The Houston City built in 1963 was the last of the traditional type ships built for Reardon Smiths. In his excellent book on the Reardon Smith Line (published by Starling Press Ltd) PM Heaton reproduced the entire voyage history of the Houston which by any standard was a great ship. Alas the book is no longer in print.
I have listed the voyages as reproduced in the book.
M.V. Houston City (3)
VOYAGE DETAILS
January, 1963- to April, 1972
Sunderland - ballast-Norfolk, Virginia - coal-Kokura – ballast - via Wakamatsu (bunkers} - Seattle - bulk wheat--via Singapore bunkers) - Vishakhapatnam and Calcutta - ballast - Bunbury and Albany - bulk wheat-Yokohama – ballast - Geraldton and Fremantle - bulk wheat - via Aden (bunkers) and Suez Canal - London and Belfast. Drydocked at Belfast
Belfast - ballast - New Orleans – bulk grain - via Panama Canal (bunkers) - Nagoya and Yokohama - ballast - via Panama Canal - New Orleans - bulk corn - Moji and Yokohama - ballast - Wallaroo and Adelaide - bulk barley - Yokohama and Kobe - ballast - Vancouver - bulk wheat - Yokohama - ballast - Kalama (Long¬view) - bulk wheat - via Singapore - Madras and Calcutta
TIME CHARTER - Vishakhapatnam - Singapore - Isbata - REDELIVERED - ballast - via Moji (bunkers) - Sydney - bulk wheat - via Aden (bunkers) and Suez Canal - Liverpool. Birkenhead (bunkers). Avonmouth and London - London - ballast - Sunderland (repairs) - Sunderland - ballast - New Orleans - bulk grain - via Panama Canal (bunkers) - Osaka and Sakai - ballast - Portland, Oregon - bulk wheat Nagoya - ballast - Prai - TIME CHARTER - Tabata - REDELIVERED - ballast - via Moji (bunkers} - Adelaide - - bulk wheat - via Bombay (crew changes), Djibouti (bunkers) and Suez Canal - Hull, London and Birkenhead
Birkenhead - ballast - Antwerp - TIME CHARTER - Flushing - Pensacola - Mobile - Baton Rouge - Houston - via Panama Canal - Hiroshima - Yokohama - REDELIVERED - ballast - Kitimat. B.C. - TIME CHARTER - San Francisco - - Oakland - Long Beach (Los Angeles) - Guaymas - Champerico - San Jose - Acajutla - San Salvador - La Union - Corinto - via Panama Canal - Leixoes - Le Havre - Dunkirk - Rotterdam - Bremen - Hamburg - Avonmouth REDELIVERED
Avonmouth – ballast – Galveston bulk grain - via Panama Canal¬ - Yokohama - ballast-Nagoya - TIME CHARTER – Yawata - Kawasaki - via Panama Canal – Newark – Montreal – Cleveland - Detroit – Duluth – Montreal – Leghorn - Oneglia - REDELIVERED ballast - Genoa (drydock and bunkers) – ballast -Tehamalti - bulk salt-via Suez Canal, Aden (bunkers) and Bombay (bunkers) -Kawasaki and Chiba - ballast-Victoria and Vancouver - bulk wheat ¬Tokyo - ballast-Mackay with bulk sugar and Townsville with bagged sugar – Moji – Wakamatsu - Yokohama and Tokyo - ballast -¬ Geraldton and Fremantle - bulk wheat-via Djibouti (bunkers) and Suez Canal -London and Leith.
