New Zealand Shipping On - Line Comments
You are on The History of New Zealand Shipping domain.
Archive Comments | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023
Welcome: Because of the amount of comments,
support and input from members of the public
having the total archive of comments on one page is now
impractical. We have now separated the comments
by year.
If this is your first visit to the site I
strongly recommend that you start from the beginning as there are some great stories and links.
Comments for the year 2020
Email / Date
Editors Note:
Due to concerns about spam and spam bots we now
replace the @ symbol with the actual word “at” so that spam bots don’t
steal peoples address.
We still encourage you to contact each other just
remember wherever you see the letters “at” together just replace it
with @ when you send an email and it will work.
Interested in sailing clipper "Wanganui" Was she sister to Piako? Where did she trade to and from. There is lovely painting of Piako by Jack Spurling, did NZ Shipping Co commission that and other paintings by him. Are there any in NZ. Noel Lindsay
incorrect email given
22.01.20
I was on the “ Northumberland “ June —December 1965 any Deckhands on her at that time would love to hear from you. Regards Ronnie Fields'
27.02.20
I served as an Apprentice, 4th Officer and 3rd Officer with NZSC from January 1956 to September 1961. My ships were: Durham (1956 to 1958), Lincoln (1959, initial voyage), Hororata (October 1959 to May 1960, Whangaroa (June 1960 to September 1961). I have been invited by a local group to give a talk on my time at sea, but I am short of photos. If there is anybody who can provide copies of any photos relevant to my service, I would be very grateful. I am particularly keen for a photo of Capt 'Dig' Hocken and his wife. John Ayres
6.03.20
No record of m.v. Cambridge 11,000 tonnes built 1939 at John Browns on the clyde. I sailed on her from 1956 to 1959 as electrician. Eirwyn Hughes
06.04.20
Re: previous entry, I was 1st Electrician on The Cambridge"1956-59 and Eirwyn (Taffy) Hughes was 3rd, then 2nd Electrician during that time. Bill Goyne
24.04.20
Just found this site searching for the MV Sussex. I was a 5th engineer on her in 1975 and had an amazing time in the NZ coast, East Africa and the Gulf. I actually think I might be one of the engineers laid out sleeping on deck in the photo as that was a favourite place to sleep in the Tropics. Happy days. Ray Gough
28.04.20
Hi, I am looking for any information about my late grandfather who spent his entire life with the NZ Shipping Co. He was a bosun and I only have one ship I recall my late father talking about the MV Haparangi. He was awarded the BEM for some action he carried out saving a ship with a brush as a mine got tangles in the vane contraption that was attached to the bows. These are stories I recall hearing as a boy. My later grandfather was Alexander MacDonald and he retired we think in 1956. If anyone knew him or perhaps has heard that story we would be most grateful for any help you might have. Jonathan MacDonald
14.6.20
Trying to find info regarding George Reginald Bowles Who Died At Sea Aboard The RMS Rangitane To New Zealand July 1952. He was a steward to the captain. Sarah Heath
02.08.20
My father, mother, brother and I sailed from Sydney to England on the Rangitiki in 1947. This was the same voyage as the Duchess af Gloucester and the two Princes returned after the service as the GG of Australia by the Duke-he flew back to England with his family following on the Rangitiki. Although only a little over 4 years old at the time, I do quite vividly recall some parts of the voyage: - blowing out the candles on the birthday cake of one of the Princes, William I think whose birthday (Dec 18) was the day after mine. - making a fairly good job of dismantling the sink in our cabin with the tool set I had received. - passing through the Panama Canal - I still have the leaf with my name on it that we got in the Pitcairns. Other item of note: I believe that Alan Slater, my uncle, was the 2nd or 3rd Engineer on that same voyage. Michael Lawrence-Slater
04.08.20
I was born in Yokohama, Japan on 8th November 1940 and very shortly after was evacuated to Australia, living in Toowoomba, near Brisbane, during the war years. I belive my mother Eileen Hudgell (aged 37 at the time) my brother David Philip Hudgell (aged 7) and myself Robert Anthony Hudgell (agend 4) left Australia on board SS Rangitata (post VE day .. ie 7th May 1945 and pre VJ day .. ie 14th August 1945) bound for UK
Do you have records that might confirm that - 1: SS Rangitata sailed for Uk (from Brisbane - ?) in June / July 1945 - 2: That my family, all British citizens and named above, were passengers on board. - 3: That the vessel was bombed in the Indian Ocean by the Japanese aircraft a few days after leaving Australia, but was not seriously damaged.
