# What happened to Hunting's



## Ian

Two of the happiest trips I ever did were in the Sylvafield (Ex Empire Silver) in 1949 and the Thamesfield (T2) in 1950.

When I think of the best of my seafaring memories, those two ships, captains and crews, loom large.

I have a WSS history of Huntings which takes me up to the mid sixties, but after that the firm seems to have dropped off the edge of the earth.

I know that they bought the remnants of the Stag Line, and some of its remaining ships. But nothing else.

Can anyone enlighten me to their subsequent history up to, and including the end of the firm. I am surprised that so little information exists, since they were also active in oilfield and aircraft industries.

Regards, Joe


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## Hugh MacLean

Hi Joe,

I came across this book on the web unfortunately out of print. It is the 3rd Edition and I would imagine would bring you up to date.

*Hunting & Son Ltd: The Fleet Past and Present of -- 3rd ed.*

*







* 

*Author:* Rowan M B H Hackman, 
*Publication No.:* 0017 *ISBN:* n/a *Publication Date:* Oct 1969
*Status:* Out of Print


A 44-page booklet issued to all WSS members of the day. "The third edition of this history and the opportunity has been taken to re-check it completely and amend certain small errors in earlier editions and bring it completely up to date with information and photographs".

Rgds


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## ruud

Ahoy Joe,

Found their fates:
Thamesfield

Sylvafield


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## Ian

God, I am really getting old. I stood by on the Thamesfield at Smith's Dock, but the "Edenfield" came up, and I signed on her on what turned out to be an eight month trip.

Sorry about that, there are days when I can't remember my kids names.

Joe


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## ruud

Ahoy Joe,

Most important is that they[kids] remember yours.
Here the fate of the Edenfield, "book" says still in service but that booklet was publiced in 1969.



Piccie as a bonus(*))


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## Mac

From their heydays of owning 16 tankers in 1954 they diversified into bulkers and the number of ships reduced to eight ships by 1973.and by 1978, two ships.
In 1981 Stag line became a wholly owned subsidiary of Hunting Gibson Ltd
Huntings were in turn bought by James Fisher & Sons, Barrow in July 1982 and their sole remaining vessel the "Thamesfield" a 50200 DWT forest product carrier was registered under James Fisher in July 1984 and Hunting's Newcastle office was closed in March 1985 and moved to Barrow, bringing to an end the shipping interests of the Hunting fleet which started in 1874.


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## samguy

*hungry Huntings.*

undefined


Joe Rooney said:


> Two of the happiest trips I ever did were in the Sylvafield (Ex Empire Silver) in 1949 and the Thamesfield (T2) in 1950.
> 
> When I think of the best of my seafaring memories, those two ships, captains and crews, loom large.
> 
> I have a WSS history of Huntings which takes me up to the mid sixties, but after that the firm seems to have dropped off the edge of the earth.
> 
> I know that they bought the remnants of the Stag Line, and some of its remaining ships. But nothing else.
> 
> Can anyone enlighten me to their subsequent history up to, and including the end of the firm. I am surprised that so little information exists, since they were also active in oilfield and aircraft industries.
> 
> Regards, Joe


Served my time with Huntings. Joined Wheatfield in 1963. My longest trip was on the Inverfield (14 1/2 months) Left the compan in 1970 when it was obvious the Company was in decline.
Regards,
Sam Guy


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## marcnoonan

Hi Jo,

My Grandad served on the MT Sylvafield, Frank Cook.

I'm trying to find pictures of the eight ships he served on, do you have any you could forward please.

Cheers

Marc


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## ruud

Ahoy Marc,

Should/Could be this one:Sylvafield 1953


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## Ian

Well, it certainly was bigger and better looking than my Sylvafield (ex Empire Silver), but the Sylvafield I sailed on, under Captain Pugesly and an almost total Geordie crew was, and still is my standard for a happy ship. Followed closely by the Edenfield.

One of the prior posts refers to "Hungry Huntings". Not in either of my admittedly only two Hunting ships. Thery were great feeders. And I think Pugesly, and his long serving Chief steward had a lot to do with that. Both liked their food, and made sure that we had the best that was available.

Good times, great memories!

Joe


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## Aldinga

*Wheatfield*

1. “Wheatfield” Eden Tankers Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son Ltd.
Built By: 1952 Furness Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. Haverton Hill-on-Tees
10464 gross 504.7 x 67.8 x 36.15ft. Doxford diesel O.P. 2-cycle 5500 b.h.p. 13kts.


2. “Inverfield” Hunting& Son Ltd.
Built by: 1958 Rickmers Werft Bremerhaven 10039 gross 504 x 60 x 41ft.
M.A.N. diesel 2 cycle 4680 b.h.p. 13 ¾ kts.

Ron


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## Tom Hill

been reading the threads with interest i have a freind who sailed on the thamesfield said she was about 50,000 tons anyone know where i can get photo of her 
tom


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## ruud

Ahoy Tom,
She wasn't a 50.000 tons, only 33.880 tons d.w, if she was the 1958 THAMESFIELD.


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## Tom Hill

if i got it right the thamesfield he sailed on was a bulker as he said it was the biggest log carrier he had seen he also sailed on the wearfield if that was the same company 
tom


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## Thamesphil

"Thamesfield" was an open-hatch bulker of 50,300 dwt built by Flensburger (hull 646) in 1977. She regularly traded to Tilbury with lumber in the 1970s and 80s. I believe she was on charter to Westwood, or was it Weyerhauser?
She was lost in 2001 as the "Guang Yuan" 

I think I have a photo of her at Tilbury, but it's not yet scanned into my PC.

Thamesphil


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## Tom Hill

that seems the one it all fits thanks for the info if you can manage a photo at some time that would be great
tom


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## horizon555

*weirfield*

I was on the Weirfield 1965,was in storm of n.scotia all pumps on until reaching
Houston (Cloud)


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## paul batey

Hi my workmate was on Huntings Inverfield working as a cook Fred Mitchell also known as 'slim' (though not anymore) is looking for anyone who remembers him particularly Chuck and Jimmy Black..thanks


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## timewaster1969

hello , my dad Jim Henderson served on the Wheatfield & Tynefield late fifties , early sixties. will dig out some insteresting pictures and post soon


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## rossaspden

*Thamesfield and others*

I served on the Thamesfield ( timber) very soon after her maiden yoyage - she was a great ship - I also spent time on the Tynebridge,Tweedbridge and T2 tanker that ran in the baltic ( cant remember the name) ,she was laid up in the Tyne b4 going to scrap at Rosyth. Another I can remember the name was a salt carrier that ran from Cedros Island near Mexico to Vancouver - great if any one could fil the gaps-


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## oceantramp

1981 Ropner Holdings Ltd who owned a 29%share in Stag Line sold their shares to Hunting who then made a bid for Stag Line . This was accepted by the Stag Line directors and Stag LIne became became a wholly owned subsidiary of Hunting Gibson Ltd. April 1981 Hunting Stag Management Ltd was set up in Newcastle to absorb the sea going and shore staff of the two companies and to manage the Hunting and Stag Line fleets.
Hunting Stag Management Ltd was sold in July 1982 to James Fisher & Sons Barrow The price included Thamesfield and a Stag Line coasterThamesfield was registered under James Fisher & Sons from the 1st July 1984 and the Newcastle office of Hunting Stag Management Ltd was closed in March 1985 and moved to Barrow bringing to an end the shipping interests of the Hunting fleet. (==D)


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## randcmackenzie

*Salt carrier*



rossaspden said:


> I served on the Thamesfield ( timber) very soon after her maiden yoyage - she was a great ship - I also spent time on the Tynebridge,Tweedbridge and T2 tanker that ran in the baltic ( cant remember the name) ,she was laid up in the Tyne b4 going to scrap at Rosyth. Another I can remember the name was a salt carrier that ran from Cedros Island near Mexico to Vancouver - great if any one could fil the gaps-


Was the salt carrier not the ARGYLL?


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## rossaspden

*Argyll*

Cheers it was !! I had some great times on the trips to Cedros - did you sail on her.


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## randcmackenzie

No, never did, I was a Denholm man, but I knew someone who did, though his name escapes me now.


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## bilbur

hi, talking about Huntings,I would br very grateful if anyone out there has a picture of the Avonfield, about 1953-4,or even one of the Reidfield,(a coastal Tanker.Looking forward to any replys,
Ta. Bilbur


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## guy freeman

I remember Huntings office was in Milburn House, Dean Street - my father managed the company which owned the building. Does anyone remember Hunting's personnel officer Tommy Shanks??

rgds


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## Colman J. Shaughnessy

*Marconi Radio Officer Teesfield/Wearfiled*

The m/t. Teesfield/GDHP was my first ship as R/O.- all on my own- 12 months to the day - Tyne to Rotteredam and we saw the World. Irish- 20 - a non drinker/non smoker - what a surprise for the Geordie's. I had a great trip and made many new friends. Next to the "Wearfield/GNJE" ex Shannon Airport with a seasoned Geordie Crew change to Norfolk VA. Huntings then were good feeders and I have happy memories. ( 1970- 1972). Slainte. Colman.


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## rossaspden

guy freeman said:


> I remember Huntings office was in Milburn House, Dean Street - my father managed the company which owned the building. Does anyone remember Hunting's personnel officer Tommy Shanks??
> 
> rgds


Tommy conducted my first interview in a pub round the corner from the offices - I was only 16 and remember getting drunk before being offered the position - I was put on the train back to Manchester and fell asleep, missing my stop and ending up in Liverpool !! Great memories . Cheers Ross


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## Rupertthebear27

Hi there
The salt carrier was Argyll and the chosen few got sent there or the other great runner / Coral Venture which carried cement from Freeport G.B.I. to Florida/Bermuda and Virginia.
I was offered the Argyll when I gave in my notice but I had already accepted a shore-side job
Huntings were a great family business
Who can forget Tommy Shanks--one of life's great characters


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## quietman

Can anyone supply a picture of the tyne bridge I sailed on her in 79. The ship was in a poor state but Huntings were really good to me and even offered to fly my fiance out to Italy to meet me as I was soon to get married.


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## captjr

I saiiled on Argyll for 16 months with Captain Taphouse we used toad in the lagoon great times


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## Raz Jones

I sailed on Billmeir's ore carrier Stanfield in mid Fifties, she had previously been the Huntings WW2 tanker Thamesfield before being converted to ore carrier, I have pictures of her as Stanfield if they are of interest to anybody I can forward.
Regards Ray


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## alan shore

*tommy shanks*

with regard to tommy shanks i remember him all to well! he signed me on as nav cadet in 1970 and i joined teesfield for a 9 month trip.


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## Admiral

*re Tommy Shanks*

Yes! I remember Tommy very well. He hired me too, sitting behing his desk which was piled high with papers and other junk. He used to roll little cheroots with one hand while chatting on the phone to someone and talking to the folks in his office at the same time. Quite the character. "Quietman" was lookin for photos of the Tyne Bridge. I think I have a couple I can scan in. I was on her when number 8 hold blew up in the sea of Japan back in the 70's. Spent a total of 18 months on her as nav cadet and 3rd mate.


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## albert.s.i

+hi all, i wonder if anyone can remember the pontfield i was on her in 55 and was paid off in montividio feb 1956 sick after leaving B.A she was on her way to trinadad west indies i was a week in hospital with suspected apendesitis and turned out to be colleck i spent two weeks in a hotel and was shipped home on a royal mail D,B,S.albert.s.i


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## cascadia1st

Looking forward to seeing the pictures of the Wheatfield!
I sailed in her out of Hong Kong when she had been renamed "Sea Jasper".

Tony Mortimer


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## duffield

Hi-enjoyed the chat re Hunting & Son. Joined the Duffield on my first trip 1955. Also my last trip after she was converted to bulk carrier around 1960. Mainly carried timber from California to Japan. Joined for six weeks and spent 13 mths on her. Happy days.
duffield


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## duffield

albert.s.i said:


> +hi all, i wonder if anyone can remember the pontfield i was on her in 55 and was paid off in montividio feb 1956 sick after leaving B.A she was on her way to trinadad west indies i was a week in hospital with suspected apendesitis and turned out to be colleck i spent two weeks in a hotel and was shipped home on a royal mail D,B,S.albert.s.i


Yes I remember the Pontfield. Joined her in Gothenberg, around 1957/8 as 4th Eng. She was a heap of scrap but nevertheless a happy ship.
D. Gladstone


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## anecltd

Anyone have pictures of Teesfield, Avonfield, Wearfield all my ships 1970 through 1974? I wonder how many of us are still around? Its a great shame the demise of Huntings; Iron ships, iron men we were all Huntings men!


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## martinfbrown

*What Happened to Hunting`s*

Hi,
Just joined this forum. I sailed on the Derwentfield as a Junior Engineer in 1974-1975.
Martin


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## martinfbrown

*What Happened to Hunting`s*

Hi,
Yes, I remember Tommy Shanks.
Martin


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## albert.s.i

hi lads im surprised no one has memtioned the pontfield i was only on her 5 months 1955 paid off montevidio 9 feb 1956 with surspected pendacitis was in in hospital a week stayed in monty for three weeks came home D B S on highland monarch have looked all over the site for photo of pontfield to add to my collection of ships i was on albert s.i.


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## Mac

Pontfield was built by Ericksberg in 1939.
Bow was blown off by mine on 15-9-1941 and later replaced.
She was broken up in Split in 1959.

Cheers

Mac


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## KEITH SEVILLE

I remember Captain H.Park who was the regular Master of the Forthfield.
A tall man with an easy approach when dealing with the ships business.
Wonder what happened to him???

Regards
Keith


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## albert.s.i

many thanks mac thats the advantage of this site if you want to know anything about the shipping past present or future its all here gone is the pontfield thanks again. albert s.i.


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## mike N

*mike N*

Hi lads. Joined River Afton in Amsterdam in March 1960. First trip as solo R/O. Although born in Kent, I was a "Cockney" as far as the mainly Geordie crew was concerned, but of course I could soon "why aye man" with the best of em. Remember Captain Johnson ,a fair skipper. Sailed on her for 9 months ,running from Ijmuiden to Pepel, Sierra Leone ,to load iron ore, about a month turn round as I remember. Great days, still miss those times. I believe Huntings had about sixteen ships in those days.

Cheers,

Mike


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## duffield

Hi Albert You must have been on the Pontfield shortly before me. I joined her in Gothenburg Sweden in Sept '57. Spent 13mths on her. She was showing her age by then but still happy days.


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## albert.s.i

hi duffield yeah i was told by the agents i montividio to rejoin the pontfield in trinidad truth was i was having a good time in monty i refused to fly but was shipped home on the next R,M,S as a D,B,S i had no complaines with the ship cheers and all the best albert.s.i


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## Ian

My Uncle (By my mothers second marriage!) was Billy Watson. He was Chief Steward on the Pontfield from the beginning of the war until the early 1950's.

I believe that he survived the mining of the Pontfield unscathed, but he was quite unforthcoming about his experiences, but so were all of my other relatives. It was almost as though they had sworn an oath to never discuss seagoing experiences when home on leave.

The only time I ever saw Billy getting hot under the collar, was when one of my cousins, (Billys son!) spoke slightingly of Hunting.

Billy hit the roof, reminding us that Huntings had fed all of us for a long time, and that he blessed the day they had offered him the job. 
I believe that he had started with them as a second steward, and he finished his seagoing career with them.
I was away from the UK from 1953, and I don't remember when he died. But to the day he died he was an ultra loyal "Hunting Man." God bless him. He never said much, but what he did was always of great value to me!

Joe


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## fringe

*Ships and sea staff*

I served my time with Huntings. A skinny little fresh faced kid from 'Uddersfield, I was sent to the Wearfield where I could hardly understand a word that was said! From there it was the Derwentfield, Thamesfield (the tanker), Teesfield, Coral Venture, Tweed Bridge, the dreaded Tyne Bridge (what a death trap!), the Phosphore Conveyor and finally after sailing with Happy Tappy on the Argyll I decided I wanted to try coasting.

Let's see if anyone remembers this list of names - I sailed with all of them: I'll list the Deck ones in this post and do the others at a later date.
Marshall Friskney, William (Wa..er) Harrison, John Angus, Lester (Les) Cairns, Graham Rosie, David Sim, Henry (Ricky) Asquez, Ian (Aye!) Thain, Phillip Hansen, Thomas (The Tam) Dalgleish, Peter (Jacques) Torr, David (Dinger) Bell, Ian Milton, John (The Con) Conlon, Timothy West, Leonard Kennedy, Peter Heasman, Douglas Quinney, John Allen-Jones, David Lee, Alan Jones, David Reynolds, Andrew (Osti) Rhodes, James (JT) Alexander, Kenneth Gray, Robert Jenkins, Peter Bolger, Frede Johnson, Paul Long, John Abuelo (Junior), George Louth, David Glendenning, Julian Berry, David Evans, John Wheeler, Graham Legg, Brian Alldred, Lorne Whitelaw, Dennis Dowen, Charles Fuller OBE, Malcolm Brannon, Charles Pullen, Colin Greenwood, Ian (I AM) Haddow, Thomas (Tommy) Armstrong, James Donald, Robert Hamilton, Martyn Wimpenny, George Patterson, Michael Kelly, Leonard Green, Steven Morgan, Francis Taphouse, Robert Clarke, Michael Herbert, Maurice Tate.


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## Larry Heslop

*My time in Huntings*

Hello All ex Huntings lads, Just found this web site, I have often wondered what happened to Huntings, and reading the various messages certainly brings back some memories.

