Are there any retired MN people on SF wanting to "Swing the Lamp". I was a 'Sparks' with Marconi from 52 to 59.

only lasted 1yr New zealand shiping few trips to oz ,i could handle the 9 bob notes but cockroach in just about everything was just more than my stomach could stand

Thought NZSC had good clean ships! Did you like OZ? I went out there for a few years and then came home to get married, I really enjoyed it.

Thought NZSC had good clean ships! Did you like OZ? I went out there for a few years and then came home to get married, I really enjoyed it.

S S Pipircki was a good cargo ship but quite lousy, after M.N i joined the army Royal signals for 5 years,looking back I think things when backward I should have continued with my training &become a sparks:thumbsup::thumbsup:

After 23 yrs RN service I joined Mobil tankers in 1973, what a shock that was!

For the better or worse Janner?

I had been a naval officer for nine years before joining Mobil. During my officer time I very rarely had to use my tools. In the RN we also had electrical officers and their staff. My RN time qualified me for a 2nd engineer certificate, imagine I joined a 200,000 ton tanker, lift to the ER and bikes on deck. I was'nt expecting to be I/C of electrics as well. Once the initial surprise was over I enjoyed the job. I have to say though, others may disagree, that I found the MN engineers fine at watchkeeping but much less knowledgible about maintenance. It was a long time ago, I was pensioned off in 1979 because of severe hearing loss. I found Mobil was a great company to work for, they even pay me a non-contributary pension. The ships were manned mainly by indians with British officers , today, the officers are also Indians.

I wonder if you've ever had a look at this site Jenner
www.mna.org.uk/index.htm
200,000 tons. I was on the worlds largest tanker in my day, it was 28,000 tons

My dad was MN - on the New Zealand Shipping Company.....was on the Empire Windrush as a steward....and also on the Rangitane as a steward. I think he did his National Service 1952-54. Both of these ships went down in the Med.

He had no links with South Yorkshire.....indeed he was a Londoner - he told me tales of working with Tommy Steele. He also told me tales of some of the crew buying silk suits in Hong Kong....which they would offload to the Americans in Panama and buy Levi jeans to sell here.....I think some of them had quite a racket going on :hihi:

His name was Len Hennessey....I wonder if anyone remembers him :D

My dad was MN - on the New Zealand Shipping Company.....was on the Empire Windrush as a steward....and also on the Rangitane as a steward. I think he did his National Service 1952-54. Both of these ships went down in the Med.

He had no links with South Yorkshire.....indeed he was a Londoner - he told me tales of working with Tommy Steele. He also told me tales of some of the crew buying silk suits in Hong Kong....which they would offload to the Americans in Panama and buy Levi jeans to sell here.....I think some of them had quite a racket going on :hihi:

His name was Len Hennessey....I wonder if anyone remembers him :D

I remember the Windrush & the Rangitane but i can't remember them going down, i was on the Rangitarta (in dock) for a short while in 51 and i thought one Rangr' was on the way out while tutha was on way in,both filled with emigrant's bound for oz, but its been a long time:confused::confused:

I think you have been fed some duff information. The Empire Windrush brought West Indian emmigrants to the UK in the early 50's and one couldn't do National Service in the MN instead of the forces. You had to do 5 years in place of NS.

The Windrush bought the immigrants in 1948. My Dad did his National Service 1952-1954.

The ship then was a cruise ship - making its way through the Med to New Zealand and back.

My Dad had poor eyesight (cataracts when younger) and as such he couldn't have signed up to the Armed Services.....instead he did his National Service with the Merchant Navy......the New Zealand Shipping Company. He was a steward serving food to the passengers - we still had his white jackets until the year he died (1985)....Mum took the case out of the shed and put it in the alley and forgot to return it to the shed and the bin men came and took it away with the rubbish:(

There's a chap on Radio Sheffield - Eric from Cantley - who was also on the Windrush when it went down in the Med....we met, he is a very flamboyant and theatrical character, he had lots of photos which tied in with things my Dad had told me but Eric didn't remember my Dad. Eric also had Menus and Passenger Lists and Brochures....all very interesting. :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Windrush

I remember the Windrush & the Rangitane but i can't remember them going down, i was on the Rangitarta (in dock) for a short while in 51 and i thought one Rangr' was on the way out while tutha was on way in,both filled with emigrant's bound for oz, but its been a long time:confused::confused:

You are possibly right.....The Windrush went down in the Med.....I have Googled the Rangitane and it says it was sold for scrap but I was sure my Dad said it had sunk.....a ship called Rangitane was sunk in 1940 by the Japanese.....maybe he was on a ship of the same name (as you got with HMS Sheffield)???????

My apologies. You are quite right the Empire Windrush did sink after catching fire in the Med in 1954. I thought you meant during the war. Sorry.

