Tankers

[j.sabourn]

Black balls are black balls whatever interpretation one wants to put on them. One of the nautical variety was not less than two feet in diameter and placed 6 feet vertically apart where they could best be seen. As their meaning was "Not under Command" I always thought this was badly worded, and should have meant the ship did not have control of its steerage way course speed and direction, and really meant for others to give a wide berth to. As regards evaporators and distillers it was only in latter years that I saw used for human consumption. The only steamship I was on she had superheated elements around the tubes which were taken out as probably the same reason as you state, rust and scale and this was done at sea by the chief and myself when time permitted. The back end of a boiler is not unknown to me and can think of better places to be. This is probably what aggravated the chiefs mdical condition and he died in Singapore. He was a man in his very early fourties. The water consumption on this vessel was huge and for domestic purposes it was a fourty gallon of water placed on the boat deck. Every port on passage was marked as a probable port of refuge, just to be able to top up with water. When today with all the modern aids it is hard to remember all the different types of hardship that used to exist the mind remembers the finer things in life and one tries to forget the bad ones. People used to be on a ship to try and correct all faults as well as coping on day to day problems. Nowadays it is call in someone else, the same people probably having less knowledge than the ship staff of old. If it was ever possible to get an unbiased report that doing away with ships crew, especially machinery which required continuous maintainance, was cheaper to call in shore labour I will be very surprised. Cheers JS PS The only boiler mounting I can remember with certainty is the Salonometer Cock, the first word probably spelt wrong , the second being correct. Cheers JS

[Fouro]

When nearing a port and the engineers on watchkeeping duties down below knew that the horrible clang clang tone of the engineroom telegraph was going to indicate "Stand By" on their watch. Can anyone describe what actions the engineers would have to carry out from there onwards.

FOURO.

[Braid Anderson]

Further to my #4 something from my book 'Flag McAndrew:-
By the end of their first week on board, the honeymoon was over, and the two Cadets reported to the Second Mate for their first serious work. He grinned at them and said
"Today you are going to get cold and dirty, and covered in grease and muck."
He seemed to be enjoying the prospect as he continued
"First you have to go and find the Donkeyman and tell him I sent you to help him with the Donkey pumps. He'll take it from there, and I'm sure you'll have a great time. Off you go."

They hurried below to the main deck, where Inglis grabbed Jimmy's arm and asked him "What the hell's a Donkeyman, Jimmy?"
"Don't ask me" he shrugged "I never heard of him."
"That's what I thought" says Inglis, "The buggers are having a go at us again, aren't they?"
"Looks like it Inglis. But what to do?"
"I'll tell you what we'll do" he answered. "We'll go to the recreation saloon, play a game of cards and listen to a record."

The Officers' Recreation Saloon was empty, so they grabbed a pack of cards and played pontoon. There wasn't much choice of records, and they finished up with the White Horse Inn scratching tinnily on the record player - which someone must have picked up at a jumble sale; it was an ancient wind-up model.

They lived it up for half an hour, maximum stake one penny. Even then Jimmy had taken Inglis for a couple of bob by the time the Second Mate burst in the door. Then all hell broke loose. He glared at them and started shouting.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? I told you to report to the Donkeyman, and here you are playing cards - and gambling into the bargain. ****, you're in bloody trouble now, the pair of you."

They both jumped up from the table, scared and confused.
"But sir...." Inglis started.
"Don't bloody but me, and shut up and listen!" he shouted. "I've been at sea a long time, and nobody ever did this to me. I'm taking you to the Mate right now, and he can decide what to do with you. When the Skipper comes on board you'll be lucky if you lose only your first month's wages before you've even bloody earned them!"

"Sir" Inglis said again, determined to be heard. "I'm responsible. Jimmy only came along at my suggestion. I thought you were just pulling our leg, like everybody else has been doing. We never heard of anyone being called a Donkeyman. We've been sent for tins of elbow grease, raw sheepshank, Turk's heads, and God only knows what else. I thought this was another one, honestly sir. There's no way we would have done it if we'd thought you were serious. I'm sorry sir, but that's the honest truth, whether you believe it or not."

