The Journal of theHonourable Company of Master Mariners

Issue 2/2016Volume XXIII No. 014

Livery Company of the City of LondonFounded 1926, Incorporated by Royal Charter 1930

The Honourable Company of Master Mariners

PATRONHer Most Gracious Majesty THE QUEEN

ADMIRALHis Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom, KG KT OM GBE

FOUNDERSir Robert Burton-Chadwick, Bt.

b. 1869 d. 1951

Contents

Contents

Company News Page 881

Latest News Page 892

Ports News Page 898

Features Page 903

Obituary Page 907

Reviews Page 908

Merchandise Inside Back Cover

Court of the CompanyWardens and Court from 1 May 2016

MASTERCaptain F K D'Souza

SENIOR WARDENCaptain M Reed MNI RNR RD*

IMMEDIATE PAST MASTERCaptain H J Conybeare

WARDENSCaptain R B Booth MNI;Captain W J Barclay AFNI; Captain D Chadburn

COURT OF ASSISTANTSCommander P R F D Aylott MNI RN; Captain R F A Batt; Mr M F Burrow; Commander L Chapman RN; Captain G Cowap FNI; Captain B A Cushing; Captain G English AFNI; Captain I C Giddings FNI; Captain P T Hanton RFA; Mr J Johnson-Allen FRIN; Captain J K Mooney AFNI; Captain R Nosrati BA(Hons); Captain T Oliver; Commander D G Phillips MVO MNI RN; Captain M R Powell FNI; Captain M M Reeves MNI; Captain R S Richardson FNI; Captain N F Rodrigues; Captain I A Smith FNI FRNI; Mr I P A Stitt MSc FRIN; Mr T Starr MNI; Captain J R Freestone MNM; Captain J W Hughes FRIN FNI; Captain S S S Judah MBE FNI

CLERK OF THE COMPANY – 0207 845 9871Commodore Angus Menzies FCMI MNI RN – clerk@hcmm.org.uk

BUSINESS MANAGER – 0207 845 9872Mrs Alison Harris BA (Hons) – business@hcmm.org.uk

FINANCE OFFICER – 0207 845 9875Mrs Penny Burningham – fm@hcmm.org.uk

RECEPTIONISTMrs Phyllis Holder – reception@hcmm.org.uk

HONORARY CHAPLAINThe Reverend Reginald Sweet BA RN

CORPORATE MEMBERS*Birchtree Limited; J&J Denholm Limited; Fairdeal Group; FurnessWithy (Chartering); *International Maritime Pilots' Association;John Swire & Son Limited; Maritime Underwater SecuritiesConsultants Limited; P&O Ferries; PCA Maritime Ltd; Star Reefers; Stephenson Harwood; The Baltic Exchange;Witherby's Publishing Group; X-PRESS Feeders. (*Tenant company)

HQS WELLINGTON, Temple Stairs, Victoria Embankment, London WC2R 2PN

www.hcmm.org.uk Tel: 0207 836 8179 Fax: 0207 240 3082Email: info@hcmm.org.uk

Produced by Copyprint UK Limited. Unit 5a Canterbury Court,Kennington Park, 1-3 Brixton Road, London, SW9 6DE.

Published by The Honourable Company of Master Mariners, HQSWellington, Temple Stairs, Victoria Embankment, London WC2R 2PN.

Company News

www.hcmm.org.uk The Journal • Issue 2/2016 • Page 881

From the ImmediatePast MasterCaptain H J Conybeare

As expected the year in office for Miki andmyself has flown by, and now our newMaster, Captain Flavian D’Souza and hislovely “Mistress Mina”, are firmly inposition and enjoying their year.

When I last wrote we were looking forwardto our visits to the NE Scotland area andthe Clyde. Well both visits were made andwere very interesting and different.

Aberdeen managed to arrange some snowand road works which meant the time fromairport to hotel was longer than fromLondon to Aberdeen, so we did not get theCity viewing we had planned for, howeverour welcome over lunch was wonderfuland it was a pleasure to have our smallgroup enjoy each other’s company, at atime when the economics are not at allfavourable for the local marine industry.

Our visit to Glasgow was trouble free in allways, no flight delays, a good wellattended lunch, which included several ofthose all-important apprentices, whichensured that a good time was had by all.

Between the two outport visits, we had avery busy three consecutive days ofsignificance. The first was our well attendedand very successful Court Lunch, withAlderman Peter Estlin as our guest speaker.For those attending Common Hall on June24th, you will find him standing forelection as an Aldermanic Sheriff.

The next day was one of the highlights ofthe year for every Master and Mistress, TheLord Mayor’s Banquet at Mansion House,where you meet so many friends madeduring the year, as well as many other CityDignitaries. This was followed by the UnitedGuild’s Service in St Paul’s, a really movingservice of tribute to the Livery that youreally should attend, even if you may havebeen before.

At the end of March Miki hosted aMistresses and Consorts luncheon on boardWellington, to show our home to the otherLiveries and also to raise some funds forthe Wellington Trust. This was wellattended and very well received by all, asthe letters of thanks confirm.

A totally unexpected addition to theMaster’s diary was when ITV Morning Showdecided to hold a live, on TV, wedding onboard. This created a lot of work for thoseon board, but did generate a lot of publicityfor the ship, which we hope will pay off. Myrole in this was to greet the Bride from hercar on the Embankment, dressed in fullrobes and chain of office, and escort her tothe ceremony. It was with some chagrinthat I read an online report the followingday that ‘the bride had been escorted by amember of the Wellington staff’, but asMariners we know needs must!

One of my final most enjoyable duties wasto attend the Cenotaph in Whitehall onANZAC Day and lay a wreath on behalf ofthe British and Commonwealth MerchantNavies. This is both a great honour for theMaster personally and also for the Company,as it keeps our raison d’etre high in ourexternal profile and constantly reminds usinternally of our duty to do our best tomaintain the Merchant Navy presence andrecognition for our past and future.

I have mentioned in my previous articlesmany of the things I have been privilegedto do over the past year, and in closing,would just like to draw your attention tothe fact that although we are a proud fullyfledged Livery Company and the first of theModern Companies with an establishmentstory better than most, the things reportedon have by no means been all Livery.

In fact, the role of Master is one ofrepresenting the Company and theMerchant Navy at many non-Liveryfunctions of great note and importance.

Miki and I have had a very enjoyable, andwe hope successful, year, representing theCompany within and without the Livery,and we thank you all for allowing us toenjoy this opportunity and for giving usheartfelt support throughout.

We wish Flavian and Mina every happinessand success throughout their year, and lookforward to having a bit more time to chatwhen we next meet at Company functionsthroughout the years ahead.

From the MasterCaptain F K D’Souza

I am very honoured and privileged to havebeen elected as Master of the mostHonourable Company of Master Mariners.My profound thanks to Immediate PastMaster Jim Conybeare for installing me on29th April 2016. I am grateful to my mentorPast Master Sam Judah for being there whenI needed him. I look forward to workingclosely with the Senior Warden, Wardens andCourt Assistants with the continued help andguidance of our gallant Clerk.

I was born in Mangalore, situated on theWest Coast of India, a small City with ahinterland of plush coffee estates fromwhich most of my family and friends makea living as coffee planters. I was educated at

We are sorry to re cord the death ofthe following members of theHonourable Company of MasterMariners:

•Captain Geoffrey Percy Parish,May 2015

•Captain William Henry Cook,January 2016

•Captain J C L T Lee,May 2016

•Captain Sir Miles Wingate, KCVO,May 2016

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St Aloysius College, a well renowned Jesuitinstitution, with a campus stretching over100 acres against the backdrop of the

Gladia Hills. I participated in a vast range ofextracurricular activities with a specialaffinity for the sea. Whilst at university in1964 I was selected from a nationwidecompetition to join the prestigious trainingship DUFFERIN, which you could say wasIndia’s equivalent of CONWAY orWORCESTER.

She was a troopship in the First World Warand subsequently commissioned as a Britishtraining ship in 1927. I completed myapprenticeship and junior officer sea timewith the South India SteamshipCorporation, a P&O joint venture. Later togain broader experience, especially inheavy-lift vessels, I joined the West Germanmerchant navy in 1971 until obtaining myMaster’s Certificate in 1975. From then on,as Commodore Master, I served with theIran O Hind shipping company, in commandfor 6 years on multi-purpose vessels.

During the Iran-Iraq war, as CommodoreMaster of Iran o Hind Shipping Company Iwas involved with safety of the crews onboard vessels trading in convoy in thePersian Gulf. The war time safe practises Ithen developed and instituted at searesulted in almost nil human casualties andonly a few hull losses due to nature ofExocet missile attacks. Still with Iran OHind, I attended Cambridge University tocomplete the then well renowned studycourse on the Anatomy of Shipping.Following that study period, I was secondedto the head office in Tehran as managerliner in charge of the commercial aspectsof the fleet.

I joined the Foresight Group in 1985 inLondon at its grass root stage as DirectorShipping to acquire its first vessel for itsfleet, the tween decker AMER KANTI in Jan1986. The Group focussed on shipping andoffshore drilling operations. In 1990 theGroup moved into the offshore drillingindustry and which became my particularfocus as Managing Director for the next 26years. More recently, I also tookresponsibility for the training aspects of theGroup and also its connection with theAmer Maritime Training Academy (AMTA)in Kanpur India where I led a specificproject to obtain the accreditation of theacademy and 8 of its sea going & offshorecourses/certifications by the InternationalAssociation of Drilling Contractors (IADC),Houston USA. Since 1978, a Member of theInstitute of Directors and from 2000 to2003 I chaired the Indian MaritimeAssociation (IMA UK); this year, awardedFellowship of the Nautical Institute for mycontributions to the maritime industry andits safety standards.

I met my sponsor Past Master Captain KeithHart in 2003. At that time we were onopposite sides of the table with Keithrepresenting Underwriters, and myselfrepresenting Owners pursuing unfortunatehull damage to one of our jack up rigs inthe Persian Gulf. To cut a long story short,I came away with a well settled claim, andhe came away instead with a new Freemanof the Honourable Company!

But enough of me. In 2013, as part of anamendment to our 1932 Royal Charter, theHonourable Company was granted theright to offer Chartered statusto appropriately experienced and qualifiedMasters. Bringing that initiative to fruitionhas been an immense labour ofnegotiation, administration and legalcompliance and a work that necessarily hadto encompass not only the UK MerchantNavy, but also needed take account ofpotential worldwide interests. This is aqualification that could eventually becomeavailable to seafarers of all nations whohold a Master Unlimited qualification (orits international equivalent) and who areable to meet the criteria of being able todemonstrate superior competence,enhanced personal development and thatthey have benefitted the maritime industryin a wider sense.

This is a new and exciting venture, drivenand directed by the Honourable Company,in association with our chosen partner, theNautical Institute, and with the support ofa number of Industry champions - notablythe MNTB, the UKCS, the IMarEST, TrinityHouse and several others. The last 9 monthshave seen the project grow from aconceptual plan into a workable frameworkthat is now nearing completion.

One of the key milestones in the projectwas the constitution of the ChartershipRegistration Authority on 27th May, acause for celebration in itself and a clearindication of how far the project hasdeveloped. There are still a few formalitiesthat need to be finalised, for example theexternal auditing processes are still to becommissioned, but these are well in handand the plan remains on target for beingable to invite applications towards the endof 2016. The development of this projecthas been extremely dynamic from theoutset and is an example of what theHCMM is capable of when it sets its mindto a task, in this case, one that will alsoraise the Honourable Company profileglobally. All our thanks for this are directedtowards Captain Peter McArthur, leader ofthe Chartered Status Working Group andhis colleagues.

Congratulations to the following on being sworn in as:

Freeman:Captain Sanjay Bhasin, Captain SeanCresswell, Captain Alan Glover, CdrPhilip Harper RN, Captain MichaelJohnson, Captain Andrew Jordan, MrGrant Laversuch, Mr Miles Lewis, MrAndrew McDonald Mr Robin Paine MrJonathan Powis, Cdr Derek StoylesRNR, Captain Martin Swaffield; SirChristopher Benson, Captain BenjaminHolden, Captain Arne Loland, Lt CdrStephen Monk RN, Captain AdrianSadler, Captain Malcolm Tindley,Captain Tom Hyde, Captain Alex Wroe

Member:Alexander Cantello, Emily Craft; GregDarby, Clive Edwards, Alexander Farrar,Christopher Franks, Captain (E) RichardGraham RFA, Fraser Henderson,William Hopkins, Eric Rattray, RichardSimmonds, Robert Waite

Associate:Rhys Adams, Thomas Booth, David Fox,Caitlyn Kennedy, Umer Khan, AndrewKorbey, Guy Limb, Elliot Norton,Michael Quinton, James Ryder, WilliamSalloway, George Scarlett, RichardSimpson, Samuel Williams

And to the following who have beenclothed as Liverymen: Captain Hew Dundas

Company News

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I am now well into the groove ofrepresenting our Company in the Cityenvironment and have attended already awide range Lunches, Dinners and events ina number of Livery Halls and venues. Inparticular, Her Majesty the Queen’s RoyalGarden Party on 24th May was a mostmemorable and wonderful experience forboth of us and our children.

Recently I attended the most famousIronbridge roundup where around 100Masters with their Mistresses and Consortsattended along with the Lord Mayor. Apartfrom the rich history of Ironbridge this wasa fun weekend and a melting pot of LiveryMasters and their Partners.

Both Yasmin and I very much look forwardto our year ahead carrying the HCMM flaghigh to the best of our ability, meetingMembers, other Liveries, visitors and guestson board and at all our Outports.

To conclude, with my thanks also to all theWELLINGTON Staff and our Caterers, TheCook & The Butler, for their support to ourCompany onboard our Livery Hall – in mytravels throughout the City so far all that Imeet press me to visit our wonderful home,the WELLINGTON.

Clerk’s CornerCommodore Angus Menzies RN

City of London BriefingsFreemen and Liverymen are encouraged toattend the City of London briefings whichtell you about the City and its structureand are designed for all Liverymen, andindeed Freemen, Court Assistants, andWardens (as well as their spouses andpartners who are very welcome to

accompany). All are at 1700 for 1730 in theGuildhall, and are over by 1930.Registration and bookings are preferred viathe website www.liverycommitteecourses.orgbut if this presents difficulties, pleasecontact the Course Administrator atGuildhall, Claire HoldgateClaire.Holdgate@cityoflondon.gov.uktelephone 020 7332 3176.

Monthly Livery BriefingsThese Briefings are produced monthly andcontain details of interest for CityLiverymen. They are posted on theCompany Website in the News Section.

Merchant NavySenior Officers’ CoursesThis Masters and First and Second MatesCourse runs three times a year and is aimedat to foster relations between the twoservices and the programme is a mix oflectures, visits and practical demonstrationsall tied together with a strong socialthread. It includes briefs on the RoyalNavy’s ships, weapons, and worldwideoperations. It also includes a day at sea in awarship during a “Thursday War”– a visit toRoyal Marines Poole provides a slant onanti-piracy initiatives and indeed the UKChamber of Shipping also brief from theirperspective. The whole course runs for 4and ½ days.

Briefs will be provided from NorthwoodHQ, the FCO Piracy Desk (Gulf of Guinea),DfT and the UK Centre for the Protectionof the National Infrastructure (CPNI) andEuropean Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR).Also a brief and buffet lunch will beprovided by the UK Chamber of Shipping.

Numbers as ever are always tight, and ifyou wish to attend any of these Courses,please email to Lt Cdr David Carter RNR(formerly Shell Tankers) at: navyoptrg-mwswtgmtr2@mod.uk or write to, RoyalNavy Merchant Navy Liaison Officer,Maritime Trade Section, Maritime WarfareSchool, HMS COLLINGWOOD, NewgateLane, FAREHAM, Hampshire PO14 1AS

CommitteesThe Company operates five StandingCommittees (this means permanent andreporting direct to the Court). Theygenerally formally meet four times a yearand cover the following areas:

• Finance. All aspects of the Company’sinvestments, subscriptions and accounts

• Membership. Policy on membershipcriterion, recruiting, and numbers

• Education &Training. Oversight oftraining standards and the

Apprenticeship Scheme

• Technical. Oversight of professionalpractices in every area of maritimebusiness and shipping

• Treasures. Management of all models,art, library and silverware collections

Members are invited to consider joining oneor more of those committees and therebyto take more part in the day to day life ofour Company. Membership will not take upmuch personal time and a great deal of thework is achieved by email. If interested, I amalways delighted to update members on theworkings of the Committees whose Minutesare published in the Member’s Area of theCompany website.

Strategic Plan 2016(The Passage Plan)

The Honourable Company’s Strategic Planfor 2016 – 2020 was approved by the CourtAssistants at their meeting last October andyou are strongly encouraged to study it.The Plan is available on the Companywebsite; hard copies can be obtained fromthe Clerk.

