# mv Manoora



## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

Our local auction house had a general auction last Saturday (3rd March) and one lot contained a couple of Merch related items among other general items. The first was a Wilson Line silver plated sauce boat and the other was a small tankard with an anchor shaped handle that had an enamelled badge bearing the legend “TS MV MANOORA”. Unfortunately one of the other items in the box must have been of some value because I was outbid.

The question I have relates to the “TS”.

I can find details of the vessel operated by the Adelaide Steamship Company on the Aussie coast from 1935 to 1939 and then used as a troopship “HMAS Manoora” from 1939 to 1947 but there is no mention of her being used as a training ship.

Does anyone have any further information available?

Cheers
Kris/


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## benjidog (Oct 27, 2005)

Kris,

Not sure it will help at all but did a search out of curiosity and there is this place: http://www.defence.gov.au/news/navynews/editions/4518/topstories/story07.htm

Seems to be an Australian Navy Cadet Unit. Seeing as your ship was Australian there may be some kind of connection.

Regards,

Brian


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## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

Thanks Brian.

As far as I can make out that link is the replacement HMAS Manoora and is pupose built for the Australian Navy some time in the 70s or 80s,

It could be that mv Manoora was used as a training ship after the war but the flag on the tankard looked very much like the Adelaide SS Co., houseflag.

Cheers
Kris


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## Pilot mac (Jun 28, 2005)

P&O/BI had a ship called Manora built around 1970 which was a cadet training ship (8 cadets). I was second mate in her but never saw her refered to as a 'TS'

regards
Dave


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## Mac (Apr 26, 2005)

Maybe twin screw?


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## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

Mac

Some details of the one I think it is.
Reg 153959
Call sign VLDL
Built 1935 by Alex Stephen & Sons Ltd., Glasgow for the Adelaide Steamship Co.Ltd.
Registered Melbourne.
Normal run Cairns, Sydney, Melbourne, Fremantle.
10900 GRT
6261 nett
463.5 feet long, 66.2 feet wide, 29.8 feet deep.
3 decks, 16 cylinder diesel engines, twin screws, 8200 hp, 16 knots.
While HMAS Manoora she escaped from Singapore and spent some time patrolling and escorting convoys in Aussie waters.
Converted to a landing ship in Sydney Garden Island dockyard in 1942.
After that I can find nothing hence the TS query.

Cheers
Kris


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## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

Having Googled and searched SN I think the simple answer must be that the "TS" just stands for twin screw.[=P] 

At various times I've been through "train ship" (railways), "trainig ship" (cadets) and anything else you can think off.

I think I'll just crawl back into my hole now(egg)


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## Ian (Mar 27, 2004)

one ship Mv silver falcon i was on the voyage record cards call it TS silver falcon (tank ship)????just a thought
Bobby


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## waimea (Dec 21, 2005)

Motor Vessel, Twin Screw.


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## benjidog (Oct 27, 2005)

Seems a bit of an odd thing to include a reference to the fact that it has twin screws in the name of the ship! I wonder why they did that?

Brian


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

*Twin Screw*



benjidog said:


> Seems a bit of an odd thing to include a reference to the fact that it has twin screws in the name of the ship! I wonder why they did that?
> 
> Brian


Was quite common practice. Somewhere I have postcards, menus and other items published for use by passengers on Elders & Fyffes' 'Golfito' that referred to her as 'TSS Golfito'. That was referred to as Twinscrew Steamship Golfito. Elsewhere on do***ents she was also referred to as RMS Golfito - she carried mail to/from the West Indies so in someone in the publicity dept of E&F she was Royal Mail Ship Golfito. Don't know what Furness Withy thought of that.


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## aleddy (Apr 8, 2006)

My reference to her states, Twin screw, motor vessel diesel.
She managed to flounder while being towed to the breakers in Taiwan in 1972.


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## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

I seem to remember they were always either motor vessels or steamships during the 60s and 70s. Until VLCCs came along and even then the Esso Northumbria was just a plain SS according to my discharge books.
Even motor tankers were ordinary MVs except for Mobil in the 70s where they became MTs.
Thanks for the last bit Aleddy. At least now everybody knows about TSMV Manoora.
The initials probably all stem from some PR rep wanting to make it sound more attractive. The official ship's stamp probably just said MV Manoora.


