# Towing Witch



## Bob S

TSA Tugs *TOWING WITCH * (65/541) passing Tilbury (UK) during July 1994. Built as United Towing’s *ENGLISHMAN*, she became the Italian *JUMBO PRIMO * in 1981 and *TOWING WITCH * in 1994. She has since sank .


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## Cadfael

Many thanks for the photo of Towing Witch. I was engineer on her when she caught fire and was the only crew member who got burnt!. I don't think she sank at the time but was salvaged by a Russian tug. Various bits of fried machinery kept turning up at our other ships for a long time after.
Nice to see the old girl without the flames and exploding gas bottles.
Graham


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## BillH

ENGLISHMAN (7) (1965 - 1973)
O.N. 305784. 574g. 30n. 146'8" x 34'9" x 16'6"
Two, 6-cyl. 4 S. C. S. A. (12½" x 14½") 6ATCM type engines made by Ruston & Hornsby Ltd., Lincoln, single reverse reduction geared to twin screw shafts. 2,820 BHP. 35 tons bollard pull. 15kts.
12.8.1964: Keel laid by Cochrane & Sons Ltd., Selby (Yard No. 1497), for the United Towing Company Ltd., Hull. 21.11.1964: Launched. 17.4.1965: Completed. 5.1965: Delivered. 21.1.1970: Owners restyled as United Towing Ltd., Hull. 20.2.1973: Sold to United Towing (Englishman) Ltd., (United Towing (Ocean Tugs) Ltd., managers), Hull. 17.3.1978: Owners restyled as United Towing (Blake) Ltd. 1981: Sold to Societa Armamento Gestione Navi Agenzia Marittima S.r.L. (S.AR.GE.NAV), Italy, and renamed JUMBO PRIMO. 1994: Sold to T. S. A. Tugs Ltd., Leigh on Sea, Essex, and renamed TOWING WITCH. 4.6.1997: Whilst off the Azores, position 33.28N., 33.10W., suffered severe engine room fire damage. She was on a trans-Atlantic tow with two pontoon barges. Crew was taken off by DOLE EUROPA (10,584g./94) whilst the tug and tow were taken in tow by the Russian tug FOTIY KRYLOV and arrived at Punta Delgada on the 10th. Damage was extensive and tug was declared a total loss, being subsequently demolished at Lisbon.


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## 40907

What caused the fire?


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## Cadfael

Many thanks. You told me more about what happened after the fire than I ever found out. I wasn't in a fit enough state to know what went on!


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## Cadfael

*cause*



Reef Knot said:


> What caused the fire?


Basically the chief was filling the diesel service tank with the sounding pipe cap off. Tank overflowed, all the rest followed.


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## cueball44

i was on the englishman when she got jammed under immingham oil terminal in 74,a girder went through the bridge door and also reduced the lifeboat\workboat to matchwood,an immingham tug tried to help us but got her bridge top sliced off like a boiled egg,got pulled out at slack water and taken to immingham,was also on her in the cod war. sad to hear what happend to her, w.hawker.


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## keithsparks

i was with you on englishman when it hit the immingham jetty what a farce i was the r.o keith appleyard now then winnie hows tricks long time no see


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## cueball44

keithsparks said:


> i was with you on englishman when it hit the immingham jetty what a farce i was the r.o keith appleyard now then winnie hows tricks long time no see


hi keith,thanks for answering,66 now and live alone in my nice little bungallow near picky park,given up driving so i can use my legs a bit more,i have just come on this site and just trying to get used to it,i find it very interesting but will have to tear myself away from it to have a pot of tea,i hope you are in good health see you later, win.


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## BillH

cueball44 said:


> i was on the englishman when she got jammed under immingham oil terminal in 74,a girder went through the bridge door and also reduced the lifeboat\workboat to matchwood,an immingham tug tried to help us but got her bridge top sliced off like a boiled egg,got pulled out at slack water and taken to immingham,was also on her in the cod war. sad to hear what happend to her, w.hawker.


