MacFadyen Letters
These three documents consist of letters sent by Captain MacFadyen and found in the attic by his son. I have reproduced them as typed by him.
S.S." I K A U H A "
London towards Gibraltar
17th March 1955
London towards Gibraltar
17th March 1955
Dear Don,
You may be surprised to see the size of paper that I am using but I have a matter to relate which may interest you, and it will take quite a lot of telling.
You may remember that our programme was for us to go to the Chapman anchorage and there to load 975 tone of explosives. These explosives were nearly all ammunition of one kind or another for the Pakistan Government.
We left the R.A Dock at 1900 hours on Sunday, 6th, March and duly arrived at the Chapman without any bother at all. After that it came on to snow, which it continued to do intermittently until Wednesday, after which it blew from the Noreast, so that by Friday night we had still 100 tons D/wt to load, all of which was to go into No.1 hold and tweendeck. No labour came down on Saturday, but at noon that day a tug arrived and ordered us to the buoy off Cliffe. At the same moment C/E came with the welcome news that a boiler tube in the centre boiler had burst, so we had to mate the shift on two boilers only. This did not delay us any, as we had to slow down for the tug, which had to turn us off Cliffe, but it would have been pleasanter in the circumstances to have had full power.
At Cliffe there was a considerable pobble on the water (it was blowing a gale) and the jolly watermen let our best mooring shackle fall into the oggin, where it was drowned (to quote a tally clerk's report on a lost overboard cargo certificate). C/0 hastily sent down for another, and this proved to be a screw shackle, a thing which I always distrust on a buoy. However, in the circumstances we had to use it. We were fast to the buoy at 1500 hours.
On Sunday the jolly stevies were on board earlier than usual, having only a short distance to come from Gravesend, and since they were on double overtime they managed to finish by 1530, and were all off the ship by 1600, together with their gear, and also the riggers who had come down to secure a magazine on deck.
We went to Stations at 1600, the same watermen (Corby & Co) being on the buoy as yesterday. After an hour's work with crowbar and maul they had succeeded in doing nothing, except that one man slipped off the buoy and went waist deep in the river, which must have been pretty chill. Far worse, the clot had let go of our maul, and it had followed yesterday's shackle to be a hot water bottle in Father Thames' slimy bed.
After the bather had been ferried across to the tug to dry out in front of the galley fire we sent the watermen a hacksaw with which to cut the shackle; but they were notably unenthusiastic about trying to cut through a 2½" shackle pin, even though it was a nice sunny, calm afternoon, and after a few tentative cuts they declared the job non-possumus, and retired to the tug. Subsequently they left us in tow of a passing tug, without saying Goodbye or Kiss-my-hand.
With the aid of the tug's R/T we endeavoured to interest Siley Wiers in our plight, but they could only promise to send a burning gang at 0800 tomorrow. However, the tug people in Gravesend suggested a local firm named J & T Palmer, and as they were keen to oblige I gave then the job. It saved the ship 12 hours, the equivalent of £265.
Palmers came down at 1915, and by 2000 hours we were clear of the buoy and on our way.
The Pilot left us at Dungeness at 0330, and at 0400, being satisfied that, short of fog, we were now in the clear, I turned in.
At 05:30 the bridge telephone rang, and in less time than it takes to tell I was on the bridge. We were just altering around the Royal Sovereign L. V. when the steering gear failed. Fortunately we were not in heavy traffic at the moment, and we soon had the red lights hoisted and the &hip stopped. At 0800 we were on our way again.
After breakfast C/E came up to embroiler his original report, and this is what I learnt.
The IKAUNA's steering gear consists of (l) the telemotor, (2) a continuously running steam motor (2-cylirder); (3) an oil pump, driven by the motor; (a two way valve in the oil system from the pump: (4) an "oldraulic" system which consists of a pair of cylinders mounted fore and aft, between which works a ram: and (5) a thrartship tiller which is connected to the ram by a sort of universal coupling.
The motor, which ravolves in one direction only, idles at about 120 r.p.m. and when at full throttle (when the wheel on the bridge is moved) achieved about 200/300 r.p.m. The telemoter, in addition to opening the throttle, operates the oil valve, thus directing the oil into the forward or after cylinder of the oldraullc system, and so moving ram, tiller and rudder as required.
Now we come to the nub of the matter. The motor has a duplicated oil system for lubricating. There are two oil pumps, each of which is capable of adequately lubricating the motor. The lub oil is drawn from the sump, on the side of which is a projecting box about 6" fore and aft by 4" deep and 4" across. When the oil in the sump is at proper level this box is full of oil. In the box are two horizontal filters, from underneath each of which oil is drawn by Its respective lub-pump. The suction-pipes to the two pumps are at the fore part of the box, end each sipe is guarded by a valve which Is hinged at the top. One of these valves will only lift to the horizontal, so that as soon as the filter is removed the valve falls shut. It has to he lifted when the filter is replaced, but it is possible for the filter to be replaced with the valve shut. As the box is always full of oil, above the level of these valves, it would be possible for a careless workman to remove the filter (allowing the valve to fall shut) end replace the filter on top of the closed valve.
The second valve, when open, falls back to about 45°, so that, provided that it is open when the filter is removed, it will remain so, and to close it would have to be a deliberate action.
When C/E was called on account of the failure of the steering gear he found that the motor had seized. It was not badly seized, only one crank being tight; the engine was not very hot, and no further damage seems to have been done to the motor. From this C/E deduces that the engine had not been long starved of oil.
Now let us study the history of the steering gear since in London. The 3/E did some work on the steering engine, but he declares that he did not clean the filters. He is not certain if any of the men with him did so, but so far no-one has admitted to having done so. Whilst the ship was in London we had some of Siley Weirs fitters working every day in the steering flat, attempting to get the emergency fire pump (which is situated there)to work. The steering gear was inspected and tested by both the Eng-Superintendant and the Ministry Surveyor, but there is no evidence to show that they, or any other body, probed into the filter box to see if the two valves were open or not. But when C/E examined the valves after the failure of the steering gear he found both of the lubricating oil valves shut. The filter box cover is secured with two small bolts, but these are only hand-tight.
