Page 53 - Greystones Archaeological Historical Society

GREYSTONES ARCHAEOLOGICAL & HISTORICAL SOCIETY JOURNAL VOLUME 8

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31 January including a gale warning broadcast on the B.B.C. at
6.55 a.m.

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At 9.10 p.m. on Friday 30 January 1953, the MV Princess
Victoria docked in Stranraer after completing another routine
crossing from Larne. Once she was tied up, dock foreman
Joseph Irons went on board and commenced supervision of the
unloading of her cargo which was completed around midnight
after which they began loading the cargo for the return journey
to Larne. Around midnight another dock foreman William Pirrie
joined Irons, with Irons working on the ship and Pirrie on the
quayside. As the ship was berthed bow first, loading was carried
out using a sliding door on the port side which led directly to the
car deck with the lighter mail and parcels being loaded onto the
car deck utilising a wooden chute leading through these doors.
Normally the MV Princess Victoria carried about 70 tons of cargo
but on this occasion it was only in the region of 43 tons consisting
of:

110 Bags (letter mail) 55 Cartons. of footwear 2 Tons of baggage

425 Bags (parcels) 14 Tea chests (sundry items) 6 Boxes of fish

1000 Rail parcels 5 Hampers of laundry 3 Bales
520 Sanitary pipes 5 Cases 6 Drums

160 Bags of brush blanks 2 Crates of textiles 1 Parcel

2 Boxes of tyre covers 1 Skip

Stacked on the car deck were forty wooden steel shod trays
for holding cargo. These trays were lifted by crane from the
quayside and lowered into the car deck after which they were
moved around by a five-cwt Lister motor tractor. Additionally six
four-wheel barrows were located on the car deck to enable the
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