Blue Star Logbook

I am sorry to say I recieved the following email this evening, 23 June 2020, from James Darrah:

Dear all,

It is with great sadness that I inform you of the passing of our father, David Fraser Darrah.

He was hospitalised on Saturday following a fall and after a short battle with pneumonia, he passed peacefully, yesterday, with his family by his side.

We are spending some time as a family, but should you wish to give your condolences, I'm sure our mother would appreciate your thoughts and memories.

If you could kindly forward on the news to those that knew him best.

Best regards,

James Darrah

Very sad news indeed R.I.P. Fraser, thank you for your friendship and keeping our memories alive. Peter Stacey

R.I.P. and condolences to the Darrah family and thanks for his wonderful website which keeps our seagoing time with Blues Star alive.

This is sad news for all those that knew Fraser. He was the third engineer on my first trip to sea on his beloved Auckland Star. He was a delightful professional man and helped greatly with my introduction to steam ships and the sea. HIs long and successful career at sea took him to all the corners of the industry and he enjoyed it all the way. His creation of this website marked an important milestone in the history of Blue Star Line and it is a legacy to be enjoyed by many future generations. He will be greatly missed, apart from his adeptness at firing wheel-keys at any unfortunate who didn't follow orders during standby's!

With Deepest Sympathy to Fraser's Family

On Tuesday 7 July, I attended Fraser's final journey, at the Mountsett Crematorium, near his home in Hexham. It was a dignified Service, with many family and friends present, and the Eulogy from Fraser's son Ben reflected the qualities and character of the man we all knew and respected pefectly. I have attached scaned copies of the Order of Service.

Jim Blake