I would be most grateful for any details you might be able to give regarding this and would much appreciate a response even if it is in the negative. Yours Faithfully; Robert Hudgell
Editor: Do not have records that go that far back
Letter dated 3rd July 2020
Received 14th August 2020
Hi, My uncle, Derek J. Earle who lived in Dunedin, served on the Huntington. I have been trying to find out some info about this vessel. After my father, C.D.Desmond Earle, passed away I found a lovely coloured picture of the vessel which Derek had given to my grandfather. Any info appreciated. Phillip Earle
23.08.20
Hi Jeff it has been a while i finally found this site again. I have brought a small two bedroom home in Reefton and have settled here. The old email address is no longer in use. It is nearly two years now since you shipped my stuff from Australia to N.Z. a lot has happened since then. I can't help but wonder was someone looking after me for me to end up in a place like Reefton in this time of Covid 19. Life has not changed for me it is unreal my life style has not changed since i arrived on the 24th of Dec 2018. I just wanted you to no i had not forgotten your help mate .And i have found the article that i posted on your site. I will be listing a new email address as the old one is no longer valid Many thanks for your past help. Steve Harris
25.10.20
Hi Jeff, thank you for your reply to my email. I last contacted your site about 15 years ago I was 60 now 76 years. As a 21 year old I left Tilbury dock London, ex Glasgow and never been on a ship before, but to plenty of launchings at John Browns shipyard , Dad was a welder and worked on the Ruahini so he said. I left Tilbury about 10 pm that night, next day I sat at Capt Dick Hollindale’s table, he was a bit quiet and not much to say. I sat at his table for about 5 weeks through Panama and on to Tahiti then Auckland. During that time I played tennis with Dicky most days , and most days I won , this was a big problem as he was very competitive in any sport and did not like losing to anyone ,however we did end up as good friends. He was a great educationist on all things naval. I remember being on the bridge a good few times as I was very interested in navigation being an ex-Queen scout, and had thoughts of a career at sea, I ended up just a good sailor, and was in the Coastguard for 18 years, good days indeed. One fine day in the middle of the pacific he steered so close to a coral island I thought we would crash land there, he later explained that this island had a sheer drop off very close to shore and he had done this many times before, it was still a big worry at the time. Apart from the Captain I met a great deck crew, from Glasgow and some from the Highland of Scotland so I was very much at home. I still think it was the best time of my life and have good memories of that trip. I have now lived Queensland since the late sixties and cruised most of the coast here on my own boats ,training ships and cruise ships, So I thank Dicky for awakening a lifelong passion that exists still today. George Lyden
28.10.20
I served on Rakaia, Surrey and Taupo, '63-67, as a deck cadet, then jnr 3rd mate on Taupo maiden voyage. They were 5 wonderful years, meeting many lovely people, too many to mention. I went to the cadetship reunion in Auckland in 2012 with Dave McMahon; a super event, very well organised. I will never forget the Pitcairn folk singing old sea shanties as they chugged back to the island, or running aground in Nelson whilst my date was awaiting me on the quay! I would pay big bucks to do it all again. Thankyou Jeff for your invaluable work. Don Grant
15.12.20
I made two voyages with the NZSC in the period 1955/56. The first, and my first trip to sea, was as 11th Engineer on "Hororata' and was the usual departure from Liverpool, out via Curacao and Panama to NZ and back. I was then transferred to "Tekoa" as 5th Engineer.
