The Voyages of
Wilfred A. Nicholas

Part Three

Relief shipkeeping

River Fal, Cornwall, December 1958 / January 1959

At some period, Dad spent some time, about 6 weeks, on relief duty 'shipkeeping' on laid up ships on the River Fal in Cornwall together with Mum. Mum says this was over a Christmas, memories are a bit hazy now, but the only available period for this would have been Winter 1958 / 1959.

Apparently although Dad was allocated a cabin on board one of the ships, Holt's at that time objected to allowing wives on board, so Mum and Dad stayed ashore motoring out to the ships everyday in a launch.

There were a total of 5 Blue Funnel ships in lay up, 3 pointing one way, 2 the other, all in one 'raft'. The 4 ships in the first picture above are, from left to right, "Trevethoe" (not Blue Funnel), "Medon" an Empire ship, "Titan" a Liberty ship and "Euryplus" another Liberty ship.

Behind the "Trevethoe" can be seen another Blue Funnel ship, apparently a 'Victory' ship.

The second picture below shows the other 2 Blue Funnel ships, viewed from the other end of the 'raft'. They are unidentified but seem to be a Liberty ship with a Victory ship alongside (with the taller funnel). The 'Victory' ship is the one behind the "Trevethoe".

Dad pictured while on the lay up ships in the River Fal, Cornwall, 1958 / 59. I think this was taken by Mum on board one of the Blue Funnel Liberty ships that were there.

"Pyrrhus" - 3 trips, 1959, 1959, 1959

Single screw, 3 double reduction geared turbines 14, 000 ship at 106 RPM speed 18 knots. 2 foster wheeler boilers 525lbs per sq. ins.

Port	Arrive	Sail	Port	Arrive	Sail
Dad signed on 17 Mar 1959 at Birkenhead			Yokohama	23 May	27 May
Liverpool		?	Shimizu	27 May	28 May
Glasgow	?	28 Mar	Nagoya	28 May	28 May
Liverpool	29 Mar		Kobe	29 May	2 Jun
Dad signed off 29 Mar, on 2 Apr at B’head			Hong Kong	6 Jun	6 Jun
Liverpool		7 Apr	Singapore Roads	10 Jun	13 Jun
Rotterdam	9 Apr	13 Apr	Port Swettenham	14 Jun	17 Jun
Port Said / Suez	21 Apr	23 Apr	Penang	17 Jun	19 Jun
Aden	26 Apr	26 Apr	Colombo	22 Jun	23 Jun
Singapore	5 May	7 May	Aden	28 Jun	28 Jun
Manila	10 May	13 May	Suez / Port Said	2 Jul	3 Jul
Hong Kong	15 May	17 May	Liverpool	10 Jul
Kobe	20 May	22 May	Dad signed off 10 Jul at Birkenhead
Notes: Voyage 30, Capt H S Wood, commenced 7/4/59. Dad 2nd Engineer £93 10s pm then £100 pm from 1/7/59 (Allotment £50 pm)
Port	Arrive	Sail	Port	Arrive	Sail
Dad signed on 7 Aug at Birkenhead			Shimizu	3 Oct	4 Oct
Liverpool		8 Aug	Hong Kong	7 Oct	8 Oct
Rotterdam	9 Aug	14 Aug	Singapore	12 Oct	13 Oct
Port Said / Suez	22 Aug	23 Aug	Port Swettenham	14 Oct	16 Oct
Aden	26 Aug	26 Aug	Penang	16 Oct	17 Oct
Singapore	4 Sep	6 Sep	Colombo	20 Oct	21 Oct
Manila	9 Sep	12 Sep	Aden	20 Oct	26 Oct
Hong Kong	14 Sep	17 Sep	Suez / Port Said	29 Oct	30 Oct
Kobe	20 Sep	21 Sep	Liverpool	7 Nov
Yokohama	22 Sep	29 Sep	Dad signed off 7 Nov at Birkenhead
Kobe	30 Sep	3 Oct	Dad signed off 7 Nov at Birkenhead
Notes: Voyage 31, Capt H S Wood, commenced 7/8/59 Dad 2nd Engineer £100 pm (Allotment £45)

I have come across a set of photos which show a 'P' class vessel. Dad sailed on two 'P' class ships, the "Perseus" and the "Pyrrhus" and I am inclined to think that these photos show the "Pyrrhus", hence putting them in this location, but that is only conjecture.

