# South American Saint Line.



## Brian J Brooks

MV St John. Single berth cabins for all crew, Chinese cooks (Great Meals!) Owned by Howard de Warden. Pool to BA via Recife. 55/56 Any crew around?
We had a great Bridge School on board.


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## Pat McCardle

Brian J Brooks said:


> MV St John. Single berth cabins for all crew, Chinese cooks (Great Meals!) Owned by Howard de Warden. Pool to BA via Recife. 55/56 Any crew around?
> We had a great Bridge School on board.


Good looking vessels. Well ahead of their time for crew accommodation I believe? Some Sunderland built too(Thumb)


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## Ron H

I was in Saint Clears as deck boy 1951 three in a room no porthole no hot water aft kit service wash up in a bucket we had a skylight that leaked in bad weather,the food was not so bad chinese cooks ,couldnt wait to get out of her,it was sold to a german firm renamed Consul Nimitz. then Panama owners renamed Norelg wrecked in typhoon Wanda1962 then broken up Hong Kong


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## gdynia

Another good company which went down the pan


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## Rick Andrews

Hi, Does anyone know of Les Atkinson 4th Engineer on St Thomas 1961, he made a model of the ship which I bought and would like to more about it,Rick.


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## R58484956

St Thomas 6855 tons built 1948 by John Thompson & Sons Sunderland.
455.3 x 59.6 x 26.2. 5 cylinder diesel by Doxford. Code flags GFNG. DF, ESD,GyC, Radar.British flag. Registered Newport mons. Could carry vegetable oil in midship deep tanks and in tanks at side of tunnel.


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## macjack

Pat McCardle said:


> Good looking vessels. Well ahead of their time for crew accommodation I believe? Some Sunderland built too(Thumb)


Yes, they certainly were good looking vessels,tried for ages to find photos of them, was only able to find one - thumbnail attached.


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## DURANGO

macjack said:


> Yes, they certainly were good looking vessels,tried for ages to find photos of them, was only able to find one - thumbnail attached.


i did the last voyage of the st line, in the st essylt i joined her in tilbury march 65 paid off south shields jul 65 as was said single berth cabins , we spent the whole of easter in santos say no more it,s a tough life but someone had to do it [thank god it was us ] all the best mates .


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## lampy

i sailed on st john in the early 60's as others have said way ahead of there time.
push button derricks unheard of never saw them anywhere else.i joined in Grangemouth
went to rotterdam to discharge grain.back to millwall for drydock and fumigation(rats like alsatian dogs) then loaded at dagenham for great lakes, ford classics,e,type jags and austin metropolitans.blast from the past,great ship,bad crowd!!After discharge we went to superior and loaded grain,shifting boards were a real work up,then down to Beau Comue (wrong Spelling )
and loaded aluminium deck cargo for swansea.


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## daveyjones

On the St Thomas 17. 4. 61 to 24. 7. 61. Hi Durango, greetings from your old mate....Dave


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## Richard Green

Jim Brooks,

I'd like to revive your thread about South American Saint Line. My dad R263704, who died in '70, was on both the St. Essylt (ex Tolten, I think) and the St. Merriel. The St. Essylt went down in the med in '43 and he had to swim for it. Although he never spoke about this, the story in the family is that the OC of the troops that were being carried from the Clyde to Sicily gave the order to abandon ship before she had completely stopped and when the crew's turn came to abandon there were no rafts or boats left in the vicinity. I'd like to hear from anyone who has any info about this sinking. 

He was also involved in fighting an engineroom fire on the St. Merriel off Corsewall point in '45. I have a newspaper cutting of him meeting Lord Howard de Walden. Thanks to your post I now realise why this was........R


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## Santos

*South American Saint Line*

I remember bringing grain back from the Argentine, when we got home to Liverpool and opened the hatches there were rats everywhere.

The thing was they were all bald, no fur, burrowing through the grain had rubbed the fur off. (EEK) Terrible looking things, everybody did a runner when they saw them.

We spent a few happy days being fumigated on the west wall in gladstone dock. 

Chris.


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## DURANGO

daveyjones said:


> On the St Thomas 17. 4. 61 to 24. 7. 61. Hi Durango, greetings from your old mate....Dave


 hello there davey me old pal hope your well mate ,looking forward to the launch of your book not long now be lucky mate durango


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## R58484956

Next months (June) "Ships Monthly" will have an article on St Essylt.


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## marsat2

Was on St Essylt form 01/11/1956 to 23/04/1957. Joined her at Rotherhithe. Great ship, 19 good ports on the round trip, had such a good time I had to do another trip as I arrived back to Surrey Dock with about £15. Virtualy same ports again but was more carefull. Paid off in Barry. Anyone else on board with me, drop me a line.


