Queens Dock.
 

Completed alongside the Kings Dock in 1909, what would later become known as Queens Dock was initially used both as a timber float, and for the accommodation of laid-up vessels and ships waiting to load or discharge at the Kings Dock or Prince of Wales Dock wharves. It was not until 1919, when the Anglo Persian Oil Company began the construction of the UK’s very first oil refinery at nearby Skewen, that the future of the Queens Dock as a major oil terminal was consolidated. Somewhat belatedly, perhaps, the Queens Dock was officially named by King George V and Queen Mary on the 19th July 1920.

 The Llandarcy Refinery was completed in 1921, and was named in honour of Sir William Knox D’Arcy (1849-1917), a co-founder of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company who had discovered oil in the Iranian desert some ten years earlier. The refinery was linked directly by pipeline to the Queens Dock which, at its peak, handled up to 2,000 tankers a year, discharging millions of tons of crude oil from the Middle East and loading similarly vast quantities of petroleum and other refined oil products for other parts of the UK, and for destinations such as Africa, Europe and Scandinavia.

 Oil traffic through Swansea Docks peaked in the 1950’s at around eight million tons per annum, but fell into sharp decline with the opening in 1961 of a pipeline connection between Llandarcy Refinery and the new Angle Bay oil terminal at Milford Haven. However, the early 1970’s saw the completion of BP Chemicals’ plant at Baglan Bay which again, being linked by pipeline to the Queens Dock, augmented the port’s tanker traffic over the next few decades with high-level imports and exports of liquid petro-chemicals.

 Now, after more than 70 years in operation, the Llandarcy oil refinery has disappeared, as has the petro-chemical plant at Baglan Bay and, sadly, there are no more tankers to be seen in the Queens Dock. What does the future hold? Who knows, but I do recall a former Chief Executive of the City Council saying, many years ago, that it would make a wonderful marina!

'Atlantic Duchess' Explosion
 

Around 5.00 a.m. on Friday, 2^nd February 1951, a catastrophic explosion aboard the Livanos tanker ‘Atlantic Duchess’ in the Queens Dock, Swansea, killed seven of the crew, broke the back of the ship, and completely burned out the midships accommodation. The fire raged for over 24 hours before fire-fighting tugs and the crews of fire appliances from all over the Swansea area were able to bring the blaze under control.

 Once the fire was extinguished, a team of fire-fighters boarded the vessel to search for the missing crewmen, but a second explosion a short while later resulted in six of these men being injured, some of whom were hurled into the dock water by the force of the blast.  

 The ‘Atlantic Duchess’ was a new tanker built by William Gray & Co. of Hartlepool, and had sailed from Abadan to Swansea on what was her maiden voyage. Berthed at No. 2 Jetty in the Queens Dock, her cargo of crude oil had just been discharged when the explosion occurred. Miraculously, 31 of the crewmen survived this horrific incident, with only seven of these requiring hospital treatment.

          Following the disaster, the ‘Atlantic Duchess’ was cut in two, and both sections were towed to West Hartlepool for reconstruction. The following photos clearly show the damage to the ship in the aftermath of the explosion, and the final picture shows the bow section being towed out from the Port of Swansea.

Bow section being towed from Swansea Docks.
 

‘Olav Ringdal Jr.’ Explosion
 

At around 4.30 a.m. on the 27^th November 1954, almost four years after the ‘Atlantic Duchess’ disaster, there was a massive explosion and fire aboard the tanker ‘Olav Ringdal Jr.’ which was moored on the east layby berth at Queens Dock after discharging a cargo of crude oil from the Persian Gulf. Although many of the crew of 42 were able to evacuate the ship after the explosion, several were forced to jump overboard or were blown into the dock by the force of the blast. Sadly three of the crew were killed and twelve were injured in this incident.
 

The explosion occurred in the vicinity of the engine room of the ‘Olav Ringdal Jr.’ almost splitting the tanker in two and, as with the ‘Atlantic Duchess’, the bow and stern sections had to be cut apart before being towed separately out of Swansea Docks. She was repaired at Harland & Wolff’s shipyard at Liverpool and re-entered service in July 1955.
 

