# T-2 Tankers



## Tom Lowry

In the 1950s I shipped out as an Ordinary Seaman on T-2 tankers of Standard Oil of California. Runs included Wake Island, Honolulu, San Pedro, and British Columbia. Any shipmates out there?


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## R58484956

Greetings* Tom *and a warm welcome to* SN *from across the pond. T2 tankers good ships to sail on. Bon voyage.


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## John Rogers

As I mentioned in another post, always wanted to ship out on a T-2 but never got the chance,good ships to sail on I was told by many a shipmate.


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## surfaceblow

Welcome to SN. I have sailed on a few T-2's over the years has an Engineer. The last one was the Marine Floridian in the mid 90's.

Joe


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## Erimus

First tanker I ever visited was the T.E.S Trochurus in 1958 at the Shell Jetty at Teesport.....she was a T2 wasn't she??

geoff


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## lakercapt

Sailed on a T2 tanker of Caltex.
Caltex Saigon and they might have been good in there day but in 1962 it was a heap of [email protected] Learned a great deal about "Thistlebond" as I am certain that is what kept it afloat. The navigation equipment must have been the original fitting as it was forever giving problems. Accommodation was basic and the A/C non operational. Took forever to load in Bahrain as the cargo kept going off spec (as it was mixing) We were loading different grades and eventually got it sorted out. Loaded tanks at the same level .
Sailing up the Red sea the pump man was asked to transfer some bunkers and came running to the wheelhouse saying pump room full up. It was filled with oil.
Looked over the side and saw cargo jetting out of a crack in the shell plating.(Av gas) which was scary
Eventually got to port and the pilot was first on the dock followed by the customs and them myself.
Nightmare from start to finish


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## Nigel Wing

Erimus.
ref Trochurus.
T2 Tanker built 1945 as Council Crest. ( Kaiser Yard )
Renamed Trochurus 1947 for Anglo-Saxon - Shell Tankers Ltd. British Flag. Scrapped 1962 at Port Glasgow. 

Nigel.


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## kewl dude

but in 1962 it was a heap of [email protected]

Like everything else it depends upon the various owners, and perhaps the crew? I sailed with companies that never questioned anything ships crew ordered. Other companies sent a bean counter down on arrival to go over your lists line by line and were quick to tell you, you really did not need that.

There were some crew who seemed to think that they were on a paid drunken world tour, who got together daily to lift a few, and to fill out their fraudulent OT sheets so that they jibed. 

Most crew knew what they were there for and did their jobs with elan. 

But all the drunks were a part of my decision to quit the sea in 1976. 

Greg Hayden


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## howardws

Caltex Saigon was jumboised and became the Texaco Saigon. New 22,000 ton hull, midships accomodation and bridge stuck on the aft end. Mates couldn't complete the deck log on the bridge due to vibration. I joined her as 5th Engineer, an hour makee learn on departure stand by and I was on watch on my own with Lascar Oilman and Donkeyman. Such an easy engine room to run that I managed. Biggest luxury was cold drinking water in the workshop area - circulated through the veg room. Can't think of anything else good about the ship. My biggest problem was the 4th Engineer who seemed to think that the time to relieve the 20.00 to 24.00 was between 01.00 and 02.00!


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## Split

lakercapt said:


> Sailed on a T2 tanker of Caltex.
> Caltex Saigon and they might have been good in there day but in 1962 it was a heap of [email protected] Learned a great deal about "Thistlebond" as I am certain that is what kept it afloat. The navigation equipment must have been the original fitting as it was forever giving problems. Accommodation was basic and the A/C non operational. Took forever to load in Bahrain as the cargo kept going off spec (as it was mixing) We were loading different grades and eventually got it sorted out. Loaded tanks at the same level .
> Sailing up the Red sea the pump man was asked to transfer some bunkers and came running to the wheelhouse saying pump room full up. It was filled with oil.
> Looked over the side and saw cargo jetting out of a crack in the shell plating.(Av gas) which was scary
> Eventually got to port and the pilot was first on the dock followed by the customs and them myself.
> Nightmare from start to finish


I believe that you relieved me in Avonmouth. I left the sea at that point. Caltex, I found a good company to work for, but those ships......! In the event, although I did not know it, at the time, I left the sea for good, I have some good memories but I made the best choice.


