VELUTINA

About

Completed 1950 as "VELUTINA" for Anglo-Saxon. 1971 aft part scrapped Hendrik Ido Ambacht, fore part converted to crane vessel Champion by Machinefabriek Boele Bolnes for Heerema Marine Contracters. 1990 sold to Hydro Marine Panama and renamed McDermott Derrick Barge No.32. 1991 scrapped. Model builders Plymouth University.

Also known as
Champion
IMO number
7327768
Call sign
GKFM
Construction number
1793
Tonnage
29.648 ton
Beam
26m
Length overall
201m
Year of construction
1950
Year of renaming/broken up
1991
Service for Shell
1950 to 1971
Cargo
Class
Flag state
Home port
Manager
Shipyard
Status
Photo(s)

Comments

Sailors

Name Job Period Details
John Jack Morrison captain (commanding officer) My dad was either a mate or captain
Thomas Wiffen deck boy 1950 to 1951
Ian Ross apprentice 1951 to 1952
George Bell deck apprentice 1951
Jack Bore deck apprentice 1952 to 1953
Raymond Field galley boy 1953 1st trip
Bruce Devlin 3rd engineer 1953 to 1954
Reginald Tennys... junior radio officer 1954 to 1955
George Hughes cabin boy 1955 to 1956 cabin boy steward
David John Turner apprentice engineer 1955
Philip Ablett 2nd cook and baker 1955 to 1956
Llewellyn Heywo... deck apprentice 1955 to 1956
Brian Scanlan senior ordinary seaman 1955 to 1956
Sid Barlow deck 1956
Rodger Laycock deck apprentice 1956
Jack Beaumont 3rd mate 1957 to 1958
Barry Hughes deck apprentice 1957 to 1958
Les Docking assistant steward 1957
Peter Dobson 1 catering boy/galley boy 1958
Stan Mayes 1 junior ordinary seaman 1958
Bryan Whittle 2nd officer 1958 to 1959
Roy Gillham efficient deckhand 1958
Sheff Preston apprentice engineer 1959
David Rayfield deck apprentice 1960 to 1961
Richard Tomlinson deck apprentice 1960 to 1961
Brian Leeds Gooch deck apprentice 1960
Albert Bishop 2nd cook and baker 1960
Lawrence Lawson... 2nd engineer 1960 to 1961
Sheff Preston 5th engineer 1961
David Kingston apprentice engineer 1961
Roger Poulton 3rd mate 1961
Leo J. Mc Shane 2nd officer 1961
Michael Kemp deck apprentice 1961
Pieter Koops 3rd officer 1962 to 1963
Peter Barratt 3rd engineer 1962 to 1963
Michael Battrick deck apprentice 1962
Anonymous 5th engineer 1962 to 1964
Clifford Charle... apprentice engineer 1962
Geoff Amos deck apprentice 1963 to 1964
Ian Candy radio officer 1963 to 1964
Thomas Curry 5th engineer 1963
John P M Cusson 2nd officer 1963 to 1964
Glynn Turnbull apprentice engineer 1964 to 1965
Glynn Turnbull unknown 1964
Julian Clarke deck apprentice 1964
Peter Rowe deck apprentice 1965 to 1966
Michael Kemp 3rd deck officer 1965
Trevor Cox deck apprentice 1966 to 1967
Andy Crooke apprentice engineer 1966 to 1967
Graeme Wood apprentice engineer 1966
Nigel Page apprentice engineer 1966
Peter Wilkinson engineer cadet 1966
Barry Evans 5th engineer 1967 to 1968
David Beeston apprentice engineer 1967
Willie Carle 4th engineer, 3rd engineer 1968 to 1969
David S Logie 4th engineer 1968
Ray Gill apprentice engineer 1968 to 1969
Robin Campbell-... 5th engineer, 4th engineer 1968
John Bateson 3rd engineer 1968
John Ian Murray 5th engineer 1968
Geoff Akehurst deck apprentice 1969
Richard Williams navigation cadet 1969
Timothy F. Porter 3rd mate 1969 to 1970
Trevor Palin deck apprentice 1969
David Beeston apprentice engineer 1970
Alan Hill deck cadet 1970
Colin Osman extra 4th engineer 1970
Roy Robertson deck cadet 1970 to 1971

