First Tripper

[andy laughton]

Hi All
New boy on site, First trip age 16 1979 Ropners ore boat "Appleby" left Port Talbot and anchored at Norfolk Virginia for 9 weeks waiting to load. Ashore every night ended up paying off after 6 months owing Ropners £64 Happy days. Canadian Pacific box boats,chemi and gas tankers after that. Finished off with Commodore Shipping 1990 great 11 years.

[DeepSea]

I fllew out to Antwerp to join the Appleby 7/2/86. I was told we were doing the British Steel run again after my previous trip on the Ropner Ravenscraig, which suited me, as I only planned to do two to three month as there was not a lot of overtime. After leaving Antwerp we sailed for Narvik in Norway and loaded for Hamburg. Knew something was amiss when we loaded 600 cases of beer in the stores in Hamburg. We were not going on the British Steel run, a change of orders and we sailed from Hamburg to Buchannan, Liberia and then onto Saldahana Bay in South Africa While going around the Cape a huge sea carried the Chippy down the deck and over the ships side. He was a very lucky man as the next big sea washed him back on deck. We eventually received orders for Japan, arriving about a month later. We then ran between Australia & Japan, finally loading in Australia for Taranto, Italy, a slow 65 day crossing. Paid off in Italy 19/8/86. So much for the short trip.

[Doc Vernon]

Hi Andy
Would just like to give you a warm Welcome to this very good site!
Here you will find lots of info,good Crew and with luck also find a few old Shipmates!
So sit back,relax and just enjoy the trip!
Hope we will have you here for a long time!
A site truly worthy of the British Merchant Navy!
Cheers

If you would like to join in and have your Full name R Number and First Ship
Included in the Flag then Please join the Crew List and leave full details on the Registration Form.
We need your names to get the New Flag full,so please do respond!
Thank you
Vernon (castleman)

Don’t forget to note your First Ship on the Form!

If any new Members or old ones too want a bit of info on the Flag Projects please
Go to the following Links where you can see Pics and Write ups on this subject!
Thanks

http://www.merchant-navy.net/gallery...php?photo=8380

If you have allready done this then Thank You!

[Ivan Cloherty]

Hello Deepsea

Greetings from another Ropner man, yours was a short trip, whilst 3rd mate on the "Wandby" after two short trips UK - USA for grain being lulled into a false sense of security we signed on for the third trip signed on in Avonmouth on 7th Feb 1962 and signed off 12 Sept 1963 in south shields, 19 months later having covered the world but not the UK and Continent. Just as well it was a happy ship, the Captain was Capt Churchill and the mate was Joe Meakin, second mate was called "Orbit" cannot remember his real name, but he was always spaced out and always late for watch.

We did a lot of runs to China from Canada and Oz, you know the format 1 to 2 days in Canada and Oz loading grain then 3 weeks at sea and two weeks in China where we were not allowed ashore in those days, we only had one bad apple on board, but he picked a fight with some Japanese fisherman whilst ashore one night in Japan (overnight bunkering), not the wisest move he ever made, as I had to watch him being stitched up in a Japanese hospital without any aneasthetic, Japanese assured me he wasn't feeling any pain, which was a pity as he had inflicted a lot of pain on some of his crewmates, he had to be repatriated, so we sailed shorthanded, but it was a blessing.

Met my future wife in Avonmouth just two days( had two short meetings), before we sailed and we corresponded for 19th months, no mobile phones or internet in those days and letters read 2 to 3 months after they had been posted as they finally caught up with the ship on its none programmed voyages we were married not too long after my return to UK, so "Wandy" was a lucky ship for me, had 28 years of honeymoon before the big "C" claimed her, but left me with two lovely daughters.

All the best to all

Ivan Cloherty R611450