16th January 1950:
Britannia & Ravenswood
Around midday on Monday 16th January 1950 P & A Campbell’s paddle steamers Britannia and Ravenswood left Charles Hill’s drydock at Bristol, which they had shared, dead ship and under tow
15th January 1941:
HMS Aristocrat
At the turn of the year in 1941 HMS Aristocrat, the ex Clyde paddler Talisman, was posted from Rosyth to Sheerness as an anti-aircraft ship. By 15th January she was
14th January 1968:
Bristol Queen
On Sunday 14th January 1968 whilst lying alongside and up for sale P & A Campbell’s Bristol Queen was rammed by the Liberian oil tanker Geodor which was manoeuvring for
13th January:
1937 Sawbwa
On Wednesday 13th January 1937 the paddle steamer Sawbwa was in the process of being deconstructed in the Denny yard at Dumbarton on the Clyde. She had been ordered on
12th January 1989:
SEETB Excursions Fair
On Thursday 12th January 1989 Pat Bushell and I took a Kingswear Castle stand at the South East England Tourist Board (SEETB) Excursions Fair at Wembley. From the outset of
11th January 1942:
Merstone
The German bombing raid on Portsmouth which had started shortly after tea time on the previous day continued on until gone 2am on the following morning of Saturday 11th January
10th January 1941:
Merstone
On the evening of Friday 10th January 1941 Portsmouth was the subject of a series of devastating air raids during which one hundred and fifty three German bombers unleashed their
9th January 1970:
Eppleton Hall (Part 8 of 11)
On Friday 9th January 1970 Eppleton Hall was one day away from arriving in Cartagena in Columbia on the north coast of South America. On 15th December she had arrived
8th January 1993:
Kingswear Castle
On Friday 8th January 1993 KC’s engineering trustee Alan Beavan OBE and I had a meeting with the management of Crescent Shipyard at Strood to sign the contract for them
7th January 1986:
Sir Steuart Pringle
Looking through the old KC diaries I have here, I see that on Tuesday 7th January 1986 I had a meeting with Lieutenant General Sir Steuart Pringle, then Chairman and
6th January 1931:
Medina
Medina was launched at the Woolston yard of John J Thornycroft & Co at Southampton on Tuesday 6th January 1931. She was to be a twin screw vessel powered by
5th January 1962:
Captain Larkin
Friday 5th January 1962 marked the end of the first week of retirement for Captain Noah Rothwell Larkin after a long career as master with Red Funnel. He was sixty-nine.
4th January 1948:
Talisman
Talisman lost all power on her approach to Kilcreggan around 5pm on 3rd January 1948 and ran aground east of the pier. There she remained overnight and there she still
3rd January 1948:
Talisman
On Saturday 3rd January 1948 Talisman was rostered for one round trip on the ferry link between Craigendoran on the north shore of the Clyde and Rothesay. On the return leg
2nd January 1884:
South of Ireland
On Wednesday 2nd January 1884 Cosens & Co’s passenger carrying paddle tug Queen assisted by their slightly smaller Commodore led the attempt to salvage the paddle steamer South of Ireland
1st January 1960:
Consul
Sixty years ago on 1st January 1960 Weymouth experienced yet another example of its quite regular floods as the next picture of Consul berthed just upstream of the Town Bridge
31st December 1958:
Cosens’s Charles Kaile
On Wednesday 31st December 1958 Charles Henry James Kaile retired as Secretary and General Manager of paddle steamer operators Cosens & Co after a career spanning 56 years with the company
30th December 1967:
Queen of the South
On Saturday 30th December 1967 Queen of the South, ex Jeanie Deans, was in the scrapyard on the River Scheldt in Antwerp. The failure of the business cost her owner Don
29th December 1993:
Kingswear Castle
Before Christmas in 1993 I was chewing the fat with the nice lady who then ran the marketing department of the Historic Dockyard Chatham over a cup of coffee in
28th December 1967:
Queen of the South
On Thursday 28th December 1967 Queen of the South, which started her career in 1931 as the Clyde paddle steamer Jeanie Deans, was off Vlissingen after her tow across the