Welsh City (3)

Comments from the forum - 2

Collision 1969. I have started this as a new thread as a result of Tony Lightfoot's response to my post re 'landing on the moon' in the hope that someone else may remember the trip and tell me whether my memory is near correct or way off the mark!!
Tony, thanks for the greeting, I do remember you, and your initials on my record book certifying what I had done during the trip confirm that it was on the 'Welsh'. On the 12/8/69 you have commented under 'engineering' "Has kept watches and assisted during breakdowns". Could only have been on the Welsh City methinks.
I also remember the collision. My memory tells me that I had just come off the bridge and dived into my bunk ( just after midnight? ) when all hell broke loose, lots of frantic whistling and general mayhem. I looked out of the window of my cabin only to see a b****y huge green light which definitely did not belong to the ship I was trying to sleep on closing on us very quickly. A big bang, lots of juddering and vibration followed by even more noise and mayhem.
I seem to remember someone, almost certainly you, telling me to get my gear on quick and get out on deck. When we arrived past No1 hatch there was a frightened lookout hugging the bits and saying a lot of prayers. And the sharp end wasn't very sharp anymore !! There then seemed to be a lot of ships around until everyone was happy that nothing was going to sink and we made a our way to, I believe, one of the Dutch or German ports before paying off in Immingham.
Is this really the way it happened or is my memory worse that I thought. Phil Trott. Posted on forum 25th August 2010.

Reading Phil Trotts account of a collision on the "Welsh City" in August 1969 reminded me of the incident, arriving Glasgow in May 1971, in the same vessel.
Tug fast forwd and pilot aboard, just short of Meadowside Quay, passing a shipyard on the left. For no apparent reason, the vesel took a swing towards two ships lying at the repair quay.("Clan McKenzie" and "Dixcove") We side swiped both ships causing damage to the focsle head bulwarks and Suez davit. Mooring ropes were "twanging"and after Ian Craford C/O had let go both anchors, he prudently decamped behind the windlass with his men! When things had settled down, Ian stuck his head above the windlass to be confronted by the "Dixcove" 3/O, resplendent in immaculate white boilersuit, uniform cap and leather gloves,
"I say, what the hell do yo think you are doing"!!
At this point, I will not dwell on Ian's rich, fruity Reardon Smith reply. John Cann. Posted on forum 15th November 2011.

Thur Jan 2 Sailed for Cardiff,  Sat Jan 4 Arr Cardiff, Tues 7  Jan sailed for Liverpool,  Wed 8 Jan arr Liverpool,(Strick Line Time Charter),  Sun Jan 26 sailed for Persian Gulf,  Mon. 3 Feb Bunkered Dakar,  Sun 16 Feb anchored off Durban, Mon 17 Feb bunkered and sailed Durban, Sun 23 Feb Bunkererd Mombasa, Tues 4 March Arr Bandar Shapour., Mon 10 March Sailed for and arr Kuwait,  Tues 11 march sailed for and arr Bushire,  Thur 13 March sailed for and arr Kuwait,  Tues 18 March  Sailed for Abadan,  Wed 19 March arr Abadan,  Thur 27March sailed for and arr Khorramshar,  Sat 12 April  sailed for and arr Basra,  Sun 20 April Sailed/arrived Abadan and sailed for Bombay (Off-hire from Strick Line),   Fri 25 Apr arr Bombay – On Hire to States Marine Lines and sailed for Singapore, Fri 2 May arr Singapore,  Sun 4 May Sailed for Philippines,  Thurs 8 May arr Claveria P I, Sat 10 May Sailed for Cebu,  Mon 12 May arr/sailed Cebu,  Wed 14 May arr Dadiangas,  Thur 15 May sailed Dadiangas,  Fri 16 May arr Kolambugan,  Sat 17 May Sailed for Manila, Mon 19 My arr Manila,  Tues 20 May Sailed for Taiwan,
Thur 22 May arr Kaohsiung,  Fri 23 May sailed for Keelung,  Sat 24 May Arr Keelung,  Sun 25 May sail for Hong Kong,  Tues 27 May arr Hong Kong, Fri 30 May sailed for E.C. U.S.A,  Sun 29 June  Arr Balboa for bunkers,  Mon 30 June Panama Canal transit,  Sun 6 July arr New York – Erie Basin Brooklyn,  Fri 11 July sail for New London,  Sat 12 July arr New London,  Monday 14 July sail for Newark,  Tues 15 July arr Newark,  Wed 16 July sail for Philadelphia,Thur 17 July arr/sail Philadelphia,  Sat 19 July arr Morehead City, Tues 22 July sail for Savannah,  Wed 23 July anchored Savannah,  Thur 24 July berhed Savannah,  Sat 26 July Sailed for Europe, Tues 7 Aug Arr Bremen,  Fri 8 July Sailed for Emden,  Sat 9 July arr/sail Emden,  Sun 10 Aug Arr Rotterdam,  Wed 13 Aug sail for Immingham.  Thur 14 Aug Arr Immingham.
I left “Welsh City” on arrival Immingham and after a very brief spell of leave was called to Cardiff for a briefing and then sent out to Los Angeles where , on 31st August I relieved Harry Lloyd-Evans  as Master of the “Cardiff City”.
That “Welsh City” voyage was a very interesting and memorable one due to the diversity of Countries/Ports visited and the vagaries of the behaviour of the Main Engines and some of the Deck machinery, but it was a hard one to beat for all-round experience.  I have good memories from it.
Anthony Lightfoot. 4 November 2010.

I was Chief Engineer on the Welsh City from November 1968 to January 1970 although I did have some time at home during that period when the ship was in the UK undergoing repairs.
I agree with you Tony that although we had a hard time with the engines it was a very enjoyable time with some good memories, and we went to many unusual ports. Eric Poingdestre. 4 November 2010.

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.

Welsh City. Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
Memories from RSL staff. Page No. [1] [2] [3]		 Welsh City/Cornish City Data. Page No. [1]