road and into the bush and there was a small clearing with a two roomed wooden shack alongside a small stream that tumbled down the mountain, it had a small garden of limes, paw paw and mangoes, and a magnificent view over Kingston, " This will do me " I thought " There`s nowt wrong with this".
Gloria sorted out the shack and made a bed stowed the food away and then we fell on the bed and had another session,
This girl was insatiable. After bathing in the stream Gloria said she had to go back to work in Kingston and would be back in two days.
I soon settled down in my new surroundings, I could not believe it, early retirement at the age of 19, it can`t be bad.
During the day when Gloria was working in Kingston I kept busy tidying up the garden and soon had it looking good.
In the stream by the little waterfall I removed all the rocks from the bottom and made a dam so eventually I had a small swim pool about three feet deep and fifteen feet wide. It was a great life.
Every other day Gloria came up with food and rum and her speciality, curried goats meat.
We would spend the day lazing around, making love and splashing around in the pool then we would sit drinking our rum and fresh lime juice gazing over the blue Caribbean or the lights of Kingston twinkling below.
As the months passed I became bronzed with the sun and just wore a loincloth, my beard was growing longer and so was my hair.
One day as I was wandering around the bush I came across a group of American tourists. They were fascinated in me so I played the part,
I told them I was a Blue Mountain Yeti, the divis believed it and wanted to take my photo.
I posed with each one and they all gave me several dollars for it. so I was able to give it to Gloria for looking after me.
But the word was soon going around Kingston about a Blue Mountain Yeti, that the tourists wanted to see. The Police became interested and came up the mountain to investigate, and I was captured. They handcuffed me and fighting and shouting they threw me in the back of their truck and took me down
to Kingston Police Station in Kent Street near the City Hall. I would never see my paradise again, There is always some b*st**d who wants to spoil your day. An English expat Police Inspector questioned me. I told him I had been beaten up lost my memory and missed my ship and that a young lady had looked after me
This Ba*s*rd treated me with the contempt that only an expat could have for a seaman. He told me they did not want scum like me to be on their Island and I would be deported as soon as a ship could be found to take me back to England.
I was flung into a cell that stank and was totally unsanitary, the mattress was full of fleas and the food was disgusting.
The following day I persuaded one of the Jamaican Policemen to take a message to Gloria at the Blue Duck Bar.
She arrived in less than an hour, and was shocked and weeping, to see me like this. She pleaded with the Police to let me go but to no avail. She left and soon returned with a towel and some soap, and with some food, she even smuggled a bottle of rum wrapped in the towel. Good girl!. She could visit as often as she wanted but we could only hold hands through the bars of the cell
She knew this was the end and it was very sad, rather like being in the condemned cell, waiting for the end.
Eight days later the English Police Inspector arrived again and informed me that a ship, amazingly the `Tilapa` again, was in Port Antonio, on the North side of the Island and that I would be deported immediately.
I was shocked at the suddenness of it all, I couldn?t tell Gloria that I was going and I would never see her again.
I was handcuffed and dragged outside and shackled to the inside of a police van, I was struggling and shouting abuse at the Police
I was still wearing my loincloth and beard and long hair and a crowd of Jamaicans stood outside the Station on Kent Street laughing and jeering at this "wild animal".
My God, I thought, if this is what happens when you miss a ship, I`m glad I didn`t steal an apple or something.
The Jamaican Police driver bounced the van over the roughest roads in Jamaica as he made his way over the Blue Mountains
on the six hour drive to Port Antonio. I was being flung around in the back of the van, the shackles cutting into my wrist.
After about three hours the driver stopped for a smoko. I asked him for a ciggy, " No Cigs man, got some ganja if you want one."
"Kinnell " I thought, this guy is flying over these high mountain roads as high as a kite on ganja, " Go ahead I`ll have some" I said "I have nothing to loose now" We smoked the ganja for nearly half an hour then set off again over the mountain.
Wow this is the only way to travel man, Yah Hoo.
I must have fallen asleep and as I awoke the man was taking off the shackle and pulling me out of the van. There in front of me on that small wooden jetty was the familiar site of the old `Tilapa`.
All around was a crowd of Jamaicans going up one gangway and down the other with stalks of bananas on their heads, all singing
"Day oh, day oh, Please Mr Tallyman, tally me banana daylight come and I wanna go home............"
As I was lead, still handcuffed to the gangway, I looked up and saw a couple of familiar faces, Billy Williams and Joe Porter.
"I shouted " Hey! Billy, Joey, its me" the lads looked at me, "Kinnell," said Billy, "what happened to you, look at the state your in".
Before I could say anything else the Policeman dragged me up the gangway and up to the bridge deck and knocked on the Captain`s door. The Captain opened his door, the same one who I was with before, Captain Roberts.
The Policeman said, "I have one deportee for you Captain, here are the deportation papers for you to sign"
Captain Roberts signed the papers and the Policeman took off the handcuffs, my wrist were cut, bruised and swollen.
"My God", said Captain Roberts, looking down at me " what a horrible, disgusting mess you are, what happened to you?"
