Volume Twelve - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - further aspects - A History of Penarth Dock by Roy Thorne . . .

The "Pamir" sailed in December 1951 to Rio de Janeiro, taking 46 days, find later the "Passat" sailed from Kiel to Rio Grande do Sul in 40 days. They proved to be uneconomical and came under the ownership of the Pamir Passat Foundation for the training of sea cadets.

In August 1957 the "Pamir" left Buenos Aires and 42 days later she was lost in a hurricane 400 miles WSW of the Azores on 21 st September 1957. Eighty officers and cadets lost their lives and there were only six survivors.

The "Passat" ran into difficulties in September 1957 on sail from Buenos Aires to Hamburg when her cargo shifted in heavy weather. The position became critical and the ship was taken to shelter in Lisbon with a list of seven degrees to port.

The training of cadets ceased. The "Passat” was sold to the city of Lubeck where she became living quarters for cadets attending the Nautical School at Travemunde.

During the 195Q's frigates and minesweepers of the Royal Navy were serviced at the pontoon and kept in the dock with their armament and sophisticated equipment protected from the weather. They were known as the “Mothball Fleet.”

Ships of P. and A. Campbell's White Funnel Fleet were also serviced at the pontoon and kept in the dock during this period. Before the First World War there had been much competition between different companies carrying passengers on pleasure cruises to Weston, Minehead, Lynmouth and Ilfracombe.