I joined Huntings in 1967 as a fresh faced 16 year old, was interviewed by Tommy Shanks and sent down to Franks on Dean Street near to the Hunting Offices in Milburn House, to get a uniform (waste of time cos I only wore it about twice). I joined as an Engineering Apprentice. I sailed on the Wearfield (Bulk); Teesfield (Tanker); Forthfield (Tanker); Thamesfield (Tanker) and the dreaded Tyne Bridge - I left the company in 1973 after the fire in the Tyne Bridge which gutted the engine room in Valparaiso, we were stuck on the ship with no power for a couple of weeks, till about 10 Swan Hunters Electricains arrived to rewire the engine room. We still had 167,000 tons of crude on board, but eventually discharged this and sailed to Brazil to load with iron ore, off to Cape Town for bunkers and up to Japan for dry dock and fix the lump properly - what a trip, I've still got a letter from Huntings sending me a cheque for £5 hardship money and thanking us for our efforts in saving the ship. I also have copies of all the fleet magazines from around 67-73 which list all the ship locations and crews. In the previous thread i do remember a lot of the names, it would be nice to hear from anyone who remembers me? Regards to all Larry.


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## muldonaich

*huntings*

sailed with a chief engineer from then alan millar a scot did you know him kev.


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## Larry Heslop

Yes I also sailed with Alan Miller and his brother Ronnie Miller, Ronnie was a real stickler, he used to set me written questions about marine engines, and when he had his wife on board, after my watch make me fill the pool via the condensors so that it was warm - took ages!


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## Peter Cheseldine

*Happy years with Huntings*

I was with Huntings from Apprentice in 1965 until I left in 1979. I have many happy memories (even those of all my time on Tyne Bridge).Reading this forum has brought them all flooding back.Many of the names mentioned here are fondly remembered,all too many now departed.Anyone interested in chattting over old times please contact me.
Regards to all
Peter


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## Peter Cheseldine

Up until the last time I spoke to Mike Simpson (at the end of 2007,Tommy Shanks was still going!!!
Peter


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## kgibson21

Hi I remember John Conlon from my days on the Duffield, and as for Capt Fuller, wonderfull man from my days on the Coral Venture
Thanks for the memory
Ken Gibson


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## kgibson21

Anyone remember Cpt Shakey Blakey


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## KEITH SEVILLE

Ken

I remember Captain Blackie was Master of the Teesfield for a number of voyages into Stanlow.
Had his wife with him and a nice chap to get on with.
Also remember Captain Pugsley, real broad Cornishman looked like Captain 
Birdseye and a very bubbly kind of character.

Regards
Keith


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## Peter Cheseldine

Shakey Blakey,Porky Muir,Pugwash,"Gentleman" John Newbold,Ian Thain, Tappy,"Golden ********" Don Robertson the list just goes on!!!


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## Peter Cheseldine

quietman said:


> Can anyone supply a picture of the tyne bridge I sailed on her in 79. The ship was in a poor state but Huntings were really good to me and even offered to fly my fiance out to Italy to meet me as I was soon to get married.


Have lots of photos and will post them when I have scanned them.Did you join in Livorno in drydock? I rememer the storm and the ship surging up the jetty,dectroying the bulbous bow!


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## Larry Heslop

Peter Cheseldine said:


> Up until the last time I spoke to Mike Simpson (at the end of 2007,Tommy Shanks was still going!!!
> Peter


I remember you Peter you joined a ship i was either on or leaving, crikey Tommy Shanks must be about 300 he was old in the sixties, good for him though, i also remember Mike Simpson. Regards


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## Peter Cheseldine

Larry Heslop said:


> I remember you Peter you joined a ship i was either on or leaving, crikey Tommy Shanks must be about 300 he was old in the sixties, good for him though, i also remember Mike Simpson. Regards


I joined Tyne Bridge at Valparaiso after the fire.Plenty scrap copper.


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## Larry Heslop

Peter Cheseldine said:


> I joined Tyne Bridge at Valparaiso after the fire.Plenty scrap copper.


Thats right we made our way up to Japan together. Tyne Tees TV just after the Derbyshire sank made a film about the OBO's built at Haverton Hill - the Tyne Bridge featured a lot, all about the beam that stopped short of the engine room which was a designed in weak point probably the cause of a least two of the sister ships being lost - i remember taking the oil tank temperatures in the double bottom shaft that ran the length of the ship and hearing a lot of creaking and groaning - could have been the start of it!


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## albert.s.i

hi, thats some number of names mensioned thats something i could never do all the time i was at sea apart from lads i sailed with from my home port it was always jock, paddy, taffy, geordie or such like although i must have sailed with someone on site. cheers, albert.si.


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## lennyhenry

*Huntings*

Some of the best times of my life were when I was sailing with Huntings and or at cpllege in South Shields getting may tickets. 

I remember sailing with Pete on the Tyne Bridge., Jimmy Fatkin, Fred Hardy and all those engineers with very few deckies. I paid off the Tyne Bridge at Cape Town before she went across the water to South America, wasn't I lucky. 

Pete one of your old running mates from the RGS sends his regards - Treetop Taylor - he lives in Tasmania ladn comes across on holiday now and then. 

All the best to anyone who remembers me and I've a few photos of the Thamesfiled ( tanker) Coral Venture and Argyll that I'll post when I get time. 

Cheers(Pint) (Pint) (Pint) Lenny Kennedy
http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/images/smilies/pint1.gif


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## BillH

oceantramp said:


> 1981 Ropner Holdings Ltd who owned a 29%share in Stag Line sold their shares to Hunting who then made a bid for Stag Line . This was accepted by the Stag Line directors and Stag LIne became became a wholly owned subsidiary of Hunting Gibson Ltd. April 1981 Hunting Stag Management Ltd was set up in Newcastle to absorb the sea going and shore staff of the two companies and to manage the Hunting and Stag Line fleets.
> Hunting Stag Management Ltd was sold in July 1982 to James Fisher & Sons Barrow The price included Thamesfield and a Stag Line coasterThamesfield was registered under James Fisher & Sons from the 1st July 1984 and the Newcastle office of Hunting Stag Management Ltd was closed in March 1985 and moved to Barrow bringing to an end the shipping interests of the Hunting fleet. (==D)


A different aspect of the company which came to light during research into Cayzer, Irvine / B&C Group

Hunting Air Travel was founded at Gatwick Airport in 1945, and by 1947 was offering chartered flights to and from British and Continental Airports, and in 1950 was chartered by the UK Government to fly troops from the UK to Africa.
The company was continually seeking ways in which to expand and in 1952 offered New Safari service in Association with Airworks, the service carried holidaymakers from the UK to Nairobi and return.
Clan Line was continually seeking new ventures to invest in especially those which allowed them to diversify their business and in 1953 purchased the complete share issue of Hunting Air Travel and renamed the company Hunting-Clan Air Transport. In the same year the company was the first independent airline company to join the newly founded I.A.T.A.
The company started to expand its routes and in 1954 offered cheap flights on the Newcastle to Copenhagen route, with expansion successful the company relocated from Gatwick to Heathrow in 1955. Also in the same year a new service weekly Africargo service was introduced in co-operation with B.O.A.C. and Airworks, the service operated between the UK and Africa, also new services were introduced between the UK and Gibraltar, services were also extended to fly between the UK and Hong Kong.
The UK Government chartered the company aircrafts to carry troops between the UK –Nicosia, Aden Nairobi. 
In 1960 the company name was changed to British United Airways (BUA) after the merger between Hunting-Clan and Airworks and in 1965 the company took over the B.O.A.C routes between the UK and South America. In 1964 a fleet replacement programme commenced when VC-10s began flying to Africa replacing the ageing DC-6s and Bristol Britannia, becoming BUA standard long haul aircraft. BUA also took over routes from the British and South American Airways and a VC-10 was ordered and placed on the route.
Despite the apparent success BUA was suffering from severe financial problems and in 1970 the merger between BUA and the Scottish independent airline, Caledonian Airways was announced. The merger was justified on many grounds as both companies were of similar size and with duplicated routes (where have we heard that before?). For a short period the new company was known as Caledonian / BUA, before eventually being rebranded British Caledonian. At the same time B.O.A.C and B.E.A were discussing a merger eventually forming British Airways in 1972.
Five years later Caledonian Airways and BUA merged to form Caledonia-BUA Airline, and in 1972 the name was changed to British Caledonian Airways (BCAL). Eventually BCAL was taken over by B.A. and became part of British Airways network but is used mainly on their holiday charter networks.


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## mclennan

Hi all,
Just found this thread and it brings back memories.
I joined the new Thamesfield at Tilbury on July 4th 1978 and first trip engine cadet. Steve Harrison went back to college. Ross Aspden was deck cadet at the time. C/Eng was Ronnie Miller, 2/E Tommy Walsh , 3/E Gordon Hansen.
Also sailed on the Argyl / Beseggen / Thorseggen / Albright Explorer / Albright Pioneer. Good times.
Other names I remember are:
Leckies - Ian McCooey / Mick Rafferty / Jimmy Dickson / Kev Naylor
Engineers - Don Knot / Gordon Brown / Mel Gates / Frank Cooke / John Craddock / Alan Grey / Davey and Stevie K(e)ay / Wille Walton


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## Larry Heslop

mclennan said:


> Hi all,
> Just found this thread and it brings back memories.
> I joined the new Thamesfield at Tilbury on July 4th 1978 and first trip engine cadet. Steve Harrison went back to college. Ross Aspden was deck cadet at the time. C/Eng was Ronnie Miller, 2/E Tommy Walsh , 3/E Gordon Hansen.
> Also sailed on the Argyl / Beseggen / Thorseggen / Albright Explorer / Albright Pioneer. Good times.
> Other names I remember are:
> Leckies - Ian McCooey / Mick Rafferty / Jimmy Dickson / Kev Naylor
> Engineers - Don Knot / Gordon Brown / Mel Gates / Frank Cooke / John Craddock / Alan Grey / Davey and Stevie K(e)ay / Wille Walton


Welcome to the thread -I also sailed on the Thamesfield around 1970/71 so a bit before your time, i also new Ronnie Miller he only had one eye as i recall, Tommy Walsh was a 4th when i sailed with him, Gordon Hansen was a professional 3rd it think, Don Knot and Gordon Brown were both chief's i sailed with - good old days eh!!


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## Rupertthebear27

I remember you Larry--Were you on Thamesfield in 72 with "Chunky" Marshall, JJ Rustumji etc--I joined as a 1st trip Jnr in Botany Bay with the C/E George Fairlie


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## Rupertthebear27

Whatever happened to Charlie gashbucket Dodds ?


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## Peter Cheseldine

rossaspden said:


> Tommy conducted my first interview in a pub round the corner from the offices - I was only 16 and remember getting drunk before being offered the position - I was put on the train back to Manchester and fell asleep, missing my stop and ending up in Liverpool !! Great memories . Cheers Ross


You'll probably find that the pub was the Empress.Huntings did a lot of their business in there at lunch times.Particularly Tommy Shanks and tommy west.Many good debrief sessions remembered!!!


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## greektoon

I sailed with Tommy Armstrong (Master) and Mike Kelley (3/0) when with Ropners. Thirlby and Lackenby.


----------



## Larry Heslop

Rupertthebear27 said:


> I remember you Larry--Were you on Thamesfield in 72 with "Chunky" Marshall, JJ Rustumji etc--I joined as a 1st trip Jnr in Botany Bay with the C/E George Fairlie


Yes - I was on in 72 with the guys you mention - what's your proper name as no doubt i will remember you too? Regards Larry


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## doggybag

Has anyone got a photo of the ss.Alnfield [ex ss.Sello Rojo]. It was a Liberty ship converted into a self discharging bulk grain carrier. We mainly hauled rice from Sacramento to Okinawa and Japan although we did do one trip with grain out of Vancouver BC. I joined it in Stockton CA in 1964 and served 14 months.


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## sarah friskney

my grandad was Marshall Friskney 111


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## stan mayes

Hi Sarah,
During the war I made a voyage in the tanker Empire Unity -a captured German ship ex Biscaya.
MOT and managed by Huntings.
Her Master was Captain M.E.Friskney and his brother G.Friskney was the 3rd Officer.
Redcar is recorded as their birthplaces.
Captain Friskney had a home address in South Shields.
3rd Officer Friskney had a home address in Redcar.
Regards
Stan


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## martinfbrown

Hi,
Anyone know what happened to the MV Derwentfield. I was a Junior Engineer on her in 1974-1975?
Martin


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## K urgess

There's some history on Miramar, Martin
http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz/ship/list?IDNo=5043473
Cheers
Kris


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## brian thompson

*Huntings*

Does any one know what whpened to the MV Wearfield. I served as electrician on board in 1967, with chief Andy Hunter. Joned here at Newport en route Great lakes, Deluth, and return to Rotterdam,be interested to here from anyone who sailed that trip.


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## john fraser

Wearfield was purchased by Ben Line and renamed Benhiant then renamed again and called Cramond


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## Markt

blimey! i work for Gibsons and i beleive Huntings own us. i never knew the history of them before.

great reading (Thumb)


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## R396040

Reading this about Huntings reminds me of an old old tanker of theirs called WILLOWFIELD back in 1948. I had just paid off my second trip to sea as catering boy on British Might in Falmouth towed in from Bay of Biscay and had decided tankers werent for me. Six days leave and back to Dock St pool who told me I was a tanker man now and promptly sent me back to Falmouth to join Willowfield. Found her alongside but the long woodbine funnel was on fire and decided that wasnt the type of ship I wanted. Going back through docks saw my last ship British Might in dry dock and went aboard for cup of tea and Chf Stwd offered me promotion to A/S if I signed on again. Did so and ended up on a eight month trip but at least more wages and no fires. Pool still sent me to tankers and I did Shell,ESSO and Athel during next ten years but always one trip.
Stuart
Anyone out there remember Willowfield ?


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## BLIP

*Thamesfield*



ruud said:


> Ahoy Tom,
> She wasn't a 50.000 tons, only 33.880 tons d.w, if she was the 1958 THAMESFIELD.


I guess you are referring to the tanker vessel of 33.000 tons.This was the last vessel that I sailed on,I was employed by Huntings from1954 to 1962 in the engine room dept.and since leaving have lost all contact with the company and other shipmates. Anyone serving during this period I would like to hear from as I have been trying to get hold of one of the books about Huntings. By the way I must say that I was treated very well by the company and all of the ships I sailed in were good feeders, I hope that there are a few old timers like me still around to respond.Blip


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## Rupertthebear27

Larry----Jim Davis--I was on Thamesfield twice/ Edenfield/Coral Venture/Beseggen/Tweed Bridge etc
Those were the days


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## BLIP

Rupertthebear27 said:


> Larry----Jim Davis--I was on Thamesfield twice/ Edenfield/Coral Venture/Beseggen/Tweed Bridge etc
> Those were the days


Hello ex Thamesfield Chum

I sailed on this ship 14/04/60 to16/04/61 and 22/12/61 to 17/03/62, I also sailed on the following Huntings vessels,Wearfield, Oilfield, Laganfield, Clydefield, Avonfield,Wheatfield and the Forthfield and I had some very good times. Glad to hear that there are a few old timers left,all the best hope to hear from you and any others that sailed in any of these listed vessels.


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## david boxx

*boxxy*



BLIP said:


> Hello ex Thamesfield Chum
> 
> I sailed on this ship 14/04/60 to16/04/61 and 22/12/61 to 17/03/62, I also sailed on the following Huntings vessels,Wearfield, Oilfield, Laganfield, Clydefield, Avonfield,Wheatfield and the Forthfield and I had some very good times. Glad to hear that there are a few old timers left,all the best hope to hear from you and any others that sailed in any of these listed vessels.


I sailed on the Derwentfield, Coral Venture, Tyne Bridge [3] Tweed Bridge, Solt Tiger, Bessegan


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## Peter M Scott

*Hi Chez!*



Peter Cheseldine said:


> You'll probably find that the pub was the Empress.Huntings did a lot of their business in there at lunch times.Particularly Tommy Shanks and tommy west.Many good debrief sessions remembered!!!


Scottie here. We went to school together, joined Hunting's together in 1965 and sailed on the Teesfield as apprentices together. After trips on Thamesfield, Dalhanna and Wearfield I left in 1970 to work ashore; I now have 41 years at the same place! Remember the Walhalla bar in Rotterdam? Sorry about that. Some names I remember: Tommy West, John Conlon, Stan Weymes, Andy Little, 'Cookie' Palmer, 'Majestic' Bob Brayfield, Brian Lant, Jim Keltie, 'Shaky' Blakey, John Corder, Mick Ather, 'Tucker' O'Halloron, Big Bertie [ex Eagle Bros wrestler] Shreve and many many more! And who could forget Tommy Shanks! After presenting the results of my medical he uttered the immortal words: "thou's got sugar in thee watter son!". This followed a fall in the river at Blaydon but a short course of antibiotics later and I was deep-sea bound! A work associate later turned out to be married to Tommy's daughter and we shared a few anecdotes. I also worked with Alan Wharton, who sadly died some years later; anyone remember Alan?


----------



## frank elliott

*Hunting*

Hello Joe Rooney. Hunting still active,but not in the shipowning or management business. They diversified into an oil services company see Hunting - under oil services listings on the stock market. They still do have some other divisions also - E A Gibson shipbrokers arranging ship charters etc. The bulk of the business is in the oil fields equipment and drilling services and manufacture of specialist pipes and couplings.
Yes they were a nice shipping company. I once saw the Edenfield at Falmouth coming out of drydock.
Anyway, it is really now a different type of Company,it is big and successful at the things it now does.


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## shieldrow

I also sailed with Huntings on Dalhanna, River Afton, Thamesfield, Teesfield and Coral Venture and are aquainted with some of the people mentioned including Jim Kelty, Tommy Farrel, and Captains Blakey and others.

Got a phone call from Tommy Shanks, would I like to cruise off the West coast of the States, to which of course I replied yes!
All the necessary arrangements were made for me to fly to Long Beach or Seattle to join the Argyll, however at the last moment sudden change of plan and was sent out to join the Coral Venture with Tommy describing the idylic, exotic Caribbean lifestyle.
However within about 10 minutes of joining her in Freeport Bahamas harbour I realised it was all a horrible dream. Sandflies, roaches big as elephants and clouds of cement dust.