Between these two examinations the ship had steamed from R.A. Docks to Chaprnan Anchorage, from there to Cliffe, and from Cliffe to the Royal Sovereign L. V.. Moreover, on the day of departure from London (Cliffe Buoys) the steering gear steam was opened at noon, and the motor idled from then until sailing time with only an occasional turn of the wheel which is given from time to time to keep the lubrication of the motor going.
The questions to be answered are (l) Who shut the valves? (2) When were they shut? (3) How long would the motor run with only such lubricating oil as could be sucked past the valves, and possibly a certain amount of "splash" lubrication if, indeed, the cranks do dip into the oil in the sump at the bottom of their stroke?
The first question will never be answered. The second and third would tell us if the person who tampered with the valves, or at least with the one which falls back when open (for the other might have been shut for some time without the engineers knowing, or even being aware of its existance) was possibly a shore person or if he was certainly a member of the ship's crew.
Now let us look for motive, if the closing of the valves was deliberate. It is well known that the ship has on board 975 tons of ammunition for the Pakistan Government, so that it is possible that the motive was to wreck, or at least delay the ship in order to prevent or delay the delivery of the ammunition.
The first possible objectors to Pakistan being supplied with ammunition would be the Communists, but one must also hear in mind that only a few months ago the Indian Government made a great fuss because the U.S.A. had made a military agreement with Pakistan. Of course India objects to Pakistan having adequate ammunition because of their dispute over the future of Kashmir.
Following the first suggestion i.e. Communist action, one is posed with the question — on board or ashore? If the tempering with the steering gear were done by shore agency, then it must have been done before 1600 hours on Sunday. This leaves the motor with about 4 hours of idling and 9½ hours of normal running before it seized up.
C/E states that it is his belief that the motor could run only for about 2 hours without proper lubrication. If this is so, then the one open valve can only have been tampered with at about 0300 on Monday. This, however is not probable, for at 0310 the vessel was approaching the pilot vessel off Dungeness, and so, well out in open water and clear of danger from immediate grounding. In fact the vessel was clear of the shoals of the Thames estuary at 2300 hours on Sunday.
This logically suggests that the engine did in fact run for much longer than two hours without proper lubrication. It also suggests that if the valves were shut maliciously, then the engine did run much longer without proper lubrication than the tamperer expected.
In fact, for all that any of us positively know to the contrary it might be possible that, owing perhaps to leaky valves, the engine did run continuously without proper (but with a little)lubrication from some time prior to 1600 hours on Sunday until the time of the failure. And if it could do that it could equally well have also run during the shorter passage from the "Dock to Chapman, and thence again to Cliffe. But I do not consider this probable.
Reverting to this idea that the valves or one valve was tampered with by some person on board, what evidence have we?
If Communist action, then we have the Chinese Fitter and the Chinese Carpenter. Both hold Communist Passports, but that does not necessarily mean that they have Communist sympathies. When their former Nationalist (Chinese) passports expired they could only obtain Communist ones; in replacement, and had to take what they could get.
The Carpenter appears to be such an incompetent fool that he might almost be ruled out anyway. The Fitter is rather more intelligent & might be hiding his light under a bushel. But that is not the Communist way; they prefer to ensure keeping a good Job by being efficient, if they can.
The Engineroom crew are, with two exceptions, Pakistani Muslims, so they can be ruled out as being anti-Pakistani, unless, indeed any of them are under cover Communists. The two exceptions are Indian, one Ernest Paul being a Christian, and the other, Basan Goswami son of Sani Gopal being a Hindu. Either of these might be anti-Pakistani, but more probably the latter. This man is a Training Ship product (the other man is too)and may have learnt a certain amount of engineering. He might also be a Communist. He looks a smart man. He is fireman, whilst the Christian is a trimmer.
So far as the Deck Crew are concerned, they are all Hindu-s, and could all be considered as possibly anti-Pakistani, but I doubt if any of then has the ability of knowledge to do the tampering.
In summing-up what conclusions have we?
It should be noted that enquiries are liable to be frustrated by the fact that since the ship arrived in Hull all the Engineer Officers have been changed, and the present 2nd and 4th Engineer Officers joined the ship only in London.
Well, that is the story. The next move is to report the matter to London and Calcutta, and have enquiries made regarding the histories of the various suspects. The Security Authorities in Gibraltar might also be interested in the matter.
We have just passed the Burlings. The Admiralty Hydrographical Survey Department have gone all native these last few years, and all the names which have sufficed for centuries and generations of British seamen are now being printed on the new charts in their native manner. Thus Burlings is now Ilha Berlenga. And so on throughout the world. Very trying, especially as the stars now have been renamed in the Nautical Almanac to suit the Americans.
I am sending you a photo of myself. If you like it as much as I do you will probably put it in the w.c., and I shall not blame you. But let me assure you that I did shave the day I had the picture taken.
My cat is becoming quite civilised. This morning she went into my bathroom to ………… (section unreadable)…… the two porcelain bowls and then tried to conceal her mistake by scratching the porcelain over it. I had the very dickens of a job removing the evidence before washing.
Well that is all the gen. I hope that you will find the problem more amusing than I do. And if the ship sinks mysteriously you may produce such evidence as you have here to the Authorities. But I do not think you will have to. So far as the people on board are concerned a little annoying delay is all that one may expect.
You may remember that our programme was for us to go to the Chapman anchorage and there to load 975 tone of explosives. These explosives were nearly all ammunition of one kind or another for the Pakistan Government.
We left the R.A Dock at 1900 hours on Sunday, 6th, March and duly arrived at the Chapman without any bother at all. After that it came on to snow, which it continued to do intermittently until Wednesday, after which it blew from the Noreast, so that by Friday night we had still 100 tons D/wt to load, all of which was to go into No.1 hold and tweendeck. No labour came down on Saturday, but at noon that day a tug arrived and ordered us to the buoy off Cliffe. At the same moment C/E came with the welcome news that a boiler tube in the centre boiler had burst, so we had to mate the shift on two boilers only. This did not delay us any, as we had to slow down for the tug, which had to turn us off Cliffe, but it would have been pleasanter in the circumstances to have had full power.
At Cliffe there was a considerable pobble on the water (it was blowing a gale) and the jolly watermen let our best mooring shackle fall into the oggin, where it was drowned (to quote a tally clerk's report on a lost overboard cargo certificate). C/0 hastily sent down for another, and this proved to be a screw shackle, a thing which I always distrust on a buoy. However, in the circumstances we had to use it. We were fast to the buoy at 1500 hours.
