Does anyone have any information on this at what date did it start to operate and where exactly did the Seamen come from was it always China or not.. Very interested to know..


Caterina..

Caterina :-
Try this link. It may have your answer >>>>>>

http://www.rhiw.com/y_mor/blue_funnel_home/blue_funnel_home.htm
Good luck with what you are looking for.

Phredd

http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/bluefunnel.html

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

Just google

Pfredd and John thanks for your kind replies will try what you have suggested.

Thanks Caterina..:)

Caterina, why are you interested in the Blue Funnel Line. You amaze me sometime.

My dad and all his brothers served in the BFL at one time or another, and maybehis dad and uncles, I don,t know. Not too sure when it was set up. I do have a poster in my den in honour of my dad and his adventures on the high seas.

There is a book in the records dept. at Central Library on the BFL if you were interested to go and have a browse round for an hour or two.

By the way Caterina, where do you live, in what area? :PDT_Aliboronz_11:

Hiyah Chippie only just seen your message well lovei live on the East Coast of Yorkshire butall on my mums side come from Liverpool generations you know i have just found my family well the bfl thing is connected with that my late step father Yue Leung. Trying to find anything out formy sisters thought it would be nice. You and i are on the same wavelength we have a connection but you know this already..


Caterina..:)

Hi CATERINA, with the information that I,ve given already, you can see that the bfl was not run by the Chinese. Mind you my uncles all came home looking like they lived in the Mediterranean. So bronzed and healthy looking. I,m still collecting data and photos from my unks at the present time. My last visit to them netted me with forty photographs that I am copying for my files on my Immediate family. I,s giving my files all to the Central Library,s record office so as anyone can view them....after my death. I hope some future nephew or grand neice will add to it in the years to come. I,ve just found a mouse bitten photo of my gt grandma,s second marriage (i think) and she was 66 at the time and still begging for it. Excuse me. and still going strong.

:PDT_Aliboronz_11:

Hello Chippie thanks for your reply sorry a bout the mouse would you like me to send one of my three cats over...


Caterina..:)

No thanks Caterina, the dog might eat it :ninja:

Chippie Hi there what sort of a dog have you ? i have a lovely Jack Russell what a guard dog...............................
Also have three cats only the 17yr old is the mouser..
Do you live in Liverpool my rellies live in Halewood and Croxteth.


Caterina..:)

Hi Caterina, no I don,t have a dog yet, but if I had it would be a little Jack Russel. I was having a laugh about the dog and your cat before. And no I live in Nantwich near Crewe. Been here seven years, retired like. :ninja:

Hello again Chippie oh i thought you lived in Liverpool .My son and i are so looking foward to coming to Liverpool next year. Untill 1 yr ago i did not realise what a big family i come from on my Mums side alsoto find i have 6 siblings too and i am getting to know them it is something money cannot buy i feel so lucky. My little dog is called rowan[ means delight to the eye and she is so pretty she is tri colored my shadow.

Bye Caterina :)

Caterina, you will love Liverpool. I was there recently and sat in Williamson Square and some old timer chatted to me for ages about this and that. I felt so humble when I got up to go for my bus, he said it was nice to talk to you mate. terra. Thought it was Ged off this forum for a minute ha ha.

But I hope you and your son really enjoy yourself catching up with your folks and all.:hug:

Chippie yes when my dau and i came for a day trip over 4yrs ago i was taken by Liverpool the beautiful buildings they were fantastic and of course cos all my maternal side were born and bred there.I think next year will fantastic for everyone and for Liverpool to be real proud..

Caterina [ Honary Scouser]:)

Chippie yes when my dau and i came for a day trip over 4yrs ago i was taken by Liverpool the beautiful buildings they were fantastic and of course cos all my maternal side were born and bred there.I think next year will fantastic for everyone and for Liverpool to be real proud..

Caterina [ Honary Scouser]:)

Blue Funnel were known as the China Boats. They did the Far East, so trips were very long. They were also know as the Welsh Navy, as many of the crew were Welsh. BF had a training centre in Wales. My cousins were on the China Boats and said the Welsh were useless - some could not speak English. He said they were highly clanish keeping themselves to themselves. They tended to have a few good sailors who held the rest up. There was an incident when one of them left the sea cocks open and a ship bottomed in Gladstone Dock.

