# SS Gypsum Countess



## jerome morris (May 27, 2008)

1/350 scale, scratch built.
She sailed in the late 50's thru the 1960's for the Gypsum Royal Fleet.
Sailing mostly between Nova Scotia, Canada to Boston or New York USA with Gypsum ore for the making of sheet rock wall panels.


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## BigMig (Jan 30, 2016)

Sweet workmanship, Jerome. I'm a wood carver, so have a great deal of admiration for your model. I sailed on her Sept. '69 to Apr. '70. She didn't have the gantry and hopper on the stern deck at that time. When was it added, do you know? Great memories!!!


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## LaFlamme (Feb 1, 2011)

Jerome,
Your work is amazing, and as I often repeat, you are an artist. I am glad that we can share this model with members of Ships Nostalgia.

I took the attached picture of the Gypsum Countess in the Bahamas, while we were loading a full cargo of salt, bound for a northern U.S. city, early in 1970. We traveled quite wide and far; here is a short list of some of the ports we docked at while Big Mig and I were part of her crew: Boston, Staten Island, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Jacksonville Florida, Tampico Mexico, Veracruz Mexico, Kingston Jamaica, Port-Au-Prince Haiti, Quebec City Canada, and others that I cannot remember just now.


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## BigMig (Jan 30, 2016)

I am still confused, LaFlamme! I have a picture of the Countess, buried in snow, leaving Little Narrows on her way south just before Christmas '69, and she does not have the 2 stern gantries nor the unloading belt at that time. For the life of me, I don't remember ever seeing them. Is it possible that the Countess came north and then returned to the Caribbean for more charter work? As I stated in a previous blog, I can't find my sign on / off papers for the Countess. I know that I left her in time to return to a summer job with the C.B.C. in Halifax, which would have started around May 1 of '70...


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## LaFlamme (Feb 1, 2011)

Big Mig,
I know it gets confusing because sometimes other former Gypsum sailors post their own pictures, and I believe the ships names get switched since a couple of the ships were almost exact copies of each other.

But look at this great picture you just posted, and you can clearly see the two cargo masts. They look like they are part of the bridge, but they are not, they belong to the Gypsum Countess.


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## BigMig (Jan 30, 2016)

You are absolutely correct, LaFlamme. I honestly did not remember those masts astern. It's a wonder we never ran aground when I was on watch! LOL. Thanks for showing me the errors of my diminishing memory and eyesight.
Cheers,
BigMig


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## wastoe (Jan 3, 2016)

BigMig said:


> I am still confused, LaFlamme! I have a picture of the Countess, buried in snow, leaving Little Narrows on her way south just before Christmas '69, and she does not have the 2 stern gantries nor the unloading belt at that time. For the life of me, I don't remember ever seeing them. Is it possible that the Countess came north and then returned to the Caribbean for more charter work? As I stated in a previous blog, I can't find my sign on / off papers for the Countess. I know that I left her in time to return to a summer job with the C.B.C. in Halifax, which would have started around May 1 of '70...


when i sailed on her ,those gantries were not on them,that was between 1975-1979


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