I served on Temple Bar from 03/12/73 to 24/04/74. She was originally fitted with Ruston Bucyrus engines. To say they weren’t very good is an understatement, they were crap. The top speed was about 3 knots, 4 with a good stern wind. We even had fish swimming along side us on the port quarter for days on end. Because of the oil crisis at the time the company had to buy oil in 45 galleon drums and we had to pour these in her as we steamed along. When we paid off she was supposed to have gone to somewhere in Europe to be refitted with new engines, whether this came about I don’t know. Another unique thing about her is that we couldn’t launch the lifeboats. When we first joined her in Amsterdam were trying to get the boats out using pull lifts, scaffold poles and anything else we could get our hands on, the 2nd mate walked by and said “ cor blimey, me can’t you still get them flipping boats out they were like that when she was first built” (or words to that effect.) And there they stayed, never to be lowered whilst I served on her.
One good thing about the Temple Bar on that trip; was the crew, from the captain down, especially the Bosun, Dougie Maguire from Glasgow. Every day and night thro out the trip he would tell different jokes, stories and anecdotes. What a guy. The chief cook was also a star from Grimsby, (sorry can’t remember your name.) One thing I remember about him is that when the stock of Cray fish and lobster we had was running low, he kept feeding us lads with them, telling the officers there wasn’t any left. Yes it was a brilliant crowd, never to be forgotten.
Kevin Barry