I first sailed with a AB/handyman on one of the Baltic boats in 1960, don't know about others, kt
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I first sailed with a AB/handyman on one of the Baltic boats in 1960, don't know about others, kt
I have Never ever heard of a AB Handyman,
The only change I remember was ABs being called GPs. which I thought was an Insult to a good AB.
sounds iike a cheaper chippie to me, save paying a skilled shipwright
Well, i can assure you on UBC boats, i was on the Baltic trader, we had a AB/handyman, he did the usual tank soundings etc, i never sailed with one on any other company ships. It will be interesting if anyone else knew of this rank ?, this particular Baltic boat was on the Medi run, home port Hamburg, and nearly all continental crew. I was on her as a JOS, and having had the time in for my EDH ticket, was going to pay off in Hamburg, but the skipper said if i stayed on, he would sign me on as Sailor, which was nearly AB money, so this i did, and stayed for another 12 months, consequently when i paid off i took the EDH/ AB ticket, but had enough time in to go straight to AB, so i have a Sailor discharge in my book, but never was an EDH, kt
Hello Sailor !!! Don’t remember ever seeing such a rating in the NMB book But have signed on people as such on non federated ships. Indian ships believe the word kalassi is Hindi for sailor, if wrong someone will correct. There were two grades to make it simple 1 and 2. The AB/handyman was on 10 bob a month more than an AB much less than a ships carpenter who was classed as a shipwright and was qualified to sit for certificates of competency both deck and engineroom if had the correct seatime in. On non federated ships you could more less sign anyone on as anything. Believe on cattle boats they sign some on as shepherds, won’t say if they were good or bad as that is religion. When referring to certificates should have said for an engineers certificate, all hands and the cook could go.up for a deck certificate of competency with the seatime in. Cheers JWS.
I've never known anyone else with that rank either, but i took the money anyway. The officers were all uk on that ship, but the deck crew were a mish mash of everything else, most of them did not hold British deck qualifications as i,m aware. I had previously sailed on a South American Saint line ship , the St Merriel, that and the Baltic Trader i was sent to from Prescott st federation, and the St Merriel was the same, i was the only Brit among the deck crowd, mainly German and Belgian, Did i smell or something, and get sent on these weird crew ships one wonders !! lol, kt
I don’t know how the system was supposed to work in a case like that, but sounds very hypocritical because if you went away outside the federation on a FOC you stood to be suspended. So seems suspicious like someone was acting as a crewing agency which involves money to the crew supplier.
The same as when the federation closed shop with their paltry payouts for long service no one ever answered my queryof how much the workers in the shipping office got. Why keep silent, is over and done with now so will be no comebacks. Or did they sign a secrecy pact? Cheers JWS
With regard to the job/rank of handyman, i have just finished reading a book fishing by Bob Addey, and he served on several UBC boats, some 6-7 years after i left the sea, and he again was sent on to two UBC boats, and on one was the AB/Handyman, including my old ship, Baltic trader. He shipped out from the federation in the North. So i am glad i wasn't dreaming of that rank, and surprised the likes of Kong and JS who were at sea for many years and ships, had not heard of it, kt
#19 Not sure to what you refer Keith. AB/ handyman was in the NMB book . I never saw the rank of sailor , it may have been there but if so I missed . If one sailed on a foreign flag ship as mate or engineer one had to have the certificate of that flag. Myself have or had certificates for Liberia, Panama, various Islands in the BWI and elsewhere . They were issued on the strength of ones British qualification. Sailor I assume just means deckhand and used it at various times on foreign vessels. The NMB book was however mainly used for minimum pay scales and conditions of service which most alien countries didn’t have , as unions did not exist with most of them. The BSF as you know was a consortium of British shipowners and a segment of the NUS. It was there to make and enforce the rules for British federated ships only. Maybe if it hadn’t existed seamen May have had higher salaries .
British flag ships on the face of it were more organised re salary bands and every rank had a minimum wage attached as said for federated ships only , however other company’s took that as a yardstick and would pay over this if necessary. Was there a wage quantified by the federation for Sailor ??? Apart from hello Sailor.!! As regards certificates I was told that the mate responsible for the collision of the Sunprincess and the Harrison boat in the
Little Bocas , years ago , lost his Liberian licence immediately , but it was some time before the authority’s got their heads round it was only issued on the strength of his British one which he continued to sail on before it too was cancelled . Don’t know if true or not , but so myths are born. Don’t forget British ships also have a minimum manning scale. Where does Sailor fit in this , what rank does it stand for ? Cheers jS