Shanghaied

[David mullins]

Shanghaied

Having not had a Christmas at home for the previous eight years, I was determined to ensure the next Christmas would be at home with family and girl friend.
It was early September and I had a choice of about four ships re-crewing in Salford. The MV British Monarch seemed an ideal option and after a chat with the Mate who told me it was anticipated she would be back in the UK in mid December, I decided this was my best option.
The routine was Salford to Glasgow light ship, full load of scrap for Osaka in Japan. General cargo to Singapore followed by Soya from Singapore
to Liverpool.
Arriving in Clydebank for the scrap, we encountered a dockers strike which continued for the following three weeks. Great start for Christmas!

Eventually we cleared Glasgow and headed south for the Med. Transiting the Suez in the usual convoy, our group anchored in the Great Bitter Lake allowing north bound traffic to pass.
Anchored next to us was a Russian cargo ship which appeared to have a crew of extremely nosey Parker’s or possibly, KGB spies.
Our second mate Dougie Wardrop, who on the previous trip fell overboard whilst trying to read the log and spent eight hours in the Pacific before being picked up, dashed down from the bridge to the focsle where the Bosun and some ABs were working.
“Lads” he said, “let’s give those ruskies something to stare at”
After a little game plan had been organised, the ABs and Bosun kneeled down on the focsle pretending to scrub the deck. The second mate, now with a cap on and a length of rope in his hand screamed “ scrub you bastards, scrub” whilst swinging his rope over their heads. This brought even more Russians to their gunwale to watch the treatment dished out to these poor Capitalists.
It wasn’t too long before we saw a senior Russian officer in full uniform stood rigidly to attention addressing his crew and bellowing at them “Are you appy in your verk, — are you appy in your verk”
Then like a male voice choir and looking over towards our ship, they responded “Ya ve appy in our verk, — Ya ve appy in our verk”
This was repeated several times until they were sure we had had the message.
The reaction this produced on our ship was intoxicating as we rolled on the hatch combings, surrounded by peels of almost uncontrollable laughter.
I guess Dougie had previously treated a Russian ship to this performance.
After a twenty five day passage, we arrived in Osaka to find no available wharfs and had to buoy off in the outer harbour area for a further seven days.
Christmas looking a bit dodgy now!
After the ships agent had gone ashore, the Old Man presented us with the news that the shipping company had signed a contract to supply Guano from the Gilbert Islands to both Aussie and NZ and coal from Aussie to Japan for the next Eighteen months.
Conned and Shanghaied was banded about and all thoughts of Christmas for this and maybe next year, was ditched overboard.

On the completion of the contract we eventually sailed for home via the Panama Canal, arriving of all places, Salford, the port we initially departed from.

I do have a few other interesting tales of the many voyages we undertook between Aussie, NZ the South Pacific islands and Japan which I will pass on later.

[Graham Shaw]

m.v.BRITISH MONARCH -INFOLINK

BRITISH MONARCH O.N.185003.jpg
Courtesy M.Donnelly,Wear Built Ships Site

[David mullins]

Thanks for the photo Graham

[Harry Nicholson]

Wonderful story, Dave. Particularly of the Ruskies! Please keep them coming.

[Rodney Mills]

David, I too was shanghaied. I was sent by the London Pool to a "Home Trade" from Rotterdam to London with Burries and Marks MV. La Cumbre. Arriving in Rotterdam to sign on we found it was Deep Sea Articles, and there was to be a trip to Quebec and back to London for a refit. I didn't have the money to return to the UK, had no choice but to sign on as Catering Boy (Galley Boy). It was the worst experience of my life. Ten Months later we paid off in Bremen, only because the rust bucket damn near sunk in a Channel gale coming into Germany. It killed cargo boats for me. I finished my time out with Union-Castle passenger ships. liked them, good cabin mates, learnt a lot about cooking, and knew to the hour when I was being paid off.

Cheers, Rodney

[Peter Copley]

#1 #5. Hi David and Rodney. I too, have been Shanghaied - twice! Brenda Silver, better known as Shanghai Lily, (Silver Marine Services – Liverpool) was responsible both times. The first time was the SS Sapho 1. “A new ship, Peter.” The Sapho, it turned out, was built in Denmark in 1945 and was well overdue for the scrapyard, I joined her in Piraeus. I looked up at the rust bucket thinking, ‘Thanks Brenda, I think I’ve been well and truly Shanghai shafted here, not a new ship but a new owner’, and with 10-bob in my pocket, I hadn’t enough cash for the taxi fare to the nearest railway station to catch a train home.

You’d think once bitten, twice shy, but I fell for Brenda’s silver tongue again. The second ship, the MV Eugenie S Embiricos. “This, Panama registered ship, Peter, has American officers. You’ll get on with the Americans. She’s in Hawaii waiting for a RO.” Oh well, the grub will be better than the Sapho’s food, I thought. So, I agreed and flew out to Honolulu to join her. The ship stood offshore and I joined her from a pilot cutter. As the cutter sailed around the stern of the ship, I saw a blue and white flag fluttering from the ensign staff, ‘That’s not a Panamanian Flag, but never mind, I’ll have steak and chips for tea with the Yanks.’ The ship had an unpronounceable Greek name and was registered in Andros. My heart fell into my boots when I found out the crew were all Greeks. Instead of steak and chips it was sour egg and rice soup, main course, a boiled fish, its head, tail and fins still on it, boiled celery and boiled potatoes covered in olive oil!

