Dai Griffin - Engineer P&O Cruise Ships

Dai’s Memories

Courtesy of Dai Griffin

Two unnamed crew members returning to the Oronsay in Bali.

Courtesy of Dai Griffin

Senior Nursing Sister on Oronsay alas unnamed. Dai took her for a walk ashore so he could show her how to barter. That’s a new one!!!

Courtesy of Dai Griffin

A group going ashore in Casablanca. Dai thinks the girl in the striped dress was a passenger but the rest were Ships Company unfortunately unnamed.

Keith Radford has kindly come up with the following information, ‘the guy at the back with the beard, paying a deal of attention to the girl in the striped dress, is Bob Jones. I phoned Bob to ask him and he said he did go to Casablanca on the Oronsay but doesn’t remember the event "probably hung-over from the previous evenings antics" was Bob’s comment. Knowing Bob as well as I do I also remember the shirt that he's wearing. The girl between the 2 guys in front of Bob I’m sure is Stella Rowe the disco dolly from the Bronzy Oronsay.’

Courtesy of Dai Griffin

The lady in the polka dot bikini top is Sue Soloman (Steiners) and opposite her is Stella Rowe.

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Oronsay leaving San Francisco and Dai’s forgotten his name but does remember he was an engineer from Wales.

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Pete “The General”, Me and the Second Engineer out chasing some of the remaining steam locos working in Mombassa.

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Both the ladies were from Oronsay and at least one (RHS) was a Telephonist.

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Oronsay Crew Members … no names

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Again no names but Dai remembers they were 2nd & 3rd Engineers on Oronsay.

Greg Sinclair’s quite rightly named the 3rd on the right as Bill McCandless. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize him myself. Thanks Greg.

Keith Radford tells me the 2nd is Roger Marshall. Thanks Keith.

Courtesy of Dai Griffin

Dai with another guy from the Orsova but can’t remember who it is.

Courtesy of Dai Griffin

Dai with another guy from the Orsova but again he can’t remember who it is. By my powers of deduction I can say for sure that Dai is the one with something strange sticking out of his trousers.

Courtesy of Dai Griffin

Passing through the Panama Canal

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Another passing through the Panama Canal

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Dai remembers the following;

We (Oronsay) were berthed at 90’ to Arcadia in Long Beach. I got to “Volunteer” to climb the SBD FWD Samson Post to replace a floodlight, TERIFIED, I hate heights, especially when they sway! I said I’d only go up with an AB, they were good lads, a few volunteered, they would pull your leg mercilessly about anything, but after, they NEVER mentioned my fear of heights. I wish I could remember the AB’s name. Anyway Arcadia left while we were aloft and the AB warned me that “Them on the Bridge” would blow the Typhoon when the Bridge’s were in line, NEVER I said with men aloft forward? You don’t so much hear it, as FEEL it at that range! I left my fingerprints in the steel !

Courtesy of Dai Griffin

Dai remembers the girl on the right was a WAP and the girl on the left was a Children’s Nurse he thinks, He does know that he fancied her a lot though.

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What a great old car!

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Dai now remembers this Electrician who was totally black (covered with soot) in the Oronsay Groups Dry Dock photo is Bob Dent.

Courtesy of Dai Griffin

All Dai remembers about this one is that it was leaving Sydney.

Courtesy of Dai Griffin

And this is Dai on the left and Norm ??? on the right leaving Sydney.

All I can say Dai is that your photos are fantastic but your memory is atrocious :)

The following are photos taken of Oronsay in Hong Kong; I was a bit of a photographic Pratt at the time and was convinced that Black and White was more "Arty" - Scary!

At Ocean Terminal after a chippin' and paint job; hull now white, was brown.

Remember the stalls?

Stadium, and the local women that helped the cleanup.

Aft Pool looking like new.

Freedom! Fat chance getting ashore :(

They haven't got round to painting this bit yet; with the Brigg/Isolation hospital's barred windows on the far left, above an unknown engineer taking the rays.

Stores.

Star Ferry terminal.

A "bit o' junk" :)

The Ballroom looking Stb Aft.

All nice and clean, the locals did a very good job, every time we called.

Port lounge; Looking Aft.

Two Star ferries and a junk.
It doesn't look like that any more; I was out there to commission some big container cranes in the dock for Siemens, around 1995 and this scene had changed so much.

Two guys pulling up the plank that they've just used to paint the hull.

"Must be getting ready to leave, the bunker barge is here."

Impressive from this angle :)

The following are photos taken of Oronsay in Bali; Found the colour film, thank god!

Swinging on the "pick". Taking the lifeboat ashore.

A lovely ship, and location.

Bellboys checking out the action.

Off for a walk, that's Doug Cruickshank "Crankshaft" (It was a nice nickname, but Doug HATED it!) on the left and Toby Tompkins on the right.

And two waiters

The following are photos taken on (or under) Oronsay;

Yet another of the lads. - Mick Downie, Phil Adkins, John Thow, Bob "Jonesy" Jones & Chris Denham

I had good aim that day, the stupid things we did? The golden gate bridge.

This scary thing was caught by the Goan crew, off the stern end, while tied up in Auckland; directly astern and across the river was a large beach full of swimmers! (Check out Keith Radford's 8th photo in the "Oronsay" section for the berth, the beach is out of shot astern to the left.)

"But he told me"; "Stand there, and hold that up"!
One of the few photos I took of myself, Oronsay's Port prop, removed during dry-dock in Southampton.

Dry-dock in Southampton. Was this it's last?

The following are photos taken of Nevasa:

Southampton, just about to sail empty to Dublin to pick up 450 men and 650 women passengers.

Swinging on the pick at Cobh harbour; discharging all the passengers, end of cruise.

Cobh harbour; we didn't go back to Dublin, something about a bomb scare in the City.

The even more scary thing between the two WAP's is me! My second week at sea, Nevasa being my first ship. I think the lovely WAP on my left is Julia Rymer sorry no more names, most of the trip was a blur. 01-09-73 to 18-09-73 just one cruise, apparently the normal AELO didn't want to do the cruise and it turned out to be pretty fatal for me as I met Gaye Matthews, a passenger, later to be Gaye Griffin, sadly now divorced after 14 years.

The "normal AELO" mentioned above has identified himself as being my old Mate Dave Harbinson (aka Harbo) who has advised me of the reason he chose not to do that particular cruise ...

"I remember having the option of relieving Dai Thomas in Cobh or Southampton. I chose the latter, purely and simply as a matter of logistics. In those days (maybe still today) you could not rent a car in the North and drop it off in the South and it was a 6-7 hour drive (12-14 round trip) for anyone to drop me off. Apart from that I think at the time, I was the only one in our family who had a car anyway. I have very fond memories of at least one (if not two) "Irish Cruises" as they were called."

Good to hear from you Harbo!

All these colour photos are by Gaye Matthews.

Casablanca.

Madeira.

Regards, Dai Griffin.
Middlewich, 21/09/2007