That was how things were when i was at sea, a *chippie*, time served, and a Junior officer, but a time served engineer was an officer ??/, kt
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That was how things were when i was at sea, a *chippie*, time served, and a Junior officer, but a time served engineer was an officer ??/, kt
Then there was the other one, if remember rightly it was 'metal lock' basically metal stitchingQuote:
Originally Posted by Lewis McColl
I was referring only to the cook question, and secondly to the crew, deckies, firemen and catering.
My first trip, on the MV Port Jackson, was as catering boy in the Engineers Mess. And the staff that was not working on sailing day wanted to watch through a peephole the mechanics come into the dinning room sitting down for dinner and totally lost at which knife and fork to use.
I think at home most were only used to eating with a spoon and on Sunday tucking a napkin, as a bib, down their weekly clean shirt..
Still chuckling at the memory of those officers and gentlemen.
Cheers, Rodney;)
#3 Pay Off: As a Cadet was away Apr 1959 - Mar 60. Circumnavigated the world as a 19 year old. Paid off with 6s 8d but what an education and experience, could not be done now, sad for my grandsons.
Sailed with one master a Captain Lamb , would never have Lamb printed on the menu, had to be mutton, apart from being closer to the truth also, knowing some of the Chief stewards as I did. JS
Reminds me of the joke of the bloke who went into this restaraunt whose motto was we serve anything, waitress came for his order and he says I”ll have 2 p- issoles and fried tomatoes , she rushes to the manager complaining of a foul mouthed customer. He strides across Now Sir what’s the problem, I only asked for 2 p- issoles as on the menu, the manager takes the menu and says that P is an R , ok says the customer give me 2 A- holes . JS
How many have sailed on Hong Kong agreements of years past ? Where the feeding on a Chinese crewed ship came under the auspices of the master and was part of his monthly portage accounts and what was shown on the credit side of the accounts was his salary.
Putting it simply Chinese crew came through crewing agencies in Hong Kong and the crew member was beholden to them for all expenses supposedly incurred , so on joining the ship he was already in debt. He expected to be on the ship for 2 years so is reasonable to expect he would pay off in that time. Food was on a daily rate as normal on a ship but was on a cash hand out system. Every member of the crew received this cash every month, it was usually given in lump sum to the bosun for the deck department , the number 1 fireman for the greasers ,and the chief steward for the midships lot. The stewards immediately put theirs in their pockets and fed off the mates and engineers , the deck crowd and the engine crowd decided amongst themselves what they would pay out for stores and act accordingly when they went shopping. Usually the firemen and deckies were
from different parts of China and ate differently and each had their own cook and galley. The midships crowd were Christian cooks and stewards so again the feeding was a bit different also. It was rare to see a fat chinaman or a lot of scraps in the gash bucket. The system did work however if not the best of feeders . The chief steward on joining a ship had to pay for what stores were in the freezers on sight off or in theory on paper. The Chinese are very astute business men. They are one of the foreigners I sailed with were the least likely to cause problems , apart from jumping ship in the USA , any trouble with them was usually caused by loss of face which they couldn’t handle. JS...
Speaking of chippies, there was one on the Cape Town Castle which at the time had sprung a small leak up forard.
It would need a repair, most likely a weld but could not be done while at sea.
He suggested he be lowered over the side and he would fix a tarp over the hole???
The ship continued on to the next port of call where some quick repairs were done.
But did hear that on some ships sailing out of USA on short runs maybe five days had no cook on board just a Micro wave oven to reheat ready meals.
Oh dear Lewis! that's another myth destroyed! :hidesbehindsofa:Quote:
Originally Posted by Lewis McColl
#21 A chippy of the old school Keith was a shipwright . I sailed with one who was 2nd. mate when I was mate. He had a mates certificate and was his intention after masters to go for his engineers certificates. I hope he succeeded , think he would have been one of the very few or even the only one in such a position if he did. He came from Wallsend. JS
A junior engineer used to be that he got a grading from the MOT to go to sea as a junior engineer, think but not quite sure a time served shipwright could also do this. Anyhow I have sailed with engineers who served their time in razorblade factorys , and even one who was a blacksmith when horses were in vogue , a certificated 2nd engineer in the 50s and 60s were as scarce as, hens teeth, and most I sailed with were on dispensations. During the war they were called Permits. After the war Dispensations,
and only lasted for one set of Articles, and had to be renewed for every different ship, by presenting themselves to an Examiner of engineers for an oral examination if necessary. That was the case during my time at sea. Cheers JS
Also it may be worthwhile pointing out at one time before this frantic urge to be called officers , most ships only carried one, who was signed on as such and he was the Radio Officer, otherwise the usual cargo vessel was a Master and 3 mates, A chief Engineer and anything upto 6 engineers and an electrician. Maybe the titles were changed to appease the vanity of some romantic images they carried. Cheers JS
I get mixed up as well but think after he BOT it was the DTI then the DOT, then the DOTI, then the MOT then the coastguard but I wouldn’t take bets on it. JS
PS It was the MOT in 1963 just had a look at last certificate . JS