CAR FERRIES FALAISE AND NORMANNIA

Nice to see some colour photos of them in their original colours from 1964. Normannia was the first car ferry to actually use our ramp, several weeks before Falaise arrived in May 1964. As far as appearances go, I think Falaise survived the conversion process better than Normannia. Both were virtual mini-liners as passeneger only steamers.

Normannia looks to be laid up waiting for disposal in her 'Sealink' picture. we had a few of the ferries berthed in that spot when their service life was over. somewhere i have a set of photos of Caledonia Princess in a similiar position being used as a training platform in a special forces helocopter exercise. My attic bedroom in Fort Road had a wonderful view of the harbour from the skylight.

Derek, Do you happen to have any pictures of the interior of Caesarea ? I believe she was laid up in Newhaven in October 1980.

Thanks for your interest Stephen. No, I'm afraid not, I did see the ship when laid up in Newhaven but the only time I sailed on her was an overnight passage out of Weymouth in severe gale conditions. No one would want to see what the inside of her looked like after that crossing believe me! I'll be putting my view of her on site shortly.

Thanks for your reply, Derek. The reason I asked is because I am building 3d computer models of Caesarea and Sarnia for my website www.caesarea-sarnia.co.uk Did you take any more pictures aboard Normannia ? I never saw her when she was on the Weymouth-Channel Islands route, but I did see Falaise and was in Jersey at the time she had boiler failure and was withdrawn from the route for good.

These ''older'' ferries were the ones I remember from my childhood-not so many people went ''abroad'' then, and I remember the diesel/oily smell of the car deck. One thing puzzles me however-HOW do stabilisers actually work? I know about the disastrous ''Bessemer'' design with a free-swinging saloon, but [as a landlubber] I would have thought the sea has so much motion, on loads of different angles-if it isn't pitching, it is rolling, and some vessels have a horrible twisting motion-so I would love to know how stabilisers work and also, do they make a noticeable difference to how a ship feels to it's passengers and crew?-ok, the crew probably have good sea legs, but passengers who may only sail once a year are a different story!

Think of them as being small underwater aeroplane type wings that fold out when the ship is at sea. They can alter their angle of attack, or pitch, as required. As a ship rolls to port, for example, the port stabiliser will change its pitch to try to 'climb' ie. push that side up. At the same time, the starboard stabiliser will 'dive', pushing down. Most of our ships had these 'fin' stabilisers, invented by Denny-Brown in the early 30's.In fact some of our ships were amngst the first to have them fitted.

Some ships have 'flume' stabilizers, where fluid is pumped between internal tanks to even out the roll.

Stabilizers will help, but won't completely cure the problem of rolling. There's lots of info out there if you Google.

Andy - Editor

Thanks, Andy Goodness,''Our ships have stabilisers?'' well, I dread to think how horribly rough the crossing would have been without them, then! I assumed that the Channel ferries in the 60's didn't have them-but from what you say, the stabilisers have their work cut out. the older ferries were much smaller than the great characterless things that do the crossings now-maybe it is nostalgia, but the oldskool ferries did have a certain ..er..charm,and bless em, they did at least keep us safe. And that is what counts-the safety of the crew and passengers..the more ''modern'' ferries, with the bow-door opening just don't make sense to a landlubber-why have an opening on the part of a ship which ploughs into the waves.

Worry not, the outer bow door, or 'visor' is not your main protection. There's a fully watertight inner door that seals the car deck.- Andy