Hardest work

[Robert George Young]

Hardest work an AB would do it the good old days?

Job they hated the most ?
Job they loved?

Thank you

[Ivan Cloherty]

Hardest work an AB would do it the good old days?

Job they hated the most ?
Job they loved?

Thank you

Why not tell us what you think would the most loved or hated by an AB, or alternatively how long is a piece of string

[Graham Payne]

Electric Chipping Hammer. The worst.

[Robert George Young]

Not sure

Never been to sea
Except on fun loving things like todays cruise from Crete to Malta

Think good old merchant seaman are better placed than me I reckon

[Keith Tindell]

Bilge diving was not a very pleasant job, never was on tankers, but tank cleaning was not the best job. The job i loved was lookout on the focsle, crossing the Pacific, the world to yourself, stars as bright and clear, dolphins playing in the bow wave, flying fish coming on deck, don't, i,ve got moist eyes.

[Michael Black]

Electric Chipping Hammer. The worst.

+ 1

Job I loved was renewing/ maintaining topping lifts on derricks purchases on jumbos etc.
Regards Michael

[Ivan Cloherty]

Electric Chipping Hammer. The worst.

Electric chipping hammer, loved it, no one ever came near you, no one bothered you, and no one criticised your production.

Another loved job, rigging and operating the Jumbo derrick and all its associated steam guys and snatch blocks.

Doing the masts stays with white lead and tallow, gave a lovely view of your ship.

Disliked cleaning strum boxes, especially after a grain cargo, the smell lingered for days no matter how many showers you took. The smell akin to the smell of the shelled graveyard we had to traverse adjacent to El-Gamil airfield at Suez '56, a smell you will never forget.

[Rob Cumbes]

Worst: Repairing leaks on steam heating coils on "bitch"amin tanker! Handling old mooring wires with no gloves. Scraping paint off wooden decks with a two inch scraper for ten days on the trot.
Best: Lookout on a clear night in the tropics. Making the Mate's coffee on the 4 to 8 in such a way that he would never ask me again. Helping a Singapore tank cleaning girl take a shower.

[Johnny Kieran]

I hated that hammer, we called it a "windy hammer". I was made to use one on a City boat as a deck boy, promoted after some deckies skinned out. I was hammering away and huge flashes and sparks kept flying out of it. I was covered in rust dust and feeling dreadful, so when the bosun came by, I told him it was dangerous, he said "stop moaning and get on with it". The chief officer (a right maggot) came strolling by saying "you should grow up sonny, and stop complaining". As he walked away, there was a massive bang and flash and the windy hammer blew up in my hands, I ended up several feet away on my back. The chief came back and asked why I hadn't told anyone about it playing up. I was told by others, that I was lucky that I was wearing rubber flipflops and not touching the steel deck at the time. That as just one of the near death experiences I suffered on that pile of crap.
That chief officer would never have suffered with piles, that's for sure.

[j.sabourn]

And crawling under open deck steam winches to try and chip the deck underneath , usually finished with long handled scrapers to get the scale out. Then pouring bitumastic under to try and keep the weather out. The Windy hammer worked off compressed air and the electric chipping hammer was worth a lot more more money wise, but more bulky to handle. The old rope fender came in handy to sit on. The electric hammer also had different heads to put on such as wire brushes etc. All the moving parts on the hammer head was best to stick in a pot of oil when not in use. JS