Ships gallery

**brian daley** · 07-16-2009

You know Paddy,Captain Kong is a bit like what you essayed about Masefield.
Old Kong can write up a storm,compose narrative poetry and is quite a dab hand with artists brushes. He started out as a deck boy and worked his way up to being master on the big bulk carriers. He is a Thames pilot,ditto Mersey
and was an expert witness at the Marchioness inquiry. Being flippant,I wrote on another site that if he had been born in another age he might have been a master swordsman too. He replied that he had to use a sword when some pirates attempted to board a ship he was on. He is a polymath and I hate him, bleedin' $?&*+?**!!!
Was that an Airfix Spitfire that you built?, I constructed one for my son 33 years ago ;ended up with my fingers glued together

**Paddy** · 07-17-2009

Yeah it was Airfix but I did it quite well even if it was one I dismantled after Our Kid had made it. Thing is, I never had the instructions. Kong and others seem to have a knack at adapting. I am suprised he never became a pirate himself.

**brian daley** · 07-19-2009

This vessel was built in Garston ,on the Mersey in 1902. Originally named the British Monarch for her Liverpool owners,she was sold to the Ribble Shipping Company in 1909 and renamed the Ribblesdale.She is shown here in that conpanys' colours. I don't doubt that Captain Kong served on her ,perhaps he'll let us know!!
BrianD

**Ron Ham** · 07-20-2009

Hi Brian , I sailed on 3 duplicate vessels of that type & always in Winter ! The Wheatcrop ,Sprayville & Rockville , can I qualify as an ancient mariner too ! Good to see you on your feet again .

Ron

**brian daley** · 07-20-2009

You Certainly can call yourself an old salt Ron, when you get a bit of time tell us about your experience; you'll find a great deal of people would like to know what it was like on those coal scuttles,
Cheers
BrianD

**captain kong** · 07-21-2009

Here is the Sprayville Ron.
I was on one just like it, The`BEECHFIELD` one of Savages.Zillah Steamship Company of Liverpool in 1952, I was O.S. then AB then the COOK then coal burning Fireman. It was a ten year voyage lasting four weeks. You can read the account of the trip in SHIPS and the Sea thread.

**brian daley** · 07-23-2009

Here is a painting of one of the famous Yankee Black Ball clippers,the Montezuma. She was built in the days when "men of iron manned ships of wood". She could mange 16 knots on a good day but the regime was tough. Black Ball ships were noted for their tough Mates,Bully Baines being the most famous, Shantymen still sing of his brutality, a paradox......beautiful ships ,run by brutes.
BrianD

**brian daley** · 07-24-2009

This here is a picture of a Highland class ship belonging to the Nelson Line. The Nelson Line was a subsidiary of the Royal Mail Line and any more than that I do not know. Any of you old salts ever hear tell of the Nelson Line? I enlarged the picture to the maximum possible but could not make out her name. Nevertheless, I think it is a lovely picture,the scene could possibly be off Portugal judging by the rig on that vessek in the foreground. Ring a bell with anyone?
BrianD

**brian daley** · 07-26-2009

Herew is a painting of one of the most beautiful liners to ever sail the blue. It is the French liner Normandie;shown here in 1935 when she was about to leave Le Havre for the States. She came to a very sad end during WW11,a victim of sabotage in New York? Like the Atlantic greyhounds of that era,she combined style and opulence in a way that will never be seen again,
BrianD

**Trader** · 07-26-2009

Originally Posted by brian daley

This here is a picture of a Highland class ship belonging to the Nelson Line. The Nelson Line was a subsidiary of the Royal Mail Line and any more than that I do not know. Any of you old salts ever hear tell of the Nelson Line? I enlarged the picture to the maximum possible but could not make out her name. Nevertheless, I think it is a lovely picture,the scene could possibly be off Portugal judging by the rig on that vessek in the foreground. Ring a bell with anyone?
BrianD

Hi Brian,

Over the years I have heard of the Nelson Line and the Highland boats. They had five built at Harland and Wolffs, Belfast between 1928 and 1932. They were Highland Monarch 1928, Chieftain 1929, Brigade 1929, Princess 1930 and Patriot 1932. They were identical so your picture could be any one of them.

I read a good article on them at www.merchantnavyofficers.com if you scroll down the left hand side you will see Nelson Line History.

Alec.

**brian daley** · 07-27-2009

Hi Trader,
I had a look at the MN officers site, the Nelson liner that looks most likely to be the one I have shown is the Highland Princess. Thanks for that.
Here we have a great painting of the Chilean nitrate port of Iquique.The ship which is stern on to us is the Cambrian Chieftain of 1885. In 1894 she was carrying a cargo of coal and in a storm the cargo shifted. Some of her crew,including the Masters wife ,were taken off by the barque Dee. It was thought that she was lost and the insurance company was on the point of paying for her loss when news reached London that she had arrived safely in Taltal,Chile. This painting was done by the marine artist Mark Myers,
BrianD

**brian daley** · 07-30-2009

This is a wonderful view of the Three Graces. It was taken in 1930 and is clearly a shot taken from the boat deck of a liner, but which liner I do not know; the Titanic monument can be seen in the middle ground and seek how tidy the landing stage looks,
BrianD