Ships gallery

[captain kong]

Here is a photo of the SS Bantria, owned by Cunard Line.
She was used on the Mediterranean run from Liverpool.
"Bantria built 1928, cargo, 1954 she was sold to Costa Line, of Genoa renamed
`Giorgina Celli`. 2,402 tons

In the early 50s it was rumoured that some one had killed the Cook and then thrown overboard. then the next trip someone killed the Cook and then thrown overboard , then the next trip someone killed the Cook and was thrown overboard.
No one was caught over this. So who did it.???? Or was it a myth??? does anyone know the Real Story???

Photo by Frank Hughes

[Samsette]

She musta bin a poor feeder.

But what a fine looking example of that era, architecturally speaking.

[captain kong]

In the early 50s I did hear a rumour that the Chippy did it but there has been no confirmation on this.

I have just found this letter to the MNA from our old friend Reg from Norfolk Island, South Pacific.
I wonder if he got his answer, must call him.

Full Name: bangorreg
Home Town?: Norfolk Island
Message Text: Looking for any information about Fred Mather, married and father of children when he signed up as a cook on board the Bantria, which set sail 23.12.1946. from Liverpool for the Mediterranean.Fred was the 3rd cook,his two predecessors disappeared overboard on similar trips,I wonder what the fate of Fred was??.
Reg
Thanks for that Reg, any news?? that confirms that something did happen.

[brian daley]

HMS Agamemnon
This was a third rate battleship of the line which was built at Bucklers Hard on the Beaulieu River in 1795. Nelson once referred to her as his favourite ship.
She fought in many battles during the Napoleonic Wars, seeing action in the Battle of the Saintes in 1782 ;Toulon in1792;; Hothams action in 1795,the Nore Mutiny in 1797; Copenhagen in1801; Calders action of 1805;and the Battle of Trafalgar.
Nelson was appointed to command her in 1793 and it was in her that he rose from obscurity to national renown. She was damaged when she ran aground in Maldonado Bay ,Uruguay in 1809 and was thought too worn out to be worth saving.
This is another fine study in oils on canvas by Geoff Hunt,
BrianD

[brian daley]

Constitution

This is Americas most famous ship, built in the closing years of the 18th century, she was commissioned in 1798 as one three super frigates.
Carrying 44 guns ,she was larger than European frigates of the same rate.
She was a decade old before she saw action against the British in the war of 1812. She earned the nickname “Old Ironsides” when British gunners noted that their cannonballs seemed to bounce off her hull. She captured 4 British ships in total;the Guirriere and Java in 1812 ,and the Cyane and Levant in 1815.. she became a training ship for the US Naval Academy in the American Civil War and became a museum in later years. She is still afloat today and sailed under her own canvas in 1997. Once in every year she is turned around at her moorings; a living legend,
BrianD

Another gem from Geoff Hunt

[az_gila]

Constitution

.... Once in every year she is turned around at her moorings; a living legend,
BrianD
Another gem from Geoff Hunt

The USS Constitution is in Boston Harbour...

http://www.history.navy.mil/ussconstitution/

...and the Geoff hunt painting are wonderful... please post more...

[brian daley]

Hi Az, this one is for you, we are still in the Napoleonic era and we are looking at a Portugese First Rate ship of the line,the Principe Real,arriving in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is March the 7th 1808 and the Portugese royal family ,the Braganzas,are fleeing from Napoleon. The British Royal Navy provided three battleships as escorts for this journey and we can see HMS Marlborough firing a salute as the Portugese monarch is carried by his pinnace to the welcoming shore.
This is another great work by Geoff Hunt,
BrianD

[captain kong]

this is the Union Castle Line ship. DUNBAR CASTLE, UK to South Africa run.
She was mined in the Thames estuary and sunk in WW2
On January 9th 1940 outward bound from London to Beira in Mozambique with 150 or so crew and passengers on board, she hit a mine 7 miles off Ramsgate, killing nine crew and one passenger.