The Company Mentoring SchemeThere are over 200 Associates andApprentices in our Mentoring Scheme andif you are not yet a Mentor you arestrongly encouraged to consider signing upwith the Professional Development Officer,Captain Geoff Cowap onpdo@hcmm.org.uk and he can provide fulldetails of what is involved.

The aim is to deliver experience basedmentoring, not training, through bothpersonal contact whenever possible and byelectronic correspondence (70% weighting);provide an insight into the Company’sactivities and the Livery (10% weighting)and to leave Mentees with a lasting feelingboth for the Company and from theirmentoring experience.

Also, for Mentors to support the aims andaspirations of the Company by providing anopportunity to make a difference to theMentee’s development and outlook in theirmaritime career and perhaps with the Cityand with that the personal satisfaction thatcomes with mentoring (20% weighting).Sign up today!

Office Direct Line TelephoneNumbersThe direct telephone numbers for Companystaff are listed on the inside cover of theJournal and you are encouraged to usethem whenever possible in order to speedup and improve our service to members.

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Honourable Company of MasterMariners and Howard LeopoldDavis Charity Members are reminded that our associatedHCMM & HLD charity is focussed on thesupport of needy Merchant Navy DeckOfficers and their dependents. Any memberknowing of a mariner or widow in needshould contact the Clerk.

Our Charity also oversees our presentationat Christ’s Hospital School. Thepresentation covers all fees, uniform andequipment at the School for the fullsecondary course. This presentation iscurrently not filled and a suitablecandidate is being sought, details fromthe Clerk. Christ’s Hospital, Horsham,West Sussex RH13 0YP; Tel: 01403 211293 Fax: 01403 211580; Email: enquiries@christs-hospital.org.uk

The Royal Hospital School at Holbrookoffers generous bursaries to the sons ordaughters or the grandchildren of maleor female officers of the UK MerchantNavy. The School also offers generousScholarships in four areas: Academic,Arts, and Sports and, in particular,Sailing. The Royal Hospital School,Holbrook, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP9 2RX; Tel: +44 (0)1473 326200reception@royalhospitalschool.org

AccommodationThere are two ensuite cabins one doubleand one twin in WELLINGTON for the useof members (£50 single, £60 doubleoccupancy). Both cabins have colourtelevisions, digital radios and full Wi-Fifacilities. Please let us know if you willbe arriving after normal working hours tocheck in and collect your key.

If unable to book onboard, The Vintner’sCompany, Upper Thames Street, London EC4V 3BG (close to CannonStreet or Mansion House District/CircleLine Tube Stations) offers our membersaccess to their overnightaccommodation; some rooms are en-suite and start at £60 + VAT. Contact:thegeneralmanager@vintnershall.co.ukTel; 0207 651 0748.

Members, who are still serving, may makeuse of the facilities of the Union JackClub at Waterloo Station, where a singleensuite room begins at £72.00 and adouble ensuite room begins at £126.00.Contact Daiva Sobole, AdvanceReservations Manager(daiva@ujclub.co.uk); Tel. 0207 902 7379,Fax. 0207 620 0565; Union Jack Club,Sandell Street, London SE1 8UJ.

Income Tax Relief on AnnualSubscriptions and LiveryQuarterageThe Honourable Company is approved byHer Majesty’s Revenue and Customs forthe purposes of Section 334 of theIncome Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act2003 (which replaces the previouslegislation). Where a member is employedin a marine or marine related occupation,the Annual Subscription and LiveryQuarterage is allowable as a deductionfrom earnings for tax purposes (but notFreedom or Livery Fines). Section 334 islimited to earnings from employment,but members who are self-employedreceive relief under Schedule D.

Social• Curry Lunches on: Friday 29 July 16,Friday 30 September 16, Friday 28October 2016 and Friday 25 November2016. All Curry Lunches are FULY bookedfor the rest of this year. Membersinterested in adding mid-Month CurryLunches for the future, please contactthe Clerk. Members are reminded thatguests must conform to our CurryLunch dress code of jackets and ties. Astock of maritime type ties is held atReception. Also, that set tables andindividual groups will be calledforward by the Catering Managerwhen they should rise to select theircurry lunch.

• Now an annual fixture, the fourth ofour Outport Ladies Lunches is onFriday 22 July 2016. This Lunch isaimed at ALL members of theCompany and their wives with aparticular theme to attract OutportMembers and their Ladies and anopportunity for the Outports to gettogether and to meet the Master andthe Wardens and all our Members.Book early to secure a place.

• The Member’s Lunch on Wednesday 14September 2016 (1230 for 1300). Thislunch is primarily a Company event forourselves and private guests (notspouses or partners), with the guest ofhonour being the Lord Mayor ofWestminster, and our Landlord for themoment! Wardens will wear MorningDress; Court Assistants and members,who wish, may conform, althoughlounge suit is perfectly acceptable.

• The Annual National Service forSeafarer’s at St Paul’s Cathedral onWednesday 12 October 2016 (1700),followed by our traditional Hot PotSupper onboard (1900 for 1930). TheService is usually attended by our Past

Master, HRH Princess Anne and by themajority of the maritime sector inLondon. Tickets should be ordered assoon as possible from the Office. Boththe Service and Hot Pot afterwards, arefor us, our ladies and partners andprivate guests. Members do not haveto attend both events. Wardens will bewearing Mid-Morning Dress; CourtAssistants and members, who wish,may conform, although lounge suit isperfectly acceptable.

• The Ladies’ Night Dinner on Friday 7October 2016 (1900 for 1930). Thisevent is for our Ladies and Partnersand we; private guests are also mostwelcome if there is space available. Thedress is Black Tie so that our Ladies canoutshine us!

• The Lord Mayor’s Parade Day FamiliesLunch on Saturday 12 November 2016(1215 to 1500), which provides anexcellent opportunity to view the LordMayor’s Parade when it sets off on theEmbankment up by Blackfriars Bridge(between the lunch main course andthe desert!). By tradition, we are joinedat this event by representatives ofthree other Livery Companies and sothe Honourable Company has a totalallocation of 25 places. Children arewelcome. Attendance at the Lunchdoes not bring with it the opportunityto remain onboard afterwards towitness the evening fireworks, wherespace is extremely restricted andformally allocated in support of theLord Mayor’s programme and charity.Dress is (warm) Jacket and Tie.

• The Member’s Lunch on Friday 18November 2016 (1230 for 1300). Thisevent is for us and private guests (notspouses or partners), where the guestof honour is the (new) Lord Mayor of the City of London. Wardens willwear Morning Dress; Court Assistantsand Members, who wish, mayconform, although Lounge Suit isperfectly acceptable.

WardroomThe Wardroom is available for membersand their private guests from 0900 until1700 either to relax during busy visits toLondon or to conduct business. Youshould advise if you will be onboard, toprevent over-booking. The bar opensfrom 1230 to 1430, when the Chief BarSteward, Simon, serves a full range ofdrinks and cold and hot food (hot foodshould be ordered 24 hours beforehand)and is available when Roy the chef is onduty; please check beforehand).

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Members are reminded that during baropening hours any formal businessmeetings underway in the Wardroommust be put on hold and, that dress formembers and their guests in theWardroom is jacket (optional in thesummer) and tie. A stock of sparemaritime ties is held in Reception.

MerchandiseThe back inside cover shows the Company(and WELLINGTON Trust) merchandiseitems including, for the summer, white ornavy blue logoed Polo Shirts. I amcurrently trying to source logoed baseballhats but if any Member has any proposalsfor additional merchandise items pleaselet the Clerk know.

Wardroom NotesJohn Johnson-AllenHonorary Wardroom Mess Secretary

Summer seems to be approaching, albeitwith some hesitation. As I write this theLadies Lunch is only a few weeks away,the Summer Reception following onshortly after.

This year's Maritime Charity Ball is, asalready advised, on 8 July. If you arereading this before that date, and don'thave tickets but would like to come, youshould contact the ship urgently. We dolimit tickets to give everybody who comesspace to move around. The theme for thisyear is, as a reminder, Bollywood. I'mhoping that there will be some extravagantcostumes, both for ladies and gentlemen.

I mentioned in my last column that I wouldbe visiting the CITY OF ADELAIDE when Ivisited South Australia. You will findelsewhere in this Journal some photographsand a brief report of my visit to her.

My standard comments about orderinglunches in the wardroom and for orderingsandwiches are unchanged, and will beset out, no doubt, in more detail in theClerk’s column.

You may have noted that in the corner ofthe Wardroom Captain Sam Judah haspresented us with a bridge simulator. Do tryit out and see if your skills are as sharp asthey always were.

The Wellington TrustCaptain Guy Brocklebank RNChairman of the Trustees

The last quarter has been quiet, as is usualin the early part of the year. However therehas been work ongoing in all areas andsome good progress.

In the education programme we are nowseeking to build on the success of theprimary and secondary programmes withan extension into 6th form with a focus onScience, Technology, Engineering andMathematics (STEM) from a maritimeaspect using the whole ship as theeducational space where appropriate.

Our initial STEM meeting had support froma number of STEM ambassadors and schoolsand there was sufficient enthusiasm toproceed with the project. The ship offers anumber of opportunities for practicalaspects of STEM for specific study topics.STEM is also supported by a wide range oforganisations so there are opportunities foradditional support. The educationprogramme remains a success and is highlypraised by the schools who attend.

The lecture programme for the comingyear is nearly finalised and will bepublished soon; this will be John Johnson-

Allen’s last plan as he is stepping down asthe lecture organiser and being relieved byGlyn Evans, who is a keen and only slightlypress-ganged volunteer.

Medals and Martyrs, our 2016 exhibition, isnow in with the Heritage Lottery Fund forfinal approval and we expect the responseby late May. It is about the two MerchantNavy Victoria Cross awards of WW1 toCaptains Blisset Smith and Parsloe, alsoCadet Drewy; we also will include thestories of the two martyrs, Captain Fryattand Nurse Edith Cavell who were executed.The exhibition will be supported by P&OHeritage who own many of the associatedartefacts and pictures we will use. They willalso support the design work. Theexhibition is planned to run from July toDecember, similar to our previousexhibitions funded by the HLF, but on asmaller scale.

Work on the Wellington Future bid (WEFT)is proceeding with the aim of being readyto apply for funding by the HeritageLottery Fund London Committee inSeptember, subject to progress on theGarden Bridge project, or more specificallyour move to the new step free berth. Aspart of the discussions with the GardenBridge Trust we have agreed to a set ofdesign drawings and illustration of the newaccess to be displayed onboard andhopefully it will be mounted soon.

We still seek support from Master Marinersto run aspects of the Education programme;the secondary and 6th form introduces newaspects, closer to professional mariner work.We will also be looking for guides againlater in the year when we open Medals andMartyrs on Sundays and Mondays. Ifanyone is interested in more detail of whatis needed, please do not hesitate to get intouch with me.

Wellington TrustHeritage CommitteeJohn Johnson-AllenChairman, Heritage Committee

Since my last report, I can comment ontwo more of the Heritage Evenings. TheDecember talk by Dr Robert Bruce-Chwattabout his time as a surgeon on theUganda was very interesting entertainingand well-illustrated.

The first talk of the New Year was by RearAdmiral David Snelson, on the History ofthe Five Ark Royals. David had been incommand of the last Ark Royal, and hadserved as a young officer on the fourth. Itwas a fascinating and well-illustrated talk,

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with many illuminating photographs fromhis own personal collection, of his time onthe two on which he served.

By the time this Journal is in your hands,the spring season will be over and I will beable to report on the March talk, althoughas I'm away for the February talk (seeWardroom Notes) about 200 years of Swireand the China Navigation Company I shallhave to rely on other reports for that.

The 2016 September to March 2017lectures are all in place and, in addition,our speakers for the first three lecturesfrom September 17 onwards are agreed.Further information about all those willfollow in the next journal.

PDC ColumnCaptain Geoff Cowap

HCMM Mentoring SeminarHQS Wellington, Friday 15th April 2016The Master welcomed the 40 mentors whoattended the seminar and reminded themjust how important is the HCMMMentoring Scheme.

“The relationship starts with pastoralmentoring when cadets first go to seaand offers support throughout theircareer both at sea and ashore. As aLivery Company, shipping and all that itprovides adds so much to the City ofLondon and not everyone appreciateshow important that is and the Master’sCertificate is the kick start to the wholemaritime world of business.

The HCMM scheme is the envy of manyin the industry and in the City. We in theUK have some of the best MasterMariners in the world and that comesfrom the best training and mentoring inexistence and we are very proud ofthat.”

The Master then introduced the principalguest, Mr Guy Platten, Chief ExecutiveOfficer of the UK Chamber of Shipping(UKCS).

Mr Platten expressed a real optimism in theBritish Shipping Industry and his desire topromote its benefit and our world classmaritime industry After a short video, hestressed the need for skilled people andexpressed his view that the HCMMmentoring scheme is key to the future andto providing men and women who will fillthe vital roles. Guy has a personal ambitionto get more than 1000 cadets into theindustry during his tenure. UK is one of themost expensive countries in the world totrain cadets. SMarT funding is one of theways UKCS in conjunction with MerchantNavy Training Board (MNTB) are tacklingthe problem and planning to introduce atargeted programme called SMarT Plus.

He added:“We require companies to offer newlyqualified junior officers with at least oneyear of quality sea time to gain that allimportant experience as a genuine starttowards their higher level maritimequalifications.”

THE UKCS and MNTB are aware of thedifficulties some newly qualified junior

officers experience in finding that firstwatch keeping position at sea and areoffering a CV and qualification vettingservice to help cadets with this difficulty.The scheme is proving successful and theHCMM will hopefully promote and supporttheir offer.

Geoff Cowap gave a brief summary of thecurrent status of the Mentoring Scheme:

There are 226 mentees being supportedtoday with 16 more awaiting the allocationof a mentor. We have in excess of 120mentors but always need our MasterMariners to volunteer their services asmentor.

Apart from recruiting new mentors, themanagement of the project and themaintaining of mentee records is perhapsthe limiting factor in the expansion of the scheme.

A Mentoring sub-committee of theEducation and Training Committee hasbeen formed under the chairmanship ofWarden Robert Booth and whose role it isto address the growing scale of the schemeand also to document the mentoringactivities. A mentoring scheme documenthas now been produced which defines theobjectives of the scheme and how thementoring sub-committee can achievethose objectives and ensure that thescheme is fit for purpose, sustainable andwill stand up to any external scrutiny. It is aliving document. That is, it will becontinually updated to ensure that thescheme remains current and keeps pacewith what is a rapidly progressing industry.

Captain John FreestoneExperiences of a Thames Pilot

Hood Commemoration

Operation Husky

Monday 12 September 2016

Professor Eric Grove To be confirmedMonday 10 October 2016

Vanessa JenkinsMonday 14 November 2016

Institute of Seamanship Annual Lecture - No Moon &Night Landings: Special Operations by Sea in World War 2

Rear Admiral John LangMonday 12 December 2016

Heritage Lectures 2016

Robert FitzwilliamsCaptain Bligh

Historic Ships UK

Lt Cdr Beattie VC and the raid on St Nazaire

Monday 9 January 2017

Martyn HeightonMonday 13 February 2017

Nick BeattieMonday 13 March 2017

Heritage Lectures 2017

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Warden Booth then gave a summary of thecontents of the Mentoring Document: The document has been approved by theCourt on the understanding that althoughit is complete and workable today, it will becontinually updated.The two reasons for attending at theseminar are 1) To become a mentor and 2)to learn more about mentoringMentoring isn’t easy. It’s a listening processto understand the doubts, problems,loneliness, difficulties of the mentee. When the mentee first goes away to sea,his lifestyle will undergo a traumaticchange. Unfamiliar and confined livingspace, a range of unfamiliar cultures,languages, working arrangements. The mentor needs to understand where andhow he can provide the right kind of support.Some mentees will sail through it, somewill struggle, some will founder, some willrequire a huge amount of supportThere may be issues with which you feelyou are unable to help. The mentor canalso get help by referring back to thementoring sub-committee. There is aconsiderable amount of experience andknowledge within the membership ofHCMM. If you don't know the answer, wewill try and find a man who can. If theissues involve illegal or immoral aspects, doNOT get involved. The only support you cangive in such situations is to refer thementee to an appropriate professional, alawyer or a union official.HCMM mentoring is totally dependent oncommunication. Wherever possible face toface communication is best, but for themajority of the time, communication willbe by electronic means.The mentee must understand that it his/herresponsibility to communicate frequentlyand regularly. Ideally, monthly contact isencouraged, but a minimum of 3 months isencouraged. The mentee will be expectedto send in a short report to the Mentoringsub-committee every three months. Thatreport is presented to the Education andTraining committee. Those that fail tosubmit their three monthly report arefrowned upon, although we do accept thatsometimes there are restrictions on internetusage at sea. Failure to report over atwelve-month period may result in thementee being suspended from the scheme.The Mentoring Document is a referencedocument. It contains information on:• What we do• Objectives• How we achieve it

• The volunteers• What is expected of the mentor• Mentor induction notes and a video• The mentee• Mentor/mentee relationship. Definingboundaries Communication methodsand frequency

• Reporting both to mentor and to subcommittee

• Moral issues and malpractices• Mentor/Mentee agreement. Not acontract, but defining the relationship;can be altered, updated at any stage ofthe relationship

The Afternoon session was devoted tofinding that first all important job afterobtaining OOW.

