By registering with our site you will have full instant access to:
268,000 posts on every subject imaginable contributed by 1000's of members worldwide.
25000 photos and videos mainly relating to the British Merchant Navy.
Members experienced in research to help you find out about friends and relatives who served.
The camaraderie of 1000's of ex Merchant Seamen who use the site for recreation & nostalgia.
Here we are all equal whether ex Deck Boy or Commodore of the Fleet.
A wealth of experience and expertise from all departments spanning 70+ years.
It is simple to register and membership is absolutely free.
N.B. If you are going to be requesting help from one of the forums with finding historical details of a relative
please include as much information as possible to help members assist you. We certainly need full names,
date and place of birth / death where possible plus any other details you have such as discharge book numbers etc.
Please post all questions onto the appropriate forum
-
21st June 2021, 09:56 AM
#11
Re: Missing books
One source of locating old books is ABE Books, I have ordered books from them, some from overseas, always dispatched promptly and some at reasonable cost.
Vic
-
Post Thanks / Like
-
21st June 2021, 10:15 AM
#12
Re: Missing books
#10 You don’t want any Dahl then ?, an Indian crew would not sail without it. The tiger you may if quick enough find in the tank , as the old saying get a tiger in your tank, that must have been Burmah oil , however the tank in this case is the deep tank and they haven’t been pumped out yet. One of the Kalassis called Cappy is a good bilge diver however and for 3/9d. He will make 3 muff dives. If you don’t pay up however he will claim the booty for himself. When the deep tanks do dry out some of the sludge could pass for Dahl so in an emergency and run out of don’t think anyone will notice. If you want to curry favour with the kalassi one and two , don’t get mixed up with curry flavour , but offer the number two Kalassies if they behave themselves would will put in a good word for them for a winch wallahs job , after that the skies the limit. Watch that old seacunnie on the second mates watch have been told by a dickie bird he is on the hash. Will keep to your night order book and course of Ne by E three quarters E , sped 2.69 knots recurring. Best to check on the Tiger beer though as may have been bilged and sampled first. Can’t trust these bilge divers these days. Sayonara that’s a japanese farewell thinking of taken out a course on through the seafarers education , don’t understand a word of some of these make believe Geishas. Cheers JS or JW as have recently come out of the deep tank and not the closet. But have been in the Derby Street baths that are no longer there . JS
Last edited by j.sabourn; 21st June 2021 at 10:25 AM.
R575129
-
Post Thanks / Like
-
21st June 2021, 03:09 PM
#13
Re: Missing books
JS Your #12. re Kalassies,Secunnies etc. It's so uncanny (not canny because that's a Geordie word) that you and I understand each other implicitly on a variety of topics,including the oft-mentioned fact that Cappy might owe you 3/9d,or the other way round,even if nobody else understands.Lord knows I can't understand
myself at times.I was never lonely on sea watches because I kept myself company with my musings although it has been said that the occasional cadet or QM disappeared overboard on the 12-4 ,nothing sinister or personal,just got fed up with my ramblings I suppose.
Secunny (steersman or QM)is a strange Hindi word isn't it. Sounds a bit rude if you ask me. Kalassies mean deck crew but is notable for being a good word to rhyme with molasses,a rather sticky subject. Topaj-pronounced Topaz was a strange rating.It was a very low class rating on a very low rupee salary(as a Master you will probably know that) who primarily was a deck sweeper-usually a wizened old man with a bent back who ,one arm behind his back,and a besom brush in t'other would -well,sweep the decks.He was also used by the deck crew for other tasks and presumably would be paid a pittance by them for it. Now that was just on British ships with Asian crews,although Gulliver told me he sailed on a few of Bibby ships where the QM's and Chippy were PO's and white,from Liverpool.They had a cushy life with individual cabins and separate messing,whilst the Asians had dormitories in the tween deck.Those few white crew were invaluable to the cadets for learning their seamanship (and holding liquor!).You wouldn't learn much seamanship from Abdul-no,it might not be politically correct to call Asian crew that today ,but it was an accepted term in our era of the MN. Seamanshipwise I'm not disrespecting them but they did things a certain way,with more men per task.Even on a British flagged with Asian crew four hatch general cargo vessel in the 60's you would have a total crew ,all ranks and ratings,of about 50. I noticed when looking at Indian flagged casualties in Lloyds List that even their larger cargo ships had total crews of about 70,one casualty having wives and children of officers on board totalling a complement of about.90 .One Indian company lost two ships on the same run on the same day-I'm not criticizing their professionalism,merely pointing out that's a lot of crew to lose in one day. As Oscar Wilde would say--"To lose one vessel is unfortunate,to lose two seems like carelessness!" I'll try and find the report on that one.
My Night Orders or Last Orders,whichever comes last. Steer Tin Paanch Sart {357} Degrees True as far as Chowrunghi Light then call me,-if you dare.