Leith – ballast - Belfast (drydocked) –ballast – Glasgow - TIME CHARTER – Swansea – Birkenhead - Las Palmas Cape Town - Port Elizabeth - East London - Durban - Beira - Lorenzo Marques-Durban--East London-Cape Town -Wallis Bay-London - Immingham - Antwerp-Hamburg -- REDELIVERED
Hamburg - ballast - Destrehan - bulk wheat - via Durban (bunkers) - Vishakhapatnam – ballast - via Colombo (bunkers) - Durban -bulk grain - via Singapore (bunkers) - Tokyo, Yokohama and Kinuura – ballast - Geraldton and Fremantle - bulk wheat - Osaka - ballast-- Albany - hulk grain - Nagoya - TIME CHARTER –Yawata – Shimonoseki – Kobe - Yokohama – Vancouver - Seattle - Portland, Oregon.- Chiba-Kobe – Osaka -Yokkaichi –Nagoya - Nakodika – Yawata – Sakki –Moji –Kobe – Yokohama –Vancouver - Seattle –Tacoma - Portland, Oregon – Vancouver – Harmac – Shimizu - Yokoha¬ma - Nagoya-Osaka - Moji – REDELIVERED
Ballast - Chalna - TIME CHARTER – Chittagong – Calcutta – Colombo - Norfolk, Virginia – Savannah - New Orleans - REDELIVERED – ballast - via Panama Canal - Salina Cruz - bulk maize - via Honolulu (repairs and bunkers) - Mizushima, Kobe and Shimizu – ballast - Kobe (drydocked) - ballast-Sydney - TIME CHARTER – Wallaroo - Ade¬laide –Melbourne – Mahe – Mombasa – Aden - Port Sudan - Jeddah – Koddaida – Mombasa -Port Kembla – Melbourne – Wallaroo - Ad¬elaide – Mahe – Aden - Port Sudan – Jeddah –Assab - REDELJVERED - ballast-Port Louis -- bulk sugar-via Port Elizabeth (where sick crew member put ashore) - Liverpool
Liverpool – ballast - Brake - TIME CHARTER – Amsterdam - Las Palmas – Dakar – Chittagong – Vishakhapatnam – Singapore - Wakay¬ama - Kobe - REDELIVERED – ballast - Port Pirie and Ade¬laide - hulk barley--via Cape Town (bunkers) - Belfast
Belfast - ballast-St. Nazaire - TIME CHARTER – Dakar - Durban Singapore - Yokohama-Shimonoseki - REDELIVERERED - Ballast - Astoria and Portland, Oregon - bulk wheat - Kaohsiung and Keelung - ballast - Mourilyan - sugar-via Panama Canal - St. John, NB – ballast - Houston - bulk wheat -Oran and Mastagenem – ballast - Toulon (drydocked) - ballast - Marseilles - TIME CHARTER - Savonna - Morondava - Majunga - Mutsamudu -Moroni -Diego Svarel –Tarnatove – Revuioii - REDELIVERED – ballast - Lorenzo Marques - bulk coal -Rotterdam and Bremen - TIME CHARTER - Antwerp - Le Havre - Genoa- Cape Town - Fremantle - Adelaide - Melbourne - Sydney - Brisbane - REDELIVERED - ballast-Townsville - sugar-via Panama Canal - ¬London
London - ballast-South Shields (drydocked) ballast - Flushing (bunkers) - Flushing - ballast - Dalhousie - TIME CHARTER – Belledune – ¬Quebec – Montreal -Three Rivers - Cape Town - Bombay - Cochin - Colombo - Madras - Calcutta - REDELIVERED – ballast - Kobe - TIME CHARTER – Nagoya – Shimizu – Yokohama - Los Angeles - Ensenada - Acapulco - Manzanillo - Mazathan - Guayanas - Ensenada - Makohama - Nagoya - Osaka - Kobe (Vessel sold to TMM).
I sailed as first trip Junior Engineer, joining in November 1970 when the ship discahrged her cargo at St John NB. 6 months to the day later we paid off in Rotterdam having brought a cargo of coal from Lorenzo Marques.
The Officers on the voyage were:
Captain Tony Thomas
Mate Tom McNulty
2 Mate Clancy Collins
3 Mate Charlie Starr
Radio Officer Andy Vost
Chief Steward Joe Wagner
Chief Engineer Ian Taylor
2 Engineer Larry Williamson
3 Engineer Alan Fisher left part voyage - not replaced
4 Engineer Kel Blunt
J Engineer John Elliott
J Engineer Clive Greenwood
J Engineer Dave Ricketts
Electrician Tom Thompson left part voyage replaced by John Gardener
Eng Cadet Dave Jellyman
Deck Cadet Dougie ***ming
Deck Cadet Tony Stockman
Deck Cadet Alan Skilton
My thanks to Dog ***ming for reminding me recently about my colleagues on the trip and New Years Eve in Mostagenem when there was a skirmish with the crew of a Cypriot ship and later when there was a skirmish with the Algerian Police and Customs. Tony (Flash) Thomas held an emergency (it's best to say) meeting in the smoke room at 8.30 after he had been woken by the police at the crack of dawn demanding he hand over the officers involved in the knife fight earlier. Flash quite rightly asserted that British officers did not involve themselves in knife fights. What really happened is another story for another time.
