Steering ticket

[Des Taff Jenkins]

I got my EDH in 51, can't remember ever having a steering ticket or a lifeboat ticket, I presumed that it was taken as read that after being in the Vindicatrix sea school you had one, I remember having to steer a motorboat up the canal there get a steering ticket, and we had all the lifeboat training. As for the EDH I don't remember a test either , went down the pool the bloke said you've done your time go and sign on the British Scout.
Des

[j.sabourn]

In those days Des your discharge book was supplied to speak for you. If you had VG for ability and VG for conduct then that was it. If you had a bad discharge and unless you could prove otherwise then going up for a certificate of competency would be a hard thing to have your papers accepted for you to sit the examination. An apprentice who had his indentures cancelled would not have been acceptable . That’s why I could not work why those who received a DR did not ask for an ENR instead .Endorsement Not Required, at the very least it would give you a case to argue your point later. Accepting a DR was pleading guilty straight off. Don’t forget anything you said in reply to charges against you was made with the final statement , have you anything to say. You were quite within your rights to ask then for an ENR. JS

[j.sabourn]

Although some ships had a ships wheel usually on the poop deck capable of being hooked up to the steam steering quadrant various decks below and was the ships emergency or secondary steering position for some reason it was seldom tested. Rather the emergency steering was tested in the tiller compartment by opening and closing a valve or valves , and steering the ship from a lifeboat compass . If you were competent to steer a ship like that for 2 hours then you deserved the title of coxswain. JS
Another rough way of steering a ship was with a mooring rope. Laid in a big bight astern and with the ends of the rope turned up on the barrels of the mooring winch, on one barrel over the top , and the other end of rope under the barrel.thus by heaving or slacking of the mooring winch had a slight control on which way the ships head went. Hardly seismic courses but something is better than nothing sometimes. JS.

[j.sabourn]

#29... I was under the impression that the DHU rating was brought out for the likes of ex national servicemen who decided on a sea career in their early 20s. And was to give them a push and cover what they had missed in their seagoing experience. The ones I had were all over 20. Some were genuine others not so,and learned the rule book fast , and when it suited them it was me not savvy , but were never to refuse the bigger overtime rate and wages than of an SOS. One refused to go on a stage and another to go aloft both legally correct but morally wrong. Money for money it was better to gamble on a seaman who came from a boy rating. There are however exceptions to every rule. JS
I don’t know if a master could by law promote if that is what it is a person to a DHU. He could promote a seaman to 2nd mate/ bosun, and a seaman to mate on certain ships , legally and above board, which I did twice. But a DHU would have to ask for legal advice on that one. The maritime year book of the era in question would no doubt have the answer , that was the Bible then. The promotions to jos and sos were stipulated there also. JS

[Keith Tindell]

In my case i had been on a Baltic shipping boat for 12 months continuous , with home port Hamburg, and when we broke articles i was going to leave , but the skipper said he would give me the rank of SAILOR, wages just below EDH, this i took, and so when i signed off 6 months later , i took my EDH exam, but because of my sea time i was able to go straight to AB. I think you had to serve another 9 months as EDH to go to AB. I could be wrong but i think as an AB there were a couple more sea time requirements to reach top rate AB pay, kt

[j.sabourn]

He probably did that off his own bat Keith and told the company after. That’s what I done they had no other choice to condone it, it was already done.

[Ivan Cloherty]

[QUOTE=j.sabourn;3 .Endorsement Not Required, at the very least it would give you a case to argue your point later. Accepting a DR was pleading guilty straight off. Don’t forget anything you said in reply to charges against you was made with the final statement , have you anything to say. You were quite within your rights to ask then for an ENR. JS[/QUOTE]

John I would suspect that most people who got DR's got them for being pizzed and not ability and come pay-off time were already half way down their docking bottle, so each party would be glad to see the back of the other.

On the DHU only speaking from personal experience of what happened to SOS on our 22 monther, (late 50's) whether it was legally correct or not have no idea, but it kept a happy ship, I think Capt Churchill exercised a lot of latitude on that voyage, we only had one bad apple/bully and he made the mistake of picking a fight with a bunch of Japanese fishermen in Shimonoseki, who filleted him, he had to have circa 300 stitches, as OOW on night duty I had to be by his bedside, no option for me, as was collected by very polite Japanese police from the vessel and taken to the hospital.We sailed without him, don't recall anyone sending him a get well card, but the deck crew enjoyed their shorthand money for many months

[Keith Tindell]

I think a lot of ships i sailed on had a known bully, but they usually got sorted by one means or another. It was amazing how a lump of dunnage could equalise things, kt

[Red Lead Ted]

Keith, I boxed from the age of 10 years old right up until i went away to sea, I used to pack my boxing gloves every trip if i ever got called out onto hatch 5 which i did on several occasions i always said i will oblige you queensbury rules no kicking or holding just a good old fight fisty cuffs, I remember shocking a few bullies because i hated them, And still do. You always found that they could talk the talk but had never walked the walk. Terry.

[j.sabourn]

#30 Frank the time you are talking about you would probably be on a single screw propellor with a semi balanced rudder. I found the most useful thing on the bridge for a helmsmans use was the rudder indicator. The less helm you put on and managed to maintain a course as required the better. The effectiveness of a rudder was up to about 35degrees of helm and if the effort was made to use much less than this , this made good steering more effective , when you put large amounts of rudder on then you have to compensate. The other way also and finish up like a pendulum ever increasing..Today as said steering in modern ships is not like it was ,as regards with two screws you may have two rudders and if they are Becker rudders is usual to put the both at 90 degrees and use the propellers them self’s for trans thrust etc.if the propellers are azumuth controlable it takes again other thinking to use. every ship today could be different from what you are usd to. But you are still expected to know them all. We were all brought up with the basics but had to move with the times. I am referring now to manouvering a vessel. But going back to straight forward steering to get from A to B if I remember correctly a 5 degree snake on each side of the course made good ,meant the loss of about 15 miles in every hundred , which is quite a loss in fuel consumption and time hence automatic steering was a big money saver to the shipowner and soon paid its way. Cheers JS.