Thamesfield was a great ship, joined in Belfast and sailed to Gulf back to Thameshaven then Malta for drydocking.
Entered Malta drydocks at about 30,000dwt and sailed out with new watertight doors on the accomodation at 33,000dwt. Sailed through the Suez canal where we had problems with the soot blowers, unlucky for us but lucky for the old mans wife, my wife and one other who got a quick trip to the pyramids, then on to the Gulf, Bombay, Gulf-Durban-Gulf and then to Finnart for payoff.
Teesfield with its 6 cylinder Doxford, not a bad ship but problems with engine room auxillaries, originally most of the pumps were to be steam via Spanner boiler but did not work out so main pumps were changed to electric and and old 2nd hand National DC generator was fitted.
The ore carriers Dalhana and Afton were pretty good, however started to get a bit tired of constant Pepel to Ijmuiden on the Afton.

Regarding the Hunting Fleet History, got a 2nd hand copy from Frank Smiths bookshop in Byker (now closed I believe) from which I have copied a photo of the Argyll.
I knew a mate who sailed on the Alnfield as a junior engineer or fourth, name of Alan Mould with nickname of "Buddy" as in Holly.
Unfourtunately no longer with us.


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## Ken Milburn

*Indentured apprentice*

I became a Huntings' indentured apprentice in January 1957. My TOTAL pay for four years service was £575. I still retain my indentures, they were signed by the then personnel manager, John Keenlyside. This was obviously before Tommy Shanks took over personnel. I left Huntings after receiving my master's certificate in 1967 and have lost touch with all old shipmates bar one.
My last two years with Huntings were spent on the Duffield, running between the US West coast and Japan. I served on various other ships, the first one being the Laganfield. I was on the Pontfield when we delivered her to Yugoslavia for scrap. 'Porky' Muir was master.
I have read all through the thread and came across many familiar names. Time will no doubt have caught up with many of them, especially those who were then the senior men. Among the masters, I sailed with Abuelo, Harrison,Murray, McEnzie(mad head),Friskney,
Park, Lawson(Hank),Johnson, Finnegan(?)and Mark Henry Hooker.
I am surprised that Mark Henry is not mentioned in the thread, he was a well-known character. Probably someone out there recalls that he was attacked by a knife-weilding quartermaster shortly after his ship docked at Mena-al-Ahmadi must have been in the 50s but I can't recall which ship it was. Anyway Mark Henry survived and returned to sea-going duties. The second mate on that ship was Bill Attwood, does anyone know what happened to him?
I am also interested in the following old shipmates, hope that some of them are surviving and will get in touch, can you help?
Phil Hansen, John Elcoate, Mal Brannen, Theo Kelly, Steve Holroyd,
and anyone else who knew me and is interested in contacting me.
Incidentally, I sailed with the chief steward Willie Watson, who was mentioned in the thread a few years back.There were two Watsons as stewards in the company at that time, Willie was always affectionately known as 'half a kipper Watson'.
I have a few old Hunting's Fleet Magazines, 1967 to 1972 so they don't cover my time with them but are interesting reading nevertheless. Hunting Gibson travel advertise on the back page of one of them, '4 weeks in Majorca, from 36 gns, prop-jet Britannia flight, good hotel, transfers,all meals'. 
Those were the days....


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## CHRISJKNIGHT

*Ex Huntings April 1970 to October 74*

Hi guys, my history with Huntings spans Wearfield, Teesfield, Avonfield and a spell at South Shields as a deck apprentice. I often wonder where what happened to my shipmates. I later went to James Fisher, Rowbotham's and F.T Everard Home, Middle and .. Foreign-going on coasters and later Wallem Shipmanagement. Nordic Breeze and Nordic Aurora. 

My Huntings days were truly some of the best times of my life and I owe a lot to Tommy Shanks for a great life experience. I'll never forget the day he interviewed me and told me it would be a life changing experience to go to sea with Huntings... he was right I never regretted it. Although 13 months is not a six month trip! 

We worked hard and played hard and had a barrel of laughs. Geoff Green, Colin Dicks, John Lewis, Davy Millings all good friends and what happened to Norman Mohammed! If you are still around make it known !


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## mclennan

*Photos*

G'day all,

Does anybody have half decent photos of:

Argyll
Thamesfield (new)
Bessegen
Albright Explorer or Pioneer


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## CHRISJKNIGHT

Hi, I sailed on both of the Albright ships - no photos but they are on the web.



mclennan said:


> G'day all,
> 
> Does anybody have half decent photos of:
> 
> Argyll
> Thamesfield (new)
> Bessegen
> Albright Explorer or Pioneer


----------



## KeithR

*Teesfield*

Hello there

I was a navigating cadet with the Hunting Group (Tyne based) around 1972/73 attending Marine college in South Shields. Sailed on the Teesfield and had a remarkable 10 months on her. Unfortunately events conspired to stop me returning to sea when due to meet my second ship, the mvTyne Bridge in Japan.

Been really good reading these posts. I recognise one or two names mentioned in the posts but to be honest am struggling to remember many at all.

Certainly remember the enigmatic Tommy Shanks, what a character.


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## Erimus

Interesting thread this one....as many readers this past week will know I was with BISC(Ore)Ltd; firstly on Tees doing agency then as Vessel Scheduler for them and after Nationalisation for British Steel.

The River Afton I saw twice as a short term charter vessel but the Dalhanna ( ex Mungo Campbell) was one of my 'charges'....as reported elsewhere under Iron Ore Carriers I was very grateful to receive,along with my wife, a chicken dinner on board in Narvik one September Sunday.......after thinking that the Master ( Captain Smith?? from Sedgefield) was the watchman...

The ship manager in Newcastle was the late David Strath with whom we had many a battle..always ( well usually) ending in a friendly manner. 

geoff


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## KeithR

Martin did you ever sail on the Teesfield?


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## maritiem

HUNTING 
Part one History

Charles Samuel Hunting came ashore after serving a seagoing apprenticeship in 1874 to learn about the operation and management of tramp shipping in a shipbroker's office. His father Charles Hunting, a Newcastle businessman of 51 years of age who had originally hailed from the Suffolk market town of Saxmundham, then purchased two wooden sailing ships, SYLVIA and GENII, for a total of £16,375 and set up his son in partnership with the shipbroker W. J. Pattison. Their first office was at 38, Newcastle Quayside and with Mr. Pattison's expertise in the chartering of ships SYLVIA was chartered on the North Atlantic run and GENII to India. They made such good profits that after only three years Hunting & Pattison took over the management of a new iron steamer from Charles Mitchell at his yard at Low Walker, JOSEPH FERRENS of 2600 dwt costing £28,000. The wife of her namesake had launched the tramp on 9th October,1877 and her husband held the largest number of 64ths shares. The ship was square rigged on the foremast for which she carried two sets of sails. However she was lost on lst December,1879 in a gale 100 miles West of Ushant while on a voyage from the Tyne to Lisbon with coal.

The two sailing ships were sold in 1879 and 1881, and were replaced by five iron tramps: YOXFORD, WHEATFIELD, GLEADOWE, R.F. MATTHEWS and the second JOSEPH FERRENS. This latter ship fared no better, being wrecked to the North of Cape St. Vincent while carrying coal from Newport to Palermo in 1886. YOXFORD sailed from the Tyne on her maiden voyage on 31st July,1878 to New York and foundered on the return leg while bound for Havre. WHEAT¬FIELD stranded in fog at Blackgang Chine, Isle of Wight while on passage from New York to Leith with general cargo on New Years Eve, 1882. The only one of the iron tramps to give any length of service to the company was R.F. MATTHEWS, which after 34 years service was sold to Italian and Turkish owners to give another 16 years service and she was scrapped in 1928.

Altogether a total of 14 dry cargo tramps and one bulk oil tanker were added to the company in the first twenty years by Charles Samuel Hunting. The second YOXFORD continued the run of bad luck when she stranded on the Dutch coast in bad weather in 1889. Refloated, she resumed service in 1891 before being finally wrecked on 8th January,1896 on Alcranes Reef in the Gulf of Mexico while on a voyage from Port Limon in Costa Rica to Veracruz in Mexico with a cargo of marble and wine. LISNACRIEVE and SAXMUNDHAM followed in 1883, SAXMUNDHAM was lost in collision five years later to the South of the Isle of Wight while carrying coal and coke from the Tyne to Ancona. LINDA of 3700 dwt and completed in 1887 was the first triple expansion powered tramp for the company and she gave the high speed for the time of 12 knots on trials. DORA FOSTER, WESTHALL and ETHERLY joined the fleet in 1889, all on the 64ths principle with their names indicating the major shareholder.

In 1891 the partnership of Hunting & Pattison was dissolved, and Charles Hunting joined his son in the business which was known as Hunting & Son. The elder Charles brought many new and influential men to the company and in 1893 he was able to found the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co. Ltd with James Duffield as first Chairman. Financial help from Duffield, originally a Staffordshire miner who was later to become Mayor of his adopted town of Workington three times, led to the ordering of the first tanker in 1889. Her design took three years to perfect and she was not laid down until 31st May,1893. She was fitted with electric lighting and her crew accomodation was a big advance over other tankers of the time. on 9th December,1893 DUFFIELD of 5000 dwt was launched and she carried 2000 more tons of oil than GLUCKAUF, the first bulk oil tanker in the world and launched in July, 1886. She was the first tanker built by Tyne Iron SB and reached a speed of 11 knots on trials with triple expansion engines supplied by Wallsend Slipway. Her trading performance was good and three sisters were ordered from the same yard: AUREOLE, OILFIELD and BLOOMFIELD. The 'field' suffix was by now becoming well established and was to continue as the company nomenclature.

The chartering of the tankers was left to Edward Aisbit Gibson, founder of the Gibson chartering brokers and friend and business associate of Charles Samuel Hunting. The two men travelled together to North America and the Russian Black Sea fields to study the oil trades. E. A. Gibson & Co. was finally purchased by Hunting from the son of the founder in 1925 to become Hunting Gibson Ltd. DUFFIELD was sold in 1901 to the Anglo American Oil Company (fore runner of British ESSO), who purchased her to study the practicalities of tankers and she was renamed APPALACHEE. She had a very long life of over 50 years, being sold to Italy in 1926 and scuttled by retreating Germans in the Gironde in 1944.

A long term management contract was signed with two Frenchmen, Fenaille & Despeaux, to manage two tankers to trade across the Atlantic from the U.S.A. oilfields to their refinery at Rouen. SAXOLEINE of 5000 dwt was completed in September, 1899 at the Armstrong, Whitworth yard in Newcastle and joined by PETROLEINE of 6000 dwt in July, 1908 from the Tyne Iron yard. The management contract ran from 1899 to 1928, and the pair were constructed to carry grain or similar dry bulk cargoes when no oil was available by having their tank lid coamings rivetted to a large steel hatch cover, which could be removed for loading and discharging dry cargoes. Another venture in oil which did not turn out so well was with a Russian called Dvorkovitz who claimed to have large oil interests at Baku. Charles Samuel Hunting set up two companies and ordered a small tanker, MINOCO completed in 1898 by Tyne Iron, and built a refinery to handle the oil at Silvertown on the Thames. Unfortunately no oil was ever received and MINOCO was sold in 1901 to Anglo American and became the first ever oil tanker on the Great Lakes of Canada.

Dry cargo tramps were also being added to the fleet, some to one ship limited liability companies and some under the 64ths principle. At the turn of the century the fleet numbered 13 tramps, of which six were oil tankers. In 1906 delivery was taken of two Doxford 'Turrets' of 6600 dwt, DUFFIELD and GARFIELD, their unusual shape allowing savings in Suez Canal tolls on their frequent voyages through with grain, and they were to be the last dry cargo tramps owned by Hunting. On 20th March,1914 the Hunting Steamship Co. Ltd was formed and all ships operating under the 64ths principle transferred to it with Hunting & Son as managers. At the outbreak of WW1 the fleet consisted of six tankers:	
OILFIELD 
SAXOLEINE 
BLOOMFIELD 
PETROLEINE
CLEARFIELD 
AUREOLE
and the two Turrets: 
DUFFIELD 
GARFIELD. 

Two of the above were torpedoed and sunk with two others badly damaged and a purchased small tanker ARTESIA was also lost, together with the Turret GARFIELD.
24.10.1916 CLEARFIELD Torpedoed and sunk off Flannan Is,Outer Hebrides, o.v. Invergordon to Hampton Roads in ballast, 36 lost.
15.1.1917 GARFIELD Torpedoed and sunk 60 miles NE by N ½ N of Alexandria o.v. Malta to Port Said with coal.
8.2.1918 ARTESIA Captured 190 miles NE of Madeira o.v. Cette to New York in ballast and sunk by bombs six days later.
16.3.1918 OILFIELD Torpedoed and damaged 15 miles NW of Cape Wrath o.v. Grangemouth & Methil to New York in ballast, beached & refloated, but became a total loss.
AUREOLE was so badly damaged by torpedoing in the Little Minch in November,1917 that she had to be almost completely rebuilt. PETROLEINE was carrying a cargo of benzine (petrol) from New York to Havre when a time bomb placed in the forward dry cargo hold exploded off Cherbourg, killing 11 crew in the fo'c'stle. She was so badly damaged that a complete new bow had to be built. Repaired, she was then attacked in March,1918 by a U boat while returning from Rouen to New York having called at Plymouth for coal bunkers. So urgent was the need of petrol in France at that time that tankers were not made gas free when empty, and the slightest spark meant doom for the ship and crew. The convoy had dispersed at 15 degrees W. when two gunfire shots were heard and two splashes landed alongside the tanker. Capt. Lowe and the officers were on the bridge taking noon sights and the U boat was sighted two points on the starboard beam. She was firing two guns, one forward and one aft, and her shells soon straddled the tanker with several near misses under the stern, drenching the 4" gun crew. unfortunately, the attack happened at the change of watches and the head of steam was not at its best, but the Chief Engineer and his three engineers fired the furnaces and PETROLEINE was soon going faster than she had ever done on trials, An irregular zig zag was steered to put the U boat off target and gradually the distance between them increased and PETROLEINE escaped, having had over 100 shells fired at her.

The company managed seven WAR class fleet tankers for the Government from the end of the war, three of them remaining under management until 1937/38. Charles Samuel Hunting died in 1921 and was succeeded by his sons Percy and Lindsay. The fleet at the time was the owned tanker BLOOMFIELD and Turret DUFFIELD, and the managed tankers SAXOLEINE and PETROLEINE, which remained managed until sold in 1928 and 1925 respectively. DUFFIELD was also sold off in 1925 and the company became Purely operators of tramp tankers. Four tankers of around 8000 dwt were completed between 1923 and 1925 , two from Tyne Iron SB (OILFIELD, WELLFIELD) and two from James Laing at Sunderland (SYLVAFIELD, TYNEFIELD) at a cost of around £300,000 each.

OILFIELD was a steamer with oil burning, super heated geared turbines linked to a single screw, and was the first tanker built for the company on the Isherwood system of longitudinal framing for additional strength. WELLFIELD was the first motor tanker in the company fleet and the only twin screw vessel ever owned. She was badly damaged.by a grounding at the entrance to the Bosphorus in February,1931 but was refloated and brought back to the Tyne for repairs, and the opportunity was taken to lengthen her by 24 feet and add another tank while at Smiths Dock. Co. Ltd, North Shields. SYLVAFIELD and TYNEFIELD were completed with 4 cyl. two stroke cycle single acting Doxford oil engines, and were on charter for many years to the Anglo American Oil Co. Ltd. These were unusual annually renewed voyage charters. They had a fixed freight rate for as many North Atlantic voyages as they could make in 12 months. The charterers owned several motor tankers which experienced engine trouble at this time, but the trouble free Newcastle pair decided them to have Doxford engined tankers later.

TYNEFIELD experienced two hurricanes and two storms in December,1929 on the N. Atlantic and she heaved to on all four occasions. She was bound from Baytown in Texas to Barrow with light oils when the barometer suddenly dipped to a very low 27.9". Course was altered to bring the wind on the port bow and speed was reduced, the action of the right handed propeller tending to keep her head up to the wind and sea. At 7 a.m. the wind had reached hurricane force and the bow was completely obscured by spindrift. A series of squalls then assaulted the ship with the seas built up into mountainous walls of water which hit her with such force that her head was thrown six points off the wind. Fortunately after each squall the terrific force of the wind flattened out the sea, and her head was returned to two points off the wind before the next squall hit. These continued until 1700 hours, smashing the port lifeboat to matchsticks, with the midships bridge structure badly damaged and dented. Similar action was taken on the three succeeding gales, and as she was a reporting ship for the American Hydrographic Weather Bureau her warnings to steer clear of the danger area saved many ships, although several distress calls were heard. on arrival, she missed the spring tides at Barrow and had to spend another week at anchor to the north of the Isle of Man.

in 1928 a large tanker of 15760 dwt, GRETAFIELD, was delivered by Cammell, Laird & Co. Ltd. She was one of the first tankers to be built with two fore and aft bulkheads dividing the cross section of the ship into three tanks, previous tankers only having one fore and aft bulkhead in the centre of the ship. She was on time charter to United Molasses for the first three years of her life to carry molasses from Java to the U.K. CLYDEFIELD of 9634 dwt was delivered on the Clyde during the same year of 1928, but was lengthened 30 feet in 1935 by Smiths Dock Co. Ltd, North Shields to increase her dwt to 10825 tons. She had laid up with most of the company fleet at Lamlash Bay on the Isle of Arran between 1930 and 1932, but the worst was over for tankers by then and the whole fleet was back at sea in 1933.

