| Also known as | Cherry Baron |
|---|---|
| IMO number | 5376703 |
| Call sign | GBGA |
| Construction number | 1865 |
| Tonnage | 35.793 ton |
| Beam | 26m |
| Length overall | 203m |
| Year of construction | 1959 |
| Year of renaming/broken up | 1983 |
| Service for Shell | 1959 to 1976 |
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| Status |
VARICELLA
Sailors
Anecdotes
| Date | Visitor | Anecdote |
|---|---|---|
| 06/05/2017 - 22:51 | Tony Dodd |
Joined Curacao March 73, left San Francisco July 73. We were carrying white oils, mainly jet fuels from Curacao to the east and west coasts of the US. Spacious, modern (compared to Plagiola that I had been on before) and a pretty reliable girl too. On the last trip to SF, we got new films at Panama City including Dirty Harry so it was pretty fitting as we were heading up to Oakland to discharge and for me to pay off. |
| 12/18/2015 - 14:42 | Roger Duke |
This was my last steam ship with Shell, by this time she had been converted to a "White oiler" and was trading between the Caribbean and USA alternate trips West Coast LA and San Francisco East Coast New York and Boston. She carried mainly Jet fuel only at that time. I joined and left in the Panama Canal. Apart from the older equipment some of which was obsolete she was a good ship to sail on. |
| 07/11/2014 - 10:27 | Mike Offord |
Varicella was my first "modern" ship in 1959 after two years on "N" boats and T2's. Very nice she was, too, as a contrast. Air conditioning - wow! |
| 07/04/2014 - 20:41 | William Thomas ... |
I joined the SS Varicella in Scaramanga Greece in May 1966 paid off Nov 1966 in Rotterdam. My first ship after finishing training at HMS Dolphin in Leith. She was in dry dock when I joined her and I spent the next 6 months at sea between the Persian Gulf and Australia, 3 weeks at sea and 24 hours in port in Australia never had shore leave in the Persian Gulf, so it was 6 weeks at sea. Listened to the World Cup on the ships radio in the mess deck when we managed to get a signal. Used to look over to the shore in the Persian Gulf and wished I could get a nice cold Coca Cola. It was also the first time I was in an aeroplane whe I flew between London and Greece. Oh! to be 17 again! |
| 09/28/2011 - 22:43 | John Lewindon |
Remember being paid of the Varicella in Punta Cardon on the 23rd Dec 1973 and being told there were no flights out of town till after the Xmas celebrations. Stuck in a dingy hotel in Punta Cardon over Xmas. Developed food poisoning and spent the day "glued" to the toilet with a waste bin in my hands. "No speakee english!!!!!!!". Finally flew out to Caracas on the 27th Dec! What a way to spend Xmas |
| 09/15/2011 - 16:47 | Thomas P. Hughes |
Drydocked at Falmouth. Cecil George Bradley as Master. |
| 08/12/2011 - 16:31 | Peter Cole |
Dry dock adventures in Skaramanga (may 1966) included a cultural tour of the Corinth area, a scrap with the U.S. navy and an impromptu night with a herd of local goats to the rear of a local taverna whilst somewhat squiffy. |
| 04/13/2009 - 21:55 | Peter Coxwell |
The Varicella was my first ship joining in May 1964 as a deck apprentice for 11 months with Dick white , Colin Flexon and John Hill .The skipper was Captain Taylor and my first night at sea was an eventful one as on passage from the anchorage to discharge in Rotterdam we were in collision with a cargo ship , the Niedersachzen ? , which brought forward my first drydock in Skaramanga and the skipper's retirement. I learnt one valuable lesson that trip , to stay away from black oil ! I also learnt how to chip decks for 8 hours a day without going mad , how to paint acres of deck in green and bulkheads in white and how to shovel sludge into buckets and throw it ' over the wall '.Fortunately I managed to keep away from Black Oilers thereafter . |
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