Kay Culbertson
Hello, I am John Porteous' daughter. It is lovely to read the tributes to him. I have lots of notebooks etc of his voyages, which I am looking forward to reading. Needless to say, we all miss him greatly.
Kay Culbertson. Posted on the forum 15 February 2011.
I am sure The WorldShipSociety will not object to me posting the following obituary, that I have just come across on one of their WebSites.
"PORTEOUS, Captain John (rtd). Firth of Forth Branch was deeply saddened by the death of Captain John Porteous in early January, 2011. His career started in 1942 as an ordinary seaman, but he subsequently obtained his Master's "ticket" and saw service with Bank Line , getting his first command in 1959, followed in 1970 by a spell as Marine Superintendent at Calcutta, before he joined Sir William Reardon Smith & Sons Ltd, Cardiff. On their demise in the 1970s, he then joined Transpartacion Maritima Mexicana serving as master on three of their fleet before retiring to Edinburgh in the 1980s and becoming a regular member at Branch Meetings. John will be sorely missed. [01.2011]"
A couple of years before the closure of RSL, when a few us were allowed to remain under the umbrella of RSL, and were assigned to a particular vessel: in my case the PAC, John Porteous was the relief Master for that ship. It was the only time I got to know him, and I found him to be an extremely kind and likeable man. I would extend my sympathies and condolences to his family. MikeJones. Posted on the forum 14 February 2011.
Very sorry to read about Captain John Porteous crossing the bar. John certainly lived up to the name Gentleman, especially during the time on Silvia Sofia at Ulsan Drydock in 1980. (long after the early demise of RSL in the 70's according to WSS!). John Cullen. Posted on the forum 15 February 2011.
My sincere condolences at the passing of your father - A good friend and shipmate. We sailed together on the "Maria Elisa" back in 1972, and last met up at Badachro (Gairloch) at a holiday cottage some years back. Happy memories - May he rest in peace. Tony Lightfoot. Posted on the forum 15 February 2011.
I was lucky enough to sail with John Porteous twice.
I was Fourth Engineer at the time and our trips together were on the Cardiff City and Devon City.
He was a thoroughly polite Gentleman who always looked the part of a Ships Captain.
One of the voyages was with Lenny Taylor as Chief Engineer and they seemed to share a great friendship and mutual respect. Len and John nearly always had breakfast together and were usually alone in the saloon. John would always have a shirt and tie on but I recall Lenny wearing an open neck shirt and cardigan.
Imagine their surprise on Christmas morning when the ship was berthed in Baie-Comeau Canada to enter the saloon and find every Officer already seated and in Full Uniform. Many of us suffering the hangover that lead to the plan being hatched at around one in the morning in the bar. Ian Stutt I believe was responsible for ensuring everyone was up on time but later paid for it in a dockside snowball fight.
I have often thought of John over the years and was very sad to hear of his passing. My condolences to his family and friends. Robbie Bell. Posted on the forum 15 February 2011.
I want to echo what others have already said. Youe father was one of the most "gentle" persons I have ever sailed with. A Gentleman with a capital "G". Ian Stewart. Posted on the forum 3 March 2011.
NOTE. Kay Culbertson has answered each message seperately and thanked each person for their condolences.