On Sunday the jolly stevies were on board earlier than usual, having only a short distance to come from Gravesend, and since they were on double overtime they managed to finish by 1530, and were all off the ship by 1600, together with their gear, and also the riggers who had come down to secure a magazine on deck.
We went to Stations at 1600, the same watermen (Corby & Co) being on the buoy as yesterday. After an hour's work with crowbar and maul they had succeeded in doing nothing, except that one man slipped off the buoy and went waist deep in the river, which must have been pretty chill. Far worse, the clot had let go of our maul, and it had followed yesterday's shackle to be a hot water bottle in Father Thames' slimy bed.
After the bather had been ferried across to the tug to dry out in front of the galley fire we sent the watermen a hacksaw with which to cut the shackle; but they were notably unenthusiastic about trying to cut through a 2½" shackle pin, even though it was a nice sunny, calm afternoon, and after a few tentative cuts they declared the job non-possumus, and retired to the tug. Subsequently they left us in tow of a passing tug, without saying Goodbye or Kiss-my-hand.
With the aid of the tug's R/T we endeavoured to interest Siley Wiers in our plight, but they could only promise to send a burning gang at 0800 tomorrow. However, the tug people in Gravesend suggested a local firm named J & T Palmer, and as they were keen to oblige I gave then the job. It saved the ship 12 hours, the equivalent of £265.
Palmers came down at 1915, and by 2000 hours we were clear of the buoy and on our way.
The Pilot left us at Dungeness at 0330, and at 0400, being satisfied that, short of fog, we were now in the clear, I turned in.
At 05:30 the bridge telephone rang, and in less time than it takes to tell I was on the bridge. We were just altering around the Royal Sovereign L. V. when the steering gear failed. Fortunately we were not in heavy traffic at the moment, and we soon had the red lights hoisted and the &hip stopped. At 0800 we were on our way again.
After breakfast C/E came up to embroiler his original report, and this is what I learnt.
The IKAUNA's steering gear consists of (l) the telemotor, (2) a continuously running steam motor (2-cylirder); (3) an oil pump, driven by the motor; (a two way valve in the oil system from the pump: (4) an "oldraulic" system which consists of a pair of cylinders mounted fore and aft, between which works a ram: and (5) a thrartship tiller which is connected to the ram by a sort of universal coupling.
The motor, which ravolves in one direction only, idles at about 120 r.p.m. and when at full throttle (when the wheel on the bridge is moved) achieved about 200/300 r.p.m. The telemoter, in addition to opening the throttle, operates the oil valve, thus directing the oil into the forward or after cylinder of the oldraullc system, and so moving ram, tiller and rudder as required.
Now we come to the nub of the matter. The motor has a duplicated oil system for lubricating. There are two oil pumps, each of which is capable of adequately lubricating the motor. The lub oil is drawn from the sump, on the side of which is a projecting box about 6" fore and aft by 4" deep and 4" across. When the oil in the sump is at proper level this box is full of oil. In the box are two horizontal filters, from underneath each of which oil is drawn by Its respective lub-pump. The suction-pipes to the two pumps are at the fore part of the box, end each sipe is guarded by a valve which Is hinged at the top. One of these valves will only lift to the horizontal, so that as soon as the filter is removed the valve falls shut. It has to he lifted when the filter is replaced, but it is possible for the filter to be replaced with the valve shut. As the box is always full of oil, above the level of these valves, it would be possible for a careless workman to remove the filter (allowing the valve to fall shut) end replace the filter on top of the closed valve.
The second valve, when open, falls back to about 45°, so that, provided that it is open when the filter is removed, it will remain so, and to close it would have to be a deliberate action.
When C/E was called on account of the failure of the steering gear he found that the motor had seized. It was not badly seized, only one crank being tight; the engine was not very hot, and no further damage seems to have been done to the motor. From this C/E deduces that the engine had not been long starved of oil.
Now let us study the history of the steering gear since in London. The 3/E did some work on the steering engine, but he declares that he did not clean the filters. He is not certain if any of the men with him did so, but so far no-one has admitted to having done so. Whilst the ship was in London we had some of Siley Weirs fitters working every day in the steering flat, attempting to get the emergency fire pump (which is situated there)to work. The steering gear was inspected and tested by both the Eng-Superintendant and the Ministry Surveyor, but there is no evidence to show that they, or any other body, probed into the filter box to see if the two valves were open or not. But when C/E examined the valves after the failure of the steering gear he found both of the lubricating oil valves shut. The filter box cover is secured with two small bolts, but these are only hand-tight.
Between these two examinations the ship had steamed from R.A. Docks to Chaprnan Anchorage, from there to Cliffe, and from Cliffe to the Royal Sovereign L. V.. Moreover, on the day of departure from London (Cliffe Buoys) the steering gear steam was opened at noon, and the motor idled from then until sailing time with only an occasional turn of the wheel which is given from time to time to keep the lubrication of the motor going.
The questions to be answered are (l) Who shut the valves? (2) When were they shut? (3) How long would the motor run with only such lubricating oil as could be sucked past the valves, and possibly a certain amount of "splash" lubrication if, indeed, the cranks do dip into the oil in the sump at the bottom of their stroke?
The first question will never be answered. The second and third would tell us if the person who tampered with the valves, or at least with the one which falls back when open (for the other might have been shut for some time without the engineers knowing, or even being aware of its existance) was possibly a shore person or if he was certainly a member of the ship's crew.
Now let us look for motive, if the closing of the valves was deliberate. It is well known that the ship has on board 975 tons of ammunition for the Pakistan Government, so that it is possible that the motive was to wreck, or at least delay the ship in order to prevent or delay the delivery of the ammunition.
The first possible objectors to Pakistan being supplied with ammunition would be the Communists, but one must also hear in mind that only a few months ago the Indian Government made a great fuss because the U.S.A. had made a military agreement with Pakistan. Of course India objects to Pakistan having adequate ammunition because of their dispute over the future of Kashmir.
Following the first suggestion i.e. Communist action, one is posed with the question — on board or ashore? If the tempering with the steering gear were done by shore agency, then it must have been done before 1600 hours on Sunday. This leaves the motor with about 4 hours of idling and 9½ hours of normal running before it seized up.
