seafaring stories

[Chris Allman]

Having met both men personally, I am with Capt Kong on this. I rather feel that perhaps Mr Dwyer should seek some kind of assistance for his obvious psychological depression. The language he uses, as far as I am concerned, is of no reflection whatsoever of the good Capt K whom I have met and have had contact with. I think perhaps that Mr Dwyer should be pitied by us all as he is obviously in need of professional care. Old age is indeed a terrible thing, especially when it affects the senses.

Carry on Capt K, I for one love your true stories.

Chris.

[happy daze john in oz]

I for one very much enjoy the tales of C. Kong, and others. We who have sailed can see the funny side to it and even if it is a bit stretched we know the basis of it to be true. Pity those poor souls who never sailed and think we often talk twaddle. But as you say time is short now for some, a time to reflect on past glories, enjoy the tales of others and stop using abusive commenst just because you do not like what some one has written. If you can write better then do so, but kindly refrain from brining your unwarrneted and unwanted crap to this site.

[happy daze john in oz]

Capetown as any one who has been there knows is famous for more than just the mountain. It also has or had, Delmonicos, Navigators, Shabeen Queens, Transvestites and many other quaint oddities.
It also had the naval base at Simonstown, a base used not only by the Royal Navy and the S.A Navy, but also by visiting U.S Naval ships.
The lads from the Lavender ladies, and other ships, always knew when the 'Yanks' were in town, the supply of 'ladies' dried up somewhat.The yanks had the local girls running hither and thither in the hope of some wondrous life, if not in S.A than maybe the States if they were lucky. The yanks in their white uniforms, white tops, white bell bottoms and those cute little pill box type white hats. White hats that were to cause us some trouble.
When the yanks were in town we drank a little more and chased the ladies a little less.
At the time of this story, and all my stories are true just some of the facts may be a little odd, I was officers steward living on the boat deck in a two berth cabin with Mike 'ginger Lewis. I Had the top bunk but Ginger was so named because of his hair colour, not any sexual persuasion.
Ginger had over time developed a liking for the white pill box type of hat the Yankee sailors wore, he had a collection of six at this time, wishing of course to increase this stock. Ginger had come by the hats by a number of means but the bottom line was that he acquired them not by stealth, but by pure bloody theft.
Ginger and I were part of a group that Bill Leigh the head chef had named, 'The gang of five'. According to him we caused him more grief than all the galley staff and first class wingers put together. Bill had in his galley office the biggest bottle of Aspirin and Alika Seltzers you would ever see and said we were his biggest customers for them. Beside Ginger and I there were Mick, and Malcolm both on the roast and soup corner, and Ben Gunn, then second Sous chef.As officers stewards Ginger and I spent a lot of time in the main galley collect food and grog for the officers so we were well known by all in that area.
The day in question was a Wednesday and we were recovering from the ships dance the night before. Sitting in Delmonicos having a few we decided to go out to Seapoint to the hotel there for a change as there were few ladies of any sort in town, all been Yanked out so to speak. We upped to leave with Ginger at the front, but as was always the case with him his feet got in the way. He missed the last two steps and fell flat on his face on the road. As luck would have it the local road sweeper was on his rounds and seeing Ginger there he casually swept around him and moved on. After the laughter had died down we hailed a taxi but Ginger declined not to journey with us saying he had something to do. On the way to Seapoint we pondered as to what Ginger had to do. The consensus of opinion was that he would go to the street just at the rear of Dorp street in an effort to get his leg over. How wrong can you be?
We arrived at the hotel and went in, not a lot there in the way of talent, but the beer we knew would be good so we sat and drank.
I noticed sitting at the bar two 'Yarpies' one of them must have, or should have been a basket ball player he was so tall. The other was built like a brick dunny, never seen anyone so big with hands the size of dinner plates. They were bemoaning the lack of 'Chicks' due to the Yanks being in town, they were not alone in that.
'Those bleddy Yanks come here and take all our chicks, would like to murder them all' said the big guy.
Ah siez man they not worth it just drink your beer' said the tall guy.
'But she was such a lekker chick' said the big guy almost crying in his beer.
The conversation continued in this vein for some time with the four of us listening and commiserating with them at the same time. But the beer was good and we were all felling a lot better now knowing we were not alone in the matter of missing 'chicks'.
We had been there for close to an hour when the door burst open and in rushed Ginger clutching not one , but two Yankee pill box hats. He was obviously flustered and his speech was so confused that for a moment I thought he was talking in shorthand. A common practice for those who over imbibed.
He eventually calmed down and told us of the events since we left him in town.
Walking along Adderley street he had seen two Yankee sailors arm in arm with two of the local girls. His first thought, two hats for the taking.
He had walked up behind them and while they were busy with the girls had done as he always did, snatched the hats from their heads and run. Down the road, around the corner to find a taxi. However in his rush he failed to see the two Yank M.P. in their Jeep on the other side of the road. Apparently when ever a U.S ship was in town they were on patrol. They however had seen Ginger and gave chase. He had see and heard them just as he got in the taxi and they had followed it. Luckily for Ginger they had not followed him into the hotel but remained in the car park. According to the barman they could not enter the hotel unless invited.
The two guys at the bar overheard our conversation with Ginger and the big guy came and spoke with us.
'You realize those Yankee M.P.s will sit out there all night if they have to in order to get the hats back'! Loss of any part of a uniform was A very serious offense in the U.S. navy.
'So how are you going to get out of here now' he asked.
The only way out was the front door, and out in the car park a jeep with two M.P.
That was O.K. for us, but not for Ginger.We could have left him there, but somehow that was not the right thing to do we decided.But how to get out?
Then the big guy came across and asked if we would like a little Fun? For a moment my mind went wild with imagination, I had heard about some of these odd yarpies and their idea of fun. But no it was not to be like that. Give me one of the hats he told Ginger and all of you come with me.
Ginger rather reluctantly handed over the hat and we all followed. Out into the car park where the two M.P.s still sat in their jeep.
The big guy stood in the middle of the car park and yelled out,
'Hey Yankees is this what you are looking for, if so come and take it off me'!
There was dead silence for a few seconds, then before we knew it the motor on the jeep started up and they were off, off like prawns in the sun, I never saw anyone go so quick. We stood there in complete awe of what we had just witnessed.The the big guy began to laugh, an infectious laugh in which we all joined him.
Back in the bar it was drinks all round and we sat there until who knows when. My next recollection is waking next morning with a Head the size of Table Mountain and seeing Ginger lying half in, half out of his bunk still clutching at two white hats. Time to go and see Bill Leigh and get some of his medicine before the day began.
Ginger drifted away from our lives a few months later, he came from Stonehenge, and I often wonder if he still has his collection?

