John Richardson’s feature “A Trip on the ss Hawkinge” during 1958 (STD&YD August 2104) certainly had me tripping ‘Down Memory Lane’. John’s old ship had two exact sisters, the steamers Beltinge and Garlinge. They were owned by Constants South Wales Limited (Constants of Cardiff) and as was customary for the firm the ships they took their names from Kentish villages or hamlets. They were good looking little ships this being born out by the accompanying Fotoflite picture of the Hawkinge when she was carrying a good sized deck load of either pit-props or pulpwood from one or the other of Canada’s Maritime provinces. This being a regular trade for these ships.

John mentions the ship’s call at Hornillo Bay for an iron-ore cargo. He is spot on with his description of the place since there really was not very much there, the main feature being the ore loading facilities. I think it was some time during 1960 that the Garlinge, aboard which I was serving as 2nd Mate, called at this port. I remember the pleasant walk over the hills to the village for a beer with one of the engineers. “Dos cervezas per favor Senor” It is quite on the cards that most readers will never have heard of Hornillo Bay. Well, it also rejoiced in the local names of Aguilas or Peurto Hornillos and it’s Latitude/Longitude co-ordinates are: 370 24′ N & 10 34′ W.

Just a small correction to what John had to say about the vessel’s cargo handling equipment. These ships only had six derricks to serve their four holds since numbers 1 and 4 possessed but a single derrick apiece. The outcome here being that when cargo was being loaded or discharged by ship’s gear the work at numbers 1 & 4 always lagged behind the other two holds. The sale of the ship mentioned in the concluding paragraph of John’s feature must have fallen through since the Hawkinge was still trading for Constants Ltd. well into the 1960’s

Keep up the good work with the magazine.

Re Shipping Today & Yesterday October14 page 58

Regarding the comments of the Hermiston collision with the Oceanic Unity on the Clyde, the photo above may be of interest. I took this in James Watt Dock, Greenock of damage to the bow of the Hermiston just after the incident.

I found your article on the history of the Moor Line extremely interesting as my father, Jack Wilson, from South Shields, sailed with them for some time. But there was one mistake in the article. The Yorkmoor was not torpedoed, she was sunk by gunfire by the U506, commanded by Erich Wurdemann.

My father was second engineer in the Yorkmoor and had just come off watch in the engine room at 8pm and was about to have a meal. In his own words he said, “I had a first-class thirst due to a very hot shift in the engine room and was looking forward to opening a can of beer of which I had bought several at St. Thomas a few days earlier. Yorkmoor had loaded bauxite there and was heading for New York.

Suddenly I heard was the report of a gun. I rushed outside of my cabin and could flashes from the guns of a submarine, one firing tracer and star shells and the other high explosive. A shell hit my cabin blowing it to pieces and devastating all the engineers’ accommodation. The blast blew me through the door of the alleyway and my lifebelt disappeared into the night.

The firing had become rapid and our own guns manned by DEMS gunners were answering. The main engines had stopped and the ship was sitting motionless in the water, The engine room and stokehold were flooding and it was obvious the ship would not last much longer.

Captain T.H. Matthews, also from South Shields, ordered abandon ship but launching a lifeboat under shellfire was not an easy task.”

This is just part of the story. There is much more to it suffice to say that no one was killed and were eventually picked up and landed at the US naval base at Norfolk, Virginia.

U506 was later sunk in the Bay of Biscay by a Coastal Command aircraft. Six of her crew were saved.

My father, who died in 1990, also sailed with Strick line, Shaw Savill and Albion and the Saint Line as well as Runciman’s Moor Line.

I am a proud owner of an old model ship, name unknown, in a glass case.

Recently, I had it partially restored. Some cleaning work and some re-rigging was carried out. The glass plates were cleaned, polished, refitted with new putty and stained & varnished. It was given to me by my late father in the early 1970s. I think he got it from my grandfather sometime in the 1930s. It may have been a gift to my grandfather as a job payment. He was the Attorney General and then Chief Justice of Ireland from the 1930s to the 1960s.

I remember at the time my father said to me ‘don’t spend any money on it as it isn’t worth it’. So, it has been largely ignored from that time until now and has spent the last 40 years just stuffed in a corner sitting on an unused coffee table. Then I mentioned that I had an old ship in a glass case to an Irish Naval Officer friend of mine, hence the current interest in its history.

The current thinking is that it hails from the time of the switchover from sail to steam, 1840-1850. It could be a pleasure craft, sail/ steam powered yacht or a small clipper. It could also be a small ‘Tea Transporter’ from India to the UK.

I would be eternally grateful if you and your readers could find out some more information for me.