C/E states that it is his belief that the motor could run only for about 2 hours without proper lubrication. If this is so, then the one open valve can only have been tampered with at about 0300 on Monday. This, however is not probable, for at 0310 the vessel was approaching the pilot vessel off Dungeness, and so, well out in open water and clear of danger from immediate grounding. In fact the vessel was clear of the shoals of the Thames estuary at 2300 hours on Sunday.
This logically suggests that the engine did in fact run for much longer than two hours without proper lubrication. It also suggests that if the valves were shut maliciously, then the engine did run much longer without proper lubrication than the tamperer expected.
In fact, for all that any of us positively know to the contrary it might be possible that, owing perhaps to leaky valves, the engine did run continuously without proper (but with a little)lubrication from some time prior to 1600 hours on Sunday until the time of the failure. And if it could do that it could equally well have also run during the shorter passage from the "Dock to Chapman, and thence again to Cliffe. But I do not consider this probable.
Reverting to this idea that the valves or one valve was tampered with by some person on board, what evidence have we?
If Communist action, then we have the Chinese Fitter and the Chinese Carpenter. Both hold Communist Passports, but that does not necessarily mean that they have Communist sympathies. When their former Nationalist (Chinese) passports expired they could only obtain Communist ones; in replacement, and had to take what they could get.
The Carpenter appears to be such an incompetent fool that he might almost be ruled out anyway. The Fitter is rather more intelligent & might be hiding his light under a bushel. But that is not the Communist way; they prefer to ensure keeping a good Job by being efficient, if they can.
The Engineroom crew are, with two exceptions, Pakistani Muslims, so they can be ruled out as being anti-Pakistani, unless, indeed any of them are under cover Communists. The two exceptions are Indian, one Ernest Paul being a Christian, and the other, Basan Goswami son of Sani Gopal being a Hindu. Either of these might be anti-Pakistani, but more probably the latter. This man is a Training Ship product (the other man is too)and may have learnt a certain amount of engineering. He might also be a Communist. He looks a smart man. He is fireman, whilst the Christian is a trimmer.
So far as the Deck Crew are concerned, they are all Hindu-s, and could all be considered as possibly anti-Pakistani, but I doubt if any of then has the ability of knowledge to do the tampering.
In summing-up what conclusions have we?
(l) Were the two valves closed maliciously?
Possibly the first mentioned valve was allowed to fall shut; the second valve might possibly have been knocked shut if the man who last cleaned the valves had been very clumsy; but it seems as likely as not that the valve was closed intentionally.
(2) If the second valve was closed maliciously when was it closed, and by whom?
From the arguement above it is improbable that the motor could have run unlubricated from 1600 hours on Sunday to 0530 on Monday. Therefore the valve must have been closed after the vessel's departure from Cliffe, and by a member of the ships company.
(3) If It is accepted that a member of the ships company tampered with the valve, amongst which sections of the crew would that man probably be found?
Either amongst the Chinese, but more probably the Fitter than the Carpenter.
Any member of the Engineroom crew who has a record as a Communist, but most probably the one Hindu member, because he is additionally liable to be anti-Pakistan in feeling.Possibly the first mentioned valve was allowed to fall shut; the second valve might possibly have been knocked shut if the man who last cleaned the valves had been very clumsy; but it seems as likely as not that the valve was closed intentionally.
(2) If the second valve was closed maliciously when was it closed, and by whom?
From the arguement above it is improbable that the motor could have run unlubricated from 1600 hours on Sunday to 0530 on Monday. Therefore the valve must have been closed after the vessel's departure from Cliffe, and by a member of the ships company.
(3) If It is accepted that a member of the ships company tampered with the valve, amongst which sections of the crew would that man probably be found?
Either amongst the Chinese, but more probably the Fitter than the Carpenter.
It should be noted that enquiries are liable to be frustrated by the fact that since the ship arrived in Hull all the Engineer Officers have been changed, and the present 2nd and 4th Engineer Officers joined the ship only in London.
Well, that is the story. The next move is to report the matter to London and Calcutta, and have enquiries made regarding the histories of the various suspects. The Security Authorities in Gibraltar might also be interested in the matter.
We have just passed the Burlings. The Admiralty Hydrographical Survey Department have gone all native these last few years, and all the names which have sufficed for centuries and generations of British seamen are now being printed on the new charts in their native manner. Thus Burlings is now Ilha Berlenga. And so on throughout the world. Very trying, especially as the stars now have been renamed in the Nautical Almanac to suit the Americans.
I am sending you a photo of myself. If you like it as much as I do you will probably put it in the w.c., and I shall not blame you. But let me assure you that I did shave the day I had the picture taken.
My cat is becoming quite civilised. This morning she went into my bathroom to ………… (section unreadable)…… the two porcelain bowls and then tried to conceal her mistake by scratching the porcelain over it. I had the very dickens of a job removing the evidence before washing.
Well that is all the gen. I hope that you will find the problem more amusing than I do. And if the ship sinks mysteriously you may produce such evidence as you have here to the Authorities. But I do not think you will have to. So far as the people on board are concerned a little annoying delay is all that one may expect.
Second Letter
The WARLA is a pleasantlooking little ship, and I hope to be able to send you a photo some time soon. She was built at Burntisland in the Firth of Forth, and her principal dimensions are as follows.
Gross tonnage 3668 Length 0. A. 364’ Displacement Light 2427 T Nett tonnage 1932 Beam 49’9" do Load 7957 T
Under deck 2975 Depth 25’ Deadweight 5530 T
Engines 3-cylinder double acting Doxford Diesel of 1780 B.H.P. Single screw; Speed 11 knots. Steering gear all auxilliaries and windlass and winches all steam driven from exhaust boiler at sea and extra boiler in port.
The ship is a three island type, with short well decks fore and aft,
No. 2 and 3 hatches being on the centrecastle; Nos 1 & 4 are in the wells.
