Reg. No. 110510, code lettering RKVF, a steel twin screw steamer of 2 decks and 6754 gross register tons, she was built by Workman, Clark & Co. Ltd. of Belfast for the Ulster Steamship Co. Ltd., of Limerick, whose Managers were G. Heyn & Sons of Belfast. She was launched on 17 October 1899, and completed in December 1899. Her port of registry was Belfast, her length 469 feet, her breadth 53.4 feet, and her depth 32.3 feet.
John George Brew jnr. was 1st Mate and then Master between 1906 to 1908, his last voyage with her commencing 11 May 1908.
In 1917, Rathlin Head was requisitioned for wartime service. On 25 May 1918, she was damaged by two torpedoes fired by the German U-Boat U46 off the South West coast of Ireland at 49°N 12°W, while on a ballast voyage from Swansea to New Orleans. Her Master, Captain W. J. Campbell defended her with depth charges and succeeded in limping her to port with the assistance of a tug some two days after the attack, but three lives were lost. She was repaired and re-entered service, and following the war was returned to her owners in February 1919. She was demolished 10 years later in Rosyth by the Alloa Shipbreaking Co. Ltd.
Her Crew Agreements for 1906-1907 are held by the Public Record Office in Kew, England.
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Reg. No. 162339, code lettering GMPS, a quad screw passenger steamer of 17,707 gross register tons and 10,720 net, with 5 decks, an oil engine and radar. Classified 100A1, she held a certificate permitting the carriage of a maximum of 886 passengers and 301 crew. She was built and engined by Harland & Wolff of Belfast for the Pacific Steam Navigation Company Ltd., and registered in Port of Liverpool, she was launched on 23 September 1930 and delivered on 24 March 1931. |
Designed for passenger service between the United Kingdom and the West Coast of South America, she had a length of 551.3 feet, a width of 76.3 feet, and a depth of 37.9 feet. Her main engine room was 83 feet in length, 76 feet in breadth, and 28 feet high. Additionally, the liner carried 16 lifeboats, each with a first aid kit, plus two motorboats, 1400 lifejackets and 18 lifebuoys. Prepared in all aspects of safety, there were over 75 fire extinguishers, three 95 ton fire pumps, forty-one 50 foot lengths of firehose, and 4 foam generators.
Reina del Pacifico became famous for a short time when, on 9 November 1937, Britain's first Labour Prime Minister, James Ramsay MacDonald (1866-1937), died of heart failure while on board.
She was employed in passenger service continuously, except for a period during World War 2 when she was requisitioned for carrying troops. On arrival back from one of her voyages, on 3 August 1939, she was sent to the Clyde to await orders. Following the declaration of war on 3 September, she already joined her first convoy, to the middle east, 4 days later, and was converted later that year to a troopship in Liverpool.
After the war, she was returned to her owners who subsequently sent her back to her builders, Harland & Wolff, for a refit for return to passenger service. After completion, Reina del Pacifico was undergoing sea and speed trials when an engine explosion occurred in the main engine room due to the overheating of pistons and cylinders, which in turn ignited gases in the crankcase, while some 7 miles North East of Copeland Island, off Northern Ireland's North East coast, in the Irish Sea on 11 September 1947.
Twenty eight people were killed, among them Leonard Septimus Brew, 60, the Victoria Works Manager for Harland & Wolff. Reina del Pacifico survived the incident and continued passenger service another 11 years, until her final voyage, which commencing 27 April 1958. Afterwards, she was withdrawn from service and broken up by the British Iron and Steel Corp. in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales.
Reg. No. 86484, code lettering HGKV, an iron screw steamer of one deck and 4 bulkheads, she had a 1705 registered net tonnage, accommodation for some 30 seamen, and 190hp. She was built in 8 months by Palmers' Co. of Newcastle in 1882, for her owners were John Cory & Sons, and registered in the port of Cardiff, Wales. She had a length of 265.5 feet, a breadth of 36.2 feet, and a depth of 19 feet.
Based in Cardiff, John George Brew served on her as 1st Engineer for 12 voyages from 30 May 1883 to 3 August 1885, visiting the ports of Ancona, Bilbao, Barcelona, Gibraltar, Malta, Constantinople, Taganrog and Odessa in Russia, Port Said, Bombay, Dunkirk, Athens, Sulina in Romania and the Azores amongst others.
Her Crew Agreements for 1883 and 1884 are held by Glamorgan Record Office, Cathays Park, Cardiff, Wales, CF1 3NE.
Reg. No. 89810, code lettering KBNP, an iron screw steamer, 100A1, of 1639 gross register tons, with 1 deck and 160hp. She was built in 1885 by J. Redhead & Co. of South Shields, owned by W.D.C. Balls & Son, and registered in the port of North Shields. She had a length of 259 feet, a width of 37.2 feet, and a depth of 18 feet.
John George Brew jnr. served on her as a Seaman for 3 voyages, between 5 February and 7 August 1896.
Reg. No. 84657, an iron screw steamer of 877 register tons, with accomodation for 35 seamen, and 99hp, she was built in 6 months in 1881 by Palmers' Co. of Newcastle for owners John Cory & Sons and belonged to the port of Cardiff, Wales. She had a length of 240 feet, a breadth of 33.2 feet, and a depth of 18.2 feet. The ship's master was W. Hodge.
Departing and returning to Cardiff, John George Brew served for a single foreign going voyage as 1st Engineer from 19 March to 9 May 1883, visiting the ports of St. Nazaire, and Bilbao. Ross was his first ship after the foundering of the Hutton in Yemen some 3 months earlier.
Her Crew Agreements are held by Glamorgan Record Office, Cathays Park, Cardiff, Wales, CF1 3NE.
John Richard Brew served on the Sydney based H.M.A.S. Rushcutter while a member of the Royal Australian Navy Reserves, between 1956 and 1961.