Anecdote

Aad H.c.j. Born @ DARONIA, Wed, 05/27/2009 - 12:14

As far as the ?Daronia? was concerned, since she was full of petrol, she had a miraculous escape. She was anchored about one third of a mile upwind of the ?San Flaviano? and was of the San Vito design, built many years before and equipped with unusually high mid-ship pump room ventilators. By the time she was attacked I was already swimming away from the ?San Flaviano? and vividly remember watching the bomb leave the aircraft, hit the port ventilator, bounce to the starboard ventilator and over the side of the ship without exploding. Some of the best photos of the demise of the ?San Flaviano?, were taken by a deck apprentice on the ?Daronia?.

At the time we were told the pilot was named Pope and flying out of Formosa (Taiwan), in support of an insurrection in the Celebes Islands, by which the Americans hoped to oust Sukarno. As an aside, at that time, no more than six Dutch people could congregate together at any one time, so when a party was held to celebrate the survival of the Captain and Mates the whole lot were arrested, before assurances of each individual's nationality allowed the party to continue !

best wishes - Bingham Macnamara.

Dave & Pat wrote:
Hi Bingham,

Thanks very much for your reply. I think the other ship was the ?DARONIA? not the TARONIA as reported by the US.
The US pilot of the bomber was not captured or executed as the article below states, he was killed in a plane crash in Laos in April 1962 whilst working for the CIA.

Aad H.c.j. Born @ DARONIA, Wed, 05/27/2009 - 12:11

Extract below is from the Shell Magazine

The Sinking of the ?SAN FLAVIANO?

Many readers will already have learnt form the national press of the bombing attack on ships in the harbour of Balikpapan on April 28th (1958). The 18000 ton s.t.s ?San Flaviano? was hit and set on fire, and the Shell tanker m/s ?Daronia? only avoided a similar fate because the bomb which struck her bounced 80 feet off the pump-room skylight and landed in the sea without exploding.

It was a great relief that there were no casualties in the ?San Flaviano?.
Everyone got away in two of the lifeboats within four minutes, and this must certainly be considered a miraculous escape; since the ship had nearly completed discharge and was full of crude oil gas.

The attack took place in the early morning.
The bombs struck the ship amidships on the starboard side, setting the whole of the main deck ablaze. It was against a background of a raging inferno, punctuated by explosions as tank after tank ignited, that the ship?s complement made their escape. The fire on the starboard side meant that only the port lifeboats, amidships and aft, were accessible. The amidships accommodation was completely cut off by flames from the after part of the ship, so the 38 crew members who were aft had to cram themselves into one boat; while the other boat took the seven who were amidships. ?What with that bit of warmth behind?, as Chief Officer Smith remarked, ?The lowering of the amidship?s boat seemed to take infinitely longer than the minute or so which it actually took?. The Second and Third Mates, together with the Apprentice MacNamara, after climbing through a port hole, ran up the sloping foredeck and shinned down the anchor cable to be rescued by the after lifeboat, already down to its gunwales. It can have been no easy matter getting into the boats as the ship was high out of the water, and listing to starboard, and some of the crew had to slide down the falls.

In the after accommodation Second Engineer Barford thought at first that the diesel generator had blown up, Junior Engineer Seddon didn?t realise that anything serious had happened for a minute or two, and he eventually had to jump for it and was picked up by one of the boats. Chief Engineer Wiberg set a splendid example of coolness and self-possession, calmly collecting some of his belongings and arriving in the boat with perfect equanimity.

Captain Bright rowed the amidship?s boat for all his might with his crew of six, including Mrs. Smith, wife of the Chief Officer, who also gallantly took an oar.

Twenty six of the crew sailed for Singapore aboard the ?Daronia?, the same day as the attack, while another 24 followed a few days later in m/s ?Dromus?. Both parties flying home by B.O.A.C Britannia.

As testify to the generous assistance and great kindness they received from the B.P.M staff at Balikpapan, and from the officers and crew of the ships that took them to Singapore. At Singapore they were very well treated for by Shell Tankers Ltd., who helped them to make good some of their losses and to buy some clothes.

We hope that all those who are now safely home are enjoying a good rest after their nerve-racking experience. Captain Bright and Chief Engineer Wilberg, together with five other senior personnel, are still left at Balikpapan, but we hope it won?t be long before they can be flown home.

