The start of the second era of Ocean Weather Ships

[knocker]

Weather Reporter

A New British Weather Ship Joins the Atlantic Forecasting Service

At Greenock on May 16, Lord Hurcomb renamed as Weather Reporter the former naval frigate, Oakham Castle, converted to meteorological purposes for this great international service. Two hundred delegates attended the ceremony from Eire and Israel, from Switzerland and Sweden, as well as the more obvious sufferers from cold fronts and shallow depressions but it is perhaps legitimate to note that Greenock was surely designed by Providence to be the base of our British Weather Ships. This is rather a Scottish joke; but Greenock, a fine man-made harbour within the great natural harbour of the Firth of Clyde, is as notorious for its average annual rainfall of 60-odd inches as is Aberdeen for parsimony.

The Sphere - Saturday 31 May 1958

Image © Illustrated London News Group

[IslaArklayblend]

 knocker Knew several colleagues who had worked on the weather ships - and, consequently, came up with a lot of vivid tales. 

One of them lives in this town, too.