# United Towing



## appsdba (Nov 19, 2014)

Looking for an old shipmate, Mike Selkirk, seen a photo of him on here, sailed with him on United, Englishman and Irishman


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## Paulh54 (Apr 25, 2012)

hi, sorry I cannot help with with where Mick is these days, have not seen him for a long time. I also sailed with him on the Englishman stationed in Singapore in 1970. The cook's wife passed away during that trip and he paid off. The company could not replace him immediately, so me and Mick took over the cooking. Did'nt do too bad a job as no-one died from food poisoning.
I remember the replacement cook got drunk on the flight to Singapore and said something about leaving a bomb aboard the plane. Straight to Changi jail. Do not pass Go. It cost the company a lot of money in fines to get him free. 
Regards, Paul.


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## appsdba (Nov 19, 2014)

lol was about right for that time on UTC, I was on Irishman 69/70, Norway to Cape Town and everywhere in between, our cook paid off in Monrovia on the way down, as he reckoned he didnt get on with the crew, when he paid off and we sailed we found we had no stores... weevils in the flour and cereals lol


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## Paulh54 (Apr 25, 2012)

Remember Mick talking about that trip. It was a twin tow with Welshman and Irishman wasn't it? We had similar problems on Englishman. As soon as we relieved the crew we took a tanker in tow from Singapore to Japan. We soon started to run out of stores and what was left was full of weevils and cockroaches. Hardly had anything to eat by the time we got there.
We went through a typhoon to get there and nearly all the mugs got broken, we were down to about 4 mugs and had to do smokeos in shifts. Then I found a mug in the chiefs room and added it to the others. Next smokeo as the lads were finishing their drinks the chief (Charlie Boxhall), stormed into the mess room and demanded to know who had taken the mug he kept his false teeth in.
I had to run and hide before I got lynched. Keith Bryant solved the problem by giving the chief one of the mugs and breaking the rest. From then on we were using jam jars and anything resembling a cup or mug. Happy days?


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## appsdba (Nov 19, 2014)

My first trip as galley boy was on Englishman in the north sea chasing Staflo Oil rig after it broke free in a storm, 

yes that trip to durban was a twin tow then statesman joined us after UTC bought her and doubled our towing speed lol we were off the nile when our water processor broke down and we had brown water coming from all the taps,

well at least memorable days if not always happy  I went big boats after UTC couple of trips the Gulf Aus and the Med with BP and then USA , central america on a fyffes ship


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## Paulh54 (Apr 25, 2012)

Nearly all of Englishmans crew were from the 3 tugs on that tow.
I was decky on Irishman when Staflo broke free during winter of 71/72. We couldn't get near her to re-connect and the Bremen came in to get her before she grounded on the Scottish coast. We stood by Bremen to help her connect to Staflo. I think she became the Euroman later on. I left UTC in 73. Did a spell on dredgers and big boats before comig ashore. Paul.


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## appsdba (Nov 19, 2014)

Hi Paul, I left UTC due to family problems think it was 70/71, then did big boats finally leaving a few years later to settle shore side, now working in London but done stints all over europe in my current position, but come back to Hull every weekend


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## linglis (Oct 28, 2005)

Anyone know where Mike Selkirk came from, did he have a wife.?


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## appsdba (Nov 19, 2014)

Hi, Mike Selkirk was Hull Born and Bred, when I knew him he wasnt married


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## Paulh54 (Apr 25, 2012)

Hi Linglis, Mike used to live on Greatfield Estate, Hull, when I knew him. He was not married, but courting a girl who was a hairdresser. He got a workmate of his girlfriend to write to me and we became penpals for a while.


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## appsdba (Nov 19, 2014)

Yes can confirm greatfield as went to his house quite a few times


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## linglis (Oct 28, 2005)

There was a Michael W Selkirk in Hull 2002-2004, from 2005-2011 there was a Michael W Selkirk in Aberdeen later in Stonehaven.
No mention of a wife. There are 8 people with that name listed on the Electoral roll.


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## appsdba (Nov 19, 2014)

Yes saw the hull one and the post code fitted ok , someone has said he drinks in 4 in hand which I have now been in a couple of times ... think the W was his middle name as that was his dad's name ...


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## linglis (Oct 28, 2005)

The 4 in Hand Hull
957 Holderness Rd, Hull HU8 9DR
01482 713971


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## EdScott (Jun 23, 2018)

*[email protected]*



linglis said:


> The 4 in Hand Hull
> 957 Holderness Rd, Hull HU8 9DR
> 01482 713971


 Please find attachment recounting just a few of my experiences with the south bank fleet of Humber Tugs LTD.


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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## EdScott (Jun 23, 2018)

Paulh54 said:


> Remember Mick talking about that trip. It was a twin tow with Welshman and Irishman wasn't it? We had similar problems on Englishman. As soon as we relieved the crew we took a tanker in tow from Singapore to Japan. We soon started to run out of stores and what was left was full of weevils and cockroaches. Hardly had anything to eat by the time we got there.
> We went through a typhoon to get there and nearly all the mugs got broken, we were down to about 4 mugs and had to do smokeos in shifts. Then I found a mug in the chiefs room and added it to the others. Next smokeo as the lads were finishing their drinks the chief (Charlie Boxhall), stormed into the mess room and demanded to know who had taken the mug he kept his false teeth in.
> Hello Paul please find 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!
> ...


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## Nijinsky (Jul 20, 2012)

Hi there Mick was my next door neighbour in Hull up to about 10/12 years ago when he sold up. He moved up to Scotland somewhere near Aberdeen to be with his girlfriend, I can and will ask locally if any one is still in contact with him for you. hope this is of help . Cheers Steve


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## Lorna wheeler (Sep 24, 2019)

*Empire windrush Terence weet*

My father in laws 90 th birthday coming up spent many years as ship dining steward any information pictures would be greatly appreciated was also on rangatoto Terence Weet !


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