Then and Now

[j.sabourn]

Then... think this has been asked before.. anyone remember when the War bonus ceased to be. Also when the Nemedri also ceased. ( Northern Europe Mediterranean routing instructions) I can remember was still in force in 1960 as 2nd mate it was my job along with chart corrections to keep up to date. As the minefields got slowly removed so they got expunged on paper also. I rather think the minefields in the Inland seas of Japan went on longer. JWS.

[Ian Malcolm]

Then... think this has been asked before.. anyone remember when the War bonus ceased to be. Also when the Nemedri also ceased. ( Northern Europe Mediterranean routing instructions) I can remember was still in force in 1960 as 2nd mate it was my job along with chart corrections to keep up to date. As the minefields got slowly removed so they got expunged on paper also. I rather think the minefields in the Inland seas of Japan went on longer. JWS.

Extracted from my book OUTWARD BOUND. On 31st March and 1st April, 1947, what were described as 'the most far-reaching series of agreements ever negotiated by the National Maritime Board on behalf of shipmasters, officers and ratings and shipowners' came into effect. The £10 a month (£5 for those under 18) War Risk Money was incorporated into wages and wages were improved.

My book DANGEROUS SEAS has a section called MINED COASTS which lists all British ships sunk or damaged by mines during WWII.

[j.sabourn]

Thanks Ian, have one of your books and find it very useful when looking up ships that I knew of whose predessora had been either bombed torpedoed or mined during the war. I went to sea in 1953 and the war bonus was not in force then, however the mine fields were still in place in a lot of cases as were still considered a hazard until the last mine was accounted for. Some must have escaped the net because on one trip to Sept aisles in 1964 we passed one in the North Atlantic. I wouldn’t of recognised it as a mine as was not like the conventional one with the horns sticking out. I called the master and he recognised it straight away and reported it in by radio. The war bonus was not in effect in 1953, if it was I never saw it. Just wondered how long I missed it by. 5 pounds a month would nearly have doubled my money of 75 pounds a year. Cheers JWS.

[j.sabourn]

Ref.to above apart from spelling isles wrong as eyes no better. This mine looked like A 40 gallon drum perched on something which could of been a spherical object, but as this part was mostly under water was impossible to say Definitely. Whether had been a magnetic mine moored on the. Sea bed wouldn’t know. Have seen other mines adrift when working with the navy but was always assured they were dummies. This one certainly wasn’t.. JS

[happy daze john in oz]

John, converting from imperial to metric can be easy.
A kilometer is about 5 furlongs or 5/8 of a mile.

80 Klm an hour is 50MPH.

Easy to work out,

Divide first number by 2 then add a quarter of that to the number and there it is.
So,
80divided by 2 is 40
Quarter of 40 is 10

Add 40 to 10 and there you have the 50.

QED

[Captain Kong]

British Seamen]StrikeIn W.A. Ports





' PERTH, Wednesday.-The



crews of five British ships in


Western Australian ports have



refused to take their vessels


to sea.



They have taken this action as


a protest against the rates of pay


fixed in the new agreement between


the British National Maritime


Council and the British Seamen's


Union.



Three of the ships are in port at


Fremantle. They are the Tyn


dareus. (which was dup. to sail for


Adelaide to-day), Fordsdale, and


Rocky Mountains Park.



Two other shjps are at Bunbury


-the Fort Dauphin (with a full


cargo of wheat for India) and the


Westmoor (loading timber for


Britain).



ASSURANCE SOUGH!



The crews of the five ships arc


demanding an assurance that the


new rates of pay will not be less


than the present rates, including



war risk bonus.



, The crews of the three ships at


Fremantle held a meeting this


morning and decided that unless


the Seamen's Union sanctioned a


strike of all British seamen pay-


ment of union dues should be with-


held.



Speakers said their union officials



had lost touch wi'h rank and file


opinion.



[The agreement between the Nation-


al Maritime Board and the Seamen's


Union was announced in London on


Saturday.



The new award, it was stated, in-


cludes "the most important and ex


tepsive series of agreements ever


negotiated by the board."



Pay for able seamen after April !


will be £20 a month, found, or


£5/12/ a week without food.



The Seamen's Union and the


board also jointly released the text


of a "merchant navy established


service scheme," which aims at


making the merchant navy a career


by giving seamen regularity of em-


ployment.] ^

- - - Updated - - -

The Seamens Strike in b1947 was lead by Billy Hart, AB. an unofficial strike over the threat of the loss of war bonus.
my brother was in the strike. and then they got to keep it.

[j.sabourn]

#65... sounds like think of a number, double it , add 10, half it , and take away the number you first thought of, ... and the answer is 5 and always will be. Cheers JWS. Brian what year was that In post 66. Sorry the bottom bit has just shown as 1947. How long did they keep it for. JWS

[j.sabourn]

#66... So opens another can of worms. I am sure there is more to it than stated. It shows to me that the NUS had little or no control on its members probably because they were in the shipowners pocket. The only way they could get their dues in was via an agreement for them to be deducted from a seaman’s wages. The only people who could make this deduction was the shipowner. This is where unions get a bad name, the only strong NUS members I met in British ships were those looking for promotion in the union ranks ashore. Don’t think the NUS was ever a closed shop, but might be wrong. Anyhow my idea of unions and others probably differ, I don’t look at them with malevolent eyes neither do I give them too much leeway. But in a lot of cases they are necessary. The first and only rule is they are there to look after their members welfare and not their own. Cheers JWS

[Captain Kong]

The Unofficial Seamens strike was in March 1947 lead by Billy Hart, an AB , the Ship owners wanted to stop the War Bonus, and that would leave Seamen on the same wage as 1939 before the war bonus was added. The NUS was lead by Tom Yates who didn't want to know. I remember seeing demands for £28 a month for ABs, but that didn't come until much later.
Yates branded Billy Hart as a Communist, and he lost his job at sea, He became a Steel Erector, and later got a job in Texas constructing an oil Refinery.
Tom Yates told the US Immigration that Hart was a Communist and so he was deported back to the UK ,
Yates himself was a little bent, He made a lot of money out of the NUS, He owned a night club, and his son who had never been to sea was given the NUS job in Sydney and a big house in Vaucluse, overlooking Sydney Harbour in a very salubrious part of Sydney.
The later 1955 strike that I took part in was also "Unofficial " and was mostly against the NUS and Tom Yates [ later Sir Tom].


Have to go nw to hospital, back later.
Brian.

[j.sabourn]

They usually get these titles for giving large amounts to Charity Brian. What charity do you reckon he backed ?. What political party was in power at the time.?. That wouldn’t be the dental hospital your going to would it, that back molar given trouble again.. just joking. Have you got a year that the war bonus was expunged ? It was probably the War office who paid in any case. Don’t think the shipowner suffered too many financial losses despite the loss of ships and men. Was more than likely all under written by the government. Cheers JS