San Demetrio

[NormParticipant @norm45745]

San Demetrio was a tanker shelled and set Afire in the Atlantic by the German raider Admiral Scheer. Ealing Studios made a movie of this incident, and the ship was modelled by Norman Ough for the movie. There must be drawings somewhere. National Maritime Museum doesn’t have, neither does the Archive at Glasgow University. Does anyone have any ideas? Also of course photographs.

[NormParticipant @norm45745]

WW2 tanker

[Colin MillerParticipant @colinmiller68338]

you say THE archive in glasgow where did you look?

[Colin MillerParticipant @colinmiller68338]

Hi Norm

The Boat was built by Blythswood Shipbuilders,

they ended up being Yarrows Shipbuilders and a part of UCS

when UCS was broken up Yarrows became a seperate shipbuilder again.

 

most of the companies that went into UCS drawings ended up in 1 of 3 places

here is a web link to guide you http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/shipbuilding.asp

of where to look

 

As you can see Blythswood and Yarrows are not listed but Yarrows are now a part of Bae Systems and you would be very lucky if they still had the drawings as they were binning a LOT of old drawings when I worked there I got some but no ships like what you are looking for

 

this may give some help alsohttp://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=12841http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=12841

 

Colin

[B BParticipant @bb42502]

Try the archives of the University of Glasgow, Scottland. Moira. donohue@glasgow.ac.uk

she was able to help me after a search which lasted for a period of 4 years plus. They located my plan within a week. A bit on the expensive side but in the end well worth it for me.

Bernhard

[NormParticipant @norm45745]

Thanks Colin and Bernhard. Will try all the suggested sites. Glasgow University told me on the phone Blythswood were bombed and maybe all drawings to that date maybe were destroyed. Norman Ough modelled the ship for the movie San Demetrio London in 1943 . Somewhere there have to be drawings. Maybe he did some?

[B BParticipant @bb42502]

Norm,

If the offices were bombed and burnt down during the war and the plans were lost, I think the film producers would have tried to find a design of a simular tanker to the one of the time. They would then have had a model commissioned and used this for filming purposes.

I wish you well in your search for plans. The longest time I have spent on research for a model was 20 plus years. This was for my cargo ship the S A Alphen and she was built in 1962. But the amount of information I have gathered over the years is most amazing. I recieved two sets of photographs of the Ship and her sister ship as they were being built from the retired project manager who was responsible for them. From Safmarine I recieved the last ships load plan and the very last marketing brochure for the ships. The ship building company in Japan had been taken over by another company and they did a plan search and eventually after six years they found the very last plans in existance and they sent them to me as well. The point is never ever give up you may be pleasantly surprised in the end.

 GOOD LUCK,

Bernhard

[NormParticipant @norm45745]

Hi Bernhard.

Thanks for the encouragement. My wife would tell you I’m a bit of a stubborn bloke with this sort of project, Are your ships RC and to what scale? For that matter, where are you geographically? I now live in Ontario.

[B BParticipant @bb42502]

If you have a look at My albums you shall see that I build anything to any scale and all my own ships are rc.

My Pilot boat was built on a scale of 1/25, the Swarte Zee 1/72, the Sa Alphen (cargo ship) 1/100. The JR More 9 (A steam tug boat) is being built on a scale of 1/32. My ship will be electricly driven and it will be built to a very high degree of detail and accuracy.

Their lengths vary from 1meter to 1,81m in legth. Weights vary from 7 kilograms to 28 kilos plus.

The battle ship, Duke of York is about 2,6meters long and is a restoration project.  The dhow, also a restoration project is about 650mm long. this one is about to be finished by the end of the month or by the latest the end of the first week in February.

AS for my location, I am in Randburg a small town of Johannesburg, South Africa.

 

Regards, Bernhard

 

[NormParticipant @norm45745]

Well, we come from the same half of the world. I went from New South Wales to the UK for over forty yearsand then to Canada nine years ago. I had originally intended to build HMS Nelson, in two halves as have to get all my models in the car, but the size of my workshop made this a bit unrealistic, despite having obtained the drawings from the NMM in Greenwich. Thus HMS Ceres, at four feet eight and a half just fits across the back seet ! San Demetrio will be a bit of a squeeze. I like to keep to the same scale, though my Irene is odd at 1/3″ to the foot. She is now some eight years old and likes a good wind.

 

All the best     Norm

[NormParticipant @norm45745]

Hi Bernhard,

At last !! Patience as they say is a virtue. Can’t get drawings for San Demetrio, but NMM have for three sister ships built at different yards. Have ordered, but still stuck for photos.

All the best. Norm

[B BParticipant @bb42502]

Hi Norm, see the research paid off like I said it would. I wish you luck in the search for photos.

All the best Bernhard.

[GERARD BAUERParticipant @gerardbauer26263]

Dear Norm

 

I came upon this post a little late but I assume you know the model from the movie is displayed beautifully in the imperial War Museum London. It is a fabulous piece of work. Strangely it is not listed but it is there on the first floor gallery

 

 

Regards

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

The Eagle Oil tankers were not particularly good-looking ships. I feel they would have been improved by having a white accommodation rather than that awful yellowish tinge.

Here is a model of SAN ALBERTO that I built a few years ago,

Bob

Edited By Bob Wilson on 21/12/2011 07:47:19

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