John Readhead's Shipyard
Ship No. 614 - Shahristan launch
Launch day
Shahristan on her way (photo courtesy of Malcolm Nelson)
I came across your Harton Cemetery MI site
via the fascinating John Readhead pages, which I discovered by searching for
entries relating to the MV 'Shahristan'.
My maternal grandfather (now deceased) and one of my uncles (still living), both
named Arthur Wallace, worked at Readhead's yard. As a boy I was lucky enough to
witness the launch of the 'Shahristan' - courtesy of my uncle from the platform
under the bows where the launching chock was knocked out.
I vividly remember the incident depicted in one of your pictures, where a plate
rack was caught in one of the arrester wires and shot up in the air. In fact, I
have some photos of the launch, albeit of rather poor quality, which I took from
the launching platform.
Malcolm Nelson
She's away as a tug gets up steam on the river
Almost in the river
Plate racks get caught in a wire - minutes before 2 Design Office staff were standing on them
Drag chains halt her progress
The Tugs take control
The completed ship