# Prospero



## johnnie (Mar 9, 2008)

I sailed on a ship named Prospero in the early 60s. She was a bulk carrier converted from a tanker, any info on her?


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## ted nutt (Dec 4, 2008)

Morning J,
REGENT SPRINGBOK
motor tanker
12,117g
544.6ft x70.7ft
Oil 2 S.A. 5Cyl 670x2320mm 5600bhp
D.Rowan&Co,Glasgow
12.1951 completed for Bowring S.S.Co Ltd,(C.T.Bowring),London by Blythswood SB CoLtd,Glasgow,Yn 99
1962 s/o converted to bulk carrier Re PROSPERO
12175g 6741n 15973dwt
31.08.1969 Arrived Hirao,Japan and broken up by Matsukura Konji K.K.
Ted.


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## johnnie (Mar 9, 2008)

Hi Ted and thanks for the info


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## Galley Boy (Jun 14, 2005)

Sailed on her from the Tyne (Smiths) to Duluth as Galley Boy,loaded grain for Aalborg and Arhus,paid off at Grangemouth.A few meals went over the side coming from the galley to midships,she would roll on damp grass!!


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## oldsalt1 (Jan 7, 2007)

I joined the Prospero as 2nd Cook & Baker in Smiths Dock North Shields in January 1968.
I was a bit surprised to find a set of oilskins and sea boots in my cabin. It was only when the Cook, who had been on her the previous voyage, explained that the stores were ‘midships and they had to be brought aft via a gangway which was lowered over number 3 & 4 hatches that I got the message.
Crossing the North Atlantic a couple of weeks later from Antwerp to New Haven the wet weather gear was needed.
We paid off in Vancouver at the end of August after a trip which was full of surprises. Most of the deck crew including the Bosun either paid off sick or missed the ship. The 2nd Steward and the Cook both paid off sick, the latter with the most horrific case of the DT’s I’ve ever seen. This on a ship were the beer ration was two cans per day. 
Even the Third Engineer jumped ship in Fiji where we were loading sugar for our pay off port, Vancouver. The Electrician was brought back to the ship by a speed boat which caught the ship up when we were a couple of miles off the berth having thought better of skinning out.
There was accommodation for twelve passengers ‘midships which was pristine. This was from her time carrying passengers to the West Indies as the Regent Springbok. Other threads on this site refer to a swimming pool. This must have been removed when converted to a bulker.
Aft, she was from an age where ship owners didn’t invest much in creature comforts. The sailors mess, engine crew mess, PO’s mess and catering staff mess didn’t have a ‘fridge between them but the Chief Engineer had a fridge to keep his beer chilled. 
One saving grace was that there was an iced water tap in the Galley. This was fed from a tank in the Veg Room directly below.
We ran out of all sorts of stores crossing the Pacific and arrived in Geelong from Panama on the bones of out backsides.
Ports called at were:
North Shields to Antwerp, loaded General cargo for New Haven & Philadelphia. 
Port Sulphur loaded sulphur for Geelong via Panama.
Sydney, loaded grain for Nagoya.
Port Moody, BC loaded sulphur for Auckland and New Plymouth.
Suva, Labasa and Lautoka, loaded sugar for Vancouver.
A trip not easily forgotten and full of characters.


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## guinnessmick (May 15, 2006)

Galley Boy said:


> Sailed on her from the Tyne (Smiths) to Duluth as Galley Boy,loaded grain for Aalborg and Arhus,paid off at Grangemouth.A few meals went over the side coming from the galley to midships,she would roll on damp grass!!


hi i paid off her in smiths in july 1966 you must have joined her as i left i was 2nd cook and baker we did two trips to duluth ans aalborg arhus due to the seamans strike like you say she would roll on damp grass but we went through some really heavy weather on her and come through it ok i rember one particular time the weather was that bad no one could get foreward for a few days so the mates hed to make do with sarneys until the weather calmed down
m johnson 2nd cook


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## gadge49 (Oct 15, 2013)

Hi I joined as 2nd cook and baker in Tokyo in march 69, we took the ship to Hirao for scrapping in Aug. 69 then a long bus trip back to Tokyo for the flight home. Half the crew were paid off when we first got to Tokyo carrying grain from Port Lincoln, 18 of us stayed on to take her down the coast to Hirao. Paid off 31 Aug. We spent a fair few weeks in Pago Pago Western Samoa on that trip undergoing repairs, happy days but boy did she ever wallow in rough seas.


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## gadge49 (Oct 15, 2013)

Anyone got any Pics?


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## ARRANMAN35 (Oct 1, 2005)

Hi,
This could have been originally a tanker called Norscot, part owned and managed by J & J Denholm built on the Clyde by Connel's around 1954.
Not exactly a luxury in the ER, under the Greek flag ? at that time.
Archie


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## gadge49 (Oct 15, 2013)

Built: 1951 by Blythswood Ship Building Coy; Glasgow as the Regent Springbok. Midship accommodation was for fare paying passengers at the time. Funny that the only picture I found of her on the web is at Port Lincoln in July 1996 when I was serving on her.

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=593357


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## trireme789 (Nov 27, 2013)

johnnie said:


> I sailed on a ship named Prospero in the early 60s. She was a bulk carrier converted from a tanker, any info on her?



I joined her as cabin boy in 1964,paid off in Smiths dock ten months later.I dropped a tin of "shaky milk" over the side coming from midships to aft,thought I was going to be keelhauled,no one spoke to me for days.


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