Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2022 i Ships Monthly

Hypersonic first for destroyers US NAVY The US Navy has selected Huntington Ingalls Industries to install hypersonic missiles on the Zumwalt class destroyers USS Zumwalt and USS Michael Monsoor. The retrofit process will involve the removal of both 155mm Advanced Gun System mounts and associated below deck infrastructure to accommodate launch tubes for the Vertical Launch System for the Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) developed for the Army, Air Force and Navy. The work will take place during each destroyer’s next planned dry-docking period. Details about the cost of the programme and the number of missiles to be carried have yet to be revealed. The primary role of the Zumwalt class ships was originally as surface fire support platforms, with the 155mm Advanced Gun System designed to fire rocket-launched Long…

The paddle steamer Waverley has been in operational preservation since 1974, and this year she celebrates the Diamond Jubilee of her entry into service, a feat that would be a major success for any heritage ship, but something of a miracle for a large, seagoing paddle steamer which, despite many challenges, continues to sail and bring pleasure to thousands of passengers and supporters every year. AUSPICIOUS HISTORY Launched in October 1946, Waverley was built by A. & J. Inglis Shipbuilders in Glasgow for the London and North Eastern Railway Company (LNER) as a replacement for the earlier Waverley of 1899, which had been lost at Dunkirk in 1940. Powered by a 2,100hp triple expansion engine built by Rankin & Blackmore of Greenock, the new Waverley operated from the LNER base…

As a marine photographer, I try to photograph everything afloat in my ‘patch’, which is the Dorset coast and, more specifically, the waters of Weymouth and Portland. Although comfortable in this environment and interested in all aspects of the sea, I am no authority on ships. However, I am constantly in awe of the amazing variety of these majestic floating machines, which form a large part of the subject matter I capture from my small motor boat. I am constantly surprised at the varying aesthetics of ships – the shapes, colours, proportions, condition – but rather than obsessing over their admittedly impressive facts and figures, I love simply photographing them in their environment. There is a very different ‘feel’ when ships are pictured in context from sea level, rather than…

The Royal Navy’s series of County class cruisers were built as a direct result of the Washington Naval Treaty that was signed between the major maritime powers in 1922. Aimed at preventing a new naval arms race similar to the one that preceded World War I, the treaty all but ended the construction of new capital ships over the following decade. An unexpected – and perverse – consequence of the new restrictions was a renewed focus on cruiser construction, the most powerful type that could now be built under the treaty’s restrictions. The new ‘treaty cruisers’ were limited to a standard displacement of 10,000 tons and a main armament of 8-inch (203mm) calibre guns. Unsurprisingly, all the treaty signatories decided to build new ships that fully utilised these thresholds. However,…

THE BUSY SUMMER AT DOVER Three operators and ten ferries run to Calais CHANNEL SITUATION After the lengthy disruption due to Covid-19, followed by the shock dismissal of 800 crew members by P&O Ferries and their replacement by cheaper agency staff, the Dover-Calais ferry route returned to something close to normality during the summer. In September DFDS Seaways, Irish Ferries and P&O were running a total of ten vessels between them, offering more than 40 return trips in each 24-hour period, with crossings taking 90 minutes each way. P&O currently operate up to 18 daily services using four ferries, with the 47,592gt sisters Spirit of Britain and Spirit of France, delivered in 2011 and 2012, taking up to 2,000 passengers and 194 cars on dedicated decks. Also operational are 30,635gt…

Maersk moves from Tilbury to Southampton CONTAINER SHIP In August Maersk moved the terminal for its Costa Rica Express (CRX) service from Tilbury to Southampton. A great share of the cargo on the service, which connects Costa Rica and Panama to the UK and Europe, is bananas, carried in reefer containers. According to the Danish operator, the move has enabled the service to increase its reefer capacity, as well as adding dependability and greater flexibility for customers. Songa Puma became the first ship in the loop to dock at Southampton, on 5 August. The weekly service, which also calls at the European ports of Cork, Antwerp and Bremerhaven, employs seven ships, a mix of chartered and owned, ranging between 2,500 and 2,800 TEU. KA Navios combines its fleets COMBI FREIGHTERS…

After being out of service and laid up in Greece for the past two years, the one-time Celebrity cruise ship Zenith left the port of Lavrio, south-east of Athens, on 8 June, having been renamed TSM Singapore. She is heading for Vietnam breakers via the Suez Canal, 30 years after she first entered service, bringing an end to a fine career, which she enjoyed with four different operators. Zenith was laid down in October 1990 at Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany for Celebrity Cruises as a sistership to Horizon, Celebrity Cruises’ first newbuild. She was designed by Jan Bannenberg, a mega-yacht naval architect, and her interiors were the creation of Michael Katsourakis and British designer John McNeece. Completed in March 1992, she entered service on 4 April 1992. She had a…