Hi,

Would you by any chance remember which Immingham tug lost her wheelhouse roof? 
My reason for asking is that I am currently finishing off and tidying up my history of the United Towing / Humber Tugs group and have not encountered any reference to this incident during my 20 odd years of digging and delving into old records.

Many thanks in advance

Bill


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## cueball44

BillH said:


> Hi,
> 
> Would you by any chance remember which Immingham tug lost her wheelhouse roof?
> My reason for asking is that I am currently finishing off and tidying up my history of the United Towing / Humber Tugs group and have not encountered any reference to this incident during my 20 odd years of digging and delving into old records.
> 
> Many thanks in advance
> 
> Bill


sorry bill i cant remember,must have been one of the lady tugs,after what happend to us i just remember seeing her spinning out of control then going underneath the jetty which took her top off january 74, win.


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## BillH

cueball44 said:


> sorry bill i cant remember,must have been one of the lady tugs,after what happend to us i just remember seeing her spinning out of control then going underneath the jetty which took her top off january 74, win.


Thanks Win,

I was curious as the LADY SYBIL was an oddball in the fleet on the south bank in that she did not have a wheelhouse but an open bridge when I saw her. I presume she was built that way but was also open to the thought it may have been her and a that a decision had been taken to remove the rest after the roof was peeled.

regards
Bill


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## keithsparks

regarding the tug which went under the jetty at immingham coming to assist us on englishman i think the skipper or mate was called wally brown i sailed with him previously on marinia overseas towage tug the m8ind gets fuzzy after too much tetley bitter regards to all keith


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## decky74

shame about the old girl, sailed on her five times in the 70s, had some good times on her. skip was lorry shep, passed away last week, good tugman.


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## cueball44

*cueball44*



decky74 said:


> shame about the old girl, sailed on her five times in the 70s, had some good times on her. skip was lorry shep, passed away last week, good tugman.


hi dave, i can't remember if we met, but was you on the 'ENGLISHMAN' when she hit the immingham oil terminal?,and was you on it in the cod war?, win hawker. ps, sorry to hear about skipper shep.


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## decky74

hi bill. no l was on the ENGLISHMAN between 74 -79, mostly north sea tows, first ive heard of it , immingham sounds a bit of a farce, I dident sail in the cod war, but my old man did, he was skipper on the first tug to go ther, STATESMAN I, regards Dave,


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## cueball44

decky74 said:


> hi bill. no l was on the ENGLISHMAN between 74 -79, mostly north sea tows, first ive heard of it , immingham sounds a bit of a farce, I dident sail in the cod war, but my old man did, he was skipper on the first tug to go ther, STATESMAN I, regards Dave,


hi dave, its win not bill,you must have joined 'englishman' after she had been repaired, it was a farce, but we were lucky to escape without casualty's after been trapped under those pipes full of 'naptha' i think, for x number of hours,the skippers name was 'john de barr' i joined 'statesman' after that, the trip we lost 'peter boulton' AND THAT WAS A B***S UP if ever i saw one, i woke him up just before he went, win hawker.


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## RayJordandpo

I did a few trips on 'Englishman', one of them a seven monther based in Singapore. We had a good crew and had some great laughs. Some of the crowd I remember, Arthur King, Fred Clarke, Charlie Boxhall, Brian Chapman, Sam? (navigator) Alan Keeping, Pete Hemmerman, Tim Turner, Pete? (2nd eng.) and a few more I can't remember.


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## Cobbydale

Hi Ray,
Did you know Tony Iveson..?


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## peteb

RayJordandpo said:


> I did a few trips on 'Englishman', one of them a seven monther based in Singapore. We had a good crew and had some great laughs. Some of the crowd I remember, Arthur King, Fred Clarke, Charlie Boxhall, Brian Chapman, Sam? (navigator) Alan Keeping, Pete Hemmerman, Tim Turner, Pete? (2nd eng.) and a few more I can't remember.


Photo of Charlie Boxall and Arthur King in the Gallery Members Faces.
Regards Pete.


