Black Jack

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QUARTERLY MAGAZINE SOUTHAMPTON BRANCH WORLD SHIP SOCIETY www.sotonwss.org.uk

Issue No: 164 Autumn 2012

P&O 175th Anniversary

All seven P&O cruise ships out in The Solent as they leave Southampton on 3rd July. Lead by Adonia they are about to break into two lines of three to take the salute of the Princess Royal aboard the Trinity House tender Patricia. At least the atrocious weather cleared sufficiently for the ships as they took the salute.

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2012 Branch Meeting Programme September Ocean Liners and Cruise Ships 1905 - 11th 2005 – Doug and Daphne Toogood October 9th Blue Funnel Line – John Lillywhite November A.G.M. – Plus: Gosport Ferries – 13th Phil Simons December At Sea in the ‘Fifties – 11th Edwin Goodfellow

All contributions to BJ either by post, email, floppy disk or CD are most welcome. Any article with a connection to the Solent area would be much appreciated. The BJ Edi-tors could reproduce magazine or newspaper articles but preference is given to articles ‘by the branch – for the branch’. Any member who would prefer to receive the Branch Magazine Black Jack by email please contact the Editor. Colour printing costs are relatively high so all recent Black Jacks can be viewed in full colour via the Branch website in pdf format. www.sotonwss.org.uk

Black Jack - Autumn 2012 No.164 Editorial team Mick Lindsay, Nigel Robinson and Editorial Assistant Michael Page. Website – Neil Richardson Black Jack is the quarterly newsletter for the Southampton Branch of the World Ship Society. Four editions available for £5 inclusive of postage.

Branch Meetings Venue: St James Road Methodist Church St James Road Shirley Southampton, SO15 5HE All meetings commence at 19.30 and the meeting room is to be vacated by 21.30. Meetings are on the second Tuesday of each month. Honorary Branch Secretary Colin Drayson 57 The Drove Commercial St Bitterne Southampton, SO18 6LY 023 8049 0290 Chairman Neil Richardson 109 Stubbington Lane Stubbington Fareham, Hants, PO14 2PB 01329 663450 Treasurer Andrew Hogg “Debanker” Lyburn Road Hamptworth Salisbury SP5 2DP 01794 390502 Visits Organiser Adrian Tennet 34 New Road Fair Oak SO50 8EN 023 8060 0197 Full details of all committee members can be found on the Southampton WSS website at www.sotonwss.org.uk Editorial contacts: michael_lindsay@hotmail.co.uk gillrobinson@freenetname.co.uk

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MONTY’S NOTEBOOK A round-up of new or infrequent recent callers to Southampton Docks. Details and photographs supplied by Monty Beckett. Photos top to bottom Jebel Ali, Muntgracht, Astor

Berths 204 - 7 Container Ships:

CMA CGM Corte Real 150269/19, Boxford 25624/98, APL Manila 94419/09, Naroya Express 93750/10, Minerva 27915/05, Malik Al Ashtar 141077/12, CMA CGM Christo-phe Columba 53022/09, APL Southampton 128929/12, APL Chongxing 113735/11, Hyundai Smart 141770/12, Jebel Ali 141077/12, CMA CGM Magellan 153022/10, APL Dhaka 94407/09, APL Salalah 128929 /12, APL Italy 94047/08, Rio Madeira 73899/09, Hyundai Ambition 140979/12, Northern Jubilee 94419/09, CMA CGM Colum-bia 131332/11, CMA CGM Margrit 141635/12, APL South-ampton 128929/12 Ro-Ro Vessels: NOCC Caribbean 42447/88, Euphrates Highway 59447/12, Lavendar Ace 60065/08, Tatania 74255/11, Parsifal 74622/11, Dorado Leader 62571/06, Hestia Leader 63007/08, Hyundai No 107 41720/87, CSAV Rio Nevada 46800/07, Cosco Tengfei 51671/11, Talia 57712/06

Berth 107 - 109 & No 7 Dry-dock:

