Burials at sea

[Terry Smith]

I am trying to write a sea story and require the following information. Can anyone please tell me the procedure in the British Merchant Navy following the death of a crew memberat sea in say the 1950s, either through accident or natural causes?
I seem to recall reading that in sailing ship days the body would be sewn into a canvas shroud by either the sailmaker or perhaps the carpenter, with the final stitch being passed through the deceased's nose, although for what reason I'm not certain. The body was then weighted and laid on a plank and after a few words and a prayer by the ship's Master it was slid into the sea.
Never having sailed on a vessel when a death occurred I'd be interested to learn if a similar procedure prevailed in the 1950's, or if the body was somehow preserved on board until the next port of call when it could be buried ashore. It seems that during WWII the body would indeed be buried at sea after being sewn into a shroud that was weighted with fire bars, the Red Ensign adorning the shroud while the master or a senior officer pronounced the appropriate address; although I don't know if the stitch through the nose was still practised. I'd be extremely grateful for any information. Many thanks in advance.

Terry Smith

[j.sabourn]

In 1953 on my first trip to sea, we had a Greaser died on passage from Avonmouth to Cuba. The man had been an epileptic and had fits at different times, so he lay in a corner of the messroom for an unknown period before it was realized he was dead. He was laid out on a wooden hatchboard and placed in the steering flat. We had the old steam steering quadrant so was at the best of times full of steam and quite hot in the tropics. The 4 apprentices had to take shifts sitting with the body we were told to assure everyone that the person was dead. This continued for 3 days. It was always considered the 2nd. Mates job to sew the body up. The last stich was always put through the nose to make sure he was indeed dead and also to stop the body sliding down the canvas.The vessel was stopped and the Master asked everyone if they were happy that the person was dead. Body covered with the Red Ensign and body slipped overside. The Ensign being retained of course. Appropiate Bible readings, and entry made in OLB. In later years I dont think you would get away with it as body would have to be retained until reaching port. However it was standard unofficial orders then not to go into port with a dead body, this would cause loss of time etc. re quarantine. The 2nd. Mate always got a bottle of rum for the stitching job. J.sabourn

[Gulliver]

And this is what The Ship Captain's Medical Guide says about it today:
(it’s a PDF document so give it time to download).-attached below.


And on a lighter note!


To quote John:


"The vessel was stopped and the Master asked everyone if they were happy that the person was dead."


An unfortunate choice of words,John, any responses being no doubt dependant upon the deceased's relationship with his colleagues !


Gulliver

[j.sabourn]

sorry about wording should have said SURE. Cheers J.Sabourn

[Captain Kong]

I have done a few Burials at sea. Mostly passengers on Cunard or Canadian Pacific.
On those ships the passenger`s family had a choice, take them home or bury them at sea. There was a charge for the Burial, for Canvas, mens bonus and the rum. We got £1 and a bottle of rum between four of us.
If they wanted to take them home then they were put on ice, not all the passenger ships had fridges, such as the old Franconia, just a cool room with huge blocks of ice, the body was then placed on the ice which also contained sides of beef, pork and lamb. Sometimes the ships Surgeon did a post mortem to determin the cause of death.
The family were then charged freight rates for the body., even tho` the fare had been paid all the way, the contract had been broken so the body then became cargo. That was in the old days I dont know if they charge today.
If it was a burial the watch on deck usually did the sewing up in canvas with old shackles and any other bits of iron at the feet., We had a board with six inch angled sides on and two handles at each end, it was painted white gloss. We placed the body on the board covered it with a Red Ensign made fast at the corners so it would not flap about in the wind.and then took it aft to the mooring deck, placing two of the handles at the feet onto the bulwark and at six in the morning the ships engine was stopped, If any relatives were on board they would asemble on the deck, the Staff Captain or if a Minister was on board of the same persuation, then they would read the Burial at Sea Service, at the part of the Service where it says we commit his body to the Deep and at a signal we tipped up the board and the body would slide out and into the ocean.
The death of a shipmate was different to the death of a passenger. On a tanker or cargo ship where everyone knew each other it always left a gloom over the ship for a while. An empty bunk, an empty chair in the messroom, were always reminders of a shipmate who is no more.
In todays modern Cruise ships they have a mortuary built in with the correct refridgerators at the ccorrect temperature for presevation.. If the relatives want a sea burial the ships Doctor usually does a Post Mortem and everything is logged, body samples may be taken and preserved as evidence.
An Engineer was torn to pieces in the engine room on the Empress of France, we had to go and collect the pieces and placed them in a sack, it was extremely gruesome and blood everywhere all had to be washed down after. After that the Bosun and Chippy did the sewing up with the dimembered bits.We were given time off because of the horrific scene .He was then buried at sea.

[Stuart Henderson]

I was on Llangibby Castle in the fifties and a passenger from S.Africa en route London for his honeymoon I heard died at sea after Gibralter and obviously with his wifes agreement was buried at sea. I was in saloon and saw the canvas covered body slip overboard pass the portholes. Next death at sea in the sixties I was more personally involved as it was a Cunard cargo ship. as I was P/CS and did the medical side as well. A greaser didnt turn to for 12 to 4 watch. He had suffered a heart attack and died as I reached him. We were about four days from New York and Cunard contacted his next of Kin his mother who lived in S>Wales I recall and must have been 80 as the crew member was sixty odd. We made space in meat freezer to which there were a few crew objections. Our first port was Newark NJ and I recall there were many problems unloading the dead crewman in NJ as he was being carried home on the old Queen Mary from NY . I accompanied the body in a hearse across the state line and problems continued but he finally went back to UK in style. Stuart H

[Gulliver]

"I accompanied the body in a hearse across the state line and problems continued but he finally went back to UK in style. Stuart H "



What a Spellchecker we have on this site!!
Now it won’t let us write any words with the sequential letter combination “A R S and E in !!


I've noticed this before ,when mentioning that port on the Mediterranean coast of France -- Marseilles.

[Captain Kong]

I wionder what would happen if I type in Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire.

Nothing, that is amazing.

I have typed Marseilles a couple of times and that was censored.

[robpage]

On one occasion on a UC ship a baby was born early and survived only the day . the burial was from a gunport door , the skipper did not stop engines , we were on a cape mail run he hada schedule to maintain . The chippies took a couple of scrap steel valve chests as weights , baby's body sewn into canvas , prop wash caused it to skip and it lifted back at the stern and re-entered the sea , The parents were overwrought . In this day and age I expect they would sue .

Clan line we took a seaman into the meat freezer as we were only a day out of cape town , and landed the body as there was no obvious causer of death , turned ourt to be a heart attac

[robpage]

Reading the pdf of how to tell the signs of death which is very interesting , if the body originated from Liverpool a sure sign is they stop moaning about the conservative governments of the last forty years