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## lakercapt

Split
I don't recall that but looking at my old discharge book (better than the longest memory) I left the Caltex Saigon in Avonmouth on January 21 1963.
Got a letter from the "office" thanking me for my services and asking if I would reconsider going back with them. No chance as I had seen enough and they intended to reduce the mates to three (there were four one their ships at that time, Chief officer, 1st mate, second mate and third mate)


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## MervynHutton

The Texaco Saigon was renamed the Texaco Singapore after the fall of Vietnam and the end of the Vietnamese war. I sailed on her in 1980 and don't remember anything more unusual than the regular problems with the jumboised T2s that Texaco were running. The biggest thing I think was boiler problems and can recall several occasions when we would be down to just one boiler and doing about 7 or 8 knots max while the retubing or plugging was going on. The cargo system worked well and electric cargo pumps were a dream to operate compared with steam pumps. As was usual with ships that were a bit of a struggle to keep going, the atmosphere on board was nearly always great. Maybe thats just time dimming the bad memories!!


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## John Campbell

I too served on the Caltex and then Texaco Saigon after jumboisation as well as the Adelaide.Dublin , Colombo and Rome so I knew all their foibles having served as 2nd Mate to Master on them. 
Caltex certainly got their money out of these vessels and the bulkheads and cargo lines were pretty shot by the time they came to jumboisation. They were subjected to excessive tank cleaning with hot butterworth due to inexperienced mates and the current practise at the time.
I agree with Merv though the cargo system and electric pumps were superb and of course the manoeuvring with the astern power second to none.
In 1960 the accommodation was pretty hot up the Gulf but I found Caltex and Texaco good employers and I am enjoying a good pension and have happy memories of sailing on all those T2s years ago.
JC


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## Wallace Slough

Texaco had a number of jumboized T2 tankers that called regularly in San Francisco for many years. They included the Texaco New Jersey, Minnesota, and Mississippi. The captain on the New Jersey had an arrangement with Texaco wherein if the ship docked or undocked without the aid of a tug, he received $50. As a result, she rarely used tugs. It was great training for we young pilots to be able to do some very difficult work without tugs. The New Jersey was known up and down the west coast for her shiny anchors. 

A couple of the more difficult jobs done regularly included turning in the channel off Avon Martinez on strong flood current of about 3 knots with a loaded vessel in a 700 foot channel with a 570 foot ship. You'd back the ship full, let go the starboard anchor with about two in the water, and swing 180 degrees on the anchor with the bow close to the dock to insure room astern. After swinging with the current, you'd heave up to one shackle in the water and steam the ship alongside.

The most difficult job was an ebb tide approach to Exxon Benicia Product Dock. The ebb current runs about 3 knots at about a 45 degree angle on the dock. You'd approach the berth very high, walk both anchors out to one shackle in the water, and approach the berth at about a 35+ degree angle for a portside too landing. You'd have to drive the bow towards the dock very strongly, holding the stern up with the rudder and engine with hard left rudder. It was not uncommon to have to go half and often full ahead with hard left rudder at the last moment to land the stern.

The T2's were wonderful maneuvering ships as John points out. You could roll them Half Ahead to Half Astern and watch the tach go from 60 rpm ahead to 60 rpm astern almost instantaneously. Even after being jumboized with much more deadweight and length than their engines and rudder were designed for, almost all of them were excellent handling ships.

Besides Texaco, Keystone, Chevron, and several other companies operated jumboized T2's for many years, some of them up into the early 1980's. While I never sailed on them, I piloted many, and they were amazingly fine handling ships with their turbo electric plants. 

I recall piloting a British crewed Texaco T2 into the Richmond Long Wharf many years ago, and it could have well been the Texaco Saigon. As I recall, the ship had the accommodation and wheelhouse aft. Perhaps we met many years ago!


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## David Campbell

I joined T2 Tanker "Saguaro", Esso Transportation, at Fawley, June 1953, a great ship for my first Junior Engineer, position. 

From my Discharge Book, Capt. E. Tyrell, Master.


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## howardws

Merv is right, the electric cargo pumps were a dream. I transferred to the Texaco Glasgow from the Saigon and we were on the same jetty in Bahrain later. The Saigon engine room was 15 F lower and the atmosphere much drier, due to not having to have lots of gland steam pressure on the cargo pumps to keep the main condenser vacuum up. Control of the pumps was a bit of a problem because orders for starting came down a voice pipe and I could never understand what was said. I came to an agreement with the mates that I'd start the lot and they would stop what they didn't want!

The switchboard had a door with a sign prohibiting entry at sea. A colleague wanted to know what would happen if the door was opened and found that the main generator tripped!


