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What happened to Hunting's

79K views 150 replies 75 participants last post by  lynnroberts 
#1 · (Edited)
Two of the happiest trips I ever did were in the Sylvafield (Ex Empire Silver) in 1949 and the Thamesfield (T2) in 1950.

When I think of the best of my seafaring memories, those two ships, captains and crews, loom large.

I have a WSS history of Huntings which takes me up to the mid sixties, but after that the firm seems to have dropped off the edge of the earth.

I know that they bought the remnants of the Stag Line, and some of its remaining ships. But nothing else.

Can anyone enlighten me to their subsequent history up to, and including the end of the firm. I am surprised that so little information exists, since they were also active in oilfield and aircraft industries.

Regards, Joe
 
#29 ·
Hi there
The salt carrier was Argyll and the chosen few got sent there or the other great runner / Coral Venture which carried cement from Freeport G.B.I. to Florida/Bermuda and Virginia.
I was offered the Argyll when I gave in my notice but I had already accepted a shore-side job
Huntings were a great family business
Who can forget Tommy Shanks--one of life's great characters
 
#30 ·
Can anyone supply a picture of the tyne bridge I sailed on her in 79. The ship was in a poor state but Huntings were really good to me and even offered to fly my fiance out to Italy to meet me as I was soon to get married.
 
#34 ·
re Tommy Shanks

Yes! I remember Tommy very well. He hired me too, sitting behing his desk which was piled high with papers and other junk. He used to roll little cheroots with one hand while chatting on the phone to someone and talking to the folks in his office at the same time. Quite the character. "Quietman" was lookin for photos of the Tyne Bridge. I think I have a couple I can scan in. I was on her when number 8 hold blew up in the sea of Japan back in the 70's. Spent a total of 18 months on her as nav cadet and 3rd mate.
 
#35 ·
+hi all, i wonder if anyone can remember the pontfield i was on her in 55 and was paid off in montividio feb 1956 sick after leaving B.A she was on her way to trinadad west indies i was a week in hospital with suspected apendesitis and turned out to be colleck i spent two weeks in a hotel and was shipped home on a royal mail D,B,S.albert.s.i
 
#37 ·
Hi-enjoyed the chat re Hunting & Son. Joined the Duffield on my first trip 1955. Also my last trip after she was converted to bulk carrier around 1960. Mainly carried timber from California to Japan. Joined for six weeks and spent 13 mths on her. Happy days.
duffield
 
#42 ·
hi lads im surprised no one has memtioned the pontfield i was only on her 5 months 1955 paid off montevidio 9 feb 1956 with surspected pendacitis was in in hospital a week stayed in monty for three weeks came home D B S on highland monarch have looked all over the site for photo of pontfield to add to my collection of ships i was on albert s.i.
 
#46 ·
mike N

Hi lads. Joined River Afton in Amsterdam in March 1960. First trip as solo R/O. Although born in Kent, I was a "Cockney" as far as the mainly Geordie crew was concerned, but of course I could soon "why aye man" with the best of em. Remember Captain Johnson ,a fair skipper. Sailed on her for 9 months ,running from Ijmuiden to Pepel, Sierra Leone ,to load iron ore, about a month turn round as I remember. Great days, still miss those times. I believe Huntings had about sixteen ships in those days.

Cheers,

Mike
 
#48 ·
hi duffield yeah i was told by the agents i montividio to rejoin the pontfield in trinidad truth was i was having a good time in monty i refused to fly but was shipped home on the next R,M,S as a D,B,S i had no complaines with the ship cheers and all the best albert.s.i
 
#49 ·
My Uncle (By my mothers second marriage!) was Billy Watson. He was Chief Steward on the Pontfield from the beginning of the war until the early 1950's.

I believe that he survived the mining of the Pontfield unscathed, but he was quite unforthcoming about his experiences, but so were all of my other relatives. It was almost as though they had sworn an oath to never discuss seagoing experiences when home on leave.