The officers' accomodation is fairly good, but it is very hot, espec¬ially in port, when the larger boiler is in use. My accomodation is on the fore part of the boat deck, but there is no walk across the fore part which, leaving the foreward bulkhead unshaded also tends to warm the cabin. However, it seems to be fairly comfortable, with three large windows in the fore part; and one in the fore part of the bedroom and another in its side, as well as a door onto the deck from the bedroom and another into the alleyway in the after part of the day room. The bathroom is abaft the bedroom. The bedroom is on the starboard side of the day room. On the port side of the day room is a pilot's cabin which I have utilised to stow my tools, and where the boy irons my shirts ©n the port side of the house, corresponding to the bathroom is the radio Officers cabin. The radio office is on the bridge beside the chartroom.
The ship is fitted with radar, echo sounder and radio D/F. I have three European deck officers, five European engineer officers, an Indian Purser, European Radio Officer, Indian Steward, Chinese Carpenter, Indian Chief & 2nd Cook, and all the rest are Africans. Oh, I forgot to add that I have an Indian boy, as also has the Chief Engineer, but I expect these to be removed soon and replaced by Africans. All the other servants are African.
The WARLA's principal business is the carriage of commercial ex-plosives from Durban to Dar es Salaam and Mombasa. A total of 10,000 cases of gelignite can be carried in magazines constructed in the No. 1 tweendeck and on an orlop deck which has been constructed in No.l Lower hold.
Detonators are stowed In three small magazines built in the after end of the centrecastle.
The rest of the cargo, on the Northbound run is mostly "groceries" e.i. everything from cartons of ketchup to garden forks, with regular consignments of paper bags for the cement which is made at Bamburi, North of Mombasa, and also a regular shipment of 700 tons of coal for the same factory. Southbound the vessel calls at M’Twara to pick up timber for Durban, and from Mombasa her principal cargo is soda ash for both Loreo Marquee and Durban. The explosives are, of course, the wage-erners.
The ship is fitted with radar, echo sounder and radio D/F. I have three European deck officers, five European engineer officers, an Indian Purser, European Radio Officer, Indian Steward, Chinese Carpenter, Indian Chief & 2nd Cook, and all the rest are Africans. Oh, I forgot to add that I have an Indian boy, as also has the Chief Engineer, but I expect these to be removed soon and replaced by Africans. All the other servants are African.
The WARLA's principal business is the carriage of commercial ex-plosives from Durban to Dar es Salaam and Mombasa. A total of 10,000 cases of gelignite can be carried in magazines constructed in the No. 1 tweendeck and on an orlop deck which has been constructed in No.l Lower hold.
Detonators are stowed In three small magazines built in the after end of the centrecastle.
The rest of the cargo, on the Northbound run is mostly "groceries" e.i. everything from cartons of ketchup to garden forks, with regular consignments of paper bags for the cement which is made at Bamburi, North of Mombasa, and also a regular shipment of 700 tons of coal for the same factory. Southbound the vessel calls at M’Twara to pick up timber for Durban, and from Mombasa her principal cargo is soda ash for both Loreo Marquee and Durban. The explosives are, of course, the wage-erners.
Third Letter
HUNT THE THIMBLE
It is a fortunate thing that losing an anchor is not a misfortune which overtakes one very frequently; but when it does happen it is
. almost invariably the case that the anchor buoy is missing, having been cut off by the propeller of a passing launch, or the knife of the passing native fisherman, or the lanyard broken when the anchor was let go.
So it was when, a few months ago, my Chief Officer reported from the forecastle that the end of the cable had been weighed intact and the connecting shackle too, with the pin half in, half out of the lug, but that the anchor was not present.
Unfortunately, as soon as the "Anchor aweigh" bell had sounded the engines had been put ahead, and altho they were reversed as soon as the Chief Officer's report was heard the ship had already moved some distance away from her anchorage before she could be brought up and a buoy dropped.
This foregoing occurred in the Outer Roads at Dar as Salaam, the vessel having been anchored in about 8 fathoms of water.
It was not long before the news of my misfortune spread about the town of Dar as Salaam, and very shortly after my ship had been berthed two local residents, whom I soon came to know as Mike and Peter, came aboard and offered their services as divers to search for the missing anchor. These two young men were enthusiastic amateur Aqua-lung divers , and as soon as a suitable launch had been obtained — she was the ‘Maisie’,of the African Wharfage Company, arrangements were made for a search to commence as soon as the afternoon breeze dropped.
After tea on the first day we set off for the Outer Roads, full of enthusiasm and hopes. By use of transit bearings 1 was soon able to find the buoy which we had dropped, and the two divers went down. Their system of search was to attach a length of cod line to the sinker of our buoy and with one man just far enough from the sinker to keep it in sight, and the other man far enough out on the line to just keep his partner in sight, and to swim in a circle around the sinker. When one circle had been described the swimmers moved further out along the line and repeated the process.
At the end of 15 minutes Mike surfaced, his air nearly exhausted, and fifteen minutes later Peter also came aboard the launch. Nothing had been sighted, and the cod line had fouled only one object, which, on examination proved to be a lonely sea-anemone — the only piece of vegetable life that the divers had seen. Peter, who was the more experienced diver, said that he had never seen a less interesting bottom — just acres of almost level thin mud. Of course Aqua-lungers prefer to examine the rocky shelves where marine life abounds. A fourth member of our party was the actual owner of one of the lungs who had given up diving, but who was in a position to have the air bottles re-charged. He said that he could not have them charged the next day, but hoped that they would be ready for a dive on the Thursday morning. So we returned aboard and after a discussion and a drink the divers and the air-man went.
During the evening I discussed the matter with my officers. I was loth to use grapnels because the divers had said that, since there was no cable attached to the anchor to lead them to it, they were dependant on seeing the mark made by the cable in the sea bottom. But it was suggested that a sufficiently strong magnet, if towed across the anchor, might give a sufficiently firm contact to indicate the anchor's position. Accordingly three of us set off in the ship's motor boat at 7 a.m. on the morrow and headed for the "fishing ground”. By the time that we arrived there the offshore breeze had dropped; the sea surface was glassy, and there was no swell.
