A Happy and Peaceful 2016

A Happy and Peaceful 2016

We would like to wish all of our many visitors both to this Blog and the Leith Shipyards website a very Happy and Peaceful 2016

Ship No 347 started out with the name LOCH KATRINE one of the Loch Class Frigates built at the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb Ltd, in the dark days of the Second World War

She went on to become part of the New Zealand Navy, as HMNZS ROTOITI and spent some years based in the far south of the Southern Ocean on station as a rescue and weather ship as support to the bases in the Antarctic.

So please spare a though or two for those who may not be able to be at home at this time of the year.

SATURNO Ship No 81 - Update

This Ocean going Salvage Tug was the first in a long line of pedigree vessels of this type built at the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb Ltd, a line of tugs that lead to the two mightiest and most powerful in the world when they were launched at Leith as the LLOYDSMAN and the S.A.WOLRAAD WOLTEMADE in the 1970's.

The SATURNO was built and launched in 1928 and was only taken to be broken up in 2010 safe to say that she had a useful working life of around 75 years quite remarkable for a ship and a testament to the craftsmanship and pride in workmanship that went into her build.
Now thanks to the Grand Son of an old ex Foreman Loftsman at the Henry Robb yard we have lots of information and photographs of the build and sea trials of this fine ship, so our thanks go to Peter Wallace and to his Grand Father William Wallace who had the book originally.

From the original book made for the launch of the SATURNO in 1928

This amazing ship undertook a maiden voyage of more than 9,000 miles towing at first her two satellite vessels which were lighters of 95feet with a 200 grt to Dakar in Senegal, then back to the Canary Islands to pick up 3 crane barges that had first been built at Robb then dis-assembled and re-erected in the Canaries ready to be towed across the Atlantic by the SATURNO to home port of Santos in Brazil.
Fair to say they don't make them like that any more with most ships today lucky of a useful life approaching 30 years before going to the breakers.

 Many more original photographs will go into the forthcoming books on the ships built at Leith

Fantastic Photo's of Queen Mary 2 & her Captain

Its been a wee while since time has allowed some updates on the blog however a lot of new things happening and in the meantime check out these amazing photographs of the Captain of the majestic liner Queen Mary 2.
The photographs are from friends of the Leith Shipyards website over at http://freeshipplans.com/
a great site of interest for all things to do with ships and you get free plans as well.

The Great Liners Story This history charts the hey-day of the great liners, those grand and lavish vessels that cruised around the world carrying their glamorous passengers from port to port. Decorated to the highest of finishes, fitted out in the most luxurious of styles, these floating palaces epitomised their opulent age. Their iconic names, from Titanic to Mauretania, from Queen Elizabeth to QE2, conjure up visions of power, grace, elegance and nostalgia for this golden age of travel. Written by maritime and cruise liner expert William Miller, and accompanied by stunning photographs, artworks, Did You Know facts and quotations, The Great Liners Story is a must-have addition to any maritime library.

There is always a bound between a ship and her captain. Mostly they try to have a picture with most of ships they are in command of. Queen Mary 2′s Captain Kevin Oprey posed with his ship in an unusual way, but the result is so amazing.


The Captain of the liner Queen Mary 2 walks on water or so it would seem from this amazing photograph, he is of course standing on her bulbous bow in a very calm sea



The Captain of the Queen Mary 2 stands on her bulbous bow and gives some indication of the scale of this magnificent liner


 

For more great photographs of the Queen Mary 2 and many other visit the Leith Shipyards photos pages.



Transatlantic Liners Prior to air travel there was only one way to cross the Atlantic: by ship. By the late nineteenth century, steam ships dominated the transatlantic passenger trade, growing exponentially in size as maritime technology improved and as more immigrants poured from Europe into the New World. As the liners got bigger, the scope for luxury increased, so that a substantial part of ships such as Titanic would be given over to sumptuous dining saloons, lounges, smoking rooms and even gymnasia for the most affluent passengers. Meanwhile, the bulk of passengers, the poor migrants with one-way tickets to America, were efficiently arranged in small cabins with bunks in the bows and stern of the ship. This book is an introduction to the age of the superliner, from 1900 to the modern day, exploring changes in the liner's design and role over a century that saw competition between shipping lines and between nations. The author describes the history and design of such great ships as Lusitania, Olympic, Imperator, Normandie, both queen Elizabeths, both queen Marys and, of course, the legendary Titanic. He tells the story of the heyday of the great liners before immigration to America was curtailed, the many races for the Blue Riband speed record, the experiences of rich and poor passengers, the role of the liners as troopships and hospital ships during the world wars, and the decline in the Atlantic trade after the 1960s, since when most passengers have travelled by air.

H.M.S. CARNARVON BAY

H.M.S.CARNARVON BAY

Ship No 349

Twin screw “Bay Class” Frigate.


Second of the BAY Class Anti-Aircraft Frigate’s initially ordered on 25th January 1943 for build as a LOCH Class Anti-Submarine Frigate, but for which the ordered was changed in 1944. Originally to have been named H.M.S.LOCH MADDY.

She was laid down on 8th June 1944 and launched as H.M.S.CARNARVON BAY by Henry Robb shipyard at Leith on 15th March 1945.

