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At the Vindi catering had to do a life boat course as well as deck. Somehow i managed to get a pass of 95%, things just stuck in my memory then, the officer then told me I had got a better score thsn some deck department guys.
Happy daze John in Oz. Life is too short to blend in. John Strange R737787 World Traveller
biggest f up I ever saw trying to put a lifeboat in the water topick up man overboard.......ship still underway ashe was turning to go back on original coursethe 2 abs were falling about like punch and judy ...as the boat had hit the water and was bouncing about like a wild thing....the mate was shouting let go the falls and sadly the ab in the forwardend of the boat let go first the boat then swung round so the bow was now facing aft ......he fell and injured himself.....if the situation was not so critical then a video would have been comedy of the year ......as a first trip galley boy even I could see the cock upit was.........the boat then almost stopped and the second boat was launched ..but volunteers were not racing to get in.....I had spent some many hours in boats on the tyne and jumped in the lifeboat the mate told me to get to eff out and called me a stupid young count .....I think that was the word......but even a first tripper could have done better......it did make me think how hard it would have been to get a torpedoed ships boats away even during the day never mind at night in bad weather by making this statement I do not wish to comment on anyones seamanship but only what I saw......life boat drill was a drag at sea........never did it in port....so at sea the boats were only swung out and back in ,,,,,,looking back I am sure there was no boat with an engine on the vessel if there was it was never launched ever ...regards cappy
Originally Posted by j.sabourn Ref #4. Anyone coming back and quoting Safety Rules and Regulations, everyone in the deck department went over the side on stages apart from first trip deck boys. This was how they learnt and mostly were always keen to do. John Sabourn John I personally think it took a lot of bottle to sign on any ship especially a cargo 5 hatch ship on deck, I sailed with a few on deck but always,s found they let someone else take the lead role in whatever task on deck, I think the reason was they never wanted to cock a job up. I also sailed with seaman that wouldn't share a stage over the side with a D H U. Having said that a first trip deck boy wasn't allowed over the side or aloft although in a lot of cases they did I went aloft on my first trip it was only a hook chair on a Sampson post, But unless you had the basic training I would have thought this pretty daunting for anyone on there first time aboard a ship. I have to say seamanship 40 or 50 yrs ago isn't what it is today and lets not forget you signed board of trade articles. All tasks whether aloft over the side painting the forepart even using a rope ladder, And what you needed from the fo'c'sle head to carry out your task was down to you to check if it was up to the job. As I have said before the bosun couldn't be everywhere you were the seaman you checked every fathom of your Gantline / Lizard/ Block/ Shackle/ ETC.... What I did once witness was a painting stage tip over because of seaman error not checking one end inside turns the other end outward. These are little things D H U s without being shown would never have thought of or given any relevance to. There are so many little but very important things ,Split pins in shackles ? Splicing ? Making good a union purchase ? And many more that a D H U Would have to have been taught and of course it was the not just Able Seaman they worked along side who helped them out a lot of S.O.S. Where more up to the task than they were. No substitute for experience in any walk of life but no more prevalent than aboard a ship. As I understood it they were not allowed to take sea watches until they had 18 months sea time in. I admired them but from my experience not many of them stayed at sea for more than one or two trips. I do remember one walking into a mast house and asking me what the hell a handy billy was. That's why we were paid seamen's wages. I also found the same guy walking around the after end once with the log wheel bundled in his hands after sailing didn't have a clue what to do with it. These were all basics when we done our time in sea school. All basic B.O.T. Training. Regards Terry.
{terry scouse}
I can understand an EDH/AB's reluctance to teach a DHU the job when they were on virtually the same wages, luckily I never found an AB/EDH (or even S O S) reluctant to pass on his knowledge to a cadet. However if your not prepared to share knowledge it makes it harder for the person with the knowledge as he is left to do everything. Some DHU's didn't have the basic skills and were ex Navy so it was frustrating when working along side them, but they came from a different structure with dedicated jobs and not all-rounders like we had to be, also pretty embarrassing for them (when in their twenties) being taught by a 16/17 year old with sea time under their belt. Personally I never found one who wasn't willing to learn anything from anybody, but then again I never had to share accommodation with them, but most said conditions even on the old Empire ships was better than RN ships. Just my personal experience and you can't blame them for wanting to stay at sea when Navy Ships were no longer available to them, we always enjoyed it (most of the time!!)