The last report we have received of the ?San Flaviano? is that she is lying almost entirely submersed on the west side of the entrance of Balikpapan Harbour, out of the navigating channel.

Source: Reprinted from Shell Magazine June 1958

Aad H.c.j. Born @ SAN FLAVIANO, Wed, 05/27/2009 - 12:09

Extract below is from the Shell Magazine

The Sinking of the ?SAN FLAVIANO?

Many readers will already have learnt form the national press of the bombing attack on ships in the harbour of Balikpapan on April 28th (1958). The 18000 ton s.t.s ?San Flaviano? was hit and set on fire, and the Shell tanker m/s ?Daronia? only avoided a similar fate because the bomb which struck her bounced 80 feet off the pump-room skylight and landed in the sea without exploding.

It was a great relief that there were no casualties in the ?San Flaviano?.
Everyone got away in two of the lifeboats within four minutes, and this must certainly be considered a miraculous escape; since the ship had nearly completed discharge and was full of crude oil gas.

The attack took place in the early morning.
The bombs struck the ship amidships on the starboard side, setting the whole of the main deck ablaze. It was against a background of a raging inferno, punctuated by explosions as tank after tank ignited, that the ship?s complement made their escape. The fire on the starboard side meant that only the port lifeboats, amidships and aft, were accessible. The amidships accommodation was completely cut off by flames from the after part of the ship, so the 38 crew members who were aft had to cram themselves into one boat; while the other boat took the seven who were amidships. ?What with that bit of warmth behind?, as Chief Officer Smith remarked, ?The lowering of the amidship?s boat seemed to take infinitely longer than the minute or so which it actually took?. The Second and Third Mates, together with the Apprentice MacNamara, after climbing through a port hole, ran up the sloping foredeck and shinned down the anchor cable to be rescued by the after lifeboat, already down to its gunwales. It can have been no easy matter getting into the boats as the ship was high out of the water, and listing to starboard, and some of the crew had to slide down the falls.

In the after accommodation Second Engineer Barford thought at first that the diesel generator had blown up, Junior Engineer Seddon didn?t realise that anything serious had happened for a minute or two, and he eventually had to jump for it and was picked up by one of the boats. Chief Engineer Wiberg set a splendid example of coolness and self-possession, calmly collecting some of his belongings and arriving in the boat with perfect equanimity.

Captain Bright rowed the amidship?s boat for all his might with his crew of six, including Mrs. Smith, wife of the Chief Officer, who also gallantly took an oar.

Twenty six of the crew sailed for Singapore aboard the ?Daronia?, the same day as the attack, while another 24 followed a few days later in m/s ?Dromus?. Both parties flying home by B.O.A.C Britannia.

As testify to the generous assistance and great kindness they received from the B.P.M staff at Balikpapan, and from the officers and crew of the ships that took them to Singapore. At Singapore they were very well treated for by Shell Tankers Ltd., who helped them to make good some of their losses and to buy some clothes.

We hope that all those who are now safely home are enjoying a good rest after their nerve-racking experience. Captain Bright and Chief Engineer Wilberg, together with five other senior personnel, are still left at Balikpapan, but we hope it won?t be long before they can be flown home.

The last report we have received of the ?San Flaviano? is that she is lying almost entirely submersed on the west side of the entrance of Balikpapan Harbour, out of the navigating channel.

Source: Reprinted from Shell Magazine June 1958

John Bernard @ VERTAGUS, Tue, 05/26/2009 - 22:54

I jioned the vertagus at falmouth 26.7.67 in dry dock we sighed on for 6 mounths we headed of two the far east .kewait,INDIA,BOMBAY AND Butchers island back two Kewait then down two Geelone Astralia back two Kewait headed two singapore we got into a hurricain it was pritty fritning,we went back two kewait then we headed back down the Indian Osean we had xmas there on board the vertagas we had good xmas, we stopped south africa then headed up the Adlantic to rotterdam,pick a load for the UK,It was very cold after being away in the warm sun it was v good trip,i sighed up as c/boy we sighed of 29 january 1968

John Bernard @ AMASTRA (2), Tue, 05/26/2009 - 22:01

I joined the amastra at swansea on 20th 8 1966.The amastra was in dry dock getting a refit it left dry dock went out two the carabean and the U.S.A PORTLAND.THE amastra was my first tanker there isent mutch two say as it was a short trip. the amastra headed back two the UK and i sighed of on 21 september 1966. the amastra went out two the far east vietnam whare it was sunk. I know one person Barney A/STEWARD

