Letter
ss Penang
|
Letter
ss Penang |
| Editor The Penang File Here is a photo of the "ss Penang" from the Nationall Maritime Museum Greenwich in London. The photo was probably taken about 1930 from West Ferry Road, Millwall, London . She is in dry dock for repair and maybe cleaning of the lower hull due to marine organisms such as weed and barnacles which, in those days really slowed down the sailing ships. As you will see from the photo the dry dock was a crude dam built at the end of the street in what was a very poor part of London. The kids in the foreground give scale and character to the photo. The "Penang" was a three masted square rigged barque of conventional design for the times, probably around 1000 tons. She was built in Bremerhaaven, in Germany in 1905. The original owner was Albert Rickmeres until 1923 when she was bought by the famous Gustav Erickson, who ran the last great fleet of merchant sailing vessels into the 40s carrying grain and fertilisers half across the world. |
Erickson
was known to his men as "Bloody Eric" and was a very hard businessman
but was known to keep his ships in perfect seagoing conditionand make sure his men were well looked
after. In the latter days of sailing merchant vessels they had tiny crews
- for example the 6000 ton Moshulu with only 7 men on each 3 watches
plus officers and specialists e.g. sail maker etc, compared to the Cutty
Sark at 800 tons with a crew of around 80 men. Of course speed was serious
money for the tea clippers with the first cargo sold at a price of in
today's money ú400 a tea caddy, then usually padlocked against
servants etc ...... 
These ships could do the Peal River on the S China coast to London
in less than 80 days and could do around 18 knots. They only had the
best seamen from a seafaring nation picked as crew. The Americans were
not bad and in actual fact the fastest voyage ever was by the "Flying
Cloud" I think but they were so lightly built they could only last one
China trip.Tragically the "Penang" was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank with the loss of all lives in the South Atlantic in 1940, carrying only grain, not arms etc. In those times she probably had a crew of around 50 men. from John & Babara Curran Dr John Curran was once a lecturer at USM Barnara Curran was then teaching at the Uplands School [There was another "Penang", a steamship, port of registry: Glasgow, built in 1862 by Charles Connell & Company, Scotstoun. It was a passenger cargo ship. Tonnage: 699 grt. Length: 210 feet. Breadth: 28 feet. Owners were the British India Steam Navigation Company, Glasgow & London (from notes updated: by Paul Strathdee from the original records by Stuart Cameron) - Editor TPF]. (Photo reproduced with permission of the National Maritime Museum Greenich London) |
| ______ INDEX Point to the article that you want to read, and CLICK Index page
The Baling meeting (3)
Book review
Food guide The God in the garden (3) The wedding dinner |
| ___________________ The Penang File Issue 41 |