Clarkspey, Clarkforth and Highland

During October 1962 and when barely into the second month of a one year pre-sea cadet course at Glasgow’s School of Navigation, a class of 15 aspiring seafarers of which I was one, was invited to visit the motorship Clarkforth at her builder’s yard at Port Glasgow on the lower reaches of the River Clyde. She had just completed trials out on the Firth and the subsequent process of handover to her owners, the London based ship and marine insurance brokers H. Clarkson & Company. She was however to be manned and managed by our visit hosts, J & J Denholm (Management) Ltd. of Glasgow.

On arrival at the gates of William Lithgow’s Kingston Yard and as an avid Clydeside ship spotter, I quickly realised as she lay resplendent in gleaming white hull and upperworks and with her Lithgow ‘signature’ funnel top fairing reminiscent of that fitted to the mid 1950’s Fairfield built Canadian Pacific Empress of Britain and Vickers built sister Empress of England, that Clarkforth was a sister to Clarkspey, completed some two years earlier at the yard for Clarksons. I was to discover soon after, that a third essentially identical vessel, but at the time not recognised as such whilst on Lithgow’s stocks, was to be completed during February 1963 as the open/closed shelter decker Highland for the Leith based Currie Line.

In the absence of the visit group leader, our seamanship and navigation class lecturer who had mysteriously disappeared on other probably more socially related ‘business matters’, our nominated ‘tour guide’ for inspection of the ship was a rather non assured and clearly uncomfortable deck cadet, who, probably rather more at ease in dungarees than his pristine reefers, was plainly at a loss whether to wear his uniform cap or inflict upon it a tortuous demise by wringing it to death! An hour saw the tour completed, when our group was directed to the Officers’ Smokeroom where it became obvious that whilst being refreshed with tea and buns, we were to be duly charmed by a less than subtle Denholm’s recruitment campaign! In due course five of my classmates ‘fell for it’, including one destined for office based ‘personnel – sea staff’ related duties. The others, seafarers with several remaining with the Company to attain command.

As for Clarkforth and her two ‘sisters’, it is probably inaccurate in a design sense to label them as tramps, for they were each completed to a high specification more akin to that found as a unit of any leading British liner fleet of the late 1950s/early 1960s era. But by ownership, tramps they were, with careers from time to time not generally reflective of that of a typical post war British built tramp of, say, Chapman & Willan, Haldin & Phillips’ ‘Courts’ or even Andrew Weir’s Bank Line fleet. The construction of this latter category of archetypical five hatch, three for’ard, two aft, with a set of two only derricks per hatch basic deck layout vessels, would have been commissioned in the full knowledge that by way of cargoes, bulk loads would predominate – coal, copra, grain, phosphates, ores, concentrates & scrap metals, or sugar with perhaps an occasional clean cargo such as motorcars or heavier goods stowed below with additional freights lashed down on deck and on occasion necessitating use of their minimal cargo handling gear for loading and discharge.

Clarkforth which, although conventional in every sense, was evidently a well appointed vessel below and on deck. Reflecting the need for improved crew comfort and facilities for extended voyaging, single berth accommodation was allocated to all on board including cadets and junior ratings. The Master, Owner, Radio Officer and three deck cadets plus a pilot, were berthed on the boat deck immediately below the bridge. The Officers’ Smokeroom was located at the after end of this deck. All engineers including the Chief and the three mates were berthed on the bridge deck below, except for her two engineering cadets and electrician who were berthed on the upper (weather) deck together with the Chief Steward and his galley and steward staff immediately forward of the galley, ship’s hospital, cafeteria style crew mess and separate P.O’s. mess. The Officers’ dining saloon, pantry and Engineers’ duty mess were located at the aft end of the Bridge Deck. The Bo’sun, Carpenter, ER Storekeeper and two Donkeymen P.O’s. were berthed aft on the poop deck adjacent to their recreation room and working mess, with sixteen deck and E/R ratings berthed in the deck below at upper (weather) deck level. Unlike her sisters, Clarkforth was furnished with separate crew recreation facilities housed atop the P.O’s. accommodation at aft docking bridge level.