The Second Mate glared for a moment longer, then burst out laughing. It took him a moment or two to straighten his face again and recommence shouting.
"Right! One time you get away with it, and once only. The Donkeyman's waiting for you in the after pump room. And in future you'd better remember that when I tell you to do something you do it like NOW! When I say jump, you take just long enough to ask how high. If I tell you to jump over the bloody side that's what you'll do. Now bloody move yourselves, before I turn your arses black and blue with my boot!"

Bang went Inglis' concept of an officer and gentleman.

Flag McAndrew by Braid Anderson | 9781908481931

[j.sabourn]

A large majority of the tramps I was on had to change from heavy oil to Diesel for manouvering so stand by was usually a verbal warning over the phone or voice pipe at least an hour before ringing on the telegraph. Later on of course with the introduction of Bridge control this wasn't necessary and ships much more manouverable. Twin screws and variable pitch propellors, becker rudders and cort nozzles, bow thrusters all making ships able to get alongside other installations at sea. Would have given my eye teeth which still had then, to have had such a vessel at the Piper Alpha disaster. All the fancy ships that were there, probably they thought they might get their paintwork damaged. Of course all that machinery makes more work maintainance wise for the engineers, it wasn't cut backs in engine room staff it was more required if anything. To this day I still puzzle in a lot of cases how the shipowner was allowed to get away with reduced crews, this is was and still is a condemnation in my eyes of the competency of some of our lawmakers, a permanent engineer on the controls, time checks before going on SBE, steering gear checks usually done from bridge to make sure could get the full 40 degrees of rudder angle on, extra generators on, done in E.R. obviously more people in ER. I know on some ships would sometimes get a call from the Chief or second saying you have only 3 movements left make the most of them, should also imagine the engineer on the controls had to watch for going into the critical revs area. Probably many others, which latterly cant remember as by this time was into the Bridge Control sphere. Cheers JS

[j.sabourn]

Fouro that one steamer I was on used to burn Bunker C. What was the average viscocity of this, or as the deck would call the Specific gravity (S.G.). Used to burn like old smelly socks, can imagine burning that in some of the convoys during the war as could be spotted a hundred miles away at times. Would imagine would make everyone nervous on other ships. And wouldn't be considered the flavour of the month. JS

[John Arton]

When nearing a port and the engineers on watchkeeping duties down below knew that the horrible clang clang tone of the engineroom telegraph was going to indicate "Stand By" on their watch. Can anyone describe what actions the engineers would have to carry out from there onwards.

FOURO.

Fouro
Ringing "stand by" indicated that the bridge would soon be giving orders that required the engine(s) to be slowed or stopped as the bridge would be manoeuvring to pick up pilot/enter port etc.
By this time the engine(s) should be prepared so they would be burning marine diesel oil and not heavy fuel oil. Stand by generator(s) would be online, start air bottles topped up and compressors on standby for topping up same, bow thruster (if fitted) on line, if bridge control of main engine fitted, then control switched to bridge, prior to or at stand by engine to be tested astern, 2nd steering motor on, engine room manned (if unmanned machinery space), settling, service and diesel oil tanks topped up, if not UMS then engine side controls tested, chief engineer to be in engine room.
rgds
JA

[Fouro]

As you most probably know JS, fuel oil comes in a variety of grades from the easily burned Number 2 to the high maintenance Number 6. The oils are graded Numbers 1 2 3 4 5 and 6. Of these grades only three are commonly used in heating boilers. They are Numbers 2 5 and 6. Number 2 oils are distillate oils which are very fluid, flowing like water at room temperature. Number 2 oil does not require preheating to pump and burn.
At the other end of the spectrum is Number 6 fuel oil. At room temperature Number 6 (often called Bunker C) is a black, thick, gummy material that requires preheating to pump and burn. It requires a burner preheating temperature of 230 degrees farenheit.
The viscosity of any petroleum oil increases when the oil is cooled and decreases when it is heated. For this reason, the viscosity value of an oil must be accompanied by the temperature at which the viscosity was determined. The viscosity value by its self is meaningless.

FOURO.

