Hi John,
I had a good look at the Spurs website. The stadium looks impressive. I wouldn't mind a go on that big crane.
Unless you are one of the two guys carrying the plank, which I doubt very much, then I'm afraid I couldn't see you.
Regards,
Pat

Yes, even if the ship had a Chinese deck crowd, the shore gang still worked aboard them as normal. The ships crew were usually deployed on painting or sugi, while we did the work associated with cargo gear and re-storing.
One large part of the shore gang work in Birkenhead was tomming off and lashing down cargo that was at risk of shifting, like heavy machinery, locomotives and suchlike, and of course all the deck cargo, of which Bluies carried a lot, crammed into every piece of spare space. We sometimes worked all night on this job using miles of wire and loads of 4 x4 timber plus dozens of bottlescrews. none of which ever came back, they were the bosun and chippy's perks out in the Far East.
Regards
Pat

Read in this week's 'Private Eye' that the new plans for the 'redevelopment' of India Buildings include blocking off the Arcade at both ends, so there will be no public access.

I was listening to a radio programme today about Patience Gray, writer of a couple of cook books. She actually wrote three or so, "The Centaur's Kitchen" not generally published till 2005. It was written as an instruction book for Chinese cooks on Blue Funnel "Centaur". What a strange sounding book!

We have a thread on here Autolykerr, we just take a long time to think of things.

What you Blue flue chaps would eat! Everyone knows Centaurs are as tough as old boots.

Some ships were fitted with special pressure cookers. This was sometimes used to power the clocks and a whirly thing at the back end (of the ship). A special kind of magician was needed.

Almost as long as it takes me to get my first post out!

Plenty of familiar names there Pat. Joe Kavanagh on Ixion was a good Bosun

Is that you yourself Sean (aka Jackie) McGuinness. Hope your going to behave yourself on this site!

Talk of the Blue Funnel catering shore-gang certainly brings back some memories.
I can recall doing a 'one-day stow' on one ship, which as the term implies meant fully storing a ship in one day.
This particular day was a typical wet, miserable, Birkenhead winters day and we had a big gang working.
All the guys on the gang were smokers except me and the 'working-boss' was a Welsh guy who had just been made up to Chief-Steward from Chief-Cook and I had done a couple of trips with him.
All morning long guys were asking me to cover them while they went for a smoke and at one stage I asked some-one to cover me while I had a break. As I was heading up the companionway the boss said to me "where are you going?" You don't smoke! Get back to work."
Told him I had to go for a p*ss, and made sure it was a long one.
Happy days, which they really were.
Regards Phil :)

Phil, Did you ever bump into that crowd of Liverpool Chinese catering lads who did no deep sea, only coasting and shore gang work.
They all came from Liverpool's Chinatown and were more scouse than the scousers.
I had some laughs coasting with them, all larger than life characters who were great lads to go ashore with. They could even pull the girls in places as miserable as Newport, which takes some doing!
Their leader was an Errol Flynn lookalike named Ronnie Chan, who could charm the birds out of the trees. I last saw Ronnie in the Temple Bar in Dale street with an entourage of girls hanging on his every word. That was in 1970.
Regards,
Pat

Hi Pat,
When I first joined Bluies I had a couple of months working in the canteen at Odyssey Works, washing dishes mainly, while I waited for a place in the catering training school.
While I was there, there was a guy named Tony Chan, about 19 yrs of age who was working there as he was due to get married, and from what I can recall I don't think he had ever been deep-sea.
He was a real good looking guy, and a natty dresser but a really nice bloke who never got tired of answering dumb questions from a 15 yr old about the ships.
The girls at Odyssey Works who repaired all the soft furnishings for the ships were all over him like a rash and he was a real popular bloke.
When he was joking with the girls, I was always hovering around in the background hoping for the best but they definitely weren't interested in a skinny, pimply faced 15 year old.
I could only dream of being away to sea and having the money to dress like Tony did and impress the ladies.
I'd give my right arm to be starting all over again at Odyssey, despite all those dirty dishes!!!
Regards Phil :)

Phil,
Tony Chan was Ronnie's cousin, I think they called him 'Chungi'. They all had their own chinese style nicknames, and most of them were handsome lads, that being a consequence of them mostly having English mothers and Chinese fathers.
They were all hard as nails as well Phil, I saw three of them take on half a dozen Glasgow neds in the street outside the Barrowlands dance hall, and they totally flattened them.
By the way, did you ever sail with two Wallasey lads in the China, Johnny Barton and Jake Flynn? Both ended up Chief Stewards I believe.