On deck Clarkforth was comprehensively equipped with a full suite of conventional derricks consisting of two x 10 tons at #1, four x 10 tons plus 1 x 60 tons ‘jumbo’ at #2, two x 5 ton plus two x 10 tons at #3, two x 10 tons and two x 5 tons #4 and two x 10 tons at #5. A small #6 cargo space doubling as a ‘specials locker’ for secure or high value consignments was located in the tween decks between hold 5 and the vessel’s steering flat. The windlass, capstan down aft and cargo winches were electrically powered. Macgregor type sliding steel hatch covers were fitted on the weather deck hatches with stowage when working cargo beneath the winch platforms atop the deck contactor houses. Cargo compartments, consisting of single tweendecks and lower holds throughout, were non refrigerated and totalled approximately 695,000 cu.ft. including two deep tanks set P&S in the after part of #3 Lower Hold and duly equipped with a steam coil system necessary for the carriage of latex, tallow, edible oils, fats, molasses and other bulk commodities.

It was clear that with such a high specification in cargo handling and other equipment, Clarkforth was destined by her owners to derive revenue by means where possible beyond that of traditional tramping. Indeed her earlier and almost identical sister Clarkspey had, just one year before the former’s launch, secured a full five year time charter with the London based Port Line for service on the Company’s Antipodean routes from both the UK and other European ports and on occasion Canadian & US East Coast ports consequent to the charterer’s consortium membership and commitments to M.A.N.Z Line Ltd. operations. For the duration of such charter (1961-66), the last ever to be secured externally by the Line, Clarkspey was renamed Port Campbell. She was probably, by reason of this particular fixture, the best known of this tramp trio, certainly within British and Australasian shipping circles.

The cargo liner trade to the Antipodes

Port Line, whose primary focus like many of the UK’s leading liner companies of the day, NZS, Federal, Shaw Savill & Albion, Blue Star and Ellerman & Bucknall to name but a few, was to serve the lucrative export produce markets of Australia and New Zealand with large, fast fully refrigerated vessels, albeit carrying a full range of mainly British manufactured goods of a general nature on the UK outwards voyage. Rather than divert such premium revenue earners to general cargo operations for the return passage, owners demonstrated clear preference to secure general cargo ships on either voyage or term charters if non-refrigerated vessels were not readily available within either their own, subsidiary or associate company fleets. In context, Port Line as a member of the Cunard Group appeared the least likely to be in a position to call upon suitable vessels within the group. The Group’s T & J Brocklebank operated a large fleet of fully utilised vessels and their nine unit Cunard fleet of cargo ships was tailored to North Atlantic operations, both fleets of which were primarily non-refrigerated and Cunard’s vessels rather small for economic operation on the long voyages associated with the Australasian trade. Cunard also regularly chartered additional tonnage annually from external sources, for operations during the St Lawrence Seaway open season. Accordingly, Port Line, who by 1961 had disposed of what had been its own late 1930’s build small fleet of modified ‘Improved Doxford Economy’ series motorships, used mainly for general operations, had as a consequence, little recourse but to charter in suitable tonnage when required. To avoid widely fluctuating spot market rates, the Company showed clear preference to secure the stability of longer term time charters. Indeed at commencement of Port Campbell’s charter, the Company already had two other British flag vessels on time charter, both for the period 1960- 65, the somewhat revolutionary designed Port Wimbledon (ex Wimbledon of Britain Steamship Co., Watts, Watts & Co. Ltd.) and the more conventional Port Denison, ex Vimeira of Dornoch Shipping Co., Harrisons (Clyde) Ltd.

Of the other leading companies, The New Zealand Shipping Company (NZS) and its closely associated Federal Steam Navigation operated a small number of vessels with proportionately small refrigerated capacities (circa 19,000 cu.ft.) in addition to their mainline refrigerated ships. Recourse to this small fleet for general cargo operations however was ordinarily limited, as all were, in the main and in the company of partners Port Line and Ellermans, routinely engaged on M.A.N.Z (Montreal, Australia, New Zealand) Line operations which in itself rarely called for a refrigerated cargo requirement for East Coast North American destined consignments and when carriage of non-refrigerated cargo such as wet hides, bones and other animal by-products were the norm on these routes. From the east coast of North America to Australasia, there was little call for refrigerated capacity, when paper products and automobiles were the primary commodities shipped. NZS however were the registered owners of a small fleet of general cargo vessels managed by a further group subsidiary, Avenue Shipping Company (managed by Trinder Anderson & Co. of London) expressly established for the purpose of providing additional capacity for the shipment of general cargoes to P. & O. Group Companies when needs arose. In consequence therefore, this group rarely if ever needed to secure additional capacity externally.