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## Split

lakercapt said:


> Split
> I don't recall that but looking at my old discharge book (better than the longest memory) I left the Caltex Saigon in Avonmouth on January 21 1963.
> Got a letter from the "office" thanking me for my services and asking if I would reconsider going back with them. No chance as I had seen enough and they intended to reduce the mates to three (there were four one their ships at that time, Chief officer, 1st mate, second mate and third mate)


Did you join her in Avonmouth? I must have left her in autumn 1962 in the same port. Reid was Master and Stan Robinson C/E.

Reducing to three mates--whenever I am able to talk to those who sailed with Caltex, from that time on, things were going from bad to worse.

I liked that company but, as I said, the ships were accidents waiting to happen. A shame.

I was with them 7 years. You should have heard my mother when I announced that I was coming ashore!


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## lakercapt

Hi Split
I joined her in Cardiff as she had just been in dry dock doing what I don't know as she sailed just after I joined. That was in December 1962.
I had been on Caltex Newcastle before and it was a shock to me when I went on board.
Left after one voyage to Bahrain in Avonmouth.
The master was A. Anderson but I don't recall any of the other crew members as you try to forget bad experiences. I know that there were some who sailed with them for a long time but I could not envisage having a career there and moved on. Total time with them four months and two ships.
I might have stayed longer if I had not been transferred but that was a experience and one I remember with horror


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## Split

lakercapt said:


> Hi Split
> I joined her in Cardiff as she had just been in dry dock doing what I don't know as she sailed just after I joined. That was in December 1962.
> I had been on Caltex Newcastle before and it was a shock to me when I went on board.
> Left after one voyage to Bahrain in Avonmouth.
> The master was A. Anderson but I don't recall any of the other crew members as you try to forget bad experiences. I know that there were some who sailed with them for a long time but I could not envisage having a career there and moved on. Total time with them four months and two ships.
> I might have stayed longer if I had not been transferred but that was a experience and one I remember with horror


I must have been relieved by the one that you rellieved.

The only ships that I have been aboard, since then, are the ferries to and from France!


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## bugeyes

*T-2*

I shipped out on the S/S Transeastern..A T-2 tanker..loaded grain for Bangladesh and backloaded oil in Rastanoora ..last american ship to leave the persian gulf before Arab-Israeli war..took 43 days to get to Texas and had to wait and unload because of all the tankers in front of us and also a tug hit a bridge..


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## Jørn Bank Jørgensen

I signed on the S/S Chevron Genoa august 9. 1976 in Papeete, French Polynesia and signed off 6 months later in Freeport Bahamas.
I now recall the old T2-tanker and her turbo-elektric machinery and the places I went with her: Papeete, Honolulu, Pago Pago (American Samoa), Panama City, Freeport (Bahamas). I realized that the Pacific Ocean is big, but I had a good time..


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## sheringham

Extract from previous post on T2 experiences.
In July through to December1957 I sailed on the T2 Smoky Hill as a deck apprentice. It was my second vessel with BP Tankers and we 2 deck cadets had been transfered from the "benign" British Piper after 5 months sea time on her.
Joined her in Llandarcy Refinery (Swansea) discharging. Sailed for Mena (Kuwait) via Suez where we loaded full cargo of crude for La Plata and Montevideo, bunkered at Capetown there and back. Returning to Abadan and Fao where we loaded full cargo for Europe via the Suez canal. Eventually orders to proceed to Hamburg for full discharge. 
The bulk of the cargo was sent ashore in a day or so but the stripping and final remnants of the cargo took us 19 days to fully discharge the cargo...!!due to the leaks in the internal pipework which meant we could not maintain suction. In desperation the C/E and 2/E along with the 2 deck apprentices in rotation were fitted with Siebe Gorman air helmets (fed via foot pump from the deck), harnesses and phospherer bronze tools and lowered into the tanks to knock in vulcanised rubber plugs on the pipeline. I kid you not!!!! This went on for days and each day end we would strip down and be scrubbed with Byprox solution to remove the oil. I can't believe that we remained on the oil facility for all that time as I recall we were working daywork only and could go ashore in the evening!

