I coasted in her in Dec 1963. A bad ship at that time.
The previous voyage, the jumbo carried away while in use, in New Zealand and there were some fatalities.
Eight of us deck crowd were logged a day's pay for returning five minutes late on sailing day in Canada Dock. Ive never seen such flummery as that logging. Master and mate in full dress uniform, with swords! P&O had pretentions of grandeur in those days.
When we paid of in London, P&O refused to pay our ticket back to Liverpool.
We had to get the union involved and it was sorted quickly after the union bloke said the ship would be blacked by the dockers.

 

SS Aden

Thank you Pat for your reply, sorry to hear of your experience aboard that old tub, however i thankfully do not share that experience. I think it was 66 or 67 when i was on her and we had a great crew and a great trip with lots of fun and frolics, in NZ, Ma Gleesons springs to mind, AUS, U.S, Happy Valley Curacao, Zamba Bar Cristobal and lots other places i cannot bring to mind now my mind is not as good as it used to be, its a bugger getting old. I remember that most of the deck crowd were fun packed Scousers and i was the only Yorkie aboard with much urine extracted. Great memories. Take care Pat.

 

Hi Mac and Pat, i did a twelve month Trip on the Aden, from May 64 to May 65.did most of the usual Manz line ports plus a trip up to Japan, spent Christmas/New Year in Yokohama. We had a mixed crowed and like you i was the only yorkie on board. She was a horrible feeder and the accomadation was ththe pits. On the other hand there was no limit on beer as long as you could pay cash, Happy Days, TonyR

 

Hello Tony....I joined the Aden in Brisbane in Oct. of 64 till May of 65...I was the only Canadian on board and they made a steward out of me. She had the best crew I was ever with. It's been 50 years and I still think about them all. I thought the food was good and the ship was clean (no bugs) but I did work in the galley and knew the cook. Had a great time the whole trip with Christmass at sea and New Years in Yokohama. Took a lot of pictures of the crew so I should have some of you. I do remember a Tony , a Ringo and a Tommy who all worked on deck....We drank a lot of beer and had some great times ......Take care ........a/s Terry

 

Does anyone remember my dad Melvin Green from Ipswich, England. He was on the SS Aden around 1963. He says he was a cook and would have been in his late teens.

 

Hello to H Cast....Yes I shared a cabin with a Melvin Green and a Vince Row on the Aden in 64 to 65 ...Melvin was 2nd steward at the time and Vince and I Asst. stewards.. We paid off in London and I think he signed back on. We had some great times together...do hope all is well. I have a picture of him and some of the lads in a bar in Hobart. Would love to hear from him or you. Terry

 

Greetings HCast and welcome to SN. Bon voyage.

 

Surprising how you get two different perspectives of the same vessel.

 

Thank you Terry. I am sure you had some interesting times together if Melvin my dad was there! Sadly dad passed away on 5th Jan and his funeral was this week. He had a great send off and despite his challenges with family etc he had 85 people attend.
I would love to see a photo if you have one.
Thank you do much again for your response. Heidi

 

Hello Heidi Sorry to hear about your dad. He had a great sense of humor & we had a lot of laughs. Am trying to figure out how to send the picture. Terry

 

Thank you Terry. You're right about his sense of humour, he was always up to some antic or other.
If you have a printer with a scanner you could copy the photo and save it to your computer and then attach it to a message. It would be great to see it. Heidi.

 

Hello Heidi.....I have the photo on the comp. ...but can't get it onto this page. Will have to wait until one of our sons come for a visit. I am so sorry ....might take a couple of weeks as we are a ferry ride away from the city . Terry

 

Thank you so much for your efforts Terry. I look forward to hearing from you and seeing the picture, when it is possible. Heidi.

 

Success!! With the help of my wife I was able to post picture to Members Faces in the Gallery. Titled "Melvin and Me". I am beside him on the right. Sorry for the delay. ....Terry

 

Terry. Thank you so much for the photo! As far as I can see, my dad is at the front towards the right side (he looks so young), so you must be just slightly behind him. Are the rest of the men crew members? Heidi

 

Hello Heidi....All were crew off the Aden but one...Melvin and I have our pea jackets on and next to me is an (AB) David (they called him big Davy)...on his right an (OS) ? on his right was some guy off the street (I think he was selling bibles ..... it was a slow night for him) and the last, he worked in the engine room...their names are lost to me....I was 18 at the time so your dad must have been 19 ???...did he have any other children or grandchildren? .....Terry

 

Hi Terry

I'm Len Heidis Brother and Melvins son, thanks very much for digging out that photo, I've only seen one of my dad around that time and know very little about that time other than some of the places he went to.

He has 3 Daughters a Son and Six Grandchildren (that I'm aware of lol)

I have a slightly earlier photo of him on a ship but I haven't a clue what ship of where it was taken. Tee photo is on the link below I'm guessing it was 62-63

http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/847002/title/img037-2/cat/501

Many thanks

Len

 

Hello

Hi Len and Heidi......thank you for the pic. and the info on your dad. In the pic. he looks to be about 16 (a few years before I new him) I'm sorry that he passed away.... I would have liked to have shared a few memories with him. With three of us in the cabin I don't remember any trouble ....just a lot of laughs.....At sea ..we would save up our beer ration (2 a day ) and sit out on deck on sat. night .....they were good times...........Terry

 

Hi does anyone remember any times the Aden docked in Grangemouth in the early 60s or very late 50s.I'm trying to put together some personal history for my brother Jack ***ming
Thanks. We are also looking for any times other P&O ships landed there- the Patonga Somali or Kamala