RHODESIAN. RHODESIAN In the 1950’s, Grimsby trawler owners embarked on a massive ship- building programme of new diesel powered trawlers to replace their ageing steam vessels. One such company was Sir Thomas Robinson and Sons Ltd., a long established firm whose roots went back as far as 1891, who also owned the Dominion Steam Fishing Company Ltd.,(1906-64), the Reliance Ship and Repairing Company Ltd.,(1921-54), Steam Trawlers Coal & Trading Company Ltd., (1904-47), and The Lincolnshire Steam Trawlers Mutual Insurance Company Ltd., (1891-76). Their main office was in Wharnecliffe Road opposite the fish market in No1 Dock. Ten new diesel powered trawlers were built between 1954 and 1961, by Cochranes and Sons of Selby, all designed as middle water vessels. These were……. OLIVEAN, January 1954. THESSALONIAN, January 1955. SAMARIAN, June 1957. RHODESIAN, JULY 1957. GALILAEAN, August 1959. EPHESIAN, October 1957. PHILADELPHIAN, May 1960. JUDAEAN, July 1960. PRISCILLIAN, October 1961. TIBERIAN, October 1961. The Grimsby Evening Telegraph wrote on January 4th 1957, LAUNCHING WAS A FAMILY AFFAIR. “The launching of a trawler for a Grimsby company at Selby yesterday was a family affair. The single screw diesel trawler RHODESIAN, built for the Onward Steam Fishing Company Ltd., an associated company of Sir Thomas Robinson and Son (Grimsby), Ltd., was launched by a granddaughter of the late Sir Thomas Robinson, Mrs. G. Smith. Two more grandchildren of the late Sir Thomas, Mr. F. B. Robinson and Mr. J. R. Adams, attended the ceremony at the Ouse shipbuilding yard, Selby, of Cochranes and Sons, Ltd., builders of the RHODESIAN. Mr. Robinson is the managing director, and Mr. Adams, the director and secretary of the company. The trawler is the second of two built for the Onward Steam Fishing Company Ltd., and like her sister-ship the SAMARIAN launched in November last year, will be fitted experimentally with a Sperry gyro-scopic compass and master pilot enabling her to be held automatically on a predetermined course. Like the SAMARIAN, she is 127 ft 6 in. between perpendiculars, with a 26 ft beam and a 13 ft draught. Her gross tonnage is about 340 tons. The diesel propelling machinery is being built by British Polar Engines Ltd., and consists of a type M. 45 M. five cylinder direct reversing engine supercharged with a Napier blower, and capable of developing 950 brake horse power at 260 revolutions a minute. The whole of the machinery, including the auxiliaries, will be installed by the Drypool Engineering and Dry Dock Co. Ltd., of Hull.” The RHODESIAN was proudly on display alongside the North Wall in 1957 for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip when they paid an official visit to the town. They were given a guided tour of the new vessel by her skipper, Harry Ellis. After five hours of extensive river trails, the RHODESIAN docked in Grimsby, dressed overall and wives and family were shown around the ship. Skipper Harry Ellis remarked, “All you have to do is set the ship on a course, flick over the switch and she steers herself. “She comes up to my expectations, everything has gone fine.” This was the second new ship which Skipper Ellis has had. The first was the THESSALONIAN. He had been at sea for 22 years of his 39 years, 10 of them as skipper. On the 16th October 1969 it was reported that, “The RHODESIAN was being towed into Aberdeen for emergency repairs after breaking down in the Faroe grounds with engine trouble. She was taken across the Pentland Firth by a sister-trawler, the EPHESIAN, and will land her catch in Aberdeen.” It was not a serious problem and the crew were never in any danger. In October 1976, the RHODESIAN was bought by H. L. Taylor’s and joined the EPHESIAN, now KYOTO, and the GALILAEAN, now NANAO. Eight of her sister-ships went back into the hands of the White Fish Authority after Sir Thomas Robinson’s stopped their trawling operations earlier that year. She sailed for Taylor’s for almost three years under her new name SANDO. In August 1979 the SANDO was put up for sale, another victim to the fuel crisis which had already seen many trawlers end up in the scrap yard. The SANDO escaped this fate though after new Greek owners who re-named her, NAFTILOS.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 19:31:08 +0000
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