[Dennis McGuckin]

Remember several trips up the Med, and going ashore in Malta.
Used to frequent a bar down the Gut.
At that time, the US 7th fleet was also in the Med.
I had a 'lady' friend who was a waitress.[among other things]
When the Yanks ordered a round, she would also drop one for me at my table charged to their bill.Thankfully they never caught on.
As they had curfew at a certain time, they had to return aboard. SP would round them up.
This was great for us Merch. We stuck around until the girls shift was over, or the bar closed, and got to take them home [or where ever]
Usually I was well loaded by that time on free booze.
Sometimes felt sorry for the ham-shanks, but not for too long.
Had similar experiences in BA,.but that's another story.
Happy days.
Den.

[alf corbyn]

we were in a bar in genoa when half a dozen yank matlots came in. when i saw them ordering martini by the glass i told them it was a lot cheaper to buy a bottle. they were very grateful and kept buying my mate and i drinks.we ended up going back to their ship for a late night snack complete with ice cream from a fridge in thier mess. alf

[Neil Morton]

I still have nightmares about those Yankee hats. I'm always standing at the bottom of Queen St Auckland, just outside the dock and I can see them parading up the hill on either side of the road like white ants on an escalator and not a single local lass left in The Auckland Hotel (Gt Northern now), where normally they were plentiful .

[Roger Dyer]

Hello Neil and Shipmates,

Why was it that nearly every time my ship called into Auckland back in the 50's it coincided with the visit of yet another U.S. warship. It was almost as if they were a permanent fixture. Thankfully, they were usually only there for a few days whereas we were often there for two or three weeks and sometimes even longer Whilst they were in town you could forget about the girls, they went where the money was and who could really blame them for that.

Although I did not witness the event, one incident occurred circa 1957 whereby a U.S. sailor was stabbed to death at the Trades Hall dance one night, following a dispute over a pretty girl. One could be forgiven for thinking, as I did, that the offender was a disgruntled merchant seaman, when in fact he was a fellow U.S. sailor. Seemingly, two into one wasn't on the cards that night.

........................................regards, Roger.

[alf corbyn]

hi roger. those yanks were in aucland to visit thier descendants from the first and second world wars. haha alf

[Roger Dyer]

Hi Alf & Shipmates,

There's probably more truth in what you suggest than some of us may realise, Alf, old mate. As most of us would know, Kiwi (N.Z.) was the last contact with a sane and normal world that so many fine, young, allied servicemen would enjoy before jumping off into the madness and horror of the war against Japan. That so many of them were American is without question. That so many of them would father children they would never see is also, sadly, true.

The mention of the white 'gob' hats worn by U.S. sailors prompts me to ask if other members agree with my own observation that during WWII the uniforms worn by U.S. Serviceman (both Officers and enlisted men) were far more stylish and of better quality than those worn by their British and Commonwealth allies.? When it came to attracting the ladies, the fact that they also had more money to spend was, naturally, an added attraction.


..............................................kind regards, Roger.

[Rodney Mills]

Rowger!.

I had heard it was a larger appendage that caused 'Sheila's' to chase your American 'cousins'. Sadly it has not been transferable to naturalized 'yanks'.

Cheers, Rodney.