BF ships would unload at Birkenhead and move over the river to Liverpool, mainly the Gladstone Dock, and load up. Occasionally some would berth at Bromborough Pool (now filled in), if berths were not available in Birkenhead or Liverpool - yes, when berths were not available the port was so busy.

The ships were very elegant and good looking, with gently sweeping wastelines. The stock standard wide funnel was used, even in the 1920s making them advanced looking vessels, setting the trend for others.

Alfred Holt, the founder, a steam engine engineer trained at Edge Hill Goods Yard, improved the steam engine, implemented them on his ships, of which he had a big hand in the design, making it feasible to take steam ships to India. Before that they could only go to the Med at most, and sail only for long haul. Then they broke the cartel of the London based East India company, who were the only line allowed to ship to India, and pushed them to one side and virtually out. There was the Holt Line and the Blue Funnel Line.

The blue funnel came about as that was the only paint they had when painting the funnel of the first ship they bought.

BF still exists being taken over by a French company. Containers ships killed them, although BF did go into container ships. The problem was that it took a huge amount of money to buy and operate container ships and one company could not do it alone, so mergers were inevitable.

Chippie yes when my dau and i came for a day trip over 4yrs ago i was taken by Liverpool the beautiful buildings they were fantastic and of course cos all my maternal side were born and bred there.I think next year will fantastic for everyone and for Liverpool to be real proud..

Caterina [ Honary Scouser]:)

I went to the Lake District for over a week in July with some French people. On the way up we stopped off in Chester for a night, which they liked. I decide to drop into Liverpool on the way to the Lakes. I never told them. They thought Liverpool was a poor slum not knowing anything about the place apart from the Beatles.

I entered via the Runcorn bridge and went to Woolton showing them the village and John Lennon's house, then Paul McCartney's house, Strawberry Field, then through the leafy suburbs with huge mature oak trees everywhere and through parks to Aigburth then along Riverside drive to the Albert Dock for coffee. They were very impressed (one is from Paris) with the Albert Dock and with the level of construction, and wondered what the church was with the birds on top. I was giving running commentaries: the French wall, the dock system, the American connections, the 1.3 million Irish who entered in the famine, etc. The three Graces impressed them. They were amazed at the size of the cathedral - I told them the world's largest tower and largest gothic arches. They were impressed with the red colour not having seen red sandstone churches before - never occurred to me it was that different. I pointed out the world's largest brick building too - the the Tobacco warehouse.

I stopped outside Oriel Chambers and pointed out it that it was the first steel framed glass curtain walled buildings in the world and all modern building are generally based on it. One said, "it is a very important building then". The were impressed at seeing the White Star Line Building (the Titanic).

I told them about most of the centre being a World Heritage site and buffer zone. They said how come Liverpool has all these wonderful buildings and supposed to be so poor. I told them it was one on the richest cities in the world at one time - they were surprised but said "it all fitted as poor cities do not have buildings like there are here". We went out via Riverside Drive, Rose Lane, Penny Lane and Queens Drive and the M62. We drove through miles and miles of Liverpool and not a slum in sight anywhere. They liked the red sandstone walls around buildings in the south end of the city.

On the way home to France, I overheard them saying to others that they were very impressed with Liverpool and never expected it to be so nice.

Hi Waterways your input is very interesting i have only been to Liverpool once but was so struck by the magnificent buildings next year i am coming for a big family reunion and hope to explore a lot more..


Caterina :)

:handclap: Thanks Waterways for showing the best assets of our city.

Nice to hear that someone left with a good impression. :)

Lindylou Liverpool is a marvellous place the day i had was not long enough my Mum was born in Liverpool and all of my family on her side come form there and Ireland of course. The Catholic Cathedral i bet is breathtaking to see inside you should all be very proud..