That was a very different story!
"Tekoa" was a run down old rust bucket with a Chief Engineer who turned out not to be completely right in the head. We sailed from Liverpool to Boston in bad weather most of the way, immediately running into significant boiler tube leakage amongst the five Scotch boilers. From Boston we sailed to New York where the Coast Guard ordered us into drydock as we were leaking fuel oil from the hull seams. We also had work done on the boilers. Then down to Curacao, Panama and on to Brisbane. Panama to Brisbane took 26 days, we only saw water in the gauge glasses of the five boilers when the ship rolled, which as we were in the Pacific wasn't very often. The 2nd Engineer couldn't take the mental strain, was taken off watches and I was put in charge of the 4 to 8 watch. We did the usual coasting around Australia and departed from Fremantle for Aden. The 2nd, who'd spent the whole time ashore whilst we were on the Australian coast, was off watches again before we reached Aden as we still only rarely saw any water in the boiler gauge glasses. From Aden we went up to Port Sudan to load cotton. The 1956 Suez War erupted whilst we were there and the ship was arrested. By the time the ship was released the Suez Canal was blocked and we had to turn around and head for the Cape of Good Hope. As we were running short of beer the Captain thought up some excuse to put into Cape Town to stock up and then on to Tenneriffe to bunker and then London. From London we headed for Liverpool and going around Land's End in dreadful weather the condenser main condensate pipe broke and what bit of boiler water we had was going into the bilge. We switched to sea water feed to the boilers and somehow patched up the pipe and struggled on to Liverpool. Whilst going round Land's End the relief cook, a huge man, fell across a weather step and stove in some ribs so of course needed to be put ashore asap, but there were no berths available in Liverpool and we had to go to the Passenger Pier to off load the cook and then go back out to anchor. We paid off in Liverpool and when I went for my interview with the Chief and the Shore Superintendent Engineer I was told I would be returning as 5th Engineer. I said I did not wish to return to the ship and when pressed for a reason said I did not believe adequate repairs were scheduled to be made. At this the Shore Super exploded and told me I was fired, the Chief chimed in to add that I could not leave the ship until I had replaced the forty tons of fuel oil I'd stolen. I asked what I"d done with it, he said he didn't know but I would put it back. So I put forty tons of Mersey river water in an empty tank, filled out the fuel log book and took it to him. He said, "I knew you'd know where to look for it." Absolutely true story and the Shore Super didn't even blink. There had been a number of other incidents during the trip which had made me wonder about the Chief, but I'd thought he just had a particular dislike for me. As you can find out from the online records the 'Tekoa' broke down at sea several times on the next trip, but I was safely on the Prince Line ship "Palestinian Prince".
That's the condensed story of my service with the New Zealand Shipping Company. Like many of the junior engineers at that time I was in the Merchant Navy rather than be called up for National Service and left when I turned 26. I hope all that is not too long and that you found it of some interest.
Regards, Murray Wilson
Editor: Great story for a movie, Murray
30.12.20
New Zealand Shipping Comments
Your History Submission:
Your Address:
Your Country:
Your Phone Number:
Your Name:*
Required
Email:*
Required
You are required to put in your name and email address, then click submit for your details to come back to us.
Please feel free to contact us at New Zealand Shipping.
Phone:
Auckland
Adelaide:
Brisbane:
Burnie:
Cairns:
Canberra:
Coffs Harbour:
Darwin:
Gladstone:
Gold Coast:
Hervey Bay:
+64 9 972 2800
+61 8 8463 1700
+61 7 3808 1200
+61 3 6441 0292
+61 7 4222 1088
+61 2 6223 2799
+61 2 6699 3288
+61 8 7979 0088
+61 7 4962 0488
+61 7 5667 7088
+61 7 4183 1788
Christchurch
Lismore:
MacKay:
Melbourne:
Newcastle:
Perth:
Port Kembla:
Sunshine Coast:
Sydney:
Toowoomba:
Townsville
+64 3 928 2900
+61 2 6619 1699
+61 7 4914 2388
+61 3 8685 8885
+61 2 4016 4388
+61 8 6461 6588
+61 2 4231 4799
+61 7 5370 5688
+61 2 8197 1515
+61 7 4642 1500
+61 7 4795 1288
I wish a safe and prosperous journey for you and your loved ones.
