A personal reflection of The Motor Ship, past and near present, from former naval architect, John Barnes
When I joined the staff of The Motor Ship at the beginning of 1971 it was already well established as the world?s leading marine technical journal.
With the journal publishing its 1000th issue, it is hard to believe that this was not always so. A year before I joined, the journal published, in April 1970, its 50th anniversary issue which reviewed the first five decades of its history and reveals the great struggle the journal had to overcome prejudice and intransigence.
Back in April 1920 the diesel engine was still a usurper in the world of the steam reciprocating engine and turbine. Despite the first motor ships going to sea in 1912, there remained in much of the shipping world a reluctance to go over to diesels. And there was the issue of fuel ? coal was still king, especially in the UK which still dominated shipbuilding and owning. Indeed there are stories that notices were posted in some UK shipyards threatening instant dismissal for those caught reading the journal.
To go back to the beginning, the founder of The Motor Ship, AP Chalkley, was a personal friend of Dr Diesel and had written about marine diesel propulsion as long ago as 1912. His book, "Diesel Engines for Land and Marine Work", with a foreword by the inventor himself, did much to publicise the marine potential of the compression-ignition oil engine.
That book brought Chalkley to the attention of Temple Press, at that time publishers of a range of popular technical journals. He was invited by Temple Press' chairman, Roland Dangerfield, to contribute articles to Motor Boat & Yachting on diesel propulsion plant. It was a successful initiative and led to the decision to launch a journal entirely devoted to diesel engines for marine propulsion ? The Motor Ship, launched in April 1920. Over the succeeding years the forthright opinions, drive and direction of AP Chalkley help establish the diesel as the machinery of choice and set The Motor Ship on the path to the top.
Early days
Brian Singleton, a staff member between 1959 and 1969 who went on to be editor of Shipbuilding & Shipping Record, recalls his early days on the journal and the then staff. "In July 1959 I was up for my Chief's ticket at Poplar, on study leave from P&O, when someone pointed out an ad in the ?jobs' section of the Daily Telegraph for the position of editorial assistant on The Motor Ship. I never was much of a marine engineer anyway, my wife was expecting and I dreaded going back to sea so promptly wrote to the editor. Back came a letter saying that my application was one of a number being retained for further consideration. After a few weeks had passed I rang the office and to my surprise was asked to attend the office for an interview. That was when I met Mr William Wilson for the first time and I got the job.
"When I arrived at 33-39 Bowling Green Lane to start my new job on August 1st it was to find the presses and the print rooms silent because of a printers? strike that had started in June and was not resolved until the end of August. The first edition of the journal that I saw produced was the unique combined July-August-September issue, my minute contribution being a couple of New Equipment notes.
"The editorial staff of The Motor Ship at that time consisted of William Wilson, Don Ewart and myself. Don was serving out six months notice before taking up an appointment as assistant editor of Tothill Press's weekly Shipbuilding & Shipping Record. Both Don and Wilson had applied for the Tothill job because the chances of further promotion on The Motor Ship appeared unlikely.
Chalkley was a fitness fanatic, lithe and active and in full control of events, he worked hard and expected no less from others. Against this background Ewart and Wilson, the frustrated editorial assistants ? there was no assistant editor's post in those days ? both applied for the S&SR assistant editor's job. Knowing that the journal's editor, Peter Lawrie was nearing retirement they knew that promotion to the top might soon be attainable.
"Don Ewart had all the qualifications: he had been under CC Pounder in the Harland & Wolff design offices, took a degree in Belfast and then went to sea with Royal Mail Line. He got the Tothill job and Wilson was left contemplating more years of understudying Chalkley. Then Chalkley suddenly developed prostrate trouble and went into the London Clinic for surgery where he died of complications following the operation. This left Wilson in the enviable position of being the only possible candidate for the succession.
"That was when Bill came into his own in a way that no-one could have imagined. At that time British shipbuilding was experiencing the greatest building boom in history, the demand for British ships and equipment was insatiable and the boom brought the marine technical press rich pickings. Temple Press needed someone to fill Chalkley's shoes without delay and Bill Wilson was more than man enough for the job.
"Bill's genius, it was never less than that, took The Motor Ship from a respected specialist niche publication to being the most sought-after and most envied of all the international marine journals. And with John O'Hea at his side they set out to conquer their world.
"The two men went together ? Bill saw the need for teamwork, he abhorred the watertight compartmenting of editorial and advertising. He knew that to succeed both departments had to share the same goals, work together and be alert to opportunities. If Bill was naturally primus inter pares John O'Hea readily acknowledged it; they were a supremely effective team.
"Bill remained at the helm of The Motor Ship until the mid 1970s, when he left to set up his own press relations agency, by which time the journal was indeed at the very pinnacle of success."
For myself, as the journal?s naval architect between 1971 and 1975, I have many memories of that time. But perhaps the most memorable was a visit to the Kockums Shipyard in Malmo, Sweden in 1974 for the commissioning of the world?s largest shipyard crane ? a monster of a gantry unit that could lift 1,500 tonnes. This crane, now re-assembled at Hyundai?s yard in South Korea, stood 128m in height and spanned 165m. Highlight of our visit was to go up to the crane?s beam and climb out on its top. The views over the shipyard, Malmo and the surrounding area were spectacular and for many years the crane was said to act as a beacon for aircraft flying into Copenhagen?s airport across the water in Denmark!"
A popular feature of the journal in the past was the so-called rivet-by-rivet descriptions of new ships in which a detailed description of a vessel was given. Paul Gunton, who worked on the journal between 1980 and 1987 and is now editor in chief of Fairplay, recalls one such assignment.
"A mainstay of The Motor Ship's reporting was its in-depth ship descriptions and, when I was on the staff, the preferred way to research these was to attend a ship's sea trials. Representatives of all the equipment manufacturers would be on board and, except when their piece of kit was being tested, had time on their hands and would be happy to sit and talk.
"I was researching such an article in 1984 ? on the 42,000 dwt dry cargo ship Hoegh Duke, now Edward Oldendorff, which was built by Swan Hunter in the UK. Unusually ? in my experience, anyway ? the trials were scheduled to require an overnight stay on board.
Clearly, it was never built to accommodate so many people as congregate for sea trials, but fortunately the trials were programmed round the clock, so by hot-bunking it was possible to minimise the number of people who had to sleep on the floor.
"Despite this, the trials took longer than anticipated and extended into a third day, putting some pressure on the catering facilities. Refreshments became ever more meagre until eventually the ship was headed back to shore with the trials still incomplete. But there was no choice: we had run out of food and the cabin boy was reluctant to go in the pot!"
Now the journal celebrates its 1000th issue, some achievement and a testament to the many individuals who have worked on it over the last 83 years.