Three new tankers of 12000 dwt joined the fleet in 1938/39 from Scandinavian yards: OILFIELD, DUFFIELD and PONTFIELD, the latter having to be sailed through the German blockade of the Skagerrak in October,1939 to be delivered via Bergen. These three and the WELLFIELD, SYLVAFIELD, TYNEFIELD, GRETAFIELD and CLYDEFIELD plus the small coastal tanker CREOFIELD formed the war time fleet with the losses being:

1.2.1940 CREOFIELD Mined off Yarmouth o.v. Southend to Tees with the loss of all hands. 
14.2.1940 GRETAFIELD Torpedoed and sunk off Wick o.v. Curacao to Invergordon with fuel oil, 11 lost. 
9.4.1941 DUFFIELD Torpedoed and sunk to SW of Madeira o.v. Curacao to Gibraltar with fuel oil, 25 lost. 
28.4.1941 OILFIELD Torpedoed an sunk to S of Iceland o.v. Aruba to London with fuel oil, 47 lost. 
4.6.1941 WELLFIELD Torpedoed and sunk in N. Atlantic o.v. Liverpool to Curacao in ballast, 8 lost. 
5.10.1941 TYNEFIELD Mined in the Suez Canal and broke in two o.v. Abadan to Suez with diesel oil.

The horrendous end of OILFIELD proved the point that the U boats always attacked the easiest prey; the tankers. She had sailed from Halifax in an east bound convoy of 50 ships and was second ship in the outside column on the port side. All went well until 28th April when approaching Rockall a ship was torpedoed in the middle of the convoy, and began to settle and was left behind with a destroyer escort. Two hours later at 1730 hours OILFIELD was torpedoed and became a roaring yellow and orange mass of flame in a few minutes. Six men were left standing on the only 20 feet of the ship that was not enveloped; the fo'c'stle; and they were surrounded on three sides by a fast approaching sea of flame. A trawler tried to back in to save them, but it was an impossible task even if she had released her stern depth charges in time, however she managed to pick five of the six men from the water they were the only survivors from a crew of 52. Her master had been Capt. L.A. Anderson, Commodore of Hunting and master of the company tanker that accompanied H.M.S. REPULSE on tour with the Prince of Wales several years earlier.

The 11 dead in the blazing wreck of GRETAFIELD which drifted ashore near Wick were all from Wick and were buried in their own graveyard. DUFFIELD under Capt. Manthorpe had been proceeding from Curacao to Gibraltar with fuel oil for the Admiralty, zig zagging at 12 knots when she was torpedoed on the port side. No one was injured and she could still make 12 knots, and she shelled the U boat after it surfaced astern. At 2300 hours the tanker was mortally hit by four more torpedoes with two exploding in the engine room and DUFFIELD sank stern first extinguishing the burning oil as she sank. The 27 survivors in one lifeboat hoisted a sail and after eight and a half days the island of Hierro in the Canaries was sighted. They had only four gallons of water left and a Spanish sloop took them to Tenerife where Capt. Manthorpe spent seven weeks in hospital having treatment to
a badly injured left leg. The other 26 survivors went home after 10 days in Tenerife.

TYNEFIELD under Capt. Carr went out to Alexandria in January,1940 on station as a fleet oiler and carried diesel and heavy oil to destroyers,cruisers and battleships in the Eastern Mediterranean. During the siege of Tobruk she was used for the storage of fuel in that port until a direct hit from an Italian bomber damaged her and forced her to return to Alexandria in February, 1941. in October,1941 while returning from Abadan in convoy she struck a mine in the Suez Canal, and her stern was towed to Port Tewfik and abandoned as a total loss.
Miraculously CLYDEFIELD and the new PONTFIELD survived the onslaught, as did several Laing built tankers managed by the company. These were EMPIRE SILVER,EMPIRE MARVELL and EMPIRE CORAL which became SYLVAFIELD, BLOOMFIELD and DERWENTFIELD in 1945/46 alongside the similar war built WEARFIELD and THAMESFIELD. 
The fleet was brought up to strength in 1947 with the purchase of two T2 types renamed OILFIELD and EDENFIELD. 


A large expansion programme was commenced in 1950 with the first of ten British built tankers: 12400GT 18940 DWT
Harland & Wolff (2) LAGANFIELD,CLYDEFIELD.
Furness SB (2) WHEATFIELD,GRETAFIELD.
Hawthorn,Leslie (2) TYNEFIELD,FORTHFIELD.
W. Doxford (2) AVONFIELD,SYLVAFIELD.
Smiths Dock (1) DUFFIELD.
J. Laing (1) HUNTFIELD.

DUFFIELD and GRETAFIELD were converted into bulkers Smiths Dock Co. Ltd,North Shields in 1960. Seven of the ten had been sold by the end of 1966, with CLYDEFIELD sustaining heavy damage when fire broke out on 17th November,1964 while she was discharging at Cutuco in El Salvador, and being towed away for scrapping in Japan. The last delivered was FORTHFIELD in April, 1955 and she gave 20 years service before sustaining considerable bottom damage in a grounding on the Orinoco river on 27th January, 1975 and was scrapped at Burriana in Spain.

Two ore carriers, RIVER AFTON and DALHANNA, came under Hunting management in 1959 after their previous managers Campbells (Newcastle) Ltd had been acquired by the company. Sir Percy Hunting retired as Group Chairman in 1961 and his brother Lindsay took over as Chairman but one year later he became an invalid and also retired. The sons of both men carried on the management of the Group. The unusual looking self unloading turbine driven salt carrier ARGYLL was managed from 1962 while trading from Cedros Island in the Pacific to Vancouver and Tacoma. The converted T2 tanker CORAL VENTURE was managed while trading as a cement carrier on 3 trips/ week from Bahamas to Port Everglades or Jacksonville.

A bulker of 14200 dwt, INVERFIELD, was added in 1957 from a German yard, together with three tankers in 1958/59 as the TEESFIELD of 18770 dwt, ESKFIELD of 28600 dwt and THAMESFIELD of 33880 dwt. The bulker WEARFIELD of 28380 dwt was completed by Austin & Pickersgill Ltd in August, 1964 but gave some trouble with her 6 cylinder 2SCSA oil engines. The tanker EDENFIELD of 63600 dwt joined in 1965 and was taken on a 10 year charter by the Admiralty as DEWDALE. A new bulker of 20920 dwt was purchased in 1967 on the stocks of the Uljanik yard at Pula in Yugoslavia and renamed AVONFIELD, and another bulker with a combination of tallow tanks and dry cargo holds of 17430 dwt completed in 1959 was purchased and renamed DERWENTFIELD at the same time. They were to be used on a contract to ship half a million tons of sulphur and potash from the U.S.A. and Canada to Geelong. The trading fleet in early 1969 was thus:

AVONFIELD Sailed from San Diego with sulphur for Geelong, then coal from Newcastle(NSW) to Japan.
DERWENTFIELD Dry docking in Japan.
DUFFIELD Loading phosphate at Nauru for Melbourne.
GRETAFIELD Loading zinc concentrates at Port Pirie for Avonmouth.
WEARFIELD Discharging timber at Philadelphia and New York.
FORTHFIELD Dry docking on the Tyne.
THAMESFIELD Sailed Puerto Miranda with crude oil for Hamburg.
TEESFIELD Sailed Puerto la Cruz with a cargo of gasoline for Rio de Janeiro and Santos.
EDENFIELD On charter to R.F.A. as DEWDALE.
DALHANNA On charter to BISCO with iron ore from Murmansk, Narvik, Monrovia, Seven Islands etc: to the U.K.

In April,1972 the oil/bulk/ore TYNE BRIDGE of 166750 dwt was completed on the Tees by Swan Hunter SB Ltd as one of a class of six such ships that were to be investigated for design faults following the loss of DERBYSHIRE in 1980. TYNE BRIDGE went on charter to the SEABRIDGE consortium, of which Hunting had been a founder member in 1965 along with Bibby, Bowring, H. Clarkson, Houlder Brothers and Silver Line. The 20 year bulker conversions from tankers, DUFFIELD and GRETAFIELD had now been sold, and WEARFIELD was sold to Ben Line as BENHIANT in 1973, and DALHANNA to Greek interests. The trading fleet at the end of 1973 was:

TYNE BRIDGE On passage Kharg island to Finland with crude oil.
EDENFIELD On charter to R.F.A. as DEWDALE.
AVONFIELD On passage U.S.A. to Continent with grain and steel.
DERWENTFIELD On passage from Long Beach and San Francisco to Japan and Philippines with tallow,iron ore and machinery. Returning to Long Beach with copra and coconut oil.
TWEED BRIDGE Launched at Hiroshima on 21st December.
FORTHFIELD Trading in the Far East on time charter to SHELL.
THAMESFIELD Trading from the Persian Gulf on time charter to SHELL.
TEESFIELD On single voyage charters around Mediterranean and Continent.

The tanker THAMESFIELD left the Tyne for scrapping at Inverkeithing by T.W. Ward Ltd on 9th January,1976; and TEESFIELD did a similar trip to the scrapyard arriving on 26th January,1978. EDENFIELD came off her R.F.A. charter in 1977 and regained her name, and loaded crude in the Tees for a few voyages across the Atlantic to the U.S.A. before being sold in 1978. The bulkers AVONFIELD and DERWENTFIELD were sold for further trading in 1976 and 1978 respectively. The almost new TWEED BRIDGE was renamed TWEEDFIELD in 1978 shortly before she was sold to Liberian owners. The fleet was joined by its last newbuilding THAMESFIELD of 50200 dwt, a forestry products carrier from the Flensburg shipyard. The trading fleet in October,1978 was thus two ships: 
THAMESFIELD Loading timber at Port Alberni, Vancouver for Tampa. 
TYNE BRIDGE Laid up at Itea in Greece since 18th April.

TYNE BRIDGE was sold to Siosa of Italy in 1980 and was chartered back for two years while retaining her name, and was carrying iron ore from Tubarao in Brazil to Europe. THAMESFIELD was still trading from British Columbia in 1981 when Ropner Holdings Ltd, who owned a 29% stake in Stag Line, sold their shares to Hunting, who then made a £5.3M bid for Stag Line. This was accepted by the Stag Line directors as being in the best interests of all concerned, and Stag Line became a wholly owned subsidiary of Hunting Gibson Ltd on 1st April,1981. Hunting Stag Management Ltd was then set up in Newcastle to absorb the seagoing and shore based staff of the two companies and to manage the Hunting and Stag Line fleets.
Hunting Stag Management Ltd was sold in July,1982 to James Fisher & Sons, Barrow for £3.8M with £2M in cash, £800,000 in Fisher shares and the balance in the form of a Bill of Exchange which matured on 30th June,1984. The price included THAMESFIELD and a Stag Line coaster but not the last two Stag Line bulkers, which were sold a year later to Singapore companies. THAMESFIELD was registered under James Fisher & Sons as from 1st July,1984, and the Newcastle office of Hunting Stag Management Ltd was closed in March,1985 and moved to Barrow; thus bringing to an end the shipping interests of the famous Hunting fleet. The flag with the famous seven pointed blue star on seven red and white bands to signify the seven oceans of the world would fly no more.


Sources:
The Fleet Past And Present Of Hunting & Son Ltd, R. M. Hackman, WSS, 1969. 
Huntings Of Newcastle Upon Tyne, WSS, 1961. 
Travel of the Tramps, twenty Tramp fleets Vol. III, N.L. Middlemiss, Shield Publication, 1992.


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## maritiem

HUNTING
Part TWO

Notes on FLEETLIST: S.C.S.A. : stroke cycle single acting.
From WHEATFIELD (1951) Dimensions given are moulded/overall lengths x beam x moulded depth and the summer draft.

FLEETLIST


SYLVIA (1874 - 1881). Ship, later Barque. 
O.N. 45871. 1,214g, 1214n, 174 x 37 x 24 feet.
29.11.1862: Launched by J. E. Milledge, St. John, NA, for Wiggins, Son and others, Liverpool. 1863: Sold to Gibbs, Bright & Co., Liverpool, being registered in the name of T. Bright by 1873. 10.8.1874: Purchased by C. Hunting and others for £12,800. Managers: Hunting & Pattison. 2.1881: Sold to W. Erichsen m.F., Moss, Norway, renamed MARDOLL. 11.1881: Reported to have foundered after springing a leak while on a voyage from Quebec to London.

GENII (1874 -1880). Ship.
O.N. 21046. 975g, 975n, 182 x 36 x 21 feet.
22.10.1857: Launched by McLachlan & Stackhouse, Carleton, NA, for Wm Coltart, Liverpool. 1858: Sold to Macintyre, Liverpool, for trading to India. 13.8.1874: Sold to C. Hunting and others for £3,575. Is. 4d. Managers: Hunting & Pattison. 4.1880: Sold to Graham Anderson & Co., Maryport. 1888: Broken up.

JOSEPH FERENS (1) (1877-1879). General Cargo Steamer. 
O.N. 77036. 1,803g, 1,176n, 270 x 34 x 25 feet, C. 2 Cyl. steam engines of 170 horse power by R. & W. Hawthorn, Newcastle.
9.10.1877: Launched by C. Mitchell & Co., Newcastle, for C. S. Hunting and others. Managers: Hunting & Pattison. 22.1.1879: Stranded at Trelleborg while on voyage Reval/London, refloated by Svitzers and taken, 17.2.1879, to Refshales, Denmark, for repairs, sailing again 12.3.1879 for Britain. 1.12.1879: Lost in a gale 100 miles west of Ushant while on a voyage Tyne/Lisbon with a cargo of coal.

YOXFORD (1) (1878) General Cargo Steamer. 
O.N. 79615. 1,990g, 1,301n. 285 x 35 x 24 feet, C. 2 cyl.. engines of 180 H.P. by R. & W. Hawthorn, Newcastle.
15.6.1878: Launched by C. Mitchell & Co., Newcastle, for C. S. Hunting and others. Managers: Hunting & Pattison. 31.7.1878: Sailed from the Tyne on maiden voyage to New York. 12.9.1878: Foundered in a position longtitude 40.02W., latitude 40.18N while on return leg of maiden voyage, New York/ Havre, after being abandoned in heavy weather.

R. F. MATTHEWS (1879 -1899). General Cargo Steamer. 
O.N. 81543. 1,962g, 1,278n, 270 x 35 x 24 feet, C. 2 cyl. engines of 200 H.P. by Palmer's S. B. & I. Co., Ltd.
22.4.1879: Launched by Palmer's Shipbuilding & Iron Co., Ltd, Jarrow, for C. S. Hunting and others. Managers: Hunting & Pattison. 1891: Managers became Hunting & Son. 9.1899: Sold to C. Allodi, Leghorn, renamed MELORIA. 1913: Sold to the Turkish Government, renamed DERNA. End of 1928: Sold for scrapping.

WHEATFIELD (1) (1879-1882) General Cargo Steamer. 
O.N. 81552. 1,963g 1,278n, 2,800d. 270 x 35 x 25 feet, C. 2 cyl. engines of 200 H.P. by Palmer's S.B. & I. Co. Ltd.
21.5.1879: Launched by Palmer's S.B. & I. Co., Ltd, for C. S. Hunting and others. Managers: Hunting & Pattison, 31.12.1882: Stranded during fog at Blackgang Chine, Rocken End, St Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight, while on a voyage New York/Leith with general cargo.

GLEADOWE (1879- 1899) General Cargo Steamer. 
O.N. 81591. 2,200g, 1,381n. 285 x 37 x 24 feet, C. 2 cyl. engines of 260 H.P. by Palmer's S. B. & I. Co., Ltd.
2.10.1879: Launched by Palmer's S.B. & I. Co., Ltd, for C. S. Hunting and others. Managers: Hunting & Pattison. 1891: Managers became Hunting & Son. 4.1899: Sold to the Fratelli Cigroni, Leghorn, renamed ELBA. 1899: Renamed PRIMO LIVORNO. 1902: Sold to C. Allodi, Leghorn, renamed MARZOCCO. 1912: Sold to G.Z. Cavalla, Odessa, renamed IRINA. 1914: Sold to C.N. Cavvadias, Odessa. 1917: Sold to M.C. Mitrechevich, Odessa. 4.11.1917: Torpedoed and sunk by submarine off Oleni Russki, Murmansk coast.

JOSEPH FERENS (2) (1880- 1886). General Cargo Steamer. 
O.N. 82788. 1,970g, 1,289n. 276 x 35 x 25 feet, C. 2 cyl. engines of 200 H.P. by J. Dickinson, Sunderland.
9.7.1880.: Launched by Bartram Haswell & Co., Sunderland, for C. S. Hunting and others. Managers: Hunting & Pattison. 23.8.1886: Wrecked north of Cape St Vincent while on voyage Newport, Mon./Palermo with a cargo of coal.

YOXFORD (2) (1880 -1896). General Cargo Steamer. 
O.N. 82831. 1,934g, 1,257n, 270 x 35 x 24 feet. C. 2 cyl. engines of 200 H.P. by North Eastern Marine Engineering Co., Ltd.
17.11.1880: Launched by the Tyne Iron Shipbuilding Co., Ltd, Willington Quay, Newcastle, for C. S. Hunting and others. Managers: Hunting & Pattison. 28.11.1889: Stranded on coast of Holland in bad weather, crew taken off; later salved and resumed service. 1891: Managers became Hunting & Son. 8.1.1896: Wrecked on Alacranes Reef, near Merida, West Indies, while on a voyage Port Limon/Vera Criaz with a part cargo of wines, marble, etc.

LISNACRIEVE (1883 -1899). General Cargo Steamer. 
O.N. 87056. 2,791g, 1,831n, 330 x 39 x 25 feet, C. 2 cyl. engines of 350 H.P. by Blair & Co., Stockton. Altered in 1896 to triple expansion by N.E. Mar. Eng. Co., Ltd.
1.1883: Completed by Richardson, Duck & Co., Stockton on Tees, for C. S. Hunting and others. Managers: Hunting & Pattison. 1891: Managers became Hunting & Son. 9.1899: Sold to the Fratelli Sangunieti fu G., Spezia, renamed PININ. 1915: Sold to V. Chiarella, Genoa, renamed TETI. 1916: Sold to E. Mazza, Savona. 4.8.1916: Torpedoed and sunk by an Austrian submarine 45 miles SW of Planier Island.

