Never seen this done before

[robpage]

After the Herald disaster at Zeebrugge P&O employed anti-drink spies , attractive females in the catering department , invite them for a shipboard drink and you got your P45 on return

[Les Woodard]

There was the other side of the coin as well. The supernumeries that where being taken back to their country who would work as extras until they where there. Had a few on the colonial run which I think was prolific for this with so many jumping

[robpage]

A couple of times leaving the UK on some of the older clan line ships which had quite a bit of spare accommodation I remember on at least two occasions carrying couples going back to South Africa who had been in the UK working for the South African fruit board . Again it would have made sense for them to have sailed out of Southampton on a union castle mail boat but for some reason a trip home on a cargo ship seems to be a regular occurrence both the occasions I remember there were a young couple each time and they had the pilots cabin

[happy daze john in oz]

We took two, both as gay as a row of tents back to Oz with NZSC.

One worked the other spent the day on deck chatting to any of the deck hands willing to speak.

[John Arton]

Not DBS but in C.P. we had an a**hole of a captain where on one vessel he was captain on, they picked up 5 Indonesian fisherman whose vessel had been wrecked and they had clung to its wreckage for a number of days before being rescued in a pretty poor state. This a**hole , writing in the company magazine, proudly annouced that in return for feeding and watering them for the fortnight they were on board, he was able to put them to work in the forepeak ballast tank removing mud and loose scale,
What a prat!!! I unfortunately had occasion to sail with him at a later date and he was without doubt the biggest pig ignorant prat I ever had the misfortune to sail with.
Rgds
J.A.

[john walker]

One case of a D.B.S. I remember was on a Shell tanker in about 72. We had loaded a cargo in Singapore for discharge in Esperance and Adelaide,crossing the Great Australian Bight a seaman on the 12 to 4 morning watch had mysteriously disappeared over the side after a police enquiry when reaching port we were a man down. The agents in Adelaide asked the captain if he would take a young seaman who was about to be released from prison as a D.B.S. The captain agreed and told the guy that if he worked hard and behaved he would sign him on as an E.D.H. when the ship returned to its home port of Singapore. I felt a bit sorry for the bloke as he told a sad story of having offered a small amount of marijuana to an undercover police officer who had approached him to sell some (The guy had given him enough for a couple of cigarettes while ashore in a bar from another shell tanker) The outcome was that he was arrested and sentenced to a couple of months in prison and given a bad discharge which he was desperate to cover up with a good discharge if He could. A few weeks later on reaching Singapore He asked the captain to sign him on as an E.D.H The captain's response was to tell Him that He had no intention of signing Him on as He thought drug dealers were the scum of the earth and deserved all that happened to them. So the poor bloke had worked for nothing for 2- 3 weeks and was still a long way from home. The crew of the ship had helped him out with the occasional beer and cigarettes on the passage back to Singapore we then had a whip round for the next stage of his journey home. I will never forget the duplicity of the captain nor the kindness and generosity of the crew which always reminds me of what the distressed part of D.B.S. means

[Red Lead Ted]

If i was unlucky enough to cut a duce for the sea watches and end up 8 to 12 for a few months i was a DBS, At all times.

[Red Lead Ted]

Jimbo, I met another DBS On my travels this morning, Eddie Dean the oldest Cunard yank in town was barred out of the Crown pub on Lime St..... 81 yrs old.

[Jim Brady]

Yes Terry a good guy is Eddie.
Me and another guy missed the Emp.Of Britain in Montreal had she been on her normal run we would'nt have missed her but being on the Canadian Trooping trip she left at daybreak for some reason which was far earlier than normal.
We went into the Sailors Institute (the mission) and gave our names in,they said yes we heard that you were missing,they gave us a key to a room a toilet bag with toothbrush toothpaste and shaving gear plus rolling tobacco and papers and 5 Bucks.
We ended up aboard a Manchester Liner just after the evening meal had finished all the grub was still on the press and nobody about,we got stuck in to the Boston Baked Beans we were starving,the chf/steward came into the pantry i said its ok chief just a couple of scousers on the beach.We knocked on cabin doors any scousers aboard,knocked on one and low and behold the guy who opened the door was my mates brother in law,we have cracked it.
To cut a long story short we slept aboard the Manchester Liner in the morning i said to my mate we better go and report to the mission.At the mission we were told the Beaver Elm is leaving in an hour get yourselves over there.As we approached to go aboard a guy was being carried down the gangway in a body bag.We made our way to the chf stewards cabin were the dope of a second steward informed us "It's a good job a man has just died otherwise only one of you could come with us." I said thats not a problem i will sleep in his bunk much to the relief of my mate.The 2nd steward said there was only a linen change this morning so we wont have to change the linen on the dead mans bunk.I said i dont expect a new mattress but I want that stripped right down including mattress cover which i did.My mate slept in the hospital.
Anyway I turned in and I was just not comfortable sleeping in there and there was the balloon thingy that they put over your mouth to see if you are breathing that was laying on the chest of draws.Tobe honest I could'nt hack it so i got up and went and slept on the asst/stwds settee.The next day i was in the pantry and i heard the capt saying to the chf/stwd,did that man sleep in the dead mans bunk last night,the chf/thought I did so he said yes to which the capt replied sooner him than me.As it happened there were two mattress's on the hospital bed so I took one of them off put it on the deck between the bed and the bulkhead got my bedding and slept on the deck all the way home.
I asked the chf/stwd if we could work for pay he took us up to see the captain and put our request to him.The captain said you do not have to work I am not telling you to work so if you do work and dont get paid it's got nothing todo with me.We did work soogieing down all the alleyway bulkheads and giving the decks a deep scrubbing.The chf/stwd said the 2nd stwd was a dope and couldnt trust him todo the victualing book would i do it,its just a matter of doing a stock check of goods in storeroom.When we docked in Liverpool the Cat/Super wanted to see me in the saloon and asked me to come back in her as 2nd stwd I said i would let him know tomorrow but all i was interested in at the moment was getting paid for the trip,he fixed that up and we got paid.Our gear was still aboard the Britain when she docked we got our jobs back.Quite a lot more to it than what I have posted.
Regards.
Jim.B.