robert keith david

[robert keith david]

SHIPS NAME AND SERVICE RECORD

Full Name

robert keith david

Discharge Book Number

-

Department

engine room

Your Rank/Rating

jun eng

Which Ships were you on and When

mv aldersgate 4/67-12/67

Notes:

-

[j.sabourn]

David where’s Hillcrest ? JS

[cappy]

SHIPS NAME AND SERVICE RECORD

Full Name

robert keith david

Discharge Book Number

-

Department

engine room

Your Rank/Rating

jun eng

Which Ships were you on and When

mv aldersgate 4/67-12/67

Notes:

-

was in her 60 and 61 ..a great vessel.. accom and feeder overtime all you needed ...cappy R638532

[j.sabourn]

#3 You only liked her because she had an electric spud peeler Cappy. JS

[cappy]

#3 You only liked her because she had an electric spud peeler Cappy. JS

jeez john it was the start with the electric tatty peeler ......then it started to work its way up .....i heard the containers now have no cooks just a freezer and a micro .....they cut hands fro average 40 hands on a 10000 ton tramp to 11 on a umteen thousand container .....there are now less ships masters than ever ...and even less.... ....like yourself had to go to oz for your lively hood....the writing was on the wall in the early 60s for all to see ..the ship owners were getting better returns on there capital in other fields.... as the emerging nations used there own ships and crews.... sadly that is the truth of our once proud MN.....BUSINES IS BUSINES......love and livelyhood is bullshit were spending your brass is concerned iether big or small busines will seek the best returns .....or charity begins at home....about sums it all up......such is life......cappy

[j.sabourn]

As said Cappy after the strike in 1966 I went out to Canada and worked for Saguenay Shipping of Montreal.They managed one ship the Sunprincess which carried 12 passengers , my total experience of carrying passengers , apart from the occasional headworker , The first two trips there we carried the president and Vice President of Alcoa who were holiday making with their families . They of course detained the ship in Bermuda for golf and partying on board with all the big bigwigs ashore and guests and paid for shore labour for the dining facilities on board the vessel. It was something I couldn’t dodge and got landed on a table with a British man and his family. He boasted to me about having the usual mansion ashore and invited me up to see. He was of the family of the green ships with the ending of ton, e.g. Geneton and such. He thought I was Canadian which he soon learned I wasn’t when I opened my mouth and asked if he knew Viscount Runciman , and how I served my time in Runcimans . Funny enough he never repeated the invite in fact he hardly ever spoke to me again . One has to learn their station in life , if you go by their rules , Cheers JS
PS the ship itself was owned by Alcoa ,for those not aware the Allumina Company Of America JS

[Laurence Fatherley]

Served as a callow young, 19, Radio Officer circa 1966/7
Name Laurence Fatherley - Employed by Marconi
Do you have a list of crew members then ?

[Des Taff Jenkins]

The shipowners didn't do to badly Cappy, I was on the British Guardian brand new, the skipper told us that the first trip's cargo paid for the ship for BTC
and that included my wages.
Des

[j.sabourn]

Really believe it Des have seen smilar In Company’s records. Cappy mentions the luxury living to his mind on the ore carriers. This wasn’t due to the shipowner it was due to the Charity of the British Iron and Steel Corporation or in other words the taxpayer. Some of those ore carriers were even built with government money , and were on 15 year charters. If you were on the average British Tramp and given out 6 hours overtime a day , without due course such as an emergency , don’t think you would be there for a second trip, in fact you may not complete the first. The shipowner was not very charitable , even though some may think otherwise . The only thing that scared him was the unions , and which he was instrumental partly in destroying. The secretary of the NUS that Cappy knew from Shields when I did the week or so in the office which was about 1957 , the office staff were all gloating that they had got him blacklisted off the coast where he worked I believe as dnky/grsr. When he got into the hierarchy of the union the shoe was on the other foot and they were going cap in hand to him. However it must have gone to his head and he forgot what he was there for. The same with most people when they get power over others they can’t handle it correctly and this goes through politics , media, and every other profession trade or job. Used to be an old saying midships at sea , if you had a Tish stirrer at sea , give him the bosuns job and watch his values change overnight . Cheers JS

[cappy]

The shipowners didn't do to badly Cappy, I was on the British Guardian brand new, the skipper told us that the first trip's cargo paid for the ship for BTC
and that included my wages.
Des

wll des im sure thats true but nothing lasts forever ......in the 50s and sixties the russians were flooding ports all over the world the greeks were buying all the old vessels from the war years and the...nations were putting there own vessels ie kiwi oz india etc .....in fact i was suprised at seeing all the ships with the hammer and scycle on there flu.....they were everywhere regards cappy