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Magic Fingers View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Magic Fingers Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 November 2007 at 8:24pm

Looks like a part time navy page is needed as well.

Richard.

If it ain't broke don't fix it!
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johnk View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote johnk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 November 2007 at 9:37pm

Indeed, all this talk of RNXS! my time was very short with them but interesting and enjoyable, on my weekend on the HAM we went to anchor and I had to miss the fish and chips lunch due to not feeling to good! but was fine for the rest of the trip!. In fact spent the whole second day in the galley preparing a roast dinner for the company at the insisitance of the CO, we left harbour and returned with myself and my oppo not seeing any of the trip. He was in fact a qualified ferry skipper but was starting at the bottom, though he could have skppered the craft and was probabley better qualified than most of the guys. Interesting pics of Pagham, still very much as origional from the out side it would seem.

 

JohnK

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tramontana View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tramontana Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 November 2007 at 12:56pm

As you say every body no matter what rank they were in a previous occupation started at the bottom with the R.N.X.S. including an ex Cunard Master who had a young  R.N. Officer showing him what to do on the Plot until someone told him who the R.N.X.S. "novice" was, which was a story I was told by an R.N.X.S. member who I came across during S.T.U.F.T. duties in 1982.

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mike weller View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mike weller Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 November 2007 at 2:12pm
On PORTISHAM, we had a real mix of people. Lots of soldiers, including a retired colonel and an ex private who had been busted down from sergeant a couple of times. The interaction between these two was quite amusing.

Edited by mike weller
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tramontana View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tramontana Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 November 2007 at 3:23pm
Mike, some of the people on the Foreign Cargo Ships I was on were also a real mix  the ships were either United Nations or  floating Foreign Legions usually with the Skipper and myself the only British on board! There was no uniform code and the master only wore his uniform jacket when the pilot was on board, or his favourite Trilby/flat cap usually a black leather one, wearing a uniform on board (unlike British Ships) was  not regulation we all new each other!! it was only when strangers came aboard that some form of Rank was shown, in my case white overalls but they were quickly changed to the more functional blue when they left the ship
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tramontana Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 November 2007 at 4:18pm
Getting back to the lead subject and the G.T. powered Cargo Boat. In todays world Gas Turbine powered ships usually means a converted jet engine powering a turbine for propulsion, over 40 years ago this version was being used by fast Service craft but not used on Merchant ships as far as I am aware. At around that time Gas Turbines were going to be THE power source of the future whether it be boats, cars(Rover), buses and trains, with this in mind and wanting to get as many types of engineroom under my belt I signed on a vessel called "Rembrandt" which was the first (and the only apparently) purpose built Gas Turbine powered cargo ship using the "French System" so called because a French ship had been fitted with a similiar system some years before, I have located a photo of her but it is not one of mine and in these days of COPYRIGHT I am not sure as to whether I should download it!! so the following is from memory and some notes I have dug out which I made at the time. The "French System" of powering the Turbine was by means of Gasifiers also known as Free piston, opposed piston or air cushion return of which we had five of them, four in use and one spare, from my notes the turbine was basically a converted steam turbine which was non reversing and had double reduction gearbox driving the propshaft which was fitted with a controllable pitch propellor. The gas pressure to the turbine was 44psi and the normal output was 4,000 shp  @ 110 rpm, temperature 860 degrees F. Her top speed was supposed to be around 13knts, however like most boats it depended on a lot of  the right factors all coming together at the same time! the weight saving on this system was apparently around 400tns. She was all aft accomodation nicely appointed when I was on board. How did she run? that is for another episode!
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johnk View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote johnk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 November 2007 at 3:02am

Indeed, all good stuff re the GT boats and RNXS, I recall our lot were also a mixed bunch apart from my ferry capitan friend, I left a year or so before disbandment, a pity, some continue as the Maritime Volunteer Service I believe.

 

Johnk 

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johnk View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote johnk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 November 2007 at 7:45am

Also, in current Ship's Monthly, great article on the post war German developement of the diesel electric submarine touched on before, very interesting, at least I think so, they raised some wartime vessels to re use and evaluate, and the article talks about how advanced thier designs were and how everyone post war wanted them.

 

JohnK

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tramontana View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tramontana Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 December 2007 at 4:05pm
There is some interesting reading in the latest "Ships Monthly" Jan 2008 regarding the mess left by the Prescott administration in his ill thought out rush to get more ships on the English register "Letter of the Month", as I have said in another forum page the devil is in the detail (I learnt that very early on when agreeing a Contract as well as making sure it was all down in writing!!), it appears that Prescott had his mind on other things and has left his former shipmate's in the lurch. The other good piece of work is an article about "Big ships, small crews and reflects my views previously written on my time on the "Har Addir" where the engineroom was unmanned at night and relied on "Bridge Monitoring" the problem is that if the main engine shuts down the bridge will try to start it before ringing the alarm bells in the Engineers cabins by the time the Engineer's get down there a little problem has become a large problem, I personally still believe that the "Derbyshire" lost power at night, broached, the cargo shifted and she rolled over before they could do anything as she also had an unmanned engine-room at night. Sinking by the method that was published for me would be a slow affair and they would have hit the emergency distress button when she started to go Bow down as there is still a lot of bouyancy in her empty ballast and hopper/saddle tanks still left intact along the hull until they imploded at depth leaving a shattered mess on the sea-floor,  whereas I personally feel that it all happened very quickly and the fault lies with the Company relying to much on an automatic system when it is no  substitute for the "Mark 1 Eyeball" of an Engineer down below, that's why I mainly stuck to Steam for as long as I could!! Happy New Year and Take Care    
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