Lackenby Gallery

Steamship Lackenby.

LOCAL LAUNCH

ANOTHER VESSEL FOR ROPNER CO., LTD.

Northern Daily Mail. 20 June/28

Yesterday Messrs. Wm Gray and Co., Ltd., launched from their Central Shipyards the handsome steel screw steamer Lackenby, which is being built to the order of the Ropner Shipping Co., Ltd., West Hartlepool.

The vessel will take the highest class in Lloyd’s Register, and is of the following dimensions: Length overall 425ft.4in.; breadth, 54ft. 3in., depth moulded to upper deck, 29ft. 11 ½  in., with long bridge, poop, and forecastle.

Constructed on the cellular double bottom principle, with fore and aft peaks, for water ballast, the framing being of the deep channel type, she has six watertight bulkheads, together with a steel centre line bulkhead, and wood shifting boards dividing the holds for grain carrying.
                
                                                                  EQUIPMENT

Spacious accommodation for the officers is arranged in a steel house amidships. The engineers will be berthed in large steel houses alongside casing, and the crew in cubicles in the forecastle, with separate mess rooms.

For the quick handling of cargo, ten powerful steam winches are provided to work 12 derricks. A direct-acting steam windlass forward and steam steering gear amidships are also to be fitted.

The topmasts will be telescopic, lowering to a height suitable for the Manchester Ship Canal Bridges.

The Lackenby will be completed in all respects as a first-class cargo steamer, her equipment including an efficient wireless installation with direction finder, and electric light throughout.
                
                                                                 THE ENGINES

Triple-expansion engines having cylinders 26 ½ in., 44in., and 73 inches dia. by 48 in. stroke, and three boilers working at a pressure of 180lbs., will be supplied by the Central Marine Engineering Works of the builders.

A number of auxiliaries of the “C.M.E.W.” type will be installed including an evaporator, general service pump, ballast pump, combined drain and scumming tank, winch condenser with circulating pump, pair of independent singlex feed pumps, and surface feed water heaters.

The ship and machinery are being built under the supervision of Mr. J. B. Nicol on behalf of the owners, and the ceremony of naming the steamer Lackenby was gracefully performed by Miss Doris Sadler of Oswald House, Durham.

The owners were represented by Mr. William Ropner, J. P., and Mr. W. Guy Ropner, and the builders by Sir William Gray, Bart., chairman;  Mr. F. C. Pyman  managing director; Mr. A. McGlashan, and Mr. J. H. Farmer, directors, and Mr. T. S. Simpson general manager.

Amongst those present at the launch were Mrs. Sadler,  Mrs. Guy Ropner, Mrs. F. C. Pyman, Mr. and Mrs. Ian Haywood, Capt. Davies, and Capt. Muller.

Master: 1943 William Arthur Allon.

In convoy SC-117 on a voyage from Tampa for New York, Loch Ewe & London with a cargo of phosphate & a total complement of 45, including 5 gunners, Lackenby became a straggler from the convoy & was torpedoed by German submarine U-624 (Graf Ulrich von Soden, Fraunhofen) & sank south of Cape Farewell in 55N/47W on 23 January 1943. All 45 lives lost.

Lives lost January 1943: Adams, Phillip Scott, greaser, 30, Dawdon, Seaham; Allinson, George Frank, chief engineer, 40, Sunderland; Allon, William Arthur, master, 29, South Shields; Cowie, James Nathaniel, fireman/trimmer, 23 (served as Albert Edward Johnson); Donnachie, James, greaser, 40, Paisley, Renfrewshire; Elliott, George, assistant cook, 23, South Shields; Elsworth, Joseph William Sutton, fireman/trimmer, 22; Errington, Jacob, fireman/trimmer, 37; Flanagan, Daniel, sailor, 22, Jarrow; Fowlie, Thomas, donkeyman, 44; Fox, Robert, able seaman, 22; Fraser, Peter Alexander, fireman/trimmer, 44; Gass, Leslie, able seaman, 35, New Eltham, London; Gibbons, William Austin, 3^rd radio officer, 17, Chorlton, cum, Hardy, Manchester; Gorham, Joseph, fireman/trimmer, 60; Gray, James, chief steward, 40, Cleadon Park, South Shields; Harvey, William John, able seaman, 25, Jarrow; Hewitt, Arthur James, fireman/trimmer, 29; Jackson, Alexander, assistant stewards, 22, South Shields; Jones, Owain Glyn, 3^rd officer, 30, Caernarvon; Karlson, John, carpenter, 63, South Shields; Key, Harry, petty officer, 21, Walworth, London; Lodge, Alfred, 2^nd officer, 66 (husband of Hannah Jane); Lucas, Albert James, 1^st radio officer, 27, Errol, Perthshire; Lupton, James Tony, able seaman, 29, Edgeware, Middlesex; McManus, William Henry Carney, able seaman, 28, Boldon Colliery, Co. Durham; Melville, David, gunner, 20; Morris, Harry Albert, fireman/trimmer, 35; Mullen, Thomas, ordinary seaman, 19; Musgrove, William, 2^nd engineer, 42, South Shields; Newton, Peter, assistant steward, 17; Phillips, Edward, 3^rd engineer, 26; Phipps, Ben, able seaman, 23, Hebburn, Co. Durham; Rowe, Victor Henry, able seaman, 47; Russell, Ernest Leslie Lloyd, gunner; Shields, John Thomas, ordinary seaman, 19; Smith, Joseph Graham, ordinary seaman, 22, South Shields; Steel, Alfred James, chief officer, 27, Cardiff; Story, George Carlton, 4^th engineer, 21, West Hartlepool; Swanson, Cecil, boatswain, 31, South Shields; Thompson, Jack, able seaman, 19, Leeds, Yorks.; Watkins, William Right, fireman/trimmer, 26; Wells, Ernest Vivian, fireman/trimmer, 22, Whitburn, Co. Durham; Wilson, Andrew Charles, cook, 35; Wooller, Ronald, 2^nd radio officer, 17.

THE s.s. LACKENBY

Latest Addition To The Ropner Fleet.

Northern Daily Mail. 16/7/28

The steamer Lackenby built by Messrs. William Gray and Co., Ltd., to the order of Messrs. The Ropner Shipping Co., Ltd., West Hartlepool, successfully ran her official sea trials on Saturday.

The vessel is built to the highest class in Lloyd’s Register, and is of the following dimensions: Length overall 425ft. 4in.; breadth, 54ft. 3in., depth moulded to upper deck, 29ft. 11 ½  in., with long bridge, poop, and forecastle.

The Lackenby is completed in all respects as a first-class cargo steamer, her equipment including an efficient wireless installation with direction finder, and electric light throughout.

The propelling machinery, supplied by the Central Marine Engineering Works of the builders, consists of triple-expansion engines having cylinders 26 ½ - 44 - 73 inches dia. by 48 in. stroke, and three boilers working at a pressure of 180lbs., will be (installed).

A number of auxiliaries of the “C.M.E.W.” are installed.

The owners were represented on the trial by Mr. J. B. Nicol, Superintendent Engineer, and Mr. G. B. Chambers.

Lackenby Yardbook pages

Founded in 1874 by Robert Ropner, the company owned, managed & built ships.