HMS Victory

[Doc Vernon]

Maybe along with the expression of over the barrel , having lashings of fun had its source. JS

Its Ouch! I was not over a Barrel, but over a Wooden Bench with bare Bottom, and 8 of the best from a Huge Boer Cop, as he struck each consecutive Lash with a Bamboo Cane that was soaked in Salt Water , the previous wound would split open. This was given to me and a good mate of mine for a deed we did, not nice but Young and full of Bravado! Cheers

Ever seen two young Guys on a Bus with Blood streaming down their pants, and trying to act Brave ! LOL. Now i can look back and laugh , but held back Tears of pain then was not going to give that big Boer the satisfaction!
Oh! it was painful!

[j.sabourn]

#20.. I believe I said in another post sailed with a chief Engineer from Portsmouth who sailed in subs during the war a bloke called Fuchter , smashing bloke to go ashore with. Got a wartime commission. Although he sailed also on surface ships he seemed in his cups to talk most about subs and jaunties his other favourite subject , who were the naval police. He was mainly on the Malta convoys and according to him British subs rarely did a torpedo attack on shipping from a completely submerged position , but rather from the conning tower or bridge which was above the surface, he seemed to think the germans also did the same. Today of course submarines rarely if ever come to the surface as the technology is much more advanced. Someone told me , or it was in the orals for seamanship for some ticket or other , about how to steer a ship with a lost rudder by using a mooring rope, and it was to have the bight of the rope played out astern and the ends of the rope passed one each to the drum ends of the after mooring winch , one going over the barrel and the other one going under the barrel . So by taking in the slack on alternate sides or slacking away you had a bit of control on the ships head. Bet that one never came up in the 12 hours on the wheel steering ticket. Will have to get Cappy or Thomas to try with their boats, only trouble though they will have to get a couple of volunteers to replace the mooring winch. Cheers JS...

[happy daze john in oz]

The practice in the Royal Navy at that time was punishment considered to stop others from doing the same.
It was given for such breaches as failing to turn to, hitting a junior officer, being drunk, fighting and a few others.

The death penalty was only used in extreme cases, murder of an officer, maybe not for that of another crew member.
The convicted man was hanged from the yard arm very often at the end of the day, no reason given for this.
After the noose was placed around his neck two seamen would then have to pull him up.
Good ones did it quick, but if the guy was not well liked it could be very slow.

Body left there overnight and dumped into the sea next day.

[thomas michael]

hi john sabourn #22
good morning, your quandary with mastering the technique of steering the ship with a lost rudder, this will in no doubt enable members whom find them selves lost and rudderless one dark night,
cappy as you know was indeed owner and skipper and i believe fell foul of the same problem so he put two crew over the side at the bow and when cappy called out port or starboard they took turns to push the bow off in the requested way, thus allowing cappy to leave the bridge for a good nights sleep with his boat on auto pilot.
i myself would have lashed a locker door to a oar and put it over the stern and thus had steerage, but cappy likes to show off.
tom

[j.sabourn]

Now the story I heard was he put Mary astride on the transom with her wooden leg in the sea and told her it was good to cool off the ghost pains she used to get in the wooden leg, then told her to point it in any direction he called out to exercise it. He then handed over the helm to his unpaid helper and charged him for the usage of poor old Mary. JS

[thomas michael]

hi john sabourn #25
if that was case then the unpaid helper had a free hand with the rest of mary so the old adage one good deed deserves another comes into mind.
tom

[j.sabourn]

Well it is said he carries the genes of Albert Einstein on his maternal side being some great Uncle or something , and we all know his reputation with the ladies . JS

PS your theory about good deeds , there is of course the other one, too many hands spoil the broth. JS

[thomas michael]

hi john sabourn #27
albert einstein as a boy would spend hours playing with mathematical figures and as cappy was devoid of any toys his obvious plaything was his stick, which he gained numerous hours of pleasure from, albert einstein went on to greater things, and cappy being always satisfied with playing with his stick went on to meet mary with the wooden leg and there lies a marriage made in heaven as he was able to rub his stick on the wooden leg to make fire,
tom
ps
on my way out for a walk, im stiff all over

[j.sabourn]

Watch you don’t trip over a stone as you may break bones . JS

[thomas michael]

hi john sabourn #29
good afternoon
i have a bad knee, and i need to exercise, so its a catch 22 situation, But whilst on my walk i got talking to a couple of italian women, one said she was a personal trainer and gave me her business card, me personally i think both of them are here on the game so i might just give her a ring one of these days to see if she can raise my knee joint.
anyway the card is beautifuly coloured with a caricature of a beauty in a leotard,im sending a copy to cappy to see if he needs any repair work on that stick,
have a good day
tom