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Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: gowjani on Friday 15 February 13 14:24 GMT (UK)
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I am hoping to find a picture of the SS Wells City which sailed from Avonmouth , England to New York in March 1950 . I have tried the Bristol City line of steamships website & others , but have had no luck . Can anyone point me to a site where I will find this ship ? Many thanks , Graham .
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Hi Graham,
I have found on 'the ships list.com' that the ship was only known as the SS Wells City or just plain Wells City for a period of 3 years. The ship was built in 1922 & the Bristol City Line purchased the ship St Ina in 1948 & renamed it Wells City & sold the ship to Pakistan in 1951 when it was again renamed, this time as the Fausta.
This was the 3rd & last ship to bear the name Wells City.
Wikipedia has the following about the ship:
Empire Mariner was a 4957 ton cargo ship, which was built by Deutsche Weft, Hamburg. Launched in 1922 as schwarzwald. Sold in 1935 to H Vogemann, Hamburg and renamed Rheingold. Sailed in 1939 from Bahia, Brazil in an attempt to return to Germany but was captured on 25 October by Delhi and escorted to Kirkwall then Glasgow. To MoWT and renamed Empire Mariner. On 26th July 1943 she put into the Clyde with engine damage. A new steam engine and boilers were fitted. Sold in 1946 to South American Saint Line Ltd and renamed St Ina. Sold in 1948 to Bristol City Line of Steamships Ltd and renamed Wells City. Sold in 1951 to East and West Steamship Co, Karachi and renamed Fausta. Scrapped in October 1963 in Karachi.
Phew, she had at least six names, perhaps no wonder no pictures found as yet!
Hope this helps.
Kind regards
David
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Not quite a photo but there's a model of the ship & an article here: -
http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/ss-Wells-City-ndash-sailors-lucky-ship/story-14164562-detail/story.html#axzz2KyqVlmA0
Best wishes
Maria
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Hi Graham,
Just a quick addendum to my last post, the Delhi mentioned as escorting the Rheingold was the HMS Delhi.
Maria, unfortunately that's the wrong ship, the model picture is of the SS Wells City built in 1890 & scrapped in 1933/34. I did initially see that picture myself, but realised fairly quickly that the dates didn't match as the ship Graham was looking for was still sailing in 1950.
Kind regards
David
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Oops :o
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Thanks DavidJP for your detailed reply . I will try looking under the other names she had to see what I can find . Also thanks to miriamkinga . I also found the picture you mention , but realised it must have been an earlier ship . Graham .
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I am hoping to find a picture of the SS Wells City which sailed from Avonmouth , England to New York in March 1950 . I have tried the Bristol City line of steamships website & others , but have had no luck . Can anyone point me to a site where I will find this ship ? Many thanks , Graham .
I run a web site that records the history of the ships of companies that made up The British & Commonwealth Shipping Company.
South American Saint Line was a part of it and I have long sought a pic of St Ina.
I have found one of her as she was as Schwarzwald, you will find it here:
http://www.bandcstaffregister.co.uk/page2250.html
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Thanks for the picture Master-Mariner. Sorry for the delay in replying, as I only spotted it today. Cheers, Graham.
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For a photograph as WELLS CITY
http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/301485/title/empire-mariner/cat/510
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Thanks again Seaweed.
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When I opened Roots Chat for the first time a few days ago there was a letter requesting information regarding a cargo carrying steamship named the S.S. Wells City out of Bristol UK. Having sailed on her in my youth I have information that may help. Is there any way that I can make contact with this person.
Michael.
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Hi Michael,
Welcome to RootsChat, I think I've found the topic you are referring to (by searching "Wells City") and I've put your post at the end of this topic.
Trystan
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Thankyou Trystan. I believe I am answering an original post by 'gowjani' requesting a photograph of a ship named the 'S.S. Wells City'. Other than to say that she was built in 1922 in Hamburg, Germany I won't go into a detailed account of the history of the ship as this has been well covered in subsequent posts. My association with the 'Wells City' was in a working capacity as an apprentice deck officer. I was just 16years old when I joined her in Avonmouth on the 5th January 1950. I was paid off in Avonmouth on the 12th April 1951 after which the ship was sold by the Bristol City Line to other interests. During my time aboard her we made eight voyages between Avonmoith the USA and Canada. By any standards the ship was old. Straight stem, counter stern and a 'woodbine' funnel. Propulsion by steam raised by coal fired boilers was on the way out. There were five holds, two for cargo and one amidships was for coal bunkers, all secured for sea by wooden hatch boards and three tarpaulins. Cargo was loaded and unloaded with the use of the ship's derricks and a Jumbo derrick with a S.W.L. of 25 tons which was secured to the foremast. there were four apprentices on board accommodated in two tiny cabins abaft the wheelhouse. There was accommodation for twelve passengers amidships and we usually had a few on board, it was probably a cheap form of transport in those days. Only once did we have a full compliment when it included several young war brides joining their husbands in the USA. That first voyage in January 1950 was a particularly wild one on the North Atlantic and it took 21 days for the crossing. The only aids to navigation on board was the traditional magnetic compass, a log line, an ancient direction finder and a radio operator. It was hairy going off the fog banks of New Foundland. There was no hot running water on board. In order to wash one had to obtain a bucket, fill it with water and subject it to steam from one of the many steam outlets situated fore and aft for that purpose. The ship's Master had a bath in his quarters which his steward filled, once a week with copious amounts of water by this means. The ship was of riveted construction and at this stage almost thirty years old and I remember spending much of my time assisting the shipwright build cement boxes around rivets that had come loose and admitting sea water. Not entirely comforting for a newcomer to ships and the sea. I was told that when taken by HMS Delhi in 1939 the Wells city was the first prize for the Allies of the Second World War. I hope that this has been of some interest.
Mike Pitcher.
Queensland, Australia.
P.S. Please let me know if this letter and the photograph get through.
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I thought we had some Americanization with every one horse place in America called a "City".
But I was wrong.
From the Internet:
Wells is the smallest city in England with about 12,000 inhabitants. It can call itself a city because of the famous 13 th century Cathedral.
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Hello Mike Pitcher,
Many thanks for your detailed post last year and especially for the photograph of the SS Wells City, for which I had been searching for some years, albeit in a previous incarnation, as the SS Empire Mariner. My father served as a Radio Officer aboard that vessel between September 1944 and May 1945 and he is listed in an US Immigration manifest dated Jan. 13, 1945. That manifest (and perhaps others for other time periods) provides a full crew list at that time, and is available through ancestry.com.
I am presently engaged in researching and writing a biography of my father's career as a Marconi Mercantile Marine Radio Officer between 1941 and 1947. I have photographs of all the other vessels on which he served, but not the Empire Mariner (and subsequent name changes), and I would very much appreciate being able to use your photograph in that biography. May I have your permission to do so please, which I would be acknowledge as you wish?
Thank you for considering my request,
John Henry