The only time I ever saw Billy getting hot under the collar, was when one of my cousins, (Billys son!) spoke slightingly of Hunting.

Billy hit the roof, reminding us that Huntings had fed all of us for a long time, and that he blessed the day they had offered him the job.
I believe that he had started with them as a second steward, and he finished his seagoing career with them.
I was away from the UK from 1953, and I don't remember when he died. But to the day he died he was an ultra loyal "Hunting Man." God bless him. He never said much, but what he did was always of great value to me!

Joe
 
#50 ·
Ships and sea staff

I served my time with Huntings. A skinny little fresh faced kid from 'Uddersfield, I was sent to the Wearfield where I could hardly understand a word that was said! From there it was the Derwentfield, Thamesfield (the tanker), Teesfield, Coral Venture, Tweed Bridge, the dreaded Tyne Bridge (what a death trap!), the Phosphore Conveyor and finally after sailing with Happy Tappy on the Argyll I decided I wanted to try coasting.

Let's see if anyone remembers this list of names - I sailed with all of them: I'll list the Deck ones in this post and do the others at a later date.
Marshall Friskney, William (Wa..er) Harrison, John Angus, Lester (Les) Cairns, Graham Rosie, David Sim, Henry (Ricky) Asquez, Ian (Aye!) Thain, Phillip Hansen, Thomas (The Tam) Dalgleish, Peter (Jacques) Torr, David (Dinger) Bell, Ian Milton, John (The Con) Conlon, Timothy West, Leonard Kennedy, Peter Heasman, Douglas Quinney, John Allen-Jones, David Lee, Alan Jones, David Reynolds, Andrew (Osti) Rhodes, James (JT) Alexander, Kenneth Gray, Robert Jenkins, Peter Bolger, Frede Johnson, Paul Long, John Abuelo (Junior), George Louth, David Glendenning, Julian Berry, David Evans, John Wheeler, Graham Legg, Brian Alldred, Lorne Whitelaw, Dennis Dowen, Charles Fuller OBE, Malcolm Brannon, Charles Pullen, Colin Greenwood, Ian (I AM) Haddow, Thomas (Tommy) Armstrong, James Donald, Robert Hamilton, Martyn Wimpenny, George Patterson, Michael Kelly, Leonard Green, Steven Morgan, Francis Taphouse, Robert Clarke, Michael Herbert, Maurice Tate.
 
#148 ·
Ships and sea staff

I served my time with Huntings. A skinny little fresh faced kid from 'Uddersfield, I was sent to the Wearfield where I could hardly understand a word that was said! From there it was the Derwentfield, Thamesfield (the tanker), Teesfield, Coral Venture, Tweed Bridge, the dreaded Tyne Bridge (what a death trap!), the Phosphore Conveyor and finally after sailing with Happy Tappy on the Argyll I decided I wanted to try coasting.

Let's see if anyone remembers this list of names - I sailed with all of them: I'll list the Deck ones in this post and do the others at a later date.
Marshall Friskney, William (Wa..er) Harrison, John Angus, Lester (Les) Cairns, Graham Rosie, David Sim, Henry (Ricky) Asquez, Ian (Aye!) Thain, Phillip Hansen, Thomas (The Tam) Dalgleish, Peter (Jacques) Torr, David (Dinger) Bell, Ian Milton, John (The Con) Conlon, Timothy West, Leonard Kennedy, Peter Heasman, Douglas Quinney, John Allen-Jones, David Lee, Alan Jones, David Reynolds, Andrew (Osti) Rhodes, James (JT) Alexander, Kenneth Gray, R
Ships and sea staff

I served my time with Huntings. A skinny little fresh faced kid from 'Uddersfield, I was sent to the Wearfield where I could hardly understand a word that was said! From there it was the Derwentfield, Thamesfield (the tanker), Teesfield, Coral Venture, Tweed Bridge, the dreaded Tyne Bridge (what a death trap!), the Phosphore Conveyor and finally after sailing with Happy Tappy on the Argyll I decided I wanted to try coasting.

