Ever come close

[John Pruden]

we all must have come close to wires and ropes parting any stories?jp

[ray-c]

Once on the Monarch, spring parted, we all it the deck, some damage to
the rails other wise, ok, What are you doing up, your supposed to be resting

[alf corbyn]

which monarch. i know of at least three?/

[Tony Wilding]

being an ignorant engine room hand i kept well clear when winches being used, especiallly when lines are like bars, creaking and banging, saw a spring break once, scary, never felt comfortable around wires and ropes.

[Charlie Hannah]

I was on the Journalist in 66 on stations forard when the Back spring parted she splayed all over the place all hands scatered but the bosun just wasn't fast enough caught him round the leg and threw him in the air broke his leg in three places.What a mess it made of him.

[Roger Dyer]

Hi John.P.....nice to see you back on deck, mate.

Like many ex-Deck crew on this site, during my time at sea I heard many horrific accounts of death and serious injury suffered by seamen whilst handling ropes and wire, particularly (but not exclusively) at those times when a ship was entering port. I consider myself fortunate that I was never witness to such an incident....there but for the grace of God, I suppose.

In 1958, for twelve long months, I was a J.O.S. on the Port Huon (Manz run). Whenever called to 'stations', with Terry Nicholson, a 'Yorkie' E.D.H., I manned the back-spring, for'ard. It was always our practice to pull sufficient wire from the reel and 'flake' it up and down the deck in readiness. The alternative of only taking enough to run the spring ashore and then take from the reel as required, could present difficulties with snagging, unwanted 'loops' or twists, at a time when any delay was not only unwelcome but had a potential to be dangerous. In my opinion there is a skill one needs to learn when handling ropes and wire, 'back-springs' in particular and it is not, I fear, something that can be learned solely from a book. There is a 'knowing' when and how to ease wire round the bitts when the strain is on, when to increase or decrease the number of turns. If a wire starts to 'sing' and bounce, then regardless of direction to the contrary, common-sense would demand action be taken to ease the spring rather than risk danger to oneself or other crew-members. Besides, a spring that parts is of no use to anyone. Like most other things that occurred on deck, there was a need for constant awareness. I'm sure that competent spring-handling has saved the reputation of many a good sea captain although, of course, the opposite might also be true. As a merchant seaman there was, for me, a certain pleasure in knowing that I was generally regarded as competent and reliable. In the year Terry N. and I worked together we never once 'lost' a wire and, from the wing of the bridge immediately above and behind us, never once incurred the displeasure of Capt.Wight.

As far as ropes are concerned, like others, I saw them part on several occasions, but never saw anyone injured because of it. During the late 50's and early 60's when the use of nylon ropes was becoming more evident, it seemed that rope-manufacturers were keen to experiment with other man-made fibres. So it was, that as an A.B. on G.S.N.C's 'Royal Sovereign' I was working the drum-end of the windlass one day as we struggled to come alongside Southend Pier in a summertime nor'easter that was blowing like you wouldn't believe. Using one of two new ropes that had recently been delivered for our use (the other was down aft), we were heaving to bring her alongside. I had four turns round the the drum end, but it was just slipping and so I added another turn. The windlass did not sound under great strain and we began to make some progress when suddenly, most unexpectedly, pretty little blue flames began to engulf the drum-end. In true Dudley Moore fashion I thought, funny ? I called out to the Chippy and the look of surprise on his face told me I wasn't dreaming. To those casual observers hanging over the rail on the pier it must have been wonderfully entertaining, but to us who had never experienced such a thing before, it was less so. With the reflexes of a stunned mullet I managed to remove a couple of turns off the drum and as quickly as they had burst forth, the flames self extinguished, much to the disappointment of those on the pier I imagine. A further attempt to get alongside was successfully made using another rope and achieved without the added fire-show.

As I recall, the rope in question was little used after that particular incident and the following summer season was gone. I was later informed the rope was mostly made of polypropylene, but would not swear to the veracity of that.
I would be interested to hear from other shipmates with similar experiences.


.......Roger

[John Pruden]

polypropylene ropes were not made for surging on the drum they tended to melt the lad must have had to many turns or was not paying atention to what he was doing?? just my view jp

[j.sabourn]

It used to be the usual practice of seamen when I first went to sea that Backsprings always had a rope tail on the eye, probably to allow for stretch. However after the 67 strike I was on a ship which received a visit from some government think tank I imagine, and I was asked how many men it needed to handle a backspring, I believe my answer was 3. Asked without the rope tail, and think I said 2. Thereafter the rope on the spring disappeared, and shortly after so did the manning scale, together with a few more disappearance of different objects. The subject of Health and Safety never arose re the rope tail, why because money was involved. I agree with your post that an experienced seaman was always needed on the backspring and such person had to use his own discretion when handling, the same as any other handling of lines on the drum end, its no use putting a first trip deck boy on such a task. It also makes me wonder about the risks involved nowadays with the use of reduced and sometimes inexperienced crews.Twice I had the misfortune to see the loss of fingers by 1. The mate and 2 A rigger when shifting ship in Glasgow, both were wearing gloves and had their fingers pulled under a riding turn on the windlass drum. Regards John Sabourn

[ray-c]

which monarch. i know of at least three?/

J hay & son Glasgow, 'The Monarch', was on 'The Emperor' as well, hard workers.

[Roger Dyer]

Hi John,

I was the 'incompetent lad" on the drum, thanks for your vote of confidence, mate. Firstly, as I tried to explain, it was my first encounter with rope of this sort and accordingly I was totally ignorant of it's qualities or it's ability to provide 'son et lumiere'. Secondly, if as you say, polypropylene was not made for surging (and I've no reason to doubt you, mate), what the hell was it doing for use on the forecastle of a 'pleasure steamer' that, each day, was required to go alongside piers such as Southend and Margate in weather often less than ideal, summer or no summer. Beats me

.......Roger