SAXMUNDHAM (1883 -1888). General Cargo Steamer. 
O.N. 87062. 2,537g. 1,667n, 300 x 39 x 25 feet, C. 2 cyl. engines of 300 H. P. by N.E. Mar. Eng. Co., Ltd.
11.1.1883: Launched by the North of England Shipbuilding Co., Sunderland, for C. S. Hunting and others. Managers: Hunting & Pattison. 4.11.1888: Lost in collision with the Norwegian sailing ship NOR, 30 miles WSW. of St Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight, while on a voyage Tyne/Ancona with a cargo of coal and coke.

LINDA (1887 -1909). General Cargo Steamer. 
O.N. 94308. 2,424g, 1,562n, 3,700d, 290 x40 x 25 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 300 H.P. by Wigham, Richard & Co., Newcastle (reached 12 knots on trials.)
6.1887: Launched by the Tyne Iron S.B. Co., Ltd, for C. S. Hunting and others. Managers: Hunting & Pattison. 
30.7.1887: Ran trials and delivered. 1891: Managers became Hunting & Son. 12.1909: Sold to Harris Bros, Bristol, for £9,000. 1.1910: Broken up at Falmouth.

DORA FORSTER (1889 -1899). General Cargo Steamer. 
O.N. 95530. 2,409g, 1,570n, 300 x 39 x 21 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 225 H.P. by N.E. Mar. Eng. Co., Ltd.
31.1.1889: Launched by the Tyne Iron S.B. Co., Ltd, for C. S. Hunting and others. Managers: Hunting & Pattison. 3.1889: Delivered. 1891: Managers became Hunting & Son. 23.11.1899: Left Savannah for Liverpool with cotton and general cargo, and disappeared.

WESTHALL (1889- 1909). General Cargo Steamer. 
O.N. 96131. 2,861 g, 1,821 n, 313 x 40 x 25 feet. T. 3 cyl. engines of 250 H.P. by Palmer's S.B. & I. Co., Ltd; speed, 10 knots.
12.8.1889: Launched by Robert Stephenson & Co., Newcastle, for C. S. Hunting and others. Managers: Hunting & Pattison. 10.1889: Delivered. 1891: Managers became Hunting & Son. 11.1909: Sold to Harris Bros, Bristol, and broken up at Falmouth.

ETHERLEY (1889- 1894). General Cargo Steamer. 
O.N. 96638. 1,755g, 1,140n, 265 x 37 x 16 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 165 H.P. by Wallsend Slipway & Eng. Co., Ltd.
13.8.1889: Launched by the Tyne Iron S.B. Co., Ltd, for C. S. Hunting and others. Managers: Hunting & Pattison. 9.1889: Delivered. 1891: Managers became Hunting & Son. 3.1894: Sold to Bilton, Williams & Co. 1896: Sold to C. K. Hansen, Copenhagen, renamed KLAMPENBORG. 19.1.1917: Torpedoed and sunk by a submarine 20 miles SE. of Armen Rocks Lighthouse.

DUFFIELD (1) (1893- 1901). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 101848. 3,698g, 2,426n, 5,000d, 340 x 44 x 23 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 265 H.P. by the Wallsend Slipway & Eng. Co., Ltd; reached 11 knots on trials.
31.5.1893: Keel laid by the Tyne Iron S. B. Co., Ltd. 911211893: Launched for the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son. 1.2.1894: Ran trials and delivered. 7.6.1901: Sold to the Anglo American Oil Co., renamed APPALACHEE. 1926: Sold to the Ape S.A. Petroliere, Genoa, renamed CLIZIA. 1942: Taken over by the German Navy. 9.1944: Scuttled in the River Gironde by retreating Germans, and later scrapped as she lay.

ALNWICK (1894 -1910). General Cargo Steamer. 
O.N. 104242. 3,049g, 1,957n, 4,900d, 320 x 42 x 26 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 250 H.P. by J. Dickinson, Sunderland.
6.2.1894: Launched by the Tyne Iron S.B. Co., Ltd, for the Norwick S.S. Co., Ltd, Managers: Hunting & Son. 3.1894: Delivered. 1910: Sold to Ellerman Lines, Ltd (Westcott & Laurance, Ltd, Managers), for £9,000, renamed FAVONIAN. 4.8.1916: Sunk by gunfire from a submarine 24 miles SW. of Planier Island, Mediterranean.

AUREOLE (1894 -1920). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 104290. 3,998g, 2,322n, 5,500d, 345 x 47 x 22 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 394 H.P. by Wallsend Slipway & Eng. Co., Ltd; reached 12 knots on trials.
19.11.1894: Ordered from the Tyne Iron S.B. Co., Ltd. 24.7.1895: Launched for C. S. Hunting and others. Managers: Hunting & Son. 27.8.1895: Ran trials. Delivered. 1901: Sold to the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, same managers. 11.1917: Torpedoed in the Little Minch, but salved. 15.1.1920: Wrecked at Lister, near Farsund, Norway.

OILFIELD (1) (1896-1918). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 104299. 4,005g, 2,356n, 345 x 47 x 22 feet, T.3 cyl. engines of 394 H.P. by Wallsend Slipway & Eng. Co., Ltd; reached 12 knots on trials.
24.7.1895: Ordered from the Tyne Iron S.B. Co., Ltd. 14.5.1896: Launched for C. S. Hunting and others. Managers: Hunting & Son. 19.6.1896: Ran trials and delivered. 1914: Sold to the Hunting S.S. Co., Ltd, same managers. 16.3.1918: Torpedoed by submarine 15 miles NW. of Cape Wrath, beached near Stornoway, but declared a total loss.

MINOCO (1898- 1901). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 108346. 796g, 412n, 938d, 200 x 32 x 14 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 129 N.H.P. by Wallsend Slipway & Eng. Co.
22.1.1898: Launched by the Tyne Iron S.B. Co., Ltd, for the Mineral Oils Corporation, Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son. 5.1898: Delivered. 1901: Sold to the Anglo American Oil Co., Ltd (S. Macdonald, manager), renamed IMPERIAL. 1902: Was the first oil tanker on the Great Lakes of Canada. 1910: Sold to the Imperial Oil Co., Ltd, Sarnia, Ont. 7.1922: Towed to Vancouver for service in British Columbian waters. 1938: Renamed IMPOCO and later sold for scrapping. 1939: Broken up at Victoria, B.C.

BLOOMFIELD (1) (1899-1928). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 110344. 4,455g, 2,869n, 6,000d, 350 x 50 x 23 feet, T.3 cyl. engines of 430 N.H.P. by N.E. Mar. Eng. Co., Ltd; reached 12,1 knots on trials.
20.9.1899: Launched by the Tyne Iron S.B. Co., Ltd, for C. S. Hunting and others. Managers: Hunting & Son. 21.10.1899: Ran trials and delivered. 7.1914: Sold to the Hunting S.S. Co., Ltd, same managers. 1925: Sold to the Field Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, same managers. 12.12.1928: Sold to the S.A. Imprese Navali e Affini, Venice, renamed MARGHERA. 1938: Sold to Societa Italiana Petroliere d’ Oriente, Rhodes. 12.2.1941: Scuttled by Italians at Kismayii, Italian Somaliland. and later scrapped as she lay.

SAXOLEINE (1899-1928). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 110345. 3,757g, 2,426n, 336 x 45 x 29 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 275 N. H. P. by Wallsend Slipway, & Eng. Co., Ltd.
6.9.1899: Launched by Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., Ltd, for the Saxoleine S.S. Co., Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son. 4.1927: Sold to the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, same managers. 15.5.1928: Sold to the S.A. di Nav. Cisterne Italiane, (later Cisterne Italiane Soliam & Saltamerenda), Genoa, renamed CELENO. 9.1943: Taken over by Germany, renamed CLAUDIA. 1945: Seized by the U.S.S.R. in the Black Sea, since which time nothing further has been heard of her.

DUFFIELD (2) (1906 -1925). Turret deck type Cargo Steamer. 
O.N. 122865. 3,838g, 2,442n, 6,600d, 350 x 50 x 22 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 292 N. H. P. by Wm. Doxford & Sons, Ltd.
20.11.1906: Launched by Wm. Doxford & Sons, Ltd, Sunderland, for the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son. 18.12.1906: Delivered. 2.1925: Sold to the Cia. Nav. Pereda, Colon, Panama, renamed FERNANDO. 1926: Owners became Naviera Pereda S.A., Panama. Subsequently registered at Bilbao under the Spanish flag. 1932: Broken up at Santander, Spain by V. Gorestegui.

GARFIELD (1907 -1917). Turret deck type Cargo Steamer. 
O.N. 125423. 3,838g, 2,442n, 6,600d, 350 x 50 x 22 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 292 N. H. P. by Wm. Doxford & Sons, Ltd.
30.4.1907: Launched by Wm. Doxford & Sons, Ltd, Sunderland, for the Norwick S.S. Co., Ltd, Managers: Hunting & Sons. 22.7.1907: Delivered. 1911: Sold to Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, same managers. 15.1.1917: Torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U39, sixty miles NE by N ½ N. Alexandria.

CLEARFIELD (1908 1916). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 125451. 4,211g, 2,656n, 350 x 49 x 29 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 339 H. P. by the Wallsend Slipway & Eng. Co., Ltd.
24.11.1908: Launched by the Tyne Iron S.B. Co., Ltd, for C. S. Hunting and others . Managers: Hunting & Son. 7.1914: Sold to the Hunting S.S. Co., Ltd, same managers. 24.10.1916: Torpedoed and sunk in the North Atlantic by the German submarine U55, with the loss of all hands, while on a voyage Inver¬gordon/Hampton Roads in ballast.

PETROLEINE (1908 -1925). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 125445. 4,211g, 2,656n, 6,329d, 350 x 49 x 29 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 340 H. P. by the Wallsend Slipway & Eng. Co., Ltd; speed, 12 knots.
141.7.1908: Launched by the Tyne Iron S.B. Co., Ltd, for the Saxoleme S.S. Co., Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son. 23.10.1908: Delivered. 12.1925: Sold to the Soc. Auxiliaire des Transports, Rouen, name retained. 1929: Sold to the Imperial Oil Co., Ltd, Canada, renamed INCALITE. 1933: Broken up in Japan.

ARTESIA (1916 -1918). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 131732. 2,762g, 1,716n, 309 x 40 x 28 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 225 N.H.P. by the Wallsend Slipway & Eng. Co., Ltd.
8.12.1888: Launched by Armstrong, Mitchell & Co., Ltd, as ENERGIE, for the Deutsche Amerikanische Petroleum Gesellschaft, Hamburg. 1914: Owner became E.T. Williams, Nassau, Bahamas. 1915: Sold to the Scottish Mexican Oil Co., Ltd. 3.4.1916: Purchased by the Saxoleine S.S. Co., Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son. Renamed ARTESIA. 8.2.1918: Captured by the German submarine U156 north of Madeira and sunk by bombs, 14.2.1918.

OILFIELD (2) (1923 -1937). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 145529. 5,387g, 3,063n, 7,800d, 365 x 51 x 31 feet, two Steam Turbines of 467 H.P. by the Wallsend Slipway & Eng. Co., Ltd, double reduction geared to one shaft.
1 .5.1923: Launched by the Tyne Iron S.B. Co., Ltd, for the Northern Petrol¬eum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son. 6.1923: Completed. 1926: Managers became Hunting & Son, Ltd. 1932: Sold to Field Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, same managers. 17.4.1937: Sold to the Mid Atlantic Shipping Co., renamed ENGLISH TANKER. 7.6.1938: Badly damaged by air attack at Alicante, while dis¬charging a cargo of oil, during the Spanish Civil War, and abandoned to the underwriters as a total loss. 1941: Salved by the Spanish Government, renamed CASTILLO ALMENARA. 1947: Sold to the Cia. Arrendataria del Monopolio des Petroleos, Cadiz, renamed CAMPOSINES. 1967: broken up at Castellon.

WELLFIELD (1923 -1941). Motor Tanker. 
O.N. 148055. 5,637g, 3,295n, 7,770d, 386 x 51 x 31 feet, 4 S.C.S.A oil engines of 563 N.H.P. by the N.E. Mar. Eng. Co., Ltd, driving two screws; speed, 11 knots.
8.12.1923: Launched by the Tyne Iron S.B. Co., Ltd, for the Field Tank S.S. Co., Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son. 11.3.1924: Delivered, becoming the first motor vessel in the Hunting fleet. 1926: Managers became Hunting & Son, Ltd. 25.2.1931: Went aground in the Black Sea, at the entrance to the Bosphorus. Refloated and brought back to the Tyne for repairs, the opportunity being taken to lengthen her and add another tank. 7.1.1932: Reconstruction completed by Smith's Dock Co., and she was thenceforth a vessel of 6,054g, 3,584n, 8,910d with dimensions 410 x 51 x 31 feet. 4.6.1941: Torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine cast of Cape Race, in a position 48.34N, 31.34W, while on Admiralty service.

SYLVAFIELD (1) (1925 -1940). Motor Tanker. 
O.N. 148136. 5,709g, 3,392n, 8,610d, 395 x 52 x 32 feet, 2 S.C.S.A oil engines of 640 N.H.P. by Wm. Doxford & Sons Ltd; speed, 10 knots.
6.6.1925: Launched by Sir James Laing & Sons, Ltd, Sunderland, for the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son. 8.1925: Delivered. 1926: Managers became Hunting & Son, Ltd. 15.8.1940: Torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine NW of Malin Head in position 56.39N, 11.16W, with the loss of two lives, while on Admiralty service.

TYNEFIELD (1) (1925 -1942). Motor Tanker. 
O.N. 149405. 5,856g, 3,474n, 8,930d, 395 x 54 x 32 feet, 2-S.C.S.A. oil engines of 640 N.H.P. by Wm. Doxford & Sons, Ltd; speed, 10 knots.
30.11.1925: Launched by Sir James Laing & Sons, Ltd, for the Hunting S.S. Co. (1919) Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 26.1.1926: Completed.25.2.1941: Damaged by bombs at Tobruk. 5.10.1941: Mined, and broke in two, in the Suez Canal with the loss of seven lives, while on Admiralty service. Stern section beached in the Gulf of Suez and manned until 6.6.1942, when it was declared a total loss. 1953: Wreck purchased by Italian shipbreakers and towed to Savona during 11.1953 for demolition.

GRETAFIELD (1) (1928 1940). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 149468. 10,191g. 6,071n, 15,760d, 498 x 68 x37 feet, Q.4 cyl. engines of 874 N. H. P. by Cammell Laird & Co., Ltd; speed, 12 knots.
22.3.1928: Launched by Cammell, Laird & Co., Ltd, Birkenhead, for the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 15.5.1928: Completed. 14.2.1940: Torpedoed by a German submarine west of Wick in a position 58.27N, 02.33W, while on Admiralty service, with the loss of eleven lives. The wreck drifted ashore at Dunbeath, near Wick, but was a total loss.

CLYDEFIELD (1) (1928 -1950). Motor Tanker. 
O.N.149473. 6,758g, 3.916n, 9,634d, 420 x 58 x 33 feet, 4-S.C.S.A. oil engines of 647 N.H.P. by Harland & Wollf, Ltd, Govan; speed, 12 knots.
23.4.1928: Launched by D. & W. Henderson & Co., Ltd, Glasgow. for the Hunting S.S. Co. (1919) Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 10.7.1928: Completed. 8.1935: Lengthened and thenceforth a vessel of 7,365g, 4,329n. 10,825d, with dimensions 451 x 58 x 33 feet. 12 .11.1937: Sold to the Field Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, same managers. 28.12.1946: Sold to the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, same managers. 18.11.1950: Sold to John T. Essberger, Hamburg, renamed RAVENSBERG. 1953: Sold to the German shipbreakers Eckhardt & Co. 13.1.1954: Arrived at Hamburg for demolition.

CREOFIELD (1936 -1940). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 161078. 838g, 358n, 838d, 185 x 31 x14 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 166 N.H.P. by MacColl & Pollock, Ltd, Sunderland; speed, 9 knots.
28.11.1928: Launched by the Goole Shipbuilding & Repairing Co. (1927) Ltd, Goole, as ATHELSTANE for the United Molasses Co., Ltd. 16.1.1936: Purchased by the Field Tank S.S. Co., Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. Renamed CREOFIELD. 1.2.1940: Lost off Yarmouth, with all hands, while on a voyage Southend to Middlesbrough; believed mined.

OILFIELD (3) (1937 -1941) Motor Tanker. 
O.N. 165758. 8,516g, 5,045n, 12,540d, 476 x 62 x 34 feet, 4-S.C.S.A. oil engines of 653 N.H.P. by Burmeister & Wain, Copenhagen; speed, 13 knots.
4.12.1937: Launched by the Odense Staalskibsvaerft, Odense, Denmark, for the Field Tank S.S. Co., Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 19.2.1938: Completed. 28.4.1941: Torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine north of Rockall in a position 60.05N, 16.00W, with the loss of 47 lives, including Captain R. L. Anderson, the Fleet's Commodore Master.

DUFFIELD (3) (1938 -1941). Motor Tanker. O.N. 165760. 8,516g, 5,045n, 12,540d, 476 x 62 x 34 feet, 4-S.C.S.A. oil engines of 653 N.H.P. by Burmeister & Wain; speed, 13 knots.
29.2.1938: Launched by the Odense Staalskibsvaerft for the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 28.3.1938: Completed. 8.4.1941: Attacked by a German submarine, while on Admiralty service, SW. of Madeira in a position 32.00N, 23.24W, but escaped, damaged. 9.4.1941: Again torpedoed, in a position 31.13N, 23.24W, and sunk with the loss of 25 lives.

