French tactics

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi John.
I suppose there are a number of firsts on this site and that is one of them for me, First time I have heard of anyone handing in their discharge book.
Des

[James Curry]

Everybody is an expert on this . As John said you were not allowed to have a foreign discharge stamped on your book. When entering the likes of Saudi they would stamp your book at the airport leaving. In the 70's they were not interested in a passport but a letter from the shipping company and usually a representative from the agent the likes of GAC. Sorry but a few of you either never went to sea or had swallowed the anchor long before the days when one flew out to join or leave ships.
Presenting my book for a replacement it was taken off me and a new book was refused as I was no longer sailing British flag ships. I have given my discharge number and as far as I am concerned that is the end of it. I am surprised I am not being asked for my bank account details.
Another thing I refused to do was let the ships master keep my Passport, he got the book that was it. He got it when I joined and when I signed on I took it back. He got it back if it was required for immigration clearance. I got it back when we left port again. The days when ships started to have a ships office with all sorts wondering in and out more than once I would see Passports lying around on the desk so I would lift my own and inform the master I had taken it.

[j.sabourn]

Well James I went to sea long before you and left well after you by what you have said in the past , and have never seen the practices you seem like to have experienced . I came out of foreign ships in 1971 . Got my own job and just went to the federation for clearance . So in 1971 they stillthought they had such power of granting employment , when they asked me where I had been I told them before they could ooh and ah and followed through with I was not looking for employment through them as had already accepted a job.I Had no foreign discharges in my book all were paper discharges. I have never had a foreign Seamans book was not necessary. shortly after this foreign flags were acceptable in any case this was coming up to the time when you were starting your short term in British ships. Cheers JS

[Keith Tindell]

I only sailed on British ships, late 50s - early 60s, but flying out to join ships was a common practice for all ranks in my time. I suppose before flagging out became more common. Never liked flying out, preferred to see the ship before signing on, but then it was a different world for shipping then.

[j.sabourn]

#32 British Discharge Books were also stamped in Russia. Was normal practice in some countries .They were stamped in the back pages . There was nothing unusual in that. If the local British Embassy or consulate required your passport ashore you wouldn’t have held onto it for very long. No means of proof of identity then you would be confined to the ship at the very least , No passport then your Dis,.A book was it. And you informed the master you wanted no entries regarding joining or leaving in it and would prefer a paper discharge .JS

[Marian Gray]

That's one of the many advantages being a member here, always something new to learn. Thank you chaps.

[Ivan Cloherty]

Before the days of 'Freddie Laker' not many people had passports and seamen never needed them, your 'Dis A' was your passport and accepted worldwide, had you proferred a passport (highly unlikely), you would have been asked for your Dis A' at the airport when joining or leaving a ship as your passport when leaving a country was unlikely to have an entry stamp in it for that country, as shipboard immigration were not interested in your passport, when we wrinklies were at sea.

[James Curry]

John I retired in 2013 suspect you were enjoying life sipping beer.
I think you will find if you sailed in a Panama flagged or Liberian flagged ship you would have been required to apply for a discharge book along with the micky mouse certificate of competency. Which were posted on the bulkhead outside the ships office.
Anyway everyone is an expert.

[Johnny Kieran]

Strange thing about Russian stamps in discharge books in the 60s. I can remember being quizzed in the states about have you been to Russia, China, or any communist countries? my answer was always no. Once I asked the guy what if I said yes? he told me I wouldn't get the ID card for going ashore. There were other odd questions too.

On a brighter note with the US. Once, I think it was the second time in Port Everglades, I was called up to the Bridge and told the police were here to see me. I went into the officers mess and there were two cops, they turned me round and cuffed me, saying it's not too serious, but I must answer some questions. I felt terrible, but they insisted I had no choice. They asked my home address, parents names and other things, I was crapping myself. Then they took off the cuffs (that was strange) and said your coming with us. They led me off the ship and into their car with all hands watching.
As I got in, the cop in charge said "Don't worry son, I'm your uncle (mums cousin), and your mum told me you were coming, so I thought we'd have a bit of a laugh.
He took me up to Palm Beach to his home for the day, and I met his family. A great adventure that was. I told him I nearly made a mess of his police car earlier.
He'd written home to my mum to tell her how it all went, never forgotten it.

[Jim R Christie]

John I retired in 2013 suspect you were enjoying life sipping beer.
I think you will find if you sailed in a Panama flagged or Liberian flagged ship you would have been required to apply for a discharge book along with the micky mouse certificate of competency. Which were posted on the bulkhead outside the ships office.
Anyway everyone is an expert.

James,
As you may remember the Liberian discharge books also had an expiry date on them, I think they were valid for 10 years. Same number of spaces as a British book but of course no chance of filling it in that time.
I still have a Liberian book somewhere, long out of date as the company I was with at the time had a few Liberian ships. I never used mine in anger however.
I knew a bloke who had a British Masters ticket etc and went foreign flag late 60s. His British paperwork then was enough to gain him Liberian and Panamanian paperwork without question and after that he never used his British ticket or discharge book ever again as he was exclusively foreign flag. When STCW 95 came around he only ever revalidated his foreign papers.

There's a few fellows over on the Merchant Navy facebook group who had their books and seamans cards confiscated by the Pool and kicked out of the federation. A bloke posted on there recently his story and he never went foreign flag, but made the mistake of signing on a British research ship. That vessel was non federated and so when he presented himself at the pool for his next trip away they informed him "No longer required" and that was him.