Captain Woodall

[Jim Brady]

Just heard on local radio news Captain Woodall, Cunard has Crossed The Bar.Was it the QE2 he was master of when the ship had a bomb scare out in the Atlantic and some arm of the Armed Service's were parachuted into the ocean to conduct a search of the ship.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Captain Kong]

How sad to hear that,
I knew Captain Robin Woodall quite well , I heard on board the Queen Elizabeth a few weeks ago, I was talking to a man who was a member of the Wiirral Lifeboat, he told me Robin was not too good in health. He was a Member of the Lifeboat Service there.
I first sailed with him in 1956, he was a 22 year old Junior Fourth Mate and I was a Quartermaster on the same watch on the old Franconia.
I met him many times at various Maritime Dinners in Liverpool including the Trafalgar Day Dinner in the Liverpool Town Hall. He was 18 months older than me so that would make him 78 years old last December.
He was on QE2 when she hit an uncharted rock in Marthas Vineyard a few years ago,
RIP Robin.
Thanks for the information Jim.
Brian.

[Jim Brady]

Brian,when I posted this message I thought it would be of particular interest to you,I thought you would've know him.Yes he lived on the Wirral at Hoylake so he would be close to the RNLI over there.Just checked out the bomb on board story he was actually Junior 1st Officer at the time under the command of Captain W.J.Law.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Captain Kong]

Thanks for that Jim,
I have just sent an email to his friend and Co- Captain of QE2 ,Commodore Ron Warwick.
.
I also sailed with Captain Law on one of the Cunard ships, the `PARTHIA.`in 1961.
Cheers
Brian.

[Chris Allman]

Hi all,

Robin was the Chairman of the Hoylake Lifeboat Management Group. His passing is a sad loss to the maritime world and also to the RNLI. He was a fine seaman and a gentleman.

Chris.

[Captain Kong]

Here is a photo of Captain Robin Woodall in happier days when he was Master of QE2
He first brought the QE2 into Liverpool in 1990
Capt Woodall started his seagoing career in Cunard cargo ships and switched to its passenger ships in 1956
Brian

[Jim Brady]

Just reading captain Woodalls account of the bomb incident on the QE2 in 1972.He was in charge of the cruise launch that was put out to pick up the parachutist's. Four were dropped from a hercules and one of them was unconscious when taken from the water.Captain Woodall met the navigator from the Hercules some years later and was told by him that the unconscious man was a captain in the ROAC and he had never done a parachute jump before.When the back door of the Hercules opened and the ROAC man looked out he collapsed and was unconscious when they pushed him out and his parachute opened automatically.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[joemac]

I was on the QE2 that trip as a winger in the Britannia restaurant. I turned to wondering why the stoppage and looked out to see a lifeboat heading away from the ship As we were mid atlantic at the time I thought this rather odd (did they know something we didn't?). We could see Nimrod circling the ship. Obviously we were on tenterhooks once we heard what was going on until the all clear was given.
I sailed with Captain Woodall many times over the years on the QE2 and he was always highly regarded by his crews. He will be sorely missed. RIP
Joemac

[Stuart Henderson]

R.I.P and Bon Voyage

Stuart
ex Cunard 1957-1972