Best Regards,
Pat

Hi Pat,
What a small world. If you are still in touch with them, don't tell Tony I said he was good looking or he'll think I'm gay!! l.o.l
I knew Johnny Barton through the shore-gang and sailed with Jake Flynn in the Peleus when he was Saloon Bobby and I was catering boy. Jake was a great laugh, but watch out if you pissed him off!! Which I managed to do on more than one occasion.
I think Jake was originally from I.O.M if memory serves me right.
Jake also had a cousin named Ralph ? who I sailed with in the Pyrhhus and also became a Ch Steward but not with Bluies.
Regards Phil :)

Hi Phil,
Sadly I have not seen any of them for many years. I did hear that Ronnie Chan had died some years ago, and as for the rest of that crew, my bet is they all run Chinese restaurants or opium dens in Liverpool.
Jake Finn was a very jolly character, I've got a photo of him somewhere taken in April 1963 in the Navy Club in Wallasey, I will try and dig it out and post it. He always wore a dicky bow for nights out. Him and Johnny B used to drink in the Primrose in Wallasey when on leave. Both good blokes and good company.
Regards,
Pat:pint:

Just a place holder for anyone looking for a Blue Funnel home on here.

I know little of BF other than Kuwait used to have our medicals carried out by a BF doctor in India Buildings. Could any BF help me with the questions:

The Super "P" had a B&W main engine 22500 shp. Was it a VT2BF or a KEF?
What make were her diesel alternators?
I read somewhere that on her maiden voyage she was continually falling behind a Ben Line boat, what was this Scotch Greyhound?

ES,

I do not know, but wasn't the KEF developed in the 70's? The Super P's entered service between 66 and 68 so, if the VT2BF was earlier, that would be the engine. The British built vessels and Centaur (twin prop) were B&W.

The Japanese built Super Ps were Sulzer 9RD90's. I sailed on Phrontis, ex-Pembrokeshire (as bult for Glen Line). The Japanese ships had two Allen generator sets, fitted P/S of the main engine on the bottom plates, not the best of working conditions when doing a major.

I assume that the British Super Ps had Allens too as, at their time of entry into service, BF's Vittoria Dock was a heaving hive of BF activity and major maintenance carried out by Odyssey Works where engine stores were kept. It would make sense to have similar gennies for all vessels in the class, as more spares were required.

Emergency gennies were V8 Paxman's. They operated at a higher than design speed as, it was rumoured, BF got a good deal "down on the dock road" for the alternators. Consequently, the Super P's sported elegant deck lamps made from the pistons and conn rods of "excursioned" Paxman pistons! The emergency control room was armoured and no one was allowed in the engine compartment during starting! As part of the BoT games, we would start one and almost immediately stop it, merely noting that the engine started easily.

Best Rgds.
Dave

may be connells ben ledi, Singapore-london sixteen and a half days.

Greetings Lex and welcome to SH. Bon voyage.

Congrats Lex, first Post and you have caught the Super Moderators eye. Great things await you.

It was Benledi. The Super Ps were capable of 21 kts. Benledi (from memory) was 23 kts. Congrats on your first post Lex, welcome aboard.

Rgds.
Dave

BF had the Super "P"'s, Ben Line had Benledi, P&O had the Super Straths and BI had Amra and Aska; did they all totally mis-read the market?

There were "niche" opportunities and cargoes still, I suppose. However, I agree. The container boom was sudden and overwhelming! Super P (66-68): up to 160 containers on deck. Bay boat (71-72): about 2200. Last M's (similar in size to the Super P's) (1977): 750 teu. Mk.1 RoRos (smaller than a Bay, Panamax) (1979): about 5500 teu but able to carry just about anything. And all the while, BF trying to get into LNG (100% Failure), bulkers and OBO's (Not very successful). And when BF went down the tubes, it was fast!

Rgds.
Dave