Duke of Normandie

I am Ray Smyth, ex Robert Baillie Transport, Portsmouth.
Hi Dennis Bewick, You mentioned that Fergie47 was “Duke De Normandie”,
I think Dave Fergie would rather be known as the “Prince Of Brittany”,
the name of a much earlier Brittany Ferries ship,the name being a bit
nearer to where he lives.

Hi Stupot, I agree that “Duke De Normandie” rarely strayed from the
Portsmouth to Ouistreham(Caen) route, however the first time I sailed
on the “Duke” was early 1992,from Plymouth to Santander. The usual
ship “Bretagne” was away in Brest,Brittany, having its annual refit and
marine MOT. The crossing was very calm throughout,even across the
Bay Of Biscay.

Regards, Ray Smyth.

I’m pretty sure I shipped Caen-Portsmouth on this one

Hi Wolfie, Yes, The “Duke De Normandie” was on the Portsmouth-Caen route for 16 years,
from 1986 until 2002. She occasionally strayed to other routes during the winter periods
to cover for refits of other vessels, see my earlier post.

Regards, Ray Smyth.

Getting loaded in Portsmouth

My first trip was on the P.O. boat to Le Havre. That is after the boats had been stretched. But first trip with Brittany was on the Reine Mathilde. I`m sure some others will remember her? That was for the Beaujolais run so November 1989. I think she was moved on shortly after?

Sailed on it about 94/95 Portsmouth /St Malo,roughest crossing we ever had,force 10 gales. :slight_smile:

“Duke De Normandie” at the outer linkspan at Ouistreham (Caen) in 1994.
Photo taken as I arrived on the “Normandie Shipper”, about 7a.m.

“Normandie Shipper” at the inner linkspan at Ouistreham (Caen), in the
afternoon of the above picture,taken from the stern of M.V.“Normandie”,
on the afternoon crossing to Portsmouth. Ray Smyth.

“Duke De Normandie”, Bow on at the linkspan at Portsmouth,Loading for Ouistreham (Caen) 1994

“Duke De Normandie” going astern to the outer linkspan at Ouistreham (Caen) 1994

Must be getting ancient as from recollection if you wanted rock & roll you should have experienced the “coco tin” as it was affectionately known and it definitely never had stabilisers, once sailed out of Poole on a Sunday night and landed in Cherbourg Tuesday lunchtime. Took a while before you could walk straight after that and yes I was seasick during and after that.
Toby if you wanted a rare steak that was the ship to sail on, it came out on a silver dish raw one end and still alive the other, soon I learnt the words bian quie but should have learned the word for incinerate, the French cant understand cooked meat that’s why all the Frog Bogs stink so much but having said that I have had some very nice cuisine on my travels through France, cheers Buzzer.

I used to ship on BF in the early 90s, can’t remember the names of the boats, but the freighters were evil when it was a bit bumpy out at sea. The only thing I remember about the passenger ships was going down the poxy lift into the dungeon, although the extra time it took did give me a legal card to get out of Pompey under cover of darkness, which was a good thing at times.

Sent from my SM-T805W using Tapatalk

I shipped on the Duke of Normandie many times. Here’s a pic taken by the ship’s photographer as I boarded it in 2000, and a later pic I took of my wagon in 2004 whilst waiting to board it at Ouistreham. Robert


Hello Robert, I thought I knew all of the Brittany Ferries ships,going back to when they
started in 1973,and I don’t recall a “Duke Of Burgundy”, unless a vessel was re-named
that I was not aware of. My first sailing on “Duke De Normandie” was early 1992,
from Plymouth to Santander because the regular ship,“Bretagne” was in Brest, Brittany,
having its annual refit,and maritime MOT. Best Wishes, Ray Smyth.

Further to my previous post, Picture 1 is 5 days after my journey on “Duke De Normandie”
to Santander. "Bretagne had arrived at Santander on a “Positioning Trip”,after its annual
refit at Brest. It is March 1992. The rain in Spain…

Picture 2, July 1992, MV “Normandie” at Ouistreham, The rain has just stopped.
Waiting to load for Portsmouth. Ray Smyth.

Ray Smyth:
Hello Robert, I thought I knew all of the Brittany Ferries ships,going back to when they
started in 1973,and I don’t recall a “Duke Of Burgundy”, unless a vessel was re-named
that I was not aware of. My first sailing on “Duke De Normandie” was early 1992,
from Plymouth to Santander,the regular ship,“Bretagne” was in Brest, Brittany,
having its annual refit,and maritime MOT. Best Wishes, Ray Smyth.

Sorry Ray, that was a senior moment!! I’ve amended my post to ‘Duke of Normandie’, which is of course what I meant! :blush: Robert :laughing:

One of it in Poole harbour.

Hi DeanB, Great picture of “Duke De Normandie” in the sunshine.
Re: “Duchesse Anne”, This ship was new to B+I Line, and was on
Rosslare to Pembroke, and also Belfast and Dublin to Liverpool
routes in her early days. I did a round trip on the “Duchesse” in
1993 with Brittany Ferries, Plymouth to Roscoff. I believe it is
still operating some where at the eastern end of the Mediterranean
Sea. I have a picture of the “Duchesse”, alongside at Roscoff, and as
soon as I find it,I will post it on here. Kind Regards, Ray Smyth.

robert1952:
I shipped on the Duke of Normandie many times. Here’s a pic taken by the ship’s photographer as I boarded it in 2000, and a later pic I took of my wagon in 2004 whilst waiting to board it at Ouistreham. Robert

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Hi Robert, Is that a DTS trailer you are coupled to?

Regards Dave.

Does anyone remember this ■■■■■■■ bucket, The Dalriada it was running from Stranraer to Larne in the late seventies & was a real roller coaster when it was a little rough out on the Irish Sea.

sealink-holyhead.net/dalriada

dave docwra:

robert1952:
I shipped on the Duke of Normandie many times. Here’s a pic taken by the ship’s photographer as I boarded it in 2000, and a later pic I took of my wagon in 2004 whilst waiting to board it at Ouistreham. Robert

10

Hi Robert, Is that a DTS trailer you are coupled to?

Regards Dave.

Yes, you’re right! It was a DTS and I was inbound from Morocco. Robert

robert1952:

dave docwra:

robert1952:
I shipped on the Duke of Normandie many times. Here’s a pic taken by the ship’s photographer as I boarded it in 2000, and a later pic I took of my wagon in 2004 whilst waiting to board it at Ouistreham. Robert

10

Hi Robert, Is that a DTS trailer you are coupled to?

Regards Dave.

Yes, you’re right! It was a DTS and I was inbound from Morocco. Robert

Amazing the penny has just dropped that we have met, I think you did some work with an asian guy who had been pulling for DTS for a short time before he moved over to Davies Turner, you would have been contracting for Dalys the same time as George Wales, John Chivers, George Sommerville, Dave (poss) from Devon & I think a chap by the name of Fisher or maybe it was Digi Dave was running the International department out of the Brimsdown depot, not sure if Bill King was still pulling for them after they had left Hornsey.