AUGUST 1954 - AUGUST 1955 - THE WATERSHED YEAR



I had joined the tramp ship , “Eastern City” in Glasgow on February 23rd 1954 and sailed away to Casablanca, Morocco, thence through the Mediterranean to the Suez Canal across the Indian Ocean through the Malacca Straits and on to Yokohama, Japan. We then went south, past Lombok and Bali, to Fremantle, Western Australia, loaded thence back across the Indian Ocean to Aden and the Suez Canal and onwards past Gibraltar and thence Bremen in Germany. This voyage ended on the last day of July, 1954, in the port of Falmouth, Cornwall. This completed my first deep voyage. Everyone paid off and went home except the Mate and yours truly an apprentice lad of 16 years of age.
The year following my first voyage proved to be a watershed for many reasons and so before explaining why here is a précis of those voyages. I think you will see why when you read this.
Articles were opened 1st August 1954 we sailed from Falmouth the next day and then the following voyage took place:-
· August 12th - Portland, Maine,
· Bunkered at Gibraltar
· September 4th - Split , Yugoslavia,
· Istanbul, Turkey,
· September 21st - Novorossik, USSR,
· Passed through the Dardanelles,
· Dakar, Senegal
· October 18th – Rio de Janiero, Brazil,
· October 27th – Vittoria do Espiritu Santo, Brazil,
· November 19th – Cardiff, South Wales.
Articles closed and then opened November 22nd 1954, again no home leave, and then the following voyage took place:-
· December 22nd 1954 – Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
· Steamed down the US coast, across the Caribbean, and through the Panama Canal to cross the Pacific Ocean.
· February 1st 1955 Nagasaki, Japan, [where an atomic bomb had been dropped on August 9th 1945.]
· February 19th Portland, Oregon. USA,
· March 29th Singapore,
· April 8th Bombay, India,
· May 6th Mormugoa, Goa, then part of Portugal despite being in India.
· June 19th Sparrows Point, Baltimore,
· July 6th Rotterdam, Holland
Articles closed July 11th 1955 and we all went home via the Hook of Holland ferry to Harwich.
August 5th 1955 was the day that Tina and I walked out together and here we are together 56 years later.

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