The Audience was asked to discuss with andput questions to a panel consisting of: GuyPlatten (UKCS), Glenys Jackson and FenaBoyle (MNTB), Don Millar (ChilternMaritime); Richard Graham (RFA)

This was a lively session with manyquestions relating to the present situationwith some criticism of the Tonnage Taxincentive; this undoubtedly has opened upa number of available berths at sea toenable cadets to obtain their required seatime for their first certificate, but wascreating a problem after the training stagewhere there was no continued financialincentive for ship owners to employ Britishjunior officers.

Mr Platten explained that there is nocompulsory link between tonnage tax andobligations to provide employment places.There is a move by UKCS towards trying toencourage employment after the initial

training. SMarT Plus is a process which willspecifically look at this problem. There is amove towards training companiesrecognising that they have trained cadets toOOW standard and that they could perhapsgain the benefit of the trained junior officers.

RFA are now committed to giving trainedand qualified cadets a position assupernumerary aboard vessels before theyare given high-stress roles in the field. Thedifficulty is keeping really talented andtrained young people as they are quicklypoached by companies who want UKtrained and experienced officers.

Cruise Liners are increasingly a source ofemployment for UK trained officersCarnival UK recruit cadets in anticipationof 3 years ahead. Carnival values its UKcadets, but recognises that there arerotational issues as officers return tocollege to obtain their higher certificate.

While it is recognised that positions ashoreare plentiful and lucrative, they are mostlyonly available for those who have obtainedtheir Master’s certificates. This next yearMNTB will be focusing on the opportunitiesfor seafarers who come ashore without fullMaster qualifications. They will bedeveloping a website to assist those whowant to do this.

The oil companies have begun to realisethat cheap crews were potentially a falseeconomy. The realisation is that UK officerstrained to a high standard will eventuallyform a pool of qualified officers who willfill shore jobs with personnel who actuallyknow what they are doing.

The above is a summary of the more salientpoints that were discussed.

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Ship affiliationsHMS SUTHERLANDCaptain Christopher LaycockFor HMS SUTHERLAND the past threemonths have been an incredibly busyperiod for the Ship. We hope to meet andto welcome SUTHERLAND’S CommandingOfficer aboard HQS Wellington in the nottoo distant future.

Commander Trish Kohn Royal Navy COMMANDING OFFICER HMS SUTHERLAND Trish Kohn was educated at LenzieAcademy, and the University of Glasgowbefore joining the Royal Navy in 1997.

Commander Trish Kohn, Royal Navy

Her first appointment as Navigating Officerof the minehunter HMS BRIDPORT washighlighted by deployments to both theBaltic and the Mediterranean. After comingtop of her navigation course, she spent 15months navigating the destroyer HMSCARDIFF which included a deployment tothe Northern Arabian Gulf and OperationTELIC in the lead up to the 2003 Iraq War.

She took command of the patrol boat HMSTRACKER and Oxford University RoyalNaval Unit in 2004.

After completing Principal Warfare Officer(PWO) Course, from 2007 to 2009 she servedas the PWO(U) and Operations Officer in thefrigate HMS MONMOUTH, the highlight ofwhich was circumnavigating the globeduring the VOLANS 07 deployment.

Joining the staff at Britannia Royal NavalCollege as Cunningham Squadron Officer inMarch 2009, she left at the end of 2010 tospend 12 months as a member of theCommander UK Task Group (COMUKTG)battlestaff; a short but exciting assignmentwhich included the inaugural ResponseForce Task Group (RFTG) deployment,numerous amphibious exercises andOperations off Libya embarked in the

French aircraft carrier CHARLES DE GAULLEas the UK/FR liaison officer for OperationUnified Protector.

Trish happily returned to HMSMONMOUTH as the Executive Officer inApril 2012 and completed Operational SeaTraining and Operation KIPION beforedelivering her to refit.

After a short spell as a damage controlofficer in Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST),Trish assumed Command of HMSNORTHUMBERLAND as the first AdaptiveForce frigate in May 2015 and subsequentlyHMS SUTHERLAND in January 2016.

Enjoying windsurfing and snowboarding,Trish has represented the Royal Navy atCombined Service level in competitiveskiing and sailing and enjoys spending timewith her half trained dog, and husband.

At the time of publishing our last issue ofThe Journal, SUTHERLAND had just finishedExercise COLD RESPONSE working with ourNorwegian allies in the high North.Following that short deployment,SUTHERLAND moved into a very briefmaintenance period and a couple of weeksof Easter leave. On return from leave, theShip sailed alongside other UK and Frenchunits to participate in Exercise GRIFFINSTRIKE. The focus of that exercise was totest the latest tactics for landingamphibious forces ashore. The XO reports tohis delight that SUTHERLAND successfullyinvaded South Wales with her owndetachment of Royal Marines Commandos!

Over the coming months the Ship remainsat high readiness and will participate in afurther series of international exercisesalongside other operational commitments,one of them participating in TheCommemoration of the Battle of Jutland.

On 29 April 2016, sailors from HMSSUTHERLAND began five weeks ofcommemorations marking the greatestnaval battle ever fought in Europeanwaters when their ship visited Invergordonin Scotland.

Two dozen warships sailed from theCromarty Firth in May 1916 – part of anarmada of 150 Royal Navy vessels whichclashed with the German Fleet in the NorthSea on May 31 and June 1 1916 at theBattle of Jutland.

More than 6,000 British and over 2,500German sailors were killed. Twenty-fiveships never returned to their bases, 14 ofthem Royal Navy. In the days after Jutland,men succumbed to their wounds up anddown the east coast of England andScotland, including nine sailors inInvergordon-based vessels.

They were buried in the grounds ofRosskeen Parish Church – just a smallnumber of the 136 victims of both worldwars laid to rest in the remote cemetery. Acentury later, townsfolk plannedcommemorations to honour the dead – anevent which coincided with

A short, poignant service led by MarkStrange, Bishop of Moray, Ross andCaithness was supported by a Guard ofHonour from the Plymouth-based frigate.As the bishop read a poem, nine membersof the Invergordon community lined up infront of the nine graves and laid a singlerose in front of each headstone, whileSUTHERLAND’s Guard of Honour performedthe General Salute – normally reserved onlyfor very Senior officers or members of theRoyal Family.

HMS SUTHERLAND holds Remembranceservice for Jutland 100 anniversaryNext to the Jutland dead are sevenheadstones for the crew of the ill-fatedcruiser HMS NATAL which blew up whenher shells in her magazine accidentallydetonated, killing more than 400 souls.

Almost certainly she would haveaccompanied fellow armoured cruisers toJutland, where her sister HMS WARRIORwas mauled and BLACK PRINCE andDEFENCE blew up, killing every man aboard.

After a minute’s silence and a piper’slament, there was a parade throughInvergordon – the Cromarty Firth served asa major Royal Navy base for 40 years fromthe eve of World War 1 through to the1950s – ending at St Ninian’s Church, aformer naval chapel, where a second shortservice was held, this time to the memoryof Commander Loftus Jones, honoured witha plaque on the church’s wall. Jones led aformation of destroyers which sought tothwart a charge by German torpedo boatsagainst British capital ships.

They succeeded – but Shark was shot topieces and her captain mortally wounded.Loftus Jones’ body was later washed up inSweden, but he became one of the firstpublic heroes of Jutland, posthumouslyawarded the Victoria Cross.

Captain Chris Smith, Naval RegionalCommander Scotland and Northern Irelandand one of the planners said:

“Of the three Scottish ports associated

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with the Royal Navy in World War 1,Invergordon is the first to mark thecentenary of the Battle of Jutland – andso begins this period of commemorationfor that particular stage of the war.

Compared with the planned events onthe Firth of Forth and in Scapa Flow, thishad a very significant local flavour,organised and run almost entirely by thelocal community.

So it’s been a real honour for the RoyalNavy to be invited to participate andI’m delighted that HMS SUTHERLANDwas perfectly placed to be able todeliver the kind of support which suchan event deserves

The people of Invergordon and theCromarty Firth should be rightly proudof their heritage and they have done amarvellous thing in setting thestandard, acknowledging the tragiclosses of both the sinking of HMSNATAL and the Battle of Jutland. We arereally grateful to have played a part intheir commemorations.”

CITY OF ADELAIDE- an updateJohn Johnson-Allen

Stern of CITY OF ADELAIDEIn Issue 4 of last year’s Journal, Capt ArchieMunro wrote of the history of the CITY OFADELAIDE. In February of this year I was inSouth Australia and visited Port Adelaide.As part of the day's activities I visited her,sitting on her pontoon in a quiet corner ofthe port, towering over the quay. She hasbeen stripped back both internally andexternally to allow for the eventualrestoration, with all the extraneousupperworks removed.

Despite her appearance, we were assuredthat timbers were in remarkably goodorder. She will in the forthcoming years -and a figure of 10 years was consideredlikely - then be transferred into her finallocation ashore as the gurus centrepiece ofa Seaport Village offering ‘the perfectenvironment for visitors to learn aboutAustralian Maritime and colonial history’.The Seaport Village will also ‘reflect theculture of passengers and crew’. (Quotedfrom the leaflet published by The ClipperShip CITY OF ADELAIDE Ltd).

Bow planking CITY OF ADELAIDE

Within the open areas under the upper deckare displays showing the ship’s past, withphotographs of her interior at that time.

Interior view CITY OF ADELAIDE

We were advised that the pontoon on whichshe sits is owned by the owners of the ship,and that main services are supplied by theport free of charge, which is a significantbenefit as there are few outgoings tocounter the income for restoration.

We were the only visitors to the ship forthe hour or so that we were on board.However, the ENDEAVOUR was onlyabout100 metres away along the quayside,having just arrived on a visit so the publicwere more interested in her.

Bow of ENDEAVOUR

After a visit to the Adelaide MaritimeMuseum, which was extremely wellpresented, and covered a wide range ofmaritime interests, including ladies bathingcostumes of the 20th century(!) we thenwent to the ENDEAVOUR. We had beeninvited on board to join the Master’swelcome party and at which I wasdelighted to be able to represent theHonourable Company. We were invited bythe Master to return for a second visit but,regrettably, the day that he had suggestedwas taken up with other matters.

Hopefully I shall return there in about threeyears’ time and will be able to see whatprogress has been made, if any.

Baltic Exchange andSingapore Exchangeenter into exclusivediscussions The Baltic Exchange Limited ("Baltic")announces that it has entered into exclusivediscussions with Singapore Exchange Limited("SGX") regarding an offer for the Baltic.

The signing of this exclusivity agreementfollows discussion with a number ofinterested parties. The Baltic's Boardconsiders that SGX has made an attractiveproposal that has the potential toenhance significantly the position of theBaltic, serving the needs of Balticmembers, shareholders and otherstakeholders. The next phase will be tocontinue detailed discussions with SGXand consult with Baltic stakeholdersbefore making a final recommendation.

Key aspects of the SGX proposal includecommitments to:

• Retain the Baltic's headquarters in StMary Axe, London and maintain itspremier position within the globalshipping community

• Broaden the Baltic's existing presence inAsia utilising SGX's strong regionaldistribution network

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• Preserve the Baltic's current ethos as amembership organisation with memberrepresentation whose market activitiesare governed by the Baltic Code

• Maintain membership subscriptions anddata fee levels for members for fiveyears

• Retain the multiple clearing housemodel

• Sustain the existing market benchmarkproduction and governance model

• Hold SGX clearing fees for FFA contractsat current levels for at least five years

• Continue to provide a broad range ofmembership services including disputeresolution, social and charitableactivities

In addition SGX will seek to enhance therelationship between the Baltic and itscontributing panellists and will providecommitment regarding the future businessof FFA brokers.

The Baltic Exchange and SGX will togethermeet with shareholders and the widerstakeholder community of members andkey industry participants over the comingweeks to explain the terms of the proposaland build a consensus of support, beforepresenting a definitive agreement whichcan form the basis of a Boardrecommendation to shareholders.

Chairman Guy Campbell explained: "SGX has indicated that in the event itsbid is successful, it would maintain thecurrent model for the Baltic businessand our presence and building inLondon, as the platform for the Baltic'sfuture growth. The proposed transactionwould further strengthen the linksbetween London and Singapore, two ofthe world's leading maritime businesshubs, to the benefit of all.

The Board considers this proposal is anexciting development for the Baltic andall the stakeholders in the markets itserves, which secures the future of theBaltic's role in the global maritimemarketplace in the 21st century.

We look forward to communicatingdirectly with many of our stakeholdersin the next few weeks to explain theproposal to them."

Further announcements will be made asappropriate.

Nomura International PLC and Norton RoseFulbright LLP are acting as advisers to theBaltic Exchange.

Relaunch of Historyof the British Merchant NavyRichard Woodman’s History of the BritishMerchant Navy was published by TheHistory Press, the final volume, Fiddler’sGreen, coming out in 2010. The seriesemerged to critical acclaim, winning theauthor the prestigious Thomas Gray Medalawarded by The Marine Society.

The last two volumes sold out but, with theco-operation of the Endeavour Press,Captain Woodman has revised the booksand is re-launching the series as e-bookswith a print-on-demand facility for thosewho still like a ‘real’ book. With Neptune’sTrident and Britannia’s Realm, the first twoin the series, now available on Amazon, allwill be available by the summer.

The advantage is that the Endeavour Presseditions are considerably cheaper than theoriginal, including the print-on-demandversion, and appeal to the e-reader as wellas the bibliophile.

The series is described as ground-breaking,Woodman setting the contribution ofmercantile shipping and seafaring in itsproper context as a fundamental building-block in our island’s story. He points outthat trade rarely followed the flag, it wasgenerally the other way round, and thatthe very existence of the nation, nevermind its ability to win wars, rested onmerchant shipping and trade. The authoralso points out that British merchantmenfacilitated trade outside ‘the imperial Pale’and therefore made enormouscontributions to the developing economiesof other countries.

Woodman is trenchant in his condemnationof successive governments of all stripeswho failed to grasp the importance ofmerchant shipping, its capacity to earn‘invisibles’ and their criminal neglect of anational asset. He claims that the RoyalNavy has too often garnered laurelsproperly belonging to Great Britain’ssecond, but not secondary, sea-service.

The books intersperse the details of tradewith the developing evolution of shippingcompanies and the experiences ofindividual seafarers in what is an absorbingand often surprising narrative.

The books can be obtained by going toAmazon.com or for further details go towww.endeavourpress.com

The Sea and the SkyIn 1673 Charles II founded The RoyalMathematical School at Christ's Hospitaland selected pupils were taughtmathematics and navigation, in preparationfor entry into the Royal Navy. These pupilswere distinguishable by a specially designedsilver badge which they proudly wore ontheir bluecoat.

RMS pupils historic image

Today pupils can still enter the school viathe Royal Mathematical Foundation andthree current pupils have the privilege ofwearing the Royal Mathematical badge.

A former Christ’s Hospital pupil, CliffordJones, has researched the captivatinghistory of the Royal Mathematical Schooland produced a book using records datingback 400 years and material neverpublished before. His book, The Sea and theSky, reveals detailed descriptions of thesignificant contributions made by SamuelPepys, Robert Hooke, John Flamsteed, SirChristopher Wren, Sir Isaac Newton amongmany others. The book also covers theamazing stories of pupils who, from 1673,were trained in the art of navigation andthen travelled the world on voyages ofcommerce and exploration.

www.hcmm.org.uk The Journal • Issue 2/2016 • Page 891

RMS pupils wearing their silver badges

Archie Dawe, Year 13 pupil at Christ’sHospital, who wears one of the RoyalMathematical School badges along withtwo other pupils, recently met CliffordJones in the Museum at Christ’s Hospital.Clifford was able to show the pupils a silverpocket watch and an Elementary ofNavigation workbook, which historicallywere given to each Royal Mathematicalpupil before they set sail.

RMS pupils with Clifford Jones

Archie commented: “My dad worked on submarines and Iam immensely proud of my family linkwith the Royal Navy. I am equally proudthat this connection is still recognisedby Christ’s Hospital. Currently I amstudying A-level Maths in the RoyalMathematical School at Christ’sHospital and it has been so interestingto discover more about its uniquehistory from Clifford and his fascinatingand well documented book.”

Clifford Jones has also has written three ofthe seven booklets in the Christ’s HospitalHeritage Series, which are full of detailabout the School since its Foundation in1552, and all sourced from its extensivearchives.

