ISL Eddie Duffy 1950s

I joined the company in 1953 after a stint in the Kinsale Hd SS Guinness, F. T. Everard, B.T. Tanker, and the Pacific Steam Navigation Co. While on leave I was asked to join the Irish Seaman's and port workers union and a week later I was signing on the Irish Pine. I got a berth and signed on as E.D.H. signing on the same day (19\11\53) with my father and my brother, which lasted for over 3 years or 48 trips across the pond in all weathers and never a Christmas at home.

Eddie Duffy
1956

Irish Pine 1956

But the good people of St John's New Brunswick or Halifax always looked after us. The deck crew remained much the same for those years and now at 74 the memories are great to look back on, we are all about the same age those of us that are left and we haven’t forgotten those that are gone.
I guess I could have done another 3 years in her had the Captain not made a silly remark about our homes having found nothing to complain about on Sunday inspection. It been a beautiful sunny Atlantic morning with all the deck hands making the best of the sunshine, our Captain found one cigarette butt in the deck scuppers and he lost it completely. All the deck hands gave notice that they wouldn't be signing on next trip- that was on the 20/7/56 .

I stayed ashore and got engaged to my girl friend with a promise to give up the sea when we married and saying good bye to her on 9/10/56 to join the Irish Larch at West Hartlepool for her maiden voyage little did I know that I would not see her again till a year later on the 3/10/57. Things did not work out as we had planed and I rejoined the Larch on the 15/10/57 on charter to Cunard carrying cars and Scotch Whiskey for the States, returning to Liverpool on the 24/12/57in time to catch the B+ I to Dublin even got midnight mass onboard.

Irish larch

Tommy Byrne (Bosun) from Wicklow about to take a plunge in the Pool on the Irish Larch

Some crew at Beach Candy

(Included are-Sainte Byrne, Sunny Byrne and Chippy Purdy)

I was to rejoin her after Christmas but could not go back because of the inter union dispute. I was paid off on the 3/1/58 , battened down for a couple of months and I wondered if I was ever going to get married but the dispute collapsed. I joined the Irish Poplar on the 13/3/58 at Manchester bound for Houston but she developed engine trouble with damaged turbine fins we were adrift for a few days which was reported in the Irish Press of that time.

Ft_Lauderdale_Daily_News.jpg (137761 bytes)

Fort Lauderdale daily news
2nd. April 1958

Photo from Tony Clements

Drifting off the Bahamas, (bound Houston), and waiting for a tow into Fort Lauderdale, Florida for repairs (seawater in boilers?), April 1958.

Photo from Tony Clements

We were towed to Port Everglades till repairs could be carried out , during our time there we were able to welcome aboard our gold medal winner from the Melbourne Olympics Ronny Delaney.

After repairs we carried on to Houston and loaded grain for Chittagong, we called into Gibraltar but very little grub came on board and by the time we got to the canal and into the red sea things were getting lean and so were the crew. There were weevils in the cereals and in the flour. We did get oranges but these were always as dry as the Sahara till it was found that the 2nd steward was using a syringe and needle to extract the juices for the captain's breakfast table. I might add that he had his wife and two small children onboard and the poor children were eating nothing anyway.

Discharged cargo Chittagong sailed and for Albany Western Australia where we truly stored up and we dined on the best. We had onboard a second cook and baker whose bread and cakes were a joy to eat. Just before we sailed there was a fire in the galley, thankfully no one was hurt only smoke damage, so we loaded grain for London and Newcastle calling at Cape town and Dakar then homeward bound.

All things being equal it was a good trip with a sing song most nights at sea and on two bottles of beer at that, and a great and happy bunch of lads, sadly it ended tragically when we lost a man when he fell into dock in London, he had only gone ashore to make a phone call home .

After discharging part cargo we sailed for Newcastle where we paid off on 22/8/58 not much time to prepare for a wedding that was to take place on the 3/9/58 and one of my shipmates married on the same day. We tied the knot on the same day; I haven't seen Johnny in years. I gave up deep sea and joined the Irish Lights Granuaile on the 18/10/58 . I served till 23/8/83 .

The trip on the Irish Poplar is identical to that which Tony Clements writes about.

Her master for the trip when I sailed in her was Captain E.C Horne and as the picture shows her been towed into Port Everglades, I am sure Tony and I were shipmates.

Eddie Duffy the guy who caught the shark while we were drifting.

©Eddie Duffy April 2007