Best & Worst

[happy daze john in oz]

Blimey John,
How did you cop for that accommodation
On the Warwick I was in an eight berth, with one port hole.

Just lucky I guess. Had left the Windsor to do a voyage on the Pretoria as assistant pantry then went back to the Windsor. The second stewrad had no liking for me and said.

'I see from your record you had worked for your dad on his pig farm before going to sea, I have just the job for you now'

He had no liking for any of the tourist stewards and even less for officers.

[Keith Moody]

reply to Neil, I don`t know what cabin you had on canberra but mine was a 2 berth with porthole, sink and all wood trimings, good accomodation after the Arcadia( 1953), where most cabins were either 8 or 10 berth with the old iron bunks and tin lockers, however you got to know your fellow shipmates. she was a happy and popular ship for crew and passengers, most of the crew stayed on her from trip to trip.
the cabin i was in (called a peek in P&O) there were 8 of us, 2 caneries, 2 love birds and a gilar from OZ which learnt the language of the cabin, when the owner of this bird gave up the sea to get married and moved to australia he gave the bird to the local vicar, the vicar put it in his front room but not allow anyone to go in there as the bird would swear at them with all the language he was taught whilst at sea.
keith moody
R635978

[happy daze john in oz]

On the Paparoa, NZSC, there was a crew of 52, of which 9 were catering. Apart from officers and petty officers we were the only ones to get single berth cabins. I had the cabin thta had originaly been the Butchers cabin. All our cabins had hand basins, as well as day bed and bunk. deck as far as I recal, were either two or four berth.

[Captain Kong]

Now this was a hard ship.
one of Savages, what a good name for a shipowner.............
.
This was a hard ship,

SS BEECHFIELD
W. SAVAGES, Ltd. ZILLAH STEAMSHIP CO

I joined the BEECHFIELD in Liverpool in at the end of November 1952, she was built in Lytham, around 1900, a coal burning steamship, tall woodbine funnel, and an open wheelhouse, oil skins and sea boots were required when on the wheel, I was 17 years old and an Ordinary Seaman.
We lived in the focsle underneath the chain locker, a square hatch on the deck next to the chain locker with a vertical ladder going down to a dark and smoky open focsle with two firemen, two ABs and me, it was a death trap down there
There was no electricity on board, all the navigation lights and accommodation lights were oil lamps, and my job was to keep them trimmed daily. Down in the fore peak where we lived was one grimy oil lamp, and it was still dark with that on, there was a coal bogey in the middle surrounded with ash, cinders and coal and the smoke was thick, there was no ventilation down there, we were below the water line when she was loaded. There were five filthy bunks, black with coal dust mattress, one filthy blanket, of course no sheets, pillows or towels. There was no bathroom sinks or toilet, it was unbelievable.
One old fireman was 84 years old and permanently bent over at an angle of 90 degrees, he had never paid off for over 25 years he had no where to live and would have lost his job if he had paid off so he was there for ever.
The other fireman was a completely mad Irishman, always talking to himself and sometimes he had terrific arguments,
There were two ABs, one was over 80 years old, and had no where else to live, the other one joined with me, he was OK but after one week he leapt ashore, I was going as well but the Skipper, Captain Jim Marshall, made me up to AB, with a big increase in pay, so I stayed on for a bit longer.
We loaded coal for Dublin, Belfast, Londonderry, and stone from Paenmenmawr and Trevor in North Wales and Peel Island back to Liverpool. If you wanted a crap or a shower you had to wait until you got to the other side and leg it to the Seamens Mission.
It was December, the weather was atrocious, and on the open bridge the wheel was six feet in diameter with chains and rods to the rudder. When she was shipping seas they would go right over the open wheel house and you would get swept off the wheel and if you hung on to the wheel and a sea hit the rudder it would spin and throw you over the top and across the bridge if you tried to hang on.
The Captains way of navigating to Belfast or to the North of that would be ""Keep it on this magnetic course and if you see a light ahead it would be the Isle of Man so bring her round to port and when the light is abaft the Starboard beam bring her round to the next course, I will see you tomorrow," then all hands would turn in, I would be up there for about ten hours clinging to a spinning wheel, the sea, hail, snow and rain blinding my eyes, soaking wet and hands frozen to the wheel.
During one of these storms after leaving Derry, with big heavy seas and swell coming in from the North Atlantic, the Cook got burned to death, A large pan of chip fat was flung off the stove and went all over him when the ship took a big roll, and then it burst into flames when some went onto the galley fire and he became a ball of flame and collapsed on deck into the scupper screaming his last.
The Cook was dying in the scuppers, blackened by the flames, the Second Engineer caught sight of him leaping about and then collapsing. He got a bucket of water and flung it over him to dowse the flames but it was too late. He had gone to where all good Cooks and not so good Cooks go to, that great Galley, with unlimited stores, in the sky.
All this time the wind was blowing a hooley and seas crashing over the decks.
We had to pick him up and we laid him on the hatch, Captain Marshall certified him dead. He told us to lash him on the hatch, a line around his wrists and ankles and star shaped, he said the salt spray, would keep him fresh and stop him from stinking. He looked gruesome lying there especially at night his head moving backwards and forwards with the ship rolling. He stayed there until we arrived in Liverpool two days later. A Policeman and an undertaker came down and took him away.
The Mad Irishman would sit on the hatch and have some terrific arguments with the dead Cook, and became angry when the Cook was ignoring him.
The Captain told me I was to be the Cook, until they got a replacement but I still had to do the night watches on the wheel. There was not enough food to go round, what the Cook had done with the food money no one knew, but he had a few empty whisky bottles in his bunk.
On those Coasters, known as Weekly Boats, you got paid weekly and out of your wage you had to pay the Cook for the food every Friday, and then he went ashore shopping including getting drunk in the alehouse on the way.
I was knackered doing the night watch as well as Cooking, but a few days later he found some dead beat `Cook` from somewhere.
Then he got rid of the Mad Irishman, he was in the focsle and started an argument with the coal bogey and because it would not stand up and fight he kicked the crap out of it, flaming coals and hot ash and smoke was all over the focsle, fire was burning every where. We had to leap up on deck and throw a heaving line with a bucket attached over the side and the pass the bucket of water down the hatch to pour on the flames. After a few of these the focsle was full of smoke and steam.
"That`ll teach the baatard not to fight wid me". said Paddy
The Captain kicked him down the gangway. I was going to follow, `I`ll promote you to Fireman` said Captain Marshall, `it is a good experience`.
It sure was, four hours on and four hours off, two furnaces, do your own trimming. Feed `em, throw a pitch on, a little twist of the wrist and jerk and spread the coal evenly across the fires, rake and slice break up the clinker, dump your own ashes at the end of the four hour watch, keep her on the blood, 180 psi, and watch the water level, I got myself a belt with the buckle at the back. A buckle at the front could blister your belly with heat of the furnace on the metal. The sweat would cut rivers in the ash and coal dust stuck to my face and chest.
No lights down there, just the light from the flames in the furnace, like something out of Dante. After dumping the ashes and handing over with a load of coal on the plates for the next man it would be twenty minutes later, then fight my way forard between the waves and then crash on my filthy mattress still covered in ash and coal dust, at seven bells, three hours later, get down to the galley have a bacon butty and then stagger down the fiddly to the furnaces.
After one month I had had enough, and paid off, a much wiser and fitter man. Even though Captain Marshall pleaded with me to stay on, "I will teach you Navigation if you do, and then you can go Mate".
Next week I went back to the Pool, Mr Repp said, "Why didn?t you stay there you have only been there for a month" it seemed like a lifetime to me, I had aged ten years, "Here is another coaster, one of Everards, the `Amity." . That is another story.