[Oudeis]

Here is a photo of the SS Bantria, owned by Cunard Line.
She was used on the Mediterranean run from Liverpool.
"Bantria built 1928, cargo, 1954 she was sold to Costa Line, of Genoa renamed
`Giorgina Celli`. 2,402 tons

In the early 50s it was rumoured that some one had killed the Cook and then thrown overboard. then the next trip someone killed the Cook and then thrown overboard , then the next trip someone killed the Cook and was thrown overboard.
No one was caught over this. So who did it.???? Or was it a myth??? does anyone know the Real Story???

Photo by Frank Hughes

I am trying to find more news on this, but in the meantime this may interest you all. Skip to the bottom for mention of Liverpool. This may kick-start interest in the rest...

http://www.derbysulzers.com/shipfelix.html

[captain kong]

Oudeis, What a story, unbelievable voyage, what a brave lot of men and a brave ship.
I saw the ship in the early 50s and never realised what she was about. thanks for the story.
Captain William Carruthers, Taught me Navigation, ship Stability, construction and many other subjects at Fleetwood Nautical College from 1975 for Mates through to 1980 for Masters. An excellent tutor, again I never knew about his career until now, he never spoke about the war, I believe he died not too long ago. I think he lived in the Glasson Dock area near to Lancaster. A gentleman and a Seaman in the true sense. He died just over a year ago, aged around 95.

[captain kong]

Here is a photo ofthe SS HATASU, one of Moss Hutchinson`s Steamers built in 1921.
She was torpedoed in the Atlantic 600 miles east of Cape Race, on a voyage from Manchester to New York
A lad form two streets away from me, Billy Dempster, who was only 15 years old was killed including 40 in total.

Hatasu SS was a British Cargo Steamer of 3,198 tons built in 1921. On the 2nd October 1941 when on route from MANCHESTER for NEW YORK in ballast she was torpedoed by German submarine U-431 and sunk 600 miles E. CAPE RACE. 40 crew lost from a total of 47.

[Oudeis]

I found this by accident...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/categories/c1174/

[our old friend the Laconia is mentioned on the first page/list]

[brian daley]

Oudeis,
What an absolutely fascinating link, a soul could spend a lifetime browsing that site,thank you for sharing it with us,
BrianD

[brian daley]

The Minotaur
The Minotaur was a third rate ship of the line and saw a lot of action in the Napoleonic war.
JMW Turner began work on this painting five years before she was lost;the painting was well advanced before his original intention to depict a ransport changed to reflect national interest in Minotaurs loss.
Turner manages to depict the full fury of the elements as the gale force wind turns the sea into swirling maelstrom,toltally wrecking the ship as she was run aground on the Haak Sands on the River Texel. Approximately 60 men managed to get away to safety in in two of the ships surviving boats ,sadly more than a hundred and twenty poor souls were drowned when the sinking ship capsized. She was a .veteran of the battles of the Nile,Trafalgar and Copenhagen. This is a painting to be studied to appreciate the dreadful scene,
BrianD

[brian daley]

This is a painting that has haunted me for most of my life,I first saw it when I was in the Junior school at Tiber Street in the 40's. Since then I have come across it in magazines and books ,and about ten years ago I read the story of it. The artist was Theodore Gericault and he spent three years creating this masterpiece and the story of this disaster near destroyed the French government. The Medusa was on route to Senegal ,captained by a man who had been ashore for 25 years. He had been given command for political reasons and proved to be incompetent. He ran her on to the Arguin Bank off the coast of Mauretania. The captain had ignored his own officers and gave a favoured passenger the job of navigating her. When she ran aground, the captain and some vip passengers took the boats and forced the rest of the crew, at gunpoint to share a poorly provisioned raft. 148 souls were on that raft,standing room only. She was towed by the boats but was callously abandoned when the weather worsened. They were without food ,water or navigational and aids and things very quickly deteriorated. Cannibalism,suicide and murder winnowed the 148 down to just 15 when they were picked up by the ship Argus 13 days later.