I told him that I had been battered unconscious by a gang of Jamaicans and left for dead. When I recovered I didn`t know who I was or where I was, I had totally lost my memory, I didn`t even know that I was a seaman. A young lady took me in and looked after me
and then a week ago my memory returned and I went to the Police Station to make some enquiries and they threw me in gaol like a common criminal and so here I am."
"Get down aft and see the Bosun" Captain Roberts said "and for Gods sake get cleaned up before the passengers see you, and don`t forget there is no shore leave, I am responsible for you now that I have signed the deportation order, I will sign you on later.`
I walked down aft and as I walked along the after deck the long line of Jamaicans were still singing as they carried thousands
of stalks of bananas on board.?..........day oh day oh day light come and I wanna go home."
When I got to the mess room the sailors were having smoko, "Cor Blimey" Billy said " look at the state of you, tell us all about it".
I got a coffee and a ciggy told them what had happened, they were amazed. Then I got the Peggy, a first tripper he couldn`t believe what he was looking at.. Get me a towel and some soap, and if anyone has a razor and a pair of scissors I`d appreciate it .Is there any spare gear around, shirt dungarees and shoes?" `You might find some gear in the oilskin locker` said Joey Porter.
I went into the bathroom and had a shock when I saw myself in the mirror, the first time in four months, I was thin, with a long beard and long sun bleached hair and dark brown with the sun.
I cut off the beard and trimmed the hair to the collar line then shaved and enjoyed a long shower, I almost felt human again.
I found a shirt and old pair of dungarees in the oilskin locker, they needed a dhobi but I would do that tomorrow. I saw the Bosun and he told me there were no spare bunks and the only place to go was in the canvas locker on the boat deck where they stowed the awnings. I got the Deck Boy to get me some blankets and pillow, and went to the locker and sorted it out to make it comfy.
I got a bolt of canvass and a palm and needle and some lashings and made a hammock, as I didn`t fancy sleeping on the rolls of awnings.
Meanwhile I had seen the Captain again and he signed me on as a DBS, at a shilling a month wages.
At 7 pm that evening they loading was completed and the shell doors battened down and derricks dropped and the ship made ready for sea. By 8 pm we had cast off and sailed through the lagoon, past Naval Island, owned by Errol Flynn, through the narrow entrance and into the open sea.
I was on day work and kept busy holystoning, sooging and painting on deck. and every day we went down the hatches to inspect the bananas to see if any were getting ripe then the whole stalk would be taken out and dumped or given to the galley. Fyffe`s cooks were masters of the art of cooking bananas, we had fried bananas, roasted bananas, stewed bananas, bananas soup, frappe bananas
banana salad , mashed bananas and so on. It kept the food bill down.
Two days out of Port Antonio two Jamaican stowaways were found down the hatch, they were shivering with the cold and were starving and thirsty. They were taken up to the Captain on the bridge and questioned, as to why they were there, they wanted to go to England.
There was no accommodation for them and so they were put in the canvas locker with me, I wasn`t too pleased about that, my cosy little Locker was now over crowded, so I was happy that I had made me a hammock, they slept on the awnings and I was above them.
They were put on day work with me and were not at all happy as we got into the cold weather at the end of November as we steamed up the Bristol Channel to Avonmouth.
After fourteen days we made fast in Avonmouth and the immigration and Customs came on board. The Immigration questioned the two Stowaways and they were released into the care of a Society who looked after West Indians and they were given suits, shoes and shirts and some money. When I asked them to help me all I got was abuse.
We paid off and fortunately the crowd had a tarpaulin muster and I had enough money to get a rail ticket home.
I stayed home for a few days then went to the Pool to face the Committee.
Paddy McGrath, the Union Delegate, came with me, "Give us a fiver and I`ll get you off" "Eff off Paddy, I don`t need you ".
I went in front of the Committee and my book was there on the desk, "What have you got to say for yourself", said Mr Deakin, I told him that I was battered unconscious and had serious head injuries and nearly killed by a gang in Kingston and lost my memory and didn`t know who I was or where I was from, I didn`t even know that I was a seaman, A young lady found me in the gutter and took me home and looked after me and probably saved my life. Eventually my memory returned and when I realised who I was I went to the Police and they threw me gaol before deporting me, so you see Mr Deakin, I didn?t mean to miss my ship."
They muttered between themselves for a minute then said go and see Mr Repp, he might have a good job for you, they laughed as they said it.
I figured he had some bum job that no one else would take.
I went to see Mr Repp, " Hallo Brian, I see you have returned to us, now I have a lovely Shell tanker for you, and with a bit of luck you`ll be home for Christmas, `laugh`, in 1956. [ this being December 1954.]. or you could try a khaki suit in the army".
"OK I`ll take it " he gave me the `Tectus` a T2 tanker.
Good job enjoyed every minute, we went to Curacao, up the Maracaibo Lake and then to Shell Haven in the Thames, I was home in six weeks.
Fantastic.

[Keith at Tregenna]

A small but true offering:

RE: William John Thomas

A Survivor of the sinking of the SS Tregenna

http://www.ss-tregenna.co.uk/WilliamJohnThomas.htm

K.