Conditions for our type of fishing were therefore very good. Setting off from our mark buoy we steamed to a position which I thought was near where the anchor must be, stopped the engine, and drifted with the tide in the direction that the ship probably had drifted after her way had been taken off her. One should add that that the anchor was believed to have dropped off the cable after coming aweigh, so that it would not be in the position indicated by the ship's anchor bearings. Two magnets were being dragged on the end of about 12 fathoms of marline. At the end of one unsuccessful sweep we steamed away up-tide again, and made another, this time over a slightly different track. Of course in this way one would be certain to get a reaction if either of the magnets touched the anchor, but even a 52 cwt anchor covers only a small area of sea bottom, and the chances of passing it bye are great. Also, owing to the necessarily slow speed of progression one cannot make many sweeps in the time available. In this case the rising of the morning breeze brought our sweeping to a close, and we returned aboard unsucessful, to a belated breakfast.
During the day (Wednesday) I had a chat with Mike, who said that he did not think that using a grapnel would do any harm as the mark made by the cable would be a pretty deep rut. I was quite surprised to learn that in an area such as the Outer Roads marks made in the sea bottom remain for quite a long time. I also had a chat with the pilot, and we mapped out again the possible likely areas of search.
So after tea I set off in MAISIE with my C/EO and four of my African seamen. We had boat grapnels, and these were weighted with a sounding machine sinker apiece. My C/EO came along to assist.
On arrival at the mark buoy I started sweeping slowly along in the direction of the ships head when the anchor was weighed, running up and down fairly well defined transits. But although we persevered until after sundown the grapnels never once gave a tug, or any other indication of unevenness of the bottom. However, their polished flukes showed that they had been in contact with the bottom, and not just towing a few feet above it.
Six o-clock on Thursday morning saw Mike, Pete and I set off, with 4 African seamen, in the MAISIE. Mike and Peter had come to the conclusion that by swimming around a given point they were wasting precious time and covering too little area at the expence of too much consumption of air. It must be remembered that the amount of air breathed by a diver is in strict relation to the energy he expends, and that of our two aqua-lungs only one had two air bottles, allowing for about 30 minutes below at normal rate of consumption. The other ‘lung’ would allow the wear-er to remain below water for about 15 minutes.
The scheme evolved by the divers was that they should be towed underwater by the rope which we had used in dragging operations the previous day. Each diver would attach a length of l½" line to the towline just above the sinker and would attempt to keen himself as far to one side of the centre line of tow as possible. At the end of nearly 20 minutes Mike surfaced, saying that he was out of air, and that he had seen no sign of either the anchor itself or of any mark made by the cable. He had, however, seen a pile of ‘tin hats’ which had evidently been dumped there by the Chief Officer of some ship since the war. The pile was quite considerable, and it had dug itself into the sand, but the ‘top-soil’ had not yet covered it. Peter came up at the end of about 30 minutes towing, having nothing to report. So we headed back for the beach, discussing progress, or lack of it, on the way. Both divers considered that they had efficiently searched the ground over which they had been towed, and also that the towing method of search was infinitely superior to the previous method. Not only had infinitely more ground been covered, but at considerably less air consumption; this, of course, meant that each diver could remain below for a few minutes longer. On the other hand it was considered that the effort expended in keeping the two swimmers apart was not justified by the small additional area brought into view. It would be better, they decided, to go down one at a time, in future, and to thus increase the total submersion time to about 45 or 50 minutes.
My sailing deadline was 1400 hours on Friday, and at 0600 on that morning we set out again, Peter having induced his friend to charge the air bottles overnight. Whilst Thursday mornings sea had been a little rough Fridays’ surface was glassy, so giving optimum conditions for submarine search.
Mike went down first. This time we were using his cod line as a signalling line. Only three signals were agreed, for the sake of simplicity; one jerk to mean pull up the towline; two jerks to mean to slack it away; and a succession of jerks to mean "Stop the boat". After Mike had reached the bottom and we had hove in a little on the tow line we started the boat. Mike kept signalling for more tow line, and then he surfaced, saying that his aparatus was leaking water, after fiddling with his mask he dived again, and we proceeded. It seemed that the driver was unable to keep the speed of the launch down to that maintained yesterday, and Mike surfaced several times saying that water was getting into his gear. Eventually he came out, having still some air left in his bottle, but quite sick with the water he had swallowed. I found that the ‘second hand’ was driving instead of the proper driver, who had appointed himself tow-rope tender in place of my senior rating, who was preparing a grapnel and buoy forward. So we had covered some ground, but not very efficiently.
Peter also suggested that a lighter towline and a heavier weight would be an improvement, so we streamed the coir bouy-line and added a chunk of scrap iron to the sinker. Peter went down, and with the proper driver at the engine we managed to maintain a very steady slow speed. For, except for occasional orders to shorten or lengthen to tow line to suit the depth of water, Peter gave no orders at all. After we had made one sweep to the Nor-east and a return to the mark buoy we had proceeded about 100 yards from the buoy on the second sweep when we recieved the ‘Stop’ signal. He checked the boat and Peter came up the line hand over hand. He reported that ha had seen the track made by an anchor cable; and after a brief breather he went down again to follow up the track. However, when he surfaced again we realised that he had gone the wrong way, and on returning to the boat he said that the track had petered out in a fan-shaped mark. Peter came inboard, and comparing the pressure gauges on the two aqualungs we found that his had still the more air. So Mike donned it and went down. A minute later he surfaced about 100 feet to the Southwest of the launch and waved us to come across. As we approached he gave the ‘Thumbs-up’ sign, and we knew that the anchor had been found. As soon as we had Mike alongside he confirmed that he had found the anchor and that the ring of the anchor was clear of the ground. So we gave him the end of a 2½ manilla, and he dived with it. About 90 seconds later Mike was back on the surface, spluttering and gasping for air. We grasped him and took the rope from him. When Mike had been lifted inboard and he had regained his breath he said that he had just managed to get the rope through the ring of the anchor when his air had run out. He surfaced as quickly as he could, but retained his grip on the rope. All that remained now was to reeve the end of the wire through the ring of the anchor and shackle it back to its own part. Peter donned Mike's original aqualung, and after we had hauled the eye of the wire down to the anchor he went down. But when he surfaced soon after he had to admit that the effort of it was with the last of his strength that he had managed to replace the shackle in the eye and take a few turns with the pin.. There could be no more diving that day.
