Obituary: William Hedley Young 1915 – 2010

March 13th, 2011 by JCB
Posted in Obituaries | 2 Comments »

William Hedley Young  (Bill) came from a seafaring and piloting family and it was always his plan to follow in those family footsteps. He became apprenticed to the Tees Pilot Service in 1932 and in 1935 went to sea, serving as a quartermaster with B&I and Brocklebanks. In 1938 he obtained his Mates Home Trade Passenger certificate in Hull and he was Quartermaster aboard the S.S. Malabar when, in October 1939, it was sunk in the Western Approaches by U34.  Picked up by the destroyer H.M.S. Grafton he was landed at Plymouth 36 hours later.  In 1940 was called back to the Tees to become a skipper on the pilot cutters. In June 1940 he was involved in the rescue of survivors from the French corvette “La Bastiase” which was mined whilst on trials in Tees Bay. The Master and the Pilot were among those lost. Only 16 were saved out of a total of 80. In January 1942 Bill was able to exhibit his seamanship skills when he went to the aid of the “Empire Bay” which had been bombed at anchor off Hartlepool whilst awaiting a southbound convoy. Weather conditions were very bad and the Tees and Hartlepool Examination Vessel, the only other craft in the vicinity, was unable to launch boats. The “Empire Bay” was located with difficulty in the dark and found to be sinking by the stern and listing heavily. Despite flailing boat falls, broken lifeboats and other obstructions, he was eventually able to rescue all 15 crew members.    Bill obtained his 4^th. Class pilot’s licence in 1943 and he immediately became involved in all aspects of the service. He became a long serving member of the Pilots Committee, chaired the Examination Committee and was a regular Tees representative at Conference.  Finally he was appointed to the board of the Tees Pilotage Authority. He was also a close friend, confidant and supporter of  Tees Pilot Dan Tate, who was a prominent member of the UKPA and a prime mover of the Pilots’ National Pension Fund. A great one with words he was a prolific and often controversial contributor to the press on many topics.

His boat handling skills seemed easily to transfer to ship handling.  One could say his piloting was carried out with great élan and dead slow was never his favourite speed. This caused many a Master and trainee Pilot to experience white knuckles until they came to realise he really could safely manoeuvre ships in his unique style.

A lovely anecdote worth repeating was when he had the privilege of piloting the Royal Yacht Britannia into the Tees with the Queen aboard. On the way up the river the cheers and waves of the dockers atop the unloaders at the ore terminal attracted Bill’s attention. He walked to the bridge wing and waved in return. An officer quickly advised him that the Bridge did not acknowledge the adulation of the populace- that was left to the Queen on the promenade deck. Bill, suitably chastened, retired to the wheelhouse!

Maybe it was a desire to pilot even faster that inspired him to take up flying. He obtained his other pilot’s licence and, for several years, had a share in a Miles Messenger and the stories of his escapades are legion. Bill kept himself extremely fit and, even on the day of his retirement in 1980, there were few younger colleagues who were more nimble on a ladder. He had no desire to retire at 65 and expressed envy that pilots now have the opportunity to continue beyond that age. He was always modest about his achievements but he did claim that his greatest was discovering and marrying his wife Joan, a view which many of his friends would agree with. They were together for 67 years, Joan having passed away in 2007, an event from which Bill never recovered. After a short illness he died at the grand old age of 95. A great colleague, a great character and a great friend.

Gary Salter