Flag away

[cappy]

Hi Cappy, we had both, Deck Apprentices and Navigating Cadets. I was a Navigating Cadet, and was never indentured. That's why I was able to resign in writing.

......were they big ships then braid .....cant remember those titles in runcimans ....hains or other tramp companies regards cappy

[robpage]

We were all Fin Gophers in British and Commonwealth ( UCL & Clan line ) because everyone said where is the F-in Gopher , send the F-in Gopher , the F-in Gopher can do it

[Jim Brady]

Talking of decks this guy I knew was in ship repair for many years and I heard him ask this question a number of times in the pub "where is the rain deck on a ship"his answer was "it's the deck in the funnel".I have never heard of it,I must tell you he was an Irish guy and maybe they went inside the funnel when it was raining.He insisted that it was correct.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[robpage]

Weather Deck I have heard of Rain Deck never , maybe some one was pulling his leg ?

[Ivan Cloherty]

#35...Actually Ivan, what you did was make sure the hoist was up tight, then loop the double halyard round the after rail of the forecastle, before tugging on the lower one. Then, as the flags unfurled, you tightened the loose one round the rail and made it fast. You had to be quick, but it worked. As for the wheelhouse 'floor', we cadets always called it that. Maybe because it was a wheel 'house'!! Every other floor was a deck.

Are you making this up as you go along, I think you did more on that 10 month trip total sea experience than most of use achieved in 10 years. Never heard of cadets and apprentices on the same ship, but as always stand to be corrected.

Incidentally fleets of flags in convoys were flown from the triatic stay over the wheelhouse in close proximity to the flag locker. Never sailed on a ship with the flag locker on the foc'le.

Whether you were an apprentice (indentured) or cadet (non indentured) on board ship you were collectively known as cadets, except in Blue Flue where they were called 'middies' as they thought they were above everybody else

Anyway that's all from me on the subject

[robpage]

In B & C we ( Engineering Gophers , who had to go for everything ) were known as Cadets , but the engineers had a set of indentures , I believe that this was to satisfy BoT / Dot /DoTI with the required " Heavy Engineering Apprenticeship " . I believe the Deck Cadets did not have indentures . We also ( Both Departments ) signed on articles and had discharge books , which i believe was different if an apprentice

Must have been a hell of a ten month trip , I never had it that bad , but I never fed the Old Man on soap , the old beggars in Clan Line would have spotted that a mile off

[Braid Anderson]

#46...Rob, I did not say we had cadets and apprentices on the same ship. The 'we' referred to the company, which was BP Clyde Tanker Co. We did indeed experience a great deal on that 10 month trip, including, but not only, Aqaba, Shaat al Arab (a locust plague, as well as being turned back by the Iraqis), night watchman murdered on the Shell tanker next to us in Abadan, spotting and reporting the submarine in an exercise between Port Elizabeth and Table Bay, striking a whale south of Cape Town, being chased from Matadi back to Ango Ango when the real trouble started in the (Belgian) Congo, sailing through a hurricane in the Caribbean..... Please don't take my word for it, if you feel you shouldn't. The second steward on board said it was the most eventful trip he ever made in half a lifetime at sea. He now happens to be the Secretary of the Tilbury MNA, feel free to ask him. Finally, I did not say the flag locker was on the forecastle, it was behind the wheelhouse. The flags in question were the ship's recognition flags, which were required to be flown from the yardarm. The triatic stay(s) were where we flew the B flag, other International Code flags, and courtesy flag of the country being visited.

[Braid Anderson]

Sorry, my last should read Ivan, not Rob. Apologies.

[happy daze john in oz]

D--khead ! I cannot remember the proper spelling Cappy , might be Deckhead

Depends who you are speaking of.

[Ivan Cloherty]

#48 Most of us would have considered that a normal trip, especially on trampers. Many liner men would have found it exciting as their lives were pretty hum drum on a regular run, many spent a lifetime at sea without transiting the Suez and Panama Canals, the latter a sight worth beholding, and on their liner runs hurricanes and typhoons were as rare as hens teeth were-as for others they were a regular occurence. Not saying I don't believe you Braid but your trip was nothing out of the ordinary but probably exciting for a boy of 17, but they are your memories so enjoy them, but as said earlier talking to seamen is different to talking to landlubbers.

Incidentally did you know that the only floors on a ship are vertical (excluding dance floors, which have seemed vertical at times) and are only found in double bottoms or tanks, but again stand to be corrected

My apologies to Rob for having flak directed at him