British Tramps

[Bill Morrison]

Grading for applying to be a merchant navy engineer. It was normally apprenticeship served in a shipyard or marine engine repair, railway engine repair shop or heavy engineering and some lighter engineering. I have my grading form 2B which was the lowest grade. Conditions are on the reverse side.

[happy daze john in oz]

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

John, getting your dots and dits mixed up, good job you never had to send morse.

[Graham Shaw]

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.

.

Well maybe a better job was done than on this horror - a white plastic bag covering a hole, allegedly when presented for survey and repair.The vessel is/was the twin-screw Russian m.v.BALTIYSKIY-110, ,a 2,554 dwt cargo vessel owned by Thirteen Balt Sg.Co,St.Petersburg. Built 1980,scrapped 2016.

Baltiyskiy 110 (2).jpg

[j.sabourn]

Well the hole was maybe too big for a finger , and there was no willing Dutch boy around . A hole in time saves nine or whatever they used to say . I used to have a stock of hardwood wedges shaped like Fids on one ship I was on , think she went to scrap before drydocked , the similarity between her and a hedge hog was purely coincidental. She was the Liberian vessel Sunprincess owned by a well known US aluminium company and managed by Saguenay Terminals of Montreal , you probably have a picture in your list of ships Graham. Wedges and cement boxes if paid the going rate today would be a millionaire . Cheers JS
PS one of the ships names I can’t remember a Russian vessel your mention of St. Petersburg has jumped my memory as that is where she To was registered.Hope the name may follow suit before I kick the bucket .JS

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Well maybe a better job was done than on this horror - a white plastic bag covering a hole, allegedly when presented for survey and repair.The vessel is/was the twin-screw Russian m.v.BALTIYSKIY-110, ,a 2,554 dwt cargo vessel owned by Thirteen Balt Sg.Co,St.Petersburg. Built 1980,scrapped 2016.

Baltiyskiy 110 (2).jpg

Always knew those plastic bags would come in handy one day.
Des

[Tony Taylor]

Well the hole was maybe too big for a finger , and there was no willing Dutch boy around . A hole in time saves nine or whatever they used to say . I used to have a stock of hardwood wedges shaped like Fids on one ship I was on , think she went to scrap before drydocked , the similarity between her and a hedge hog was purely coincidental. She was the Liberian vessel Sunprincess owned by a well known US aluminium company and managed by Saguenay Terminals of Montreal , you probably have a picture in your list of ships Graham. Wedges and cement boxes if paid the going rate today would be a millionaire . Cheers JS
PS one of the ships names I can’t remember a Russian vessel your mention of St. Petersburg has jumped my memory as that is where she To was registered.Hope the name may follow suit before I kick the bucket .JS

I recall being taught cement box technology on my first trip. It is amazing what can be done with some cement and an empty baked bean tin.

[j.sabourn]

There was always a use for cement on a ship Tony , the quick drying type preferably , from the cementing of the spurling pipes to prevent the chain lockers flooding , to the burlapping and cementing of the bilges before a grain cargo. Not to mention other repairs around a ship , if going into ice was always better to be wise and carry half a ton of it down the fore peak store in case of being holed in that area. The liquid steel you used to use in the engine room as you know was often used as well as down below , to put patches on hatch coamings where a chipping hammer was likely to go through. Ships were like people as they got old they suffered from wear and tear.
JS

[j.sabourn]

A recent statement I made to the number of tramp company’s I made of 200 maybe slightly over optimistic as on counting the names I can only find 127 and number of trampships on declaration of war flying the. Red Ensign as 2800.
For general information a short paragraph “ in the early 1930s an improvement was made in living conditions on board tramps , by 1937 new regulations stipulated all crew accomodation had to be situated above the load line and was either midships or aft. Focsle accomodation was gone , messrooms ,wash places , bathrooms and hospitals had to be provided on F.G. Vessels. “.I know Cappy lived. Below the load line as was on the same deck as the steering quadrant and that ship was built in 1943. So all manner of Rules can be bent ,especially in wartime. JS

[happy daze john in oz]

#36, and that is a two fold benefit.
The crew get Baked Beans for breakfast and the hole gets fixed.
What could be better.