# United towing tug motorman



## Alan Smalley (Jan 11, 2013)

I was interested to read the thread on the United towing company of hull, and in particular the threads from Elaine Reibbitt, (put on in 2008)as I knew her father in law Cyril Reibbit. At the age of 16yrs I was the first ever deckhand on the brand new tug "Motorman" and Cyril was the Skipper. I was given the job by Captain Hopper at the Nelson st office and was sent down to join her at the fish dock I believe, where the shipbuilders were still finishing her off. we later went out into the river on trials and to Alexander dock to do the pulling test on a bollard near the 100 ton crane.Cyril was a great bloke and I got on well with him,and the rest of the crew the Chief engineer was named "Roberts" the mate was called Doug but I can't remember his surname. A lot of the lads working on the tugs were my mates already because we lived in the Hessle Road area and would meet up to travel to work on our bikes together. One, Pete went on to become a tug Skipper himself and still is. I later worked on"Presto" the Ellerman Wilson line head tug, with Captain Martin. Happy days.


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## R58484956 (Apr 19, 2004)

Greetings *Alan* and welcome to* SN*. Interesting first story. Bon voyage.


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## billyboy (Jul 6, 2005)

A warm welcome aboard from the Philippines. Please enjoy all this great site has to offer


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## coatsie (Jan 26, 2008)

Chief was George Roberts and mate was dougie hessaltine


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## Alan Smalley (Jan 11, 2013)

*united tug motorman*

Thanks Coatsie, the chiefs first name and Dougs surname have been bugging me for a long time, I do remember that Doug lived in the flats off Fountain road somewhere, "Motorman was my first ship and the crew were really good to me they helped me learn the job, and literally showed me the ropes they were a good bunch.


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## sam2182sw (Jul 24, 2005)

Hi You will remember Roy he was mate on the Presto he married the young lady from the coffie shop which was called Hillys she was called Val the Presto when she had finished her work laid at the end of Alex dry dock or out side Hillys with Forto along side her Sam2182sw


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## Sandra Margolies (Nov 20, 2016)

*About Presto*

Dear Alan Smalley, 

I was interested to read your memories of the Presto. I have been doing some searching of the foreshore in Deptford, with a group interested in the history of a river ambulance station, now a city farm. We were looking for china belonging to the hospital service, but the organiser showed me the base of a cup, on which is a crest that is a buckled belt in red, with the name PRESTO on it and a red flag in the centre with what looks like a yellow crown. She'd kept it because it looked unusual. I immediately suggested it was from a Wilson Line ship: my grandfather, Captain William Colbeck, served on the Montebello and Romeo between 1897 and 1910, so I knew that Wilson Line ship names all ended in -o. And indeed I found it in a list of the ships. However, the flag is a puzzle, not at all like the Wilson Line flag. Can you shed any light? I could send a photo if there is any way of doing so. 
With best wishes, Sandra Margolies (nee Colbeck)


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## EdScott (Jun 23, 2018)

*[email protected]*



Alan Smalley said:


> I was interested to read the thread on the United towing company of hull, and in particular the threads from Elaine Reibbitt, (put on in 2008)as I knew her father in law Cyril Reibbit. At the age of 16yrs I was the first ever deckhand on the brand new tug "Motorman" and Cyril was the Skipper. I was given the job by Captain Hopper at the Nelson st office and was sent down to join her at the fish dock I believe, where the shipbuilders were still finishing her off. we later went out into the river on trials and to Alexander dock to do the pulling test on a bollard near the 100 ton crane.Cyril was a great bloke and I got on well with him,and the rest of the crew the Chief engineer was named "Roberts" the mate was called Doug but I can't remember his surname. A lot of the lads working on the tugs were my mates already because we lived in the Hessle Road area and would meet up to travel to work on our bikes together. One, Pete went on to become a tug Skipper himself and still is. I later worked on"Presto" the Ellerman Wilson line head tug, with Captain Martin. Happy days. Hello Alan. Please find attached my experiences with Humber Tugs Ltd--not so happy.I was a trainee deckhand and joined Humber Tugs in Nov 1977 with Pete Nesvick. In May 1981 I transferred over to the south bank tugs which in the long run was one of the biggest mistakes I ever made!
> I don"t know what they"re like today but too many over at Immingham had the attitude that if the company employed you ---- they owned you.
> And Roy Sanderson, deck super intendant?, was more than willing to abuse a culture like that and did. Eventually, with a combination of 10th rate management and a spineless workforce, the company was ran into the ground. Sanderson replaced Pete Willingham around 1983. As far as I am aware he had no qualifications to justify a promotion like that and Willingham was a master mariner and a decent bloke.
> Sanderson on the other hand was a devious, deep, progress chaser who regarded lying and deceipt as being a legitimate part of management and if that didn"t work veiled threats were his plan b.
> ...


