Prince Rupert City (2)
Comments from the forum - 2
Relaxing watching the " One Show " and surfing our RSL forum brought fond memories of my trip as lekie on the PRINCE RUPERT CITY between January 1973 and July 1973, joining in Antwerp ( visiting Danny's Bar ) and paying off Chiba.
I was fortunate to be able to take my wife Asdis with me on the trip and after joining in Antwerp our next port of call was Cardiff where the RSL Chairman's chauffeur driven car was put at the call of the wives on board for shopping trips into town.
The old man for the trip was Capt Joe Thornhill who was making his final voyage before retiring, Chief Engineer was Brian Draper and the Chief Steward Bob Pierce. John Gardiner. Posted on Forum September 28th 2009
Reardon Smith Newsletter No. 22 from November 1971 lists both the Prince Rupert City and the Vancouver City both in Iraq (Basrah)
The PRC arrived Basrah anchorage on the 2nd August with a grain cargo. She docked in Basrah on the 8th october and was expected to complete discharge early December
The VC arrived Basrah anchorage on the 22nd August and docked on the 28th October and was expected to complete discharge around the 23rd November.
I guess these guys must have run out of beer along the way!
The PRC crew were Captain Bryan Boyer,
Chief Off Mike Jones,
2 off P P Hames,
3 off B M Richardson, Radio off D P Bidmead,
C Eng M J Ridley,
2 Eng R K Binns,
3 Eng J P Silcock,
4 Eng C D Hughes,
J Eng C C Anderson,
J Eng R J Pring,
J Eng A Marsh,
Elect Ken Hampton,
C Stwd K Llewellyn,
Nav Cadet D.G. Morgan,
Nav Cadet J F Hammond. Tony Crowther. Posted on Forum October 6th 2009
I echo what was said earlier on the forum, Capt. Mark Higgins was indeed a gentleman and a fine Master and its good to see him still going strong. He taught me, as a hot headed 3/O, a lot for which I will be forever grateful. The more I spent at sea (and in life ashore) the more I appreciated him and his like in RSL, very calm exterior in the face of "when it all went wrong", (no doubt shaking inside !) but willing to have a laugh and a few beers when it was all over. A lesson for life indeed.
One springs to mind is the unfortunate episode with the Prince Rupert, straight out of UC shipbuilders, 1970 I think, first cargo loaded, when on a loaded passage from Destrehan Mississipi for Japan, the steering gear failed on a 70 starboard turn going down the Mississipi just after New Orleans with a pilot on board (doing 17 knots OTG with the tide behind us I might add) and we went full speed up the levee with the engines going full astern ...coming off straight away because of her astern power, we managed to anchor..but then 12 hours later on raising the anchor to proceed upriver for inspection, we snagged a gas pipeline with the anchor and cut off half of New Orleans gas supply!! The US Coast Guard weren't very pleased for some reason !! Throughout it all Capt Higgins retained a great degree of composure which was exactly what the rest of us needed and as I remember it, hardly spilt his coffee into the saucer when he came on the bridge with disaster enfolding before him, ..even when the pilot went to pieces and was jabbering in the corner of the bridge saying "Jesus Christ she'll be a mile inland before she stops !! " That last phrase sticks in my mind even after all these years. We weren't a mile inland, but at the discharge port in Japan later we could see we had solid mud up to the end of No.1 Hold in a big wedge shape.
Thank you Capt.Mark,for the lessons in life and long may you keep your good health. Is there anyone else out there who has memories of this occasion ? Graham Mapplebeck. Posted on Forum December 22nd 2009.
Crashed Aviators. Hi Phil, I can still see you today, dark as it was, setting off in the lifeboat, in search of the two “aviators” from the ditched aircraft. Bryan Boyer, who posts up regularly, told me that they came down to visit you and Laura next time on the West Coast of the States. All seems a long time ago. Mike Jones. Posted on Forum August 23rd 2010.
Yes, one of the aviators did come down to the ship when we were berthed in Long Beach. He still maintained they were only smuggling emeralds; and to prove it, he actually gave Laura a ring made with one of the stones. Laura remembers the incident very clearly and to this day she reminds that on our return to the ship and all was made safe I went and had a beer with you and she was left to console the Third Engineer who was in the lifeboat with me (Keith Velda I believe). Philip Godding. Posted on Forum September 1st 2010.
I recall passage on Prince Rupert (1975) from Osaka to Rio De Janeiro sailing through the Indonesian Islands and across Indian Ocean then South Atlantic can't recall stopping for bunkers.
We were all well bronzied by the time we got to Rio - so much so that the port police thought my wife was a Brazilian and questioned whether she should be allowed on the ship. Old man was Donald Jack. Alan Fox(catering) and his wife Mary were also on the trip. Dave Edge. Posted on Forum June 8th 2012.
Disclaimer: The statements on this page are the views of the person who posted them on the forum. The events took place many years ago and in most cases rely on those people's memories, and so we cannot guarantee the accuracy although every effort is made to check it.
Prince Rupert City. Page No. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
Memories from RSL staff. Page No. [1] [2] [3] [4]