Shaw Savill & Albion operated a substantial fleet of mainline refrigerated vessels but as a member of the Furness Withy Group, usually had ready access to the Group’s extensive general capacity. As a result, the Line regularly, indeed virtually permanently, had chartered Group vessels in operation, routinely from the Prince Line, Johnston Warren and Houlders for varying terms. External exceptions however included Turnbull Scott’s 1952 completed Flowergate and Bolton Steam’s Smith’s Dock 1953/4 built sisters Ramsay and Romanic, all on extended period time charters. Shorter term time charters included Irish Shipping’s Irish Maple during 1964 and several voyage charters with Currie’s Highland.

Blue Star Line, with its significant agricultural land investments on the South American continent and Australasia together with associated meat processing facilities, the Vestey Group (Union International/Union Cold Storage Ltd.) fleets of Blue Star, Lamport + Holt, Booth & Austasia Lines, were large enough and other than on occasion for a quite specific or specialised requirement, rarely had call to charter externally. Indeed on occasion, Group companies chartered out their own vessels. For example, Lamport’s small fruit ships, the 3,100 grt Chatham and Constable served for a period as banana carriers for both Geest & United Fruit/Fyffes before transfer and lengthening for Blue Star’s meat trade between South American and Mediterranean ports, when renamed Mendoza Star and Santos Star respectively. For general cargo capacity requirements however, the group merely transferred appropriate vessels from one Group Company to another for requisite periods. Notable exceptions were Blue Star’s 8,500 grt turbine steamers Rhodesia Star and South Africa Star, laid down in the US during 1943 as Convoy Escort Carriers, converted post war to general cargo ships and acquired by the line during 1948. This pair formed the backbone of Blue Star’s general cargo capacity almost exclusively in the Australasian trades until 1967 during which period a typical UK-Australia round voyage involved loading a full cargo of general from UK ports for discharge at Australia’s major termini, positioning in ballast to a Spencer Gulf port (usually Whyalla or Port Pirie) to load several thousand tons of concentrates usually in the form of zinc ingots, colloquially known as ‘pigs’. Weighing one ton each, they covered the entire ceilings of each of the lower holds, thereby stiffening the ship after all holds were topped off (usually up to and between the beams of weather deck hatches!) with the lower density baled wool, normally at Sydney, Melbourne and Port Adelaide, to assure stability related safety and comfort for the homewards voyage. As both vessels were furnished with deep tanks and associated steam heating coils in their #3 lower holds, bulk latex or tallow was on occasion loaded for UK discharge. Wool was in the main consigned to Dunkirk, Antwerp, Hamburg, Liverpool and Hull and on inducement, Genoa or other ports en route. Voyage termination at Middlesbrough followed discharge of concentrates/ zinc cargoes. With the vagaries of the Australian wool market, the pair would from time to time be placed into short term lay-up in UK waters. To obviate such nil revenue periods, South Africa Star was retro fitted with a 180 ton heavy lift derrick for diversified and more specialised trading. A plan to undertake a similar modification to sister Rhodesia Star but with an even greater heavylift capability, was shelved due to stability related concerns, with the Company during late 1965 commissioning instead the newbuild, Australia Star with an installed 300 ton capacity Stulcken derrick.

Ellerman and Bucknall was the primary operator of vessels of the Ellerman Group which during the late 1950s and 60s operated a mix of especially large ¾ aft ships with significant refrigerated space plus numerous non-refrigerated vessels, tailored to meet the needs of Australasian shippers. Coupled with ready access to additional non refrigerated capacity from elsewhere within the Group’s global trading extensive fleets when essential, the Company only occasionally sought chartered in tonnage.

It can be seen therefore that Port Line was the primary UK liner company on Australasian operations with an ongoing need to charter vessels such as Clarkspey and others from external sources. The subject three tramps however remained gainfully employed with Clarkforth and Highland, or in their respective post sale renamed guises, also engaged in ad hoc charter sailings for numerous foreign flag liner companies, interspersed with traditional tramping voyages.

The Ships

Specifications and career histories

Clarkspey

– 7,483 grt (open shelter deck) / 10,029 grt (closed), 11,330 dwt.

– 153.9 (loa) x 142.0 (lpp) x 20.1m / 504’11” x 465’10” x 65’ 11”.

– Single x 6 cyl. Harland & Wolff/ Burmeister & Wain type turbocharged opposed piston oil engine by J.G. Kincaid. 5,800 bhp at 118 rpm.

– Service speed 14.5 knots (maximum 16 knots on builder’s trials 21st March 1960).

