HAPPY & PROSPEROUS 2020 TO ALL

A busy scene at the Leith Shipyards of Robb Caledon sometime around 1976

Well 2020 it is then, bloody miracle if you ask me, puts me in mind of an old Jager & Evens song “In the year 2525, if man is still alive”

Perhaps someone will change the year around to show 2020 but I digress, I have been asked a few questions many times about plans for 2020

I shall endeavour to answer below, always a wee bit reluctant to make plans set in stone as we all know what happens to plans (Ask around in any shipyard and you will find out, but we will not mention anything about what has really happened with the two Cal-Mac ferries being built or not built at Ferguson’s yard on the Clyde)

Will there be a new website in 2020 – Most definitely, although it will take a slightly different format as this website will also feature the many books that I have on the go right now both Non-Fiction such as the recently published Leith-Built Ships Vol. I

I have Fiction books starting with a trilogy about two young shipwrights from Leith, full of madcap adventures. Set around actual ships built at Leith in the late 18^th century, that I am writing with the first two books finished but as yet unpublished.

The new website will also in time feature a very large library of ships photographs.

Will Volume II of Leith-Built Ships be published in 2020 – Most definitely although still to be confirmed with the publishers, but this book is 99% complete and almost ready to go, with Volume III well on as well it could be an exciting year on the publishing front to feature more on the almost forgotten shipbuilding and maritime heritage of the old port.

There is a lot more in the pipeline but as ever I don’t count my chickens before they are hatched.

Remember the first book is now out and can be purchased from most good bookshops, for anyone overseas the publishers can post to anywhere.

http://www.whittlespublishing.com/They_Once_Were_Shipbuilders

or it can be purchased from Amazon at the following link

https://www.amazon.co.uk/They-Once-Were-Shipbuilders-Leith-Built/dp/1849954437/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1AGCT5P1NE6DX&keywords=leith+built+ships&qid=1577884811&sprefix=Leith+Built+S%2Caps%2C233&sr=8-1

So for now it is on to 2020 may it be a good one for all.

Christmas Lights for Mercator

Mercator

Xmas lights

The volunteer crew of the last sailing ship built at Leith have been busy setting out some Christmas lights to present the recently refitted ship at her best for this Christmas and New Year of 2017.

  

 

Mercator's mast's being prepared for Xmas Lights as seen above.

This fine and well preserved example of shipbuilding excellence is well worth a visit at her berth in Ostend on the Belgian Coast.

The Sail Training Ship/Museum Mercator seen at her berth in the harbour at Ostend.

Some of Mercators Volenteer Crew sort through the Christmas Lights before climbing the masts to put them up in time for Xmas.

Up the rigging with full safety gear on to get the lights rigged.

Top of the mast on Mercator the last sailing ship built at Leith launched from the Ramage & Ferguson Shipyard as Ship No 268 in December 1931.

The KOBENHAVN Builders Plate

Representation of a builders plate from the Barque KOBENHAVN built at the Leith Shipyards of Ramage & Ferguson Ltd, 1921

This picture of what may or not have been a builders plate from the unfortunate ship KOBENHAVN Yard No 256 built at the Ramage & Ferguson shipyards at Leith in 1921, when she was lost in the Winter of 1928 has now been assessed by experts in Denmark and in Glasgow and the consensus of opinion is that this particular builders plate is not from the poor ship, although it may have been made as a commemoration of the mysterious loss of the KOBENHAVN with all her 15 crew and 45 cadets.

So one of the great maritime mystery stories continues and perhaps one day we shall find out what happened to this 5 masted Barque 3,901 grt, which was the largest sailing ship ever built in a British shipyard.

Leith built Treasure Ship Found

As this is the last post of the year 2013 it should be a special one and this is news about an old Leith built Ship with a tremendous and varied history which now due to the efforts of  Dr Lee Spence the well known maritime expert and discoverer of shipwrecks we can tell you about the wreck of the
SS CRAIGALLION  Ship No 29 from the R & F Shipbuilders yard (later to be known as Ramage & Ferguson Ltd)
The SS CRAIGALLION was launched from the Leith Shipyards in May of 1881 and she was to go on to have many adventures most of them would be very politically un-correct to-day, but she was involved in everything from towing a dredge to work on the Panama Canal build to gun running and supply of bullion and money to fund uprisings in Caribbean countries along with being previously wrecked before she became a "Prize" was refitted out and re-named as the SS OZAMA
Named after a river and not to be confused with any other connotation of the ships name.