She was launched two months before the war with Germany was to end, but of course the war with Japan continued, until August 1945.

She was the first Royal Navy ship to carry this name she was completed on 20th September 1945

She served in home waters for a few years before being laid up, then she was eventually sold for scrap in 1959.

A short career for a fine ship.

H.M.S. CARDIGAN BAY

H.M.S. CARDIGAN BAY

Ship No 348



Twin screw “Bay Class” Frigate.

H.M.S. Cardigan Bay was the first of three Bay Class Frigates ordered from the Henry Robb yard.

She was built by Henry Robb of Leith in 1943 and was to be named HMS Loch Laxford but due to a policy change and a need for anti-aircraft escorts for service in the Far East the contract was changed and the design was changed to that of a “Bay” Class Anti-aircraft frigate and laid down on the 14th of April 1944 as Ship No 348. She was launched on 28th December 1944 as HMS Cardigan Bay, the first ship to carry the name. Her build was completed on 15th June 1945.
She was commissioned in June 1945 and was to serve in the Pacific War Zone but with the declaration of VJ Day on 15 August her Far East Service was deferred.

She served in the Mediterranean including surveillance in the Corfu Channel in 1946 after the mining of HM Ships Saumarez and Volage by Albania. She undertook patrols in the Adriatic and Red Sea intercepting ships attempting to transport illegal Jewish immigrants to Palestine.
In 1949 she transferred to the Far East and served on patrols and bombardments during the Malayan Emergency, Yangste Estuary and Formosa Strait.

She completed five operational tours during the Korean War 1950-1953, where she gained a Battle Honour

She entered the Reserve and in March 1962 was towed to the West of Scotland (Troon) ship breaking where, by early September her destruction was completed.



Cardigan Bay was an unassuming small warship, a workhorse of escort groups, designed and built for the Second War. She was one of a numerous class, none of whose names became famous or even well–known in history.

H.M.S.CARDIGAN BAY

Bay Class Frigate


Was a modified Loch Class to convert to Anti-aircraft. They carried heavier Anti-aircraft weaponry and radar director. Still carried a hedgehog and depth charges but primary role was now Anti-aircraft, intended to give support to the D Day landings and for the Pacific theatre, where the main threat was from air attack. Use of pre-fabrication and the ability to use a common hull for different variants were features that ensured much of the Bay and Loch classes would influence post war Escort design. The excellent sea-keeping qualities of the hulls were ably demonstrated on several occasions when ships of the class rode out Typhoons which were a common hazard in the Far East.

By the mid 1950 the usefulness against modern aircraft was in decline.

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H.M.S. LOCH INSH

H.M.S.LOCH INSH

Ship No 346



Twin screw “Loch Class” Frigate.

Second of the Loch Class to be built at the Leith yard, of Henry Robb Ltd.

LOCH-Class Twin Screw Frigate ordered from Henry Robb, Leith on 25th January 1943 and laid down as Ship No 346 in November 1943. The ship was launched on 10th May 1944 as the 1st RN ship to carry the name. Her build was completed on 20th October 1944. The ship was ‘adopted’ by the civil community of Northampton after entering service.
HMS LOCH INCH while on the Russian Convoy duty (Convoy RA66)

sank U307 using SHARK projectiles and SQUID in the attacks.

She rescued 14 survivors from the destroyed U-Boat.

She served world wide with the Royal Navy for 18 years after the end of World War 2
HMS LOCH INSH was placed on the Disposal List and sold to the Royal Malayan Navy in 1963. After a very extensive refit at Portsmouth which included change’s to the aft superstructure and the provision of Helicopter landing facilities, the ship was renamed HANG TUAH. She sailed for Malaya on 12th November 1964 and served as the Flagship of the Royal Malaysian Navy until 1971 when she was used as a training ship until withdrawn from service 6 years later.
H.M.S. Loch Inch had a working life of more than 30 years.

H.M.S. LOCH INSH

“Loch Class” Frigates.

The ships of the Loch class of A/S frigates represent the final product of wartime design of frigates.

They were designed to be mass produced in sections at dispersed sites and transported to an assembly point at a slipway.

Welding and riveting were used to speed production of the unit construction techniques and it took fewer men to produce a ship of this class.

With a single 4 in gun on the foc’sle for surface action, the main weapons were beyond doubt the twin squid anti-submarine mortars, along with the high mounted rapid firing twin 20mm guns for anti-personnel work.

To speed construction curved structures were eliminated in the design making the lofting a little bit more simple and a noticeable result of this was that the deck sheer was reduced to three straight lines, from stern to bow.

Battle of the Atlantic World War II was only a few hours old when the Battle of the Atlantic, the longest campaign of the Second World War and the most complex submarine war in history, began with the sinking of the unarmed passenger liner Athenia by the German submarine U30. Based on the mastery of the latest research and written from a mid-Atlantic - rather than the traditional Anglo-centric - perspective, Marc Milner focuses on the confrontation between opposing forces and the attacks on Allied shipping that lay at the heart of the six-year struggle. Against the backdrop of the battle for the Atlantic lifeline he charts the fascinating development of U-boats and the techniques used by the Allies to suppress and destroy these stealth weapons.