PONTFIELD (1939 -1959) Motor Tanker. 
O.N. 165780. 8,290g, 4,950n, 12,875d, 465 x 61 x 34 feet, Six cylinder oil engines of 338 N. H. P. by the Eriksbergs M.V., Gothenburg; speed, 11 knots.
20.7.1939: Launched by the Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstads A B, Gothenburg, Sweden, for the Hunting S.S. Co., Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 12 .10.1939: Handed over to a British crew who sailed her through the German blockade in the Skagerrak to the Tyne. 1.1940: Came on British register. 10.2.1940: Completed and sailed from Tyne. 15.9.1941: Mined and broken in two north of Cromer, the stern half being salved and towed into port.
7.4.1942: Sold to the Field Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, same managers. 6.1942: New forepart added by Swan, Hunter & Co. at Wallsend on Tyne, and thenceforth she was a vessel of 8,319g, 4,960n, 12,675d, with dimensions 472 x 61 x 34 feet.
3.4.1947: Sold to the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, same managers. 1959: Sold to the Yugoslavian shipbreakers Brodospas. 20.4.1959: Arrived at Split and on 24.4.1959 handed over for demolition.

SYLVAFIELD (2) (1942 -1952). Tank Steamer. 
O.N.168663. 8,602g, 4,837n, 12,559d, 475 x 62 x 34 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 3,650 H.P., by the N.E. Mar. Eng. Co. (1938) Ltd; speed, 11 knots.
28.11.1940: Launched by Sir James Laing & Sons, Ltd, Sunderland, as EMPIRE SILVER for the Ministry of War Transport. Management allocated to John I. Jacobs, Ltd. 13.10.1942: Management reallocated to Hunting & Son, Ltd. 13.12.1945: Purchased by the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, same managers, renamed SYLVAFIELD. 28.8.1952: Sold to the Castro Bello Cia Armadora, S.A., Panama, renamed RADIANT. 1957: Renamed ANDROS SUN. 1958: Sold to the Star Line Shipping Co., Inc., Panama and renamed CAPTAIN THEO. 1960: Broken up at Split.

WEARFIELD (1) (1942 -1955). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 165853. 9,795g, 5,783n, 14,804d, 484 x 68 x 36 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 674 N.H.P. by N.E. Mar. Eng. Co. (1938) Ltd; speed, 12 knots.
23.11.1942: Launched by Sir James Laing & Sons, Ltd, for the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 12.3.1943: Completed. 14.3.1953: Sold to the Hunting S.S. Co., Ltd, same managers. 1955: Sold to Transatlantic Navigation Corporation, Liberia, delivered at New York 15.11.1955 and renamed TRANSMARS. 1960: Sold to Japanese shipbreakers, and arrived at Onomichi 1.8.1960 for demolition.

THAMESFIELD (1) (1943 -1954). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 169172. 9,801g, 5,791n, 14,804d, 484 x 68 x 36 feet, T.3 cyl. engines of 674 N.H.P. by N.E. Mar. Eng. (1938) Ltd; speed, 12 knots.
17.7.1943: Launched by Sir James Laing & Sons, Ltd, for the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 4.11.1943: Completed. 1954: Sold to the Stanhope S.S. Co., Ltd (J. A. Billmeir & Co., Ltd), delivered at Cardiff 14.2.1955 and converted into an Ore Carrier and renamed STANFIELD. 1961: Sold to the East Sun Shipping Co., Ltd, Hong Kong and renamed AUGUST MOON. 15.9.1966 aground in China Sea.

BLOOMFIELD (2) (1945 -1954). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 169015. 9,812g, 5,782n, 14,822d, 484 x 68 x 36 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 674 N.H.P. by the N.E. Mar. Eng. Co. (1938) Ltd; speed, 11 knots.
17.1.1942: Launched by Sir James Laing & Sons, Ltd, as EMPIRE MARVELL, for the Ministry of War Transport, and management allocated to Andrew Weir & Co. 15.5.1945: Management reallocated to Hunting & Son, Ltd.
12:5 1946: Purchased by the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, same managers, renamed BLOOMFIELD. 1954: Sold to Bruno & Eredi Arturo Montanari, Italy, delivered at Cardiff 152 1955 and renamed LETIZIA MONTANARI.
1959: Sold to the Pacific Ruler Corporation, Liberia, and renamed PANAGHIA T. 1962: Broken up at Vigo.

DERWENTFIELD (1) (1946 -1952). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 168669. 8,602g, 4,837n, 12,523d, 475 x 62 x 34 feet, T. 3 cyl. engines of 674 N.H.P., by the N.E. Mar. Eng. Co. (1938) Ltd; speed, 12 knots.
11.2.1941: Launched by Sir James Laing & Sons, Ltd, as EMPIRE CORAL, for the Ministry of War Transport, and management allocated to Eagle Oil Co., Ltd. 1945: Sold to the British Empire Steam Navigation Co., Ltd, managers Houlder Bros & Co., renamed DERWENT RIVER. 16.12.1946: Purchased by the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, Managers, Hunting & Son, Ltd, renamed DERWENTFIELD. 1.9.1952: Badly damaged by explosion and fire at Balikpapan. 16.9.1952: Abandoned to the underwriters as a total loss. 1953: Sold by the underwriters to the Cia. Globo de Nav., S.A., Panama, and towed to Japan for repairs, arriving at Osaka 15.5.1953. Survey proved, however, that repairs would not be an economical proposition, and she was accordingly beached in the Kitzu River, Osaka, for demolition, work beginning 21.8.1953.

OILFIELD (4) (1947- 1959). Turbo electric tanker. 
O.N. 169217. 10,662g, 6,323n, 16,628d, 507 x 68 x 39 feet, 6,000 S.H.P. turbo electric machinery by the General Electric Co., Lynn, Mass.; speed, 15 knots.
11.8.1944: Launched by the Kaiser Co., Inc., Portland, Oregon, U.S.A., as HOVENWEEP for the United States Maritime Commission. 17.10.1947: Purchased by the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, Managers, Hunting & Son, Ltd, renamed OILFIELD. 1959: Sold to the Intercontinental Navigation Corporation, Liberia, delivered at Cardiff 21.9.1959, and renamed NORTHERN EAGLE. 1978: Broken up at Split.

EDENFIELD (1) ( 1947 -1959). Turbo electric tanker. 
O.N. 169218. 10.650g, 6301n, 16,628d, 507 x 68 x 39 feet, 6,000 S.H.P., turbo electric machinery by the General Electric Co., Lynn, Mass.; speed, 15 knots.
15.7.1944: Launched by the Kaiser Co., Inc., Portland, Oregon, U.S.A., as VERENDRYE for the United States Maritime Commission. 22.10.1947: Purchased by the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, Managers, Hunting & Son, Ltd, renamed EDENFIELD. 5.7.1950: Sold to Eden Tankers Ltd, same managers. 1953: Owners became Hunting (Eden) Tankers Ltd, same managers. 1959: Sold to the Northern Shipping Corporation, Liberia, delivered at Hamburg 21.7.1959 and renamed NORTHERN VENTURE. 1985: Broken up.

REDEFIELD (1950 -1958). Motor Tanker. 
O.N. 183361. 786g, 397n, 1,034d, 210 x 32 x 12 feet, 2-S.C.S.A.Polar oil engines by the A/B Atlas Diesel, Stockholm; speed, 10 knots.
17.5.1940: Launched by the Sarpsborg Mek. Verksted, Greaker, as GERD¬MOR, for Skibs. A/S Gerdmor, managed by R. Jacobsen, Drobak, Norway. 1949: Arrested for debt, laid up at Glasson Dock, Lancaster. 23.5.1950: Pur-chased from the Admiralty Marshal by Doxfield Tankers, Ltd, Managers, Hunting & Son, Ltd, renamed REDEFIELD. 12.12.1953: Sold to the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, same managers. 1958: Sold to Armatoriale Mediterranea Idrocarburi Amic, Italy, delivered at Birkenhead 31.3.1958 and renamed SANTA RITA TERZA. Still in service.

LAGANFIELD (1950 -1961). Motor Tanker. 
O.N. 169226. 8,196g, 4,735n, 12,442d, 469 x 59 x 35 feet, Six cylinder oil engines of 3,200 B.H.P. by Harland & Wolff, Ltd, Belfast; speed, 12 knots.
26.9.1950.. Launched by Harland & Wolff, Ltd, Belfast, for the Field Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 29.12.1950: Completed. 1967: Sold to Spimar S.p.A., Genoa, Italy, delivered at Jarrow 23.5.1961 and renamed ANNA MARIA MARTINI. 1974: Sold renamed NETIN. 1979: Broken up at La Spezia

WHEATFFIELD (2) (1951 -1964 ). Motor Tanker. 
O.N. 169234. 10,646g, 6,252n, 16,500d, 496/523 x 68 x 36 feet, 29 feet draft, Six cylinder Fairfield Doxford oil engines of 5,500 B.H,P. by the Fairfield S.B. & Eng. Co., Ltd, Glasgow; speed 14 knots.
29.12.1951: Launched by the Furness S.B. Co., Ltd, Haverton Hill on Tees, for Eden Tankers, Ltd, Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 19.5.1952: Delivered. 1964: Sold renamed SEA JASPER. 1966 Sold renamed WINDRATI. 1980: Sold to Cia. De Navagacion Sofia S.A., Panama name unchanged. 1981: Broken up.

TYNEFIELD (2) (1952 -1966 ). Motor Tanker. 
O.N. 169239. 12,238g, 7,065n, 18,700d, 526/557 x 70 x 40 feet, 31 feet draft, Six cylinder Hawthorn Doxford oil engines of 7,600 B.H.P. by R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co., Ltd, speed, 15 knots.
25.3.1952: Launched by R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co., Ltd, Hebburn onTyne, for the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 3.9.1952: Delivered. 1966 Sold renamed TERRY. 1973: Broken up at Valencia.

DUFFIELD (4) 1952 -1970 ). Motor Tanker.1952 60, Bulk Carrier after 1960. 
O.N. 169241. 10,201g, 5,861n, 14,890d, 480/506 x 67 x 36 feet, 29 feet draft, Four cylinder Hawthorn Doxford oil engines of 4,400 B.H.P. by R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co., Ltd; speed, 13 knots.
23.5.1952: Launched by Smith's Dock Co., Ltd, Middlesbrough, for the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 24.10.1952: Delivered. 8.12.1960: Converted into a bulk carrier by Smith's Dock Co., Ltd, North Shields, and thenceforth a vessel of 10,241g, 5,866n, 13,410d, with a draft of 27 feet and a speed of 12 knots. 1970: Sold renamed GOLDEN OCEAN. 1973: Sold renamed COUGAR. 1975: MONTEREY. 1977: INGRID II. 1979 Broken up at Kaohsiung.

GRETAFIELD (2) (1952 -1972 ) Motor Tanker 1952 60, Bulk Carrier after 1961. 
O.N. 169240. 10,646g, 6,252n, 16,500d, 496/523 x 68 x 36 feet, 29 feet draft, Five cylinder Doxford oil engines of 5,500 B.H.P. by R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co., Ltd; speed, 14 knots.
9.6.1952: Launched by the Furness S.B. Co., Ltd, for the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 7.10.1952: Delivered. 10.1960/4.1961: Converted into a bulk carrier by Smith's Dock Co., Ltd, North Shields, and thenceforth a vessel of 10,856g, 6,368n, 14,605d, with a draft of 27 feet and a speed of 13 ½ knots. 1972: Sold renamed MAYFLOWER. 1974: Sold renamed SIROCO 1. 1976: Broken up at Kaohsiung.

CLYDEFIELD (2) (1952 -1965 ). Motor Tanker. 
O.N. 169242. 11,163g, 6,412n, 16,960d, 515/548 x 70 X 38 feet, 30 feet draft, Six cylinder Burmeister & Wain oil engines of 7,500 B.H.P. by Harland & Wolff, Ltd, Govan; speed, 15 knots.
161911952: Launched by Harland & Wolff, Ltd, Govan, for Eden Tankers, Ltd, Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 21.10.1953: Delivered. 17.11.1964 Damaged by heavy fire. 1965: Broken up in Japan.

AVONFIELD (1) (1952 -1965 ). Motor Tanker. 
O.N. 169246. 11,319g, 6,449n, 16,800d, 505/539 x 70 x 39 feet, 30 feet draft, Five cylinder oil engines of 6,450 B.H.P. by Wm. Doxford & Sons, Ltd; speed, 14 knots.
21.10.1952: Launched by Wm. Doxford & Sons, Ltd, for Eden Tankers, Ltd, Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 8.5.1953: Delivered. 1965: Sold renamed KHIOS STAR. 1971: MAR STAR. 1973 PIONEER. 1973: Broken up at Burriana.

SYLVAFIELD (3) (1953 -1965 ). Motor Tanker. 
O.N. 169249. 11,243g, 6,400n, 16,700d, 515/547 x 70 x 39 feet, 30 feet draft, Six cylinder oil engines of 7,750 B.H.P. by Wm. Doxford & Sons, Ltd; speed, 15 knots.
14.4.1953: Launched by Wm. Doxford & Sons, Ltd, for the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 3.9.1953: Delivered. 1965: Sold renamed Georgian VALOUR. 1971: Broken up at Bilbao.

HUNTFIELD (1953 -1966 ). Motor Tanker. 
O.N. 169257. 11,113g, 6,426n, 16,820d, 495/529 x 70 x 40 feet, 30 feet draft, Six cylinder oil engines of 7,750 B.H.P. by Wm. Doxford & Sons Ltd; speed, 14 knots.
21.12.1953: Launched by Sir James Laing & Sons, Ltd, for the Hunting S.S. Co., Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 28.5.1954: Delivered. 1966: Sold renamed COSMO TRADER. 1968: WINFIELD TRADER. 1972: Broken up at Hong Kong after grounding damage.

FORTHFIELD (1954 -1975 ). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 186841. 12,129g, 6,919n, 18,150d, 530/556 x 69 x 39 feet, 30 feet draft. Two steam turbines developing 7,500 S.H.P. by Hawthorn Leslie (Engineers) Ltd, Newcastle; speed, 14 ½ knots.
10.11.1954: Launched by Hawthorn Leslie (Shipbuilders) Ltd, Hebburn onTyne, for the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 23.4.1955: Delivered. 1975: Aground Orinoco and scrapped in Spain.

INVERFIELD (1957 -1968 ). Bulk carrying motor vessel. 
O.N. 186873. 10,039g, 6,287n, 14,270d, 460/505 x 61 x 41 feet, 31 feet draft, Eight cylinder M.A.N. oil engines of 4,680 B.H.P. by the Bremer Vulkan, Vegesack; speed, 12 ¾ knots.
12.11.1957: Launched by the Rickmers Werft, Bremerhaven for the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 21.2.1958: Delivered. 1968: Sold renamed TIEN CHEUNG. 1972: UNIVERSAL KING. 1977: MINYEE. 1981: OCEAN KING. 20.2.1981: Aground Persian Gulf. 1983: Broken up at Gadani Beach.

THAMESFIELD (2) (1958 -1976 ). Tank Steamer. 
O.N. 186887. 20,743g, 11,258n, 32,160d, 635/660 x 85 x 46 feet, 35 feet draft, Two steam turbines developing 13,000 S.H.P. by Hawthorn Leslie (Engineers), Ltd; speed, 16 knots.
11.12.1958: Launched by Hawthorn Leslie (Shipbuilders) Ltd, for Hunting (Eden) Tankers Ltd, Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 20.4.1959: Delivered.1976: Broken up at Inverkeithing.

TEESFIELD (1959 -1978 ). Motor tanker. O.N. 186892. 12,146g, 7,017n, 18,025d, 525/556 x 71 x 39 feet, 31 feet draft, Six cylinder Doxford oil engines of 6,600 B.H.P. by the Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Co., Ltd, Wallsend,. speed, 14 knots.
24.2.1959: Launched by the Furness Shipbuilding Co., Ltd, for Hunting (Eden) Tankers, Ltd. Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 29.8.1959: Delivered.1978: Broken up at Inverkeithing.

ESKFIELD (1959-1968 ). Motor Tanker. 
O.N. 186899. 18,851g, 11,051n, 28,559d, 610/643 x 81 x 46 feet, 35 feet draft, Seven cylinder super charged oil engine of 10,300 B.H.P. by Harland & Wolff, Ltd; speed, 15 knots.
21.5.1959: Launched by Harland & Wolff, Ltd, Govan for the Northern Petroleum Tank S.S. Co., Ltd, Managers: Hunting & Son, Ltd. 22.12.1959: Delivered. 1968: Sold TORERO. 1973 APOLLONIAN VICTORY. 1977: Broken up at Hamburg.

WEARFIELD (2) ( 1964-1973) Bulk carrying motor vessel.
1964: Built by Austin and Pickersgill, Sunderland.
1973: Sold to The Ben Line Steamers and renamed BENHIANT. 1977: CRAMOND. 1977: BENHIANT. 1978: Sold renamed ALEXANDRA. 1980: FAIR WIND. 1985: Broken up at Shanghai

EDENFIELD (2) (1965-1978) Motor Tanker.
1965: Built by Harland & Wolff, Ltd, Belfast.
1967: In Charter British Government (R.F.A.) renamed DEWDALE. 1977: Out of Charter renamed EDENFIELD. 1978: Sold renamed WORLD FIELD. 1982: Broken up at Kaohsiung.

DERWENTFIELD (2) (1967-1978) Bulk carrying motor vessel.
1959: Built by Rheinstahl Nordseewerke, Emden, as BETTY.
1967 Purchased on the stocks and renamed DERWENTFIELD. 1978: Sold renamed CAVO ARTEMIDI. 25.9.1981 Aground at Bahia, Brazil and declared total loss.

AVONFIELD (2) 1967-1976) Bulk carrying motor vessel.
1967: Built by Uljanik Yard, Pula as BJORN STANGE. 1967: Purchased and renamed AVONFIELD. 1976: Sold renamed EVANGELISTRIA. 1986: Broken up at Huangpu.

TYNE BRIDGE (1971-1982) Bulk carrying motor vessel.
1971: Built by Furness S.B. Co., Ltd, Haverton Hill on Tees.
1982: Sold to Italy not renamed. 1983: IRON TRANSPORTER. 1985: EAST BRIDGE. 1987: Broken up at Kaoshiung.

TWEED BRIDGE (1974-1978) Bulk carrying motor vessel.
1974: Built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Kobe.
1978: Renamed TWEEDFIELD. 1978: Sold to Transmar Corp. Liberia and renamed THEODORE A. 12.3.1998: Arrived Gadani Beach for breaking up.