The Sea and the Sky can be purchased bysending a cheque made payable to Christ’sHospital, postal address: The CountingHouse (Museum), Christ’s Hospital,Horsham, West Sussex RH13 0YP. Eachbook costs £25.00 plus postage/packing, perbook, £5.00 UK, £15.00 Abroad;

Paying via PayPal using the email address:chmuseum@christs-hospital.org.uk

Letters to the EditorFollowing the publication in HCMM JournalIssue 4/2015, (page 841, second para of 5lines concerning the arrival of City ofAdelaide in that port), further evidence hasemerged from the Report of the Hon Sec ofthe Society of Nautical Research, whoreported at their AGM on 13 June 2016,and provides more up to date informationas below,

“It is understood that conservation workhas continued but there are no plans forrestoration as such. A permanent slipwas being prepared. The plan was not tocarry out major restoration, but toconcentrate on conservation instead, sothey are not rebuilding the ship withcabins and accommodation. She neededto be kept out of bright light, so will beshaded from the sun by a cover whichwill be fashioned for her. It was notedthat the Australians have already donea remarkable job in looking after her”.

The foregoing has been approved by theHon Sec of the Society for NauticalResearch, Dr Byrne McLeod, MA, PhD forreproduction in the Journal of the HCMM.

Kind Regards,Archie D.Munro

I read with interest the article about S.V.ADELAIDE, aka HMS CARRICK in the latestcopy of the JOURNAL. Whilst she was stillafloat in on the Clyde in Glasgow myhusband and I attended many lunches andfunctions on board.

However, I thought, I would add anotherwee item to the good ship's history. In 1943the CARRICK, moored off Greenock, wasused as Wrens' Quarters. I enclose a copy ofthe reply from Mrs Barbara Creed to aletter I published in the WREN Magazine.

I would also refer you to various items(using GOOGLE) about Christine, Lady Inniswho too was billeted on the CARRICK.

I am sending a copy of your article toBarbara. I last heard from her in 2011 so Ipray she is still with us.

With best wishesJenoffer Oliver (ex. 3/0 WRNSMother of Captain Timothy Oliver, MN

I am writing in reply to a letter from JenofferOliver- in the February 2011 WREN aboutHMS CARRICK. It is quite correct that Wrensdid live onboard CARRICK. I was the FirstUnit Officer when the Wrennery opened in1943. I forget exactly how many Wrens therewere but all the Wrens slept in one longcabin in double bunks. It was not ideal!

A few of the Wrens worked onboard, butthe remainder went ashore toestablishments in Greenock. CARRICK wasthe DEMS HQ at the time.

I was not there very long, as I was drafted toHelensburgh across the Clyde and am afraidthat I do not know how long CARRICKlasted as a Wrennery. There is a photo of mein the Wardroom of HMS CARRICK on page71 of Lee Miller’s Wrens in Camera. It wasnot as comfortable as it looked!

I am now 94 and should be very pleased tohear from anyone who served with me.

Mrs Barbara Creed (nee Wood)

The article [about HMS PRESIDENT 1918] inthe Honourable Company's Journal (Issue1/2016) brought back memories. I startedmy seafaring career in HMS PRESIDENT inJuly 1951 when I joined the LondonDivision of the Royal Naval VolunteerReserve as a Boy Seaman (First Class) at theage of 17 in order to be able to do myNational Service with the Royal Navy.

I attended weekly drill nights in PRESIDENTand her sister ship HMS CHRYSANTHEMUMand, in February 1952, I was in the LondonDivision's route lining party for the funeralof King George VI. That experience is astory in itself.

In July 1952 I entered the Royal Navy fortwo years full-time National Service.During that time, I was present at theCoronation Fleet Review, I was promoted toMidshipman RNVR and I amassed about 18months’ sea time.

On discharge from the RN I again became aPRESIDENT and liable to three (I think)years’ service on the Reserve. However, Ialso joined the Merchant Navy and I had aprotection from the Admiral CommandingReserves excusing me from my obligations.

During my time in the MN I did two MNDefence Courses in PRESIDENT, one as arating, the other as an officer.

My last contact with PRESIDENT was whenher then commanding officer, CaptainGeorge Beatty RNR (now deceased),entertained me to a drink after we hadbeen in court. In real life he was a barristerand I was a solicitor.

It has been said that in spite of 20 years atsea and numerous circumnavigations, I wasmostly in the Australia and New Zealandtrade, my net progress was but three orfour ship's lengths up-river fromPRESIDENT to WELLINGTON.

I shall be interested to know what happensto PRESIDENT 1918. I hope that some

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useful and appropriate role will be foundfor her.Yours sincerelyW J D WrightHCMM Retired Roll

Editor’s noteI am grateful to Captain Barry Thomsonfor pointing out that C M G Hunter’sletter in Issue 1/2016 of the Journalincorrectly refers to Captain FogartyFegan VC as ‘Master’ of the JERVIS BAY.

In fact, Captain Fegan was a Royal NavyCaptain and Commanding Officer of thearmed merchant cruiser HMS JERVIS BAY,so his VC was awarded to a naval officer,not to a civilian merchant ship master.

Latest News

Nation marks 100years since greatnaval battleThe UK Government, in collaboration withOrkney Islands Council and theCommonwealth War Graves Commission,has hosted two events to mark 100 yearssince the largest naval clash of the FirstWorld War.

The commemorative events included amorning service at St Magnus Cathedral,Kirkwall, followed by a ceremony at theLyness Royal Naval Cemetery at Hoy, whereover 400 Commonwealth servicemen andGerman sailors from the First World Warare buried - some as young as 16.

The Princess Royal, Vice Admiral Sir TimLaurence, Mr Joachim Gauck, President ofthe Federal Republic of Germany, PrimeMinister David Cameron and First Ministerof Scotland Nicola Sturgeon attended thecommemorative event alongsidedescendants of wartime sailors and localresidents. Secretary of State for Culture,Media and Sport John Whittingdale andFirst World War Minister David Evennettalso attended the event.

Secretary of State for Culture, Media andSport John Whittingdale said:

“The Battle of Jutland was the mostbrutal naval battle of the First WorldWar and it is important that weremember the thousands who lost theirlives at sea and commemorate theheroism of all who served one hundredyears ago.”

First World War Minister David Evennettsaid:

“It is right that we remember thethousands who lost their lives duringthe biggest naval battle of the FirstWorld War. My own grandfather foughtat Jutland and was lucky enough tohave survived and he never forgot thebravery of the young men who servedalongside him. Today on the OrkneyIslands we also remember the roleScotland played in housing the RoyalNavy’s Grand Fleet.”

The Battle of Jutland was the mostsignificant naval engagement of the FirstWorld War with over 100,000 sailorsinvolved on 250 ships. More than 6,000Royal Navy and 2,500 German sailors losttheir lives.

The events remembered those who lost theirlives during the battle and also paid tributeto the role of the Royal Navy and all thoseinvolved in the war at sea throughout theFirst World War. The commemorationsemphasised the vital role that Scotland, andthe Orkney Islands in particular, played inhosting the Grand Fleet throughout the war.

During the war, the Royal Navy’s GrandFleet was based at Scapa Flow, a naturalharbour at the heart of Orkney. Thepresence of the Grand Fleet and itsthousands of sailors had a major impact onthe lives of ordinary Orcadians.

Over the wrecks of HMS INVINCIBLE, HMSQUEEN MARY, SMS LUTZOW and SMSPOMMERN, their modern day counterpartsHMS DUNCAN and FGS BRANDENBERGheld a moments silence to honour all thoselost during the Battle of Jutland. In aremembrance service, sailors from bothnavies scattered symbols of remembrance –British poppy petals and German forget-me-nots — into the water. HMS KENT,visible from the Royal Naval Cemetery inLyness, fired a 21-gun salute.

There was also a series of other eventsacross the country to mark the centenaryof the Battle of Jutland. These included:

• Royal Navy remembrance events inChatham, Plymouth and Portsmouth

• The opening of HMS Caroline - the onlysurviving ship that saw action at theBattle of Jutland - in Belfast as amuseum and visitor attraction

• The laying of commemorative pavingstones to remember the four VictoriaCross recipients from the Battle ofJutland.

Garden Bridge Trustsigns constructioncontract The Garden Bridge Trust has announcedthat the construction contract with thejoint venture of Bouygues Travaux Publicsand Cimolai SpA has been signed. This is avital step in turning the plans for theGarden Bridge into reality.

The joint venture will be responsible forcompleting the detailed design,construction and planting of this fantasticnew public space for central London.

Bouygues TP and Cimolai have beenworking with the Trust since April 2015when they were appointed forpreconstruction services, following a formalcompetitive procurement process. Sincethen they have been working on finalisingthe technical proposals for the delivery ofthe project.

This period of joint working has enabledthe team to develop strong workingrelationships and to fine tune and improveplans after local consultation.

Examples include making a 35% reductionin the number of road journeys by betteruse of the river for deliveries, completingthe construction of the bridge in 32months, keeping Bernie Spain Gardensopen and maintaining the width of Queen’sWalk pathway to 7.6m during construction.

In addition, a further five planningconditions were approved at a meeting ofLambeth’s Planning Committee last weekrelating to noise and vibration mitigationand the layout of the South LandingBuilding. 80% of Lambeth’s pre-commencement planning conditions havenow been approved.

Others relating to the commencement ofparticular construction works also need tobe discharged and the Trust already hasapproval for two out of seven of these.

Lease negotiations are continuing aboutthe land required for the South Landing.

Construction work on the Bridge is plannedto commence in the summer of 2016 andto be completed in late 2018.

Lord Mervyn Davies, Chairman of the

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Garden Bridge Trust, said:“The Garden Bridge is a reality. We areon course with our fundraising targets,we are meeting the requirements of ourplanning conditions. We have hugepublic support for the project and welook forward to working with BouyguesTP and Cimolai and all our partners tomake this a special place to be enjoyedby Londoners and visitors in the heart ofthe city for years to come.”

The Bridge will be open every day of theyear and bring huge benefits to the area interms of jobs, economic opportunities anda place of enjoyment.

To mark the signing of the ConstructionContract, the Trust has released a new filmwhich is a celebration of everything thatmakes London the unique place it is andthe people who will cross the bridge everyday, from every walk of life.

Shot over four days in each corner of thecity, it is a journey through every side ofthis ever-changing and thrivingcommunity. It also shows how the Bridgewill provide an opportunity for Londonersto stop and take it all in, and to remember,every now and then, how lucky we are tolive in London.

Downloadable from:www.gardenbridge.london/news/article/new-video-marks-signing-of-construction-contract

New research finds UKworld’s biggestmaritime business hubUK maritime trade promotion bodyMaritime London has welcomed thefindings of research published recently bythe City of London Corporation which showthat the UK is the world’s leading maritimebusiness services hub. According to thereport, UK based firms providing marineinsurance, shipbroking, legal services andeducation contribute £4.4bn to theeconomy and employs over 10,000 people.An estimated 80-85% of its business comesfrom outside the UK.

The UK’s Global Maritime ProfessionalServices: Contribution and Trends report,produced by PricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC), finds that the UK has a 35% shareof global marine insurance premiums; 26%of global shipbroking revenue and that25% of the world’s maritime legal partnersare based in the UK. The report outlines theUK maritime clusters strengths and threatsthat it faces to its pre-eminent position.

Welcoming the report’s findings, MaritimeLondon Vice-Chairman and Partner atNorton Rose Fulbright, Harry Theocharisaid:

“With a history of more than threecenturies in maritime business services,we at Maritime London are notsurprised to see that the UK remains theundisputed global leader in this sectorand we are well aware of the hugecontribution that maritime businessservices make to the economy of the UK.

The [Maritime Report] re-enforces thefindings of the recently publishedMountevans Report and, again,highlights the importance ofimplementing the recommendationsoutlined in the Mountevans Report.

With the maritime industries facingthe worst recessions in living memory,this is a pivotal time for everyoneinvolved in the maritime industry andit is clear that the United Kingdom andthe City of London, through theirmaritime professional servicescapability, are exceptionally well placedto assist and serve the maritimeindustry through these verychallenging economic times and tocontinue to build on the excellence andexpertise that has been developed oversuch a long period of time.”

Maritime London Chief Executive DougBarrow said:

“Maritime London is delighted to beassociated with this report that hasbeen commissioned by the City ofLondon. Again, it demonstrates theimpact of maritime services to the UK’seconomy and to the City.

We would like to thank the manycompanies that have contributed datato enable the authors to produce suchan informed report. The long awaitedreport now provides us with evidence insupport of our promotional effortsclearly demonstrating the importance ofour maritime services.

This report states where we are today andgives some pointers for the future. Ourjob now is to support the growth of ourmaritime services and ensure they havean increasing share of global business.”

The key findings of the report are that:

• The UK is headquarters for many of theworld’s leading maritime law andshipbroking firms. Many of thesecompanies have expanded with newoffices across the globe, while the UK isthe destination of choice for complexrisk insurance, backed up by theexpertise of Lloyd’s of London and theInternational Underwriting Association.

• The cluster effect whereby the aboveservices have a multiplying effect,helping bring in business for each otherand attract talent. Customers highlyvalue being able to access all theseservices in one place.

• The depth and scale of the UK’s talentpool remains unrivalled in comparisonto other leading maritime centres suchas Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai.

• The UK’s stable business environment,Rule of Law, geography, time zone andthe attractiveness of London as a placeto work and live were all cited asbenefits.

However, the sector faces a number ofthreats to its preeminent positionincluding:

• For many years, the UK has not beenconsidered a major area of shippingactivity due to its lack of establishedmajor hub port and limited localownership and shipping activity whencompared to the likes of Rotterdam,Hamburg or Shanghai. However, thisdisadvantage is not new.

• Corporation tax set at a higher rate incomparison to other hubs, problemsattaining visas and ‘gold-plated’regulation were all cited.

• The relative cost of doing business inLondon. The capital is the 4th mostexpensive city to rent high-rise offices,while average salaries (£870 per week)are far higher than those in the likes ofShanghai (£200) and Singapore (£450). Itis therefore most feasible for high addedvalue businesses to be located here.

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• Other maritime hubs competing hard.Singapore has introduced tax incentivesfor ship operators and services, offeredincentives for specific institutions torelocate and is now the second largestmaritime services hub after London.Shanghai also has a greater focus onoperations in the hope that services willfollow, while Hong Kong has created anew promotional body to recommendways to help grow the sector.

A full copy of the report can bedownloaded from:

www.globalmaritimehub.com/custom/domain_2/extra_files/attach_691.pdf

BIMCO/ICSManpower Reportpredicts potentialshortage of officers

Launched recently at the InternationalMaritime Organization, the latest five-yearBIMCO/ICS Manpower Report forecasts aserious future shortage in the supply ofseafarers. The report identifies:• A current shortfall of about 16,500officers (2.1%)

but • A need for an additional 147,500officers by 2025 to service the worldmerchant fleet.

The global supply of officers is forecast toincrease steadily, but this is predicted to beoutpaced by increasing demand.

Some officer categories are in especiallyshort supply, including engineer officers atmanagement level and officers needed forspecialised ships such as chemical, LNG andLPG carriers.

The report suggests that in the past fiveyears the industry has made good progresswith increasing recruitment and traininglevels and reducing officer wastage (i.e.retaining qualified seafarers and increasingthe number of years which they serve atsea). But the report indicates that, unlesstraining levels are increased significantly,the growth in demand for seafarers couldgenerate a serious shortage in the totalsupply of officers.

However, the report estimates there is acurrent surplus of about 119,000 ratings(15.8%), with demand only havingincreased by about 1% since 2010.

Significantly, China is thought to haveovertaken the Philippines as the largestsingle source of seafarers qualified forinternational trade (although the Philippinesis still the largest source of ratings).However, data from international shippingcompanies suggests that the extent towhich Chinese seafarers are available forinternational service may be more limited,with the Philippines and Russia seen asequally important sources of officers,followed closely by Ukraine and India.

BIMCO CEO, Angus Frew, said:“BIMCO and ICS have once againcollaborated closely to produce valuablein-depth analysis of maritimemanpower trends. The industry can putthis report to good use by ensuring wecan continue to operate the worldmerchant fleet with sufficient numbersof qualified and competent seafarers.”

ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffecommented:

“Without continuing efforts to promotecareers at sea and improve levels ofrecruitment and retention, the reportsuggests it cannot be guaranteed thatthere will be an abundant supply ofseafarers in the future.”

A summary of the key figures in the reportcan be downloaded from: www.ics-shipping.org/docs/default-source/resources/safety-security-and-operations/manpower-report-2015-executive-summary.pdf?sfvrsn=14

ITF announces MLCimplementation andenforcement study The ITF (International Transport WorkersFederation) has commissioned an in depthstudy into the implementation andenforcement of the ILO Maritime LabourConvention 2006 (MLC), which came into

force in August 2013. The study will becarried out by Seafarers' RightsInternational (SRI).

