JOHN H. AMOS

Re: JOHN H. AMOS

Postby Hornbeam » Sat Jul 25, 2020 12:20 pm

More or less completed my review of the TCC river craft that I was aboard in the late 1950's early 60's but have left the best till last. The mighty JOHN H AMOS which was my longest relief job and my last before I left for pastures new.
Part One. The vessel itself, she was indeed a mighty and unusual vessel as I believe she was the last Steam Powered commercial working Paddle Tug left which also had a passenger license at that time. I became her Chief Engineer when her permanent Chief Jack ? slipped on some crud on a landing stage and broke his wrist/arm.
Fitted with two coal fired natural draught Scotch Boilers with extra steam Drums retrofitted in her Fiddly Tops she was driven by two large diagonal Compund Engines each driving a feathering paddle wheel, the engines could be coupled together by a large Dog Clutch between them but for river work the clutch was never engaged the Skipper preferring the manoeuvrability of keeping the engines separate. The Crankshafts were at Paddle height and the rest of the engine sloped For'ad towards the Bilges, when removing the covers off the L.P's it was necessary to remove the plates and getting into the Bilge to release some of the nuts off the covers. She was fitted with Weirs Pumps one of them being a large vertical combined Water Circulating/Air Pump run off the same Weirs valve chest, normally on a V.T.E.or a V.C.E. the Air Pump was driven by the Main Engine through Cantilevered Arms and the Circulating Water Pump was rotary driven by its own seperate little steam engine. The Circulating Water outflow on the John H was not constant as you would get with a rotary Pump but pulsed as the piston on the Vertical Pump moved up and down.
Normally when on watch the Engineers are down below and miss most of what is going on at Deck Level, however on the John H.
the engine controls were at Deck Level in the Saloon style structure below the Wheelhouse with the bonus of windows at the front and Stable type Doors to the rear which you could hang out of like Shergar. Engine controls were levers rather than rotary and were Head/ Astern, Main Throttle and two sets of Impulse Valve Levers, the impulse valves gave a quick blast of Boiler Pressure steam into the cylinder(s) without going through the valve gear, these had to be operated in the correct sequence to give the engine a boost however overuse on the big LP cylinder could damage the Condenser. The Engine Telegraphs were non answering.
For a young Engineer she was a step back in time and I am still glad that I took the opportunity to be her Chief Engineer although at times hard work especially when she went into the Graving Dock for inspection which meant opening up the Boilers and the Main Engine which was not easy as everything was heavy and at an angle not a straight lift only for the Inspector to come round with his torch, little hammer, notebook give it a quick look and say "That's fine you can box it up now Chief" all in under five minutes, but it had passed his Inspection which was a relief and putting it back together was more of a challenge as the engine was at an angle and gravity took over when trying to get the Large LP cylinder covers back on the cylinder.
Part Two to follow when The John H. Hit the headlines!!
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Re: JOHN H. AMOS

Postby Hornbeam » Sat Jul 25, 2020 4:46 pm

Without stepping on any bodies toes two of the photographs are not of the John H. She was not fitted with RADAR and the photo below with the gas bottles lashed to the Mast, in fact she did not have VHF until around 1960ish. Shame to see her like this I guess the lottery funding did not continue after she was placed on the radioactive pontoon. :?
Last edited by Hornbeam on Sat Jul 25, 2020 4:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: JOHN H. AMOS

Postby northeast » Sat Jul 25, 2020 4:53 pm

Well spotted Ron, in the Colls set, question is, who are these two interlopers?
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Re: JOHN H. AMOS

Postby Hornbeam » Sat Jul 25, 2020 5:07 pm

Can't help you there George I don't remember any of the Craft having RADAR, when the fog came down everything ground to a halt, some of the Bridge Teams had enough on trying to manage the new fangled VHF-------------Over.
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Re: JOHN H. AMOS

