| As Far as Aden in the 1960s |
| David Meare has kindly supplied these 1960s shots which he took from various merchant ships. Although the trip ends at Aden, the pictures vividly recall passage in Union Castle or BI ships from London down through the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean with Aden as the last port of call before Mombasa. |
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Let's start with a bit of poetic licence! Ships for East Africa did not normally visit the Elbe. The Federal German Navy (Bundes Marine) Lindau Class minesweeper WOLFSBURG in the Elbe. The Lindau class (like the British Ton Class) had wooden hulls and were all built by Burmester at Bremen between 1957 and 1959. Latvia and Estonia got a few when they were decomissioned and may still have them in service. PHOTO David Meare |
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Dungeness Pilot off the Kent coast. PHOTO David Meare |
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Seen in the English Channel, the German liner HANSEATIC bound for Cuxhaven. PHOTO David Meare |
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Clan Line general dry cargo vessel in the English Channel, 1966. PHOTO David Meare |
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PENDENNIS CASTLE. The South African service was operated from Southampton, but the East African service operated from London where, depending on the tide, passengers may have be embarked or disembarked at Tilbury or London's King George V Dock. PHOTO David Meare |
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In the Bay of Biscay, a French fishing vessel registered at La Rochelle. PHOTO David Meare |
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RHODESIA CASTLE - Bay of Biscay. PHOTO David Meare |
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RHODESIA CASTLE PHOTO David Meare |
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RHODESIA CASTLE PHOTO David Meare |
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RHODESIA CASTLE PHOTO David Meare |
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Spanish sardine fishing boat off Vigo. PHOTO David Meare |
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P&O liner IBERIA off Lisbon. PHOTO David Meare |
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Cape St Vincent. PHOTO David Meare |
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The Italian liner FAIRSTAR which at the time may have been operating between Genoa and the UK. PHOTO David Meare |
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Former US Attack transport USS NOBLE became the Spanish Navy's ARAGON. She is seen here off the coast of southern Spain. PHOTO David Meare |
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Tarifa Lighthouse 20 miles west of Gibraltar. PHOTO David Meare |
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USNS Card, a US Bogue Class carrier. It was modified, for service in Vietnam, with the addition of the funnel. The ship's history can be viewed at http://www.navsource.org/archives/03/011.htm PHOTO David Meare
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Tanker CAMPANA nearing Gibraltar. PHOTO David Meare |
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ALCOA MARINER off Gibraltar - PHOTO David Meare ALCOA MARINER was a C2 type freighter. It was one of the US mass produced freighters such as the Liberty type, the Victory Ship, the the C1 A, C1 B (the 'Flying Enterprise'), C2 (the 'Flying Enterprise 2') and C3 and others built in Canada and the USA - information from S Nielsen |
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A tramp - i.e. any ship which did not operate a regular schedule - west bound out of Gibraltar. The ship looks likes she was built during World War 2 and is in fact the ENTOPAN - ex Empire Gale. PHOTO David Meare |
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Virtually the same scene 40 years later - Gibraltar viewed from OCEANA, May 2005. PHOTO Malcolm McCrow |
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Algeciras to Ceuta ferry with the Spanish coast in the background - Strait of Gibraltar. PHOTO David Meare |
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ALCOA MARINER in the Strait of Gibraltar. This is a wartime built Liberty ship sailing in ballast. PHOTO David Meare |
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By way of contrast, another photograph taken 40 years on - a container ship in the Strait of Gibraltar. PHOTO Malcolm McCrow |
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Arriving Gibraltar with La Linea and Algeciras in the background. PHOTO David Meare |
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A run ashore in Gibraltar in the early 1960s. PHOTO David Meare |
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Wooden hulled UK Navy minesweeper HMS CROFTON operating out of Valetta Harbour, Malta. Again this is a bit off track for Union Castle and BI liners which tended to call at Marseilles and/or Genoa and would have passed through the Strait of Messina between Italy and Sicily. PHOTO David Meare |
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Ferry between the cities of Reggio Calabria and Messina crossing the Strait of Messina with one of its famous electricity pylons in the background. The pylons survive as national monuments - the electricity is now supplied by underground cable. PHOTO Malcolm McCrow |
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Ships assembled at Port Said PHOTO David Meare |
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| Port Said Lighthouse (left) Suez Canal Control at Ismalia (right) PHOTOs David Meare |
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The Ballah Loop. PHOTO David Meare |
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Port Suez PHOTO David Meare |
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The opposition to Union Castle was provided by the British India Steam Navigation Company, usually simply referred to as BI. Here the UGANDA is at anchor off Steamer Point in Aden. PHOTO David Meare |
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The UGANDA's 12 ft higher funnel distinguished her from her older sister the KENYA. PHOTO David Meare |