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## notnila

Hate to be a killjoy,I was on the "Pardo" Royal Mail Lines in Santos or Paranagua 1961,when 2 guys off a South American Saint ship [can't remember name] came aboard begging food.Told us they were on Board of Trade"whack"!!


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## Topherjohn

*South American Saint cadet Hansen*

Trying to trace ex-Warsash cadets. Did anyone come across a 1959 Warsash cadet called Hansen who I think joined South American Saint in January 1960? Can't recall his first name.


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## Ian

Any of you st line lads sail with an officer called Halley in the mid 50,s?
Rgds Bill


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## johnny2dogs

correct me iff i am wrong, but i sailed on south american saint line ship called the st margaret, in 1970, we sailed from hartlepool to some port up the orinoco, then back to the uk, and she definetely wasnt a good feeder. johnny2dogs


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## Chris Isaac

Just to remind you all


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## duquesa

*South American Saint Line*

SASL have just had a reunion. April 18th. I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned here.


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## Chris Isaac

It would have been lovely to have known about it!


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## R396040

*SA Saint Line*



Chris Isaac said:


> It would have been lovely to have known about it!


Hi,
Gordon Flowers ex SASL engineer runs an association / get togethers for ex crew. He used to have a contact in Sea Breezes magazine but I see he is not in the latest issue. 
I sailed on St Helena in 1951/2 as A/S . She was an old Sam boat I recall and we were on the Brazil/Argentina run. My main memory was when off the Brazilian coast a new ensign was suddenly hoisted whilst out at sea and immediately lowered to half mast,normally it was only flown entering ports or in coastal waters. The reason was the death of King George who would be succeded shortly after by our present Queen then Princess Elizabeth and on holiday in Kenya.
Stuart H
France


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## duquesa

*South American Saint Line*

I am in contact with a couple of ex. Saint men but I don't believe either are members here.


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## JohnMac068

R396040 said:


> Hi,
> Gordon Flowers ex SASL engineer runs an association / get togethers for ex crew. He used to have a contact in Sea Breezes magazine but I see he is not in the latest issue.
> I sailed on St Helena in 1951/2 as A/S . She was an old Sam boat I recall and we were on the Brazil/Argentina run. My main memory was when off the Brazilian coast a new ensign was suddenly hoisted whilst out at sea and immediately lowered to half mast,normally it was only flown entering ports or in coastal waters. The reason was the death of King George who would be succeded shortly after by our present Queen then Princess Elizabeth and on holiday in Kenya.
> Stuart H
> France


Unfortunately Gordon passed away, a couple of years ago. The SASL Association hold annual get togethers, the last one (the 17th.)was held at the Copthorne Hotel, Salford Quays on the 18th.April. If anyone is interested, send me a PM and I will let you know the organisers details.


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## R396040

*Sasl*



JohnMac068 said:


> Unfortunately Gordon passed away, a couple of years ago. The SASL Association hold annual get togethers, the last one (the 17th.)was held at the Copthorne Hotel, Salford Quays on the 18th.April. If anyone is interested, send me a PM and I will let you know the organisers details.


Hello John,
Just like to say . how sorry I was to read that Gordon had crossed the bar. I only talked to him once on the phone and exchanged a couple of letters re the SASL association but he seemed very pleasant & helpful. I wasnt able to attend any reunions living to far away in France. 
Stuart H
France


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## guthfrith

Topherjohn said:


> Trying to trace ex-Warsash cadets. Did anyone come across a 1959 Warsash cadet called Hansen who I think joined South American Saint in January 1960? Can't recall his first name.


Hi
His first name was Tony I believe, sailed with him Sept60 to Dec60 on the St Thomas. No idea of his whereabouts.


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## Topherjohn

*Tony Hansen/ Warsash Association*



guthfrith said:


> Hi
> His first name was Tony I believe, sailed with him Sept60 to Dec60 on the St Thomas. No idea of his whereabouts.


Thank you very much for the information. My search is part of recruiting campaign by the Warsash Association. As your real name is not on your SN profile I can't tell if you are a member of our association or not; if you already are please ignore the following!
Our time at Warsash apparently overlapped, my year was Jan - Dec 1959.
Our interactive website is www.warsashassociation.net. As a retired IT man (like me) I hope you find it interesting. It was published in July this year. Typically we have about 100 unique visitors/ day out of about 215 online members. Use of the Forum is beginning to pick up and the gallery already contains over 700 photos. I shall shortly be uploading Captain Wakeford's archive photo album covering 1958/59. 1960/61 will follow later.
Our fast growing membership is worldwide, an increase of 90+ in the past 12 months, now well over 300. A new Australian Branch was inaugurated this year and already has over 60 members, several in Sydney area. The Branch had its first reunion in Sydney 31st October, I think about 60 guests including wives.
Please do have a look at our website and if interested in joining please email me. I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards - Chris


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## Spardo

Probably a bit late to re-activate this thread but I have only just discovered the site.
I did a couple of trips on the St. John in early 1965. My first ship, if only I'd realised that not all were like this. Sheer luxury and a great crowd. 

