Portwood

Tyne shipping past and present

Portwood

Postby Keelman » Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:22 pm

Portwood .jpg
During WWII the need to transport gun turrets for the King George V class of battleships arose, the turrets often being constructed away from the yards building the warship's hulls.
A ship designed with especially large hatches able to accommodate such turrets was completed at Sunderland in 1940 by S P Austin & Sons, and registered under the joint ownership of Wm.France Fenwick and James Fisher & Sons. The ship, named SEA FISHER, would find employment as a collier when not required in a gun turret transport role.
After the ship suffered mine damage the admiralty decided that another such vessel was needed in case the first ever became a total loss, thus the SOUND FISHER entered service after completion by Austins in 1941
When hostilities ceased the joint owning company was liquidated in 1946, SOUND FISHER then passed into the registered ownership of Coastwise Colliers Ltd., and was renamed COLNBROOK
Purchased by Wm. France Fenwick & Co. Ltd. in 1949 the collier was renamed PORTWOOD
Sold in 1962 to the George Corporation (Panama) Ltd. of Lebanon who renamed her CHRYSANTHI K
After suffering an engine room fire in 1966 she lay at Kiel until sold for a demolition price of £20,000 to Eckhardt & Co., Hamburg. She was however re-sold to Paul Christensen of Nakskov, Denmark, where she arrived in tow on 24/11/1967
After lying there until 1969 she was re-sold once more, to Spanish shipbreakers at Santander

Photographed at Dunston staithes 04/03/1962
Apparently the large deckhouse aft was built to house army gunners defending the ship during the war
Last edited by Keelman on Mon Sep 27, 2021 4:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Portwood

Postby northeast » Mon Sep 27, 2021 3:42 pm

Excellent caption, a ship with more history than meets the eye.
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Re: Portwood

Postby creemaster » Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:58 pm

be nice to see a picture of them with a turret on the hatches
Imagine there was a bit of an overhang
Gardners carried smaller gun turrets for RN ships.
I say turrets they were built with the mechanisms underneath the turret so they stood on the hold floor and were secured with wooden chocks all around the structure.
Regards
Graham
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