If this is your first visit to the site I strongly recommend that you start from the beginning as there are some great stories and links.
Comments for the year 2020 |
Email / Date |
Editors Note:Due to concerns about spam and spam bots we now replace the @ symbol with the actual word “at” so that spam bots don’t steal peoples address.We still encourage you to contact each other just remember wherever you see the letters “at” together just replace it with @ when you send an email and it will work. |
|
| Interested in sailing clipper "Wanganui" Was she sister to Piako? Where did she trade to and from. There is lovely painting of Piako by Jack Spurling, did NZ Shipping Co commission that and other paintings by him. Are there any in NZ. Noel Lindsay | incorrect email given 22.01.20 |
| I was on the “ Northumberland “ June —December 1965 any Deckhands on her at that time would love to hear from you. Regards Ronnie Fields' | 27.02.20 |
| I served as an Apprentice, 4th Officer and 3rd Officer with NZSC from January 1956 to September 1961. My ships were: Durham (1956 to 1958), Lincoln (1959, initial voyage), Hororata (October 1959 to May 1960, Whangaroa (June 1960 to September 1961). I have been invited by a local group to give a talk on my time at sea, but I am short of photos. If there is anybody who can provide copies of any photos relevant to my service, I would be very grateful. I am particularly keen for a photo of Capt 'Dig' Hocken and his wife. John Ayres | 6.03.20
|
| No record of m.v. Cambridge 11,000 tonnes built 1939 at John Browns on the clyde. I sailed on her from 1956 to 1959 as electrician. Eirwyn Hughes | 06.04.20 |
Re: previous entry, I was 1st Electrician on The Cambridge"1956-59 and Eirwyn (Taffy) Hughes was 3rd, then 2nd Electrician during that time. Bill Goyne |
24.04.20 |
| Just found this site searching for the MV Sussex. I was a 5th engineer on her in 1975 and had an amazing time in the NZ coast, East Africa and the Gulf. I actually think I might be one of the engineers laid out sleeping on deck in the photo as that was a favourite place to sleep in the Tropics. Happy days. Ray Gough | 28.04.20 |
| Hi, I am looking for any information about my late grandfather who spent his entire life with the NZ Shipping Co. He was a bosun and I only have one ship I recall my late father talking about the MV Haparangi. He was awarded the BEM for some action he carried out saving a ship with a brush as a mine got tangles in the vane contraption that was attached to the bows. These are stories I recall hearing as a boy. My later grandfather was Alexander MacDonald and he retired we think in 1956. If anyone knew him or perhaps has heard that story we would be most grateful for any help you might have. Jonathan MacDonald | 14.6.20 |
| Trying to find info regarding George Reginald Bowles Who Died At Sea Aboard The RMS Rangitane To New Zealand July 1952. He was a steward to the captain. Sarah Heath | 02.08.20 |
| My father, mother, brother and I sailed from Sydney to England on the Rangitiki in 1947. This was the same voyage as the Duchess af Gloucester and the two Princes returned after the service as the GG of Australia by the Duke-he flew back to England with his family following on the Rangitiki. Although only a little over 4 years old at the time, I do quite vividly recall some parts of the voyage: - blowing out the candles on the birthday cake of one of the Princes, William I think whose birthday (Dec 18) was the day after mine. - making a fairly good job of dismantling the sink in our cabin with the tool set I had received. - passing through the Panama Canal - I still have the leaf with my name on it that we got in the Pitcairns. Other item of note: I believe that Alan Slater, my uncle, was the 2nd or 3rd Engineer on that same voyage. Michael Lawrence-Slater | 04.08.20 |
