[Dave Haxell]

Hi Chaps,

I am looking for information on this company. I have an incomplete fleet list and I know that they were taken over/ absorbed into the General Steam Navigation in the 1960's. Does anyone have any other information or history?. Any personal anecdotes would be welcome?
In fact anything you've got and would like to share.
Best wishes
Dave

 

[sibby]

Hello Dave. I worked for the company from boxing day 1961-1964. I sailed on the Norwich Trader. The skipper was Albert Axup. In the fleet at that time was Norfolk Trader, Boston Trader, Yarmouth Trader, Lowestoft Trader, Mavis and Mallard. They were all G.S.N.C. cast offs. G.Y.S.Co was a subsidiary of G.S.N.C.
In the time i was on the Norwich Trader we got hit in fog by an Everard tanker and sunk on a sand bank which the pilot steered us to. This happened in the wash inbound for Kings Lynn. In August 1963 we rescued 4 people from a sinking yacht off Sheringham in a for nine gale. G.Y.S.C also at one time had small tugs for towing lighters and sailing barges to Norwich.

 

[J Gunnig]

They also had the LYNN TRADER a war built standard coaster. G S N C 'S PEREGINE was operated by them on London river run and with G Y S C funnel colours. They had PLOVER for a while but she was hit and damaged beyond repair entering Rotterdam early 60's.
J Gunning

 

[sibby]

Lynn Trader was an old chant.

 

[alectts]

Great Yarmouth shipping company.

The MV STORK was another of their vessels. Built by Robb's of Leith in 1946, she ran between Felixstowe and Rotterdam and Felixstowe and Harlingen in 1964 when I sailed on her as a deckhand. Some adventures there including 3 days in an F9 in the North Sea trying to get home in a sou'wester.
Alastair Macdonald.

 

[RayJordandpo]

Hello Dave. I worked for the company from boxing day 1961-1964. I sailed on the Norwich Trader. The skipper was Albert Axup. In the fleet at that time was Norfolk Trader, Boston Trader, Yarmouth Trader, Lowestoft Trader, Mavis and Mallard. They were all G.S.N.C. cast offs. G.Y.S.Co was a subsidiary of G.S.N.C.
In the time i was on the Norwich Trader we got hit in fog by an Everard tanker and sunk on a sand bank which the pilot steered us to. This happened in the wash inbound for Kings Lynn. In August 1963 we rescued 4 people from a sinking yacht off Sheringham in a for nine gale. G.Y.S.C also at one time had small tugs for towing lighters and sailing barges to Norwich.

I sailed on a dive support vessel in India (early nineties) with a guy called Alan Axup from the Yarmouth/Lowest area, wonder if they could be related?

 

[sibby]

Hi Ray. Albert Axup had two sons. The younger one went to sea but i cant recollect his name. The last i heard of him he was mate with his father on the coaster Electro running from the Thames to the continent. The son found his father dead in his bunk when he went to call him to pilot the ship up the Thames.

 

[RayJordandpo]

Hi Ray. Albert Axup had two sons. The younger one went to sea but i cant recollect his name. The last i heard of him he was mate with his father on the coaster Electro running from the Thames to the continent. The son found his father dead in his bunk when he went to call him to pilot the ship up the Thames.

The Axup (Alan) I knew was friends with another guy on the ship called Otto Klass from the same area, his was the father of Mylene Klass of TV fame.

 

[sibby]

We had a German second engineer on the Trader he had married a Yarmouth girl.
His name was Deitmar Jacobs.

 

[Dave Haxell]

Thanks guys. Interesting information there. Particularly the tugs up the river to Norwich. I shall look into them and se what I can find out. I now have a complete fleet list and the details from various Lloyds register of ships. I found some photos on this site. Does anyone know where there is a picture of the Lowestoft Trader, as I am missing this one. Sorry for the late reply to you all, Summer and a bit of boozing got in the way.������������

 

[vectiscol]

I can remember London & Rochester motor barges berthed near Carrow Bridge at Norwich, but didn't know that tugs towed lighters on the Yare. Interesting!

 

[sibby]

I posted a photo on S.H. another site. It was of a tug towing a sailing barge up to Norwich. The barge was skippered by my late stepfathers father. The photo was taken by him. I went up to Norwich several times on the Norwich Trader with grain and to load scrap. Then later with Everards with coal for Norwich power station.

 

[vectiscol]

Did you ever take sugar beet to Cantley, sibby?

 

[sibby]

I never went to Cantley , passed it many times. If memory serves me well i think the Lynn Trader went there. I know Everards went there quite regularly loading mollasses.

 

[Angus Murray]

Alan Axup

The Axup (Alan) I knew was friends with another guy on the ship called Otto Klass from the same area, his was the father of Mylene Klass of TV fame.

Could that be the same Alan Axup, who sailed as mate on the Stirling Shipping supply vessels in the late 70's?

 

[RayJordandpo]

Could that be the same Alan Axup, who sailed as mate on the Stirling Shipping supply vessels in the late 70's?

It could well be, I know he was on supply boats. I was with him on an Indian owned dive support vessel called the ‘Samudra Prabha’

 

[dannic]

Did you ever take sugar beet to Cantley, sibby?

Sugarbeet by ship to Cantley! thats something I never knew happened, visited Cantley often as Father worked for BSC !
Dannic.

 

[vectiscol]

In the 1950’s about 12,000 tons of sugar beet per annum were shipped from Medina Wharf, Cowes, IOW. Did any of these cargoes go to Cantley?