SS Defender in Mombasa

From Jon Haylett:

My father worked for the African Mercantile which, amongst other things, was a ships' agency. Although he became general manager for the whole of the African Mercantile's operation in East Africa, this was the side of the business which most interested him as it was what he had specialised in from the time he first came to the African coast, to Port Sudan in 1922. His father, a captain in the Harrison Line, had found him the job. Captain Haylett later died at sea on the Defender - seen here entering Durban.

So Defender's visit to Mombasa in 1952 must have been a moving one for my father as it was the last time she came in before she was sold for scrap. He took his two sons with him for the occasion - my brother Richard is on the right. We were quite used to going on board ship as my parents very much enjoyed having 'their' captains ashore, usually for a drink at the club followed by lunch but sometimes for an overnight stay, and the captains reciprocated by entertaining the whole family aboard.

The last house we lived in was towards the end of Cliff Avenue, overlooking the golf course. It had a superb view out to sea, and was an ideal place to watch ships come in to Kilindini. This is one of my father's ships, again a Harrison Line boat. She's high in the water, and it would have been his pride to have sent her on her way loaded 'down to her marks'.