Still Aft

[Albert Bishop]

On the subject of everything Aft. Were there any disadvantages for the crew? Or were things better? Albi.

[Trampshipman]

Living forard in open focsle,deck crowd starboard and firemen to port posed a great risk in event of head on collision. Particularly at night with only the watchkeepers absent from the focsle and every one else sound asleep, a pile up could possibly lose a lot of men in one go. In that case accommodation aft a much better bet.

Living forard in heavy weather with seas constantly smashing over the focsle head and thundering along the well deck, made all movement to and from midships a dicey proposition. ie:- going on watch, coming back off watch, going to fetch the grub, going for water from the hand pump midships, etc etc. In these cases accommodation aft a much better bet.

When living in a focsle in heavy weather with tons of water constantly smashing over your heads, then the sheer volume of noise and the juddering and vibrating of deckhead and bulkheads and bow plates all had to be experienced to be believed. Of course living aft you would have the steering engine thumping away above your head night and day but you wouldn`t even notice that after a while. Again, accommodation aft a much better bet.

So....all in all, YES much better aft. BY FAR !

[Peter Harrison]

Not forgetting watch below when they dropped that bleeding anchor

[Louis the Amigo]

Hi Shipmates, Have you forgot about the chain steering and the noise when the ship bows into the waves ,in a force 8 around the coast in winter, the ice cold spray the stinging eyes the numb fingers {Great days} real ships with real shipmates

[happy daze john in oz]

Oh Pete you have summed it up so well.

[Neil Morton]

Pete, that's exactly why I chose to go to sea asap after leaving school.My two best mates went to work in a local foundry as labourers.What a way to start your working life in a dark smelly cavern day in day out.