The ITF was a major mover in thedevelopment of the MLC, which sets outcomprehensive and enforceable minimumstandards for seafarers' working and livingconditions, and which has been describedas 'the most ambitious convention ever,covering the modern realities of workingconditions on board a 21st century ship'.The MLC is the 'fourth pillar' in themaritime regulatory regime, along withSOLAS, MARPOl and the STCW conventions.

ITF seafarers' section chair Dave Heindelexplained:

"Although the ITF is delighted that theconvention is now in force, there is aclear need for a critical evaluation of itsimplementation and enforcement. Bothport state control and ITF inspectorshave reported numerous breaches of theMLC. That's why we've decided tocommission SRI to do a thorough studyto assess its effectiveness, and identifyany areas where it may needstrengthening. That study is likely totake around two years to complete.

The MLC is a fine, pioneeringachievement of which all of those whosupported it can be proud. But there isno room for complacency. We've said allalong that its enforcement andeffectiveness must be monitored andchecked. We're glad to be supportingthat aim."

The ICS (International Chamber ofShipping) and the ITF had discussed a jointproject, but it was decided that the ITFwould commission the study.

Seafarers’ Rights International was launchedon World Maritime Day 2010 in response tothe growing need to raise awareness ofseafarers’ rights and to provide a resourcefor seafarers and for all stakeholders with agenuine concern for the legal protection ofseafarers around the world.

Swedish Club shineslight on vessel claimsThe life of seafarers is never straightforward,and as a new report from the Swedish Clubshows, the hazards and job complexitiesthey face are very much dependent on thetype of vessel they find themselves crewing.In P&I Claims Analysis, published recently,the Club has studied thousands of incidentsin the last ten years, across a range ofvessel segments and claims types, andmade some interesting discoveries.

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Seafarers on containerships need to watchtheir step, as almost 60% of all slips andfalls occur on container vessels – almostcertainly due to the amount of debris onboard and the number of people involvedin cargo operations.

Meanwhile, those working on bulk carriersmust take care to avoid cargo damage,with bulk carriers recording both thehighest average cargo claims cost and alsothe most frequent claims over the last tenyears. A failure to check cargo properlybefore loading and improper cargohandling are the cause of the mostexpensive and most common claimsrespectively, emphasising how important itis for crews to monitor entire cargooperations to secure as much evidence aspossible about damaged cargo.

With the various vetting processes in place,it is no surprise that tanker claims make upthe smallest proportion of cargo claimsseen by the Club. But those on boardcannot rest on their laurels with around60% of claims and the same proportion ofcosts incurred by improper cargo handlingand insufficient cleaning.

The report also highlighted both anincrease in claim costs and a rise in thenumber of claims for cargo, illness andinjury, over the last ten years. Worryingly,the Club has seen a rise in the number ofclaims for all vessel types.

Bulk carriers top the charts, with thegreatest increase in the number of claims.This trend is also being seen in thecontainer sector, with both the cost perclaim and the number of claims rising. Thefrequency and cost for tankers is the lowestof the three types.

Lars Malm, Director, Strategic Business

Development & Client Relations at TheSwedish Club says:

“With the pressures faced by today’screws, and based on the findings, weactively encourage and advise allmembers to participate in the MaritimeResource Management courses run byThe Swedish Club Academy, which aimto enhance safety at sea.”

The proper treatment of cargo seems toprove a challenge across all market sectors:by far the most frequent claims are forimproper cargo handling, making up over30% of the total claims. At the same timethe most expensive claims come from theproblem of inherent vice - when cargo hasbeen contaminated or not in a propercondition when loaded.

Operators can take comfort from the factthat there are only about 1% of expensivecargo claims above USD 500,000. However,this was 50% of the overall claims cost for2013 and 30% for 2014. And while claimsin the USD 1-5000 cost interval fell byalmost 50% between 2013 and 2014, thosein the USD 5,000-50,000 cost interval roseby about 30% - not a coincidence.

Statistics show that slips and falls are thebiggest concern on all three types ofvessels studied, causing over 44% of claimsand making up the same percentage ofcosts. The frequency for injuries hasincreased substantially since 2012, with thelocations on board where most injuriesoccur being the cargo deck areas,machinery room and open deck areas. Mostinjuries happen during routinemaintenance which normally requires awork permit and risk assessment.

Whilst average claims costs for injurieshave been relatively stable, there has beenan increased frequency – possibly explainedby a greater awareness of the right tomake a claim and the level of financialcompensation available.

Again the frequency of illness claims hasremained somewhat stable, but the Clubhas seen a steady rise in the average costof illness over the past ten years across allcategories. The reason for this may beincreased medical cost and older crew,which need more medical assistance.

For an in depth analysis on the issues raisedhere, and more, a copy of the report isavailable atwww.swedishclub.com/media/publications/brochures/

A good practiceguide on thehumanitarianresponse to piracySeafarers continue to be the targets ofpirates and armed robbers, with around 100held captive ashore by various groups indifferent parts of the world at the moment.The training of seafarers, best managementpractice and hardening of ships has formedpart of the response, but companies stillneed to be well prepared for seafarersbeing attacked or taken captive.

The ISWAN Maritime Piracy HumanitarianResponse Programme has issued anupdated Good Practice Guide for ShippingCompanies and Manning Agents –humanitarian support of seafarers andtheir families in cases of armed robberyand piracy attack. The guide has beenupdated with the help of the InternationalChamber of Shipping, the Maritime Bureau,the International Maritime Employers'Council and the Oil CompaniesInternational Marine Forum.

The guide covers good practice in thesupport of seafarers and their familiesbefore, during and after an incident. Itincludes recommendations on planning,and also contains templates of leaflets,nominee forms and samplecommunications with families, as well asother information of more general use. It isdesigned to supplement the existingprocesses of companies, and comes withthe benefit of the experience of dealingwith over 200 seafarers and their familieswho have been held captive by pirates. It isavailable free to download and reproduce.

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Andy Winbow, Chair of the MPHRPCommittee of ISWAN, commended theguide to companies:

“Piracy and armed robbery remains areal concern for seafarers and theirfamilies and the ISWAN Good practiceguide fulfils a very real need. All theindustry partners and relatedorganizations that have contributed tothe guide have the best interests ofseafarers at heart and ISWAN looksforward to working with them to assistseafarers and their families affected byincidents of piracy and armed robberywhen they occur."

Cyrus Mody of the IMB, who helped withthe revision of the guide, said:

"Within the shipping industry manycompanies have well prepared and well-rehearsed SOPs to deal with all types ofmaritime crisis. This guide can positivelysupplement elements of these SOPs sothat they comprehensively address theneeds of seafarers."

Roger Harris, Executive Director of ISWAN,concluded:

"The guide provides a welcome additionto the services ISWAN can offer toseafarers and their families. Access toour 24 hour helpline gives seafarers andcompanies easy referral to agencies onthe ground who can help individualseafarers and their families affected bypiracy and armed robbery. We willcontinue with appropriate training andtools to increase the resilience ofseafarers and support affected families."

A copy of the report can be downloadedfrom:

http://seafarerswelfare.org/index.php?option=com_k2&Itemid=32&id=115_e0bef2011d5606cb167b3a2fc725990c&lang=en&task=download&view=item

Admiral Sir PhilipJones takes over asFirst Sea LordThe torch of Naval leadership changedhands on 8 April 2016, as Admiral Sir PhilipJones took over as Britain’s senior sailorand his predecessor, Admiral Sir GeorgeZambellas, stepped down after 35 years'serving his nation.

In the great cabin of the world’s oldestcommissioned warship, HMS VICTORY,Admiral Zambellas formally handed overcommand of more than 30,000 men andwomen, nearly 90 warships, nuclearsubmarines and support vessels, the

helicopters and jets of the Fleet Air Armand the elite Naval infantry of the RoyalMarines to the man who has overseen theday-to-day operations of the Royal Navysince 2013 as its Fleet Commander.

Admiral Sir Philip Jones takes over as FirstSea Lord from Admiral Sir George Zambellas

During his three-year spell in charge,Admiral Jones will oversee the aircraftcarrier HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH’s entry intoservice. Her sister ship, HMS PRINCE OFWALES, will begin sea trials and the world’smost advanced fifth generation jet aircraft,the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, will operatefrom a Royal Navy ship for the first time.

Admiral Jones said: “We owe Sir George a huge debt ofgratitude; through this vision andleadership, the Royal Navy’s credibilityhas been strengthened immeasurably,and with it our self-belief; it is a legacythat will stand the test of time.

In these uncertain times, the Royal Navycontinues to protect our nation’sinterests at home and around the world.In the years ahead, the introduction ofthe two largest aircraft carriers, thelargest warships in our history, willchange entirely how the Royal Navyoperates. Our sailors and marines arethe best in the world, and I intend tokeep it that way. With the support ofour civil servants and our families, I willuse all my energy and experience to leadthem to success. Together, we will makethe most of our opportunities, andaddress our challenges head-on, as weready ourselves for this exciting new eraof British maritime power."

In a sign of the high regard with which theRoyal Navy is viewed internationally, theceremony was attended by the head of theUS Navy, Admiral John Richardson, and USCoast Guard, Admiral Paul Zukunft, andFrance’s Senior Naval officer, AdmiralBernard Rogel.

Admiral Zambellas joined the Royal Navy inSeptember 1980 and served as a Sea Kingpilot before commanding three warships,including HMS CHATHAM which saw actionduring operations in Sierra Leone. As FirstSea Lord he has overseen the ongoing

programme to deliver the Queen ElizabethClass aircraft carriers and the recentStrategic Defence and Security Review,which sets out a bold path of investmentfor the Royal Navy.

As his flag was lowered onboard HMSVICTORY, Admiral Zambellas said:

“It has been an enormous honour to leadthe Royal Navy. The Senior Service hasalways played an important role in theUK’s defence and security. Now it has aleading role. This strategic responsibilitywill be delivered because the Navy is fullof brilliant people – sailors, marines,civilians, and their supportive families.They have a fantastic future ahead ofthem, as they grow their Navy'scapability and ambition. If I could, I'djoin them all over again."

Admiral Jones joined the Navy in 1978, sawaction in the Falklands Conflict aboardHMS FEARLESS – he’s one of the fewveterans of the 1982 conflict still in theService – and commanded the frigatesHMS BEAVER and HMS COVENTRY.

First sea captain joinsRoyal Navy’s newestaircraft carrier The Nation’s future flagship HMS QUEENELIZABETH, currently being built inScotland, has reached a major milestone inher programme with the arrival of the firstCommanding Officer, Captain Jerry Kyd.

Captain Jerry Kyd with HMS QueenElizabeth in the background

Captain Kyd, who will be responsible forleading the men and women who will operatethe 65,000 tonne ship from her future baseport, Portsmouth Naval Base, took commandof his ship today (24 May 2016).

In his first speech to his ship’s company,Captain Kyd said: “It is a singular honour tobe taking command of you today, the crewof our future Flagship.

"I am extremely proud to be leading youas the ship’s first Captain as we worktogether with the Aircraft Carrier

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Alliance to sail from Rosyth for seatrials early next year.”

Let us be proud in purpose and focusedin our work as we look to the sea andour arrival in our home port ofPortsmouth in about a year’s time.”

Although Captain Kyd remains asubstantive Commodore, he will followhistorical custom and routinely wear therank of Captain Royal Navy in his role asCommanding Officer of HMS QUEENELIZABETH.He takes over from Captain Simon Petittwho has been Senior Naval Officer of HMSQUEEN ELIZABETH and HMS PRINCE OFWALES as they generate through theirbuild programmes. On leaving the ship for the last time,Captain Petitt said:

“It has been an extreme honour to be incharge of the first crew of the Navy’sfuture flagship and play a small part inshaping how the ship will operate.

It is without doubt the pinnacle of mycareer.

In particular, watching a shell of a shipdevelop at pace and a ship’s companygrow from 9 to 580 personnel, which Iproudly hand over to Captain Kyd totake to sea.

I congratulate the Aircraft CarrierAlliance for their tremendous work andmy crew, for their support.”

Joining as the Senior Naval Officer of thesister ship HMS PRINCE OF WALES, CaptainIan Groom, said:

“Today marks a proud moment in mynaval career as I assume responsibilityfor the rapidly growing ship’s companyof HMS PRINCE OF WALES. I amdelighted to join at such an excitingtime and be part of such a professionaldedicated team.”

Captain Jerry Kyd, Captain Simon Petittand Captain Ian Groom

HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, will set sail for thefirst time in early 2017 when she will moveto her permanent home on the PrincessRoyal Jetty in Portsmouth Naval Base, withHMS PRINCE OF WALES following in 2019.

The carriers will provide over 4 acres ofsovereign territory which can be deployedaround the world, travelling at upwards of500nm a day. Both ships are capable ofcarrying up to 36 F-35B Lightning II stealthjets, capable of sharing vast amounts ofinformation and landing vertically on theflight deck.The fifth generation fighters will beoperated by 809 Naval Air Squadron, TheImmortals, first formed 75 years ago, and617 Squadron, Royal Air Force known asThe Dambusters for their daring war timeraid on the Ruhr Valley. They will share the 280-metre-long flight deckwith helicopters from all three services.Combined, they will transform the RoyalNavy’s ability to project UK influence overseas.

RFA FORT VICTORIA– A month in the lifeof a busy RFA vesselThe Royal Fleet Auxiliary has a proudtradition of supporting the Royal Navyglobally over many years and it is hard toremember a time when warships did notoperate in company with at least one ofthe multi-role, multi-capable and multi-functional ships.RFA FORT VICTORIA has been accustomedin recent years to operating in the Gulfregion and Indian Ocean in support of theanti-piracy, anti-smuggling and anti-trafficking activities of the CombinedMaritime Force, based in Bahrain.FORT VICTORIA left the Gulf in late 2013 tobegin a year-long refit at Birkenhead, fromJanuary 2014 until January 2015. This refitconsisted of a major engine room overhauland upgrade, RAS pockets being fullyrestored and many other equipment andcapability upgrades.Visits to Loch Striven for bunkering andCrombie for ammunitioning led into a FlagOfficer Sea Training (FOST) period in April2015. Then, in May 2015, she returned toher well known operating areas in supportof the UK Maritime Component Command(UKMCC) directed tasking from Bahrain.

In March 2016, the Command received anunexpected change in tasking, when FORTVICTORIA was directed to head into theMediterranean and act as the CommandPlatform for the UK contingent in supportof a NATO Task Group.This would be primarily the monitoring andsurveillance of the growing migrantconcerns in the local region, along with thecapability to react to any Safety of Life atSea (SOLAS) incidents, together with hercore role as the replenishment vessel forthe warships in company.Following the almost unprecedented risein flow of war refugees and migrants fromthe Middle East, attempting to enter theEU from summer 2015, FORT VICTORIAwas recently assigned to duties in theEastern Mediterranean. For a vessel normally associated with herprimary role of Replenishment at Sea andnormally in open ocean, to operate in therelatively narrow confines of the Aegeanhas brought about a different mindset forthe Command and Ships Company.Additionally, FORT VICTORIA has embarkedspecialists with a variety of roles in themonitoring, surveillance and preparationfor a response to any life threateningincident at sea.

Fort Victoria Embarked Forces conduct ORCSea boat training in the Aegean Sea

Amongst the augmentees are EmbarkedMilitary Forces (Royal Marines), a LynxFlight from 815 Sqn, Medical staff, Mediaexperts, Interpreters, Border Forcepersonnel, Intelligence Advisors, SpecialistSearchers and a Royal Navy Police SeniorRating (RPO).

Replenishment at sea

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RFA FORT VICTORIA is normally mosteffectively employed in her primary role ofreplenishing warships on operations. Thisspecific tasking in the Eastern Aegean insupport of the NATO Task Group haspresented many unique challenges.

Firstly, the nature of patrolling in restrictedwaters requires precise navigation and anincreased situational awareness ofadditional hazards in the busy waters of apopular and attractive sea for yachting andother recreational activities.

Add to the mix the constant possibility ofmigrants attempting to cross from Turkeyto a European Nation and the maritime andoperational risks are increased substantially.

Having said that, as a well-run andorganised ship, FORT VICTORIA and hercrew settled into the patrol mentality withimpressive speed and calmness.

Using a military mindset with a carefullyplanned Battle Rhythm with necessarybriefings, operational directives and mediumterm patrol planning all being managed verycomfortably, FORT VICTORIA has operatedwith the mindset that has led to highlysuccessful and safe deterrent activities.

Fort Victoria helicopter

When reflecting that FORT VICTORIA is over203 metres long and weighs in at around31000 tonnes, this is no mean achievementfor the largest ship in the Naval Service onsuch a mission.

In addition to the ship’s company, Ship’sForce Protection Element and PermanentRoyal Navy detachment for themanagement and maintenance of weaponsystems, FORT VICTORIA has also embarkedspecialists in military communications andinformation systems, aviation facilities andother operational roles.

