Ship Spotter Steve
  • Home
  • Bulk Carriers
  • Cement Carriers
  • Container Ships
  • Crude Oil Tankers
  • Cruise Ships
  • Dredgers
  • Ferries
  • Fishing Vessels
  • General Cargo Ships
  • Military & Law Enforcement
  • Off Shore Supply/Safety/Support
  • Pilot Vessels
  • Research Ships
  • Sailing Ships
  • Tankers
  • Tugs
  • Vehicle Carriers
  • Misc
  • Funnels
  • Work Boats
  • Pleasure Boats & Yachts
  • Tenders & Launches
  • Prints, Postcards & Paintings
  • Buildings, Monuments & Places
  • Yearly Statistics
  • Ship List
  • Links
  • Blog
  • Blog Index
Contact me

HMS LANCE - 4 INCH GUN

11/11/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Four Inch gun from HMS Lance photographed in the museum at Portsmouth naval base on 26 October 2014.

On 5 August 1914 this gun fired the fist shot in the war at sea which would result in the loss of 43,950 Royal Navy personnel when hours after the outbreak of hostilities HMS Lance engaged the German Minelayer Konigin Luise which was setting mines off the Dutch Coast.

The light cruiser Amphion and destroyers of the 3rd Flotilla spotted the Konigen Luise at 1025hrs on the morning of the 5th after information gained from the crew of a fishing boat and the destroyers Lance and Landrail moved to investigate. Konigen retreated into a rain squall but the two destroyers gave chase and Lance engaged the German ship. Amphion also soon closed and opened fire, under heavy fire the German Captain ordered the scuttling of his ship which rolled over and sank at 1222hrs, Konigen Luise was the first naval casualty of World War I.  

The British ships continued their patrol before heading back to port where their course took them through a minefield the Konigen Luise had previously laid. At 0645 hrs on 6 August 1914 the Amphion struck one of the mines. Heavily damaged she was abandoned her crew being taken off by the escorting destroyers. Amphion later drifted back into the minefield struck another mine at 0703hrs and sank becoming the first British naval war loss.

HMS Lance was scrapped in November 1921.
Picture
HMS Lance was an Laforey class destroyer ordered on 29 March 1912 from John Thornycroft and was laid down on 1 August 1912. The ship was launched on 25 February 1914 and completed in August 1914.

She had an overall length of 81.94 m with a 8.43m beam and 3.20m draught.

She was fitted with three QF Mk IV (102 mm) guns, a single QF 2 Pdr pom-pom  and four torpedo tubes in two twin mounts.

Displacement of the class was up to 1300tons and she was powered by Parsons steam turbines (24,500 shp) powering twin propellers giving a top speed of 29 Knots. Total complement was 73 personnel.
Picture
Makers plate on the un dated 1913
0 Comments

CANNON - HMS TRINCOMALEE

10/11/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
24 pounder cannon photographed as we walked along the coastal fortifications between Portsmouth and Southsea on 30 October 2014.

The cannon was originally part of the armament of the Frigate HMS Foundroyant ex HMS Trincomalee.

The cannon and refurbished gun carriage were presented to the City of Portsmouth on 10 July 1974.

The Leda Class Frigate Trincomalee  was ordered on 30 October 1812 and built in Bombay, India in teak due to oak shortages in Britain due to the Napoleonic Wars. The ship was named Trincomalee after the 1782 Battle of Trincomalee off the Ceylon (Sri Lanka ) port of the same name.

With a construction cost of £23,000 she was launched on 12 October 1817 and soon after completion was sailed to Portsmouth where she arrived on 30 April 1819.

After being fitted out at a further cost of £2,400 she was placed in reservee until 1845 when she was re-armed had her stern reshaped and was reclassified as a sixth rate spar decked corvette. Between 1847 and  1849 she served in North America and the West Indies. In 1849 she was despatched to Newfoundland & Labrador before being recalled to Britain  in 1850. In 1852 she sailed to join the Pacific Squadron on the West coast of America.

Trincomalee finished her Royal Navy service as a training ship, but was placed in reserve again in 1895 and sold for scrap two years later in May 1897. She was then purchased by an entrepreneur restored, and renamed Foudroyant in honour of HMS Foundroyant his earlier ship that had been wrecked.

She was used as an accommodation ship, a training ship, and a holiday ship. and remained in service until 1986 after which she was again restored and in 1992 renamed back to Trincomalee, she remains afloat as a museum ship.

Leda Class Frigates were 1065.63 Tons, had a length of 45.83m and a 38.28m beam. Her complement consisted of 315 officers and men.

Armament consisted of 46 guns including carronades.
Picture
Coat of arms on the cannon.
0 Comments

SHIPS SEEN ON MY HOLIDAYS - OCTOBER 2014

7/11/2014

0 Comments

 
In total I saw 42 new vessels whilst on holiday last week on the Isle of Wight and on a day trip to Portsmouth. 