I have listed the voyages as reproduced in the book.
M.V. Houston City (3)
VOYAGE DETAILS
January, 1963- to April, 1972
Sunderland - ballast-Norfolk, Virginia - coal-Kokura – ballast - via Wakamatsu (bunkers} - Seattle - bulk wheat--via Singapore bunkers) - Vishakhapatnam and Calcutta - ballast - Bunbury and Albany - bulk wheat-Yokohama – ballast - Geraldton and Fremantle - bulk wheat - via Aden (bunkers) and Suez Canal - London and Belfast. Drydocked at Belfast
Belfast - ballast - New Orleans – bulk grain - via Panama Canal (bunkers) - Nagoya and Yokohama - ballast - via Panama Canal - New Orleans - bulk corn - Moji and Yokohama - ballast - Wallaroo and Adelaide - bulk barley - Yokohama and Kobe - ballast - Vancouver - bulk wheat - Yokohama - ballast - Kalama (Long¬view) - bulk wheat - via Singapore - Madras and Calcutta
TIME CHARTER - Vishakhapatnam - Singapore - Isbata - REDELIVERED - ballast - via Moji (bunkers) - Sydney - bulk wheat - via Aden (bunkers) and Suez Canal - Liverpool. Birkenhead (bunkers). Avonmouth and London - London - ballast - Sunderland (repairs) - Sunderland - ballast - New Orleans - bulk grain - via Panama Canal (bunkers) - Osaka and Sakai - ballast - Portland, Oregon - bulk wheat Nagoya - ballast - Prai - TIME CHARTER - Tabata - REDELIVERED - ballast - via Moji (bunkers} - Adelaide - - bulk wheat - via Bombay (crew changes), Djibouti (bunkers) and Suez Canal - Hull, London and Birkenhead
Birkenhead - ballast - Antwerp - TIME CHARTER - Flushing - Pensacola - Mobile - Baton Rouge - Houston - via Panama Canal - Hiroshima - Yokohama - REDELIVERED - ballast - Kitimat. B.C. - TIME CHARTER - San Francisco - - Oakland - Long Beach (Los Angeles) - Guaymas - Champerico - San Jose - Acajutla - San Salvador - La Union - Corinto - via Panama Canal - Leixoes - Le Havre - Dunkirk - Rotterdam - Bremen - Hamburg - Avonmouth REDELIVERED
Avonmouth – ballast – Galveston bulk grain - via Panama Canal¬ - Yokohama - ballast-Nagoya - TIME CHARTER – Yawata - Kawasaki - via Panama Canal – Newark – Montreal – Cleveland - Detroit – Duluth – Montreal – Leghorn - Oneglia - REDELIVERED ballast - Genoa (drydock and bunkers) – ballast -Tehamalti - bulk salt-via Suez Canal, Aden (bunkers) and Bombay (bunkers) -Kawasaki and Chiba - ballast-Victoria and Vancouver - bulk wheat ¬Tokyo - ballast-Mackay with bulk sugar and Townsville with bagged sugar – Moji – Wakamatsu - Yokohama and Tokyo - ballast -¬ Geraldton and Fremantle - bulk wheat-via Djibouti (bunkers) and Suez Canal -London and Leith.
