That's a lot of old ships !!

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simonineaston
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That's a lot of old ships !!

Post by simonineaston »

I remember (or at least, I think I do) steering a frigate up & down the English channel and being advised to get it right on account of all the other boats around. Those readers who have more experience of that sort of thing will recall that the wheel-house in a frigate has no windows... anyway, I was amazed to see this image of a trawler's imaging equipement recently, which gives a clue as to exactly how many wrecks there are down in Davy Jone's Locker! Yikes!! One of the wrecks has so many pollack around it that the trawler skipper refers to it as the Nat West ;-)
blimey!
blimey!
S
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Mick F
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Re: That's a lot of old ships !!

Post by Mick F »

I had a brand new Leander - HMS Achiles - as my first sea job in 1971. Wheelhouse down on 3deck across from the Radar Office.
All the rest of my ships, the helmsman could see out of the bridge windows including subsequent Leanders.

As for the wrecks, read the excellent book "Longitude" and how Harrison invented the sea-going chronometer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_(book)

The hard part was knowing where you were "left and right" though "up and down" was easy looking at the sun at noon, so approaching the Western Approaches was difficult. Many were the wrecks on Scilly and the Cornish coasts, as the ships "suddenly" found land.
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simonineaston
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Re: That's a lot of old ships !!

Post by simonineaston »

I was in the cadets at school and we went down to a training ship once a year. At the time my dad was trying to get me to join the Navy as a career - he'd been a met. officer in the Fleet Air Arm, right at the end of the war.
S
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Mike Sales
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Re: That's a lot of old ships !!

Post by Mike Sales »

In the tourist shops of North Wales you will often find a map (or a tea towel) of the ship wrecks of Anglesey and North Wales. The coast bristles with ship names. Liverpool was a very busy port.
The Royal Charter, laden with gold and returning miners from the Australian gold fields is one of the most famous. Charles Dickens went to see it.
Morbid I call it.
north-wales-shipwrecks.jpg
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
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Isn't it a blooming shame?
pwa
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Re: That's a lot of old ships !!

Post by pwa »

Mike Sales wrote: 5 Oct 2022, 8:14pm In the tourist shops of North Wales you will often find a map (or a tea towel) of the ship wrecks of Anglesey and North Wales. The coast bristles with ship names. Liverpool was a very busy port.
The Royal Charter, laden with gold and returning miners from the Australian gold fields is one of the most famous. Charles Dickens went to see it.
Morbid I call it.

north-wales-shipwrecks.jpg
It is morbid. A mile or so from here is a small church, and around the back of it is a memorial to a dozen or so seafarers whose bodies were washed ashore and buried in the churchyard after their vessel was wrecked on rocks in the Bristol Channel.
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simonineaston
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Re: That's a lot of old ships !!

Post by simonineaston »

The view of the wrecks off Lizard was taken from the programme about UK-based trawlers that's on iPlayer at the mo'. Very interesting and gives an insight into what a tough and uncertain life it can be. 4 episodes are promised.
S
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pwa
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Re: That's a lot of old ships !!

Post by pwa »

Every time I have been on a ship on the open sea I have been looking at my watch, counting down the minutes until I get off. I dislike the combination of boredom and motion sickness. I'd hate for that to be my workplace.
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Mick F
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Re: That's a lot of old ships !!

Post by Mick F »

:lol: :lol:
Boredom?

I was never bored. I had a job to do of course. Watchkeeping too. Never had chance to be bored!
HMS's Achilles, Gurkha, Ambuscade, Sirius, Marlborough, Argyll. Joined Achilles in March 1971 and left my last ship Argyll in December 1995.
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Re: That's a lot of old ships !!

Post by Ben@Forest »

pwa wrote: 6 Oct 2022, 9:03am Every time I have been on a ship on the open sea I have been looking at my watch, counting down the minutes until I get off. I dislike the combination of boredom and motion sickness. I'd hate for that to be my workplace.
On the whole l agree, and on a 29-hour ferry crossing from Bilbao to Portsmouth was looking like being no exception. However still in the Bay of Biscay and in the better quality restaurant eating steak and chips and drinking red wine (all better than average) a pod of dolphins swam alongside and was 'escorting' the ship. As a restaurant view it's possibly the best I've had and was worth 28½ hours of tedium!
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Re: That's a lot of old ships !!

Post by Mike Sales »

Much less boring on your own boat. Rather like the difference between a bus trip and a bike ride.
Most of the time you are within sight of the coast and actively managing your journey. Navigation is an interesting process, so is managing the sails. Sailing is an absorbing full time job.
When I leave harbour and feel the boat begin to surge with the motion of the sea I feel as if I am back in the saddle, and my legs are beginning to settle into that rhythm which brings happiness.
And just like cycling, the possibilty of head winds and hard weather gives relish to the sunshine and fair winds.
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
Mike Sales
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Re: That's a lot of old ships !!

Post by Mike Sales »

It has just occured to me that, though you can find maps of cyclist road casualties and of all road casualties on line, you will not find them sold for tourists, or on tea towels.
The Titanic industry is huge. There is nothing comparable about the various air liner disasters.
Why should this be?
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
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Audax67
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Re: That's a lot of old ships !!

Post by Audax67 »

Mike Sales wrote: 6 Oct 2022, 12:52pm It has just occured to me that, though you can find maps of cyclist road casualties and of all road casualties on line, you will not find them sold for tourists, or on tea towels.
The Titanic industry is huge. There is nothing comparable about the various air liner disasters.
Why should this be?
The case my school slide rule came in was made of Harland & Wolff steel of the same vintage as Titanic. I don't think H&W knew that, though.

Some years ago they were flogging off old chunks of H&W scrap at tourist prices, but my grandfather made the case when he worked there. His son and then my father used it.
Have we got time for another cuppa?
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Re: That's a lot of old ships !!

Post by Mike Sales »

Ben@Forest wrote: 6 Oct 2022, 11:45am ) a pod of dolphins swam alongside and was 'escorting' the ship. As a restaurant view it's possibly the best I've had and was worth 28½ hours of tedium!
I have often seen dolphins, much closer than from the deck of a ship.
The most memorable meeting was when three or four repeatedly swam towards the side of my boat, then ducked underneath and emerged on the other side, leaping vertically from the water.
I was heading in towards the beach (Newborough) and when we got too close they swam away. So I turned back to seaward, whereupon they returned and resumed.
They were clearly playing, and giving us a very memorable experience.
Boring?
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
briansnail
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Re: That's a lot of old ships !!

Post by briansnail »

There was a famous Naval Admiral.Michael Le Fanu (years ago).One ship was so big he used a small bike to do his rounds.
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Re: That's a lot of old ships !!

Post by briansnail »

There was a famous Naval Admiral.Michael Le Fanu (years ago).One ship was so big he used a small bike to do his rounds.
********************************************************************************
I ride Brompton and a 100% British Vintage.
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