We arrived in Southampton in time to take the 3pm Red Funnel Ferry down the Solent to East Cowes. The ferry we were on was Red Falcon which re-entered service on the 4 April 2014 after an 8 week refit, the internal areas were definitely better laid out and equipped although the upper deck area was smaller.

Southampton was quite busy and I saw four new ships, we also followed Ludwigshafen Express down the Solent overtaking her near Fawley before stopping to let her pass - I got some good photographs of this vessel which I will be adding to the site in due course.

Fawley was packed with ships I have not seen before and I was on deck as we came into Cowes and saw Doreen Dorward working on a new breakwater which is part of a new marina development, again I took some good photographs of this before heading back to my car.

During the week East Cowes was quiet compared to previous visits, we normally go for an early morning walk down the esplanade and this affords good views of the ships entering and leaving the Solent, on previous visits I have taken quite a number of photographs here, for some reason there were not as many ships as usual and on a couple of days I did not see any new ships at all which is a first.

Our regular visit to Portsmouth was good and after taking the hovercraft from Ryde to Southsea on the mainland and walking along the coastal fortifications we spent the day in Portsmouth which included a walk around the Naval base and museum. A number of warships I have not seen before were in port, some of which had only recently returned from deployment.

I also saw new build RCI cruise ship Quantum of the Seas on 31 October 2014 head out to sea under cover of darkness. We walked to the sea wall to see her pass in the late evening and I took a few photographs of her although it was dark. Although we were initially the only people on the seafront a small crowd of about 20 people congregated where I was to see her pass, they also must have been watching the AIS. I believe she returned to Southampton after I had sailed home and undertook her maiden voyage to New York a day later.

Some driving facts ! - In total we drove 686.1 miles at an average of 37mph (which is surprising bearing in mind the amount of motorway driving I did) with an average fuel consumption of 51.3mpg.


The ships I saw equated to a total GT of 1,801,356 and can be split as follows.

1 No. Bulk Carrier
4 No. Cruise Ships
8 No. Container Ships
2 No. Tugs
4 No. Crude Oil Tankers
1 No. Dredger
1 No. General Cargo Ships
1 No. Work Boat
3 No. Vehicle Carriers
4 No. Naval Vessels
1 No. Research Vessel
1 No. Offshore Vessel
1 No. Ferry
10 No. Chemical Oil Product Tankers

A list of the vessels I saw is noted below.

Southampton - 25 October 2014

Emerald Princess, Passenger (Cruise) Ship  9333151, GT 113561, 2007
Hong Kong Express,   Container Ship, 9501356,  GT 142295,  2013
Ludwigshafen Express, Container Ship,  9613018, GT 142295,  2014
Challenge, Tug, 5067792, GT 212, 1931

Fawley / Solent - 25 October 2014

Sichem Hiroshima, Chemical Tanker, 9361483, GT 8539, 2008
Amazon Virtue, Crude Oil Tanker,  9660360, GT  44776, 2014
UACC Marah, Chemical / Oil Products Tanker, 9489091, GT 29279, 2013
Ebony Ray,  Chemical / Oil Products Tanker,   9363857, GT  11590, 2009
Causeway, Dredger, 9653197, GT 4320,  2013
Doreen Dorward, Work Boat, 8873427, GT 161, 1962

Shanklin - 25 October 2014

Glovis Supreme, Vehicles Carrier, 9674177, GT 64650, 2013
Seavoyager, Crude Oil Tanker, 9318096, GT 81339, 2007
Asian Trust, Vehicles Carrier, 9203590, GT 55719, 1999
Yu Heng Xian Feng, Vehicles Carrier, 9166895, GT 53240, 1998
Motivator,  Chemical / Oil Products Tanker, 9340386, GT 8539, 2007
Baltic Wave, Chemical / Oil Products Tanker, 9259991, GT 23235, 2003
King Emerald, Oil Products Tanker, 9267027, GT 25507, 2004

East Cowes - 26 October 2014

Cepheus J, Container Ship, 9292943, GT 6454, 2003
Pacific Leader, Bulk Carrier, 9626936, GT 33057, 2012
Jamila, Container Ship, 9477359, GT 16137,  2010

East Cowes - 27 October 2014

CMA CGM Corte Real,  Container Ship, 9454400, GT 150269, 2010

Ryde - 27 October 2014

HMS Middleton (M34), Hunt Class Minesweeper, 4906628, GT 625, 1984

East Cowes - 27 October 2014

Braemar, Passenger (Cruise) Ship, 9000699, GT 19089,  1993

Portsmouth - 28 October 2014

EGS Pioneer, Research & Survey Vessel, 7382926, GT 124,   1975
SD Northern River,  Supply Ship, 9179323, GT 3124,  1998
HMS Quorn (M41), Hunt Class Minesweeper,  4906692, GT  625, 1989 Universal Prime, Crude Oil Tanker, 9158886, GT 156692, 1997
SD Christina, Tug, 9533751, GT 121, 2010
HMS Hurworth (M39), Hunt Class Minesweeper, 8401509, GT 625, 1985
HMS Duncan (D37), Type 45 Destroyer, 4907880, 5800, 2013
Armorique, Passenger / Ro-Ro Cargo Ship, 9364980, GT 29468, 2009
Cliffwater, Chemical / Oil Products Tanker,  9229532, GT 2144, 2002