Blankenese 2882/84, Oostvoorne 2035/96, Moormerland 2164/05, CFL Patron 4106/08, Sormovskiy-3067 3048/90, Roseburg 1999/91, Fiorano 3871/12, Heemyleit 2549/11, Fingard 2997/00, Mimosa Dream 40169/96, K Brave 31236/06, Birgit G 2545/10, Najland 3826/89, Nikar G 2335/00, Marietje Andrea 5418/09, Ferro 1986/91, CFL Prospect 4040/06, Antares 1172/84, Daan 2080/01, Miran-da ??/??, Wilson Caen 2999/95, Tallin 2810/97, Lone 15199/11, Antwerp 2451/08, OXL Lotus 5752/97, Vlieland 3990/05, Linnau 2452/06, Onego Trader 6301/01 Marchwood Bulk Berth: Union Pluto 1530/84 Berths 24 - 5: Filia Nettie 2199/08 Berths 36:

Natacha C 7752/03, Vedette 2545/00

Prince’s Wharf: Arklow Forest 2998/11, Arklow Future 2998/07, Arklow Raven 2999/07 Dibles Wharf: Jerome H 1297/85 Other cargo vessels:

Sampogracht 18321/05, Emmagracht 8448/95, BBC Ger-many 7004/03, Muntgracht 9524/12 Passenger Vessels: Caribbean Princess 112894/04, Azamara Journey 30277/00, Astor 20606/87, MSC Opera 59058/04, Maas-dam 55575/93, Mein Schiff II 76522/97, Silver Whisper 28258/01, National Geographic Explorer 6471/82

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P&O 175th Anniversary – 3rd July 2012

The arrivals:

Azura

Adonia – last in, first out

Arcadia with Ventura, Aurora and Oriana

HMS Diamond Oceana

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The departures:

THV Patricia

Ventura

Oceana chases the preceding six down Southampton Water

Oriana …

… and her near sister Aurora

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John and Pat Havers ashes being scattered on 2 June 2012 from the Ashleigh R during the early stages of the annual Southampton Branch cruise. John’s close friend Robin Oke is seen, above, scattering Pat Haver’s ashes, and then stands back, right, as Karen Grapes, Pat’s niece, does the honours for John. This all took place adjacent to 102 berth from where, many years ago, John’s beloved Union Castle Line set sail. It was all fitting tribute to a man who did so much more than his share for the benefit of the society

Red Eagle, complete with her Union Flag funnel, at the Royal Pier just after she had carried the Olympic Flame back to the mainland from the Isle of Wight on 14 July. Photo by Gill Robinson

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HMS VERNON HULKS IN PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR

by David Hornsby The Royal Navy first Torpedo Branch was commissioned in Fountain Lake as HMS VERNON in April 1876 using the hulks of the fifty-gun frigate Vernon, the former 26-gun steam frigate Ariadne for accommodation and the lighter Florence Nightingale. The hulk of Actaeon was added as a workshop in October 1879 and in January 1886, the former two-deck ‘ship-of-the-line’ Donegal arrived as a more spacious torpedo school ship, being re-named Vernon, the earlier Vernon being renamed Actaeon and the previous ship of that name being scrapped. In April 1895, the base was relocated to Portchester Creek and Ariadne was replaced by the old three-decker Marlborough, which was renamed Vernon ll. In 1904, the pioneer ironclad Warrior arrived as a floating work-shop, power plant and wireless telegraphy school (being renamed Vernon lll). Later that year, Ariadne set up a new torpedo school at Sheerness and confusingly was renamed Actaeon. In 1923, HMS VERNON was re-established ashore at the old Gunwharf, immediately south of Portsmouth Har-bour Station, being renamed HMS NELSON in 1987 and later redeveloped as the Gunwharf Quays shop-ping/leisure centre (opened 2001).