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## DCMARINE

cueball44 said:


> hi dave, its win not bill,you must have joined 'englishman' after she had been repaired, it was a farce, but we were lucky to escape without casualty's after been trapped under those pipes full of 'naptha' i think, for x number of hours,the skippers name was 'john de barr' i joined 'statesman' after that, the trip we lost 'peter boulton' AND THAT WAS A B***S UP if ever i saw one, i woke him up just before he went, win hawker.


John de Barr sailed on OIL AHTS before joining Seaforth Maritime. I was Mate with him on Seaforth Commander and he was Master on Seaforth Highlander when I had my accident. Last time I saw him was a few years ago when he was leaving the Pacific Buccaneer, where he had been filling in, in Aberdeen.
Donald Campbell


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## cueball44

*w. hawker.*



DCMARINE said:


> John de Barr sailed on OIL AHTS before joining Seaforth Maritime. I was Mate with him on Seaforth Commander and he was Master on Seaforth Highlander when I had my accident. Last time I saw him was a few years ago when he was leaving the Pacific Buccaneer, where he had been filling in, in Aberdeen.
> Donald Campbell


 hi donald,thanks for your reply about 'john de barr', i found him a nice&fair captain to sail with, found time to walk round the ship and compliment us on our work,you did'nt say if you were on tug's, but it was good to hear from someone who remembered him,win hawker.


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## DCMARINE

cueball44 said:


> hi donald,thanks for your reply about 'john de barr', i found him a nice&fair captain to sail with, found time to walk round the ship and compliment us on our work,you did'nt say if you were on tug's, but it was good to hear from someone who remembered him,win hawker.


Thanks Win,
No, we were on North Sea anchor-handlers. John was also Master on Seaforth Clansman, a dive-support ship on charter to M.O.D.
Donald


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## cueball44

*cueball44*



DCMARINE said:


> Thanks Win,
> No, we were on North Sea anchor-handlers. John was also Master on Seaforth Clansman, a dive-support ship on charter to M.O.D.
> Donald


hi donald, i did a bit of anchor handling 'snatching' when i first joined 'UTC', had some close shaves standing on the tray trying to hook the anchor cable,had to have good sea legs if it was blowing a bit(==D),win.


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## jcc47

Hello Keith, you may remember me, John Chick, RO with UTC in the late 60's. Served on Yorkshireman, (mostly in the N Sea), Hullman (anchor snatching in Nigeria)m Serviceman (a long tow from Newfoundland to La Spetzia (when the boat was sold) and Seaman (N Sea). Left and messed around on rigs then joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Have since served in missions in Baghdad, Australia, Vietnam, Banglaesh, Ecuador, Kathmandu and presently HM Consul Amman, Jordan.


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## RayJordandpo

Cobbydale said:


> Hi Ray,
> Did you know Tony Iveson..?


I know Tony very well, we were good mates but I haven't seen that much of him since he took over that pub in Arbroath. I was at his daughters wedding a few years ago but like I say I haven't seen much of him or his wife Chris much of late.


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## Cobbydale

RayJordandpo said:


> I know Tony very well, we were good mates but I haven't seen that much of him since he took over that pub in Arbroath. I was at his daughters wedding a few years ago but like I say I haven't seen much of him or his wife Chris much of late.


He worked for Scheldt Gulf Towage in Sharjah (UAE) when I was there back in the '80s. If you speak to him again give him by best, just say "Sharjah Base" called..!!
Cheers
Alan.


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## peteb

BillH said:


> Hi,
> 
> Would you by any chance remember which Immingham tug lost her wheelhouse roof?
> My reason for asking is that I am currently finishing off and tidying up my history of the United Towing / Humber Tugs group and have not encountered any reference to this incident during my 20 odd years of digging and delving into old records.
> 
> Hi Bill, Englishman was caught by the tide while refuelling and crashed into the jetty. Lady Vera went to help and was herself swept away and forced under the jetty, losing a mast and damaging radar equipment and the wheelhouse. Hope this helps.
> Regards Pete


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## vincent simmonds

Did Tony Iverson work for S.A.T.O.L on Tug Piute


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## BillH

peteb said:


> BillH said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> Would you by any chance remember which Immingham tug lost her wheelhouse roof?
> My reason for asking is that I am currently finishing off and tidying up my history of the United Towing / Humber Tugs group and have not encountered any reference to this incident during my 20 odd years of digging and delving into old records.
> 
> Hi Bill, Englishman was caught by the tide while refuelling and crashed into the jetty. Lady Vera went to help and was herself swept away and forced under the jetty, losing a mast and damaging radar equipment and the wheelhouse. Hope this helps.
> Regards Pete
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks Pete,
> 
> Will look for casualty reports when I visit Lloyd's in London later this month.
> 
> Bill
Click to expand...


