The Calling of the Sea

[Tommy the T]

I grew up with sea life, my father was in the RN during WWII, then the next 40yrs in the Merchant Navy,as a 3rd Eng Officer, my elder brother went through all the college training etc as a Cadet & is still at sea now as Chief Eng Officer.

One thing that I recall during my younger years was my father being home for a few weeks then disappearing for months on end, as a child I found this most confusing until I was old enough to realise why etc.

So, when the time came for me to leave school, I suppose I was a stubborn teenager as my father asked if I wanted to go to sea, I said no, That I wanted to do something different from him & my brother, his reply was fine, go & do it then, so I had secured myself a job BEFORE I left school, left school on the friday & was working on the monday, not easy in our area but I was pleased I had proven to my dad that I could do it etc.
I stuck the job for 5 months, was on a YTS scheme, working 40 hrs per week for £23.50, I,d had enough of working on cars in the pouring rain, covered in oil etc for such measley wages, so asked my father if he could get me to sea, he made a phone call to P&O ( father & brother worked for them ), & all of a sudden I was offered a placement at Gravesend sea school & a job with P&O if I completed the training.

I informed my current employer of my plans, they were quite surprised & informed me they had intended keeping me on after my 6 month YTS scheme had finished, I was quite intrigued at to what the wages would be & so asked, they said "oh, another 6 months scheme on £23.50 per week "......I said no thanks & was off to Gravesend quicker than a rat up a drain pipe.

I didn,t realise it until I got to Gravesend that P&O were going to pay me whilst I attended the 3 months at Sea school...result ....I,d gone from £23.50 to £137 per week in a matter of days & to be totally truthful, to go to sea was one of the best decisions I have ever made .

The "stubborn Teenager" was no more, I joined my first ship 3 days after leaving Gravesend & never looked back.

Cheers
Tommy the T..................

( my username was the name given to me as I joined my first ship, 2nd steward asked my name, I replied with "Andy"....2nd steward said " Naahh, you,re Tommy the T@sser from now on", I still get mail from shipmates from my first ship addressing me as Tommy

[Lou Barron]

why did i go to sea atjust over 14 years old i went to sea to win the war bloody did i get a shock

[jimmaclean]

When I was in school I knew I wanted to be an engineer. A friend's brother joined the Merchant Navy as an AB and it clicked that I wanted to be an engineer at sea. I went to join the RN but failed Higher Maths the first time round - got told you're not good enough to be an officer but too qualified for an artificer.
I did Higher Navigation as a timetable filler and my teacher arranged an interview with Denholms. Now sailing as Chief Engineer and can't believe what a close escape I had.
Respect to our armed forces but so glad I am MN.