This picture looks like it was taken in Europe somewhere, Amsterdam / Rotterdam / Hamburg ?

View from the monkey island.

European waters - the two officers are not dressed for the tropics.

Another view forward

View aft.

"Nestor" - 1960

Single Screw, 3 x Double Reduced Geared Turbines by Metro Vickers Manchester.

Dad signed on 23 Jan 1960 at Birkenhead	Dad signed off 13 Feb 1960 at Birkenhead.
Dad’s last voyage was a coasting run.

And so with the “Nestor”, Dad left the sea and came ashore to settle down to married life.

When Dad started his seagoing career he was in the Merchant Navy Pool, wearing ‘MN’ uniform insignia. At some point, he was made ‘permanent’ by Alfred Holt, and changed to the ‘AH’ uniform insignia.

Dad’s coming ashore was by no means the end of his association with the sea. After a short spell in a shore job, he went back – not to sea but to the sea – and also to the Far East again when, in 1962, he was appointed Marine Engineer in North Borneo on behalf of the British Government, later becoming Principal Marine Officer (E). This time he took his family, and remained there for the next 10 years. Here, among many other marine activities, he found himself back on board Blue Funnel ships again from time to time in the role of Surveyor.

The seven years following this were as a Manager with a shipyard in Singapore. Here too he was back on board a Blue Funnel ship, this time in more unfortunate circumstances - the "Calchas" after she was burnt out in Port Kelang (previously Port Swettenham). Her demise was caused by a forklift truck falling over while handling cargo in one of the holds, and the spilt fuel igniting. Dad said that when he was on board the "Calchas" the thing that struck him most was seeing in the burnt out accommodation just the radiators standing up from the decks, everything else being destroyed.

He then came back to the UK to join a well known and long established Government agency involved in marine consultancy work. This took him all over the world on various projects, and he remained there until his retirement in 1989.

Dad, with Mum, on holiday in China, October 2000.

During his retirement, Dad spent his time either tending to the garden in his home in East Sussex or looking after Mum’s MGBGT, interspersed with visits to relatives in the USA and holidays in Austria (their favourite) or the Far East with Mum, or spending time with his grandchildren.

Outside of his work, Dad still retained an interest in most aspects of shipping and marine engineering. He was frequently to be seen with a copy of Sea Breezes, Ships Monthly, or another similar 'journal of the sea', or a technical journal, and had an extensive maritime book and video library. Latterly his favourite reading was Shipping Today and Yesterday. He retained a permanent interest in Blue Funnel, and was quickly attracted by pictures or stories of the Blue Funnel ships he found in any of the magazines, or anything else associated with the Far East, such as the old Dutch JCJL, NSM or KPM ships.

I more or less followed in Dad's footsteps, inheriting his wide maritime interests and also to a certain extent professionally although by then the British Merchant Navy was in a state of terminal decline and Alfred Holt's Blue Funnel and Glen Line were not far away from being just a memory. We enjoyed many conversations and discussions about ships and the sea, and marine engineering. Mum used to say that when we were together all she ever heard was "ships, ships and more ships", sometimes to the point of exasperation.

Dad was elected to the Institute of Marine Engineers when he was at sea and stayed a lifelong member, becoming a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institute - C.Eng., FIMarE. - the pinnacle of achievement.

Finally, why 'The Forgotten Man' - well, Dad was interviewed one night in the early fifties when he was staying in Atlantic House, Liverpool, on study leave by Wynford Vaughn-Thomas. Vaughan-Thomas was attached to radio and TV and interviewed people for various programmes, Dad was actually on TV and it caused a stir in Blue Funnel when he described himself as one of the 'forgotten men' meaning Engineers. Thereafter, he was known as 'The Forgotten Man'.

Dad passed away on the 1st July, 2001 - not forgotten.

Go to Part Four