-
Post Thanks / Like
-
22nd June 2021, 07:57 AM
#14
Re: Missing books
Hi John,Try World of books they are on Ebay they might have the book your looking for.
-
Post Thanks / Like
N/A liked this post
-
22nd June 2021, 02:24 PM
#15
Re: Missing books
Originally Posted by
j.sabourn
#10 You don’t want any Dahl then ?, an Indian crew would not sail without it. The tiger you may if quick enough find in the tank , as the old saying get a tiger in your tank, that must have been Burmah oil , however the tank in this case is the deep tank and they haven’t been pumped out yet. One of the Kalassis called Cappy is a good bilge diver however and for 3/9d. He will make 3 muff dives. If you don’t pay up however he will claim the booty for himself. When the deep tanks do dry out some of the sludge could pass for Dahl so in an emergency and run out of don’t think anyone will notice. If you want to curry favour with the kalassi one and two , don’t get mixed up with curry flavour , but offer the number two Kalassies if they behave themselves would will put in a good word for them for a winch wallahs job , after that the skies the limit. Watch that old seacunnie on the second mates watch have been told by a dickie bird he is on the hash. Will keep to your night order book and course of Ne by E three quarters E , sped 2.69 knots recurring. Best to check on the Tiger beer though as may have been bilged and sampled first. Can’t trust these bilge divers these days. Sayonara that’s a japanese farewell thinking of taken out a course on through the seafarers education , don’t understand a word of some of these make believe Geishas. Cheers JS or JW as have recently come out of the deep tank and not the closet. But have been in the Derby Street baths that are no longer there . JS
Dahl curry and rice, delicious! Got used to it in my younger days, Dahl is a sort of small yellow pea and when curried looks like sludge. We referred to it as "Hen **** and hail stones"
-
Post Thanks / Like
-
23rd June 2021, 02:26 AM
#16
Re: Missing books
#13.. Just. noticed sorry. Your description of the topaz could be me you are describing as have all those ailments.
You don’t mention the Tindal or the Serangs or bosuns mate Although if there was such a rating on a British ship no doubt it. Would soon be changed to Creep. The Cassab or storekeeper ,the shipowner would have a mild heart attack at all these extra wages. The old doc though unless he knew better would be striding around expecting huge things from his new title of the posh sounding Bhandarry. Which would after a time with a British crew be shortened to Gary or one of the rickshaws towed by a bike. Cheers JS
PS missed out the chief steward whose title was Butla . Not to be confused with Butler and what he saw even though he saw plenty , especially of dash, better known as backhanders , however one does have to make up for the poor wages I suppose. JS
Last edited by j.sabourn; 23rd June 2021 at 02:48 AM.
R575129
-
Post Thanks / Like
-
23rd June 2021, 06:15 AM
#17
Re: Missing books
Poor wages be damned. On British Prince chartered to Brocklebanks as the Mandagala, we had changed the Hong Kong crew for a Calcutta crew who were paid British AB's wages etc, + Heavy weather gear + cold weather gear. They were the laziest shower of useless sea going laborers I have ever had misfortune to sail with.
I was third mate and if on cargo watch on other than day work hours, if any gear needed changing would use the cadets. Would take up to an hour to get the lazy bastards on deck. Needed the whole crew for a job often done by 2 of us.
-
Post Thanks / Like
-
23rd June 2021, 06:36 AM
#18
Re: Missing books
Wonder if Amazon or any of the other books companies still sell 'Port Said bibles'?
Just asking you know!!
Happy daze John in Oz.
Life is too short to blend in.
John Strange R737787
World Traveller
-
Post Thanks / Like
-
23rd June 2021, 06:53 AM
#19
Re: Missing books
Lady Chatterlys lover was well known all over the world , both versions I would imagine. JS
R575129
-
Post Thanks / Like
-
23rd June 2021, 07:10 AM
#20
Re: Missing books
#17.. Colin your talking about British owners chartering an Indian crew ? An Indian owner hiring his own countrymen will give them what he wants . In 1969 a chinese AB out of Hong Kong was on 28 pounds a month. The crew were changed for a cheaper crew of philiinos on 27 pounds a month , shortly after I sailed with Indians and they would not have exceeded either figure .i have also sailed with US owners re recent Saguenay post , where the West Indian crew were paid British wages but however without all the additions such as overtime etc. etc. As have often said this so called universal standard of wages and conditions have never ever seen , the few who have is there to show the public how well they treat their workers. It’s a false premise or was up until 2002. I never saw any paid overtime paid for on any foreign flagged ship . Overtime on most British ships doubled the salary. I agree with your views re competence re lascar crews. But their literacy was almost non existent , Cheers JS
Last edited by j.sabourn; 23rd June 2021 at 07:41 AM.
R575129
-
Post Thanks / Like
Tags for this Thread
Posting Permissions
- You may not post new threads
- You may not post replies
- You may not post attachments
- You may not edit your posts
-
Forum Rules