# M/V Debut.



## Cpt Dick Brooks

M/V Debut was built in Selby in 1948 as the Renovia GY 527, official registered number 166667. She was the first of the Renovia Class, and was the flagship of the Renovia Fishing Company of Grimsby. She was a 189 feet overall hull length, with a beam of 30 feet, and a draft of 18 feet aft and 12 feet forward. Her gross tons was 565 and her net was 200, with a normal steaming displacement of 1,000 tons. There is a photograph of a painting of her alongside the quay in Grimsby, shortly after she was launched, along with dozens of threads about her in the Ship's Research forum. 
She was converted to oil-fired in her vertical Scott's boiler in the 1950's, to feed the 2,700 hp. triple expansion engine.
Renovia was purchased by the Ross Fishing Company of Hull in 1964, and her name was changed to the Ross Stalker. Her engine-room was stripped out and her machinery was replaced by Ruston Lincoln diesels, the main engine being a seven cylinder Ruston VLVB model of 1,300 hp. on the turbocharged model, throwing a twelve foot diameter propeller with a three to one reduction gearbox. The winch engine was a five cylinder Ruston Lincoln of 360 hp., producing 250 kws at 360 volts DC for the electric motor to drive the main trawl winch. 
Her name was later changed to Ross Resolution when Ross wanted her name for another ship in their fleet. She spent 28 years fishing the White Sea, and as far north as the ice limits off Bear Island. She had been laid up in St. Andrew's Dock, in Hull, for fourteen months when I bought her in 1978, because of a major breakdown with the starboard generator. I stripped it down and used it for spare parts for the 200 hp. Ruston port generator. As part of my agreement with the Haliers Fishing Company, I changed her name to Debut, as she had a company name. This was finalized by the Registrar of Shipping in Plymouth when I arrived there a month later.
I spent a month in Hull, going over all the machinery and valve systems with their engineers, and all the electrical systems and electronics with their electricians. When I was satisfied that I'd learned all I could about the ship, I got a run-crew together to take her down to Plymouth. None of them had ever been to sea before, but they had plenty of experience with machinery.
Anchored in Mountbatten Bay, just outside of the Mountbatten Breakwater, Debut was given a coat of paint, and I replaced the starboard generator with a 220 hp. Rolls-Royce Eagle diesel engine from a six wheeled Foden articulated truck. I bought two of them, stripping one of them down for spare parts. Debut was fitted out as a dive-support ship and full ocean-going salvage vessel. Over the next four months, I got together a dozen young adventurers as crew and prepared the ship for a voyage around the tropical world. 
On the 3rd September, 1978, Debut left Plymouth Sound, heading for La Coruna in Spain. Despite punching into a force eight gale across the Bay of Biscay, the old girl done us proud... she had hardly any movement on her as she majestically rode into the swell. The crew disbelieved the force of the wind, until we passed a super-tanker running north before the wind, rolling her fifty foot high decks under.
To slowly acclimatise my land-lubber crew, I had a stop-over at Lisbon, then another at Casablanca. This last port gave the rest of the crew, other than myself and my chief-engineer, 'Hooky', who had also worked in Dubai along with me, the chance to experience an Arab country. Several of the crew took a side-trip to Marrakech to experience the country.
From there, it was on to Tenerife and the Cape Verde Islands. I now thought my crew were finally ready for the trans-Atlantic crossing, and had settled into the ship's routine when on passage. Debut crossed the Atlantic Ocean in eight days, running the main engine at only two thirds revolutions at 240 rpm. This was to save fuel, reducing her consumption from four tons a day, down to two and a half tons. With 120 tons fuel capacity, this gave me a range of 15,000 miles down wind without refuelling. I could go from point A to point B anywhere in the world without taking on fuel. I also had to keep an eye on the engine temperature, as we were now in the tropics, where she was not designed for. Most ships operating within the tropical area use external keel coolers, and Debut was fitted with only internal heat exchangers.
Debut anchored in Carlisle Bay, off Bridgetown in Barbados, on the fourth of November, 1978. A wonderful voyage, well done by the old girl and her novice crew. The rest of her twelve year voyage around the tropical world is now history, and can be read about in the five books I have written about it, described in my threads in the Book forum, along with the many threads I have posted in the Looking for Old Shipmates forum. I hope you all enjoy the read. Cpt Dick Brooks.


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## gil mayes

Very interesting, Dick. RINOVIA (166667) was Cochrane (1328) and will feature in Vol.3 of Cochrane Shipbuilders which I am currently working on. Perhaps you would flesh out her history following her arrival in the West Indies and her subsequent Pacific and Australian exploits leading to the closure of her Grimsby registry on 11 May 1989.

I would just add that she was completed as an oil burner, the first post war trawler ordered for Grimsby owners and the first British trawler to be fitted with radar as an aid to navigation - a Kelvin Hughes Type 1.
Gil.