Caterina :)

Lindylou Liverpool is a marvellous place the day i had was not long enough my Mum was born in Liverpool and all of my family on her side come form there and Ireland of course. The Catholic Cathedral i bet is breathtaking to see inside you should all be very proud..
Caterina :)

Caterina, you should see what we lost. Most of Lord Street and Church Street were wiped out in WW2. Countless fine Victorian, and before, buildings were demolished post WW2 in the name of progress. This added to what the German air force did as well. A whole elegant Georgian sector was demolished around Upper Parliament St. Many fine 200 to 300 years old warehouses were demolished - whole massive blocks of them. A complete and unique elevated electric railway running the length of the docks was demolished too. Historic docks have been filled in to make car parks.

Liverpool still has more Georgian buildings than Bath. Nevertheless many landlords allow the Georgian buildings to rot and the council come and order demolition on safety grounds, even though they are listed buildings.

two of the ships my family sailled on. The Arakaka was a Blue Funnel and I,m not sure about the Colarado Star. When I find my list I will get more photos.

pic of the Merchant Navy Medal and the Lucitania at the Pier Head curtesy of another sole

two of the ships my family sailled on. The Arakaka was a Blue Funnel and I,m not sure about the Colarado Star. When I find my list I will get more photos.

None are Blue Funnel - they don't look like Blue Funnel designs. The Arkaka is Booker McConnell and Colorado Star the Blue Star Line. Blue Funnel ships were given Homeric names.

This is a typical Blue Funnel design. Note the wasteline and gentle sweep up to the rakish bows. They were about the first to have a rounded bow and the bows splayed out to divert water away from the ship is heavy seas. The upright funnel is distinctly Blue Funnel.

http://www.rhiw.com/y_mor/blue_funnel_02/ships_02/adrastus.jpg

Two in Singapore:
http://iancoombe.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/blueex2.jpg

I stand corrected then Waterways:shock:

Waterways, I,ve just remembered another one, m.v. Laomedon, two of my family salts went to Port Swetenham together in 1956. Is that Blue Funnel?

Waterways, I,ve just remembered another one, m.v. Laomedon, two of my family salts went to Port Swetenham together in 1956. Is that Blue Funnel?

With a name like Laomedon, most certainly Blue Funnel. Laomedon was the son of Ilus and a king of Troy.

I,ve got a photo of my two uncs from the Laomedon,s football team Waterways. When I dig it out I,ll post it up

Here it is, my uncs are the two front lads, Bobby and Jimmy

Does anyone have any information on this at what date did it start to operate and where exactly did the Seamen come from was it always China or not.. Very interested to know.. Caterina..My father sailed for Blue Funnel in the WW2 era.

They used to have vessels designed to bring chilled (not frozen) meat and butter back from Australia and New Zealand. They carried general dry cargo on the way out and, surprisingly, up to 200 first-class passengers.

Often they sailed out via Cape Town (for bunkers) to Freemantle then on to New Zealand and back via the Panama canal and New York. Very long voyages. During the war they brought American airmen (fighter pilots and bomber gunners) from New York to Birkenhead. Only a hundred or so airmen at a time, presumably to spread the risk.

This topic is getting a bit old but hopefully some of the above will revisit.
I served in Alfred Holt's Blue Funnel and Glen Line ships from 1958 to 1990. As a young officer I was mainly on Glen Line ships sailing out of london; Blue Funnel ships traded from Liverpool. In my latter years I served on giant RO/RO ships on a round the world service.
I had the privilege of sailing with Chinese ratings off and on until 1983 and I have great respect for them.
In Liverpool the Chinese seamen set up a colony at Nelson Street and formed China Town.
The Holt family retired from the business and the company went private. After that it was all down hill until the company, by now known as Ocean Transport & Trading sold all their ships and diverted into other businesses. The company has faded into obscurity now.
I noted that Waterways stated that the company was taken over by a French company. I have not heard that, but nothing surprises me these days. I do know that the tradename 'Glen and Shire Line' has been bought by a British shipping company which is nice to know.
Two of the ships above Idom and Diomed [also known as dirty Diomed] I sailed on in the 1960's. The Diomed to China, hell of a voyage as Mao Tse Tung's Red Guards gave us a bad time, and the Idom to the jungle run around Malaya and Java.
If anyone wants a seafarers eye view of the old company I would be pleased to discuss.
Alfred Holt & Co was the finest company in the world and I was privileged and proud to serve on the ships.

