BAD SHIPS AND DR,s

[Ivan Cloherty]

Jim, I totally agree

[j.sabourn]

Stuart your post reminds me of when we were on contract to the MOD. We always had a mininum of about 17 RN personnel onboard. Twice when I was there some admiral was flown in to give a medal to some matelot. When I saw them all ined up on deck for this ceremony I asked one what it was all about, his reply was it is a good conduct medal, when I said what does he get that for, he said 15 years of undetected crime. Cheers John Sabourn.

[len mazza]

Looking back a long time, I was lucky to escape from a Double DR on my first ship,Everades Similarity,paid off before reguler OM returned from leave,he dished them out like bus tickets.

Regards Jims post NO 16,was adrift in Galverstone,before lunch,in The Grapevine,CE. comes in,buy's me and my mate abeer,then logs us next day!!.
He was worse than us,Jnr Engs said if he doesn't go we do,he was relieved in NY.according to the engineers he was a top notch man at the job, but like so many of all ranks the grog had got the better of him.

PS. ship was Port New Plymouth.

[len mazza]

Lots of claims made about Ch.Stwds, having property,heres my experience with Welsh Masters,

Roberts,Athel Tankers. Griffiths (?) Eagle Oil, Davis. Shell Tankers.each of the was a farmer,and

Proud of the fact,hard to imagine how they made the money to do that on 1950's wages.

[Bill Bland]

with an ab in the early 1950s from salisbury said that if anybody in his town asked him , he would tell them that it was short for "Dispatch Rider". just as well everybody had a sence of humour. have a happy new year one and all.

[Glenn Baker]

I always thought a DR meant the chap was (Dead Reliable)

[j.sabourn]

Re. Breakages pilferages and general damage on general cargo ships. With pilferages or breakages of say wines spirits and beers or other various consumables. It was always necessary to either get the empty or broken bottles or better still the carton they came out of, these would be claimable on insurance either to the shipper or the receiver. If no broken cartons or bottles etc. found they were assumed to have not been shipped, as ship had signed for receiving them, the ship would be responsible and would be for the owner to claim on his insurance if he had insured. One of the worse places I saw for pilfering was quebec stood and watched them breaking into containers in lower hold. Told not to go down hold as long as shore labour down there. The customs branch of the mounties told me that they had their own agents working under cover and would pick up the culprits later, apparently they had agents in deep cover for years. This was 50 years ago. Most bothersome cargo for claims was motor cars as each individual car had to be inspected at loading and discharge by shippers and receivers insurance surveyors for all scratches etc. Always arguments who was responsible. Jim hope you left the empties down the hold after wiping off your prints. Cheers John Sabourn.

[Keith Tindell]

Pilfering of cargo was one of the reasons for the success of container ships . Watching a programme some time ago, explaining the birth of containers, one of the scotch whisky companies explained that to ship whisky to the USA and Canada, the whisky was put into timber boxes with steel banding, and still it was broached. The first cargo sent in a container the whisky was in cardboard boxes, and all arrived intact, but i am still glad i shipped when i did, i can remember a cargo which contained eggs for a port in N Africa, cannot remember where now, and being sent down on cargo watch, used to slap all the pockets on the Arabs as they went up the ladder, i expect some still got through. Also remember loading Becks beer in Hamburg for the Yankee 6th fleet in Genoa, amazing how many cases found there way down into the accommodation KT

[Gulliver]

Well Keith,I've done some crazy /naughty things(well,to non-seafarers minds) in my time,but I can't say that slapping Arabs bottoms -or even touching them was one of them-I don't know whether the thought of it either fills me with horror--or gives me a vicarious little thrill ! (I would say the former !)

Gulliver

[Dennis McGuckin]

Loaded six hatches of whiskey in Goven for the west coast of the US and Canada.
Not all of it made it.
Always a bottle or two in the mess, and for what ever reason, in my cabin.
Some of the crew almost got arrested trying to sell some to undercover US customs.
Took on a cargo of rum homeward bound in the west Indies.
A very happy ship as I recall.
Den.