The ‘Olav Ringdal Jr.’ was built in 1948 by Eriksbergs mek Verkstads A/B of Gothenberg, Sweden for Olav Ringdals Tankrederi A/S, Oslo, and had a gross tonnage of 9,815 tons and a deadweight of 15,700 tons. She was 518’ 4” in length, with a beam of 65’ 4” and a draft of 28’ 8”.  In later years her forward section was scrapped and her stern was added to the bow section of the ‘Etnefjell’ to form the bulk carrier ‘Besna’. Under its final name of ‘Ken Lung’, the vessel sank off the Andaman Islands in 1977.
 

‘Olav Ringdal Jr.’

‘British Flag’ Explosion

 In the early hours of the 8^th December 1965, just after 1.00 o’clock in the morning, there was a huge explosion and fire aboard the BP tanker ‘British Flag’, which was berthed at No. 2 Jetty, Queens Dock, Swansea. Fire appliances from Swansea and Morriston were quickly on the scene of the disaster, as was the ‘BP Firemaster’, aided by the tugs ‘Brambles’, ‘Wallasey’ and ‘Flying Kestrel’. The intensity of the fire was such that additional fire-fighting appliances had to be called in from the Carmarthen & Cardigan Fire Brigade and, at its height, it is estimated that there were almost a hundred fire-fighters tackling the blaze.

 Due to the combined efforts of the Fire Service, the ‘BP Firemaster’ and the three fire-fighting tugs, the blaze was successfully brought under control and by 3.15 a.m. it had been completely extinguished. Fortunately there were no casualties suffered by the Fire Service during this incident, but among the crew of the tanker there was, sadly, one fatality and one case of second-degree burns.

 Following the disaster the ‘British Flag’ was moved to Palmers Repair Jetty in Queens Dock for temporary repairs, after which she sailed to Smiths Dock in North Shields on the River Tyne for repairs to her hull and starboard accommodation. It is interesting to note that the ‘British Flag’ incident marks the one and only time that the ‘BP Firemaster’ was brought into use in almost twenty years’ service at the Queens Dock, Swansea.

The BP tanker 'British Robin' (pictured above) was berthed ahead of the 'British Flag' at the time of the explosion.

Geoff Cobb was on his first trip to sea as an engineer aboard the BP tanker 'British Robin', and he gave us the following account of his memories of the explosion:-
"I had just worked the 4.00 p.m. to midnight 'day' watch in the engine room.  Allowing for showering and changing, I'd have been in the pantry at about twenty minutes past midnight when the explosion happened. With the shock wave causing the pantry's cups, plates etc. to crash onto the floor, I initially thought it was the British Robin that had exploded!"

Many thanks to Geoff for his contribution and assistance with this item.
 

 Brought into service on the 16th February 1960, the BP Firemaster was a self-propelled fire-fighting barge built for BP Llandarcy by shipbuilders R S Hayes Ltd of Pembroke Dock. The barge was essentially a catamaran consisting of two 33½ ton pontoons, each 60’ x 14’, joined together at deck level and powered by two 140 bhp outboard motors with propellers capable of turning through 360 degrees. This enabled the BP Firemaster to travel in any direction, and also to maintain its position against the force of the tides and winds and against the back-pressure from its own fire-fighting jets.

    The BP Firemaster was fitted out by specialist fire engineers Merryweather & Sons of Tuesnoad, Kent, and its 40 ft. high tubular steel tower was mounted with nine powerful jets which had an overall pumping capacity of 3,100 gallons of water, or 12,500 gallons of foam, per minute. Stationed in the Queens Dock, Swansea, the BP Firemaster was moored with quick-release ropes and manned round-the-clock by a two-man crew ready to start the engines and pumps at a moment’s notice. The on-board fire-fighting equipment was operated by firemen from the Swansea Fire Service who, it is said, were able to man the Firemaster’s pumps within four minutes of receiving an emergency call.

     In the late 1970’s the BP Firemaster was acquired by Port Talbot Diving & Marine for use as a self-propelled work platform, and it is still in service to the present day.