I was born in Yokohama, Japan on 8th November 1940 and very shortly after was evacuated to Australia, living in Toowoomba, near Brisbane, during the war years. I belive my mother Eileen Hudgell (aged 37 at the time) my brother David Philip Hudgell (aged 7) and myself Robert Anthony Hudgell (agend 4) left Australia on board SS Rangitata (post VE day .. ie 7th May 1945 and pre VJ day .. ie 14th August 1945) bound for UK Do you have records that might confirm that - 1: SS Rangitata sailed for Uk (from Brisbane - ?) in June / July 1945 - 2: That my family, all British citizens and named above, were passengers on board. - 3: That the vessel was bombed in the Indian Ocean by the Japanese aircraft a few days after leaving Australia, but was not seriously damaged. I would be most grateful for any details you might be able to give regarding this and would much appreciate a response even if it is in the negative. Yours Faithfully; Robert Hudgell Editor: Do not have records that go that far back |
Letter dated 3rd July 2020 Received 14th August 2020 |
| Hi, My uncle, Derek J. Earle who lived in Dunedin, served on the Huntington. I have been trying to find out some info about this vessel. After my father, C.D.Desmond Earle, passed away I found a lovely coloured picture of the vessel which Derek had given to my grandfather. Any info appreciated. Phillip Earle | 23.08.20 |
| Hi Jeff it has been a while i finally found this site again. I have brought a small two bedroom home in Reefton and have settled here. The old email address is no longer in use. It is nearly two years now since you shipped my stuff from Australia to N.Z. a lot has happened since then. I can't help but wonder was someone looking after me for me to end up in a place like Reefton in this time of Covid 19. Life has not changed for me it is unreal my life style has not changed since i arrived on the 24th of Dec 2018. I just wanted you to no i had not forgotten your help mate .And i have found the article that i posted on your site. I will be listing a new email address as the old one is no longer valid Many thanks for your past help. Steve Harris | 25.10.20 |
| Hi Jeff, thank you for your reply to my email. I last contacted your site about 15 years ago I was 60 now 76 years. As a 21 year old I left Tilbury dock London, ex Glasgow and never been on a ship before, but to plenty of launchings at John Browns shipyard , Dad was a welder and worked on the Ruahini so he said. I left Tilbury about 10 pm that night, next day I sat at Capt Dick Hollindale’s table, he was a bit quiet and not much to say. I sat at his table for about 5 weeks through Panama and on to Tahiti then Auckland. During that time I played tennis with Dicky most days , and most days I won , this was a big problem as he was very competitive in any sport and did not like losing to anyone ,however we did end up as good friends. He was a great educationist on all things naval. I remember being on the bridge a good few times as I was very interested in navigation being an ex-Queen scout, and had thoughts of a career at sea, I ended up just a good sailor, and was in the Coastguard for 18 years, good days indeed. One fine day in the middle of the pacific he steered so close to a coral island I thought we would crash land there, he later explained that this island had a sheer drop off very close to shore and he had done this many times before, it was still a big worry at the time. Apart from the Captain I met a great deck crew, from Glasgow and some from the Highland of Scotland so I was very much at home. I still think it was the best time of my life and have good memories of that trip. I have now lived Queensland since the late sixties and cruised most of the coast here on my own boats ,training ships and cruise ships, So I thank Dicky for awakening a lifelong passion that exists still today. George Lyden | 28.10.20 |
| I served on Rakaia, Surrey and Taupo, '63-67, as a deck cadet, then jnr 3rd mate on Taupo maiden voyage. They were 5 wonderful years, meeting many lovely people, too many to mention. I went to the cadetship reunion in Auckland in 2012 with Dave McMahon; a super event, very well organised. I will never forget the Pitcairn folk singing old sea shanties as they chugged back to the island, or running aground in Nelson whilst my date was awaiting me on the quay! I would pay big bucks to do it all again. Thankyou Jeff for your invaluable work. Don Grant | 15.12.20 |