Anecdotes

Date Visitor Anecdote
01/18/2017 - 22:31 Michael Kemp

I joined Velutina in Mina on 23rd February 1961 3 days after paying off Horomya. I was glad of the 3 day break as I had been suffering with a poisoned toe for the previous week. We berthed in La Spezia on 9th March and paid off 2 days later with Captain Swainston (ex Aluco maiden voyage master), 4 off Mothersole 5/E Maclaughlan, and D/A Rayfield for train to the UK, on the channel crossing which lasted barely an hour I felt seasick! I put it down to the ferry stabiliser motion. On Saturday 1st April 14 Deck apprentices reported to the Greenbank hostel in Plymouth for midapprenticeship course no 3 a ...Vic Hubert, Don Travis, Tony Parkes, John Rothwell, Paddy Slinger, Phil Abbott, Norman Dixon, Bob Cheshire, Ray Baker, Colin Neason, Richard Lawson, Ian Baird and myself. Mid apprenticeship courses had started in 1960 after the Board of Trade allowed these courses to qualify as seatime for 2nd Mates ticket shel and a number of other companies took part. That first Saturday evening Richard Lawson and I were invited to a party at Freds place (her nickname) at Newton Ferrers thanks to Andy Orr and Johnny Pounder from MAR 2. Weekdays and some evenings were devoted to studies, Saturday mornings for dhobying and cleaning the hostel for Sunday inspection by Captain Hyde, our other tutors were Captains Hopwood and Danton. Thursday mornings involved travelling to HMS Drake for marching drill courtesy of the Royal Navy ! Practical seamanship took place at Mutton Cove on the Tamar with Captain Hyde where had we had the use of a lifeboat and sailing dinghy, Richard Lawson and I had the dinghy on day and sailed down tide into Plymouth Sound despite the other lads in the lifeboat trying to attract our attention, a while later we realis d why as we attempted to tack up tide only to realise we had sailed downtime on a following wind! Several hours later we walked into afternoon classes to much derision and comment! I think all of us enjoyed the the break from life at sea for those few months . I certainly enjoyed many week ends in Newton Ferrers swimming , sailing and generally having a good time. Happy memories

01/10/2016 - 18:57 David John Turner

The Velutina was one of the early a??Va?? class tankers and the layout of her ER was such that it seemed as though the machinery had been dropped in and bolted down where it fell. Whilst I was on board the condenser needed a tube repaired and a leaking main injection valve meant that a steel plate had to be secured outside by divers using shot bolts that went through the hull plating. This was done while we at Mena Alamadi in the gulf. The whole job took about two weeks.

03/18/2015 - 08:15 Raymond Field

I joined Velutina aged 17 at TW Greenwells No1 drydock March23rd 1953 in Sunderland my first deepsea ship experiance we was away for 9 months going all round the world .

05/26/2014 - 20:59 David Bowen

The scale model of this ship is on permanent display in the University of Plymouth..
David Bowen.

10/09/2013 - 19:44 Ian Candy

Joined her as senior R/O, just finished my qualifying seatime. Given a first tripper
Junior whose name I think was Seamus McErlain. Got to Mena and there was a message
from Marconi via the agents that one of us was to transfer to a ship who's R/O had
been hospitalised and the ship couldn't sail. As the tanker that needed an R/O was
bound for Europe it was decided to transfer Seamus. We met up with this other ship
somewhere in the Gulf, and Seamus, bag and baggage was transferred by lifeboat.
We were in contact down the gulf and out into the Gulf of Oman, I was relaying
messages for him as the equipment was new to him and he had problems with it. Eventually Velutina bore off down towards Sri lanka en route to Geelong and we lost contact.
From what I heard afterwards he made it back to Europe and handed his notice in - can't really blame him.
Me, well 9 months and one day after signing on I was relieved, but I quite enjoyed
my time on the old lady. One of the reasons for that was the Old Man, Henry Fortnam
who made my job easier that it might have been as I was still pretty green.

02/06/2011 - 19:25 John Rigby

My great uncle was the foreman at Swan Hunter's shipyard at Wallsend on Tyne.I went to the launch and was taken under the ship and I tapped her hull before she was launched.I was 15 years of age.I like to think my tap on the ships bottom bought her luck.After I came out of the army in 1954,I joined Shell oil.

05/01/2009 - 14:49 George Hughes

I joined the "VELUTINA" at Smiths shipyard in South Shields, on the Tyne. It was my first ship after leaving the "VINDICATRIX" training school. It was only supposed to be a six week trip to the Persian Gulf, to get my sea legs, so they said, but it didn't work out at all like that. after the repairs were made, which took about six weeks, we finally set sail for the gulf,or so we thought, but a couple of days at sea the ship was sent on a tramp and it was months before we got to Mena al Amadi. So much for getting my sea legs. We finally got back to KG 5 dock in London Just before christmas. George Hughes.

04/09/2009 - 12:11 Roy Robertson

In my 7 months on the Velutina we went aground in the St Lawrence River, had a collision with the lock wall in the Panama Canal, mid Atlantic a hole appeared in the ships side in the boiler room below the waterline and we had to call into the Azores to get a plate welded over it, polluted Lake Maracaibo, couldn't heave up the anchor off a U.S. port due to a lack of deck steam pressure. All in all it was a quiet trip.

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