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## vincent simmonds

did Ray jordan stay on Al Hasa ???


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## RayJordandpo

vincent simmonds said:


> did Ray jordan stay on Al Hasa ???


I was never on 'Al Hasa'. My brothers Brian and Pete may well have done, they both worked in the Gulf for many years.
I worked for five years in the Gulf for Qatar Navigation (QNNTC) but never on that vessel.
Ray Jordan


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## vincent simmonds

I belive Tony Iverson worked from AL Hasa was he a tug master ?


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## BillH

BillH said:


> peteb said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks Pete,
> 
> Will look for casualty reports when I visit Lloyd's in London later this month.
> 
> Bill
> 
> 
> 
> The casualty report was brief and did not give much more than Pete but the date was quoted as 12 January 1974.
> 
> Interestingly though my search through the 1974 casualty reports threw up another incident concerning ENGLISHMAN.
> 
> On 3rd December 1974 she put out a Mayday call at 23:10 reporting a fire in her galley. According to the report, she was at the time berthed at Middlebrough. Fire was extinguished by the attending local Fire crews but not before the galley equipment was destroyed.
Click to expand...


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## cueball44

the casualty report was probably brief because of a suspected cover up of what might have been an astronomical disaster if the pipelines we were jammed under had ignited and blown us 'ENGLISHMAN' up as well as half of immingham oil terminal if not more!!,we caused £250,000 worth of damage to the terminal jetty alone,i can still remember the feeling sitting in the dark cabin with the other deckies because all power had been shut down incase we sparked it off,they did a short story in the mail but i think they kept what might have been under wraps!!, win hawker 'cueball44'


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## Seawitch Artist

I can't resist this...is she the last Witch to be burned?(Cloud)


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## capt cook

*Englishman Other tug*



BillH said:


> Hi,
> 
> Would you by any chance remember which Immingham tug lost her wheelhouse roof?
> My reason for asking is that I am currently finishing off and tidying up my history of the United Towing / Humber Tugs group and have not encountered any reference to this incident during my 20 odd years of digging and delving into old records.
> 
> Many thanks in advance
> 
> Bill


HI bill the Lady Vera was the tug trying to assist the Englishman 
The Skipper was Wally Brown of Hull she got caught on the spring ebb
And got stuck under oil jetty underpass the crew abandoned ship
Due to possible collapse of underpass bridge the Vera passed through
As the tide dropped and was pick up by the Lady Alma and towed 
Back to Immingham the mast and bridge was badly damaged but
Not sliced off
The skipper of the Alma claimed sistership salvage as I did for the
Lady Moira petel
Immingham the mast and bridge was badly damaged but not slice off


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## capt cook

*Englishman Other tug*



BillH said:


> Hi,
> 
> Would you by any chance remember which Immingham tug lost her wheelhouse roof?
> My reason for asking is that I am currently finishing off and tidying up my history of the United Towing / Humber Tugs group and have not encountered any reference to this incident during my 20 odd years of digging and delving into old records.
> 
> Many thanks in advance
> 
> Bill


HI bill the Lady Vera was the tug trying to assist the Englishman 
The Skipper was Wally Brown of Hull she got caught on the spring ebb
And got stuck under oil jetty underpass the crew abandoned ship
Due to possible collapse of underpass bridge the Vera passed through
As the tide dropped and was pick up by the Lady Alma and towed 
Back to Immingham the mast and bridge was badly damaged but
Not sliced off
The skipper of the Alma claimed sistership salvage as I did for the
Lady Moira petel


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