She is also the command platform for theSenior Naval Officer as part of the NATOTask Force.

Captain SJ Norris, the Commanding Officerof RFA FORT VICTORIA, commented:

"FORT VICTORIA’s role in the busy andchallenging inshore waters of theAegean, conducting surveillance andSOLAS patrols, has yet againdemonstrated the rapid deployability andversatility of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

Re-rolling at short notice from our usualoperating theatre of the Gulf, FORTVICTORIA has stepped up to provide ahighly capable and versatile platform fromwhich to launch this focussed operation.

With an embarked boat group and Lynxaircraft, FORT VICTORIA has been amajor force and significant contributorto this mission, gaining notable success.

FORT VICTORIA's ships company hasagain gone that extra mile to supportand engage in this important operationand can be justly proud of all theirachievements.”

Ports NewsCelebrating 40 yearsof ferries fromPortsmouthInternational Port From a standing start in 1976 to aflourishing financial success story - thissummer Portsmouth International Port iscelebrating four decades of ferry travel,and of being a powerful economic enginefor the City and wider region.

40 years ago Portsmouth City Councilresponded to calls from ferry operators for afacility that would cut crossing times fromthe South Coast of England to France. Theinvestment paid off for the people ofPortsmouth - since the Port opened forbusiness on 17 June 1976 it has generatedmore than £70 million, money that is used tofund public services in the Waterfront City.

VIKING 1 first ferry out of Portsmouth 1976

Four decades since the first ferries departedfor France, Portsmouth International Porthas seen 90 million passengers, 25.5 million

passenger vehicles and 8.5 million units offreight come and go to Europe on 135,000ferry crossings.

The impressive figures highlight theimportance of Portsmouth InternationalPort, which offers a wider range of routesand services than any other UK Port. It alsoprovides a crucial economic stimulus to theCity and surrounding area. Statistics froman economic impact study by PortsmouthUniversity in 2011 showed the Port isresponsible for £38.7 million of income intothe greater Portsmouth area each year,directly supporting 805 full time (orequivalent) jobs. The study also showed that1,595 jobs are supported by activity at thePort in the greater Portsmouth economy.

Martin Putman, Port Manager, said: “From small beginnings in 1976,Portsmouth International Port has madea big impact through careful planningand investment. We are continuouslyinnovating and adapting to an everchanging maritime industry, providingan important source of jobs and incomefor the local economy.”

A busy summer schedule of events willmark the 40th anniversary of PortsmouthInternational Port. On 1 June staff, childrenand local dignitaries will gather in thepassenger terminal for the opening of adisplay that tells the story of the Port, andtakes people back to the 1970s with itemsand images from the time.

A classic Mini will be parked inside themodern terminal. The car demonstrates justhow much has changed for family travelsince 1976.

On 8 June invited guests will attend a lunchon board Brittany Ferries BRETAGNE. Theferry operator was heavily involved with theconception of Portsmouth InternationalPort. This summer it is celebrating 30 yearsof its service to Caen, the most popularroute from Portsmouth to France.

All 5 berths in use in today’s port

Throughout June GCSE students from localschools will visit the Port for interactivelessons, delivered by staff and students fromHighbury College. The sessions will focus onthe impact and importance of the ferry

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business over the last 40 years, and changesto family holidays since PortsmouthInternational Port opened in 1976.

On 17 June staff at PortsmouthInternational Port will come together tomark the day 40 years ago that the firstferry sailed to France - a chance toreminisce. The display will remain in thestunning steel and glass terminal for thesummer season, for passengers and visitorsto enjoy.

Transport Ministervisits Liverpool2developmentTransport Minister, Andrew Jones MP, visitedthe Port of Liverpool on 16 May 2016 toview the latest developments at Liverpool2as the terminal approaches its opening.

The minister, who has responsibility for thestrategic roads network and ports, receiveda tour of the site during a visit to the cityto discuss prospective improvements to themajor A5036 corridor used by haulierscalling at the Port of Liverpool.

Mr Jones said:“The container shipping industry plays avital role in the UK’s economy, whetherputting goods on shop shelves or inhelping UK businesses to manufactureand export their products. It is also vitalto job creation and skills development inthe region.

We will do everything possible tosupport the continued growth that isessential to our economic performanceand international competitiveness.That’s why we have committed £13bn tocreating a more efficient and integratedtransport network across the north.”

Transport Minister Andrew Jones withWarren Marshall, Group Planning Directorat Peel Ports, overlooking the port

Warren Marshall, Group Planning Directorof Peel Ports, said:

“The UK also under-uses short-seashipping, coastal and inland waterwayfreight services, a sector in which PeelPorts is a leader, especially with theManchester Ship Canal. There aresignificant opportunities for costefficiencies and environmental savingsand we are supporting the FreightTransport Association in encouragingshippers to look at these options.

The government has shown a stronginterest in Liverpool2 throughout thedevelopment, recognising itsimportance as a key cargo gateway ina competitive global environment. Wewere honoured to receive a visit fromthe Minister to show him how we areadding to the UK’s tradinginfrastructure through our investmentand contributing to the government’sNorthern Powerhouse initiative.

We also welcome his support forimprovements to the transport networkthat will help ensure the local economycan continue to benefit from the port inthe decades to come.”

Liverpool2 is to have a phased opening,with marine trials beginning soon and otherelements of the semi-automated terminalcoming online throughout Q2 of 2016.

Maersk welcomedback to Liverpool Peel Ports celebrated the return of Maerskto the Port of Liverpool with a formalwelcome reception for its feeder vessel, the1,100 TEU ANTWERP. The event on 27 April2016 was attended by Seago and Maerskrepresentatives along with the customers,and was followed by a port tour, includinga trip to the top of the 90m (300ft) GrainTower affording views over the whole site.

Operator Seago is the latest carrier tointroduce a new service via Liverpool andwill provide a new cargo route betweenAlgeciras-Liverpool-Dublin. The feederservice will further strengthen Liverpool2’sIrish Sea Hub offering and establish directcargo connections to and from the north-west of England to Ireland and onwards tothe Mediterranean, providing trade links toNorth and West Africa. The new service willoffer 6 day’s transit time between Algecirasand Liverpool, with vessels arriving anddeparting on Wednesdays.

Patrick Walters, Commercial Director at PeelPorts, said:

“This is a significant step in the

transformation taking place at the Portof Liverpool. Seago is one of several newservices that we have secured already in2016. Along with the progress atLiverpool2, the imminent opening of thePort Salford national import centre, andthe backing we’ve received from cargoowners joining our Cargo200 initiative,there is a real sense of momentumabout the North West.

Supply chain providers, and theircustomers, are all looking for ways toreduce costs, congestion and carbonemissions. The interest we’re gettingfrom the industry clearly indicates thatthey are increasingly looking atLiverpool as the place to be.”

Seago Line General Manager for UK &Ireland, Robert Clegg said:

“We were very pleased to host this eventto celebrate the new ANTWERP service andappreciate the warm hospitality shown byPeel Ports. The views of the Port, includingthe Liverpool2 development, plus much ofthe city are exceptional from the top ofthe Grain Tower.

We are thrilled to offer this newconnection to Liverpool and expand ourproduct portfolio for markets in the UKand Ireland. With competitive transittimes and convenient berthing windows,we are well placed to serve customerswho seek new opportunities through thisMediterranean connection. Furthermore,our customers located in the Liverpoolhinterland can now access SouthEuropean and North African marketswith Seago Line as a complementaryaddition to our existing offer.”

Brian Godsafe, Managing Director atMaersk Line UK & Ireland added:

“This service is a positive addition toour current portfolio. The Irish Seafeeder offers flexibility to customers inthe Liverpool area and the wider north-west region.”

This is the first time that the MaerskGroup Company has used Liverpool for UK

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cargoes in over 10 years and will beMaersk Group’s first ever directconnection to the Irish capital.

Earlier this year WEC Lines, which is ownedby MSC, introduced a number of newservices to the Port of Liverpool, and X-PRESS, the world’s largest independentcommon carrier of containers, has alsolaunched a new service via the city.

ABP on the lookoutfor next MarineOperations and PilotApprentices Associated British Ports (ABP) is recruitingfor its 2016 intake of marine operationsand pilot apprentices.

The Apprenticeship schemes, which are theonly ones of their kind in the country, arebased around the National OccupationalStandards and designed to give thoseinterested in working in a marineenvironment the opportunity to learnabout shipping and port operations, whileworking for the UK’s leading port operator.

The schemes were developed by ABPMarine Training Manager Martin Goughwhen he identified a need to bring youngpeople into the industry and train them toa high standard. He says:

“It’s essential that we have robustsuccession planning in place and part ofthat process means we need very high-calibre young people coming into thebusiness to ensure it continues tooperate to the highest marine standards.

The course is designed to give hands-ontraining in all aspects of our port’smarine operations and offers excitingcareer opportunities, which can lead tothe highest levels within the operationalteams that control shipping movementsat ABP’s 21 ports.”

The company currently employs 16 marineand pilot apprentices, four of which wereappointed in 2012 and are now embarkingon their first professional roles.

Southampton tobecome the officialhome of RoyalCaribbeanInternational As Royal Caribbean’s latest, and the world’slargest, ship - HARMONY OF THE SEAS -arrives into Southampton, the global cruiseline’s Strategic Operation Officer, Mike Jones,Managing Director of UK and Ireland, StuartLeven, announced a seven-year deal withthe port of Southampton, worth £200million to the local economy, at the officialPlaques and Keys ceremony onboard theship.

The deal secures Southampton’s City CruiseTerminal as the official UK home of RoyalCaribbean International and secures £5.5million’s worth of investment from theholiday company. The investment has so farenabled Associated British Ports (ABP),owner and operator of the Southamptonport, to prepare the terminal for a newgeneration of ships heralded by the arrivalof the latest addition to Royal Caribbean’s25-strong-fleet.

The improvements made to the terminalhave been designed to enhance theembarkation experiences for bothpassenger and crew. New paperless check-in for passengers and a kerb-to-gangwayprocessing of only 10 minutes makes it thefastest route from home-to-internationalholiday for holidaymakers.

Other upgrades include improvement tolayout and security screening areas, freewifi throughout the terminal, step-free-access to ships up to Royal Caribbean’sQuantum Class, as well as the addition ofdigital signage and ‘wow walls’ to buildexcitement as guests check-in. New air-conditioning has been installed throughoutthe terminal and port staff will welcomeimproved logistics enabling the port tohandle up to 500 tonnes of stores.

ABP Southampton is Europe's leadingturnaround cruise port and can welcomeeven the biggest ships in the world. Thirty-seven metres longer than the Eiffel Towerand the length of four football stadiums,HARMONY OF THE SEAS is the world’slargest cruise ship at 227,000 grossregistered tonnes in weight. Such recordbreaking proportions have also necessitatedthe expansion of the port’s processing areato make City Cruise Terminal ship-shape forHARMONY OF THE SEAS and her guests.

HARMONY OF THE SEAS

Stuart Leven, Royal Caribbean’s ManagingDirector of UK & Ireland said of the deal:

“Each year, more than 1.5 millionholidaymakers either start or end theircruise holidays in Southampton, makingthe port Europe’s largest cruise ship hub.Such a busy passenger hub deservesbest-in-class facilities and at RoyalCaribbean we are constantly looking forways to improve the passengerexperience. I want our passengers’extraordinary adventure to begin themoment they arrive at the Port, beforethey even step on board the ship.

The investment Royal Caribbean hasmade into the Port is good news for ourpassengers and good news forSouthampton’s economy.”

ABP Southampton Director, Alastair Welch,said:

“We are delighted to confirm that theport of Southampton will be the officialUK home of Royal Caribbean until 2023.This deal will secure the port’sreputation as the UK’s number one andleading European turnaround port longinto the future. Equally, it is great newsfor the UK economy, and the landmarkdeal can only increase the significantcontribution cruise makes to the 15,000jobs and £1bn economic contribution ofthe port.”

The announcement was made at thetraditional Plaques and Keys ceremony infront of Nick Farthing, SouthamptonChamber of Commerce, as well localbusiness leaders including ABP’s CEO JamesCooper. In by-gone days the keys of thecity would be given to the Captain; today,however, Mr Farthing gave HARMONY OFTHE SEAS captain, Gus Andersson, a plaquecontaining the city’s coat of arms.

In return, the ship gave Mr Farthing and MrCooper, a print of Stephen Wiltshire’sartwork commissioned specifically forHARMONY OF THE SEAS. Currentlydisplayed on board, Stephen’s artwork wascreated entirely from memory yet perfectlycaptures the coastal cities of Barcelona,Palma de Mallorca and Marseille, three ofthe locations guests will experience when

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sailing on HARMONY OF THE SEAS aftershe sets sail on her inaugural voyage on the5th June from Barcelona.

Alastair Welch, Mike Jones, James Cooperand Gus Andersson

2015 Cruise seasonsets sail from Harwich Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ 929-guest ship,BRAEMAR, kicked-off another busy cruiseseason at Harwich International Port onSaturday 4 April. The seven-night EasterCity Getaway cruise is the first of fivecruises being offered by Fred. Olsen fromthe Essex port this year.

In addition, 2015 sees the return of HollandAmerica Line for 15 cruises from the portas well as regular calls by Royal Caribbean,Voyages of Discovery, Transocean Tours andCosta Cruises.

Commenting on the start of the season,Mark Seaman, Finance Director ofHutchison Ports (UK) Limited, owners ofHarwich International Port, said:

“Harwich International Port is firmlyestablished as one of the UK’s leadingcruise ports. With a railway station onsite, convenient parking adjacent to theterminal and within easy reach of millionsof consumers, it has numerous attractionsfor both passengers and vessel operators.Although many operators choose to startand finish cruises at Harwich, theproximity to London, Cambridge andConstable Country has also made itattractive as a transit port for cruisesbeginning elsewhere.”

Nathan Philpot, Sales and Marketing

Director for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, added:

“Braemar’s cruise season from Harwichbuilds upon Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’already-close relationship with thisconvenient, regional port. Braemarenjoyed a successful cruise season fromhere for the first time last year, which iswhy we have increased our cruise callsfrom three to five for 2015.”

Harwich International Port has investedheavily in its cruise facilities. As well as amodern cruise building, the port is able toberth ships over 300 metres long and has astate-of-the-art air-conditioned passengerboarding bridge.

Thames marinetraining and skills tobe stepped-upMarine training on the River Thames is toreceive a major boost with the launch of anew skills organisation that will supportcrew training and development on the UK’sbusiest waterway.

The Thames Skills Academy (TSA) is a new,employer-led organisation that will providemarine and ports operations training,development, and support a coherent careerpath for people starting their working life onthe Thames. The initiative supported by thePort of London Authority (PLA), Transport forLondon, Tideway (who are delivering theThames Tideway Tunnel) and the Company ofWatermen & Lightermen, will facilitate andbroker training, including marineapprenticeships, on behalf of employers.

The development is essential, with the PLA’sThames Vision project showing use of theriver is set to increase markedly over thenext two decades for travel, moving freightand supporting major construction projects.The Vision forecasts that the number ofpassenger trips will double to 20 million,and freight moved between terminals onthe Thames will rise rapidly back to the2014 peak of over five million tonnes.

“Well-trained, skilled people are vital tomaking the most of the new opportunitieshighlighted in the Thames Vision,” said TSAchairman, Richard Everitt speaking at theTSA’s Fishmongers’ Hall launch. “A busierriver offers both the opportunity of newjobs, but also the challenge of morecomplex navigation. That’s why safety willbe a priority for the trainees accessingcourses through the TSA.”

Richard Everitt

The catalyst for the creation of the TSA hasbeen an increasing skills gap coupled withgrowing river use, and generous and timelysupport from Tideway. Tideway is the newindependent company constructing thebiggest Thames engineering project of thelast century, which will deliver a muchcleaner river and make extensive use of theThames during construction too. Work isdue to be completed by early 2024, butTideway is aiming to reduce the programmeby up to two years.

Chris Livett is chief executive of Livett’sGroup, operators of passenger boats andbarges, and has worked on the productionof films including James Bond’s Spectre onthe Thames. He said:

“The TSA will provide Thames operatorslike me with a one stop shop forpotentially all our marine and afloattraining needs. To navigate a boat onthe Thames, whether carryingpassengers or freight, you need aBoatmasters Licence with the relevantendorsements like local knowledge,towing and pushing, large passengervessel, or high speed. The TSA will helptrain the next generation ofBoatmasters Licence holders, supportingcrew and customer service staff to getthe extra skills the business needs.”

For young people coming to the river atthe start of their working lives and indeedfor experienced workers as they up-skill,the TSA will be a critical resource. It willmake sure river workers are equipped tosupport and contribute directly to thegrowth in River use.