THAMESFIELD (3) (1977-1982) Bulk carrying motor vessel.
1977: Built by Flensburger Schiffsbau Gesellschaft, Flensburg.
1982: Sold to J. Fisher and Sons not renamed. 1986: Sold renamed AIGIANIS. 1989: Sold to Doris Maritime Services A.A., Vanuatu and renamed CARRYLOG. 1990: Sold to Rana M. Ltd., Bahamas and renamed RANA M. 1995: Sold renamed GUANG YUAN.

TWEEDFIELD see TWEED BRIDGE (1978)




Sources:
The Fleet Past And Present Of Hunting & Son Ltd, R. M. Hackman, WSS, 1969. 
Huntings Of Newcastle Upon Tyne, WSS, 1961. 
Travel of the Tramps, twenty Tramp fleets Vol. III, N.L. Middlemiss, Shield Publication, 1992.


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## laurafurore

*joe rooney ship breaking blyth*

hi joe i saw you had posted elsewhere about having a list of all the ships broken in Blyth that i'd love to see if you'd be kind enough to email it to me please - [email protected]

thanks




Joe Rooney said:


> Two of the happiest trips I ever did were in the Sylvafield (Ex Empire Silver) in 1949 and the Thamesfield (T2) in 1950.
> 
> When I think of the best of my seafaring memories, those two ships, captains and crews, loom large.
> 
> I have a WSS history of Huntings which takes me up to the mid sixties, but after that the firm seems to have dropped off the edge of the earth.
> 
> I know that they bought the remnants of the Stag Line, and some of its remaining ships. But nothing else.
> 
> Can anyone enlighten me to their subsequent history up to, and including the end of the firm. I am surprised that so little information exists, since they were also active in oilfield and aircraft industries.
> 
> Regards, Joe


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## martinfbrown

Hi, 
No not the Thamesfield.
Martin


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## martinfbrown

Hi,
Does anyone know what happened to Colin Dicks,I think he was 3rd Engineer on the Derwentfield, when I sailed as a Junior.
Martin


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## martinfbrown

Hi,
Does anyone have a photo of the MV Derwentfield? Thanks
Martin


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## redvoodoo

Hi Joe

My father in law past away back in October and looking through his personal items we found a letter when he joined the Thamesfield back in 1950. His name was John Moir (Jock) and he joined as 5th Engineer.

Do you have any memories to pass on to his family.

regards

Mark



Joe Rooney said:


> Two of the happiest trips I ever did were in the Sylvafield (Ex Empire Silver) in 1949 and the Thamesfield (T2) in 1950.
> 
> When I think of the best of my seafaring memories, those two ships, captains and crews, loom large.
> 
> I have a WSS history of Huntings which takes me up to the mid sixties, but after that the firm seems to have dropped off the edge of the earth.
> 
> I know that they bought the remnants of the Stag Line, and some of its remaining ships. But nothing else.
> 
> Can anyone enlighten me to their subsequent history up to, and including the end of the firm. I am surprised that so little information exists, since they were also active in oilfield and aircraft industries.
> 
> Regards, Joe


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## martinfbrown

*What happened to Huntings*

Anyone serve on the Derwentfield 1974 to 1975?
Martin


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## harrywhitelaw

I am posting this on behalf of my father, Harry Whitelaw (retired master - Silver Line). He asked me to let you all know of the sudden death of his good friend, Capt Henry Len Parks on 14/3/14. He had been retired for many years from Huntings................. Also a quick reply for Martin Brown, I sailed with you on the Derwentfield. If I remember, you were a junior engineer (ginger hair and glasses). I am Lorne and was an apprentice for a year with Huntings.


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## Ken Milburn

Thanks for the info on Captain H.L.Parks, (Len). I sailed as 3rd mate with him on the 'Wheatfield' in 1961. A very nice fellow, hated to switch on the radar though, even in fog!!. Always referred to the sextant as the 'Ham Bone'
Sorry to hear of his passing, I think he must have been well in his eighties


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## CHRISJKNIGHT

*Capt H.L Parks*

My sincere condolences to Capt Parks family and all who knew him.

I sailed with him on my first trip to sea out of Avonmouth on Wearfield as a deck cadet with Davy Millings and John ?? (Where are you Davy?) in April 1970 and later on Teesfield (Geoff Greene as engineer cadet). Mr. Tate was Ch. Officer.

M/V Wearfield had become quite challenging in the 70's as she continued her annual cir***navigation and journey into the Gt. Lakes and he had a reputation for keeping her safe and sound.

Very fair, totally professional and dedicated, he set an excellent example to officers and cadets. Certainly not forgotten after all these years by me and I am sure, many, many others.

I would be very grateful if my message would be read or noted at his funeral. 

Christopher John Knight; Skype cknight2.


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## stan mayes

I go back a long time to Huntings tankers..I was an AB in Empire Unity 1944/45.
She was a captured German tanker ex Biscaya managed by Huntings and her
Master was Captain Friskney and 3rd Officer was his brother..Does anybody 
remember sailing with them in later years?
It was an eventful voyage..We made five trips with petrol from Thameshaven for Antwerp and it was just after the port was liberated.
Antwerp was under constant attack by V1 and V2 missiles as Hitler had ordered
its recapture...We were alongside Hoboken refinery when a V2 struck a storage
tank.It was 10pm New Years Eve 1944 and myself and two shipmates had just
left the jetty intending to celebrate the New Year in a bar Blue Dove just out side the gates..
The blast ahead blew us off our feet and a huge fire ensued, as a strong wind
was blowing it toward us we ran back to the ship and helped to disconnect the pipe lines and release the moorings.Before the engines could be started we were blown across the river onto the opposite bank and as it was ebb tide we were soon high and dry...,,The refinery fire attracted German bombers during the night and some of the bombs exploded in the mud alongside us..I remember it as a very uncomfortable night.,
Later we loaded diesel oil at Stanlow for Iceland and at Hvalfiord we supplied the oil to the escorts of the Russian convoys..
On the trip after I paid off, Empire Unity made another trip to Iceland and was torpedoed when returning to the UK...Heavily damaged she was taken in tow for the Clyde.
Stan


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## michael higgins

i sailed on tyne bridge in 1976 as AB she was a wreck then ,skipper was capt crawford big c as they called him ,a canny fellow,an AB from north shields who was a regular crew member from north shields kenny worrell any one remember these two shipmates


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## CHRISJKNIGHT

*Huntings - anyone remember?*

Hi Michael,

Never met Cptn Crawford.. knew of him. Did you know Derek Shore 2nd/3rd Mate on Tynebridge.. sailed with Derek on Teesfield 1971.
I never sailed on Tynebridge. 

Kenny yes. He liked a drink or two(case that is)! He was on Wearfield on my first trip as apprentice (April 1970-Oct 1970) along with Tucker, Davy Fields, (****a - ships dog!) Shad, Jeff Greene, Davy Millings, John Lewis, Norman Mohammed - Chief Steward, Master was Cptn H.L Park.

I packed in 1980 after a few years with Everards, James Fisher and Rowbottom Tankers and Wallem Shipmanagement (HK). 

Hope you are keeping well.

Chris J Knight.


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## Peter Cheseldine

And the names keep rolling out of all those Hunting veterans from years gone by. So many good( And not so good) shipmates and good times shared.


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## Peter Cheseldine

Teesfield engine room, July 1967.... Big Bob Brayfield, Dickie McGill, Stan Weymes, Len Watson( pool man), Gale Porter, Peter Scott and myself.


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## Peter Cheseldine

*John Lewis*



CHRISJKNIGHT said:


> Hi guys, my history with Huntings spans Wearfield, Teesfield, Avonfield and a spell at South Shields as a deck apprentice. I often wonder where what happened to my shipmates. I later went to James Fisher, Rowbotham's and F.T Everard Home, Middle and .. Foreign-going on coasters and later Wallem Shipmanagement. Nordic Breeze and Nordic Aurora.
> 
> My Huntings days were truly some of the best times of my life and I owe a lot to Tommy Shanks for a great life experience. I'll never forget the day he interviewed me and told me it would be a life changing experience to go to sea with Huntings... he was right I never regretted it. Although 13 months is not a six month trip!
> 
> We worked hard and played hard and had a barrel of laughs. Geoff Green, Colin Dicks, John Lewis, Davy Millings all good friends and what happened to Norman Mohammed! If you are still around make it known !


Is that senior(chief steward) or junior(engineer) John Lewis?If the latter, up to ten years ago he was working as a rep for one of the big paint companies, and resident in Cleadon.


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## Peter Cheseldine

*Wearfield 1971*

Finally got round to scanning some of my old photos.These photos were taken at sea and loading plywood at Inchon South Korea.Personnel are myself, Colin Sanderson and Grahame ( Blossom) Rosie.Chief was Ronnie Millar, afraid I cant rember the second although I remember he was from South Shields. Maybe someone can enlighten me. Third was Dave Parkinson, lecky was Frankie Bonham, Juniors.. Colin Sanderson, Ray ?? and A N Other.


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## Aberdonian

I was up for tickets and once friendly with Huntings man, Sandy Fraser originally from the Isle of Arran, who was in the _Eskfield_ in 1962.

Keith


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## fringe

Chez, the Chief was Ronald Millar, 2nd was Ian Wood, 3rds were Davie Parkinson then Davie Nicholson, you were 4th, the Juniors were: Jeff Quinney, Alan Stoker, Ray Findlay, John Laws and Yogi (Colin Sanderson). Lecky was Frank Bonham.


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## Peter Cheseldine

Thanks for that Nick. I was racking my brains for Ian's surname. Good memory or efficient diary keeping?


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## Peter Cheseldine

*Four more from Wearfield*

A few more taken in Korea in 1971. Second Rng. Ian Wood. Chief Eng. Ronnie Millar. Alongside in Kunsan. Davy Sim John Angus, Davy Parkinson and Ian Wood


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## Peter Cheseldine

*Tyne Bridge*

Well. At long last I have scanned some Tyne Bridge photos taken in Haverton Hill in 1972 whilst fitting out. Personnel are Tommy Sample (electrician) Captain Marshall Friskney and Ch.Off Davey Evans.


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## Rupertthebear27

I very nearly went there from Edenfield after 8 months--after we sold her to Niarchos in Scaramanga , Greece--I'm glad I didn't !!--The Tweed Bridge was a much better vessel


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## Rupertthebear27

Ronnie Millar was a brilliant C/E


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## Peter Cheseldine

I enjoyed my times working with Ronnie Millar. I felt a little sorry for him on the Tyne Bridge when they had the fire. He had to use CO2 smothering.


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## David sim

*Hi Peter, it’s Davy Sim here . Thanks for saving the photo,that’s unbelievable*

(Thumb)


Peter Cheseldine said:


> A few more taken in Korea in 1971. Second Rng. Ian Wood. Chief Eng. Ronnie Millar. Alongside in Kunsan. Davy Sim John Angus, Davy Parkinson and Ian Wood


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## Peter Cheseldine

That was a good trip with a good crowd, apart from the thief among the deck crew. I don’t get on this site that often now, but you should try All at Sea on Facebook. A few ex-Huntings post on there.
Chez.


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## Ianls

*What ever happened to Huntings ?*

Hello Gentlemen,
It has been very nostalgic reading posts of characters and some of the ships I visited when I was a school boy and some of the Characters named. My Father was Stan L Smith ( died 2011 initially seafarer, then ship broker, operations manager early 60's then became director during mid /late 70's 80's retired mid 80's after Stagline acquisition / Fishers takeover)Ships I visited to memory were Thamesfield, Avonfield and later Tyne Bridge, Tweed Bridge and the managed Palm line ships (banana boats)spring to mind. saw these last two mentioned built and launched.
Capt Crawford a huge man from memory , David Strath - scary fellow when I was around seven .Tommy West a good mate of my old man, Tommy shanks who was a lovely man , great fun as a kid had a huge apple tree in his garden , remember his cheroots and his black poodle Monty . Capt Blakey 'shakey' who had a Capuchin monkey as a pet at home. Captain Phil Hansen wrote to me after Mum died 2018 again a true gentleman Dad respected the seagoing staff.
.Clearing my late parents home I have a Hunting's Flag ,Forthfield bell and various miscellaneous items .Named my house after Forthfield , she was scrapped in 1975 remember her well as a schoolboy, also the cricket matches between those who swallowed the anchor as Dad would put it and the seafarers on leave at the time With best(Applause) wishes to you all.


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## Peter Cheseldine

Lots of names to conjure up memories. Tommy West was a lovely man, a workaholic who expected the same from his engineers. Unfortunately he died in a terrible accident when he fell in a tankers hold.
The cricket matches were truly something else. The last one I played in was 1975, a truly unsober event.
I left Huntings in 1979 and went on to C.Y.Tung and Y.K.Pao as Chief Eng before swallowing the anchor in 1987. Huntings demise was not long in coming but I kept in touch with Mike Simpson when he went o to form a crewing company.


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## david freeman

In my career within the marine industry during the 70's I am aware of a Huntings super 'Jim'? who was an ex examiner of engineers at the Gosforth Dp.Tp office, and was a student/lecturer at Kings College Newcastle. Quite a gent.


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## Peter Cheseldine

*DTI Examiner*

The Jim that you are thinking of is James Weedon, a gentleman in every respect. He issued me with 2nd Eng steam permit in 1975 if I remember correctly he was later a superintendent engineer with Denholms.


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## david freeman

Peter Cheseldine said:


> The Jim that you are thinking of is James Weedon, a gentleman in every respect. He issued me with 2nd Eng steam permit in 1975 if I remember correctly he was later a superintendent engineer with Denholms.


 thanks my memory is shot!


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## Colin P Smith

*What happened to Hunting's KEN milburn*

Hello KEN
Sailed with you on Edenfield 1957 , deck apprentice.


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## martinfbrown

*Huntings Fleet Magazines*



Ken Milburn said:


> I became a Huntings' indentured apprentice in January 1957. My TOTAL pay for four years service was £575. I still retain my indentures, they were signed by the then personnel manager, John Keenlyside. This was obviously before Tommy Shanks took over personnel. I left Huntings after receiving my master's certificate in 1967 and have lost touch with all old shipmates bar one.
> My last two years with Huntings were spent on the Duffield, running between the US West coast and Japan. I served on various other ships, the first one being the Laganfield. I was on the Pontfield when we delivered her to Yugoslavia for scrap. 'Porky' Muir was master.
> I have read all through the thread and came across many familiar names. Time will no doubt have caught up with many of them, especially those who were then the senior men. Among the masters, I sailed with Abuelo, Harrison,Murray, McEnzie(mad head),Friskney,
> Park, Lawson(Hank),Johnson, Finnegan(?)and Mark Henry Hooker.
> I am surprised that Mark Henry is not mentioned in the thread, he was a well-known character. Probably someone out there recalls that he was attacked by a knife-weilding quartermaster shortly after his ship docked at Mena-al-Ahmadi must have been in the 50s but I can't recall which ship it was. Anyway Mark Henry survived and returned to sea-going duties. The second mate on that ship was Bill Attwood, does anyone know what happened to him?
> I am also interested in the following old shipmates, hope that some of them are surviving and will get in touch, can you help?
> Phil Hansen, John Elcoate, Mal Brannen, Theo Kelly, Steve Holroyd,
> and anyone else who knew me and is interested in contacting me.
> Incidentally, I sailed with the chief steward Willie Watson, who was mentioned in the thread a few years back.There were two Watsons as stewards in the company at that time, Willie was always affectionately known as 'half a kipper Watson'.
> I have a few old Hunting's Fleet Magazines, 1967 to 1972 so they don't cover my time with them but are interesting reading nevertheless. Hunting Gibson travel advertise on the back page of one of them, '4 weeks in Majorca, from 36 gns, prop-jet Britannia flight, good hotel, transfers,all meals'.
> Those were the days....


Hi, Does anyone know if you can get copies of the Hunting fleet magazines? Thanks
Martin


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## Jim Weedon

*Hunting & Son Old Boys*



Peter Cheseldine said:


> The Jim that you are thinking of is James Weedon, a gentleman in every respect. He issued me with 2nd Eng steam permit in 1975 if I remember correctly he was later a superintendent engineer with Denholms.


Hi Peter
I have just been contacted by a Hunting "Old Boy" Derek Rowan who I think I sailed with on Forthfield in 1963-64. I want to send him photos of the 9 Hunting ships I sailed on, but could not find a photo of my last vesel Derwnentfield. So after an absence of 6 years I logged on to Ship Nostalgia hoping to find a photo of Derwnetfield and saw your nice remarks about me.

Does anyone have a photo of Derwentfield ??

Jim Weedon


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## Jim Weedon

I was a sea going Hunting & Son Engineer from 1958 until 1968 
I worked with my two good friends Stan L Smith and Tom West when I was Superintendent in the Hunting Stag Office from 1983 until 1985 when Fishers closed the Newcastle office. I remember ending up at your house in Ponteland with Mr Fraser Smith after an Office Party.

