Captain James Carse Nichol, Master Mariner

Documents relating to the seagoing career of Captain James Carse Nichol from the 1950s to the 1980s. The collection includes Captain Nichol’s official and personal documents and correspondence relating to his merchant navy service and employment, mainly with Denholm Shipping Company. Also included are papers relating to voyage expenses and ship operations, as well as disciplinary matters and unusual incidents that took place during various voyages.

See below for further details.

Administrative / biographical background
James Carse Nichol (1930-2010) was born in 1930 in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland. He entered the merchant navy as a teenager in the 1940s. He was employed by Denholm Shipping Company and served on cargo ships trading around the world including Africa, Asia, Australia and North America. After he was promoted to the rank of captain in 1961, his wife and children often accompanied him on his voyages. In 1980 Nichol was captaining the ANDROS when the ship came across a group of 87 Vietnamese refugees in a sinking fishing boat in the South China Sea. They were rescued by the crew of the ANDROS and taken to Hong Kong. Nichol resigned from Denholm in 1980, and he died in 2010.