Artefacts brought to the surface from the wreck of the SS OZAMA ex SS CRAIGALLION and shown here by the kind permission of Dr Lee Spence who was responsible for the discovery of the old Leith built Ship

For a whole lot more on the history and the discovery of this amazing ship with a real treasure tale to tell visit http://shipwrecks.com/ss-ozama/  and read for yourself.
There will be a whole lot of features on more of the ships built at Leith through-out the course of next year so keep checking back and wishing everyone the best for 2014

New ship updates

So many new updates on the ships built at Leith all now on the revamped website.

The famous old veteran of the Dunkirk beaches GALLIONS REACH Ship No 229
seen here in dry dock in a photograph taken by one of her old crew Del Sowter and shown here by permission

We still have the Mystery of what or where is the GALLIONS REACH SHIP as the hulk seen in Greece is not the same ship. So where is she,

HMS RINGDOVE

For the latest update on HMS RINGDOVE Ship No 264

Leith Shipyards

Hi all,
Just to let you know that one of the best maritime history websites out there is having some what they call technical problems, it would appear that some very, very, very, very, very, very, very clever A1 A-Hole has been messing about with the website so the technical people are working on it and we hope that the better of the maritime website's will be back to what you are used to seeing soon.

WATCH THIS SPACE

And thank you to all who have ever visited the website except for one of course.

EIGAMOIYA - Yard No 504 Update

There is now a correction on the pages about the MV EIGAMOIYA from someone who was activley involved in the dealings with the Nauru people and Government at the time. And in the interests of historical accuracy we are always happy to hear from people with first hand knowledge of events and only to willing to change things should they be found to be not quite accurate.

AGUARAY Update

We also have an update about the MV AGUARAY from our contacts in South America
She was built at the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb in 1928 as Ship No 112 and information shows that she was still around in 1986 although it is not known what happened to her after this time.

HMS CARDIGAN BAY Update

HMS CARDIGAN BAY seen in this postcard sent in by the Daughter of Stoker "Jack Parle"

Who served on her for three and a half years, she was of course built at the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb during the dark days of World War Two as Ship No 348 being the first of Three Bay Class Frigates built and launched from the yard. More about HMS CARDIGAN BAY here.

May we also take this opportunity to wish all our readers a very good New Year for 2013

Ship Photo's

We have been busy updating the ships photo pages and there are now many more great photographs of ships old and some right up to date.
So if you are interested or if you have some ships photograph's that you may want to have shown on the Leith Shipyards website then just make contact through the website and we shall feature them on the ever growing ships photo library.

Photographs such as this one of the classic old ZEALANDIA from the Late Don Ross Collection.

Replica of HMS BOUNTY sinks

The replica HMS BOUNTY in happier times at the Tall Ships in Halifax 2012
(Photo from the Loftsman Collection)

The sad loss of the replica HMS BOUNTY and two of her crew including her Captain
(Photo credit unknown but probably by the U.S.Coastgaurd)

It was sad to see the loss of a fine old replica ship the past week and even sadder to see that two life’s were lost along with the old vessel going down in the surrounds of the huge storm that hit the Eastern Seaboard of The United States given the name Sandy.

This replica which was built for the movie that had Marlon Brando in it called “Mutiny on the Bounty” was built in Nova Scotia around 50 years ago.

Deck Boy on the MV KAWATIRI

MV KAWATIRI Ship No 399 (Photo credit unknown)

We have a story sent in to the website from Gary King about his time as a Deck Boy on the USSCo vessel KAWATIRI Ship No 399

Along with some photographs as well

You can read more of this story on the ship pages of the KAWATIRI on the website

ARCADIAN Ship No 473- A Whale of a Tale

MV ARCADIAN Ship No 473

A truly amazing story has come to light regarding a voyage by the ARCADIAN in June 1965 across the stormy North Atlantic from Canada to the U.K.

She had a very valuable deck cargo in the form of four live very rare Beluga Whales that had been caught by fishermen in the St Lawrence and were wanted by Cleethorpes Zoo in England.

There was a sad end to this voyage as only one of the precious cargo survived.

The female Beluga that survived was soon to die in captivity a couple of months later at  the Marine Land Zoo in England.

 

Now a request for help has came into the Leithshipyards website from the Aquarium of Quebec in Canada looking for information on this voyage.

A Beluga Whale of the type that they tried to ship on the MV ARCADIAN in 1965

The rare whale is on the endangered species list.

We shall soon have some new information about this amazing voyage.

SOUTH STEYNE on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels

An indication of the historical importance that Australians place on the SOUTHSTEYNE is shown by the fact that she is now on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels and this should also means that she will be kept up to a good standard of condition and maintenance which should mean that this fine old ship will be around for a lot longer yet.