John Evans @ BURSA (1), Sat, 05/23/2009 - 03:09
Denis Mazonowicz @ DROMUS (1), Wed, 05/20/2009 - 04:24

I was transferred to the Dromus in Suez dockyard in Dec, 1951. She was there because a bulkhead in 5 starboard had come away from the hull and was scraping and flapping loose. This was fixed and we proceeded East. When Loading octane at Bukom in 1951, the last tank 7c was topped up and loading ceased. The 3rd. mate closed the valve and,on reaching the closure, there was a bang and the wheel continued to spin. The valve spindle had broken and we had no means of discharging the contents. On arrival at Colombo, a superintendent from Singapore was there to meet us with a plan of action. We commenced discharging the wing tanks, raised the hatch lid of 7c, placed boards across the coamings, put the emergency fire pump on top with the suction in 7c and discharge in 7s. When we had lowered the level to below the break,(about halfway) the Ch.Off descended the ladder, wearing a safety line, waders and the smoke helmet and carrying a large stillson heavily wrapped with rags, until reaching the break. With the stillson on the spindle, he managed to open the suction valve. A rather unpleasant operation!
All the valves were heavily corroded and often stuck in the closed position, requiring valve spanners on each side and plenty of brute force to open them. Previously I had served 2 years on the Donacilla which had the same problem as all the old ships kept on the white oil trade had. We were used to the practice of cracking open the next tank to be filled well before topping up commenced.
A few days after Dromus went into drydock in Singapore, I was transferred to the Amastra to work my passage home as I had served 22 months. Myself, 3rd.Mate and 2 apprentices swapping with our counterparts. We spent 3 weeks loading in Miri and Pladjoe before setting out for Colombo. Before leaving the Straits of Malacca, we heard of the accident on Dromus. I am sure that those sticky vaves were the cause. Quite likely the 2nd mate had not had any experience of them as Amastra was a black oil ship.

Jim Rollinson @ NANINIA, Tue, 05/19/2009 - 22:20

My anecdote about Naninia and the explosion is incorrect please ignore it. A senior moment I guess.

I joined Naninia in Singapore in June 1956 as 4th engineer and spent all my time with her in the Pacific and on the Australian coast. With a Chinese crew food was good and she was a very happy ship. I left her in March 1957 after 15months away as I had transferred from TES Trigonosemus in june 1956.

Jim Rollinson @ THALAMUS, Tue, 05/19/2009 - 22:05

Joined Thalamus in December 1954 as 5th engineer in South Shields. In April 1954 Thalamus was sent to the aid of the San Cirilo after the boiler explosion which killed all the engineers apart from the Chief and two firemen. Chief Engineer Macaulay arranged for 3rd engineer and two 5ths to be put aboard Cirilo,I was one of them.
Our Chief Mate refused to take the ships motor boat and Cirilo had to send hers for us. We found the Cirilo Chief inside the other boiler descaling. We spent 7 days aboard repairing and sailing her into Trinidad. We kept 6 hour watches.
On rejoining Thalamus I was promoted to 4th engineer.
Unfortunately in September 1955 In Rotterdam myself and a 5th were scalded and hospitalised.

Jim Rollinson @ TAGELUS (1), Tue, 05/19/2009 - 21:43

I joined Tagelus in September 1953 in Dry Dock in Birkenhead as 5th Engineer and left her in Harburg in September 1954. Our Chief Engineer was Andrew Phillips who was succeeded by THM Anderson. Our Master was Captain TLGreen who was taken ill in January1954 and we had to put him ashore in the Azores. Captain J Brittain joined the ship in Curacao. A happy ship but troubled with some crew unrest which ended with one of the lifeboats being damaged. I am sure Third Mate Eric Phillips will remember this incident.

Jim Rollinson @ NANINIA, Tue, 05/19/2009 - 21:16

boarded along with two other engineers in South Atlantic after boiler explosion.
We spent seven days aboard repairing and sailing into Trinidad. I would like to trace the other two engineers but have no names.

Jmsanders @ MACOMA (2), Sun, 05/17/2009 - 08:20

ik mis het nog