Today saw the dedication of memorial garden and sculpture at St Nick’s church. Launched in 1975, on 9 September 1980, Derbyshire was overwhelmed by a tropical storm killing all aboard. Derbyshire never issued a Mayday distress message. The wreck of the Derbyshire was discovered in 1994. Find out more from here. You can see the full unveiling ceremony filmed by…
Robert was kind enough to share some of his memories including his ambition of a young age to go to sea, joining his first ship in Liverpool in 1965.
Around the time when the United Kingdom had almost full-employment and a social contract to govern prices and wage restraint, we also had a thriving Merchant Navy. For this was in 1974 when not only were there over 1600 red-ensigned vessels compared to less than 300 today. That notwithstanding, the slump in vessels was already declining in that year owing to the oil-price…
We were lucky enough to be able to do a short interview with Capatin Roy Kerr who was in Liverpool as part of the Three Festivals Tall Ships Regatta over the weekend. Roy is certainly living the dream as Captain of La Malouine and particularly enjoys working with the different crew that join him along the way. La Malouine was…
The past weekend has seen the return of the tall ships to Liverpool and, as was the case 10 years ago, these unique vessels have attracted thousands of visitors and made for a really unique bank holiday weekend. It was a real carnival atmosphere down at the docks and it was a great testament to the strong maritime culture of…
Amazing artwork currently at the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral until Thursday 31st May. Artist Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon fuses lunar imaginary, moonlight and surround soundscape and has been programmed to tie in with the Three Festivals Tall Ships Regatta and the ever changing tides.
Two 3rd Generation ACL (Atlantic Container Line) vessels passing in Seaforth Dock. These vessels have been superseded by the 4th Generation vessels which are slightly longer (296m v 292m), rather fatter (38.4m beam v 32.3m) and can carry 3,800 teu vs 2900 teu. The new vessels began servicing Liverpool in 2016 and all five vessels are now in operation. Atlantic…
The first time I saw the circling speedboats from a distance of three nautical miles, I realised a ship was under attack. For this was the Gulf ‘tanker war’, part of a lesser- known conflict precedingthe 1990 Gulf War. At this time the Iraq-Iran conflict had been raging since 1980, it’s territorial losses and gains changed monthly. This stalemate prompted attacks on ships by both belligerents,…
A very hot bank holiday in Liverpool was also marked by the annual memorial of the sinking of the Lusitania, 103 years ago today. I went along to attend the service and took a few photographs which you can see below. The area around the propeller will be opened up in the new future to make the memorial more accessible…
Most visitors to the Liverpool One Shopping area will no doubt have come across an odd but striking feature. At the southern end of Paradise Street stands an elaborate structure made of wrought iron and vividly painted in green and gold. As many by now know, these are in fact the original gates to what was once a grand and…
Liverpool Ships and Sailors is looking for volunteers to help support our website and community. If you, or you know of anyone who might be interested in writing blog posts, documenting events, helping record interviews and oral histories, or just assisting us with queries, then please do get in touch, we would love to hear from you. Support and training…
Stan McNally tells the story of the Labrador Sea Map.