Ships Nostalgia banner

Silver Line Ltd, London

337K views 704 replies 187 participants last post by  The Ancient Mariner 
#1 ·
Is there anybody out there who used to sail on the Silver Line ships in the 70's to 80's??

Would like to have some information on their ships if possible, pictures etc..

Ex Silver Line myself, any old ship mates still around, please get in touch.

Vaughan Williams...

(Ex Fleetwood Nautical College)..
 
#322 · (Edited)
I'm bored and have been surfing, satisfied a little bit of curiosity, I loved my time on the Don,great ship,great crew and great times, this ship apparently was eventually sold on to the chinese(see page 3) and renamed Fei Cui Hai, listed as foundered, foundered alright, it bloody well SUNK and only 3 survivors!! Lets hope the chinese did'nt look after it properly, she was such a lovely ship with a great engine room.
I joined in Aussie, stuck my bags into the accomodation and was greeted with "f..k me its Chris", no one knew I was the relief and pretty much all of the engineers I had sailed with before, as I recall we had rolo wakeham and Yorky Thompson as chiefs john wright was the 2/e for part of the trip anyway, last time I saw John was at the tall ships,the first time they were in the tyne,he was sailing as chief on oil rig supply boats and not very happy with them.
 
#323 ·
lo out there im Bobby Moore (A/B-GP1)i sailed with silverline from 1976-1986.My first ship was Silvermain jioned her in Hamburg Blom n Voss shipyard was there about a month or so then sailed light to New Orleans loaded grain for japan then cars back to New Orleans kept that upfor a few runs then loaded bails of paper pulp for UK.Does any one remember me.
 
#324 ·
lo out there im Bobby Moore (A/B-GP1)i sailed with silverline from 1970-1976 my first ship was Silvermain joined her in Hamburg(Blom n Voss)was there for a mnth or two re-storing n getting decks ready sailed from there light to Baton Rouge loaded grain for Japan then cars back to New Orleans carried on like that till we came back home 6 month or so later with paper pulp paid of in Lieth.Then sailed on some of the other ships including kemmy tankers had a very good time with Silverline great lads great trips kushty 5 n half year.So if any one who worked with them round that time get in touch
 
#330 · (Edited)
The finest "Old Man" I ever sailed with. Struck up a good rapport with Ronnie on Binsnes as I was only 1 of 2 qualified UK national AB's . The others were from the International Pool. The ships were proper "work ups" on deck with the rigging of the swinging derricks and her own grabs. It called for competent ABs -alas we didn't have too many on her as she was GP manned.

Ronnie came up from the hawse and never forgot his training or skills. He was called upon for additional deck assistance (as were the Mates) many times whilst in the Chinese ports. Re-rigging several of the grab wires (after parting) is something I will always associate with Ronnie.


BW

J(Gleam)(Gleam)
 
#327 · (Edited)
Silver Line

Hi,
I served on the Alva tankers when they went Silver line Alva Sea, Alva Star & the Alva Bay. They transferred back to Monte Carlo after the Bay,I think it was, sprung a leak after leaving the Gulf. Iwas on the Star when she sheared the bolts on the LP reduction gearing. Luckily we caught it in time. Not like the Sea, which completly stuffed everything. After that I went on the Alrai out in Indonesia but only did one stint on her. From there I went to the Bandama and was there for 4 years. The old man was Tony Burton, The C/O was Tony Greene. Third eng was Paul Bibby. I went there as 3rd Eng and was promoted to 2ND eng when the 2nd eng chopped his fingers when a piston rod dropped on them. I was there till the Bandama was sold off. I remember the beach at San pedro. One trip we went down to Duoala in the Cameroons. I remember Ula Hammer and his wife. I think he was a Dane. After the sale I did a couple jobs on coasters and then went Ocean Fleets ad did work for the MoD(Navy). I am now out here in New Zealand and retiredThose days down the west african coaste and up the Meddy were great times.
Jim
(Kiwi)
 
#328 ·
Did not sail with them in the 70s&80s but i sailed on theSilversand on my very first trip to sea as junior ordinary seaman in 1964 joining her in Glasgow and staying 3 months mostly on the Seven Islands to Cardiff & Newport runs. Most of the crew were Taffys another AB and myself were the only Jocks on deck i can still remember the problems i had with there accents a real greenhorn Kenny
 
#329 · (Edited)
Silverclyde 1978 - Whyalla-Abadan

I was on the SilverTweed in 1978 - can remember that the Captain and Radio officer were Welsh (as me) - George from Nothern Ireland and Graham - engineering (junior).

