Branch Notes - May 2025

For our May meeting we enjoyed a presentation on marine engines by David Bull, who worked for MaK for 30 years. David took us through the history of the company, from its inception to its acquisition by Caterpillar, before turning his attention to the MaK series of engines, and the operation of marine engines within a ship itself. David presented his encyclopaedic knowledge of the MaK engine, and took us through some of the fascinating innovations that made the series such a success. Many thanks, David, for a genuinely insightful evening.

January 2025 Branch Meeting

David Walker kicked off 2025 with the first of a three-part talk on the port of Rotterdam. Beginning at the centre of the city with the maritime museum, Erasmusbrug, and cruise terminal, David worked his way west along the docks and havens that make up the older parts of the port, as far as Eemhaven. In addition to a brief history of each dock we saw examples of the types of ships that have used them in the last 20 years. It was interesting to hear a little of the history of areas we’ve seen in shows for many years.

November Branch Meeting

For our November meeting Rodge Musselwhite will present Update 2023, the last year's local maritime scene as captured by his camera. The meeting commences at 19:30 at the Alice Cross Centre, Teignmouth. Non-members are most welcome.

Branch Notes - September & October 2023

Much of September's meeting featured ships seen at Rotterdam (David Walker)

In September we were taken on a tour of the Netherlands by David Eeles who showed photographs taken on a recent trip to Rotterdam. David travelled with our treasurer Colin Baigent, and basing themselves at the Delta Hotel they travelled as far afield as the shipyards of Delfzijl and Westerbroek, also taking in Amsterdam. In October David returned at short notice to cover our scheduled speaker who was ill. He showed a range of sketches of local ships, made in the late 1960s and early 1970s, before showing photographs of his favourite coasters taken between the 1930s and current date. Thanks David for a pair of highly entertaining evenings. 

Branch Notes - July 2019

At our July meeting David Eeles presented a selection of videos and photos from his recent trips. He took us from Southampton to Terneuzen before showing a trip on the preserved coaster Greundiek. We then moved to Warnemunde, and saw an impressive number of ships passing on arrival at the port before concluding the evening with some views from a recent holiday in Genoa. Thanks are due to David for an excellent night's entertainment and some great videos.

One of the ships seen during the evening was GNV's Fantastic - seen here in Barcelona in April 2017. (David Walker)

July Branch Meeting

For our July meeting David Eeles and David Walker will show photographs from recent trips to the Netherlands. The meeting commences at 19:30 at the Alice Cross Centre, Teignmouth. Non-members are most welcome.

June 2019 Meeting

On Thursday 13th June Krispen Atkinson will present photographs of ships seen on his recent travels around the world. The meeting commences at 19:30 at the Alice Cross Centre, Teignmouth. Non-members are most welcome.

Branch Notes - May 2019

Our May meeting saw the return of Richard Osborne who gave the first part of a presentation on the history of the Royal Navy between Suez and the Falklands. Beginning with an overview of the post-war fleet, Richard explained the political and military pressures on fleet rebuilding before describing the Suez conflict itself. The evening finished with a discussion of the lessons learned from Suez, and their effect on the fleet’s shape in the 1960s and 1970s. The talk was highly informative and engaging, and it was particularly interesting to learn about the technical innovations in aircraft carrier design through the period. Many thanks to Richard for his efforts in writing and delivering the talk, and we look forward to Part 2 in 2020.

May 2019 Meeting

On Thursday 9th May Richard Osborne will present "From Suez to the Falklands: The Royal Navy 1956-1982". The meeting commences at 19:30 at the Alice Cross Centre, Teignmouth. Non-members are most welcome.

February Meeting

On Thursday 14th February David Eeles will present photographs taken on a recent trip to Rotterdam with Colin Baigent. The meeting commences at 19:30 at the Alice Cross Centre, Teignmouth. Non-members are most welcome.

December 2018 Meeting

Our December meeting is a members evening - contributions of 20-30 minutes on a maritime subject are invited. Please let David Walker know in advance if you would like to present something. 19:30, 13th December, Alice Cross Centre, Teignmouth. Non members are most welcome.

November 2018 Meeting

For our November meeting Rodge Musselwhite will present "Update 2018", his annual roundup of the local shipping scene. 19:30, 8th November, Alice Cross Centre, Teignmouth. Non members are most welcome.