We hauled up the wire, bringing the manllla messenger with it. The manilla was then spliced into the eye, care being taken to make a nicely tapering splice, and the shackle being removed from the eye of the wire, the eye was seized tightly. Then we hauled the wire down again. It passed easily through the ring of the anchor, and after we had shackled it back to the hauling part it was hauled down to the anchor again, the rope being paid out gently to ensure that no turns formed in the wire. Then we bouyed the rope and the end of the wire, and lowered them to the bottom. The sinker which we had had on the tow-line we also left down, with a buoy, ‘just in case’; and after we had taken careful transit bearings we started back to the ship. We felt relieved, and rather pleased with ourselves.
Arrangements were made with the Harbourmaster for the tug "NYATI" to attend us, and at noon my ship left harbour and anchored to windward of the anchor buoy. MAISIE had preceeded us and had picked up the buoy. When we dropped back on our cable we were a little to one side of the MAISIE, and NYATI gave us a gentle nudge across towards her. The buoyline was passed aboard and taken in through the forward warping chock, and hauled in by hand. When the end of the wire came on deck it was taken to the warping drum of the windlass and the anchor was hove under-foot.
The anchor had to be placed on the port side of the fore well deck. My No.1 derrick was a five ton one, but until the anchor was awash there was no way of shackling on the derrick purchase. So the wire was passed overside again and brought in through the lead at the after part of the well deck. Thence it was led to the roller lead on the break of the forecastle and to the windlass.
The wire Has a new 2½" one, but as the windlass very slowly lifted the anchor I could see that it was suffering from the stress. Some very anxious minutes passed before the ring of the anchor came awash. Then it was "Avast heaving and down into the MAISIE to reeve and shackle the wire sling on the derrick purchase.
A minute later the anchor was landed on deck. We were all very relieved to see it there. And the vessel proceeded on her voyage.
So it was when, a few months ago, my Chief Officer reported from the forecastle that the end of the cable had been weighed intact and the connecting shackle too, with the pin half in, half out of the lug, but that the anchor was not present.
Unfortunately, as soon as the "Anchor aweigh" bell had sounded the engines had been put ahead, and altho they were reversed as soon as the Chief Officer's report was heard the ship had already moved some distance away from her anchorage before she could be brought up and a buoy dropped.
This foregoing occurred in the Outer Roads at Dar as Salaam, the vessel having been anchored in about 8 fathoms of water.
It was not long before the news of my misfortune spread about the town of Dar as Salaam, and very shortly after my ship had been berthed two local residents, whom I soon came to know as Mike and Peter, came aboard and offered their services as divers to search for the missing anchor. These two young men were enthusiastic amateur Aqua-lung divers , and as soon as a suitable launch had been obtained — she was the ‘Maisie’,of the African Wharfage Company, arrangements were made for a search to commence as soon as the afternoon breeze dropped.
After tea on the first day we set off for the Outer Roads, full of enthusiasm and hopes. By use of transit bearings 1 was soon able to find the buoy which we had dropped, and the two divers went down. Their system of search was to attach a length of cod line to the sinker of our buoy and with one man just far enough from the sinker to keep it in sight, and the other man far enough out on the line to just keep his partner in sight, and to swim in a circle around the sinker. When one circle had been described the swimmers moved further out along the line and repeated the process.
At the end of 15 minutes Mike surfaced, his air nearly exhausted, and fifteen minutes later Peter also came aboard the launch. Nothing had been sighted, and the cod line had fouled only one object, which, on examination proved to be a lonely sea-anemone — the only piece of vegetable life that the divers had seen. Peter, who was the more experienced diver, said that he had never seen a less interesting bottom — just acres of almost level thin mud. Of course Aqua-lungers prefer to examine the rocky shelves where marine life abounds. A fourth member of our party was the actual owner of one of the lungs who had given up diving, but who was in a position to have the air bottles re-charged. He said that he could not have them charged the next day, but hoped that they would be ready for a dive on the Thursday morning. So we returned aboard and after a discussion and a drink the divers and the air-man went.
During the evening I discussed the matter with my officers. I was loth to use grapnels because the divers had said that, since there was no cable attached to the anchor to lead them to it, they were dependant on seeing the mark made by the cable in the sea bottom. But it was suggested that a sufficiently strong magnet, if towed across the anchor, might give a sufficiently firm contact to indicate the anchor's position. Accordingly three of us set off in the ship's motor boat at 7 a.m. on the morrow and headed for the "fishing ground”. By the time that we arrived there the offshore breeze had dropped; the sea surface was glassy, and there was no swell.
Conditions for our type of fishing were therefore very good. Setting off from our mark buoy we steamed to a position which I thought was near where the anchor must be, stopped the engine, and drifted with the tide in the direction that the ship probably had drifted after her way had been taken off her. One should add that that the anchor was believed to have dropped off the cable after coming aweigh, so that it would not be in the position indicated by the ship's anchor bearings. Two magnets were being dragged on the end of about 12 fathoms of marline. At the end of one unsuccessful sweep we steamed away up-tide again, and made another, this time over a slightly different track. Of course in this way one would be certain to get a reaction if either of the magnets touched the anchor, but even a 52 cwt anchor covers only a small area of sea bottom, and the chances of passing it bye are great. Also, owing to the necessarily slow speed of progression one cannot make many sweeps in the time available. In this case the rising of the morning breeze brought our sweeping to a close, and we returned aboard unsucessful, to a belated breakfast.
During the day (Wednesday) I had a chat with Mike, who said that he did not think that using a grapnel would do any harm as the mark made by the cable would be a pretty deep rut. I was quite surprised to learn that in an area such as the Outer Roads marks made in the sea bottom remain for quite a long time. I also had a chat with the pilot, and we mapped out again the possible likely areas of search.
So after tea I set off in MAISIE with my C/EO and four of my African seamen. We had boat grapnels, and these were weighted with a sounding machine sinker apiece. My C/EO came along to assist.
On arrival at the mark buoy I started sweeping slowly along in the direction of the ships head when the anchor was weighed, running up and down fairly well defined transits. But although we persevered until after sundown the grapnels never once gave a tug, or any other indication of unevenness of the bottom. However, their polished flukes showed that they had been in contact with the bottom, and not just towing a few feet above it.
Six o-clock on Thursday morning saw Mike, Pete and I set off, with 4 African seamen, in the MAISIE. Mike and Peter had come to the conclusion that by swimming around a given point they were wasting precious time and covering too little area at the expence of too much consumption of air. It must be remembered that the amount of air breathed by a diver is in strict relation to the energy he expends, and that of our two aqua-lungs only one had two air bottles, allowing for about 30 minutes below at normal rate of consumption. The other ‘lung’ would allow the wear-er to remain below water for about 15 minutes.