I have fantastic memories of working with Hunting Personnel at sea and ashore

Jim Weedon


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## david freeman

Jim Weedon said:


> I was a sea going Hunting & Son Engineer from 1958 until 1968
> I worked with my two good friends Stan L Smith and Tom West when I was Superintendent in the Hunting Stag Office from 1983 until 1985 when Fishers closed the Newcastle office. I remember ending up at your house in Ponteland with Mr Fraser Smith after an Office Party.
> 
> I have fantastic memories of working with Hunting Personnel at sea and ashore
> 
> Jim Weedon


Good evening you scallywag, were you at some point in the mid 70's at BOT Gosfoth, with the rouges and vagabonds, such as Radcliffe, Greenlees, Dixon, Dorean, and the lecky? and a few more. My career with auntie started there in Jacks Doreans office,
Good to read your name if you are the same JIM, I Just wish to acknowledge you. Regards. Jim you must now be a graceful 80 year old??? [a guess], but young at heart


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## Jim Weedon

david freeman said:


> Good evening you scallywag, were you at some point in the mid 70's at BOT Gosfoth, with the rouges and vagabonds, such as Radcliffe, Greenlees, Dixon, Dorean, and the lecky? and a few more. My career with auntie started there in Jacks Doreans office,
> Good to read your name if you are the same JIM, I Just wish to acknowledge you. Regards. Jim you must now be a graceful 80 year old??? [a guess], but young at heart


Hi David 
Nice to hear from you.
Cheeky upstart!! I am only 78 years old and worked until I was 74 
I am indeed an ex BOT Surveyor who worked with Radcliffe, Greenlees, Dixon, Dorean etc from1969 until 1976. I then worked at Marine Industry Centre Newcastle University & in 1977 I went back into the real world of Ship Management with Denholm Glasgow
regards
Jim Weedon


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## Jim Weedon

rossaspden said:


> Cheers it was !! I had some great times on the trips to Cedros - did you sail on her.


I sailed as 2nd Engineer on Argyll from April 1966 until April 1967
Worked hard, played hard & enjoyed the spartan Argyll Happy memories
I was there when first ship to ship transfer to vessel Cedros took place
I have uploaded a photo of Argyll 

Jim Weedon


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## mite mouse

Hi I was on all of the above in the 70's the salt carrier was the Argyll.
Mike P


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## Ladymag.uk

Ianls said:


> *What ever happened to Huntings ?*
> 
> Hello Gentlemen,
> It has been very nostalgic reading posts of characters and some of the ships I visited when I was a school boy and some of the Characters named. My Father was Stan L Smith ( died 2011 initially seafarer, then ship broker, operations manager early 60's then became director during mid /late 70's 80's retired mid 80's after Stagline acquisition / Fishers takeover)Ships I visited to memory were Thamesfield, Avonfield and later Tyne Bridge, Tweed Bridge and the managed Palm line ships (banana boats)spring to mind. saw these last two mentioned built and launched.
> Capt Crawford a huge man from memory , David Strath - scary fellow when I was around seven .Tommy West a good mate of my old man, Tommy shanks who was a lovely man , great fun as a kid had a huge apple tree in his garden , remember his cheroots and his black poodle Monty . Capt Blakey 'shakey' who had a Capuchin monkey as a pet at home. Captain Phil Hansen wrote to me after Mum died 2018 again a true gentleman Dad respected the seagoing staff.
> .Clearing my late parents home I have a Hunting's Flag ,Forthfield bell and various miscellaneous items .Named my house after Forthfield , she was scrapped in 1975 remember her well as a schoolboy, also the cricket matches between those who swallowed the anchor as Dad would put it and the seafarers on leave at the time With best(Applause) wishes to you all.


Hi Ian, I'm Pat and I have great memories of working in the office at Huntings in the 1960s. I was one of the secretaries in Hunting & Son office in Milburn House from 1964 to about 1970 and I remember your Dad Stan Smith very well - and his sense of humour! The other office staff that I can remember were: John Keenleyside (or "BGB" as he called himself - "Big Ginger B*****"), David Strath and Fred Lingwood (Shipping Managers), Tommy Shanks (Personnel Manager - who could forget Tommy!!), Personnel Dept were Mike Simpson, and Brian Ward (my ex-husband who used to run the office cricket team - I ended up being scorer, so I've probably met a few of the people on this list!). Stores: Gordon Harrison. Shore superintendents: the boss was Dacre-Fraser-Smith, then there was Bob Everett ("Sahib", lovely man), and Captain Lenny Carr (loved him to bits!), Russell Blackwood, Dick Bell, and Eric Wishart. Had a great week's holiday on the "Dalhanna" when she was doing a trip from the Tyne up to Narvik to load iron ore and then back to Middlesbrough - and they brought Don Robertson out of retirement to captain her for one last time, so that was a bit of a riot! I learned to play darts that week and even got my steering certificate like the deck apprentices used to get, but they made sure there was nothing in the vicinity when I was steering! Another thing I remember was being on telex duty on the morning in November 1964 when the messages came in that the "Clydefield" had caught fire in El Salvador. All in all I loved working for Huntings and we had some great people in both the office and the sea staff. I was sad when my boss was transferred the London Office and I had to transfer to the travel side. I've only just found this "community", or I would have joined it long ago! Cheers!


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## Jim Weedon

Hi Pat
Being involved with the Hunting Cricket Team you may have fond memories of my good friend Tom West who miraculously was always on leave for the Office/Seastaff Cricket Match.
I worked asa Superintendent in the Hunting Stag Office with Tom and Stan Smith 1983-1985.
Sadly Tom died at an early age when he fell into a tank when carryimg out a pre-purchase inspection.

I have attached for all interested Hunting personnel a photo of the Hunting House Flag Mosaic which was discovered under the floor coverings when that part of Milburn House was being re-furbished. 
I was sent this photo by John Lillie (ex Hunting C/E & Salvage Association) who I worked with when we were Superintendents for Denholm Ship Management Glasgow in 1980s
Jim Weedon


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## Jim Weedon

When I was looking through the various files I have on my laptop relating the Hunting & Son I found this History of the Company.
I have no idea where it came from & I have taken the liberty of adjusting the text layout to make it easier to follow.
It gives details of every vessel owned by Huntings & there are many very interesting facts. The Company was often in the forefront of change and one item which caught my attention was Huntings had one of the first OBOs in 1899
Part one covers the Histiry of the Fleet & Part Two gives the details of each & every Vessel the Company Owned

Hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did
Jim Weedon


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## Ladymag.uk

Jim Weedon said:


> When I was looking through the various files I have on my laptop relating the Hunting & Son I found this History of the Company.
> I have no idea where it came from & I have taken the liberty of adjusting the text layout to make it easier to follow.
> It gives details of every vessel owned by Huntings & there are many very interesting facts. The Company was often in the forefront of change and one item which caught my attention was Huntings had one of the first OBOs in 1899
> Part one covers the Histiry of the Fleet & Part Two gives the details of each & every Vessel the Company Owned
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did
> Jim Weedon



Hi Jim

Yes, I do remember Tommy West - he was in the office for a while. He was very pleasant and always seemed to be in a good mood! I hadn't twigged about him always being on shore leave for the office v sea staff cricket matches, but now you come to mention it .............. !!

I also remembered all the lovely mosaic floors in Milburn House (I worked there before they desecrated them by covering them with sticky backed vinyl tiles) but I couldn't remember seeing the Hunting flag mosaic, so that photo is really nice to keep.

Thanks for sending that file about the company. I already have the book that it's from (I collect books about merchant shipping). It's from Volume 3 of Travels of the Tramps by Norman L. Middlemiss, and there are five photos included. Travels of the Tramps is a set of 5 books which look as if they have been self-published, judging by the fact that they seem to be typewritten, however they were published by Shield Publications Ltd. of Newcastle and printed by Athenaeum Press. Fascinating books. Being out of print, they are very hard to get, but having paid up to £25 per volume, I've managed over the years to get all 5 of them from various sources. Mr. Middlemiss seems to have covered all the tramp ship companies in the country, including all our local ones here in the North East. I've attached my scans of the photo pages of the Hunting ships.

I also have scans of some private photos sent to me by a dear friend who died recently just short of his 100th birthday. Col. Alex Johnson was associated with Whickham County School, who "adopted" m.v. LAGANFIELD some time between 1950 and 1961, and the photos are of a school party visiting the ship - see attached. The captions are what was written on the back of the original photos.

I'll see what else I can dig up from my "archives".

Cheers
Pat


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## Will Robinson

My Father Peter Robinson served as Master with Huntings, i remember a lot of the names mentioned on here. I was given the ship in the bottle of the Thamesfield in about 1979 on a visit to Tilbury


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## Peter Cheseldine

Will Robinson said:


> My Father Peter Robinson served as Master with Huntings, i remember a lot of the names mentioned on here. I was given the ship in the bottle of the Thamesfield in about 1979 on a visit to Tilbury
> View attachment 683857


Had the pleasure of sailing with your father a few times. I was on Thamesfield 1977/78. Standing by in Flensburg and then maiden voyage as 2nd Engineer.


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## Jim Weedon

doggybag said:


> Has anyone got a photo of the ss.Alnfield [ex ss.Sello Rojo]. It was a Liberty ship converted into a self discharging bulk grain carrier. We mainly hauled rice from Sacramento to Okinawa and Japan although we did do one trip with grain out of Vancouver BC. I joined it in Stockton CA in 1964 and served 14 months.


I also joined Alnfield as 4th Engineer in March 1964 and left the vessel in April 1965
The vessel Changed from American flag to British Flag when we joined in Stockton/Sacremento
The Board of Trade Survey for Flag Change was a joke. I now because later in my career I was an Engineer & Ship Surveyor for the Board of Trade. The vessel was inherently unsafe due conversion of the Liberty Ship to a self unloader
I struggle to remember all the names of personnel on board. Many of them were not regular Hunting's men 
Captain was a Hunting regular Capt Abuelo. 
Ice Cream left over from one round trip under American Flag lasted 6 month
C/Off ??? 2nd Mate was an ex policeman 3/O ??
Initially the C/E was Arthur Conway ( a Hunting stalwart) who was later relieved by an old retired C/E who had a Stamp Collector business in Edinburgh. 
2/E ?? was a guy who had worked as a Turbine Driver at Dunston Power Station
3/E was George Aitkin who looked after the Cargo Discharging Gear
J/E ?? I can still see his face but cannot remember his name.

Trip home was a bit strange
The Agent had booked all flights from San Francisco to Dublin via Boston & Shannon because C/Off & 2Eng wanted to be away until April 5th for Tax avoidance & they planned to stay in Dublin for a couple of days. 
When asked how the rest of us would get back home to Newcastle/London etc the Agent told us to catch a Bus !!!!!


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## MAL Mc

mclennan said:


> Hi all,
> Just found this thread and it brings back memories.
> I joined the new Thamesfield at Tilbury on July 4th 1978 and first trip engine cadet. Steve Harrison went back to college. Ross Aspden was deck cadet at the time. C/Eng was Ronnie Miller, 2/E Tommy Walsh , 3/E Gordon Hansen.
> Also sailed on the Argyl / Beseggen / Thorseggen / Albright Explorer / Albright Pioneer. Good times.
> Other names I remember are:
> Leckies - Ian McCooey / Mick Rafferty / Jimmy Dickson / Kev Naylor
> Engineers - Don Knot / Gordon Brown / Mel Gates / Frank Cooke / John Craddock / Alan Grey / Davey and Stevie K(e)ay / Wille Walton


I remember Ian McCooey well. I did 13 months straight on the Thamesfield. Great trip and great set of lads across the whole crew. We had some great night aboard and ashore...


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## MAL Mc

Rupertthebear27 said:


> Larry----Jim Davis--I was on Thamesfield twice/ Edenfield/Coral Venture/Beseggen/Tweed Bridge etc
> Those were the days


Yep I did a couple of trips on the Tweed Bridge Sept 76 to March 77 as a JOS and returned as EDH June to August 77...


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## MAL Mc

Peter Cheseldine said:


> Had the pleasure of sailing with your father a few times. I was on Thamesfield 1977/78. Standing by in Flensburg and then maiden voyage as 2nd Engineer.


Yes he signed me off the Thamesfield Nov 1982 after a 13 month trip....


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## peterjtorr

fringe said:


> *Ships and sea staff*
> 
> I served my time with Huntings. A skinny little fresh faced kid from 'Uddersfield, I was sent to the Wearfield where I could hardly understand a word that was said! From there it was the Derwentfield, Thamesfield (the tanker), Teesfield, Coral Venture, Tweed Bridge, the dreaded Tyne Bridge (what a death trap!), the Phosphore Conveyor and finally after sailing with Happy Tappy on the Argyll I decided I wanted to try coasting.
> 
> Let's see if anyone remembers this list of names - I sailed with all of them: I'll list the Deck ones in this post and do the others at a later date.
> Marshall Friskney, William (Wa..er) Harrison, John Angus, Lester (Les) Cairns, Graham Rosie, David Sim, Henry (Ricky) Asquez, Ian (Aye!) Thain, Phillip Hansen, Thomas (The Tam) Dalgleish, Peter (Jacques) Torr, David (Dinger) Bell, Ian Milton, John (The Con) Conlon, Timothy West, Leonard Kennedy, Peter Heasman, Douglas Quinney, John Allen-Jones, David Lee, Alan Jones, David Reynolds, Andrew (Osti) Rhodes, James (JT) Alexander, Kenneth Gray, R
> 
> 
> fringe said:
> 
> 
> 
> *Ships and sea staff*
> 
> I served my time with Huntings. A skinny little fresh faced kid from 'Uddersfield, I was sent to the Wearfield where I could hardly understand a word that was said! From there it was the Derwentfield, Thamesfield (the tanker), Teesfield, Coral Venture, Tweed Bridge, the dreaded Tyne Bridge (what a death trap!), the Phosphore Conveyor and finally after sailing with Happy Tappy on the Argyll I decided I wanted to try coasting.
> 
> Let's see if anyone remembers this list of names - I sailed with all of them: I'll list the Deck ones in this post and do the others at a later date.
> Marshall Friskney, William (Wa..er) Harrison, John Angus, Lester (Les) Cairns, Graham Rosie, David Sim, Henry (Ricky) Asquez, Ian (Aye!) Thain, Phillip Hansen, Thomas (The Tam) Dalgleish, Peter (Jacques) Torr, David (Dinger) Bell, Ian Milton, John (The Con) Conlon, Timothy West, Leonard Kennedy, Peter Heasman, Douglas Quinney, John Allen-Jones, David Lee, Alan Jones, David Reynolds, Andrew (Osti) Rhodes, James (JT) Alexander, Kenneth Gray, Robert Jenkins, Peter Bolger, Frede Johnson, Paul Long, John Abuelo (Junior), George Louth, David Glendenning, Julian Berry, David Evans, John Wheeler, Graham Legg, Brian Alldred, Lorne Whitelaw, Dennis Dowen, Charles Fuller OBE, Malcolm Brannon, Charles Pullen, Colin Greenwood, Ian (I AM) Haddow, Thomas (Tommy) Armstrong, James Donald, Robert Hamilton, Martyn Wimpenny, George Patterson, Michael Kelly, Leonard Green, Steven Morgan, Francis Taphouse, Robert Clarke, Michael Herbert, Maurice Tate.
> [
> obert Jenkins, Peter Bolger, Frede Johnson, Paul Long, John Abuelo (Junior), George Louth, David Glendenning, Julian Berry, David Evans, John Wheeler, Graham Legg, Brian Alldred, Lorne Whitelaw, Dennis Dowen, Charles Fuller OBE, Malcolm Brannon, Charles Pullen, Colin Greenwood, Ian (I AM) Haddow, Thomas (Tommy) Armstrong, James Donald, Robert Hamilton, Martyn Wimpenny, George Patterson, Michael Kelly, Leonard Green, Steven Morgan, Francis Taphouse, Robert Clarke, Michael Herbert, Maurice Tate.
> 
> 
> 
> If Im right we sailed together on the Derwentfield from January 1972 to August 1972 when I left in Long Beach and left Huntings. I joined Mobil that year and was seagoing until 1982 when I went to work in the Coryton Refinery.
Click to expand...


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## Jim Weedon

doggybag said:


> Has anyone got a photo of the ss.Alnfield [ex ss.Sello Rojo]. It was a Liberty ship converted into a self discharging bulk grain carrier. We mainly hauled rice from Sacramento to Okinawa and Japan although we did do one trip with grain out of Vancouver BC. I joined it in Stockton CA in 1964 and served 14 months.


I sailed as 4th Enginer on Alnfield from March 1964 to March 1965 Jim Weedon I have an old photo which I think is of Alnfield before she was converted to a self discharging vessel


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## CTJake

I found a couple of Fleet Magazines which I have scanned and uploaded. Some really interesting stuff.


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## lynnroberts

Ladymag.uk said:


> Hi Ian, I'm Pat and I have great memories of working in the office at Huntings in the 1960s. I was one of the secretaries in Hunting & Son office in Milburn House from 1964 to about 1970 and I remember your Dad Stan Smith very well - and his sense of humour! The other office staff that I can remember were: John Keenleyside (or "BGB" as he called himself - "Big Ginger B*****"), David Strath and Fred Lingwood (Shipping Managers), Tommy Shanks (Personnel Manager - who could forget Tommy!!), Personnel Dept were Mike Simpson, and Brian Ward (my ex-husband who used to run the office cricket team - I ended up being scorer, so I've probably met a few of the people on this list!). Stores: Gordon Harrison. Shore superintendents: the boss was Dacre-Fraser-Smith, then there was Bob Everett ("Sahib", lovely man), and Captain Lenny Carr (loved him to bits!), Russell Blackwood, Dick Bell, and Eric Wishart. Had a great week's holiday on the "Dalhanna" when she was doing a trip from the Tyne up to Narvik to load iron ore and then back to Middlesbrough - and they brought Don Robertson out of retirement to captain her for one last time, so that was a bit of a riot! I learned to play darts that week and even got my steering certificate like the deck apprentices used to get, but they made sure there was nothing in the vicinity when I was steering! Another thing I remember was being on telex duty on the morning in November 1964 when the messages came in that the "Clydefield" had caught fire in El Salvador. All in all I loved working for Huntings and we had some great people in both the office and the sea staff. I was sad when my boss was transferred the London Office and I had to transfer to the travel side. I've only just found this "community", or I would have joined it long ago! Cheers!


 Hi Pat Do you remember my Dad Jimmy Roberts? He was a ship broker, stores superintendent and ship chandler since being apprenticed with Hunting's and worked in Milburn House. He was good friends with Brian Ward and Don Robertson. Sadly my Dad died in 1996 at just 66. My Mam Betty Roberts loved going to the Hunting's dinner dances. She is now 91 but has dementia and just recently moved into a care home. My sister found a small Hunting's flag this week when she was clearing out our family home where my parents lived for nearly 60 years.


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