Obituary: Lewis M Smith

June 13th, 2011 by JCB
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Lewis M Smith

23/10/1916 – 16/11/ 2010

Lewis Smith was born in Aberdeen in 1916 and at the age of 15 he signed on at Leith Nautical College.

After college he joined the Christian Salvesen & Co. shipping company as a deck cadet and he stayed with the company until 1955 when he left to join the Forth Pilotage Service.

Although he rarely talked about his wartime experiences, Lewis served continuously throughout the war, obtaining his 1st Mate’s Certificate in 1941 and his Master’s Foreign Going Certificate in 1943. He was serving on board the SS Glen Tilt, moored at Carron’s Wharf in the London docks during the blitz when the warehouses were set alight by incendiary bombs. The ship’s crew assisted the firefighters to extinguish the fires and their actions, which helped to prevent the fires from spreading, were commended by Carron & Co. Ltd.

Lewis later received another commendation certificate for Meritorious Service whilst serving on the SS Empire Norse. In 1942, this vessel became separated from its convoy when the rudder and stern frame were lost in hurricane force winds during a westbound North Atlantic passage. Skilful seamanship and navigation resulted in the ship eventually arriving safely in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where, following discharge of the cargo, it was towed to Boston for repairs.

In 1942, during a stay in hospital for a hernia operation, Lewis met his wife to be, Margaret Anne, and they married in 1945.

After the war, Lewis served with the company’s whaling fleet based in South Georgia and on the North Sea trade. It was on this latter trade that Lewis was promoted Master of the M.V. Marna trading between Leith & Bergen where he served until joining the Forth Pilotage Service.

MV Marna

Lewis was a natural pilot and it was with reluctance that he retired in 1981 on his 65th birthday. Two events of particular interest during his pilotage career were piloting the Royal Yacht Britannia with the Queen on board during her round Britain tour and piloting the Mauritania to the breakers yard in Fife.

Following retirement, Lewis was able to fully enjoy family life and will be sorely missed by his wife, Anne Margaret and fondly remembered by his three daughters and son along with his nine grand children and three great grand children.

Malcolm Rose ( Forth pilot: retired) Additional information from Lewis’ daughter, Anne-Louise.