Ships and the Sea

[arque]

lso I inherited a watch a few years ago from one of my favourite uncles it is inscribed on the back Frank Oneil 25 years service the Shipping Federation , he was a very kind and gentle man who took me on cycling holidays as small boy , if anybody remembers him it would be nice to hear any stories I thought he may have been one of the people you saw when you went to get a ship, once again thank you all for your wonderful stories.

[arque]

Hi Captain Kong, Ive just discovered this site, what fantastic stories you and the other writers have to tell an object lesson to the current "health & safety" generation . I am related to the late and by the sound of it infamous Martin Quinn , when I used to ask questions as a kid everything went quiet obviously the family black sheep but I found out some details when the empress of canada burnt out he was bosuns mate the bosuns name was Somervill (not sure of spelling) , then Empress of Britain then Empress of Canada(Captain Walgate) any other stories of him ,warts and all good or bad would be appreciated for family archives

[captain kong]

Hi Arque,
I was on the Shipping Federation for many years from 1952 when it was in the old Sailors Home and when it was moved to Mann Island. I didnt come across Frank Oneil.
The only names I remember were , Mr Rep, Mr Griffiths, Mr Slater and Mr Deacon.
but it depended which department you were with, I was in the Sailors Dept.
Maybe some other old seafarer will remember him
Cheers
Kong

[captain kong]

Hi Arque,
I sailed with Martin once.
on the Empress of France
He was well known as a hard case Bosun, if you got on the wrong side of him.
If you were a good Seaman then you were OK.
I was in the House of Scouse, or its real name was The Liverpool House, a bar opposite the Canadian Pacific berth in Montreal, Martin was sat with the Chippy and a Bosuns Mate and then he went to the toilet. Four French Canadian dockers, complete with the dockers hand hooks, followed him in. There was all kinds of screams and banging coming out of there, we thought he was being killed.
Then it all went silent. Martin opened the door and went back to the table and carried on drinking. The Dockers were out of the game.
Martin was a legend.

[kevin]

Good one Waterway, I saw the Canada burn in January 1953., That is the Empress of France lying astern. The Bosun of the Canada at that time was Martin Quinn.
Good photos all the . I did my Firefighting course with the Liverpool Fire Service. Quite a tough one I came out of it all singed and burned. The actual Fire Fighting was done at Speke Airport in a steel Mock up of a ships accommodation.
It was unbelievable, Set fire to a huge oil pan and go in with hoses spraying water on the oil fire. At first they threw some water on the burning oil which created a huge explosian, then they showed us how to use hoses on it with out the explosian.They set fire to the ships accommodation and then sent us in to find a body. Enjoyed every minute.

Brian,
Did my training there about 1975. Excellent training, but by God was it scary!

[captain kong]

Hi Kevin
I was there in 1976,
I enjoyed every minute but it sure was tough, the tops of my ears were burned black and crispy. and the lungs full of oily smoke.
Yes definately scary but I would do it again.
Cheers
Brian

[kevin]

Hi Kevin
I was there in 1976,
I enjoyed every minute but it sure was tough, the tops of my ears were burned black and crispy. and the lungs full of oily smoke.
Yes definately scary but I would do it again.
Cheers
Brian

Quite a few yarns about it but I'll save them until we eventually meet.

Training was well worth it - fought 15 fires at sea, thankfully, most of them small.

[Ron Ham]

Hi Brian & Kev, When I came ashore in '57 I joined the Liverpool Fire Service , ( later served on the fireboat 'William Gregson' ) & went through all the training outlined by Brian & more , one episode entailed being literally cooked alive in that steel structure & if your nerve broke you had failed the test ! I was one of those firemen who demonstrated all those firefighting tecniques for you spectators . After I realized I was on a decline financially after a few years I coaxed my new bride to emigrate to sunnier climes , so here I am dreaming of old times . Ron Hamilton , Tokoroa, N.Z.

[Ron Ham]

Hi Arque,
I was on the Shipping Federation for many years from 1952 when it was in the old Sailors Home and when it was moved to Mann Island. I didnt come across Frank Oneil.
The only names I remember were , Mr Rep, Mr Griffiths, Mr Slater and Mr Deacon.
but it depended which department you were with, I was in the Sailors Dept.
Maybe some other old seafarer will remember him
Cheers
Kong

Hi Brian, I signed on as a 16 yr old deckboy at the 'Pool' in '47' , & rememember those characters well , not too kindly I'm afraid , but one decent bloke who had been to sea as opposed to those others was Mr Barlow . Ron Hamilton

[bangorreg]

Hi Ron.
Photo of The Fireship 'William Gregson'
Reg

[loudon]

Just wanted to say that all these posts on this thread were brilliant,very interesting,thanks.loudon.

[bangorreg]

Hi Captain Kong.
I have just found the following , and knowing you had some dealings with this Vessel I feel sure you will be interested!
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=62787

It's a contemporary Pathe newsreel showing survivors, casualties, etc.

.Acknowledgment to "British Pathe" for this Newsreal.
Reg.

[captain kong]

Hi Reg,
many thanks for that, a very interesting but sad reminder of the past. I have saved the link to my favourites. I am just off to Morecambe Bay for a few days. catch up wth you later.
Cheers
Brian.

[Ron Ham]

Hi Bangorrag, Thanks for that video of Princess Victoria survivors . I was on a small coaster ,the 'Wheatcrop' on our way from Glasgow to Liverpool & it was truely a wild night with little sleep , we were approxmately 40 miles to the South of the Princess Victoria but because we had no radio we were unaware of her distress until we arrived in Liverpool next morning . Ron

[bangorreg]

Hi Bangorrag, Thanks for that video of Princess Victoria survivors . I was on a small coaster ,the 'Wheatcrop' on our way from Glasgow to Liverpool & it was truely a wild night with little sleep , we were approxmately 40 miles to the South of the Princess Victoria but because we had no radio we were unaware of her distress until we arrived in Liverpool next morning . Ron

Hi Ron.
WE lived in Bangor, Co Down , I can remember that day as if it was yesterday, the weather was that bad I could not get down to the station to catch the train to Belfast, so we all sat around the radio waiting for reports on the Princess Victoria. My father was very worried as the Radio Operator was his friend (he went down with the ship) also one of my friends was lost ,he was returning from Scotland. During that day things got worse a call from the local liveboat station's asking for voluntary helpers, we went down , the men just could not get the boats into the sea,the wind and sea was so strong. I can remember the following days there were many reports of the dead being washed up along the beach.
Reg.