Getting paid-off the Eugenie was a nightmare. 13 months after joining her in Hawaii, Embiricos Line said they were unable to get a replacement radio officer. This was late April and I was getting married 8th June. I threatened to jump ship next port if they didn’t find me a relief. The company offered me double pay to stay with the ship from Cornerbrook to Melbourne. I flatly refused.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the company promised to get me a relief if I stayed on to the Panama Canal. They had found a Polish RO and would fly him to Cristobal and I would hand over during the transit and pay off in Balboa on the Pacific side. I thought it's cutting it a bit fine, my future Mother-in-Law had ordered the buff and Kathleen was getting anxious.

Halfway down the Eastern Seaboard, the chippy had his hand cut off with the biggest chain saw you’ve ever seen! A sailor had bought the saw in Newfoundland (Nobody knew why, as the Greek island this sailor came from had no trees) and he was testing it out with the chippy holding a lump of wood. The baulk flew out of the carpenters’ hands, the sailor holding the heavy saw panicked and opened the throttle cutting right through the chippies wrist.
I had to send an ‘Urgent Medico’ to Norfolk Naval Base requesting a helicopter evacuation. Because the sea was too rough for a helicopter evac, we were diverted to Bermuda, another delay, (thanks chippy you could have waited until I got paid off before having your hand chopped off).

We eventually arrived at the canal, I handed over the accounts, etc, then came the time to get off the ship. It was nighttime, pitch black, the ship going full speed ahead to maintain steerage, the pilot cutter barely keeping up, surging in and out as I dangled off the bottom of a Jacobs ladder. As the boat bounced below, I’m thinking If I get this wrong and fall between the boat and ship, it’s good-night Vienna, there’ll be no wedding bells and no buff at the cricket club.

Then to cap it all off, as the canal zone was then in US hands and because I didn’t have a US visa, I was locked up in the ‘Aliens Compound’ waiting for a flight home. The compound was more like a Japanese Prisoner-of-War camp, cut out of the jungle, with mossies’ and ping-pong.

Well, I eventually got back home just in time for the wedding. After being Shanghaied twice by Brenda Silver, I found my own ships after that.
PC – R710198.

[George Bis]

In 12 years at sea I was away at Christmas 4 times so can’t complain.
As a first trip Cadet at Midnight, New Years Eve the Chippy and myself made our way to the forecastle and at the stroke of midnight the Chippy struck 12 strokes to ring out the old year and I struck 12 to ring in the New. Then back to the bar!

[Doc Vernon]

David, I too was shanghaied. I was sent by the London Pool to a "Home Trade" from Rotterdam to London with Burries and Marks MV. La Cumbre. Arriving in Rotterdam to sign on we found it was Deep Sea Articles, and there was to be a trip to Quebec and back to London for a refit. I didn't have the money to return to the UK, had no choice but to sign on as Catering Boy (Galley Boy). It was the worst experience of my life. Ten Months later we paid off in Bremen, only because the rust bucket damn near sunk in a Channel gale coming into Germany. It killed cargo boats for me. I finished my time out with Union-Castle passenger ships. liked them, good cabin mates, learnt a lot about cooking, and knew to the hour when I was being paid off.

Cheers, Rodney

Ah! Rodney , i like the end part mate! Yes Union Castle was to me a very good Company, with good conditions and as you say good Mates on Board!
Trips were nice, i did prefer the Round African Runs though, although the Mail run was a bit more convienent for me as regards to seeing my Folks at home. Managed on a few occasions to get Shore leave while the Ship went up to Durban and joined on her return to Cape Town! Some good times had all round!! And in my time anyway as i have said many times the Tips from the Bloods were pretty damn good, always got back to Southampton, or London with my Sky Rockets quite full, and on most Trips had more in Tips than Wages!
Oh Happy Days!

[George Bis]

Quite a story I called in on Brenda Silver while I was doing 2M at Byrom St. Liverpool and heard the sales pitch but that was a far as I took it

[j.sabourn]

#9 If that was about 1969 which looks like it may well have been you made the right choice . I joined one of her specialities in Rotterdam , apart from problems with Copra bugs we went for a cargo of coke loaded in Gdańsk for Karachi. Half of one propellor blade was missing , outward bound in the Kiel Canal the Egyptian 2 mate jumped over the side and was last seen heading down the quay. In the locks , he was never replaced so you might have got the job . I was there for 10 months and walked away from it in Japan . During my time there we had 5 ports of refuge , nearly fired on by a Chinese warship off Vietnam and other things no one would believe. The ship itself flat out and with a following wind was capable of 4 knots or thereabouts , with a following wind however you had to put the radar on if it worked , to see where you were going as the smoke and other foreign matter coming out the funnel obstructed ones view. You can believe this or not , and just to show how well she was managed she had no safety certificate as the lifeboats had been condemned . All just coincidentals. As per a previous post was where I got my experiences of Taiwan as was another port of refuge and took us three goes to get up the Straits on passage to Japan the current being too strong. The keystone cops had nothing on the nautical version Cheers JS