Some names, Barry Henderson (Kilt), Paddy Lawlor, Reg Lovelock, Joe Gucfa, Gerry, Graham from Canvey Island, Pete Deakin and more I can't recall after all these years. I have written about it and mentioned many of them. I'll have to check and get back again.


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## purserjuk

Can any of you ex-SASL men help me? I am looking for a photo of SASL's cadet training ship "St Briavels", an ex- RN minesweeper. Any help greatly appreciated.


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## ian283

to,john mac068 , I was on the st.helena, was she owned by nerdrums.Ian.


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## A.D.FROST

ian283 said:


> to,john mac068 , I was on the st.helena, was she owned by nerdrums.Ian.


Both liberties along with St.MERRIEL and ROSARIO were sold off by Nerdrums before he went bust.(the 3 sisters went on to be managed by King Line)


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## Chris Isaac

Spardo said:


> Probably a bit late to re-activate this thread but I have only just discovered the site.
> I did a couple of trips on the St. John in early 1965. My first ship, if only I'd realised that not all were like this. Sheer luxury and a great crowd.
> 
> Some names, Barry Henderson (Kilt), Paddy Lawlor, Reg Lovelock, Joe Gucfa, Gerry, Graham from Canvey Island, Pete Deakin and more I can't recall after all these years. I have written about it and mentioned many of them. I'll have to check and get back again.


Hi
We were on there together. I was one of the cadets. All the names you mention I remember well. She was a fantastic ship, I did 7 trips on her before she was sold. Joe the bosun remained on board with the new owners.
Regards
Chris


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## Chris Isaac

purserjuk said:


> Can any of you ex-SASL men help me? I am looking for a photo of SASL's cadet training ship "St Briavels", an ex- RN minesweeper. Any help greatly appreciated.


Click *here* for pic and info about St Briavels


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## purserjuk

Chris,
Thank you for the photo etc..,
As well as my appeal on this site I put one in "Sea Breezes" which was also successful in producing some photos.
Again, thanks for taking the trouble to reply.
John Powell (purserjuk)


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## billyboy

My older Brother sailed on the St Essylt. Not sure of the dates though. I recall him praising the ship for being modern with a cafateria style mass deck and not having to sleep in the focsul.


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## ChasH

*chasH*

I think i have posted this before did anyone know Dymock White (sadly no longer with us), he was with SASL have a cap badge in the loft somewhere, or as the war office (wife) the tidy bin.
chas


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## JohnMac068

JohnMac068 said:


> Unfortunately Gordon passed away, a couple of years ago. The SASL Association hold annual get togethers, the last one (the 17th.)was held at the Copthorne Hotel, Salford Quays on the 18th.April. If anyone is interested, send me a PM and I will let you know the organisers details.


Just a quick update on the SASL Association, it is still in operation although the numbers are decreasing annually. The last reunion (the 22nd) was held on 17th.April 2015 at the Millenium Madjeski Hotel, Reading.


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## Chris Isaac

Since I last posted I have found a picture of St Briavels in Saint Line livery. Together with an article about he role and coming into service.
*It can be found here*.


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## purserjuk

Chris Isaac,
That is one picture of St Briavels I had not seen. Thank you for putting it on the thread.
John Powell


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## Bill Morrison

Hi All on this thread. I have lately purchased a book called Seafarers Ships and Cargos published in 1950, by the British Ship Adoption Society. It is mainly the letters written by ships personnel to the schools of their adopted ships. It is a great read. On the first five pages under the heading A Ship is Born. It describes every stage of the building of the M.V. St. Essylt along with seven photographs. It was strange this thread reappeared as I was reading the book, I thought it may be of interest to you Ex. South American Saint Line members.
Bill


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## Chris Isaac

Bill
I have just acquired many editions of SASL magazine Reef Know dated from 1947 to 1951. In the next few days they will appear on the SASL part of my B&C web site. I will post here when they have been uploaded. They include the building programme for St Essylt and St Thomas.


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## Bill Morrison

Hi Chris. Will look forward to perusing them when posted.
Regards Bill


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## Chris Isaac

Bill Morrison said:


> Hi Chris. Will look forward to perusing them when posted.
> Regards Bill


All up there now.


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## Bill Morrison

Thanks Chris. What beautiful lines those ships had for the 1940s. Only some of Port Line had that same geometry.
Bill


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## DURANGO

Great ships Chris I was lucky enough to do the last voyage of the St Essylt wonderful times I think myself lucky to have been there thanks for the postings .


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## ChasH

*chasH*



Chris Isaac said:


> All up there now.


Great site Chris good in depth of how the company started and finished well advanced ship for their time also good pics, all the best,
chas


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