Just read through some of the entries - must have been something wrong with the Tweed/Clyde setup

I joined and had 21st birthday in the middle of the Indian Ocean - this was after we were drifting for a few days as the Stb Eng had run it's cam bearings and the Port was starting in reverse - turned out to be a pin sheared in the air start - which Charlie the Chinese bosun said after 2/3 days had happened in another ship he was on - got it going and limped up to Abadan then to Bahrain for repairs.

We were loosing so much water on the port engine that it was collected into a 44 gallon drum and pumped back into the system.

The main generators were never on and we were always on the backup generators

Spent many an hour with Paul (2nd mate) whilst he was doing his charts

Chris ?? was the first time lecky - joined in Whyalla

Stephan was the mate - that's about most of what I can remember - the ship was great for the variety of work and a great crew

We were stuck in Whyalla for about 3 weeks because of a strike by the wharfies and managed to see a fair bit of around the area - so much so I came back and now live in Adelaide.
 
#332 ·
mct 'Silvereid'

I am researching an incident which happened in 1969-70 on the chemical tanker,'Silvereid', when the bosun, who I believe was from the South Shields, Jarrow area of South Tyneside was lost overboard in The Bay of Biscay. I know it would help if I knew his name but I don't!
Lew Burfitt was the Captain at the time, and I understand that there would have been a Board of Trade Enquiry held but to date I have not been able to find a copy of this! Can anyone help?
 
#333 ·
Old shipmate joining forum

Just found the website and it was good to see so many have joined the forum.

If any of my old mates would like to get in touch I am on 07740 773847 or rwebbassociates@aol.com

Good to see Vaughan Williams, Roy Costello, Colin Curtis and Roger Gerry are in the forum, great friends and shipmates.

Very sad to see some of the names who have passed away that I had the greatest respect for.

I will post further updates

Good to be on board

Richard Webb E/O
 
#335 ·
Albert Trotter

Just to let everyone know that Albert passed away 7th June 2008 aged 89.

Albert was a highly decorated military man who gained the Military Medal during the D Day landings where he told me (on the very rare times he would speak about the war) he was in cammando group behind enemy lines during the landings.

Albert was also a gentleman and a great man to sail with

Rick
 
#337 ·
Just to let everyone know that Albert passed away 7th June 2008 aged 89.

Albert was a highly decorated military man who gained the Military Medal during the D Day landings where he told me (on the very rare times he would speak about the war) he was in cammando group behind enemy lines during the landings.

Albert was also a gentleman and a great man to sail with

Rick
Sorry to hear that, great guy. I had no idea about his war time activities

M. Metcalf
 
#338 ·
Hello folks,
Just joined this forum since I have an interest in the Silver Line. I have to admit I have never worked for a shipping company (but lots of computer companies). However I have always had an interest in the sea and ships (born in Sandown, Isle of Wight, was member of Sea Scouts etc.) So anyway why exactly am I posting here? Does the name William Pratt Hamp ring a bell with anyone? He was married to my grandfather's sister and was Silver Line representative in New York from around 1928 until his death in 1943. I am in touch with his son Eric Pratt Hamp who sailed as an apprentice on several of the Silver Line ships during summer breaks from college in the 30s. I am interested in adding to my knowledge of William and learning any stories there might be about him. Thanks for any information you might be able to provide.
John.
 
#339 ·
Hi, I'm the youngest son of Capt Michael Duke who sailed with Silverline until the mid seventies. I've come across this thread while looking for photos of the Crag etc. Unfortunately my dad died last week. I thought I'd put this out just in case there are any who remember and who might like to know.
 
#342 ·
Hi All, my name is Alan Heal and I sailed on a number of Silver Line ships between 1973 and 1978 including Silvereagle, Silverosprey, Silverdon, Silvertweed, Silverclyde and Silverfjord. I was a GP Steward and remember a few names mentioned in these posts, in particular Capt Norman Evans. Also Hank Otter with bullet wound, missing fingers, glass eye etc, not an easy guy to forget. I really liked Hank but then again I never upset him! Other great friends were Russ Allwood, Alex Moreton, John Sullivan, Rolo Herbert, Graham Rocket and Syd Campbell. Finally, I read on a website that the Silverdon was sold to a Chinese shipping company in 1984 and sank in the South China Sea in 1998 with the loss of 31 crew. So sad.....
 
#344 ·
Hi Vaughan,
I was three months standing by the building in Cammell Lairds and then 6 months aboard. Generally a miserable time lightering at Galveston - Houston. Here are some more pictures. The ones in Houston were after a boiler explosion and we were shoved into a backwater for two weeks while repairs were carried out.
Most of the time, the air conditioning didn't work. The gas lines kept breaking and losing the freon and as we couldn't open windows, it was pretty awful inside.
Bob
 

Attachments

Top