often saw dhu.sbeing treated as idiots by some abs no doubt some where.......they did seem to be ex rn.....and were often shunned or not made welcome......I would guess on a long trip be told you were no good and shouldn't be allowed on deck ....made them think about having a career at sea .......to be fair anyone with savvy would learn to do most jobson deck on a 9 or ten month trip.....not to a bosuns standard but in a seamanlike manner.........we all have to learn our skills from others......ie sail training ships take young persons onboard and they go aloft and carry out many duties ......a general cargo ship man would find difficult ie steering a saling ship in a bit of a blow .......a lot harder to lear than steering a ordinary cargo or tramp steamer ina bit of a blow ....a good teacher is a must for us all
First time I ever sailed with DHUs was on the old EMPRESS of SCOTLAND after the 1955 strike. They created them to take ships out during the strike. So were not very popular in those days. We tied up at the Landing Stage in Liverpool, first job was to soogie the three funnels along side while the passengers disembarked.I was in my chair half way down when the Bosun Harry Tonks, shouts `Fore and Aft` I tried to lower, couldnt, a DHU had tied my gantline to a cleat and I was stuck All hands had disappeared fore and aft, and we sailed down the Mersey to the Gladstone Dock and tied up there in her regular berth. I was still there shouting before someone saw me and released the gantline. up there for about three hours. On a VLCC, only six men on deck, i was on with my brother another AB, we had four DHUs, to make up the six. All ex RN. ABs there But, AB Torpedoeman, AB Radar man, AB, GUNNER and so on, No AB SEAMAN. Just what we needed on a 260,000 tonner, torpedo men and gunners. They all refused to go aloft. We cannot go more than three feet off the deck, they would say. Me and my brother had to do all the aloft jobs, Painting on the stage all the deck house, Six Decks High, 176 foot beam, fore part and the sides. big job. One stage , me and `ar Kid, and four DHUs stood on deck tending. Smoko they were first away, by the time we got down , No Tabnabs. So that is my view of DHUs Cheers Brian.
Last edited by Captain Kong; 17th December 2013 at 05:06 PM.
well brian I would definetly say the ship was not manned properly on deck ..........perhaps the start of the todays crewing.......what they would do today with the hands they carry is frightening ...if cargo was shifting or containers were starting to go ........cappy would send for helicopter
Hi Cappy because they were ABs RN they could sign on as GPs, It was in the 70s when the new Rating GP came out. So they make you work on deck or in the Engine Room. on the same ship The Mate told me and `ar Kid to soogie the engine room bulkheads, we refused, we are ABs and ABs do not soggie engine Rooms. we said , the ex RN went down sooging, So the Mate stopped our overtime, Great we said, plenty bronzy and swimming in the pool all day. Then we saw the Mate alone trying to paint the fore deck alone with a roller. The fore deck being 1,000 feet in length from the fore part of the bridge to the bow and 175 foot beam was one big job. We used to stand and watch him sweating in the hot sun. In the end he threw down his roller, walked aft and said OK you win, back on overtime, paint the fore deck. So while the RN GPs were down below me and `ar KId were on deck in the sun. At the end of the five month trip we paid off in Dubai, the Captain said , before you go home from Heathrow go to the head Office. We went there and they said we want you to go to College and do 2nd Mates. on full pay and expences. So we did. It was a much better job. best move we made. Cheers Brian
Last edited by Captain Kong; 17th December 2013 at 05:28 PM.
At least a DHU would be useful as they would make a crap AB EDH look great LOL. Then again this could be a biased opinion could it not.
That's the way the mop flops. My thanks to Brian for this site.
Originally Posted by Ivan Cloherty I can understand an EDH/AB's reluctance to teach a DHU the job when they were on virtually the same wages, luckily I never found an AB/EDH (or even S O S) reluctant to pass on his knowledge to a cadet. However if your not prepared to share knowledge it makes it harder for the person with the knowledge as he is left to do everything. Some DHU's didn't have the basic skills and were ex Navy so it was frustrating when working along side them, but they came from a different structure with dedicated jobs and not all-rounders like we had to be, also pretty embarrassing for them (when in their twenties) being taught by a 16/17 year old with sea time under their belt. Personally I never found one who wasn't willing to learn anything from anybody, but then again I never had to share accommodation with them, but most said conditions even on the old Empire ships was better than RN ships. Just my personal experience and you can't blame them for wanting to stay at sea when Navy Ships were no longer available to them, we always enjoyed it (most of the time!!) Agree Ivan . It must have been embarrising for them to turn to a young seaman for advice. I sailed with uncertified Merchant Seaman, But i never asked anyone there rating it made no difference to my job, But as i sailed in mostly cargo ships i also sailed in Tankers / Bulk / RO,RO, / Passenger / Container / They all threw up different tasks unique to them, I wonder how many D.H.U.s could claim that. The reason of course lets say for a tanker if you were asked to break out the Butterworth gear, Anyone who went threw basic training at least new the job in hand was cleaning out the tanks which then intailed tank diving if you were changing cargo and as you know it was an unpleasent experience for everyone. Brian mentions painting the ships funnel some of those stacks were bloody huge 3 foot off the deck the drums of paint were bigger than that In my experience all hands on deck regardless of your rating got on with it usually a job and finish. He also mentions quite rightly painting on a bowser under the wings of the bridge, Many a time 2 experienced seaman could bowse each on there gantline either side to get underneath which i have done, That was aboard a Container ship. But the few D.H.U.s i was with had the good sence of letting you know if they hadnt done the job before. Different ships threw up different challengers the only thing i will say is i would rather have a sober D.H.U. Send me up a fore stay on a drum end than a drunken bosun. The thing is we are all here to tell the tale Regards all Terry.
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