Drinking

[Robert George Young]

Please forgive this question if it obvious.

I spoke to a guy the other week who said he quit the merchant navy because of the booze on board the ships he served on for 5 years.

He said he realized if he wanted to keep his marriage intact he would have to leave the navy.
He said seaman were allowed, even encouraged, to drink on board.

I ask because my dad was a seaman and a hard drinker. It wrecked his marriage and relationship with his three sons.

I have 30 years of his Navy service records 1946- 1976 and his ability was very good and his general conduct was very good on 99% of his reports.

My question is how would very good on ability and general conduct tie in with his heavy drinking?

I naively felt it meant sober on board and hard drinking when ashore but doubt that was the case after talking to this guy.

thank you
Bob

[Captain Kong]

I was NEVER EVER on a ship that had plenty of `booze` on board,
indeed most ships I was on were `Dry` ships,
Apart from the big Liners . just on Tankers , Cargo Ships, Coasters , there were no bars on board,
In ESSO we had a bar in the Crew and the Officers lounge, but it was strictly monitored , and then after the EXXON VALDES incident in Alaska, all the bars were closed down and all ESSO tankers were Dry Ships,
only Lemonade allowed. and I was actually accused by the Captain of one big tanker in the Red Sea of drinking Lemonade after Midnight. as it was after the old bar hours. but he was a little mad.
How can you Navigate a ship Safely, drunk, how can you leap aloft and rig a big Jumbo derrick drunk.
I must admit that when a man has come back on board after being ashore in a bar I have had him sent to his bunk, as he is a Danger to everyone else. He does not do that again.in fact I believe every ship should be Dry Ships,
If you need to drink then stay ashore. a ship is no place for drunks.
I did 45 years at sea.
On a Two month world cruise , my bar bill for the two of us is always NIL. and we have a great time.

Brian

[Dave McGouldrick]

Started at sea in 1970. 'Standard' drinking was 2 or 3 beers before lunch, 2 or 3 beers before evening meal and then probably 6 or 7 in evening unless anyone was 'going on the pi**', when quite prodigious quantities would be drunk. Obviously this depended on individuals' shifts/day work.
Over the years this continued on UK and FOC ships, and even in the early 2000s on cruise ships Officers Bars were big revenue earners for the company.

[j.sabourn]

There are various reasons why anyone drinks and you don’t have to be a seaman to be a heavy drinker. We mostly all take exception to being called plonkys be it a brown ale one or the cheap vino plonko. We mostly make excuses for ourselves and put it down to various reasons why we do go on a bender at various times. Mainly it is just a lack of moral fibre and. Drink heavily to put out of mind various responsibility’s we have. None of us are perfect and this includes all and not just seamen. In days of old it was just the boisterousness when in port , without contact with the world and drink for maybe months at a time. When drink and bars were introduced on ships , to some it . Was heaven on earth. To a large proportion of people excessive drinking caused a medical condition called alcohism again just as common ashore as at sea.I have always taking a drink and take exception when someone says today I can’t, which is the way things are at sea today caused by the few who have gone way overboard . There is usually some reason for heavy drinking a lot of times is used as a sedative to bad memories, but as said in most cases is a lack of moral fibre. And used to hide a persons own failings which only that person will know. JS....

[Lewis McColl]

I was NEVER EVER on a ship that had plenty of `booze` on board,
indeed most ships I was on were `Dry` ships,
Apart from the big Liners . just on Tankers , Cargo Ships, Coasters , there were no bars on board,
In ESSO we had a bar in the Crew and the Officers lounge, but it was strictly monitored , and then after the EXXON VALDES incident in Alaska, all the bars were closed down and all ESSO tankers were Dry Ships,
only Lemonade allowed. and I was actually accused by the Captain of one big tanker in the Red Sea of drinking Lemonade after Midnight. as it was after the old bar hours. but he was a little mad.
How can you Navigate a ship Safely, drunk, how can you leap aloft and rig a big Jumbo derrick drunk.
I must admit that when a man has come back on board after being ashore in a bar I have had him sent to his bunk, as he is a Danger to everyone else. He does not do that again.in fact I believe every ship should be Dry Ships,
If you need to drink then stay ashore. a ship is no place for drunks.
I did 45 years at sea.
On a Two month world cruise , my bar bill for the two of us is always NIL. and we have a great time.

Brian

So how come they used to call you ALE HOUSE???

[Ron B Manderson]

In Brocklebanks we were lucky.
Every ship had a bar. With very cheap drink.
You always knew a first tripper as he would eat and drink like it was going out of fashion.
Then you calm down .
I think their idea was that it would stop some of the shut door cabin drinking.
You looked after each other and said things like " hove to laddie your blowing for tugs"
I suppose I drank as much as the rest , but Now 2 pint's a year is my nom now .
I sailed with a chief eng. , who would drink his last as the boilers were lit , then none until they were put out.
But was a drinker when in port or ashore . Of course the land lubber would see him drunk, and just think that was normal for seamen
Ron the batcave

[Keith Tindell]

When i was at sea (AB), mostly we had a daily allowance, paid by us of course, mostly 4 cans per day, some ships 6 cans per day. These were not the cans like today, these were small, half pints ?. Once ashore of course it was, lets make whoopee, . On the one passenger ship i was on , Union Castle, there was a pig and whistle, no limit as long as you did your job, kt

[Nigel Smith]

I don't ever recall being on a ship where drunkeness didn't exist. One of the worst cases I encountered was on the Esso Lincoln, departing from New Orleans the old man was so drunk it took 2 of us to drag him out of his bunk. We were able to get him up to the bridge and prop him up in the Pilots chair just as the Pilot boarded. On another occasion I was 2nd Mate on a chemical tanker Hamburg to Bordeaux, the old man and Mate disappeared when the Elbe Pilot disembarked. After waiting to be relieved for 6 hours I found both legless/senseless in the old mans cabin. I stayed on watch for god knows how long, eventually I set a course for Plymouth and contacted the authorities advising of the situation. What happened next wasn't particularly pleasent, but we did go to anchor in Plymouth Sound and the ship was held for 2 days. After that we proceeded to Bordeaux to discharge. The old man and the Mate emptied the ships safe and off ashore, eventually they came back by which time I had contacted the company head office. I left the ship at Bordeaux and flew home. I stayed with the company after being offered a better position

[Keith Tindell]

Further to my 7, i was also on a couple of ships where a weekly (free) rum ration was issued, this was a good small cup full, quite a good slug. I for the life of me can't remember which ships, it was 60 years ago. I have posted this before, but cannot remember if others can recall this issue on a ship, kt

[j.sabourn]

Keith I was always of the opinion that rationing of beer on a ship was not the correct way of going about it. First of all you were saying you did not trust anyone to control their drinking to social levels. If there is drink on board a person who is reliant on it Will find methods of getting it . It was better that any rules that were made were done so by the bar users , and any person falling down on the job they also imposed the penalties. Mind that would not work if all were alkies. Most people who were rationed with their beer didn’t bother with it at all and just said stick it. Heavy drinking as said is not confined to seafarers , there’s more ashore especially today when there are practically none at sea, in person or in spirit. That’s redistribution of describing words ! Cheers JS