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## Cpt Dick Brooks

*For gil mayes*

Hi, gil, good to receive your thread. The Renovia was GY 527, for the Renovia Fishing Company of Grimsby. I've just checked my registration do***ent and her official registered number is 166667, as you quoted. She was the first ship of the Renovia Class of trawlers, built in 1948 in Selby. I have a photo of her sent to me on line with the Duke of Edinburgh being shown around her main deck in 1950 alongside the quay at Grimsby, and she is referred to as the flagship of the Renovia fleet. I also have the original negative of the blue-print for her class of ship hanging on my bedroom wall. 
Regards the twelve year voyage around the tropical world with her as M/V Debut, please access the Book forum and the two threads I have written, 'The Black Ship's Odyssey' and 'The Black Ship' Trilogy'. These are the two groups my books are written under. They are published by Amazon on their Kindle system. The code for each book is given for easy access on line. The fourth book, the 'Samoan Princess', should be published within the next couple of weeks. There are 44 threads about her with some photos on the Ship Research forum. 
I spent three years castaway on Emily Reef, after being shipwrecked in the Coral Sea. Debut now lies in peace, upright and in one piece, high upon the reef. She is home to the hundreds of terns and boobies that crowd her decks, and the special reef fish that live beneath her sturdy hull. She is the main tourist draw of Cooktown, lying 25 miles SE of the town. There is also a museum there all about her, containing many of the artefacts that I sold off the ship to pay for my flight to Apia, in Western Samoa, to collect my wife, Mariana, and our two young children en route to the UK. I hope you enjoy the read, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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## gil mayes

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, Dick. Best wishes with the next book.
Gil.


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## Cpt Dick Brooks

*For Gil mayes*

Hi, Gil, good to receive your reply. If you have any questions you'd like to ask for your research about M/V Debut, don't be afraid to ask. You can phone me on 01473-421742 or E-mail me at [email protected] . All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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## 6639

very interesting to here from you about this Cpt Brooks..........your story has always fascinated me, and some years ago I received some newspaper clippings and some aerial shots of Debut sitting on the reef taken by the Australian Customs aircraft that came out on one of her regular flights, from a friend in Australia...............will have to dig them out and post them on here. neil.


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## Cpt Dick Brooks

*For nhp 638.*

Good to receive your thread, nhp 638. The Coastguard plane used to fly down the outer Barrier Reef every evening after dark, looking for illegal immigrants and foreign fishing vessels fishing in Australian territorial waters. When they reached the latitude of Debut they used to fly west, passing over me to see if I was alright. I used to go out on deck to wave at them in the beam of their search-light. They would turn around and fly over me again on their way back out to the outer reef to resume their search. Once their aircraft were fitted with thermal imagine cameras, they would fly straight down the outer Barrier Reef, getting a heat signal from me ten miles away on Emily Reef. I missed seeing them, but as Debut became more well known because of the TV and newspaper coverage, I started to receive more visitors. Debut became the main tourist draw in Cooktown, with many of the pleasure boats bringing out sightseers to visit me. I would give them a conducted tour, and they brought out foodstuffs and cases of beer and my mail. I used to sell them bits and pieces off the ship as souvenirs, to get funds together to make my move back to the UK via Western Samoa to collect my wife, Mariana, and our two young children. I look forward to the photos and any more threads from you. All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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## Cpt Dick Brooks

*Debut on Emily Reef.*

Last Wednesday, on 30th December, 2015, there was a David Attenborough program shown on BBC1 about surveying The Great Barrier Reef off Cooktown. The research vessel involved was using the Admiralty chart, AUS 831... the same one that I had on my chart table when I was shipwrecked on Emily Reef... the same one which now hangs on the wall in my living room in Ipswich, in England. They were using a helicopter and a mini-submarine for their explorations.
I had such a good feeling when their helicopter flew over Emily Reef, to see Debut still lying there upright and in one piece. She had a slight list to starboard, and the water was lapping over the weather-deck, as it was high tide. The fore-peak was still intact, but the rest of the upper deck structure was missing. The last photograph I saw of her was sent to me by Ben Cropp, of Port Douglas, four years ago. The engine-room casing and winch-room were still intact, as was my cabin aft of the bridge... which was missing... and the funnel.
It was so good to see that the hull was intact, showing her strength and the good workmanship of the shipwrights in Selby who built her. She has been aground on Emily Reef now for 29 years, and is a monument to liberty, freedom and adventure... as I saluted her with a can of XXXX when I left her on board the 'Go Spirit' in June, 1990.
There are two more programs by David Attenborough, on the next two Wednesdays, and I hope my good old ship will be shown again. All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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## trotterdotpom

Thanks for the info about the David Attenborough program, Dick. I'll pass it on to my friend Barney, 92 on Tuesday, who did his first trip on "Rinovia".

Hopefully, we'll get the show Downunder sometime.

Best wishes, John T


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## Cpt Dick Brooks

*For trotterdotpom.*

Good to her from you, John, and that you will let your friend know about Debut. There must still be hundreds, if not thousands, of guys who went to sea on her... during her three other names... let alone the 300 or so who sailed on her on my voyage around the tropical world under the name of Debut. She will always be a reminder to the world of their brave efforts and the adventure of the sea that drew them to her. All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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