Alfred Thomas CHURCH
Certificate of Competency no. 006367

transcribed by David Church from Alf CHURCH's continuous certificate of discharge, with additions by Robert E Monk from; Lloyd's Captains' Register (held as microfilm at the PRO, Kew, PRO ref. reel 28, volume 4a, Guildhall Library ref. MS 18568/4a.) and from Navy record ADM240/41 page 192 (held at the PRO, Kew).
See below for details of the ships.

Passed exam for Master in Feb 1915

June 1915 called up for RNR service

1919 discharged from RNR, joined Furness Withy in 1920

[1] Alf would have been 15 yrs old in 1904 and may have been on previous voyages as an apprentice

[2] There seems to have been no voyages in 1905

[3] The SS Roma was captained by his uncle Will STORM

[4] The SS Blue Cross was captained by his cousin Jake STORM. In Storm and Company, Jake's father Jacob mentions that Alf and his brother Lawrence CHURCH passed within a few miles of each other off the coast of Chile

[5] The first eight voyages were made out of Cardiff where many Whitby shipping companies had established offices during the early twentieth century.

[6] The longest voyage (no. 21) lasted for most of 1914 and ended at Hartlepool only a fortnight before the German attack on the town in which Will PEARSON was killed.

[7] It is scarcely surprising that Alf did not attend the wedding of his brother Lawrence CHURCH in 1922, he was at sea for 327 days that year

[8] Alf named his house in Robin Hood's Bay 'Kenmore' after his long association with the Kenmore

[9] Some longer gaps than usual between voyages (63-65, 69-70, 73-74, 76-77) in the Thirties may reflect a downturn in trade in the Depression.

[10] Appointed master of the Kenmore in 1934, wages £34 per month.

[11] Captain of the Monarch of Bermuda and Queen of Bermuda. Staff captain and Troop captain of the former in May 1941 (pay £65 per month, including £7-10-0 war Risk Bonus) and took part in the North African and Sicily landings. Among his medals are the Atlantic Star, African Star and Italy Star.

[12] Mentioned in Dispatches for war services (LL Jan. 12, 1944, p.3, col.3.). Awarded the OBE on 10 June 1948

[13] Class of Voyage used by Lloyd's Captains' Register (this is a partial list, see Guildhall leaflet for a full one):

• M : Mediterranean, Black Sea, Sea of Azoff, Adriatic
• NA : British North America, Greenland, Iceland
• For : Foreign (not further identified)
• C : China, Japan and oriental archipelago

[14] This voyage is missing from Alf's Continuous Certificate of Discharge but is listed in Lloyd's Captains' Register

[1] This Roma replaced the previous one lost on the great storm at Galveston, Texas in 1900

[2] Westoll’s of Sunderland were very much in the coal trade, coastal and deep sea. Large tonnages of coal were shipped from the N.E. Coast UK to West Italy (Genoa, Savona, Spezia or Livorno) – the ships would often then load iron ore in North Africa for South Wales, Tees or Tyne – or Sicilian sulphur, Tunisian phosphates, Tunisian esparto grass or Spanish ores.

[3] Mendip Range was acquired in 1914 and sold 1920

[4] Lexington was acquired in 1915 and sold 1924, broken up 1931.

[5] Monarch of Bermuda. Known as "the millionaires’ ships", both the Monarch of Bermuda and her sister ship the Queen of Bermuda were built by Vickers Armstrong Shipbuilders Ltd, Walker-on-Tyne, for Furness, Withy & Co's New York-Bermuda service. Engines by Fraser & Chalmers, Erich (turbines), and by General Electric Co Ltd, Birmingham (motors). The Monarch was 579 feet long with a beam of 76 feet. Launched on 17 March 1931, she was 22,424 gross tons and powered by turbo electric propulsion driving 4 screws. 3 funnels, 2 masts, cruiser stern; service speed 19 knots; accommodation for 799 passengers in 1st class, 31 in 2nd class; crew of 456. 1931-1939, New York-Bermuda. November 1939-1946, troopship. On 24 May 1947, burned out at Hebburn-on-Tyne while being reconditioned for return to passenger service. Although declared a total loss, the wreck was reappraised and then purchased by the Ministry of Transport, who had her rebuilt by Thornycroft in Southampton as an emigrant ship; 20,256 tons; 553.2 x 76.7 feet; 1 funnel; 1600 passengers in one class. 1949, renamed New Australia. 15 August 1950, first voyage, Southampton-Sydney, managed by the Shaw Savill Line. January 1958, sold to the Greek Line, and renamed Arkadia (registered in the name of the Arcadia Steamship Co); rebuilt and modernized by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg; 20,259 tons; forepeak extended to provide a curved stem, length 590 feet; foremast replaced by two king-posts; 150 passengers in 1st class, 1150 in tourist class. 17 June 1958, first voyage, Bremerhaven - Southampton- . 1961 Cherbourg - Cobh - Quebec - Montreal, further refitting by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg; 20,648 tons; 50 passengers in 1st class, 1337 in tourist class. 16 August 1966, last voyage, BremBremerhaven - Amsterdam - London - Havre - Cobh - Quebec - Montreal (departed 26 August). November 1966, laid up in River Fal. 8 December 1966, arrived at Valencia, Spain, for scrapping.

[6] Tonnages: In some cases tonnages have been given Nett Registered Tonnage and in others Gross Registered Tonnage. These are not measurements of ‘mass’ but calculated figures based on the cubic feet under the highest weatherproof deck. Gross covers all the spaces, and Nett is less accommodation, machinery, etc – the space available for cargo. Passenger ship measurements are more or less similar. NRT x 2.5 or GRT x 1.5 give a fair approximation of the weight of cargo and fuel a normal cargo steamer can carry. In shipping jargon, that is the Total Deadweight, whereas the actual weight (or mass) or the vessel and any contents is the total displacement (or Light Displacement when empty of cargo and bunkers, which is what we call the ship’s fuel).