SHEAF TYNE - 1967

[northeast]

Fitting out at Sunderland on 15/06/1967
1967, 29037grt, 51735dwt
Doxford & Sunderland (North Sands yard) (719) for Sheaf Steam Shipping (W. A. Souter), Newcastle
1978 ELOUNDA
1979 KUNIANG
1982 MARINE PRINCESS
Broken up at Alang, arrived 06/02/1996

[fitter]

J.L.Thompson yard number 719. 45,000 dwt bulk carrier. Sulzer 6RND90 engine, by George Clark, Sunderland
Ben Line bought the Sheaf Steam Shipping Co. in December 1976 and the ship was sold in 1978.
Similar ships by the Doxford Group:
Fernriver, Fernspring, August Pacific, Amber Pacific, Argonaut. G.M. Livanos (J.L.Thompson)
Roslagen, Mylla, Orotava (Sir James Laing)
All of these were Doxford 760J6 engines with the exception of Roslagen and it had a Gotaverken engine

Austin and Pickersgills built two similar ships about the same time, Happy Dragon and Sygna. These were built in two halves because they were too big to go around the bend in the River Wear at Deptford (Laings yard) and were joined in drydock on the Tyne. Sygna was wrecked off Australia and its hull was left where it foundered for a few (perhaps many) years. It would be likely that Pickersgills ships would be Sulzer engines and just as likely that they would be built at George Clarks. Both of the firms were at Southwick, one each side of the Alexander Bridge

[northeast]

SYGNA photo coming up!

[Tony Frost]

6RD90 Clark-Sulzer (1637).SYGNA & HAPPY DRAGON 7CYL.H&W/B&W

[fitter]

Tony. Can you be sure about the Sulzer RD engine? I thought that the RD was the one with a rotary exhaust valve and that it was not produced by 1966. The RND had no exhaust valve. I know nothing about Sulzer engine types, but would be interested to know if the Sheaf Tyne did have a RD engine. Thanks
tom

[Tony Frost]

The last engines from Southwick were all RD90's including SHEAF TYNE(last one 6RD90 INDIAN CITY)with rotary exhuast valves.RND had no exaust valves,but production from Wallsend/St.Peters started 1970.(DAPHNELLA & DONACILLA 9RD90)Types of Sulzer engine can be seen though the production of SD14's

[fitter]

Thank you. It would be nice to see an article about George Clarks on this site. My engine lists are out on loan at present, but since posting my question to you, I've found some original lists that I had forgotten I had, so now I will be able to update details of ships on my lists with Sulzers. The following part lists are George Clark contracts:

Daphnella as you rightly say was a 9RD90, Hawthorn Leslie contract 4252, 20,700 BHP @ 119 RPM
Donacilla was a Winterthur Sulzer
I was surprised to find that between 1961 and 1964 George Clark, NEM built 15 Gotaverken engines

The last Clark RD Sulzer appears to be the twin engine Vistafjord, 9RD68 (contracts 1696 & 1697), in 1972
The last Hawthorn RD Sulzer appears to be the Sea Moon 5RD68, (contract 4279), in 1970
Thanks for posting the engine details. This "propelled" me into raking around amongst old files that have many blank spaces, particularly Gotaverken shaped ones, that can now be filled in.

[Tony Frost]

Because Doxfords were struggling for contracts,NEM being a licencee was worse so,they obtained a licence to build Gotaverkens which was eating into Doxford 'P'contracts until the 'J' NEM was strugling so RW renamed the company G.Clark & NEM in 1964 so they could build Sulzers under the Cark-Sulzer brand on the Tyne,But both works Sunderland & Wallsend were struggling having obtained Stephens & Fairfield Sulzer contracts due to their closure.But when contrats were dwindeling Sunderland works was sactrificed to keep the Wallsend works going because their original quoted price for the SD14's engine was too high so Vickers got the contract.The last engine from the Sunderland works was to be one of PORT CAROLINE's engines but the bed plate was taken to wallsend to be completed.

[fitter]

Thanks Tony. Didn't know any of that. Are you able and willing to do a little summary of Clarks, perhaps in the engine builders section of Doxford/Pallion in this forum? It wouldn't hurt to have a thread of their own. If you don't have your own lists already, I have the engine lists I used last night if you want a copy, and when I get my folders, that are currently loaned out, back, I will be able to add a list of their steam engines as well. As much as I am interested in Doxfords I have very little information about Clarks but they deserve recognition and their work is worthy of recording.

Oddly I have Doxford engines for the same ships listed separately as R&W contracts, G.Clark and NEM, in each case with the respective engine builders own sequential contract numbers. In such cases I therefore have three engines listed for one ship, just to be sure that one way or another the builder is identified, but as such I don't know with certainty at which place they were built.

Tom