Time for the herald?

OUT OF HOURS BULLY'S TRUCKSTOP BAR (INTERACTIVE)
21

truckyboy:
Must add my two pence worth…was on permanent international work at the time for Wally Eldridge…met up with one of our drivers en route who had taken his son with him…we later met in Zeebee where i was waiting for the fateful ship to arrive ( or is it a boat ) our fellow driver arrived and couldnt get booked on that one, but got booked onto a much later one, but was panicking as his son had to get back…so we both went to the office to ask if we could swap bookings which they agreed to. I found out later that the cabins were full and they decided to sleep in the truck, was woken or disturbed by all the banging of the bow door rams that wouldnt operate , and so decided to head upstairs, when they reached the deck they wanted, she keeled over… so i had a lucky escape, and so did they. very sad for all those who lost their lives that day. r.i.p.

Classic.

22

I think that we should get as much of this pee written down as possible before it goes from memory to history. We don’t want false info or God forbid fake news being passed off as facts.

23

I wasn’t on the Herald, but was based in Aldershot with the Royal Military Police, myself and the Detachment Sergeant from our Shorncliffe detachment were on military liaison with the civil authorities at the port.

24

If you search the web for a newspaper interview there was a driver called Arthur English (then aged 43) from Stafford who was eating his food in the driver cafe when it went over. Managed to swim for it and escape.
I bet no one believes him now!

25

3 wheeler:
If you search the web for a newspaper interview there was a driver called Arthur English (then aged 43) from Stafford who was eating his food in the driver cafe when it went over. Managed to swim for it and escape.
I bet no one believes him now!

I would bet he never mentions it.

26

Drivers had sailed for years on the Herald, well not that many years, it was only launched in 1979, eight years earlier and it sailed between Dover and Calais. It normally carried a full compliment of crew but on this occasion it was sailing to Zeebrugge and didn’t need as many crew as they got longer rests between the ports.

Some drivers have read bits about the ship capsizing. I bought the enquiry investigation from HMSO.

The stories remind me of our “local war hero” he sailed from Hull on the MV Norland to the Falklands, the Norland didn’t sail from Hull, it sailed from Portsmouth after being fitted with Helicopter landing pads. He apparently got off the Sheffield and onto the Norland, the Norland didn’t arrive in Ascension until after the Sheffield had gone off to war. This Walter was aged 13 in 1982 :smiley:

27

Am I correct in thinking they didn’t take it out of service, just fixed it, renamed it and stuck it straight back out there?

‘Financial consideration’ has a lot to answer for sometimes…

28

From wiki
A salvage operation, conducted by Dutch company Smit-Tak Towage and Salvage (part of Smit International), was embarked upon almost immediately to refloat the ship. The operation was successfully concluded in late April 1987, allowing the remaining bodies trapped underwater to be removed. The ship was towed to Zeebrugge, and then across the Western Scheldt to the yard of De Schelde in Flushing, where her fate was decided. It had originally been assumed that she could be repaired and continue sailing. However, no buyer was found; she was sold to Compania Naviera SA of Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, for scrapping.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Hera … Enterprise

29

Really grinds my gears all the idiots claiming all sorts of fantasies about the Herald.
I come from the town next to Dover called Deal so have family and friends who crewed the ship in various roles from senior officers to stewards and deck hands . I later worked for a local company who lost several drivers or sub contractors and a couple who were real heroes that night .

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk

30

I remember the barracks in Deal getting bombed in September 1989, I was based in Northern Ireland at the time.

31

Wheel Nut:
Drivers had sailed for years on the Herald, well not that many years, it was only launched in 1979, eight years earlier and it sailed between Dover and Calais. It normally carried a full compliment of crew but on this occasion it was sailing to Zeebrugge and didn’t need as many crew as they got longer rests between the ports.

Some drivers have read bits about the ship capsizing. I bought the enquiry investigation from HMSO.

The stories remind me of our “local war hero” he sailed from Hull on the MV Norland to the Falklands, the Norland didn’t sail from Hull, it sailed from Portsmouth after being fitted with Helicopter landing pads. He apparently got off the Sheffield and onto the Norland, the Norland didn’t arrive in Ascension until after the Sheffield had gone off to war. This Walter was aged 13 in 1982 :smiley:

I had stopped going over by 79 but sure I had been on that ship before that ?

32

Wheel Nut:
The stories remind me of our “local war hero” he sailed from Hull on the MV Norland to the Falklands, the Norland didn’t sail from Hull, it sailed from Portsmouth after being fitted with Helicopter landing pads. He apparently got off the Sheffield and onto the Norland, the Norland didn’t arrive in Ascension until after the Sheffield had gone off to war. This Walter was aged 13 in 1982 :smiley:

The next time some mentions the Norland, ask them about Wendy!