# Does Anybody Know This R/o ?



## Doug H (Oct 2, 2004)

A friend who lives in the US recently stayed with us in Melbourne for a few days and visited an elderly relative in a nursing home in Bendigo (Victoria). He noticed the nautical attachments on the door of one room and took the attached photo. Does the name or the ship mean anything to any SN member?


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

Yes, I know him.

It has been many, many years.

The ship in the photo is either the Lake Barrine/VLLB or the Lake Eyre/VJLL.

I served in both.


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

The ship, which appears to be in Sydney Harbour, looks very much like ANL's "Lake Eyre", but hasn't got ANL's funnel (Lake Eyre always had the blue and red proper funnel as she was sold before the new green and gold effort came out). She certainly has an Australian looking accommodation.

The harbour scene has a bit of a look of Cornwall about it.

Sorry, the name Trevor Mitchell doesn't ring any bells.

John T


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Troppo, just found your post and checked photos of both ships on Oceania Shipping Forum. I'd forgotten about the Barrine having cranes too. The photo on the door is more like Lake Barrine - slightly different rigging on the forward crane. Can't understand the funnel colours though - could she have been on charter?

I too sailed on Lake Eyre - a great little number (except when crossing the Tasman!).

I was with AWA from 1980 but don't recall Trevor.

John T.


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

One night in about 1983, the Lake Barrine's 2/0 snuck into the radio room with a camera, just as the R/O was tuning the main tx to call VIS...

*Hey Sparky!*

(LOL)


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

trotterdotpom said:


> Troppo, just found your post and checked photos of both ships on Oceania Shipping Forum. I'd forgotten about the Barrine having cranes too. The photo on the door is more like Lake Barrine - slightly different rigging on the forward crane. Can't understand the funnel colours though - could she have been on charter?
> 
> I too sailed on Lake Eyre - a great little number (except when crossing the Tasman!).
> 
> ...



This will make you nostalgic, mate.....


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## sparkie2182 (May 12, 2007)

Wot...........Only one Main Rx ??????????


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

To whomever designed the layout of the Marconi console in VJLL and VLLB, I salute you!

It was excellent. Everything was in easy reach.


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

sparkie2182 said:


> Wot...........Only one Main Rx ??????????



Yes....it was all downhill after I left the Peninsula and Oriental Steam Navigation Co, old chap!


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Troppo said:


> To whomever designed the layout of the Marconi console in VJLL and VLLB, I salute you!
> 
> It was excellent. Everything was in easy reach.


Which was a good job because mostly you were hanging on to it!

Thanks for the photo .... brings to mind the old song: "It's a quarter to three, there's no-one in the bar 'cept you and me".

John T.


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## sparkie2182 (May 12, 2007)

"mostly you were hanging on to it"

Yes...............The "Panel Removal" handles were invaluable...........

Avoided many a nasty accident.


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Is the "call of the bush" the same as the "power of the pouch"?

John T


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

R651400 said:


> Troppo for us Mk1 Oceanspan/CR300 (with 500 kc/s crystal set) R/O's how about a run down on the gear in your image above?
> 
> Hard to believe anyone wishing to leave an excellent company as P&O. Must have been a trip to Oz and catching the "call of the bush."
> Nearly did the same myself with Union SS.



Ha ha!

OK.

The pics show a standard Marconi console of the very late 70's/early 80's.

From left, behind the very handsome R/O is the Conqueror Main Tx - 1.5 kW, synthesised freq coverage of the marine bands.

In the main console:

Left bay - Salvor 3 emergency tx, below it is the battery charger/switchboard.

Left hand vertical bay - R/T handset for the Main tx - the switches above allowed you to switch audio/PTT to another handset (out of shot to the right), for QRJ's.

Middle bay - Apollo main rx, below it is the Sentinel emerg rx.

Right hand vertical bay - rx antenna switches, keying selector (main/em tx), DF ready/required switches for earthing the rx antennas (from memory..). The large black rotary switch was an rx pre-selector/filter for duplex QRJs.

Right hand bay - Lifeguard N A/A (top) and Lifeguard AKD below.

