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Article: Another step up

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    Another step up

    3 Comments by John T Morgan Published on 29th March 2019 06:54 PM
    Another step up

    When I obtained my 2nd Mates Certificate in 1953 I had the problem of finding a job; because I didn’t have a Company to which I could return as a deck officer I had a lot of searching to do. Most of it disappointing, this was brutally brought home to me by the response of one marine superintendent. A curt ‘‘go back to the company that raised you’’. So, after many frustrating attempts I somehow found myself in the offices of the Clan Line explaining myself once more to a very pleasant receptionist. Shortly after I was ushered into the Marine Superintendent’s office where I told my same old story to a very receptive old sailor.

    The end result was his suggestion that as I had no experience of the Clan Line it would be best if I were to join them as a fourth mate for one trip where I would keep a watch with the first mate and so become accustomed to the Company before I was elevated to third mate, I would of course be on third mate’s pay starting from today! I was delighted to accept and was told they would telephone with further details later that week. His parting remark was “remember that the safe and efficient transportation of cargo was the Company’s bread and butter”.

    I spent several days at home anxiously awaiting further orders when I was told to join the ‘Clan Mactaggart” at Birkenhead. She was loading a general cargo, sailing in ten day’s time on the company’s regular run to South Africa and India.

    The “Clan Mactaggart” was their latest ship, the Fist Mate was senior and about to be promoted to Master. He of course was my boss and while standing the 4-8 watch with him and assisting with his various other duties I learned a great deal during the three- and half-month voyage. The crew were all Indian and as I had sailed with Indian crews before I understood them and could communicate in Hindustani up to a point.

    From then on, I spent perhaps the happiest five years of my seafaring life while serving on several other Clan Line ships

    In those days navigators always had their own sextants (used for measuring angles and particularly heights above the horizon of heavenly bodies’) They were expensive precision instruments. While I was studying on the ‘‘Cheshire” I was loth to ask any of the Navigators for a loan of theirs, so I went to a nautical optician’s in Liverpool. What a magnificent shop, chronometers, barometers and all things nautical.

    I told the shopkeeper (Who’s name was Mr. Timewell) what I was doing, and he suggested that I purchase and old Vernier sextant for £5 which would be good to practice on and then when I had a third mate’s job, I could return it and they would allow the £5 against the cost of a new Micrometer sextant. Sure, enough, that happened, and I’d had several months free use of the old one.

    I sailed on many of the company’s sixty-nine ships, some new some not so new, In those days’ cargo was not immediately available at all ports and ships could be at anchor off such places as Calcutta for weeks if not months while waiting to load. This happened to us on one trip when we got orders to proceed to Burma to load a full cargo of rice for Colombo, Ceylon, then back to Calcutta to resume the normal Clan Line trade This was a disappointment for us as it meant an additional two months to the round trip but perhaps better than languishing at anchor for an indefinite period.

    While at Rangoon I had the opportunity to visit the Shwe Dagon Pagoda which was quite impressive. The massive gold coloured pagoda was surrounded by many smaller ones and many old Burmese ladies selling and smoking cheroots that they had hand made, spitting all over the place of course. A highly colourful and noisy experience, also energetic as I skipped among the globules of spit. I didn’t buy a cheroot, perhaps because I had been told that when finishing them off the outer leaf of tobacco would be rolled on the ladies’ inner thighs!

    An interesting episode happened while we were anchored in the Irrawaddy river off Rangoon. There was a smaller ship anchored close by which had loaded a cargo of teak wood logs secured to the deck by chains. She sailed on the morning before us also bound for Colombo. During the night we had heard a great deal of chains rattling, but paid no heed to it.

    The time of the year was during the South west monsoon when the Bay of Bengal can get very rough, a few days later we overtook her and saw that she no longer had her deck cargo. After arrival in Columbo a couple of men came aboard our ship and asked me what the weather had been like and could they see our log book, I said that the weather had been wet and windy, but I couldn’t show them the log book and directed them to the captain. Whether the captain allowed it or not I don’t know but if he did and if they were insurance inspectors it would not have been to their advantage as it was our practice to overwrite the weather in order to avoid any claims on our cargo. For instance, ‘Rolling and pitching moderately and shipping light spray’ would be written ‘Rolling and pitching heavily and shipping water over all’. Whether the whole thing was an insurance fraud or not I will never know.

    Calcutta was always hot and humid with very little to do by way of entertainment apart from some quite good but very expensive restaurants in the down town area such as Firpo’s in Chowrhingee.

    One of the delights for us lowly sailors was the weekly dance held at the Flying Angel seamen’s mission. This was mainly attended by Eurasian girls who were the offspring of British expatriate civil servants or soldiers who had married and settled down with Indian wives. They were very attractive and spoke English with that peculiar Indian accent which sounds a little like Welsh people when speaking English. Being a mission there was no alcohol allowed but we quite simply circumnavigated that by taking medicine bottles filled with gin, while the girls took bottles of orange juice; glasses were surreptitiously filled under the tables and a good, if sweaty, time was had by all.

    My happiest ship was the “Clan Macfadyen” which I joined in 1956, perhaps because I had just obtained my 1st mates’ certificate and was newly promoted to 2nd mate. Also, I had just met my 19-year-old future wife.

    The “Macfadyen” was one of the many ships known as Sam Boats which were built in the USA during the war and was strictly functional, but not so much as could not be made very comfortable for us mates and engineers. These ships had a reputation for breaking their backs in heavy weather and so had massive ‘butt’ straps riveted around the hull. We had plenty of bad weather but with never a problem. One day while visiting the engine room I asked the Chief engineer where he had the spare parts stowed in case of breakdown. He replied with a scowl and in his broad Glasgow Scots accent “Ma engines never breck doon”. Sure enough, she trotted along at a steady 11.25 knots propelled by her triple expansion ‘up and down’ steam engine, also without a problem,”

    I had just obtained my Master’s Foreign Going certificate in 1958 when the Clan Line merged with Union Castle Line and became the British and Commonwealth Shipping Company. This ended the Clan Line as I knew it, but that's another story.

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  3. #2
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    Default Re: Another step up

    Another good Article JTM and very well told ,we need more like these on here!
    Thank you
    Cheers
    Last edited by Doc Vernon; 1st April 2019 at 10:52 PM.
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    Default Re: Another step up

    Hi John.
    Loved the story, took me back a few years; I could visulise Rangoon and Calcutta reading your account.
    I was in Rangoon on the Trevose in 52, visited the Golden Pagoda; and loved the Taxi dancing with those beautiful Eurasian girls , was back there on the Wave Baron later; and went back for more dancing.
    Thanks for the post.
    Cheers Des

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    Default Re: Another step up

    those beautiful Eurasian girls

    Hi Des
    For sure I will go with you on that mate,those Girls were and will always be the Beauties of the World,the Features,Skin and looks of most of them are just so stunning ,it would be hard to find a Woman like some of theirs over here or anywhere else! I just love them Shhh! don't tell her Indoors LOL
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