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## EdScott (Jun 23, 2018)

*[email protected]*

It may be Steve or his brother but either way I have sent an attachment. 
I was a trainee deckhand and joined Humber Tugs in Nov 1977 with Pete Nesvick. In May 1981 I transferred over to the south bank tugs which in the long run was one of the biggest mistakes I ever made!
I don"t know what they"re like today but too many over at Immingham had the attitude that if the company employed you ---- they owned you.
And Roy Sanderson, deck super intendant?, was more than willing to abuse a culture like that and did. Eventually, with a combination of 10th rate management and a spineless workforce, the company was ran into the ground. Sanderson replaced Pete Willingham around 1983. As far as I am aware he had no qualifications to justify a promotion like that and Willingham was a master mariner and a decent bloke.
Sanderson on the other hand was a devious, deep, progress chaser who regarded lying and deceipt as being a legitimate part of management and if that didn"t work veiled threats were his plan b.
But he was not working alone, as I stated above there were no shortage of suck holers and yes men who would cooperate with him.
One such was a tug master, Peter Gel. This invertebrate eventually played a hand in getting me dismissed after I refused to go out to the Rough field, my argument being that it must be sea work, which was "voluntary"
The company came up with the response that it was only sea work if the hirer agreed to a "daily" hire arrangement and this was "hourly"
although they never showed me any evidence and I knew of no one else who had ever seen this.
Almost certainly Sanderson was probably lying about this as was his speciality but proving it was easier to say then do. The ludicrous implication with this argument was any where on the planet was the port of Immingham. In other words there is no such thing as sea work.
I was dismissed on Thursday 14 of March 1985 with no written confirmation of this (they never liked putting anything in writing) then within a few weeks the TGWU branch filed an application with the local industrial tribunal for an unfair dismissal hearing against Humber Tugs.
They enlisted the help of Andrew Marvel Jackson a Hull based solicitor of whom I can find no reference on the internet --its as if the man never existed. From late March out to the following November the company came up with a littany of excuses as to why their witnesses could not attend, Sanderson was on holiday, then a few weeks went by and it was Gels turn to conveniantly be away, next was Jacksons turn not to be there and these delays were always announced after a new appearance date was offered by the courts service.
They were abusing the system but legally. I on the other hand was ready to go within a few weeks.
After they ran out of holidays we got an appearance in late November 85 and about 2 weeks before the union sent me a letter from Jackson offering £500 to drop the case, later increased to £750, which I refused. This was a "without prejudice" letter meaning I could not mention its existence in court. However I could have legally circulated it around the work force ---pity I did not think of this at the time! 

Howard.
Good afternoon Howard, thank you for your time. I am aware of the solicitors and their practice but I can find no mention of Marvel Jackson himself. His legal background, university, nothing.
My representative at tribunal, John Ibbot, told me the company paid him as much as £1000 a day in court over the 2 days which does not surprise me when you consider what was at stake for the company.
Whats that in todays money? --£2000/£2500 per day!
The afore-mentioned Peter Gel admitted under oath that he was "up in arms" about not getting sea pay for a Rough field voyage that he was sent on only a few weeks after my dismissal because it was outside of the "box" ---the very reason why I lost my job!
But then went on to explain that after an "explanation" from the company "in all fairness it wasn"t sea work".
What Gel really meant was "in all fairness I don"t want to join Grimsbys ever lengthening dole queues" and was clearly scared.
The "explanation" was, in reality, a threat.
Its also worth mentioning that the location was about 30 miles NE of the bull light float so how many miles out to sea did you need to go before you were at sea --- fifty, a hundred, a thousand?
In the agreement between the company and our branch of the TGWU it stated "sea work is voluntary" yet no one apparently knew the specific definition of the term and therefore the declaration was legally worthless.
After the very brief protest from Gel--- Jackson visited the sth bank office and took a statement from him. He signed it and this then equalled an affidavit which could be used against him in court if he decided to stand up to them which, of course, he was never going to.
As I said earlier the absence of a company recognised geographical line at which port work ended and seawork started meant you could be a thousand miles nth of the Orkneys and still be in the port of Immingham therefore you had to go! I said this at the tribunal
Regards, Ed. 07817 011910.


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## Winmar (Feb 13, 2016)

A.M. Jackson's are located on Castle Street, Hull formerly located in the Land of Green Ginger and are recognised around the UK and beyond for their high standards of Maritime Law. I am guessing that the Andrew Marvel Jackson referred to in these pieces was the founding partner of that firm given the unusual nature of his middle name.


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## EdScott (Jun 23, 2018)

*EdScott*

Hello.
I have been doing some research about the origins of the Jackson who did the hatchet job on me back in November 1985. His first name was in fact Rodney and earlier that year he was made a recorder on the NE circuit, a part time judge! For each day at industrial tribunal they were probably paying him more than they paid a mate in a month.

As I stated in an earlier thread this is unsurprising given the grotesque nature of the companies behaviour and the questionable management practices -- particularly those of Roy Sanderson -- a devious, dishonest deck superintendant (he was once accused of lying, to his face, by Phil Goldsborough in relation to an unpaid special service job) something the south bank crowd would never have had the balls to say.

Regards, Ed. 07817 011910


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