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Thread: Mighty Ships

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    Default Mighty Ships

    Just watching this programme, all the Officers whilst wearing overalls wear epaullets signify their rank.
    Engineers in the E. R. Wear epulattes signifying their rank.
    Not one set of dirty overalls on show, all in pristine condition.
    Changed days.
    Vic

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    Default Re: Mighty Ships

    Today they have men to do the work, they are only display specimens for the public to see.
    Happy daze John in Oz.

    Life is too short to blend in.

    John Strange R737787
    World Traveller

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    Default Re: Mighty Ships

    The only excuse for wearing braid if an excuse is needed is when people from outside the ships complement are in attendance as they are the only ones who don’t know who is who. All the members of the crew should be aware of who is who . Most companies used to insist that uniform was worn and their excuse was the the pilot coming on board wants to know who he is talking to. As long as the company paid for the uniform I had no objections if he didn’t , then I wore it when I considered it necessary. One of which was always in the saloon when they had saloons, as long as the stewards went to the effort of wearing white jackets and collars and ties , I saw no reason that the people they were Tending should be allowed to dress sloppy. Today however with no saloon and no stewards on most ships and cafeteria style of messing I see no need for bull dust. Cheers JS
    Last edited by j.sabourn; 13th January 2021 at 08:22 AM.
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    Default Re: Mighty Ships

    Agree with most of what you say John, but on my 22 month trip (tramper) the old man insisted that all ranks wore their uniform in the saloon and on the bridge and only engineers on actual duty could use the duty mess for meals. At first it seemed illogical, but as he explained to me one night on the bridge, you never know how long you are going to be away, and changing from mufti off duty to uniform on duty gave a sense of purpose and avoided sloppiness creeping in, as once it was in, it was difficult to remove. He was right, the routine helped break up those long sea passages and maintain a sense of purpose. It wasn't a hardship and once you'd been to HK and got those lovely tailored shorts and slacks instead of those British shorts you could drive a bus up, you even felt better.

    Even on the coast when sailing with Stephenson Clarke and CEGB the company insisted on rank being worn, but at least you could wear battle dress jacket and slacks

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    Default Re: Mighty Ships

    Todays engineers at sea are not what they were in our day. They may be better qualified , with their Ctec Tic Tac and what ever onboard learning module they did last week. Now days a lot of companies have contractors come onboard to carry out routine maintenance. Todays engineers are not engineers , they are plant operators. Concerning the spotless boilers suites I bet the Ar-e of them is soiled as most spend all day sitting in the air conditioned control room. An example when I was still involved in the engine room side of things. We were arriving in port and I asked the J/Eng to run up the extra generator for Stby. He pushed the button let the machine run for about 10 minutes checked the console that the parameters were okay and put it on load(another button to press). I suggested he go and have a walk around to see if all was visually well , no leaks etc!!! This time he looked at me as if I was soft in the head. Again he went to the console and changed the CCTV camera to the one that covered the generator flat. Could not believe it , 5 minutes later the wiper came into the control room to report there was an oil leak at one of the crankcase doors. Even then he reluctantly went down to the generator flat.

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    Default Re: Mighty Ships

    We always wore our uniform for meals and in the bar lounge.
    Only time we ate in overalls if we were going on standby or had a problem and the meals were confined to the duty mess.
    Lewis, are they better qualified than we were? we only had the Brain Mark 1 computer to rely and the skills our peers taught us.
    Vic

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    Default Re: Mighty Ships

    Well Vic, they have A4 folders full of ship board training modules. Multi choice tick box answers and 50% is a pass mark lol. I have sailed with 4th Engs who thought a Gravity disc was something you played on a CD Player. Vic they are being conned by so called onboard training modules. Things like say strip down the face mask on a BA set. They do not actually strip down anything they do it as an exercise by ticking the right or wrong box. When they go home on leave they may be sent away for a weeks course on something or other. The whole game has changed now. In the mid nineties BP decided to Train 3rd& 4th Engs as an ETO. 3 weeks course at South Shields college and next thing you are on an LNG carrier with 6kv switchboards etc! I think when a lad was vaporised it was considered a step to far.

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    Default Re: Mighty Ships

    I sailed with a professional 3rd, engineer in the early 60s who by all accounts was very competent. Talking to him one day asked him what he served his time at. A blacksmith he said which I knew was a fair enough trade in the shipyard , however he went on further to say it was shoeing horses that he served his time. He had been at sea about 20 years by this time so knew what he was doing. Also another who had served his time in a razor blade factory , but at least there was machinery present , and as said in another post on a FG flag ship the ex fireman’s cook was promoted to 3 engineer so must have had some engineering knowledge , a steamer as well. They seek them here they seek them there that dashed important engineer. Another one in later years was an ex stoker out of the RN who got a wartime commission in submarines. He came out of the RN much later and he reckoned he was the oldest serving commissioned officer ( lieutenant) at that time. He was also issued due to his commission a 1st class cert motor ( service not competency) so finished up as chief engineer, he had the personality to go with it and was a pleasure to sail with. One of the big gifts in going to sea years ago was separating the villains from the real decent people who were mainly in the majority , some the ones who stick in the memory will never be forgotten. JS
    Last edited by j.sabourn; 14th January 2021 at 03:28 AM.
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    Default Re: Mighty Ships

    As officers steward I had a fair bit to do with engineers far more than deck officers.
    I always found them to be a very sociable lot with most from a variety of backgrounds.

    Some of the Rhodesian ones had at times worked in the mines so would have had some engineering background.

    But then there was Murphy, senior second engineer.
    Murphy was a bit different, bloody good engineer who knew his stuff.

    He was more than just friendly with one of the ladies in the Pursers department a very nice lady also from the Irish isle.

    But there was a problem, Murphy always slept with his engine room boots on, as he told me in an emergency he may not have time to put them on when half asleep.
    But it gets worse, he also wore then when his lady friend was visiting, I had to hide the bed sheets deep in the dirty pile when going to see the steam queens with it.
    Engine room grease and dirt does leave a terrible stain on white sheets.
    Happy daze John in Oz.

    Life is too short to blend in.

    John Strange R737787
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    Default Re: Mighty Ships

    #9... If Murphy didnt stand in any dogs dirt when ashore john. Whats the problem ? JS
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