Andy Mitchell, CEO, Tideway said:“The TSA is key to our goal ofreconnecting London and Londoners withthe River Thames. By working withemployers in the design and delivery of

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river training, we can continue to developa highly skilled workforce on the Thames.This will also ensure the professionalismand competence of employees workingon the river is recognised throughaccredited training programmes deliveredby high quality training providers thatmeet employer’s needs.

It is also central to allowing our industryto achieve transformational health andsafety standards and giving thoseworking on the river the bestopportunity to capitalise on areinvigorated river economy, spurred onby our work and future projects.”

The PLA is one of the founding members ofthe TSA, providing financial and in-kindsupport. Chief harbour master Bob Bakersays:

“The river will play an important role inaddressing the transport challengesfaced by a growing London. It’s a marinesuperhighway which can unlock thecongestion on the roads and help loweremissions too. We can only realise thatpotential with the well trained peoplethat the TSA will help to create. Onething I’m really excited about is the TSA’splans to establish the first formal inlandwaterways deckhand qualification. Thisis vital as it will act as a stepping stoneto the Boatmasters Licence.”

Hard to stomach:Sculpture highlightsenvironmentaldamage done byThames litterA multi-coloured work of art made entirelyfrom litter is highlighting the shockinglevels of dumped plastic in London’s river.

Michelle Reader’s A Bellyful of Plastic wasmade using rubbish collected on the RiverThames. It was created after expertsrevealed that stunning numbers of fishliving there have plastic in their gut.

A bellyfull of plastic

The work is part of the Cleaner ThamesCampaign, launched by the Port of LondonAuthority (PLA), Thames 21, Tideway andTotally Thames launched last year followingresearch done by experts at Royal Holloway,University of London. It showed that threequarters of Thames flounder, a bottom-feeding fish, had consumed plastic. Morethan a fifth of smelt that were studied alsoconsumed plastic.

Michelle used litter collected by the PLA onthe 95-mile stretch of the tidal Thamesthat it looks after and a Thames 21foreshore clean up in Grays. The sculpture,which shows a shoal of smelt, includescontainers, bottles, shoes and even hats.

Artist Michelle Reader said: “It was both fascinating and a littledisturbing to see the variety of materialthat collects in the water and on theforeshore. I was surprised by the sheernumber of balls, discarded cotton budsand other items.

It was an interesting challenge to turn itinto something visually appealing,something that would tell a story in away that could capture people’simagination. I wanted to make peoplethink about what happens to theirwaste, by drawing them in to take acloser look.”

PLA environment manager Tanya Ferryrevealed that the authority collects 300tonnes of litter and driftwood from theThames every year, much of which is madeup of plastic materials like single useplastic bottles.

“That’s the equivalent weight of twenty-four thousand discarded water bottlesand it is probably only a small share ofthe total amount being dumped whichdamages our marine environment.

A Bellyful of plastic is a colourfulreminder of what’s being done to ourmarine environment. The amount ofwaste being dumped in the Thames issimply hard to stomach and that’s whywe’re working hard to clean it up.”

Debbie Leach, Chief Executive at Thames21,a waterways charity putting healthy riversback at the heart of community life, said:

“Plastic pollution is a very real problemin our rivers today. Because plasticdoesn’t biodegrade, it is often ingestedby wildlife mistaking it as food. Thelitter Michelle has recycled into thiscolourful artwork could not betterdemonstrate the scale to which this isan issue. Her thought-provoking piecealso reminds us how we all have a handin reducing plastic polluting our rivers.”

The Thames is home to 125 different fishspecies, 300,000 wintering birds, over 900 seals and nine sites of specialscientific interest.

The Cleaner Thames campaign wants tostop the tide of rubbish that is ending upin the Thames and is calling on people tomake sure their rubbish goes in the bin, notthe world-famous River Thames.

A Bellyful of Plastic will be visitingcampaign supporters and other sites alongthe Thames, to raise awareness of the litterproblem and encourage people to disposeof rubbish more carefully.

Flags fly at The Portof Tyne for FredOlsen Cruise LinesOn 26 May, representatives from countriesaround the world were welcomed aboardthe BALMORAL, flagship of the Fred. OlsenCruise Lines' fleet, at the Port of Tyne.

The Honorary Consuls of Belgium, Denmark,Finland, Latvia, Luxemburg, Norway, andSweden joined the Port of Tyne and Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines for a VIP visit and weregiven the opportunity to tour the ship andhear more about the wide range of cruisedestinations available direct from the Portof Tyne.

Nigel Westwood, Royal Norwegian Consul,said:

"Consuls regularly assist citizens of theConsulate's own country, and animportant part of that is facilitatingtrade and travel between differentnations and tour operators.

It was very refreshing to be able to hearhow Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines plan toexpand and grow their cruises throughthe Port of Tyne International PassengerTerminal. It is also of particular interestto me to learn more about theNorwegian history and heritage of thiscruise line and its long-established linkswith the Tyneside region."

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Since affirming its commitment to guests inNorth East England - by making Port of Tynethe homeport for the elegant BALMORAL in2016 - Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines have alsoannounced an exciting programme of 13sailings from Tyneside in 2017, including afive-night ‘Norwegian Fjords' cruise, an 11-night ‘Swedish Waterways' holiday and a15-night ‘Authentic Andalusia' adventure,taking in seven sunshine ports in Spain,Portugal and Gibraltar.

Nathan Philpot, Sales and MarketingDirector for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, said:

"Welcoming the Honorary Consuls onboard BALMORAL provided the perfectopportunity to set out our vision for ourflagship's inaugural cruise season fromthe Port of Tyne. Fred. Olsen is renownedfor giving our guests a very differentkind of ‘experiential' cruise holiday, andit has been very beneficial to be able toexplain our concept of ‘Bringing theworld closer to you!' to such aninfluential international audience."

Andrew Moffat, Chief Executive Officer forPort of Tyne, said:

"Helping to create a vibrate Port of Tyneinvolves working closely with ourcustomers and stakeholders.

It was a great opportunity for theConsuls to discover more about theoperation of our international gatewayfor cruise and ferries and how we aregrowing the tourism business throughincreased cruise calls."

The Port of Tyne expects a record 42 cruisecalls during 2016.

FeaturesJotting MonthlyGlyn L Evans

The Menai StraitMy article for the HCMM Journal, Issue3/2014, under the title They also serve…tells the story of Gwilym Pari Huws, aprivate in the Royal Army Medical Corps,who, in 1918, survived the sinking bytorpedo of HM Hospital Ship WARILDA.During my research for the article on thisgentleman, I had the pleasure of meetinghis granddaughter, Siân Pari Huws, adistinguished freelance producer andbroadcaster, working mainly in her nativeWelsh language with BBC Radio Wales.

At a lunch we shared in HQS Wellington’swardroom, Siân gave me a copy of thetelegram (which was reproduced in thearticle), sent by her Taid (grandfather)

Gwilym to his parents in Dolgellau, with thenews of his survival. Siân also presented mewith a copy of a book The Menai Strait (YFenai in Welsh) written by her father GwynPari Huws, with photographs by his friend,Terry Beggs. Once having read the book Idecided to review it for readers of theJournal, and so began a personal journeyduring which the book moved from centrestage to become merely the catalyst thatbrought the main characters to the fore.

But first, the book. Published in both aWelsh and an English edition in 2003 byGomer Press of Llandysul, Ceredigion, it isnow, sadly, out of print. However, copiesmay still be found on book-searchwebsites; I bought one recently for under£10 including post and packing. The MenaiStrait is the stretch of water that separatesthe island of Anglesey (Ynys Môn) from theUK mainland for a length of aroundeighteen miles along the coast of Gwynedd,west to east from Caernarfon toPenmaenmawr. In this direction, the booktakes the reader on a journey along theStrait, at times literally at sea level thanksto the stunning photographs taken by TerryBeggs from his kayak. Other photographsshow views from Gwyn Pari Huws’ boatGlaslyn, and from the 125-mile coastalpath around Anglesey.

Menai Strait book cover

The book combines a history lesson withhydrographic and geographic details, floraand fauna to be found, castles to beexplored, bridges to be crossed and severalpubs, (two coincidentally named LiverpoolArms) to be visited. For former Conwaycadets, whether in the old ship herself,(wrecked 1953) or later in the shoreestablishment at Plas Newydd (closed 1974)the book is a veritable trip down memorylane. So too for former Indefatigable cadetswhose shore-based training establishmentat Plas Llanfair, one-time home of AdmiralLord Clarence Paget, closed in 1995. Forother readers it will be a voyage ofexploration and discovery, a stimulantperhaps to visit the Menai Strait and sampleat first hand its delights, so beautifullydescribed and illustrated in the book.

For navigators, the Menai Strait presentsseveral challenges not normally found inother coastal waters, the main one beingthe Swellies, that area of water betweenthe Britannia Road & Rail Bridge (builtRobert Stephenson 1850) and the MenaiSuspension Bridge (built Thomas Telford1826.) The hazards are fully described onp.52, together with a reproduction of therelevant part of Admiralty Chart 1464(Chart 4) and followed on p.55 by adelightful hand-drawn diagram to explainthe monthly tidal variations.

A second challenge to the unwarynavigator is the Change buoy, yellow overblack surmounted by two inverted blackcones, one on top of the other. At a pointin the Strait, opposite Caernarfon, theChange buoy marks where vesselsproceeding seaward from Bangor pastCaernarfon, should change the discipline ofkeeping green buoys to starboard and havethem instead on their port side. This isillustrated so well on p.27 in another hand-drawn chart; even a landlubber could notfail to understand the system.

Change Buoy

A third challenge, at the eastern entranceto the Strait, is described in some detail.Here, between Puffin Island and the pointof land on Anglesey’s shore at Trwyn Du,marked by its eponymous lighthouse, thenavigator, with the help of the relevantAdmiralty chart, the red perch rock and thecharacteristics of the lighthouse(abbreviated as Fl 5 s. 19m 15M Bell (1)30s) may make a safe passage. A finalwarning is painted in large letters on thelighthouse itself, NO PASSAGE LANDWARD.Despite these hazards, the Menai Strait is amagnet for the owners of sailing boats andpleasure craft as evidenced by the existenceof at least four sailing clubs, the Plas MenaiRYA Sailing School and, for repair and lay-up, Dickie’s Boatyard at Bangor.

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Trwyn Du lighthouse

The book charts a spectacular journey inwords and pictures along one of Wales’most spectacular coastlines, grantingdiverse and diverting views on either side, achance to stand and stare in awe at thenatural beauty of the area while, at thesame time, absorbing fascinating details ofthe human and maritime forces that haveformed its character and landscape.

Even if you are an armchair sailor, you willenjoy following the course of the unique andwonderful waterway that is the Menai Strait.But what of the book’s author, Gwyn PariHuws, and its photographer, Terry Beggs?

Captain Terry BeggsIn 1953, after HMS Conway failed to safelytransit the Swellies, resulting in her totalloss, Terry Beggs joined the first term inConway’s shore establishment at PlasNewedd on the Menai Strait, leaving in1955 as Senior Cadet Captain. This wasfollowed by a month at the OutwardBound Sea School, Aberdovey, beforeundertaking basic naval training as aMidshipman RNR in HM Submarine DepotShip Maidstone.

Conway aground

Off to sea in November 1955 asmidshipman/apprentice in Alfred Holt’sBlue Funnel Line ship Troilus, followed by a

further six Blue Flues, Terry Beggscompleted his indentures in June 1958 andwas awarded his Second Mate’s Certificate.After serving as Fourth Officer on the FarEast run in four different ships with thesame Company, he was awarded his FirstMate’s Certificate. One year later, as SubLieutenant Beggs, Terry Beggs undertook afour-month course at various shore-basedRoyal Navy training establishments beforere-joining Alfred Holt to complete eight FarEast and Australia voyages, culminating inpromotion to Second Officer in BlueFunnel’s Helenus.

Terry Beggs came ashore for a three-yearcollege course to study for his Master’s andExtra Master’s Certificates. He recollects:

“In the middle of this, their Lordships inthe Admiralty insisted that I report forfurther RNR training without delay. I wasActing Lieutenant at this stage and hadevery intention of continuing but, with amortgage, a wife and two small children tosupport, I simply could not afford to take abreak from my studies which had reacheda critical stage. I explained all this to theirLordships to no avail. They proceeded toserve me with an ultimatum and, havingno option, I resigned my commission,something I always regret.”

Finally swallowing the anchor, Terry Beggstook up a post as junior lecturer atRiversdale College, Liverpool, for shippingcompany cadets, followed by the post ofsenior lecturer at Liverpool Polytechnic forMerchant Navy officers up to BSc MaritimeStudies level. Taking a Sabbatical Year in1973, he was awarded his MSc MarineGeotechnics through Bangor University’sMarine Science Labs at college and aboardthe research vessel Prince Madog.

Prince Madog

By 1977 the two great shipping companiesof Alfred Holt and Elder Dempster hadmerged to form Ocean Fleets with TerryBeggs firstly as Principal of their TrainingEstablishment, then Marine TrainingManager for all the Company’s sea-goingpersonnel. However, by the end of 1986,the continuing contraction of thatCompany saw the closure of their TrainingEstablishment and thus ended Terry Beggs’long association with Alfred Holt & Co.

It was not long before he was once againputting his skills in nautical education togood effect with an appointment in January1987 to Captain/Headmaster of Indefatigable,the nautical boarding school on the MenaiStrait for 150 boys aged from 13 to 17.However as is well-known to members of theHCMM and well-documented elsewhere, theslow decline of sea-going opportunities wasgathered pace at that time and thus, threeyears later, closure of that establishmentbecame inevitable.

How does someone with an extra Master’sCertificate and so much experience fill tenyears before finally taking retirement? InTerry Beggs’ case it was back to sea as Matewith the James Fisher fleet of coastaltankers and dry cargo vessels for twelvemonths before his appointment as theCompany’s Liverpool based TrainingManager. Since retirement in July 2000, hehas kept busy with a variety of intereststhat include Trustee of Caernarfon Harbour,photography (he has another book to hisname, All Around Anglesey) geology,furniture making, sailing on the MenaiStrait and, when the wind drops and thesun shines, driving around in his sportyMGB GT, vintage 1974.

Captain Gwyn Denman Pari Huws(1929 – 2003)

Gwyn Pari Huws

With good marks in both English and WelshLanguage, and a top of the class inHandicraft, Gwyn Pari Huws left AbergeleCounty School to join HMS Conway as acadet in January 1944. At that time the shipwas moored off Bangor Pier in the MenaiStrait following her move there, for safety

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reasons, from the River Mersey in 1941. Hiscadet reports show “exceptional” ratings inmany subjects, the pinnacle being hiswinning of the MacIver Prize, a barometer.

Leaving Conway, Gwyn Pari Huws becamean indentured apprentice with the shippingcompany, T & J Brocklebank, joining hisfirst ship Malakand in November, 1945 atTilbury Docks for her regular Calcutta run.Due to heavy losses of Merchant Navyofficers during World War II, promotion atthis time could be rapid and this was onefactor that enabled Gwyn, aged just 19, toserve aboard Mashud as Third Mate on atemporary Second Mate’s ticket. 1950 sawhim serving as Third Mate on Alfred Holt’sGlenorchy, then one year later as Third,then Second Mate with Elder Dempsteraboard Cochrane. In 1953, having gainedhis Master’s ticket, he sailed aboardChandler as Mate.

Gwyn Pari Huws took a spell ashore inLiverpool to study for his Extra Master’sCertificate which he obtained in 1955 agedonly 26, before returning to sea as Mate onEbani (Captain Paddy Ralston.) Gwyn PariHuws married Eira Evans in April 1957,then spent a short spell on the Tamele asMate before moving for a fourteen-monthshore appointment in Lagos as ElderDempster’s Marine Traffic Manager. At theend of 1958 it was back to sea again asChief Officer in Apapa, one of ElderDempster’s three mail ships. A brief spell inDegema, sadly as replacement for her Matewho was lost at sea in heavy weather, anda coasting voyage in Perang before comingashore again, this time at Liverpool as ElderDempster’s Assistant MarineSuperintendent, coinciding with a move tolive on the Wirral.

Apapa by Charles Hill

The need to serve as Master for a shortwhile saw him appointed in fairly quicksuccession to Ebani for West Africa,Forcados for West African creeks-to-portswork and Salagar for the return voyage toLiverpool. Still with Elder Dempster,advancement in shore appointments camein the form of Deputy MarineSuperintendent, Chief MarineSuperintendent and, following the merger

of that Company with Alfred Holt &Company in 1965, as MarineSuperintendent (Methods and Operations)of Ocean Transport and Trading, helping tosteer the Company into new operations,principally containerisation. A significantnew development for Gwyn Pari Huws tooversee in 1971 as Marine OperationsManager, Tankers and Bulkers, was theCompany move into such vessels which, forhim, involved numerous trips to Swedenand Japan where three major ships werebeing built, namely the tankers Titan andTantalus and the bulk carrier Troilus.