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

*Ship Titles*



Marconi Sahib said:


> The official ship's stamp probably just said MV Manoora.


Kris,
The last sentence of your post made me check my discharge book (I hadn't thought of that when I posted #11). Some inconsistencies here! In the order that I sailed on them, here are the details of the stamps in my discharge book.

T.S.S. Golfito
Glasgow
Off. No. 182119
Nett. Reg. 4474
H.P. 10500

M.V. LOCHWOOD
GLASGOW
O.N. 182138
N.R.T. 851.84 G.R.T.1689.23
N.H.P. 129

m.v. BRETWALDA
O.N.186894
Port Reg. NEWCASTLE
Reg. Ton 4469.01
Gross Ton 7853.37
B.H.P. 4400

S/S CITY OF LUCKNOW
LONDON
OFF NO 181017
Gross ton 9972.38 ! N.H.P.
Nett " 6485.58 ! 8880

S.T.S. SAN FLORENTINO
Official No. 185863
Port of Registry - LONDON
Gross Tons12,214.86
Net Registered Tonnage 7,058.55
N.H.P. 1340

s/s CAIRNGOWAN
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE
OFF No. 169233
G.T. 7503
N.T. 4630
S.H.P 4650

m.v. "REGENT PEMBROKE"
OFF. No. 306246
PORT OF REG. LONDON
GROSS TON 36778.83
NETT TON 23526.92
S.H.P. 21500

They are copied exactly in every respect except the size of type sometimes changed from line to line within a stamp and font types varied between stamps. I haven't bothered to reproduce those differences. Apart from those particular features, you can see there were also variations in the use of upper/lower case type, use of commas to separate thousands from hundreds, use of quotation marks around the ship's name, use of the "forward slash" / in the abbreviation of steamship on a couple of vessels. One ships is registered in NEWCASTLE, another in NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE. 

As you can see there is at least one official ship's stamp using the title TSS and what is more, the initials are separated by full stops! As I said in an earlier post, aboard that ship it was referred to as meaning Twin-screw Steamship.

Even more odd is the last of the entries. Although the ship's stamp says m.v.,
she was in fact a steam turbine ship and not a motor vessel. (Only single screw though).


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## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

Cheers Ron.
It appears that anything goes.
In my discharge book I can only find those I mentioned and some with no initals at all like Port Townsville and City of Ripon. 
Kris


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## Chillytoes (Dec 9, 2006)

Having only just finishing "Fitted For The Voyage" , the history of the Adelaide Steamship Company, this very morning, I would guess that the "TS" would be Twin Screw. Shipping companies often used unusual designations, especially with passenger ships. It made them seem rather more improtant. TSMV, RMV, etc, but my favourite was the TSGTV Seaway vessels of Union Steamship Company. (Twin Screw Gas Turbine Vessel)


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## Boots (Nov 2, 2005)

*TSMV Manoora*

I was an apprentice in Manoora and her fellow Adelaide Steam passenger ship Manunda in the 1950s.
There was intense competition among the companies on the Oz coast, Adelaide Steam, McIlwraith Mc Eachern, Huddart Parker, Melbourne Steamship
and AUSN Co. and anything that would give you an edge on the others was utilised. You could hear all sorts of tales abour the various ships, melships Duntroon was built by Burmeister & Wain in the Depression and it was said that they did it to keep their apprentice tradesmen in the yard busy. In Oz she was known as "Dun too soon", as she seemed to have a breakdown almost every trip.
They were good days though, scheduled trips up the East coast from Melbourne to Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns and and return, 30 days round trip. The southern route where Manoora was mostly employed was Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle, same round trip time. The company also had smaller ships that did the "Gulf Trip" around the 2 gulfs in South Aus lovely sjhips around 2,000 tons with a weeks cruise departing Saturdat from Pt. Adelaide , returning there on Friday morning.
In those days it was 6 quid for the week with at least 4 ports included. They were great little "honeymoon ships" and were considered to be the absolute top jobs for everybody. No chance of a job there without a Masters' ticket !


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