During the return trip from Montevideo we were in the South Atlantic when the German sail training ship Pamir was lost due to bad weather and probable cargo shift as she had loaded grain in Montevideo some time before our arrival.
The thing that amazed me at the time was the way that the T2s bent and flexed in bad weather. At the stern and midship ends of the flying bridge were 21" elongated bolt holes and did they move! 
One of the worst jobs we had while on board was the cement washing of the 2 mild steel fresh water tanks in the midship housing. Crawl through the mud hatch with bucket and bag of cement, mix to coarse paste and apply to bulkheads, decks and deckheads until all signs of rust disappear. No ventilation and with temperatures in the Gulf well over the 100 degree mark. Happy Days!!
Ron


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## ianrobson36

I sailed on an old T2 in 1958 as J/E called Hycania owned by the Baltic Trading Co. Never ha any engine room problems but the ship was falling to bits, food was lousy and the ship was overrun with cockroaches never had a/c only scoops to shove thro, portholes.
Regards, Ian


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## bugeyes

In addition to the last post. The Transeastern had a top speed of 13-14 knts.got to go ashore in Chittagong bangladesh because of going to the dentist.Got stuck in that s***hole for 3 days.didnt step back on land untill 4 months later


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## jim egan

*hyrcania*



ianrobson36 said:


> I sailed on an old T2 in 1958 as J/E called Hycania owned by the Baltic Trading Co. Never ha any engine room problems but the ship was falling to bits, food was lousy and the ship was overrun with cockroaches never had a/c only scoops to shove thro, portholes.
> Regards, Ian


Hi Ian, was on same time as you, jos We paid off in Falmouth,didnt think the food was bad though,right about the roaches though. Regards J.Egan (Packed up sea in 2010)


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## Bill Hilton

I was an ordinary seaman on a T-2 tanker in 1945...SS Conestoga. Ulithi, Panama, Pearl Harbor, Panama Canal, Galveston, TX....


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## Split

Bill Hilton said:


> I was an ordinary seaman on a T-2 tanker in 1945...SS Conestoga. Ulithi, Panama, Pearl Harbor, Panama Canal, Galveston, TX....


New! Lucky you! They were the greatest. The problem is that they were so good that they were flogged to death and many of us left them with bad memories.


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## oldbosun

In 1952 I sailed AB on a T2 Shell tanker, "Theobaldius" Captained by a right B*stard. Well known amongst seamen and officers alike for his bastardness. 7 months of misery for the whole crew, cadets and Officers. His wife terrorised the stewards too. 
As for the ship itself, I can't remember anything special about her. Just another tanker for me. I was also AB on Esso's "Esso Buffalo", a 10 month voyage, Better grub and **** at 50c a carton! Esso Buffalo was a wartime built tanker, but not a T2. Can't find much written about her anywhere.


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## awateah2

*Esso Buffalo*

If you go to to 'The old ship picture galleries' website there are two photos of 'Esso Buffalo' one in wartime colours and another under Esso colours
Regards


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## oldbosun

awateah2 said:


> If you go to to 'The old ship picture galleries' website there are two photos of 'Esso Buffalo' one in wartime colours and another under Esso colours
> Regards


Many thanks for steering me towards the website and the pictures of one of my old ships, the "Esso Buffalo".
Double thanks are due because that is a great website which will be giving me many hours of pleasure looking through it. ATB..........Peter


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## awateah2

You are very welcome, Ian


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## Hugh Ferguson

www.shipsnostalgia.tv/members/action/viewvideo/1725/Pedestal_Convoy_11/As a pilot I best remember the wonderful manouvrability of those tankers but above all this one,"OHIO" must be remembered in Pedestal Convoy to Malta.
The other T.2, in an earlier Malta convoy, was sunk. Click on the tiny red arrow, top right on the video, for the next part.


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## Hugh Ferguson

All ships participating in a convoy to Malta had to be capable of 15 Knots and, as we had no tankers capable of that speed, the OHIO was chartered and her American crew replaced with British.

The picture of her is from the book Eagle Fleet: she is undergoing her trials at Port Arthur, Texas in 1940.

( The other T2 *Kentucky * was lost in the earlier Convoy WS192-(WS standing for Winston Special)


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## ChasH

*chasH*



Tom Lowry said:


> In the 1950s I shipped out as an Ordinary Seaman on T-2 tankers of Standard Oil of California. Runs included Wake Island, Honolulu, San Pedro, and British Columbia. Any shipmates out there?


shipped out on Esso Appalachia cant remember T2 or T3


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## mclean

*T2*



oldbosun said:


> In 1952 I sailed AB on a T2 Shell tanker, "Theobaldius" Captained by a right B*stard. Well known amongst seamen and officers alike for his bastardness. 7 months of misery for the whole crew, cadets and Officers. His wife terrorised the stewards too.
> As for the ship itself, I can't remember anything special about her. Just another tanker for me. I was also AB on Esso's "Esso Buffalo", a 10 month voyage, Better grub and **** at 50c a carton! Esso Buffalo was a wartime built tanker, but not a T2. Can't find much written about her anywhere.


