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← All fourteen ships

1958–1959

M.V. Clunepark

J & J Denholm

Motor cargo ship

The one voyage in the logbook that goes behind the Iron Curtain and into the People's Republic of China: iron ore loaded at Yulin on Hainan Island in June 1958, carried to Poland.

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1 of 24 passages

24th November 19585th December 1958

Avonmouth Newark

3,280 miles · 11 days at sea

333 cars

Every passage he logged in her. Press play to follow her through, or tap a port to see every time he called there.

Log entries
56
Ports
29
Nautical miles
47,120
Days at sea
156

Her longest passage in the log ran from Philadelphia to Rosario 7,639 miles, 19 days at sea.


The log

20 Nov 1958 to 8 Aug 1959

November 1958

  1. 20 Nov 1958

    Signed on Avonmouth

  2. 24 Nov 1958
    3am

    Sailed Avonmouth — bound New York

    333 cars

December 1958

  1. 5 Dec 1958
    5pm

    Arrived Newark

    to discharge

  2. 8 Dec 1958
    5pm

    Sailed Newark — bound Baltimore

    in ballast

  3. 9 Dec 1958
    08:00 - 14:00

    Canal transit via Chesapeake & Delaware Canal

  4. 9 Dec 1958
    3pm

    Arrived Baltimore

    to load grain

  5. 19 Dec 1958
    5pm

    Sailed Baltimore — bound Liverpool

    with 12,700t grain

  6. 30 Dec 1958
    5pm

    Arrived Liverpool

    (BERTHED) BIRKENHEAD 5am 31st DEC 1959

January 1959

  1. 9 Jan 1959
    10am

    Sailed Birkenhead — bound New York

    BOUND U.S.N.H. FOR ORDERS

  2. 22 Jan 1959
    2pm

    Arrived Philadelphia

    AFTER COLLISION WITH "AMERICAN HUNTER"

  3. 23 Jan 1959

    In the shipyard Chester

    doing repairs to starboard side

February 1959

  1. 7 Feb 1959
    6am

    Sailed Philadelphia — bound Rosario

    2742 pipes (3,600t)

  2. 26 Feb 1959
    8am

    Arrived Rosario

    to discharge pipes

March 1959

  1. 5 Mar 1959
    1pm

    Sailed Rosario — bound Talara

    bound for orders

  2. 6 Mar 1959
    03:30 - 23:30
  3. 7 Mar 1959
    5.30pm

    Arrived Montevideo

    for bunkers & F.W.

  4. 7 Mar 1959
    10pm

    Sailed Montevideo — bound Talara via Strait of Magellan

  5. 11 Mar 1959
    18:00 - 23:00

    Magellan passage

  6. 16 Mar 1959
    8pm

    Arrived Valparaiso

    DISEMBARKED MAGELLAN PILOT

  7. 16 Mar 1959
    8.30pm

    Sailed Valparaiso — bound Guayaquil

    GUAYAQUIL? uncertain

  8. 23 Mar 1959
    Noon

    Sailed Puná Island

    Noon 23rd Mar - Noon 24th Mar

  9. 24 Mar 1959
    5.30pm

    Arrived Guayaquil

    TO LOAD 6,000T BAGGED SUGAR

April 1959

  1. 4 Apr 1959
    1pm

    Sailed Guayaquil — bound Eten

  2. 6 Apr 1959
    7am

    Arrived Eten

    TO LOAD 3,000T SUGAR

  3. 12 Apr 1959
    9am

    Sailed Eten — bound Pimentel

  4. 12 Apr 1959
    10am

    Arrived Pimentel

    TO LOAD 1,500T SUGAR

  5. 14 Apr 1959
    10pm

    Sailed Pimentel — bound Salaverry

    TO LOAD 500T SUGAR

  6. 15 Apr 1959
    6.30pm

    Arrived Salaverry

  7. 21 Apr 1959
    3am

    Sailed Salaverry — bound Pimentel

  8. 28 Apr 1959
    2pm

    Arrived Pimentel

    TO LOAD 1,000T

  9. 22 Apr 1959
    7pm

    Sailed Pimentel — bound Talara

    WITH 14,000T SUGAR

  10. 23 Apr 1959
    11am

    Arrived Talara

    FOR F.W. 2 DIESEL BUNKERS

  11. 24 Apr 1959
    11am

    Sailed Talara — bound Tokyo via Honolulu

May 1959

  1. 9 May 1959
    1pm

    Arrived Honolulu

    FOR BUNKERS

  2. 9 May 1959
    5pm

    Sailed Honolulu — bound Yokkaichi

  3. 23 May 1959
    11am

    Arrived Yokkaichi

    TO DISCHARGE 6,000T

  4. 27 May 1959
    10am

    Sailed Yokkaichi — bound Tokyo

  5. 28 May 1959
    7am

    Arrived Tokyo

    to discharge remainder

  6. 31 May 1959
    9am

    Sailed Tokyo — bound Innoshima via Kobe

June 1959

  1. 1 Jun 1959
    11pm

    Arrived Innoshima

    to dry-dock Hitachi S.E. Co.

  2. 9 Jun 1959
    1pm

    Sailed Innoshima — bound Yulin

  3. 16 Jun 1959
    7am

    Arrived Yulin

    to load 13,650 tons iron ore

  4. 21 Jun 1959
    11am

    Sailed Yulin — bound Gdansk via Singapore

  5. 25 Jun 1959
    6am

    Arrived Singapore

    for bunkers

  6. 25 Jun 1959
    3pm

    Sailed Singapore — bound Gdansk

July 1959

  1. 13 Jul 1959
    11am

    Arrived Suez

    to join morning convoy

  2. 14 Jul 1959
    08:00 - 23:00

    Canal transit

  3. 14 Jul 1959
    11.30pm

    Sailed Port Said

  4. 26 Jul 1959
    5pm
  5. 26 Jul 1959
    19:00 - 03:30

    Canal transit

  6. 27 Jul 1959
    4am

    Sailed Kiel — bound Gdansk

  7. 28 Jul 1959
    10am

    Arrived Gdansk

    berthing 7am 29th July

August 1959

  1. 3 Aug 1959
    6am

    Sailed Gdansk — bound Copenhagen

  2. 4 Aug 1959
    3.30am

    Arrived Copenhagen

    for bunkers

  3. 4 Aug 1959
    8.30am

    Sailed Copenhagen — bound Avonmouth

  4. 8 Aug 1959
    10am

    Arrived Avonmouth

    signed off 1pm home 8pm 9th Aug


What was happening

Background written by the family, not from the logbook — but it explains a good deal of what is in it.

1954–1971

No telephone, no news

There was no way to call home. Letters were sent ahead to the agent at the next port, and if the ship was diverted the mail chased her round the world for months. A man could sail knowing his wife was expecting, and learn he had a child from a telegram handed up a gangway in another hemisphere.

1954–1971

Two years was a normal voyage

Foreign-going Articles could run for up to two years, and often did. David's longest unbroken spell in this logbook runs seventeen months, from June 1960 to November 1961 aboard the Scotstoun. Leave came at the end of it, not during.

1954–1971

The map keeps changing

The place names in this log are the ones David used, and many of them have since changed. Bombay is Mumbai, Madras is Chennai, Bône is Annaba, Bougie is Béjaïa, Ceylon is Sri Lanka. He sailed through the end of one world map and into another.