Above them is the Argonaut VHF - the system on VJLL/VLLB had 2 control heads, 1 in the radio room and one on the bridge.

The bottom of the tx antenna switch can be seen. The box on the stbd bulkhead (far left - you faced aft when seated at the console) is a dummy load for the main tx. 

VLLB was one of my favourite ships. Don't know why...the radio room was quite small. Just a lovely ship. She had a very good run, which helped! Sydney, NZ, etc.

The Australian National Line (ANL) had 4 lake class ships - Barrine (VLLB), Eyre (VJLL), Eildon (VJLN) and Hume (VLLH). 

They were small (15000 GRT) bulkies. The Barrine and the Eyre had gear (cranes), the other 2 didn't.


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

All true!

By god, I hated sailing in BHP ships!


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Troppo, if you liked the Barrine and they Eyre, you would have loved the Iron York , Iron Arnhem and Iron Prince!

Have you any more info about Trevor Mitchell for Doug and the rest of us?

John T


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## Pampas (Jul 2, 2008)

Think the picture is Mevagisswy, Cornwall.


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

trotterdotpom said:


> Troppo, if you liked the Barrine and they Eyre, you would have loved the Iron York , Iron Arnhem and Iron Prince!
> 
> Have you any more info about Trevor Mitchell for Doug and the rest of us?
> 
> John T


The bloody York and Arnehem used to roll when alongside!

(EEK)

The Prince was basically a sister ship to the Lake boats, as was the Iron Sturt.

No, sorry, no more info on Trevor.


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Troppo said:


> The bloody York and Arnehem used to roll when alongside!
> 
> I know, they were built to trade inside the Barrier Reef and Gulf of Carpentaria, but what you lost on the swings, you gained on the roundabouts.
> 
> John T


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

R651400 said:


> In my time Troppo it is actually difficult to think of any other Australian company on the east coast except BHP.
> 500 kc/s was mostly crammed with G's and M's peppered with a smattering of Aussie V's and ZL's from Union Steam.


Yes...BHP was a big company (for OZ).

The main one was the Australian National Line (ANL). Gov't owned.

They had about 35 ships when I first went to sea in 1980. A good variety - bulkies and box boats. Some trading deep sea.

All gone now....

(MAD)


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## Bob Murdoch (Dec 11, 2004)

R651400 said:


> In my time Troppo it is actually difficult to think of any other Australian company on the east coast except BHP.
> 500 kc/s was mostly crammed with G's and M's peppered with a smattering of Aussie V's and ZL's from Union Steam.


ZM's for Union Steam. ZL's were coast stations. (pedantic or what? (*)))
cheers Bob


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## ianian (Mar 30, 2009)

Doug H said:


> A friend who lives in the US recently stayed with us in Melbourne for a few days and visited an elderly relative in a nursing home in Bendigo (Victoria). He noticed the nautical attachments on the door of one room and took the attached photo. Does the name or the ship mean anything to any SN member?



I do not know the ship but the other photo is Brixham in Devon you can just make out the replica of Sir Francis Drake's vessel the Golden Hind, I know this area very well.

hope this helps 
ianian


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## John Travis Whitehead (Oct 14, 2010)

*Re Trevor Mitchell*

The ship shown in the photograph is the CSR vessel "Ormiston". Trevor was the radio officer on her for a number of years and a very pleasent shipmate.
John Whitehead


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## John Travis Whitehead (Oct 14, 2010)

*Re Trevor Mitchell*

The ship in question is not the "Ormiston", my mistake, it is infact the CSR ship "Kowulka". As I mentioned previously, Trevor was a very pleasant shipmate.


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Thanks John ... that explains the funnel, couldn't quite make it out. I didn't realise that "Kowulka" was so similar to the "Lakies", even though I saw her quite a few times, including at Brisbane.

I think I'm right in saying CSR was one of the few Australian companies which employed their own ROs, ie not through AWA.

John T.


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

Yep, thanks John - it is indeed a CSR ship, built in the same yard as the Lakies, and identical from a radio perspective.

John T - yes.


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