Motor Tramp – 1937

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

Just completed a profile plan of motor tramp Hylton. Hebburn Steamship Co. Torpedoed 1941, all 43 of the ship's company were saved as the ship was loaded with timber and was very reluctant to sink, so they had time to get away. Wreck sunk by a British warship.

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

The drawings of the deck arrangement is now complete, apart from the lettering that needs to be added.

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Bob

Probably a silly question but why are 'tramp' steamers so called? BTW your draftsmanship is exquisite, as usual.

Dave M

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

Thank you. A tramp steamer is a ship that works on a voyage to voyage basis. They would set out from the UK fully loaded for a specific port that could be anywhere in the world. They may not know where they will be going until they are almost there. They just went wherever cargo needed transporting. Cargo liners (even if they did not carry passengers), would have a schedule of ports planned before they even set out from the UK. The name "Tramp" did not signify an inferior ship, it was just the wandering and erratic nature of the trade they were in.

Bob

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

I should add that the Hylton was not a tramp steamer, but a motor tramp powered by a diesel engine driving a single screw with a service speed of 12 knots. I once sailed in a similar ship, the Richmond Castle, but we were on the general cargo/citrus fruit run out to Souh Africa and back via the Mediterranean. Rather uncomfortable, but happy times with very little stress, as we had no passengers and hardly anything ever broke down.

Bob

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Thanks for the explanation, Bob. It was the "tramp" part that intrigued me rather than the mode of propulsion.

DM

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Tramp steamers tended to seek cargoes of opportunity around the world.. A far cry from today's integrated container driven setup.

Colin

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

The last tramp I sailed in was the Silverdon in 1976. Joined in Manila, where she was discharging wheat. Went to Vancouver in ballast to load sulphur and potash, down to Long Beach to fill up the last empy hold with salt. Across to Victoria, Geelong and Sydney NSW to discharge the whole lot. Up through the Great Barier Reef and down into the Gulf of Carpentaria to Weipa (Queensland) to load a full cargo of bauxite (aluminium ore) for discharge in Yokohama. Flew home on leave from Yokohama.

Bob

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