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It's a lot of work to knock up something that size and only use it for a few years.In 1976 I did a trip on this ship, big tanker Mobil Pegasus. I used to run around the deck each day, as you can see there’s a fair bit of open space, and since she was well over 1000 feet long, three circuits of the deck was more than a mile.
On the way from the Gulf to the USA via the Cape of Good Hope we picked up a huge ugly looking African bird … which are collectively known as ‘Shitehawks’ to seafarers. This bird stuck with us across the Atlantic, then flew off as we neared South America on our way to the LOOP (LOuisiana Offshore Pipeline.)
The bird, which we’d named as ‘UglyF*cker,’ used to sit on the rail of the main deck and it had a beak that looked as if it could peck through a Chubb safe. When running I would curve inward when passing it, because it looked at me with an expression that said: ‘I wonder what that tastes like.’ I’m convinced its grandparents were pterodactyls.
When fully loaded there’s not much freeboard on these big tankers, i.e. there’s literally only a few feet between the sea and the main deck. In the pix below she is unloaded, so there's a lot of freeboard. That is much reduced when you put over 200,000 tons of crude oil in the tanks. As I passed this bird on one circuit a larger than normal swell came along and breached the deck, a foot or so of water swept me off my feet and slid me into some pipes. I got up sputtering and could hear the Second Mate laughing high above me on the bridge wing.
When I looked at the bird, I’ll swear blind it was laughing too.
That ship had a chequered history having blown up (a couple of years before I joined her) and had all sorts of mechanical failures as you can see from the link below. She got off to a bad start being built, as a shipyard worker was killed during her construction.
Mobil Pegasus (II) - (1969-1979) (aukevisser.nl)
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Not to mention the cost.It's a lot of work to knock up something that size and only use it for a few years.
I worked with a chap whose brother was a shipping agent - this involved sitting at home, ringing the odd person up now and then and getting something like a quarter of a cent per ton when a deal was finally arranged to move some.However bear in mind these ships made a phenomenal profit in the 70's given the amount of oil they carried. I think Mobil just gave up on this ship as it seemed knackered from square one.
There are about 7 barrels in a tonne.
Although he was from Stoke, his statue is in Lichfield.Captain Edward Smith who went down with his ship the RMS Titanic.
He was a Staffordshire man, born in Hanley in 1850. He became the White Star Lines most senior Captain. Some accounts say the Titanic was to be his final pre-retirement voyage.
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My mum and Gran used to live in Hanley. I can't remember exactly who gave it to my gran, but she had a cross and chain which belonged to Captain Smith and his family. Mum had it in her jewellery box , which I was supposed to be inheriting. But the cross and chain , along with a lot of other good items including my grans and mums rings which she always said I could have, had disappeared out of the box by the time I got to go through everything when mum died.Captain Edward Smith who went down with his ship the RMS Titanic.
He was a Staffordshire man, born in Hanley in 1850. He became the White Star Lines most senior Captain. Some accounts say the Titanic was to be his final pre-retirement voyage.
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