Mike, I think he find that Cunard where predominately ocean liners, never tramps....................................I don't think the prestigious luxurious name "Cunard" would ever have lent its name to "Tramps"
Whoever your story teller is he's living in cuckoo land, no only that the Cunard building in Liverpool and the family where never Grimsby or Hull trampers LOL
Here s the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunard_Line
Hi everyone. When I first went to sea in 1956 I sailed with blokes who had sailed with many shipping companies and many different ships. Many had sailed on the so called Sam boats, and also with Cunard. These were the quickly assembled American built "Liberty ships" during World War 2. The US was hindered by a law that prevented them from getting involved in any wars unless the US itself was attacked or under threat. To get around this they introduced "Lend Lease" which allowed then to build much needed shipping and just lend it to Great Britain until the war was over. So these standard built ships were launched with an American name then handed over the UK government and given a new name. I have no idea why but all the new names had the prefix "SAM". The UK government had a department called MOWT...Ministry of War Transport and they managed these new ships by assigning them out to most of the British ship owners, including Cunard White Star. They got the Sambo, Sambre, Samfoyle, Samholt and Samsurf. Under contract with the government they operated these ships wherever the government sent them, so in effect they could very well have operated just like tramps. This arrangement appears to have continued until about 1947 when some returned to US control and others were sold to shipping companies. In 1956 when the Suez Crisis happened the UK Government requisitioned several of them as stores ships, and I have noticed that several were still trading in the 1970s. It is unlikely that Cunard were still using them that late although they were a common sight to a young Deck Boy. Stu
just as i thought you will be pleased to know i shot him down in flames he he.....................havent seen him since i went to sea 1955 on the port line so knew but had to confirm it thanks mike