Photograph of RN Torpedo Training base HMS VERNON in Portchester Creek with HMS Marlborough, HMS Warrior and HMS Donegal David Hornsby collection HMS MARLBOROUGH (4th of name) Launched at Portsmouth Dockyard on 31 July 1855 as 131-gun first-rate ‘ship-of-the-line’. 5,892 t disp on 240’ x 61’ hull with sails and 780hp steam engine for 10 knots. 1878 reclassed as training ship; March 1904 renamed Vernon II; October 1924 sold, but sank 28 November off Selsey with loss of four lives on way to River Blackwater breakers. HMS WARRIOR Ordered May 1859 from Thames Ironworks at Bow, being launched in December 1860 and completed in August 1861 as the largest, fastest, most heavily armed and armoured warship the world had seen. 9,210 t disp on 418’ x 58’ hull capable of 13 knots under sail, over 14 knots under steam and over 17 knots combined. Her armament comprised ten 7” Armstrong guns, 26-68 pounders and 4-40 pounders, but by 1867 this was altered to four 8” and 28-7” rifled muzzle loaders. Despite a further four year refit she was in Reserve from 1875 to 1883, when she became a storage hulk until 1902. After her service as part of HMS Vernon, she was put up for sale in 1924; there was no demand even for scrap, so in 1929 she became a floating oil jetty at Pembroke Dock. In 1968, the Maritime Trust commenced meetings aimed to preserve the vessel and restoration commenced in 1979 at Hartlepool with the preserved vessel returning to Portsmouth in June 1987. HMS DONEGAL Launched September 1858, commissioned June 1859 by Devonport Dockyard as a ‘Conqueror’ class 101-gun screw-driven first-rate ‘ship-of-the-line’. 5,461 t disp on 240’ x 55 hull with 3100 hp steam engines giving 11 knots. She paid-off at Portsmouth in Sept 1870 and in Jan 1886 was ‘hulked’ and transferred to the torpedo school as Vernon. After the School moved ashore, in 1925 she was sold for breaking to Pounds, although some timbers and panelling still exist in The Old Ship at Brighouse in Yorkshire.

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A - Z OF SAIL

by Michael Page “P” is for the 4-masted barque “PAMIR” When I first started doing these articles in 2008 it seemed that they would go on forever, but here I am up to letter number 16 out of 26, and I will then have to start all over again – phew!!! When this 4-masted barque sank with nearly 4,000 tons of barley in her hold on the way back to Europe from Buenos Aires, it was both the end of a fine ship and of cargo carrying by deep sea sail. The Pamir was built at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in 1905. She was commissioned on the 18th October 1905, and was operated by the Laeisz company in the South American nitrate trade. The eight cruises she did to Chile usually took between 64 and 70 days (each way) and this took her up to World War I. The ship stayed in the Canary Islands during the war and did not arrive back in Hamburg until 1920, when she was handed over to the Italians as war reparations. The Italians were unable to find a deep water crew, so she was laid up for some time near Castellamare, Gulf of Naples. In 1924 the F.Laeisz company bought her back from the Italians for £7000.00 and immediately put her back into the nitrate trade. In 1931 she was sold to Gustaf Erikson (Finnish) and was used in the Australian grain trade.

However World War II came along and she was seized as a war prize by New Zealand on 3/8/41 whilst in port in Welling-ton. She then did 10 commercial voyages up until 1948, when she was returned to Erikson, and made one last voyage from New Zealand and Australia. On the way back, in 1949, she became the last com-mercial sailing ship to round Cape Horn. In 1950 Pamir was bought by a German ship owner who modernized her and retrofitted her with an auxiliary engine and she was used as a cargo sailing ship on the route to Argentina. In 1954 she was sold to a German consortium; she made five more voy-ages, but as she was now unprofitable, Pamir was due to be decommissioned after her last voyage in 1957, but this never happened as she was wrecked in a great storm and most of the crew were lost. What an epic, but sad story, and the end of an era lasting many years. Type: 4-masted Barque Sail area: 3800 sq metres Length Overall: 375 feet (114 metres) Beam: 14 metres. Depth: 7.25 metres. Tonnage gross: 3020 tons Tonnage nett: 2777 tons Crew 87

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