by teesships » Sat May 11, 2013 1:22 pm
Tom,
I was delighted to see the photo of the ALCOBACA. Not sure if I've seen one of her before .... and I had certainly long ago forgotten she was a Bartram's product!
ALCOBACA (5009295), Portugal, 5289gt, completed Bartram, Sunderland, 5-1948
BU Lisbon 28.10.79 [Joao Luis Russo & Filhos Ltda]
What the photo does is take me back 52 years down memory lane to 26 May 1961. If memory serves, I was somewhere on the South Shields bank of the Tyne when I observed the ALCOBACA midstream. What still stands out in my mind, and was significant enough to also record in my notebook of the time, was that the second C in her name has the squiggle underneath that looks like the figure 5 without the top bar. Presumably the Portuguese (I was initially going to say Spaniards ... memory, memory!! ... until I noted your other photo in a separate posting of the 6 Portuguese ships!!!!) use this to change the sound of the letter? Interesting, however, that it was not showing on her stern while building.
Ron