Peter, don,t tell me it was Jimmy Brittain, very well known in Shell. rgds. Colin


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## Klaatu83

I had only one brief experience on a T2 Tanker, a jumboized product carrier called the Amoco Delaware, which originally had been the Wolf Mountain. That was in 1983, by which time she was close to 40 years old.


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## Split

Klaatu83 said:


> I had only one brief experience on a T2 Tanker, a jumboized product carrier called the Amoco Delaware, which originally had been the Wolf Mountain. That was in 1983, by which time she was close to 40 years old.


That is an amazing age for a T2. What I find curious is that these ships seemed to be
owned by major oil companies, who could be expected to be running something more prestigious. Onassis, Kulukundis, Mavrolean, etc., Greek shipowners, had none.


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## david dunlop

*Captain in question.*



oldbosun said:


> In 1952 I sailed AB on a T2 Shell tanker, "Theobaldius" Captained by a right B*stard. Well known amongst seamen and officers alike for his bastardness. 7 months of misery for the whole crew, cadets and Officers. His wife terrorised the stewards too.
> As for the ship itself, I can't remember anything special about her. Just another tanker for me. I was also AB on Esso's "Esso Buffalo", a 10 month voyage, Better grub and **** at 50c a carton! Esso Buffalo was a wartime built tanker, but not a T2. Can't find much written about her anywhere.


Hi there! I think you may be referring to Capt Jimmy Britain.am I right.I sailed with the B*stard in 54. not a very nice character at all.


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## shieldrow

*Modified T2 tanker*

In the main forum under Special ships there is a description and drawings of a T2 showing propulsion system and mods.


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## RussellL

Klaatu83 said:


> I had only one brief experience on a T2 Tanker, a jumboized product carrier called the Amoco Delaware, which originally had been the Wolf Mountain. That was in 1983, by which time she was close to 40 years old.


Hi there,

I know this thread is old but I'm new here and I just came across it. I worked for a small tanker company, Sabine Transportation, from 1986 to 2001. We had 3 T2s in the company and they were sailing until 2001. I believe that we probably had the last working T2s in the world at that point. We also had nearly every spare part available in the world for them at our company office. Including whole main turbines, turbine rotors, electrical switching gear and the like. While we ran them, they ran fairly reliably although they were certainly lacking in creature comforts compared to newer ships. They were actually our "newest" ships under the OPA90 law for scrapping single hull tankers as the tank sections had been rebuilt over the years. Sabine broke up in about 1998 and the ships were sold. I was sailing on the Concho at the time and went with the ship when it was bought by Hvide Marine company. We became the HMI Trader. I was on it until 2001 and was asked if I wanted to take it as Chief Engineer to the scrap yard in Pakistan. I passed on that trip. The plants were old, but they kept going along. I was always amazed that ships built in WWII as throw away ships were built so well that they could still be running almost 60 years later.


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## surfaceblow

RussellL said:


> Hi there,
> 
> I know this thread is old but I'm new here and I just came across it. I worked for a small tanker company, Sabine Transportation, from 1986 to 2001. We had 3 T2s in the company and they were sailing until 2001. I believe that we probably had the last working T2s in the world at that point. We also had nearly every spare part available in the world for them at our company office. Including whole main turbines, turbine rotors, electrical switching gear and the like. While we ran them, they ran fairly reliably although they were certainly lacking in creature comforts compared to newer ships. They were actually our "newest" ships under the OPA90 law for scrapping single hull tankers as the tank sections had been rebuilt over the years. Sabine broke up in about 1998 and the ships were sold. I was sailing on the Concho at the time and went with the ship when it was bought by Hvide Marine company. We became the HMI Trader. I was on it until 2001 and was asked if I wanted to take it as Chief Engineer to the scrap yard in Pakistan. I passed on that trip. The plants were old, but they kept going along. I was always amazed that ships built in WWII as throw away ships were built so well that they could still be running almost 60 years later.


