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Ikeja Palm

37K views 40 replies 22 participants last post by  David Goddard 
#1 ·
Palm Line's IKEJA PALM (1961/5,700 grt) sailing from Liverpool in August of 1981.
 

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#2 ·
Ian said:
Palm Line's IKEJA PALM (1961/5,700 grt) sailing from Liverpool in August of 1981.
these series of sisters were IBADAN -ILESHA -ILORIN and IKEJA PALM with
little difference LAGOS and LOBITO PALM.
EURICO R. ex LOBITO PALM and DAPHNEMAR ex ILESHA PALM were broken
up in 1984 .The series terminated their life, the other were formerly broken up.
 
#9 ·
Pat,that is unfair criticism of ILORIN PALM and any other Palm ship..
If you nearly joined,how did you see the so called condition of her jumbo etc?
As a rigger in Tilbury Docks for 30 years I worked all Palm ships and there was always one of them in the dock..
One of jobs was to replace all running gear on the derricks,sometimes before it was necessary ...It was always in safe and perfect condition..
The crews were loyal to Palm and made many voyages.They also took pride in keeping their ships in pristine condition..
Do not condemn a ship until you have sailed it !!
You missed out in not joining a very good company - If you had,I am sure you would have been with them until their sad demise..
Palm People were special...
 
#22 ·
Stan
I agree with what you say about the Palm Line but Pats comments are correct. I was working for Harry Blower(Rigging) at the time and I had a nasty suprise when I saw the condition of this vessel. I had to look twice as could not believe it was a Palm boat. We also used to run these vessels down the Coast.
 
#10 ·
Stan.

It was the Ikeja Palm I was talking about & I was on Her for a look round as I knew there were jobs coming about for Her, easy to get aboard ship's if you showed your discharge book or ID card back then too. Her jumbo, along with all the forr'd end, was visible to anyone who looked down Mill Dam. I was with 2 other AB's, Previous Palm lads, & they were disgusted at the state of Her gear. I can condemn a ship if I see fit, like I did that day I stood on Ikejal Palm's deck. It is no personal criticism to anyone, especially ex Palm Liners. I think the jumbo had 'Ran Free' & was damaged in the process, making it being marked condemned. I only commented on what I saw & I was qualified then, as I am now, to make criticism.
 
#11 ·
Pat,
Point taken but to read your observatios was a mild shock to me in having known the ships for many years..
It seems the lads you were with were also disgusted so they knew it wasnt a normal sight seen on a Palm ship..Your explanation of the jumbo also makes it clear for the reason of the shambles...
You still missed out on sailing with a good company...I hope you did sail in nice ships..
 
#12 ·
Stan.
I was lucky to sail on good ship's, obviously had a couple that were, to me at the time & my age, that were dead-end jobs & got off after a few weeks, but I have had a good 30years at sea now & been lucky to get decent ship's although nothing compares to when we had 50+ crew on board

ATB. Pat
 
#14 ·
just got down from the loft and i've found 3 seaman's record books of discharge.You will have to bear with me as the language and terms are alien to me. The first 1 starts in 1954 up to 1973.Thanks for the tip it's opened up all sorts of memories. He was my dad so when he was home it was "take me to the football" or trips out. I never appreciated or understood his life at sea apart from being proud of the fact he in was in the finest merchant navy in the world.
 
#15 ·
Son of Tom,
You are obviosly proud of your Dad and in the last few words of your posting you are stating the feelings and thoughts of us all.
We served in the worlds finest Merchant Navy !!!!
Do not return your Dad's Discharge Book to the loft...It is a treasure and should be preserved....
 
#17 ·
I'll put the lot in as somebody else might recognise my old man...
Jul 54 2ndEng on Gambia Palm. Promoted Chief Eng in 55.
Discharged Rotterdam Jan 1st 58.
Oct 61 Ilesha Palm
Discharged Oct 63.
I don't know what happens here- Ilorin (Hull 10 days later then Tilbury)
18- 29/11/63
Akassa L'Pool 27/1/64 to Glasgow 8/2/64.
Then in 64 the whole engagemnet- discharge is all abroad- Ilesha Badagry Lobito Lagos 26/2/64 to 26/7/65.
Back to normal Kano 27/9/65- 15/3/67
Ikeja 6/5/68- 10/3/73
Lagos 1/8/73- 27/9/74
Africa 27/2/75-29/3/75
After that he became a shore superintendent.(correct term?)
Sorry to go on but this is all bringing back so many memories. In the description of voyage section what does H/T mean? Most are foreign but there's 12 HT runs. I've dug out some old photos as well but need advice if it's worth scanning them. I'll stop now but want to talk about round tins of players or Senior Service, parrots, drums and weird cargo
 
#23 ·
Son of Tom.

Hello there. Isailed in the Gambia Palm from Sept. 1955 to Feb.1956 (2 trips).

It would appear that this coincides with your Tom Brace's time as Chief Engineer in that ship.

It is 51 years ago now and names begin to fade, but not other memories.

Was your Father a softly spoken Scot who always smoked a pipe?.

If so he and I were quite good pals who used to have a drink or two together every night. At that time I was Assistant Purser and the Capain was Francisco de Imaz (Frankie Imaz).

If I have described your Father correctly I would love to hear from you.

Cheers,
Peter (Pat) Baker.
 
#24 ·
Yes thats my dad.Blimey this is amazing.You ,or anybody else might be able to answer a long kept impression.I insist to this day that either the 'Gambia 'or the 'Kano' had a ruddy great steam locomotive on the deck.I remember seeing Dad off from Liverpool docks and I swear that train was strapped to the deck.This was more than 40 years ago and the more I think about it the more it must be some sort of dream I mean the logistics of it don't add up. I have photos but as I'm new to computers I don't know if I can scan them and put them on this site
 
#26 ·
Could have been Kano Palm as when I was there we took two diesel locomotives down for Ghana railways.
Took one back some time later for major repairs as it had been involved with another locomotive.
There was a series of railway stock shipped down to Tokoradi then as the port of Tema was not completed.
Bill
 
#27 ·
Son of Tom.

As I have already mention I made two trips in the Gambia Palm with your Dad, and we used two have a drink together every night.
I left Palm Line two years later to join Harrisons of Liverpool, and so lost touch with most of the Palmliners that I knew.
Could you tell me a little more of your Dads history after 1955.
Best regards,
Pat Baker.
 
#30 ·
Son of Tom, I sailed on a ship that had two 140 ton locomotives strapped to the foredeck and two tenders strapped to the after deck they were for the Mozambique railways and dropped of in either Beira or Lourenco Marques.
So you did see locos and it was not imagination.
 
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