1959 – Launched 3rd March, Yard No.1124, Lithgows Ltd. (East Yard). Completed March 1960, delivered to J. Clarkson & Co. Ltd. Registered Glasgow (Denholm Ship Management).

1961 – Secured five year time charter Port line Ltd., London. Renamed Port Campbell.

1966 – Completed Port Line charter commitment. Returned to owners.

1966 – Sold to Counties Steam Navigation Co. Ltd., London (Counties Ship Management) when renamed Kings Reach. Engaged in worldwide tramping and chartered on liner services for varying periods to, amongst others, Kawasaki Kisen KK of Japan and Canatlantic.

1970 – Sold to Alderminster Shipping Co. Ltd., Gibraltar. Renamed Alderminster (Managers Mullion & Co., London & Hong Kong). Time chartered to Safmarine.

1975 – Sold to Joli Shipping Inc. Renamed Joli (Irish Marine Management Ltd., Dublin), Liberian flag.

1976 – Sold to Kyklops Compania Naviera S.A. Renamed Flora C (Omega Marine Enterprises, Athens), Panamanian Flag.

1977 – Transferred to Greek Flag. 1982 – Sailed 24th September Kakinda (now Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh) for Calcutta but sold en route to Pakistani breakers, Burhani Metal Works, Bhatiau Beach, Chittagong where she arrived 22nd October 1982.

Unique key identifiers of Clarkspey within the class of the three sisters

Two deck high hance style plating at the break of the sterncastle. Curved gravity davits arms serving high-set lifeboats. Port Campbell did not always sport the pristine appearance normally associated with that of the regular Port Line fleet. A shipmate who had previously served as an engineer aboard her, recalls an incident whilst the ship was alongside at Sydney. A shore gang arrived one morning and in the course of the day undertook to paint the entire port side of the ship, white fo’c’sle, bulwarks and poop, grey hull, deep red boot topping, the lot! Port Campbell’s Mate had sworn his deck crowd to silence until the job was complete and the painters ready to disembark. Imagine the latter’s chagrin when they realised that they had painted the wrong ship. The right one, a unit of the Company’s own fleet, was lying at an adjacent berth!

Clarkforth

– 7,669 grt (open), 9,937 grt (closed), 13,750 dwt.

– 153.9 (loa) x 142.0 (lpp) x 20.1 m / 504’11”x 465’10” x 65’11”.

– Single x 8 cylinder Burmeister & Wain type turbocharged poppet valve oil engine by J.G. Kincaid. 8,570 bhp at 135 rpm.

– Service speed 16.5 knots (maximum 17 knots on speed trials).

1962 – Launched 5th June, Yard No. 1136, Lithgows Ltd. (Kingston Yard). Completed October 1962, Delivered to J. Clarkson & Co. Ltd. and registered at Glasgow (Denholm Ship Management Ltd.)

1965 – Sold to the Liverpool based Kuwait Shipping Company (S.A.K.) for liner operations under the Kuwaiti flag, when renamed Salimiah.

1973 – Sold to Yick Fung Shipping & Enterprises Co. Ltd., Hong Kong for operations under the Somali flag, when renamed Norwegian Sea.

1976 – Sold to the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCo), Beijing for liner operations when renamed Dong Ping.

1977 – Renamed Yuchan.

1979 – Renamed Yu Chun.

1984 – Transferred to Guangzhou Ocean Shipping, Guangzhou when renamed Qing Feng San Hao.

1997 – No longer appeared on register. Demise unknown.

Unique key identifiers of Clarkforth within the class of the three sisters

Additional deck house on poop housing at docking bridge level equipped as crew recreation room, but which appears to have been removed during her period of Kuwaiti ownership. She also featured straight arms of gravity type davits supporting very low-set lifeboats, at a level reminiscent of luffing davits with chocked boats and totally unlike those of her earlier sister Clarkspey.

Highland

– 7,689 grt (open), 9,754 grt (closed), 13,880 dwt.

– 153.9 x 142.0 x 20.1m / 504’11” x 465’10” x 65’11”.

– Single x 8 cylinder Burmeister & Wain type turbocharged poppet valve oil engine by J.G.Kincaid. 8,570 bhp at 135 rpm.

– Service speed 16.5 knots (maximum of 17 knots at speed trials on 27th February 1963).

1962 – Launched 16th November, Yard No. 1143, Lithgows Ltd. (Kingston Yard).