SS SOUTH STEYNE at her berth in Sydney Australia

The photograph above is from the curator of the Historical Ships Register in Australia, a country that values it’s maritime heritage as the only means of getting there prior to around 50 years ago was by ship of course.

For more information visit the Australian Register of Historic Vessels

New Zealand Cement Carriers-update

GOLDEN BAY departing Wellington, New Zealand
(Photograph is courtesy of the Fletcher challenge Trust Archive)

The Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb were to build a total of three Cement Carriers for work in New Zealand and these highly specialised ships were a common sight around the caost of New Zealand for many years.

A fourth ship was also built for New Zealand although this ship was built at the Dundee yard of what was then know as Robb Caledon following the takeover of the old Dundee yard by Henry Robb shipbuilders in 1968

All were to work for the Golden Bay cement company which was eventually taken over by Fletcher Challenge

One of the ships engineers Tony Skilton who sailed on all four of the vessels has been helping the archivists at Fletcher Challenge Trust to identify some of the many photographs which have been uncovered and with the kind help of Dorothy there at the trust they have found many old photographs of the three vessels built at the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb

The original GOLDEN BAY Ship No 430 built and launched in 1953

The JOHN WILSON Ship No 478 built and launched in 1961 and

The Diesel Electric Vessel LIGAR BAY Ship No 488 built and launched in 1964

The Leith Shipyards website is pleased to be able to show the new photographs found and would like to thank Engineer Tony Skilton and the staff at the Fletcher Challenge Trust Archives (in particular Dorothy) for there time and help and of course for the permission to show them on the Leith Shipyards website.

Rescue from the Sea



Rescue of the crew of the MV INSISTANCE in 1993 (Reg M Collection)


Just as a wee reminder as if any was needed that a life at sea has it's own inbuilt perils in the form of Mother Nature and it is testiment to the bravery of the men who go down to the sea to rescue such unfortunate ships which may happen to run aground around the goast of the British Isles even more in the news right now as the incumbent british Government is trying to run down the amount of cover in place around the coast citing cost as a viable reason to put life in danger.

The MV INSISTANCE
The Motor Vessel INSISTANCE was built in 1975 at 475 grt she was owned by Crescent shipping of Rochester Kent, England
She sailed from the Tyne on Wednesday 15th Septewmber 1993 bound for Rotterdam, in ballast and with a heavy sea running with storm force winds she turned South and suffered an engine breakdown.
The small coaster was driven ashore on the Herd Sands at South Sheilds and the three man crew was rescued by a Sea King helicoptor of the Royal Air Force rescue on the 16th September 1993.
The vessel was refloated on Friday 17th September at 1700 hours with the assistance of the Tyne tug "Flying Spindrift" which floated a polyprop tow line to the vessel and with the aid of the incoming tide.
On refloating the ship was taken into the Tyne for survey at Tyne Dock Engineering Ltd



   

BALDER LEITH update

BALDER LEITH Ship No 532 is Launched at the Leith Shipyards of Robb Caledon 1983

We now have some more photographs of the oil supply ship BALDER LEITH Ship No 532 built and launched from the Leith Shipyards of Robb Caledon (Henry Robbs) in 1983, the photographs are part of a collection from shipwright Barry Booth and now on the Leith Shipyards website.
We are also delighted to be selected to show another fine collection of photographs on the website from another ex shipyard worker this time from the shipbuilding powerhouse that was Englands North East Reg Mordecai has entrusted the Leith Shipyards website to feature his fine collection of Sunderland built ships (1963-1989) from the shipyards of Austin and Pickersgills, Doxford, Shorts, Sir James Laing, Joseph L Thompson and Bartram and Sons.

A ship on the stocks at Sunderland from the Reg M Collection

MV KOONYA update

The MV KOONYA on route in the Bass Strait on the way to Burnie in this photograph sent in by Mike Gostt and shown her by permission.



We have some fine photographs of another Union Steam Ship Co of New Zealand ship built in the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb as Ship No 461 She was a sister ship to the MV KUMALLA Ship No 456

MV POOLTA maiden voyage out to Australia

A great tale told by a guy who sailed as “Peggy” on the maiden voyage of MV POOLTA Ship No 465 out to Australia on a ship which turned out to be the last ship built at the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb for one of the yards best customers the Union Steam Ship Co of New Zealand.


It’s a great story of how he survived as a young teenager the mad lunges of a drunken ship’s cook who was intent on carving out his liver at the time with a sharp blade.

So if you want to know what or who was a “Peggy” on the ship then read the story on the site as told by Rodney Giddens who also contributed a great photograph of MV POOLTA arriving in Sydney Harbour all flags while sailing under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.