# SS Explorer Leith, Restoring Big Steam Trawler



## BigLeithTrawler (Nov 7, 2017)

Does anybody happen to have any pictures of the original radio room on "SS Explorer", the large steam powered trawler built in Aberdeen in the mid fifties? Maybe you served on her at some time? Any picture with "radio/radar gear would be of great interest to the Restoration Society up in Leith. 

Obviously the original MIMCo fit, of which we have some written details, is of great interest but post the Radio Officer era somebody may have a picture of, typically, what is believed to have been a Sailor SP Radio set-up.


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## cueball44 (Feb 15, 2010)

Is this different from when the ship operated in her research days ?


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## BigLeithTrawler (Nov 7, 2017)

cueball44 said:


> Is this different from when the ship operated in her research days ?


Many thanks indeed for the picture. Purely guessing that the ship was re-fitted with Sailor equipment in the mid 70s. The heavy older original MIMCo gear, perhaps rented from Marconi and operated by a MIMCo Radio Officer being dismantled - not uncommon at the time. Still looking for an earlier picture if one exists. I believe the ship was on research into the 80s and subsequent lay up.


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## cueball44 (Feb 15, 2010)

Would it have been similar to this ?. This image is one taken from the Arctic Corsair the museum ship (Trawler) in HULL.


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## BobDixon (Oct 17, 2008)

I assume FRV Explorer was not registered as a fishing vessel but as a merchant vessel. Under the Merchant Shipping Regulations she would only be required to carry radiotelephony but could opt to carry a WT station instead or have both installations.

Because she is a "copy" of a distant water trawler of the time and would be working sometimes in distant waters, the WT station would have given the ability to communicate back to the UK on HF.

I'm fairly certain that the WT installation would have been somewhat similar to that shown in the Arctic Corsair. Probably a Marconi Oceanspan main transmitter which would have given MF/IF/HF communications on WT and RT. There would also have been an emergency transmitter which worked from a set of batteries dedicated to the radio room. In 1955 the receivers would likely have been a Marconi Mercury and Electra combination with an additional emergency receiver for 500kHz only. 

I am going to guess that there may have been an additional piece of RT equipment for when she was operating in home waters, probably again of Marconi manufacture, and which could be operated without a Radio Officer onboard.


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## david.hopcroft (Jun 29, 2005)

Looking through the 1963 List of Call Signs, there is an EXPLORER / MSGS, though it has the warship symbol next to it. 

David
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Digressing, I also came across ELETTRA III / GJWQ

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