Leith – ballast - Belfast (drydocked) –ballast – Glasgow - TIME CHARTER – Swansea – Birkenhead - Las Palmas Cape Town - Port Elizabeth - East London - Durban - Beira - Lorenzo Marques-Durban--East London-Cape Town -Wallis Bay-London - Immingham - Antwerp-Hamburg -- REDELIVERED
Hamburg - ballast - Destrehan - bulk wheat - via Durban (bunkers) - Vishakhapatnam – ballast - via Colombo (bunkers) - Durban -bulk grain - via Singapore (bunkers) - Tokyo, Yokohama and Kinuura – ballast - Geraldton and Fremantle - bulk wheat - Osaka - ballast-- Albany - hulk grain - Nagoya - TIME CHARTER –Yawata – Shimonoseki – Kobe - Yokohama – Vancouver - Seattle - Portland, Oregon.- Chiba-Kobe – Osaka -Yokkaichi –Nagoya - Nakodika – Yawata – Sakki –Moji –Kobe – Yokohama –Vancouver - Seattle –Tacoma - Portland, Oregon – Vancouver – Harmac – Shimizu - Yokoha¬ma - Nagoya-Osaka - Moji – REDELIVERED
Ballast - Chalna - TIME CHARTER – Chittagong – Calcutta – Colombo - Norfolk, Virginia – Savannah - New Orleans - REDELIVERED – ballast - via Panama Canal - Salina Cruz - bulk maize - via Honolulu (repairs and bunkers) - Mizushima, Kobe and Shimizu – ballast - Kobe (drydocked) - ballast-Sydney - TIME CHARTER – Wallaroo - Ade¬laide –Melbourne – Mahe – Mombasa – Aden - Port Sudan - Jeddah – Koddaida – Mombasa -Port Kembla – Melbourne – Wallaroo - Ad¬elaide – Mahe – Aden - Port Sudan – Jeddah –Assab - REDELJVERED - ballast-Port Louis -- bulk sugar-via Port Elizabeth (where sick crew member put ashore) - Liverpool
Liverpool – ballast - Brake - TIME CHARTER – Amsterdam - Las Palmas – Dakar – Chittagong – Vishakhapatnam – Singapore - Wakay¬ama - Kobe - REDELIVERED – ballast - Port Pirie and Ade¬laide - hulk barley--via Cape Town (bunkers) - Belfast
Belfast - ballast-St. Nazaire - TIME CHARTER – Dakar - Durban Singapore - Yokohama-Shimonoseki - REDELIVERERED - Ballast - Astoria and Portland, Oregon - bulk wheat - Kaohsiung and Keelung - ballast - Mourilyan - sugar-via Panama Canal - St. John, NB – ballast - Houston - bulk wheat -Oran and Mastagenem – ballast - Toulon (drydocked) - ballast - Marseilles - TIME CHARTER - Savonna - Morondava - Majunga - Mutsamudu -Moroni -Diego Svarel –Tarnatove – Revuioii - REDELIVERED – ballast - Lorenzo Marques - bulk coal -Rotterdam and Bremen - TIME CHARTER - Antwerp - Le Havre - Genoa- Cape Town - Fremantle - Adelaide - Melbourne - Sydney - Brisbane - REDELIVERED - ballast-Townsville - sugar-via Panama Canal - ¬London
London - ballast-South Shields (drydocked) ballast - Flushing (bunkers) - Flushing - ballast - Dalhousie - TIME CHARTER – Belledune – ¬Quebec – Montreal -Three Rivers - Cape Town - Bombay - Cochin - Colombo - Madras - Calcutta - REDELIVERED – ballast - Kobe - TIME CHARTER – Nagoya – Shimizu – Yokohama - Los Angeles - Ensenada - Acapulco - Manzanillo - Mazathan - Guayanas - Ensenada - Makohama - Nagoya - Osaka - Kobe (Vessel sold to TMM).
I sailed as first trip Junior Engineer, joining in November 1970 when the ship discahrged her cargo at St John NB. 6 months to the day later we paid off in Rotterdam having brought a cargo of coal from Lorenzo Marques.
The Officers on the voyage were:
Captain Tony Thomas
Mate Tom McNulty
2 Mate Clancy Collins
3 Mate Charlie Starr
Radio Officer Andy Vost
Chief Steward Joe Wagner
Chief Engineer Ian Taylor
2 Engineer Larry Williamson
3 Engineer Alan Fisher left part voyage - not replaced
4 Engineer Kel Blunt
J Engineer John Elliott
J Engineer Clive Greenwood
J Engineer Dave Ricketts
Electrician Tom Thompson left part voyage replaced by John Gardener
Eng Cadet Dave Jellyman
Deck Cadet Dougie ***ming
Deck Cadet Tony Stockman
Deck Cadet Alan Skilton
My thanks to Dog ***ming for reminding me recently about my colleagues on the trip and New Years Eve in Mostagenem when there was a skirmish with the crew of a Cypriot ship and later when there was a skirmish with the Algerian Police and Customs. Tony (Flash) Thomas held an emergency (it's best to say) meeting in the smoke room at 8.30 after he had been woken by the police at the crack of dawn demanding he hand over the officers involved in the knife fight earlier. Flash quite rightly asserted that British officers did not involve themselves in knife fights. What really happened is another story for another time.