Page 37: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2004)

65th Anniversary Edition

We were there several days before we received orders to proceed, in convoy, to Methil, Scotland, which is near Edinburgh. There we dropped anchor and again waited for orders.

It was several days before we were told to join anoth- er convoy that was heading south to Southend. This was the period when the Allies were about to take

Antwerp and the powers weren't sure where our cargo was most needed. We made this trip up and down the coast several (maybe four) times, before we were final- ly ordered to Cherbourg, France.

We were in Cherbourg about a week while the ship was being discharged. The city had sustained a lot of damage from the Nazi bombers and we were discour- aged from going ashore during the day. After dark, when there was total blackout, no one was allowed to go ashore. (The Third Assistant from Kliensfeltersville and I snuck ashore one night and almost got into a heap of trouble. But, that's another story!)

From Cherbourg, we were sent across the Channel to

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Fowey (pronounced "Foy"), on the southeast coast of

England, where we loaded a full cargo of china clay.

Fowey is an ancient seaport village with cobblestone streets and stone buildings. It has a very small harbor and our ship took up most of it. To get us to the load- ing dock, they used a couple of small tugs to turn us around in the harbor and then they towed us, stern first, up the river to the loading dock.

From Fowey, we headed south towards Land's

End where we were to meet up with a convoy.

And this is where the fun begins.

Formation in the Fog

As we approached Land's End, the fog started to settle. Patches at first, growing thicker as the day went on. The convoy was about the same size as the one coming over so we had all those ships trying to form up into rows and columns.

Convoy formation was always a dicey opera- tion, with ships going in all directions trying to get into position. Remember, this was before radar, so the Captain's world was what he could see from the wing of the bridge, one side at a time, and there were many near misses and lots of whistle blowing.

Different size ships; different kinds of engines: differ-

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First nuclear pow- ered aircraft carrier,

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Valdez Oil Spill results in OPA 90, rules which, among other measures, call for the double-hulling of tankers

Queen Mary 2 ... the world's largest and most expensive cruise ship ever... sets sail on its maid- en voyage.

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August 2004 39

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