Let's see if anyone remembers this list of names - I sailed with all of them: I'll list the Deck ones in this post and do the others at a later date.
Marshall Friskney, William (Wa..er) Harrison, John Angus, Lester (Les) Cairns, Graham Rosie, David Sim, Henry (Ricky) Asquez, Ian (Aye!) Thain, Phillip Hansen, Thomas (The Tam) Dalgleish, Peter (Jacques) Torr, David (Dinger) Bell, Ian Milton, John (The Con) Conlon, Timothy West, Leonard Kennedy, Peter Heasman, Douglas Quinney, John Allen-Jones, David Lee, Alan Jones, David Reynolds, Andrew (Osti) Rhodes, James (JT) Alexander, Kenneth Gray, Robert Jenkins, Peter Bolger, Frede Johnson, Paul Long, John Abuelo (Junior), George Louth, David Glendenning, Julian Berry, David Evans, John Wheeler, Graham Legg, Brian Alldred, Lorne Whitelaw, Dennis Dowen, Charles Fuller OBE, Malcolm Brannon, Charles Pullen, Colin Greenwood, Ian (I AM) Haddow, Thomas (Tommy) Armstrong, James Donald, Robert Hamilton, Martyn Wimpenny, George Patterson, Michael Kelly, Leonard Green, Steven Morgan, Francis Taphouse, Robert Clarke, Michael Herbert, Maurice Tate.
[
obert Jenkins, Peter Bolger, Frede Johnson, Paul Long, John Abuelo (Junior), George Louth, David Glendenning, Julian Berry, David Evans, John Wheeler, Graham Legg, Brian Alldred, Lorne Whitelaw, Dennis Dowen, Charles Fuller OBE, Malcolm Brannon, Charles Pullen, Colin Greenwood, Ian (I AM) Haddow, Thomas (Tommy) Armstrong, James Donald, Robert Hamilton, Martyn Wimpenny, George Patterson, Michael Kelly, Leonard Green, Steven Morgan, Francis Taphouse, Robert Clarke, Michael Herbert, Maurice Tate.
If Im right we sailed together on the Derwentfield from January 1972 to August 1972 when I left in Long Beach and left Huntings. I joined Mobil that year and was seagoing until 1982 when I went to work in the Coryton Refinery.
 
#51 ·
My time in Huntings

Hello All ex Huntings lads, Just found this web site, I have often wondered what happened to Huntings, and reading the various messages certainly brings back some memories.

I joined Huntings in 1967 as a fresh faced 16 year old, was interviewed by Tommy Shanks and sent down to Franks on Dean Street near to the Hunting Offices in Milburn House, to get a uniform (waste of time cos I only wore it about twice). I joined as an Engineering Apprentice. I sailed on the Wearfield (Bulk); Teesfield (Tanker); Forthfield (Tanker); Thamesfield (Tanker) and the dreaded Tyne Bridge - I left the company in 1973 after the fire in the Tyne Bridge which gutted the engine room in Valparaiso, we were stuck on the ship with no power for a couple of weeks, till about 10 Swan Hunters Electricains arrived to rewire the engine room. We still had 167,000 tons of crude on board, but eventually discharged this and sailed to Brazil to load with iron ore, off to Cape Town for bunkers and up to Japan for dry dock and fix the lump properly - what a trip, I've still got a letter from Huntings sending me a cheque for £5 hardship money and thanking us for our efforts in saving the ship. I also have copies of all the fleet magazines from around 67-73 which list all the ship locations and crews. In the previous thread i do remember a lot of the names, it would be nice to hear from anyone who remembers me? Regards to all Larry.
 
#54 ·
Happy years with Huntings

I was with Huntings from Apprentice in 1965 until I left in 1979. I have many happy memories (even those of all my time on Tyne Bridge).Reading this forum has brought them all flooding back.Many of the names mentioned here are fondly remembered,all too many now departed.Anyone interested in chattting over old times please contact me.
Regards to all
Peter
 
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