Chris Isaac
31st December 2008, 17:21
Southampton Castle nearly came to a sticky end in about 1971.
I was second officer on her then and we were going upcoast when we arrived in East London. We were supposed to arrive at 0600 and then sail at 1800 for Durban.
All day the rain poured down so hard that no hatches could be opened. Knowing that the ship had loads of speed in reserve we stayed overnight hoping to discharge gthe next day.
Next day it poured down even harder, no cargo worked, another night in East London.
Next day it poured down even harder ! no cargo worked.
By now the normally tranquil Buffalo River was coming down at about 10 knots and and ship movement was halted, so we couldn't sail even if we wanted to. During that day the local radio station had been broadcasting that 60 miles upriver was a dam that was showing signs of giving way under the pressure of water and it was being projected that if the dam went then a wall of water about 60 ft high and a mile long would reach East London about two hours later.
The decision was made to attempt to sail. Those of you that know East London will know that the mail ship was always moored facing seaward and in a sheltered corner of the quay out of the main current.
As soon as we let go aft the current caught the stern of Southampton Castle which rapidly swung out into the river. The highly flared bow went over the quay and pushed over a dock crane which in turn demolished a train and the cargo shed (no-one hurt). As the ship drifted down stream sideways the only consolation was that the bows were pointing the right way to go full ahead out through the harbour entrance. As we got to that point double full ahead was rung and we waited for 35000 hp to be unleashed. Nothing! the engine room cooling intakes had been clogged up with the mud churned up by the current and Southampton Castle was going nowhere.
On we drifted into the grain terminal on the eastern side of the river where we moored ourselves.
At about 1800 the master (Captain Alastair Sillars, the Chief Officer Cameron Smith) and me were on the bridge when the port radio issued a warning that they had heard that the dam had broken and they were evacuating the harbour and good luck and god bless to everyone.
We were powerless and moored on the wrong side of the river to evacuate anything except our bowels.
The captain thought it would be best if the rest of the ship were not informed that were were about to meet our maker and the three of us waited nervously on the bridge exchanging infantile jokes.
About an hour later we heard a tremendous roaring noise and suddenly all the lights in East London went out, that was it the end we were going to die.
But we didn't die..... what had happened was that East London power station's cooling intakes had clogged up, just as ours had, and the pressure valves had blown, hence the noise and power cut.
An hour later the port radio came back on to inform us that the dam had not gone. The three of us wandered down to the bar to tell all and to get fortification, evryone seemed somewhat unimpressed.
The next day our brilliant first engineer (and I mean that) Peter Snadden managed to rig the engine cooling system up to the fresh water tanks and we had enough power to get out of the harbour to open sea.
We left Cape Town for Southampton 2 and a half days late but still managed to make it to Southampton on time in just 9 days via St Helena and Ascension averaging over 26 knots (caps on backwards on the bridge) a ten thousand ton ship with 35000 hp can shift when it wants to. Standing on the after deck at that speed was incredible, the after part would squat at that speed so that the sea surface would almost appear above you
I was second officer on her then and we were going upcoast when we arrived in East London. We were supposed to arrive at 0600 and then sail at 1800 for Durban.
All day the rain poured down so hard that no hatches could be opened. Knowing that the ship had loads of speed in reserve we stayed overnight hoping to discharge gthe next day.
Next day it poured down even harder, no cargo worked, another night in East London.
Next day it poured down even harder ! no cargo worked.
By now the normally tranquil Buffalo River was coming down at about 10 knots and and ship movement was halted, so we couldn't sail even if we wanted to. During that day the local radio station had been broadcasting that 60 miles upriver was a dam that was showing signs of giving way under the pressure of water and it was being projected that if the dam went then a wall of water about 60 ft high and a mile long would reach East London about two hours later.
The decision was made to attempt to sail. Those of you that know East London will know that the mail ship was always moored facing seaward and in a sheltered corner of the quay out of the main current.
As soon as we let go aft the current caught the stern of Southampton Castle which rapidly swung out into the river. The highly flared bow went over the quay and pushed over a dock crane which in turn demolished a train and the cargo shed (no-one hurt). As the ship drifted down stream sideways the only consolation was that the bows were pointing the right way to go full ahead out through the harbour entrance. As we got to that point double full ahead was rung and we waited for 35000 hp to be unleashed. Nothing! the engine room cooling intakes had been clogged up with the mud churned up by the current and Southampton Castle was going nowhere.
On we drifted into the grain terminal on the eastern side of the river where we moored ourselves.
At about 1800 the master (Captain Alastair Sillars, the Chief Officer Cameron Smith) and me were on the bridge when the port radio issued a warning that they had heard that the dam had broken and they were evacuating the harbour and good luck and god bless to everyone.
We were powerless and moored on the wrong side of the river to evacuate anything except our bowels.
The captain thought it would be best if the rest of the ship were not informed that were were about to meet our maker and the three of us waited nervously on the bridge exchanging infantile jokes.
About an hour later we heard a tremendous roaring noise and suddenly all the lights in East London went out, that was it the end we were going to die.
But we didn't die..... what had happened was that East London power station's cooling intakes had clogged up, just as ours had, and the pressure valves had blown, hence the noise and power cut.
An hour later the port radio came back on to inform us that the dam had not gone. The three of us wandered down to the bar to tell all and to get fortification, evryone seemed somewhat unimpressed.
The next day our brilliant first engineer (and I mean that) Peter Snadden managed to rig the engine cooling system up to the fresh water tanks and we had enough power to get out of the harbour to open sea.
We left Cape Town for Southampton 2 and a half days late but still managed to make it to Southampton on time in just 9 days via St Helena and Ascension averaging over 26 knots (caps on backwards on the bridge) a ten thousand ton ship with 35000 hp can shift when it wants to. Standing on the after deck at that speed was incredible, the after part would squat at that speed so that the sea surface would almost appear above you