Southsea - 28 October 2014

Kongo Star, Chemical / Oil Products Tanker, 9508823, GT 8537, 2010

East Cowes - 31 October 2014

Karen Knutsen, Crude Oil Tanker, 9169615, GT 87827,  1999
Ulsan Express, Container Ship, 9613020, GT 142295, 2014
Glenda Melissa, Chemical / Oil Products Tanker, 9494682, GT 29130, 2011 Quantum Of The Seas, Passenger (Cruise) Ship , 9549463, GT 167800, 2014

Fawley / Solent - 1 November 2014

Nomadic Bergen, General Cargo Ship, 9432490, GT 5629, 2009
Duesseldorf Express, Container Ship, 9143556, GT 53523, 1998
Nave Cosmos, Chemical / Oil Products Tanker, 9457024, GT 17846, 2010  
 
Southampton - 1 November 2014

Seoul Express,
Container Ship, 9193305, GT 54465, 2000
Waverley, Side Paddle Steamer, 5386954, 693, 1947
0 Comments

CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY

6/11/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Vehicles carrier California Highway photographed in Southampton on the 1 November 2014.

She was built by Imabari Zosen, Marugame,  Japan as Yard No.1527 in 2010 and is 199.97m long with a 32.6m beam and 10.01m draught. Her keel was laid on 25 March 2010 and she was launched on 20 October 2010 before finally being completed on 24 December 2010.

Powered by a Kobe 2SA8CY (13,260 kW) diesel engine she has a top speed of 22 knots.

In total she can carry 6,215 vehicles.

GT = 59,447, NT = 19,152 and DWT 18,644.

Owned by the Nabob Shipping Corporation she is managed by Taiyo Nippon, Kisen Co who were established as a ship owner in 1917 and currently manage over 100 vessels, the company is headquartered in Kobe, Japan
Picture
MMSI - 352732000
REG - PA, Panama
IMO - 9574078
Call Sign - 3FJL6
Vehicles Carrier
Built - Imabari Zosen, Marugame, JP
Yard No.1527
L 199.97m x W 32.6m
GT - 59447
Year - 2010
Southampton, 1 November 2014   
0 Comments

GRANDE SCANDANAVIA

4/11/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Vehicles carrier Grande Scandanavia heading out of Southampton on 26 October 2014. I took the photograph from the end of the esplanade in East Cowes which is a regular haunt for me early in the morning when I am holidaying on the Isle of Wight.

She was built by Daewoo in Okpo, KR in 2001 as yard number 4428 and is 181.2m long with a 32.25m beam and 9.4m maximum draught.

GT = 52,485 and Summer DWT = 18,440.

Powered by a Sulzer 7RTA62U (16,013kW) diesel engine she has a top speed of 19.5 knots.

She can carry a total of 4,650 cars and 716 containers.

The vessel is operated by Grimaldi Lines which dates back to 1947, the company has been involved in the transportation of vehicles since 1969.

MMSI - 247018700
REG - IT, Palermo
IMO - 9220615
Call Sign - IBNF
Vehicles Carrier
Built - Daewoo Okpo
Yard No.4428
L 181.2m x W 32.25m
GT -52485
Year - 2001
East Cowes, 26 October 2014
0 Comments

causeway

3/11/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Trailing hopper suction dredger Causeway photographed on the 25 October 2014 in the Solent just South of Fawley. I took the picture from the Red Funnel ferry as we headed to the Isle Of Wight.

Overall she is 92.1m long with a 19m beam and 6.82m draught and is powered by twin Caterpillar 3516 (9472kW) diesel engines giving a top speed of 11 knots.

Hold capacity is 4,500m3 of dredged material.

Her suction pipe has a diameter of 900mm and she can dredge up to 30m below sea level.

GT = 4,320 and DWT 5,950.

She is designed to operate up to 15 miles from shore or 20 miles from port or dredging over 15 miles from shore with a significant wave height of less than 2.5m.

The vessel is operated by Boskalis Westminster who commenced operations in 1933.

Since I saw her she has left the Solent area and at the time of writing is heading across the English Channel on her way to Calais.

MMSI - 210523000
REG -  CY, Limmasol
IMO - 9653197
Call Sign - 5VB3
Trailing Hopper Suction Dredger
Built - Partner Ship Yard, Gdansk, PO
Yard No.- 320
L 92.1m W 19m
GT 4320
Year - 2013
Solent, 25 October 2014
 


0 Comments
Forward>>

    Author

    My interest in ships and the sea started back in 2006 when I worked for a couple of years  on the banks of the River Mersey. I have since been on a couple of cruises around the Med and in the Far East and have started to take more interest in researching and photographing some of the ships and other vessels seen on my travels.

    Archives

    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.