Shortly after the end of World War II the British India Steam Navigation Company ordered a series of three passenger/cargo carriers for its ‘Apcar’ service between Calcutta and Japan. The ships, delivered by British builders as Sangola, Sirdhana and Santhia, were of about 8,600grt in size and offered several ranges of accommodation, from Saloon class to Deck class, along with considerable space for both dry and refrigerated cargo in four holds. Propulsion was provided by two four-cylinder Doxford diesels of 5,900bhp driving twin screws to give a relatively slow but economic service speed of 14 knots. Their use on the Apcar route was short-lived once reliable air service was established, and all three were rerouted to services from India to the Persian Gulf and East Africa by the early 1960s.…

The cargo vessel Caxton was built in 1958 and enjoyed a long career lasting well into the 1980s. Her first owner, Barberry’s Steamship Co, was established in 1940 as a result of the creation of Newsprint Supply Co Ltd by Lord Beaverbrook and others, who sought to guarantee a wartime supply of paper, sourced from Canadian mills, to meet the needs of the press. She replaced a 1943-built ship of the same name in Barberry’s fleet. Her design closely followed that of the 5,626gt Isaac Carter, another cargo vessel built at Blyth in 1952 for carrying newsprint. These ships were similar to others in the Barberry fleet, such as the 1946 Readheadbuilt Baskerville, which was sold in 1950, and the 1949 Govan-built Caslon. Having some features specifically needed for the…

This year marks the 175th anniversary of the establishment of Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) in 1847. The company developed into the largest German, and at times the world’s largest, shipping company as European emigration to North America expanded. In 1970, after 123 years of independent operation, HAPAG was merged with Bremen-based North German Lloyd to form today’s Hapag-Lloyd AG. The merger saw an interesting class of breakbulk vessels sold off as the combined companies began to containerise. Between 1955 and 1959 HAPAG had a series of seven general cargo ships completed by the Howaldtswerke AG shipyard for its transatlantic service to North America, all named after university towns in Germany. The 155.5m by 18.5m vessels were of similar size and capacity and all were powered by single MAN main engines…

Charles Miller Ltd is the United Kingdom’s only specialist auction house dedicated to the sale of marine, maritime, nautical and scientific antiques. The company normally holds public auctions at premises in West Kensington twice a year, as well as timed online-only ‘Liner China’ sales, and offer a full valuation service. The items that are auctioned include fine marine art, scientific instruments, ship models, nautical antiques, maritime collectibles and navigational instruments. The auction house acquires a wide range of items all of which have a maritime theme, with many of the items having notable and interesting back stories. The items come to the company from all over the world, and from a range of people. Builders’ models are among the most impressive items which are auctioned, and often detail historic ships…

THE LADIES LOOK GOOD letter of the month I have read the letters about the new Virgin ships and wanted to comment on the recent letter of the month (SM, July). Firstly, it was stated that Scarlet Lady dispenses with a bulbous bow, but this is not the case. Her underwater form does have a bulbous base, although it does not protrude beyond the entry to the water. I would suggest that rather than being too long, her bow is very short compared to that of a traditional liner. The fared coverings of the forward decks are taken right to the bow, meaning there is no open foredeck at all. It was also stated that Virgin Voyages appeared to have ‘copied MSC Cruises Seaside class but failed’, but actually Scarlet…

CRUISE SHIP PROFILE CHANNEL FERRY ROUTE VIKING GLORY WEST COUNTRY WRECKS COASTAL TANKERS HARWICH TO THE HOOK PLUS FREEDOM OF THE SEAS • On board Royal Caribbean International’s Freedom of the Seas, currently the largest ship sailing from Miami on scheduled three-and fournight cruises to the Bahamas. SHIPWRECKS • The Gibson family of Cornwall were famous photographers of shipwrecks, and some of their outstanding images of wrecks are reproduced here. HUMBER COASTAL TANKERS • Pictorial featuring small coastal tankers, which are some of the many and varied ships to visit ports on the busy Humber estuary. HMS HERMES • Profile of HMS Hermes, regarded as the world’s first aircraft carrier, which was sunk by Japanese aircraft 80 years ago and is. DEVON PORTS • Tor Bay in Devon and the surrounding area has a long…