I sailed on the Marine Floridian for several years has the Chief. The old Chief retired and went to work on the Texas Clipper has the Chief Engineer (I believe his name was Brown). While on the Floridian we use to borrow each other T 2 spares quite often to keep the ships operating. I remember getting a bunch of boiler tubes from the Sabine Warehouse and having the tubes that I ordered delivered back to the Sabine Warehouse. I remember the phone call I got from the company purchasing department on why we were supplying Sabine with spares. 

Joe


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## RussellL

Hi Joe,
I went to school on the Texas Clipper in the late 70s. I remember the Marine Sulfur coming in to the sulfur dock across the channel from us quite regularly. I think I also remember the Marine Floridian coming there too. At one point I think we cadets were given a tour on one of those ships. I seem to remember that the auxiliary generators had been replaced with modern turbo alternators and had a solid state rectifier set up for excitation on the main generator. 

It sounds about right that Sabine would be loaning parts to other companies around the region. They were good people there. I miss that company.


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## Burntisland Ship Yard

Talking of T-2's, I once sighted a engine room manual for the operation of the plant. The first page illustrated a kettle with steam pouring out the spout onto a wind mill to show the principals of a steam turbine, any one have a copy ....


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## surfaceblow

RussellL said:


> Hi Joe,
> I went to school on the Texas Clipper in the late 70s. I remember the Marine Sulfur coming in to the sulfur dock across the channel from us quite regularly. I think I also remember the Marine Floridian coming there too. At one point I think we cadets were given a tour on one of those ships. I seem to remember that the auxiliary generators had been replaced with modern turbo alternators and had a solid state rectifier set up for excitation on the main generator.
> 
> It sounds about right that Sabine would be loaning parts to other companies around the region. They were good people there. I miss that company.


The Marine Duval had the update with the solid state controls and new pumps, motors and generators. The Floridian had the original T 2 engine room and controls. 

Maneuvering into Tampa we had a switchboard fire due to a meltdown of a coil. The insulation of the coil was smoking due the overheating. At every stop bell the coil fire was put out. We could not leave the channel since we were loaded and the powers top side did not want us to block the channel. We continued that way until we were pushed along side a empty dock. Where we were able to shut down the propulsion generator and motor. We replaced the coil and got to the dock an hour late. It took longer to fill out the paper work than to replace the coil. I tried to order the original coil but we ended up just making the coil onboard. We had a few of the coil winders onboard and a large supply of wire. At least the winder I used had a counter. 

Joe


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## david dunlop

Hi, It must be Jimmy Britain you are thinking of.A right B.....d. I was an E.D.H..on the TAGELUS with him in 54. 9 months of misery for deck crowd/catering lads & cadets,in fact Mates as well.he should have chosen a different career like the prison service.


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## RussellL

Marine Duval, Thats the one I was thinking of. It was a long time ago. Brain cells get a little fuzzy. I bet I remember the Floridian from Tampa. We used to go in there all the time when I was on the Neches. 

It's amazing the things we had to do to keep the old ships running. Rewinding that coil sounds interesting.


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## david dunlop

After sailing on Cargo ships I joined a T.2 Shell Tanker,and found to my surprise at seeing a refrigerator in our Mess Room,something we never had on cargo ships I had sailed on.Also as an A.B.I found it easy to work, ie Fairleads /bits etc all placed in good positions,all in all well thought out, On deck I mean.


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## Robin Ambrose

I joined my first ship in Cardiff in 1957 on the t 2 tanker called the tectarius and would like to contact the galley boy Douglas Pritchard. Can anyone help me get in contact with him? Thanks Robin Ambrose


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## George Bis

kewl dude said:


> but in 1962 it was a heap of [email protected]
> 
> Like everything else it depends upon the various owners, and perhaps the crew? I sailed with companies that never questioned anything ships crew ordered. Other companies sent a bean counter down on arrival to go over your lists line by line and were quick to tell you, you really did not need that.
> 
> There were some crew who seemed to think that they were on a paid drunken world tour, who got together daily to lift a few, and to fill out their fraudulent OT sheets so that they jibed.
> 
> Most crew knew what they were there for and did their jobs with elan.
> 
> But all the drunks were a part of my decision to quit the sea in 1976.
> 
> Greg Hayden


I know what you are talking about. There were more than a few on U.K. ships in my time who were "here for the beer"


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## michael hooper

David Campbell said:


> I joined T2 Tanker "Saguaro", Esso Transportation, at Fawley, June 1953, a great ship for my first Junior Engineer, position.
> 
> From my Discharge Book, Capt. E. Tyrell, Master.


i was on the saguaro as an e.d.h on the 2nd of february 1958.did a run job on her.


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