Great City (2)
Comments from the forum - 2
I joined this ship and have so many good memories. Osborne Chief Eng: was and I hope still is a first class hands on man. I know that he was from Cornwall tied in in some way to the docks. For me he was a first class man and I am now 76 years of age and have been around some so I think I do Know.
The incident off Fremantle--the steering gear!! I do recall and was one of the team concerned with the repair. We had an Irish crew who were particularly uncontrelable and in fact the Skipper had the Royal Navy alongside somewhere in the Indian Ocean and had a couple of sailors arrested and removed after they had broken into the bond. I have still photos of some of the crew and an apprentice who I atill have good memories of------His father was a butcher somewhere in west wales. Leo Jones. Posted on the forum 11 August 2011.
A delight to find an old shipmate going back so far!! I thought Alec and myself were the only remaining crewmembers from that epic voyage.
As you might recall, I was making my first trip as Mate and, for my sins, must have been landed with the worst Irish deck crew ever to come out of Dublin. Our first problem was in Limerick where they had managed to talk the local Landlord into giving them a "tab". Of course they never intended to settle it and consequently there was hell on on the quay as we departed! That was just the beginning. In Rosario, they broke into the paintlocker and smuggled four five gallon cans of paint aft to their quarters , for "beer money" Luckily, my right hand man- Bonzo Jones the sen app had seen what was going on and we were able to recover the loot!
Again, as you rightly say- whilst at sea they broke into the Old Mans bond but were apprehended by the Chief Engineer. This was the last straw and Harry threatened to call in the Navy. This did not materialise and we eventually emptied them out in Singapore.
I recall us being delayed in Kobe. The Engineers had been working on the Scavenge pump, but had inadvertently left a hammer inside whist boxing up. Our first engine move was one of the loudest bangs I have ever heard.Result:- pump dismantled and landed ashore to be straightened out!
To our younger fraternity-sleeping with a hammer under ones pillow was quite commonplace. So different to life with an Indian crew. John Cann. Posted on the forum 23 August 2011.
The Great City, I remember it well - a great name and a great ship. I done a number of voyages on her, a most reliable engine and never know to have stopped at sea.
The chief engineer I sailed with mostly was Trevor Griffith a man not known for his satirical elegance but a very good man to sail with. Barty Parkhouse, Loyd Evans and Jackie Vaughan were the masters I sailed with during my time on the Great City. Jackie Vaughan was the captain when the ship was handed over to the Chineese in Hong Kong. I was very saddened to leave her.
We had a lengthy flight home in an old propellor driven DC4. We had four stops on the way to Cardiff, I can't remember just where we stopped but we had an overnight stop over in Karachi, and I am almost certain that we stopped in Cairo, not the best flight I ever done but we made it! Robbie Unthank Bell. Posted on the forum 6 January 2012.
The aeroplane (?) in question was a Lloyds International 4 prop engined job as you say
and it was in Hong-Kong for engine repairs.( Previous cargo had been Horses to Tokyo
for an International horse show.)
Here`s how it went:
Take off Hong kong No.1-----------two engines caught fire on take off.
2nd. attempt -----a smoky success.....up-up and away for Rangoon,Calcutta,Karachi,
Tehran,(overnight stop for more Engine repairs) Cairo, Rome, Cork, London.
I spent the next two days "recovering" with two of the air hostess.
Crew list: Vaughan, Mc.Nulty, Kalnins, Haworth, R/O Willocks, Apps. Walmsley and Waldron.
C/E.(not sure) 3/E. Howell, J/E.Short and an Irish lad. Donkey/greasers Cardiff Soms.
Deck crew: U.K. allsorts.
Trip was light ship to Houston, grain for Calcutta, light ship to Thevenard (S.Australia),
gypsum to Hong-Kong. All is well. Evan Walmsley. Posted on the forum 27 July 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.
Great City. Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]Memories from RSL staff. Page No. [1] [2] [3]