[Fouro]

I came upon this interesting snippet, it reads:-
In 1964 I was an engineer on a steam turbine tanker leaving Smith's Dock on the Tyne. It had a high degree of engineroom automation. All important bearings were fitted with temperature sensors connected to alarms. These could be set to within 0.5 of a degree celsius. On this maiden voyage we experienced lots of problems with the various automated systems in the engineroom and elsewhere. We carried only 4 engineers (the automation was intended to make it possible to reduce the numbers to a chief and 3 watchkeepers) and they found the workload to be overwhelming owing the high number of faults that were occurring.
All the bearing temperature monitors had failed and were out of action. A posse of engineers from the various suppliers were flown out to Port Said to meet us and deal with the misbehaving systems and sensors. When they inspected the engineroom they found that all the bearing over-temperature alarms had been disconnected. Asking round the engineers they found out that the middle aged 3rd engineer had been responsible. Asked why he had disconnected them, he explained that they were faulty and continuously kept sounding alarms on the control console. After checking the the log printouts, they went back to the third engineer and pressed him for an explanation of his decisions that in each case, the the sensor was faulty. Asked why, he said, I felt the bearings and they felt OK, so the sensors must have been on the blink. The engineers then decided to widen the acceptable temperature range set into the control system and suggested to the 3rd engineer that his hands might not be so accurately callibrated as the electronic devices and it would be better if he were to leave the bloody sensors alone. No further problems with bearings overheating alarms in the enginroom occurred, (but alarms elsewhere did).
This proved that the 3rd engineer's touch was a lot more reliable than the modern sensors.

FOURO.

[Shaun Gander]

I nearly ended up as a cadet with Shell, but failed the eye sight test (not sure why as never had an issue since), one if the ships I would have been on was hit by a missile or similar in the Gulf, the details are hazy after too much rum and at 0430!

Now I look at them and think why would I want to live on a floating potential bomb?!

SDG

[Captain Kong]

I was quite happy on tankers, I had done everything else. coasters, London Greek Tramps, Blue Star, Shaw Swivel, Lamport and Holts, Houlders, Fyffes, Elder Dempsters, Cunard, Canadian Pacific, Moss Hutchinson, MacAndrews, PSNC. Blue Funnel, Ellerman Papayanni, Union Castle, Springbok Line. Been on Shell T2s,
and a few others.
I was 39 years old, Married with kids and a mortgage. So I wanted a good paying job with Good Security. I joined ESSO, Best move I ever made.
The Money was Very Good, signed a company contract, so always on pay no matter what. In a Non contributory Pension Scheme. They paid for me to go to College on full pay for all my Certificates., They paid all the fees for College and Examination Fees. When we were made redundant in 1986, after ESSO was quitting ship owning, They paid me a huge Lump Sum, an Excellent Financial adviser, so good I have so far spent more than £180,000 on world cruises and still have more than they gave me, and also after 30 years since leaving the Company I am still receiving my Free Pension. for life. and that is a lot of money.
The conditions on the ESSO VLCCs were excellent, large spacious cabins, double size bed, en suite. Food excellent, with wine for all hands on a Wednesday and Sunday, one bottle for a table of four. We stayed in the Best Hotels when flying out and home. such as the Barbados Hilton etc.
We had free uniforms, free working boots and shoes, free shirts, and socks, free boiler suits, free jackets and then the thick North Sea Jackets, Twice a year.
After ten Years Service, I received a Silver canteen of cutlery in a beautiful carved wooden box excellent for when we have a dinner party, very impressive.
Good Voyage to leave ratio, Two on and one off deep sea, and then when reduced to a european coastal fleet, One Month on one month off with first class travel.
We had a good social life on board. Saturday Nights was Horse Racing in the Crew Lounge, roll the dice, with model horses going over the jumps, Place your bets.
Sunday lunch time was Dart competitions tween Officers and crew in the Officers Lounge. Sunday mornings was the `Welly` throwing contests on the fore deck, with a beam of 175 feet , throw the seaboot, or Welly over the flying bridge to the other side. and the winner got a case of ale. and many other events.
So I was quite happy on tankers. There were some bum jobs out there but ESSO was the best of all.
Brian.