Six years later, in 1978 with Ocean Groupmoving away from tankers and bulkers,Gwyn Pari Huws was appointed Director ofOcean Fleets with special responsibility forthe marketing and commercial operation ofship management for non-Group customers.However, in 1984, with a Group restructureas Ocean began a rapid withdrawal fromshipping, he took the opportunity to acceptearly retirement when he and his wifemoved to Caernarfon.

In the twelve years 1972 to 1984, he servedon the Liverpool Pilotage Committee, for thelast eight of which he was the ship owners’representative on that body, his favouriteday in each of those years being the annualpilotage inspection, normally a fine weatherevent. The preservation of the retiredLiverpool pilot cutter, Edmund Gardner,Merseyside Maritime Museum’s largestexhibit, is due in no small part to his efforts.

Edmund Gardner

As with many people who have lead a busyworking life, retirement at 55 soon becamea full-time job with Gwyn Pari Huwsthrowing himself into all those leisureinterests upon which work had so rudelyintruded; painting and drawing, sailing hisboat Glaslyn in the Menai Strait andteaching a growing band of grandchildrenthe rudiments of seamanship. He made aconsiderable contribution to the NationalGalleries & Museums of Wales and wasinvolved with the Porthmadog MaritimeMuseum and the Seiont II Maritime Trust,

being at one time chairman of the latter.Seiont II was a retired steam-powered grabdredger-cum-buoy layer which came inuseful under its Master, Captain Gwyn PariHuws, in the successful operation to recover,from the banks of the Menai Strait, thesecond anchor of HMS Conway. His keenbusiness brain ensured he was in demand asa member of the Caernarfon Harbour Trustand Chairman of the Caernarfon TownWalled Development Trust.

Recovering Conway’s anchor

His experiences at sea saw him lecture onmany subjects, mainly maritime, includingthe work of Anglesey-born hydrographer,Lewis Morris. His native Welsh and non-conformist Christian faith remained asstrong as ever, with membership of SalemChapel, Caernarfon. Indeed, it was at myWelsh Chapel in Birkenhead back in 1961that I was privileged to meet Captain GwynPari Huws.

I am most grateful to Terry Beggs for theuse of his Menai Strait photographs andpermission to raid his autobiographicnotes, and to Alun Pari Huws forpermission to plunder from his article, firstpublished in Cymru a’r Môr/MaritimeWales, about his father. This article isdedicated to the memory of Gwyn PariHuws’ daughter, Siân, who sadly died inNovember 2015, aged just 55, after a long,brave battle with breast cancer.

I will be pleased to hear from any Journalreaders who have a personal recollection ofserving with either of these two Captains,Gwyn Pari Huws and Terry Beggs.Evans19191@btinternet.com

Built by the Mile…The OCEAN, FORT,PARK and LIBERTYShips of World War IIJohn Roddis In recent months many wartime activitiesfrom both World Wars have been recalledand commemorated, including the Battle ofthe Atlantic, where the Nazis endeavoured

Features

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to cut Britain’s vital supply lines across theAtlantic and from our Empire and colonies– our essential food and materials lifelines.

At the beginning of 1940 Great Britaincould only produce enough food tosustain its population for two months ofthe year. The rest had to be imported. Thecountry needed imports from Canada, theUSA and the Empire of some million tonsa week to survive.

Hitler’s planners were aware of this andwhilst we were blockading Germany,Kreigsmarine surface commerce raiders,from pocket battleships like Graf Spee,smaller warships, Armed Merchant Cruisersplus a growing number of U-boats andmines were making decisive inroads on ourmerchant fleet.

The 1930 London Naval Treaty hadrestricted warship and Fleet sizes andconstruction on both sides. Germany couldonly retain a submarine fleet numericallyhalf that of the Royal Navy. This wasignored in Germany a few years later andby 1938 the U-boat building programmewent ahead apace, albeit clandestinely asimproved boats came off the slips.

The attempted blockade of Britain startedon Day One of WW2 when a significantnumber of German commerce raiders andU-boats were already at sea. The firstBritish casualty was the sinking of theunarmed passenger liner ATHENIA by a U-boat. The ship was in her peacetime roleand a great loss of life suffered. In the earlystages of the war the Kreigsmarine surfacecommerce raiders were responsible for themajority of our losses. Up to the end of1940 nearly 1300 ships had been sunk.

After France fell in May 1940, Hitler’s planto destroy the RAF and invade Britain wasclobbered by the RAF during the Battle ofBritain and Army air defences but thehorrendous losses of ships, men and vitalmaterials continued unabated until late1943 when new measures turned the tideagainst the U-boat menace.

The convoy system had been introducedfrom the outset, but with limited resources.Over the years it became even moreeffective as Merchant Aircraft Carriers, longrange “Liberator” bombers, moresophisticated Radar, both ship and airborne,closed the mid-Atlantic “Air Gap”. Inaddition, improved depth chargetechnology and more escort warshipsappeared in the Battle of the Atlantic.

In truth, many of the early ship losses wereof older ships from the balmy days beforethe Depression of the 1930’s when six toeight knots were adequate for their trade. A

few such ships spent the Depressionbeached on sheltered sandbanks around theBritish coast, the Bristol Channel being oneexample, their crews paid off and only theCaptain retained, and paid as, Watchman.

By 1940 it became clear to the BritishGovernment and Ministry of War Transportthat such unsustainable losses would haveto be replaced, rapidly. British shipyardswere devoid of much space for expansion –mainly because of surrounding housingdevelopment, mainly for the yards’ workersand their families - encroached upon anyspare land that could have been so used. Inone case, at Wallsend Slipway, housing forthe shipyard workers lined the Drydock! Inany case warship production had beengiven an early priority and British yardswere already nearly up to capacity.

Elsewhere within Britain, suitabledevelopment space with deep wateradjacent and within easy reach of sourcesof ship-building materials, not to mentionskilled labour, was rare if non-existent.

The Government turned to Canada and theUnited States for help. At the time the USAwas governed by the Neutrality Acts and byinternational law could not give or lend warmaterial to foreign countries. However, theAnglo-French Purchasing Board (AFPB) hadbeen set up in New York before the war tobuy the military aircraft for both countriesneeded to supplement their own production.At the French surrender in 1940 the AFPBevolved into the British Direct PurchaseCommission, which expanded the Britishorders and taking on those of the French.

There was no altruistic sentiment behind thedeal - it was pure business to the Americans.

The British Gold Reserves were used for thepurchases and a remit to acquirereplacement Merchant ships was added toaircraft purchases. When the USA enteredthe war in 1942 the acquisition of shipsand war material then came under theLend Lease scheme, still paid for by theBritish Government. Nothing was given andit was only in recent years that the LendLease debt was finally paid off.

SS SAINT EDMUND (formerly OCEAN VISTA)from the Sydney Harbour Bridge (1954) -(Lying alongside the Corporation TramDepot - now site of the Opera House)

Sixty ships, to a British design, were to bebuilt in the USA on specially constructedslipways, paid for by Britain. Thirty of theships were built in Richmond, Californiaand thirty in South Portland, Maine. Theships were to be of the EMPIRE LIBERTYdesign, flush weather deck, nominally:Deadweight 10,500 tons; Gross 7174 tons;Length 416 feet (127M); Beam: 57 feet(17M); Speed 11 knots and powered by asteam triple expansion steam engine. Dueto easy access to coal in Britain the twoScotch boilers were to be coal fired. Alarger ship than usual at the time, thedesign was based on the ‘Three Tens’(10,000 tons at 10 knots on 10 tons of fueloil per day) - the J.L.Thompson ofSunderland ‘Doxford Economy’ Hull of1932. Additional ships to the same designwere built in Canada. These became theFORT and PARK ships.

The ships’ names of all sixty ships wereprefixed OCEAN. They were bought by theMinistry of War Transport and uponcompletion let out to British companies onBareboat Charter. Crews were shipped overfrom Great Britain and the Empire andinevitably the ships’ first cargoes consistedof badly-needed foodstuffs, vehicles andwar materials from American ports toprincipal British ones and their ‘satellites’,such as Cairn Ryan and Faslane, purposebuilt during the war to avoid use of portsheavily targeted by the Luftwaffe.

In parallel the US Maritime Commission hadCanadian yards built ships of similar design.Their names were prefixed by either FORT orPARK. Meanwhile, the US had acquired theEMPIRE LIBERTY design to build in eighteenyards throughout their country. Althoughthe hull and engine was identical, thesuperstructure arrangements were combinedin one house built over the engine room,more suited to US accommodation andoperating considerations.

Whereas the OCEAN ships were designed tobe coal-burning for British operators, theLIBERTY ships were fitted with oil-firedboilers to take advantage of the vast oilreserves then present in the USA. All werefitted with defensive armament, mainlyBofors guns, manned by the Defence ofMerchant Shipping (DEMS) gunnery teams.

OCEAN ships were lighter than their all-riveted DOXFORD antecedents. On OCEANships, the plating was all-welded butts andlandings riveted to the frames, which madethem lighter by comparison, whereasLIBERTY ships were of all-weldedconstruction which was innovative for thetimes. In service, cracks appeared in heavyweather, often with disastrous results. The

Obituary

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cause for these was often blamed onquickly-trained unskilled welders, oftenfemale, recruited and trained to cope withthe vast amount of extra work theprogramme demanded. This wasparticularly the case in the United Stateswhere the 2,710 Liberty ships were built ineighteen different yards in record time.

The ship in which I served myApprenticeship and served for a total ofeight years was SAINT EDMUND formerlyOCEAN VISTA, which, in heavy weather,developed a crack from a square corner ofNo. 4 hatch, across the deck and for aboutten feet down the side, evidently checkedby the tween deck margin. It seems thatthis was a common occurrence in similarwelded ships, the crack developing alongand a quarter of an inch off a weld.

EMPIRE JUBILEE - A Standard Empire CargoShip adapted with Fighter Aircraft &Launch Ramp. These were used for one-offanti-aircraft defence of World War IIconvoys. Officially known as a CAM(Catapult Aircraft Merchant ship) and astop-gap measure until sufficient EscortCarriers became available. It was rare thatthe aircraft was recovered but its pilot wasalways rescued! The author served onSAINT GREGORY (ex-EMPIRE HEYWOOD)1956-1958, which was of similar designand built by Caledon Shipyard, Dundee.

Over two thousand LIBERTY ships werebuilt in many yards across the USA, mainlyby the Kaiser Corporation. In one of theiryards a show hull was completed, theaccommodation block, fully wired,plumbed and furnished (bunks made(!))was lowered and welded into position andthe ship launched within a day. Such isAmerican showmanship.

Nevertheless, these mass-produced ships ofall classes took to the water and made ahuge contribution to the war effort, whilstafter hostilities many were sold to Italianand Greek entrepreneurs to found thefleets and make fortunes for Achille Lauroand Stavros Niarchos to name but two.

Seventeen of these ships were lost due toenemy action and the remainder went onto provide much useful service in the post-war recovery period for many years. Manywere scrapped in the 1960s, none in the

service of their original managers and thefinal one, OCEAN MERCHANT (Chinese SSZHAN DOU 26) lasted until 1992.In parallel, wartime construction not onlyincluded the LIBERTY ships, the FORTS andPARKS but the EMPIRE ships of similardesign. Apart from captured enemy shipsrenamed with the EMPIRE prefix, any sparecapacity found in British yards producednew EMPIRE cargo ships. Similar in size andspecifications to the OCEAN ships, thesewere distinguished by their raised forecastleand riveted construction. Here again, manylasted well into the 1960s which alsomarked the knell of the British trampsteamer – but that’s another yarn!

ObituaryCaptain Sir Miles Wingate KCVO FNICaptain Sir Miles Wingate, KCVO, FNI, diedon 2 May 2016, aged 92. He was Deputy Master and Chairman ofthe Board of Trinity House London from1976 to 1988 and was a former Treasurerof IALA.He was born in Wallasey, Cheshire, andeducated at Taunton Grammar School,Southampton and Prior Park College,Somerset. Always keen on making a careerat sea he joined the Royal Mail Lines Limitedas an apprentice in June 1939 and servedwith that company until he was elected tothe Board of Trinity House in 1968. He first went to sea in June 1939 in Sirisand subsequent moves with the companywere in Sabor, Nebraska, EmpireConfidence and Highland Monarchthroughout the war sailing to SouthAmerica, the West Indies, the US, India andAustralia. In the Mediterranean theatre hetook part in the Allied landings in NorthAfrica, Sicily and Salerno. He subsequentlyserved in the Far East theatre of operationsuntil the end of the war.

As he had already decided before the warthat the sea was to be his career, the endof hostilities did not mean demobilisationand a return to life ashore.

After obtaining his Master’s Certificate in1949 he was promoted to Chief Officer in 1950and took command of his first ship in 1957

In peacetime in Highland Monarch andlater in Tweed, Magdalena, Andes, Pardo,Ebro and Darro he rose through the RoyalMail Lines ranks trading principally toSouth America, the West Indies and the US.His first command was in 1957 andsubsequently he was Master of Pardo,Araby, Escalante, Loch Garth, Andes (thecompany’s flagship), Ebro and Deseado, allof Royal Mail Lines. During his sea time healso had a year’s experience in aggregate ina shipyard standing by new tonnage.

He was elected as a Younger Brother ofTrinity House in 1963, and as an ElderBrother in 1968.

At Trinity House he first became a memberof the Pilotage Committee and in 1972 wastransferred to the Lighthouse Committeeand served there until he was elected withthe position of Deputy Master in 1976.

At IALA in 1976 he served as Treasurer andmember of the Executive Committee untilhe became Vice-President in 1980following the Conference in Tokyo andPresident in 1985 after the BrightonConference hosted by the GeneralLighthouse Authorities of the UnitedKingdom and Ireland until his retirement in1988 in which year he was grantedHonorary Personal Membership of IALA.

During his career with IALA he wasinstrumental in the worldwide acceptance ofthe IALA Maritime Buoyage System, the firstbuoys of which were established in 1977.

With regard to maritime charities herepresented Trinity House at the Seamen’sHospital Society (Vice President), the Royal

Liberty Ship SS JEREMIAH O'BRIEN (August 2010) (Image downloaded from Wikipediaunder Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, Photographer &Copyright holder: 'Godsfriendchuck')

Reviews

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Alfred Seafarers’ Society, King George’sFund for Sailors (Deputy Chairman) and theMission to Seamen.

He was a Liveryman of the HonourableCompany of Master Mariners (resigned in2009), of the Worshipful Company ofShipwrights and a Freeman of theCompany of Watermen and Lightermen ofthe River Thames. He was a Commissionerof Commonwealth War Graves Commissionand a Fellow of the Nautical Institute. Atthe RNLI he was a member of theCommittee of Management.

During his time as Deputy Master of TrinityHouse, he witnessed the implementation ofthe 1987 Pilotage Act which broughtabout the transfer of London District andoutport pilotage to individual portauthorities at the same time as TrinityHouse pilots ceased to be self-employedand became port employees.

He was created a Knight Commander ofthe Royal Victorian Order in 1982.

He is survived by his widow, Lady Alicia,and family.

Book ReviewCharting Polar SeasAdam KerrISBN-13: 978-1326573164Lulu.com

The Author, Adam Kerr joined HMS Conwayat the earliest eligible age of thirteen and ahalf years in 1947 and, after a two-yearcadetship, signed indentures in 1950 withAlfred Holt’s Blue Funnel Line on the UK-Far East run. Tiring of ploughing a pre-ordained course under seniors’ supervision,

Adam left to work for the Falkland IslandGovernment (now the British AntarcticSurvey) on Antarctic surveys and later, in acareer spanning thirty years, for theCanadian Government on Arctic surveys.During this time Adam secured his Master’sticket and was elected a member of theHonourable Company of Master Mariners.

Alfred Holts Machaon

Adam Kerr’s period of charting polar seaswas a core to a much wider activity whichinvolved the development of newnavigational technology. During his careerhe has lectured widely and written overforty papers on subjects ranging fromOceanic Cartography through Chart DesignConsiderations for the Navigators of Todayand Tomorrow and on to A WorldwideDatabase for Digital Nautical Charts.In later years Adam worked as a Director ofan international organisation that focuseson the safety and well-being of all thosewho work at sea. His parallel intereststhrough his working life, fine art,recreational fishing and sailing have beencarried on through into retirement. His artappreciation and skill has come down thefamily from his grandfather S J LamornaBirch RA, RWS, and Adam now serves asPresident of the Lamorna Society. Sailingcontinues aboard the 130-year-old 40ftCornish dipping lugger Barnabas of TheCornish Maritime Trust.

This most engaging book containing afascinating insight into what lies hiddenbeneath polar seas in regions wheretemperatures sometimes drop as low as -62degrees Centigrade.

Illustrated in black and white withexamples of various survey ships in whichAdam served (some painted by the Author)it is available via Amazon at £9.95 inclusive.

Barnabas

Glyn Evans

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