Chief Stewards Info

Personally speaking I don't think Stewart was being sarcastic at all. Some may think he has been late to respond [tis only a week!] When I first made enquiries on the site I was advised to be patient by the chap who gave me the forum address. Lo and behold my quest was acknowledged swiftly but not being experienced with forum etiquette I did not log on for a few days. When I did was mortified. Made my apologies and felt comfortable to ask further. Had I got these replies don't think I would have continued. New "Blood " surely has to be encouraged? Just my opinion:)

A lot of people are very wary of the internet and therefore dont even put their real names up in case by dubious means others can get information about them, also others dont want their private lives exposed. As most on here are seamen they will be used to having no secrets on ships, in fact used to know more about their circumstances than other close family members at times. When I came on this site, probabbly because I was going through a spate of depression and not realizing it, this site just being able to talk to like minded people helped me discard certain inhibitions. I would not in most cases, regard this site with mistrust as some new members putting their toe in the water for the first time may feel. I think most seamen would be comfortable here, as regarding the B......t they may have experienced at sea in certain circumstances, there is very little, and people tend to speak their minds as they see, and have seen life. Stewart if he wants to add his bit will, and if he doesnt he wont. Seamen have never been known for their tact, but are more honest than most. He will have had his own reasons for making the enquiry, at least it brought back memories to most of us. Marian being a woman will be able to read a mans intentions more than most of us. Cheers John S

Marian being a woman will be able to read a mans intentions more than most of us. Cheers John S[/QUOTE]


Marian was talking in her post of 'new blood' and of course my sick mind thought of Sweeny Todd, then i read your post and think maybe your blood may be next. LOL

That was meant to be in favour of what Marian said John. probably wasnt put down too well. A woman does see things more clearly than a man, my wife is always telling me this. They are able to do multiple exercises in their mind at the same time whereas a man cant. I was trying to agree with what she said. No bad intentions or innuendo were meant. Marian this was not meant to be deragotary to your post but to amplfy it, apologys if it appeared otherwise. JS

#43&44, Absolutely no worries on either post chaps:)Well impressed with John's take on the female psyche:D and Happy Daze & I share similar humour:p

Cant remember my salary as C/S or P/CS 1960 to 1977 lot of salaries changing.
DO remember first wages in Merchant Navy though as galley boy £7 per month yes thats seven pound a month £84 a year. I was lucky though and about a year later got "promoted" to Asst Stwd at £17 per month, got the offer of early ? promotion and had to do a second trip on old British Might of BTC. Seemed pretty good bribe at time.

Re the main crooked Chf stwd theme Im not saying it didnt happen BUT it also happened with the other two departments, flogging off paint etc and Captains bond prices. My first thirteen years at sea involved many different companies and ships types and I saw,not only heard a lot.
Stuart

I did Nine trips on the 'Beaverdell' as 2nd Steward and Storekeeper and was never
aware that the Chief Stewards and Pursers had to have an exam etc, it was usually
length of service or whether they were up to the job after going through the ranks,
as far as I remember anyway.

Fred
R525985.

Thank you Marion, as you say its has only been a week, and most times I can only get online at weekends. Thanks again

re# 36 , The fiddling of course happened in all departments , and recycling of old oil drums , scrap non ferrous and ferrous metals and rope should have been paid back to the company , but as far as I was aware never was . I only ever sailed with one seriously bent Chief steward or Purser catering officer , who used to short change the Bangladeshi Crew their meat ration of Moslem Killed (MK) Mutton making sure the officers received their share of the same whilst Scotch Beef vanished from the Fridge on the African Coast , with clever use of the freezer and stores of a poorer quality he must have made money , but in truth did we notice the difference , I dont suppose we did . As far as I was aware there was no mechanism for paying the Oil Drum money to the company except through the Old Man , and he used to threaten to get the mate to throw them over the side when the pile got too big , but bulk deliveries stopped that . On UK Pool Crewed ships I was never aware of anyone trying to short change anyone of the crew with the stores , but maybe I was lucky

Rob you probably werent a hungry basket like most of us. I remember some time in my earlier years at sea the feeding rate was about 8 shillings a day. Anything under this was his bonus, this was on British Ships. The same applied to the coastal shipping that I saw, and one master told me straight that was part of his perks. As regards Foreign ships most heads of department were giving cash in hand every month depending on what port they were in and off they went ashore with their shopping bags. Most of these ships had more than one galley and different Bhandarrys for different religions. Have sat and watched the Chinese bosun sit with the deck crew and pass the money round and every time made the complete circle put one share to one side, in other words if there were 12 of a crew would share it out into 13 piles, the 13th pile was then distributed amongst themselves as a cash payment. You very rarely saw a fat chinaman at sea. The Goanese stewards pocketed their feeding allowance and fed off the officers, the food being bought by the Chief Steward, who as have said before used to have to buy his job off his predecessor. There was always the opportunity for making money when stores be it food or any ships gear was bought if cash was involved. Regardless of who made money, if it wasnt made at ship level it would be made by shore management involved in the purchase of stores. There are very few honest people and this goes all the way in shipping and all those associated with it, be it Chandlers, Customs officers, Stevedores, etc. actually the most honest would be the seamen themselves. Cheers John S