You are possibly right.....The Windrush went down in the Med.....I have Googled the Rangitane and it says it was sold for scrap but I was sure my Dad said it had sunk.....a ship called Rangitane was sunk in 1940 by the Japanese.....maybe he was on a ship of the same name (as you got with HMS Sheffield)???????

If my foggy brain is still working i think the N.S co had two rangi' ships at least,and maybe a fleet, I was on the Rangitarta just a couple of weeks and i know of at least one more with almost the same name,but I'm still thinking there was a few more out there, that was1950:thumbsup::thumbsup:

ps another one just came to mind Rangitoto

I was also on the Port Fairy, how's that for a modern day name and having to tell your friends

I dont know if this was suppose to be a joke,but on my second trip out maybe Perth ,in the river tied up in the middle was a very &tiny rust tug named The Forest and on wandering downtown I bump into one of my mates from the Vindicateric (That spelling not right) what ship you come over on ,the Forest,what that rust in the river yep it took us 8 months to get out coasting all the way and visiting every port, and after picking up the Pilot way back he had turned to the captain saying o.k now full speed ,what-d-ya mean silly ******* I've been going full speed since I left Liverpool,as I say still don't know if I was getting my leg pulled but I thought it was funny:hihi::hihi:

During the war many Merchant ships were converted as Armed Merchant Cruisers . One of these ships Ranpura was later in the war converted again, this time as a Heavy Repair ship. After the war ended Ranpura was placed in reserve. In 1952 duering the Korean war there was a requirement for an up to date repair ship in the far east. HMS Tyne, in Malta, was selected. A replacement for Tyne was then needed. Ranpura was taken out of reserve and reactivated, her crew was a mixture of ratings going to other ships in the Med. & Far East, I was drafted to HMS Unicorn & detailed as passage crew in Ranpura, she had the largest reciprocating steam engines afloat in the world at that time. There was a lot of hard work to get her ready for the voyage to Malta, there was also a lot of onboard training learning to cope with unfamiliar machinery.There is a lot of maritime history regarding Ranpura & her sister ships.

Here you go Janner. From one old Matelot to another.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/rba93/tyne.jpg

Sorry, I don't want to hijack this thread to Royal Navy, but I thought Janner would like pictures of his "Old Ships". Thanks for your forbearance.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/rba93/hmsunicornmpl805.jpg

I was with British India S.N.Co. for a few years mainly ss. Kampala ,passenger run Bombay -Seychelles -Mombasa - Dar-es Salaam and back once a month , occasionally to Zanzibar and Durban .
db

I wonder if you've ever had a look at this site Jenner
www.mna.org.uk/index.htm
200,000 tons. I was on the worlds largest tanker in my day, it was 28,000 tons

Baz52 if you served in the M.N. during the war when that tonnage tanker was sailing, then Sir, I salute you. I am not being funny, anybody who sailed in the MN during the war especially tankers were brave men.

Obviously you don't like Ex MAA's Janner.

Obviously you don't like Ex MAA's Janner.

Honestly Jossman, I have no axe to grind over MAA's.The picture of Tyne is part of my screensaver along with others. I served twice in Tyne , on the first occasion , it was on passage to the Far East, I was a Leading Stoker Mechanic, my friend Sanderson , another LSM, was operated on for acute appendicitis. I was talking to him at nine o-clockers, he was operated on during the night, we buried him in the Indian Ocean at 1600 the next day.

My apologies Janner and a sad story regarding the Tyne. We had similar on the Lincoln in the Fez '64. Our CERA jumped over the side and was never seen again.

The sister ship of my first VLCC. Mobil Pegasus had a very nasty accident. We rendezvoued with her off the west African coast. She had an explosion in her for'd tanks, four Indian crew members were killed. When we saw her, the for'd deck plating was folded back and was hanging over the side, like a large sardine tin. Pegasus had a double hull so she was still water tight. After an enquiry the cause was established. The ship was south bound , back to the gulf, after cleaning tanks they were taking clean sea water as ballast. The standard routine was to open the tank inlet valves fully, the sea entered the tank like a huge fountain causing static electricity which ignited the fumes remaining in the tank. After this incident instructions were issued to only partially open the inlet valves until there was sufficient sea water to cover the valve outlets. I think the ship must have been jinxed, because when she was in a Potugese dry dock being repaired part of the dock wall collapsed on her. Then after all that the Chief Engineer had a heart attack and died.

Just a potted history of the Ranpura, she and her sister ships, Ranchi, Rajputana and Rawalpindi were built during the 1920's for P&O as passenger, mail ships for the London to Bombay route. The Rawalpindi as a AMC (Armed Merchant Cruiser) was sunk on 23rd Nov. 1939 when she gallantly engaged the German Battle-cruiser Scharnhorst to protect the convoy she was escorting. 265 of her crew were lost just 37 survived.