October 2018 Meeting

Our October 2018 meeting marks the 40th anniversary of the first meeting of the Torbay & East Devon branch. Ian Wells, who founded the branch, will be our guest speaker for the evening, and will present "London Docks 1972 (Part I)". 19:30, 11th October, Alice Cross Centre, Teignmouth. Non members are most welcome.

September 2018 Meeting

Our September meeting is a members evening - contributions of 20-30 minutes on a maritime subject are invited. Please let David Walker know in advance if you would like to present something. 19:30, 13th September, Alice Cross Centre, Teignmouth. Non members are most welcome.

"A Maritime Review of 2017"

New WSS book by Krispen Atkinson, David Walker and Andrew McAlpine - A4 softback, 100 pages, 186 colour photos.

This book provides a snapshot of the events that occurred in the shipping industry during 2017 including ownership changes, notable deliveries, demolitions and losses. Changes in fleets are illustrated, including the transfer of ships within the Hyundai Merchant Marine fleet and the sale of Brazilian container ship operator Mercosul Line. 2017 saw the title of "world's largest container ship" change three times, as the latest generation of ships entered service. The AIDAPERLA and MSC SEASIDE are amongst the cruise ships that entered service throughout the year, and are illustrated. In other sectors, new ro-ros and general cargo ships entering the fleet, including Cobelfret's CELINE and the EGBERT WAGENBORG, raised the bar in their corresponding markets. Alongside high profile incidents of the year, including the grounding of container ships KEA TRADER and CSCL JUPITER which gained high media interest, some lesser-known incidents such as the sinking of the coastal tanker AGIA ZONI II and SOUTHERN PHOENIX are covered. This year saw the delivery of the UK's aircraft carrier QUEEN ELIZABETH, the German Navy rejecting the first of its F-125 frigates, and the Peruvian Navy decommissioning the last gun cruiser in service. In December the disappearance of the Argentine submarine SAN JUAN triggered an international search effort. The story of this interesting year is told using a selection of high quality photographs supported by informative deep captions.

Available now from booksales@worldshipsociety.org or WSS, 274 Seven Sisters Road, Willingdom, Eastbourne, BN22 0QW, United Kingdom, price £10 to members (quoting membership number) or £15 to non-members plus P&P £1.64 (UK) £4.90 (Europe) & £4.85 (RoW). Payment may be made by GBP cheque or credit card. For the latter please state whether Visa or Mastercard and quote card number, exact name on card, card expiry date, card validation number and address of cardholder.

August 2018 Meeting

For our August meeting, Ken Cload will be showing some of his photos taken on recent trips to the Hook of Holland. 19:30, 9th August, Alice Cross Centre, Teignmouth. Non members are most welcome.

July 2018 Meeting

The subject of our July meeting is "British Rail Steamers and Topical Ships", by David Eeles. 19:30, 12th July, Alice Cross Centre, Teignmouth. Non members are most welcome.

Branch Notes - June 2018

LNG tanker Margaret Hill at Southampton in 2009.

At our June meeting Chris Matthews gave a presentation on LNG tankers. Chris worked on various LNG tankers during his career with Shell, many of which he showed during the evening. He began with a description of the origins of the LNG trade, and described the technical aspects of dealing with LNG in detail. He provided a deep insight into the workings of a trade that most members present agreed they knew very little about. The talk included various amusing anecdotes about his time at sea. Many thanks to Chris for his efforts in putting together a most interesting evening.

June 2018 Meeting

At our June meeting, Chris Matthews will present a talk on LNG tankers. 19:30, 14th June, Alice Cross Centre, Teignmouth. Non members are most welcome.

Branch Notes - May 2018

At our May meeting we saw two presentations. In the first, we heard about the regulations surrounding emissions from ships as Kathleen Goddard spoke about this important and topical issue. She described the various regulations, both existing and incoming, what authorities and companies were doing to meet them, and Emission Control Areas. Kathleen’s talk provided a highly interesting insight into a subject that is of great importance to the shipping industry at present. She was followed by David Walker, who showed photographs taken on two recent cruises with Cruise and Maritime Voyages – a Christmas Markets cruise on Magellan to Amsterdam, Hamburg and Antwerp, and an Amsterdam and Antwerp weekend on their newest vessel Columbus. Thanks are due to both speakers for a very interesting evening.