I’m pleased to say that we’ve been in contact with retired seafarer, author and painter, John Richardson and that we’ll be doing an interview with John in the next couple of weeks. Before leaving his last ship, the SAS Kimberley, and after retiring from theservice in 1990, John has painted many of the South African Navywarships and numerous sailing vessels…
Careless – not a word I’d use to describe the professionalism of the Liberty ship crew Richard L Montgomery as she sailed from Philadelphia to the Thames estuary en route to Cherbourg, France. Ultimately the ship was lost, but not before sailing with 6 thousand tonnes of ammunition and keeping close convoy formation amidst an ever-present U-boat threat. She sailed into Loch Ewe, Scotland, thereafter joining a tanker convoy to…
Footage from the ceremony on Sunday at St Nics in Liverpool.
If you’re another old salt you realise there’s nothing unusual about glimpsing the navigation officer taking a noon-day sight.Except that these days checking coordinates is just like pushing a keyboard on your car sat nav. So noon-day sights aren’t such common practice anymore. No waiting for the angle of the sun at midday; the truth is that using a sextant is rarely leisurely and the need…
This is indeed a first-class film which has only been released a few weeks.A cinematic tour de force presenting a mix of fact and fiction often confusing the viewer.But of course the storyline is based upon one of Gotham City’s characters. In the film, Gotham becomes New York City, but not the NYC of today – that tourist magnet and home to 19.49 million people, a…
‘A tenuous link’ seems the right phrase: how else could you call a merchant ship British – a ship built in south-east China, its owner, Stena Bulk, a Swedish company, and its all non-British crew of Latvians, Indians and Filipinos recruited by a subsidiary of the aforementioned Stena Bulk.True, the recruitment agency (Northern Marine), is based in Clydeside no doubt employing Scottish workers, but as far as research goes…
Imagery of Britain’s colonialism and glorious seapower abounds and it’s good ammunition for propagandists of that certain event from June 2016.For example: Farage: “the referendum was won without firing a bullet.’ (1)Arron Banks ( major campaign contributer of ‘Leave’): “it was a war. We won.” (2) However some didn’t allude to history, choosing instead to display their ignorance of British trading patterns:Dominic Raab: “I hadn’t quite understood how reliant UK…
Footage from today’s service at the Pier Head – the weather held out for us.
This four-day event sponsored by the Royal United Services defence and security arm – a military think-tank – started on May 15 and was attended by the usual top brass of admirals and captains, the aim of which was to ‘test whether apparent change in naval national strategy is by default or design.’ (1)Quite a mouthful, but a statement I understood referred to is whether…
A Jimmy Cagney lookalike in baseball cap and plaid shirt, the Mississippi river pilot was quite opinionated of American society: “too many Jews and African-Americans in government” he proclaimed as the ship swung ten degrees port up river to New Orleans.I thought: oh! dear, is this the type of prejudiced society I half-expected it to be? By the way, for those fortunate…
Such knocking on the door wasn’t the usual sort; figuratively speaking it was a demand to be heard.The place was the South African Parliament and the urging came from the African National Council to educate the nation’s black youth – ‘ANC press Vorster for immediate action’ read the headlines of the Cape Argus. In 1974 this coincided with my first trip to Capetown and although…
I’m not sure what emotions we felt as a ship’s crew – fear or apprehension, perhaps.
For as the ship sailed into the heat and humidity of Freetown harbour, the rows of military Land Rovers parked on the quay – some painted with a distinctive Red Cross – were plain to see.