[Louis the fly]

After surviving Savage's and Everard's Esso must have been the Waldorf Astoria, Dorchester and Claridge's rolled into one.

[Louis the Amigo]

Hi shipmates, The best shipping companys were all the deep sea ones, the only bad one I came across was P A Campbell white funnel fleet non pool, non union, worked like a dog, treated like Sh-- 70 + hours with no over time 6 boys in one cabin 6ft x6ft size food was rubbish pay was allmost £5 a week My first trip to sea, but after that every other ship no matter how bad, was a breeze... Looking back I am glad I was on that one, it made me not expect anything, but hardship and graft at sea but I had some great times too.

[Ivan Cloherty]

Was on one of Ropners for four consecutive trips, a novelty in itself for Ropner, first three trips were great, old, slow but happy ship with plenty of overtime to bring the ship into good condition and food was good, the fourth trip saw a new Master join, it was like being in a different company, the ship was still old and slow, but the food was lousy, no overtime, so maintenance suffered and all the previous good work was wasted and it was a very unhappy ship. Upon arrival back in Burntisland everyone but the Master and Chief Engineer walked off, I was told I would never get another job in that company, the company kept me on half pay whilst ashore whilst waiting to join a brand new ship as the Master had requested me by name. One man can make or break a company's reputation, luckily I sailed with mostly old school gentlemen who were only too happy to pass on their knowledge and experience. Sailed on an Everard's Yellow Peril (Speciality) for a few months as second mate, great experience for a navigator, good masters and reasonable food, but those domino hatchboards were a killer. Worst company I sailed for I would nominate Constants of Cardiff, it had absolutely nothing to recommend it, but then again it could just have been the Master and other Constant vessels may have been okay.

[Charlie Hannah]

John i did a trip on the Pretoria 4 of us ABs sent to Southampton signed on the 22/3/56 Payed off 4/5/56.Not a bad trip but one trip was enough,same four jumped the train back to Lime St.

- - - Updated - - -

Brian, weeping into his Appletons Rum Brian.Cheers Charlie.

[Charlie Hannah]

I did a couple trips on the arakaka,one of Booker's.One of the best jobs ever,running to Georgetown.that was in 55 and as i remember it wasn't to bad goung ashore there them days,no matter what port you were in though you allways used a little nouse and tread lightly were you went.
Your main piece of equipment when joining said ship was your gimlet a
verynessesary tool indeed not forgetting the bottle &two match sticks for plugin the two holes you drilled into the wooden barrells of the best rums you ever drank.Untill the day one of the abs named Bob wont mention second name,brought it all undone,instead of just filing his bottle the clown lay under the flow and passed out he was found by the second mate.thats when the trouble started.Put an end to a good thing.There was an emptying out when we arrived back in liverpool.But a great little job she was.There were just the two at that time the arakaka and the amacura.Think thats the correct spelling.

[Captain Kong]

My brother sailed on the Arakaka, just like that Charlie. could only do one trip or would have turned alky.
It was under sail across the western he said.
Cheers
Brian