Hi Oddesy
I am interested in the Blue Funnel as i believe my Mums second husband served on them he was cantonese marine fire in the late 40,s and the 5o,s he lived in Liverpool very interesting all you have said Thanks..

caterina..

Hi Caterina, my dad may have known your step dad, and maybe some of my older unks but they are lapping in the Mersey themselves now and the younger unks are too young.

I,ve got a Blue Funnel Poster around somewhere but there,s that much junk in the place I ,ve taken it down and it stands on the floor behind the piano which is on its end and the dogs indoor swimming pool.

It,s funny, I aint got a dog or any musical instrument in the place, lol

This topic is getting a bit old but hopefully some of the above will revisit.
I served in Alfred Holt's Blue Funnel and Glen Line ships from 1958 to 1990. As a young officer I was mainly on Glen Line ships sailing out of london; Blue Funnel ships traded from Liverpool.

Did you know Robert Ridley - an officer from Sunderland?

I did know a 2nd Mate called Ridley but no idea of his origin. When Holt's amalgated with Elder Dempster Lines there was near enough 100 ships in the fleet. Lots of personnel employed. It was possible to spend years without hearing an individual's name and yet one could sail voyage after voyage with the same guys.

Hi Caterina,
I'll just add my twopennorth to the discussion.
I was a Blue Funnel rating,I joined my first ship,the Eumaeus,when I left the sea training school in December 1958.The deck crew and officers + engineering officers were British and the cooks ,stewards and engine room workers were mainland Chinese from Canton.I did 7 trips and was on the Jason ,Machaon, Anchises and Antenor.The engine crews on all of the ships were always Chinese,they were either from Canton,Shanghai,Hong Kong or Livepool.Blue Funnel had a policy of not mixing the mainland Chinese with the Hong Kong or Liverpool Chinese.
No matter where the Chinese crews were from,they were always hard working,great cooks and never,ever caused any trouble.I remember them as very snappy dressers and typical sailors in that they had a girl in every port! One chap had three different families,one in Liverpool,one in Hong Kong and another one in Singapore.Each family would come down to the docks to see him off and I counted at least 9 kids.
I look back on my time with Blue Funnel as the finest time for seamen in British maritime history,the ships were magnificent,the accommodation humane and the food the best ever in the whole of the Merchant Navy.
I only left because I wanted to see what other ships were like and go to the countries that Blueys' never went to.I never had the same comforts but I saw some interesting things and met loads of characters;I've promised myself to get it down on paper soon.
Happy New Year Everyone
BrianD

The Eumaeus leaving Birkenhead docks in 1974, note the sandcastle being built in the background. This is from a new book of photographs taken by Frank Lenhan and now owned and compiled by Colin Wilkinson who pops up with these gems from time to time.

Great picture Ged,and very nostalgic,nearly 50 years since I stood at the rail of that vessel. Is that the Liverpool Post and Echo building being constructed in the background ?

great pic Ged thanks. But Brian you,ve got loads of it on paper already, don,t be shy or modest with us, and if you haven,t got it on paper, I,m selling it for £1 a peek. lol

The Eumaeus leaving Birkenhead docks in 1974, note the sandcastle being built in the background. This is from a new book of photographs taken by Frank Lenhan and now owned and compiled by Colin Wilkinson who pops up with these gems from time to time.

That ships looks gorgeous. A few years later there was few if any of them left.

Hi everyone so interesting to read your replies some memories eh...

Brian my Mum was a good lookin woman so i guess she fell under the good lookin Marine Firemans looks and snappy dressing.

I have five sisters and a bro who know very little re Yue,s past will remain a mystery i suppose.

Thanks Caterina.

A front on view of her being tugged into dock from the same book. Yes Brians, that's the Royal Sun Alliance/Echo office building being built in the background.