The scheme evolved by the divers was that they should be towed underwater by the rope which we had used in dragging operations the previous day. Each diver would attach a length of l½" line to the towline just above the sinker and would attempt to keen himself as far to one side of the centre line of tow as possible. At the end of nearly 20 minutes Mike surfaced, saying that he was out of air, and that he had seen no sign of either the anchor itself or of any mark made by the cable. He had, however, seen a pile of ‘tin hats’ which had evidently been dumped there by the Chief Officer of some ship since the war. The pile was quite considerable, and it had dug itself into the sand, but the ‘top-soil’ had not yet covered it. Peter came up at the end of about 30 minutes towing, having nothing to report. So we headed back for the beach, discussing progress, or lack of it, on the way. Both divers considered that they had efficiently searched the ground over which they had been towed, and also that the towing method of search was infinitely superior to the previous method. Not only had infinitely more ground been covered, but at considerably less air consumption; this, of course, meant that each diver could remain below for a few minutes longer. On the other hand it was considered that the effort expended in keeping the two swimmers apart was not justified by the small additional area brought into view. It would be better, they decided, to go down one at a time, in future, and to thus increase the total submersion time to about 45 or 50 minutes.
My sailing deadline was 1400 hours on Friday, and at 0600 on that morning we set out again, Peter having induced his friend to charge the air bottles overnight. Whilst Thursday mornings sea had been a little rough Fridays’ surface was glassy, so giving optimum conditions for submarine search.
Mike went down first. This time we were using his cod line as a signalling line. Only three signals were agreed, for the sake of simplicity; one jerk to mean pull up the towline; two jerks to mean to slack it away; and a succession of jerks to mean "Stop the boat". After Mike had reached the bottom and we had hove in a little on the tow line we started the boat. Mike kept signalling for more tow line, and then he surfaced, saying that his aparatus was leaking water, after fiddling with his mask he dived again, and we proceeded. It seemed that the driver was unable to keep the speed of the launch down to that maintained yesterday, and Mike surfaced several times saying that water was getting into his gear. Eventually he came out, having still some air left in his bottle, but quite sick with the water he had swallowed. I found that the ‘second hand’ was driving instead of the proper driver, who had appointed himself tow-rope tender in place of my senior rating, who was preparing a grapnel and buoy forward. So we had covered some ground, but not very efficiently.
Peter also suggested that a lighter towline and a heavier weight would be an improvement, so we streamed the coir bouy-line and added a chunk of scrap iron to the sinker. Peter went down, and with the proper driver at the engine we managed to maintain a very steady slow speed. For, except for occasional orders to shorten or lengthen to tow line to suit the depth of water, Peter gave no orders at all. After we had made one sweep to the Nor-east and a return to the mark buoy we had proceeded about 100 yards from the buoy on the second sweep when we recieved the ‘Stop’ signal. He checked the boat and Peter came up the line hand over hand. He reported that ha had seen the track made by an anchor cable; and after a brief breather he went down again to follow up the track. However, when he surfaced again we realised that he had gone the wrong way, and on returning to the boat he said that the track had petered out in a fan-shaped mark. Peter came inboard, and comparing the pressure gauges on the two aqualungs we found that his had still the more air. So Mike donned it and went down. A minute later he surfaced about 100 feet to the Southwest of the launch and waved us to come across. As we approached he gave the ‘Thumbs-up’ sign, and we knew that the anchor had been found. As soon as we had Mike alongside he confirmed that he had found the anchor and that the ring of the anchor was clear of the ground. So we gave him the end of a 2½ manilla, and he dived with it. About 90 seconds later Mike was back on the surface, spluttering and gasping for air. We grasped him and took the rope from him. When Mike had been lifted inboard and he had regained his breath he said that he had just managed to get the rope through the ring of the anchor when his air had run out. He surfaced as quickly as he could, but retained his grip on the rope. All that remained now was to reeve the end of the wire through the ring of the anchor and shackle it back to its own part. Peter donned Mike's original aqualung, and after we had hauled the eye of the wire down to the anchor he went down. But when he surfaced soon after he had to admit that the effort of it was with the last of his strength that he had managed to replace the shackle in the eye and take a few turns with the pin.. There could be no more diving that day.
We hauled up the wire, bringing the manllla messenger with it. The manilla was then spliced into the eye, care being taken to make a nicely tapering splice, and the shackle being removed from the eye of the wire, the eye was seized tightly. Then we hauled the wire down again. It passed easily through the ring of the anchor, and after we had shackled it back to the hauling part it was hauled down to the anchor again, the rope being paid out gently to ensure that no turns formed in the wire. Then we bouyed the rope and the end of the wire, and lowered them to the bottom. The sinker which we had had on the tow-line we also left down, with a buoy, ‘just in case’; and after we had taken careful transit bearings we started back to the ship. We felt relieved, and rather pleased with ourselves.
Arrangements were made with the Harbourmaster for the tug "NYATI" to attend us, and at noon my ship left harbour and anchored to windward of the anchor buoy. MAISIE had preceeded us and had picked up the buoy. When we dropped back on our cable we were a little to one side of the MAISIE, and NYATI gave us a gentle nudge across towards her. The buoyline was passed aboard and taken in through the forward warping chock, and hauled in by hand. When the end of the wire came on deck it was taken to the warping drum of the windlass and the anchor was hove under-foot.
The anchor had to be placed on the port side of the fore well deck. My No.1 derrick was a five ton one, but until the anchor was awash there was no way of shackling on the derrick purchase. So the wire was passed overside again and brought in through the lead at the after part of the well deck. Thence it was led to the roller lead on the break of the forecastle and to the windlass.
The wire Has a new 2½" one, but as the windlass very slowly lifted the anchor I could see that it was suffering from the stress. Some very anxious minutes passed before the ring of the anchor came awash. Then it was "Avast heaving and down into the MAISIE to reeve and shackle the wire sling on the derrick purchase.
A minute later the anchor was landed on deck. We were all very relieved to see it there. And the vessel proceeded on her voyage.