Postby Hornbeam » Mon Jul 27, 2020 12:41 pm

Part Two, how the John H. Hit the headlines.
Looking through the site I noticed a comment by 'Taximan' who must have been working for the TCC when I was, is he still on board? Concerning the Customs Vessel 'Speedwell' which prompted me to an incident in the late 1950's when the John H. and the Speedwell clashed and had the makings of an Ealing Comedy Film. "Carry on Smuggling". It was before the time I was on the John H. I must add, It was well known throughout the TCC from Head Office to the Graving Dock that if you wanted some cheap Spirits, Cigars, Cigarettes, Pipe Tobacco and mechanical Automatic Watches which were in vogue at the time or any other sundry items you needed to contact the then Mate of the John H a Mr F. These items were genuine products not like today where counterfeiting is big business, you needed to get your 'Order' in promptly especially at Christmas and New Year otherwise you could be disappointed due to the number of people throughout the TCC using this 'Service'. The day the clash came I was on No10 splitting the Top Tumbler bearings so I had a birds eye view when I noticed the John H going like a Bat out Hell with two individuals throwing canvas Ash Bags from the Paddle Box Sponson in front of the Paddles (it was normal practice to empty the Ash Bags in front of the Paddles so that the Paddles pushed the Ash under) in this case they were throwing the whole bags in ( now comes the comedy bit) behind them was the Speedwell whose Crew were lifting the Ash Bags that had not sunk out with Boat Hooks, eventually the John H. was seized and taken to the Railway Dock Point and given a thorough Rummaging and the Crew was changed. the matter went to Crown Court where both the Skipper and Mr F. made an appearance, they were both fined very heavily as apparently the 'service' they offered had been going on for a long time and the fine reflected the income they must have made and the loss to HMG to which Mr F. stood up and said "I can't afford this Fine" to which the Judge said " Has your Wife got a Fur Coat", yes said Mr F. " Well sell it said the Judge".
You would have thought that after Conviction they would have been sacked for using Company equipment for illegal purposes, not so, they were both given other jobs within the TCC with the loss of status which left them with a "Chip on their Shoulders" which was very apparent in their attitudes. It seemed fairly clear that someone in Head Office was looking after them most likely because they had used their 'Service' and had not been dropped in it!!
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Re: JOHN H. AMOS

Postby Hornbeam » Wed Aug 05, 2020 11:51 am

My little quip in regards to radioactivity is not without substance as the Pontoon the John H. resides on has an interesting history, her name is/was ' Portal Narvik', the Pontoon is actually the Tank Deck off HMS Narvik a onetime R.N. L.S.T. which attended the UK Atomic Bomb Tests. 8-) :o
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Re: JOHN H. AMOS

Postby Hornbeam » Tue Dec 29, 2020 3:43 pm

'A Winters Tale'
'Twas' on a morning like this after the first overnight snow and after receiving a phone call the previous evening from Bob H. (Engineering Superintendent) asking me if I would take over the Chiefs job as her Chief had been injured (as previously mentioned) and I was told to be at the Landing Stage near the Transporter at 6am as the Ferry "Whitby" had broken down yet again and the John H was used to do this task as she had been used for this purpose before the unreliable "Whitby" took over.
Woke up to snow on the ground, forget the motorbike phoned for a Freddie Charville Taxi and arrived at the Landing Stage to be met by the rest of the Crew all shivering like dogs with distemper, out of the gloom a rowing boat approached with the Night Watchman aboard who promptly jumped on to the Landing Stage gave a quick handover then to make his way home to a warm bed and possibly a bit of Tiger for Christmas. We all clambered into the Dinghy and whilst we were all still standing we were skulled by the Mate who was an expert at this method of propulsion across to the John H all still shivering like dogs with distemper.
Clambering aboard my first job was to grab a Tilly Lamp, check with the Fireman that everything was ok and we were just below the Blood with steam pressure ready to warm through, checked that all the steam drains were open and then up to the Fiddley Tops to crack open the steam valves to start warming through. The usual crackling and banging went on as the steam made its way through and then I made my way to the Chiefs Cabin which was Aft with its own little Saloon adjoining the Skippers Cabin to change into my overalls. Open up the Boiler main stops as far as they would go with one turn back.
Back down to the Engineroom to start the single cylinder steam dynamo "let there be light and there was light" by the miracle of steam and engineering and piped up to Atmosphere ( for the moment), quick check around to see if the equipment was warming up nicely and then back Aft to be met with a doorstep of a Bacon Sandwich and a mug of tea, a chat with the Skipper wondering if the Skipper of the "Whitby" was taking the Michael ( he had been Skipper of the John H during the episode previously mentioned and was transferred to the "Whitby", he was lucky to keep his job but seemed to have a large chip on his shoulder)
Back to the Engineroom start up the rest of the Auxiliaries including the combined Water/ Air Pump, quick look over the side to check the outflow, dynamo off Atmosphere and through the Condenser then start the Main Engines ticking over, informed the Skipper we were ready and we moved off to the Landing Stage to pick up the rest of the Crews who were stood shivering like dogs with distemper and of course moaning about the weather as we generally do. Happy Days and of course a Happy New Year to the Membership.
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