1963 – Completed February. Delivered to Currie Line Ltd. Registered at Leith. Undertook series charters on liner services for Zim Israel Navigation Co. Ltd. and a number of sailings to Australia on a joint Shaw Savill/ Blue Funnel Line all cargo service.

1968 – Sold to the Anchor Line (Runciman Shipping Ltd., Glasgow) when renamed Elysia for, mainly North Atlantic, liner operations. Registry transferred to Glasgow.

1969 – Sold to Artagan Shipping Co. Ltd., Monrovia (Ramon de la Sota Jnr.) for Liberian flag operation and renamed Arteaga during early 1970.

1981 – Sold to Olympus T. Shipping Co. S.A., Panama when renamed Olympus for operation under the Greek flag (Palmyra Tsiris Lines S.A., Piraeus).

1983 – Ownership transferred to Olympus Shipping Co. for operations under the Lebanese flag without change of name or managers.

1984 – On 5th March developed severe hull fractures when 70 n.m. SE of Tangegashima on voyage from Varna to Osaka with a cargo of steel plate. Vessel beached at the entrance to the Kii Channel near Kamoda Misaki and abandoned by her crew. After cargo discharged, declared a constructive total loss.

Unique key identifiers of Highland within the class of the three sisters

Kingpost on foredeck between holds #2 and #3 was equipped with topmast and flag signal yard. Winches and their controls serving dual Samson posts at the midships superstructure forepart were raised on a separate platform, rather than situated on the weather deck outboard of hatch #3’s after end per Clarkspey/ Clarkforth. Highland’s straight gravity davit arms supporting high set lifeboats resulted in differing davit related design characteristics for each of the three sisters. A faired and more substantial light equipped signal mast with radar aerial set at its truck was mounted atop the wheelhouse, compared to the rather basic pole signal mast of her sisters and where their radar scanners were bracket mounted on the forward face at approximately 60% height.

Liners and tramps post 1960s

Our high specification trio was to all intents and purposes the last British built design of their era to serve both the liner and tramp trades. The economics of such ships with, by the mid 1960s, rapidly escalating crew costs with commensurate much improved working conditions of employment, together with the prospect of containerisation on the liner routes, were diverting the attention of ship owners towards more remunerative specialisations. Whilst Britain’s major liner groups were being driven towards the formation of consortia to share the capital intensive first costs of container operations, focused initially on Australasian operations, tramp operators were turning their attention towards the philosophy of dry cargo utility/ economy vessels, loosely defined as Liberty Ship replacements. By 1966, a number of British, German, Spanish and Japanese shipbuilders had initiated campaigns for the construction of a series of standard designs directed at the tramp trades. Namely, the British ‘SD14’, the German ‘Weser’, Spanish ‘Santa Fe’ and Japanese ‘Freedom, Sanoyasu’ and ‘Universal’ standard designs proved the most successful, with the SD14 (and derivatives), the Japanese ‘Freedoms’ and German ‘Wesers’ in particular proved to be the best sellers of what became a comprehensive range of vessels ordered, with some exceptions, for tramp trade operations. Additional by definition, standard design developments emerged to cater for the wider market and where they could be developed where required to undertake specific or more specialised tasks be it for the carriage of specialised goods ranging from bulk commodities to containers. Interestingly however, and in the full context of this article, by the early 1970s, Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd. had designed and were marketing a rather more sophisticated but nevertheless flexible vessel initially directed towards the liner trades, labelled the ‘Clyde 19’ Standard design, but with options available to satisfy the needs and flexibility of both the liner and a wide range tramp trade applications, from high powered propulsion for speed to deck arrangements suited to container carriage, grain, timber with a commensurate range of cargo handling equipment, deck cranes and even variable pitch propellers and bulbous bows. After completion of only 7 examples, UCS collapsed effectively putting to an end any future for the design. Almost all such standard designs became readily identifiable by their signature externally swedged deck house bulkheads, a feature pointedly directed at minimisation of build costs and with general economy in mind, as a means to satisfy the seemingly insatiable needs of accountants, shareholders and institutional investors, in contrast to the shipowner of old who, whilst remaining dependent upon adequate returns, took pride in a well maintained fleet.

Clearly early standard design vessels of the 1970s and those of today are a far cry from the style, elegance and clean lines attributable to ships such as Clarkspey, Clarkforth and Highland. Perhaps Masefield’s words, albeit reflective of an even earlier era, should once again apply:-

They are my country’s line, by strong brains labouring on the thought unwon, They mark our passage as a race of men, Earth will not see such ships as these again.