I made two voyages with the NZSC in the period 1955/56. The first, and my first trip to sea, was as 11th Engineer on "Hororata' and was the usual departure from Liverpool, out via Curacao and Panama to NZ and back. I was then transferred to "Tekoa" as 5th Engineer. That was a very different story! "Tekoa" was a run down old rust bucket with a Chief Engineer who turned out not to be completely right in the head. We sailed from Liverpool to Boston in bad weather most of the way, immediately running into significant boiler tube leakage amongst the five Scotch boilers. From Boston we sailed to New York where the Coast Guard ordered us into drydock as we were leaking fuel oil from the hull seams. We also had work done on the boilers. Then down to Curacao, Panama and on to Brisbane. Panama to Brisbane took 26 days, we only saw water in the gauge glasses of the five boilers when the ship rolled, which as we were in the Pacific wasn't very often. The 2nd Engineer couldn't take the mental strain, was taken off watches and I was put in charge of the 4 to 8 watch. We did the usual coasting around Australia and departed from Fremantle for Aden. The 2nd, who'd spent the whole time ashore whilst we were on the Australian coast, was off watches again before we reached Aden as we still only rarely saw any water in the boiler gauge glasses. From Aden we went up to Port Sudan to load cotton. The 1956 Suez War erupted whilst we were there and the ship was arrested. By the time the ship was released the Suez Canal was blocked and we had to turn around and head for the Cape of Good Hope. As we were running short of beer the Captain thought up some excuse to put into Cape Town to stock up and then on to Tenneriffe to bunker and then London. From London we headed for Liverpool and going around Land's End in dreadful weather the condenser main condensate pipe broke and what bit of boiler water we had was going into the bilge. We switched to sea water feed to the boilers and somehow patched up the pipe and struggled on to Liverpool. Whilst going round Land's End the relief cook, a huge man, fell across a weather step and stove in some ribs so of course needed to be put ashore asap, but there were no berths available in Liverpool and we had to go to the Passenger Pier to off load the cook and then go back out to anchor. We paid off in Liverpool and when I went for my interview with the Chief and the Shore Superintendent Engineer I was told I would be returning as 5th Engineer. I said I did not wish to return to the ship and when pressed for a reason said I did not believe adequate repairs were scheduled to be made. At this the Shore Super exploded and told me I was fired, the Chief chimed in to add that I could not leave the ship until I had replaced the forty tons of fuel oil I'd stolen. I asked what I"d done with it, he said he didn't know but I would put it back. So I put forty tons of Mersey river water in an empty tank, filled out the fuel log book and took it to him. He said, "I knew you'd know where to look for it." Absolutely true story and the Shore Super didn't even blink. There had been a number of other incidents during the trip which had made me wonder about the Chief, but I'd thought he just had a particular dislike for me. As you can find out from the online records the 'Tekoa' broke down at sea several times on the next trip, but I was safely on the Prince Line ship "Palestinian Prince". That's the condensed story of my service with the New Zealand Shipping Company. Like many of the junior engineers at that time I was in the Merchant Navy rather than be called up for National Service and left when I turned 26. I hope all that is not too long and that you found it of some interest. Regards, Murray Wilson Editor: Great story for a movie, Murray |
30.12.20 |
New Zealand Shipping Comments |
|
Your History Submission: |
|
Your Address: |
|
Your Country: |
|
Your Phone Number: |
|
Your Name:* |
Required |
Email:* |
Required |
You are required to put in your name and email address, then click submit for your details to come back to us. | |
Please feel free to contact us at New Zealand Shipping. |
|||||
| |
Phone: |
Auckland
|
+64 9 972 2800
|
Christchurch
|
+64 3 928 2900
|
I wish a safe and prosperous journey for you and your loved ones. |
|||||