| British India Steam Navigation Company Ltd. |
Richard Douglas Crow
I joined the B.I. as a cadet in the cadetship AUSTRALIA, anchored in Falmouth harbour, on my seventeenth birthday, 12th. September 1932 and distinguished myself the very next day by being seasick.
1942 obtained my Master's certificate in London and married Ivy Bryant for fifty-three years of happy marriage.
Served the Company in all ranks up to, briefly, Chief Officer and then, on 25th. June 1948 left to join the Tanganyika Railways and Port Services (shortly to become the East African Railways and Harbours) in Dar-es-Salaam as Marine Officer and Pilot.
I should like to take this opportunity to apologise to all my friends and shipmates in both the Deck and Engine room whose names I have forgotten. Like the 3/EO in, was it Nirvana, who one Christmas voyage made a very fine Athol Brose which he strained through a pair of his wife's silk stockings and the 3/O of Empire Tugela who I yarned with every midnight at sea when taking over the watch during a long and memorable nine months voyage?
Since retirement I have taken up painting, ships and maritime views in general with some occasional local landscapes , mostly in Acrylics, for my own nostalgic amusement.
They say that ones memory extends backward with increasing age, I can now remember five of the six first trip cadets who joined the Australia with me in 1932, Bill Oliver, Toby Blackett and John Willy Cook of the starboard watch and Pip Harris, Everett and Dick Crow of the port watch.
If I last another five years or so I may remember the sixth!
BI cadet ship Australia, Southern Ocean 1932, an original oil painting by Richard D Crow
Fortunately for me my Father made the acquaintence of a Captain Holman, a retired BI Shipmaster.
Capt. Holman, a bachelor, was a stocky red faced man with a shock of white hair. He appeared to live in some awe of his dragon of a Housekeeper but otherwise had no hesitation in expressing his views on any subject in a voice that would undoubtedly have been eminently suitable for hailing the crow's nest lookout in a gale of wind.
" If the boy wants to go to sea send him to the B I , he couldn't do better"
Consequently my Parents paid Fifty guineas for a four year Indenture for me to be a Cadet with the British India Steam Navigation Co. The B I undertook to reimburse me at the rate of £1 per month for the first year, 30/- a month for the second, £2 for the third and £3 a month for the fourth year. I, for my part undertook, amongst other things, to be diligent in my duties and not frequent Taverns or Alehouses.
On my 17th birthday, 12th September 1932 I, together with six other first voyage cadets, joined the Company's Cadetship AUSTRALIA (Captain W. Scutt) lying at anchor in the Carrick Roads, Falmouth. I distinguished myself by being sea sick the next day.
AUSTRALIA
Ian J. Farquhar Collection.
Built by Flensburger S.G; Flensburg.
Tonnage: 7,351grt, 4,724nrt, 12,600dwt.
Engine: Single screw, Quadruple expansion by builder, 836 NHP, 12Kts @ 64 tons coal per day.
Launched 17th October 1912, completed 3rd December 1912, Yard No 326.
The AUSTRALIA was a German built flush decked single screw coal burning steamship of 7500 tons gross and had been captured at Colombo in the early days of the First World War.
She was laid up at Falmouth after a voyage from Australia with a full cargo of grain in bulk and we seemed to spend every daylight hour for the first few weeks down below cleaning out rotten and stinking grain from the holds and bilges.
Of course we had shore leave from time to time, we first trippers had to wear uniform but the senior hands were allowed civvies of BI blazer and grey flannels. I remember that there was a café in Falmouth called "The Boys Own." With hindsight I wonder if the name had more implications than we, in our youthful ignorance, then thought? However it was reputed to serve the cheapest beans on toast in Town which was a big draw for first trippers on £1 per month.
Sailors are reputed to have a girl in every port, my first, in Falmouth, was called Una and I vaguely remember walking hand in hand with her to the Swan Pool, a lake in a local park. That was about it really, I've always been shy and rather slow with girls and I'm perfectly sure I never kissed her, not even a chaste peck on the cheek to say good bye! I probably thought I was being very daring even talking to a strange girl!
After about a month we sailed and, rounding Lands End in a full gale (where all the other first voyagers were sea sick), we bunkered and loaded some tin plate and general cargo in the South Wales ports before completing loading at Liverpool.
A party of us went to a Music Hall show in, I think, The Swansea Empire. We found ourselves occupying the front row of the stalls and, as we were in uniform, soon engaged the ad libbing attention of the show's resident comedian. I cannot remember any of the jokes he made about us, all highly ribald no doubt, but later, during the performance, found ourselves up on the stage dancing the Polka with the chorus girls. I remember my disillusionment when I realised that the chorus "girl" I was dancing with was probably older than my Mother.
1932 was a year of recession; we only had a part cargo so, to avoid Suez Canal dues we sailed for Australia via the Cape at an economical speed.
Thus it was that after departing Liverpool on a dark and stormy night we did not sight land again (we first voyagers began to think that the 'Old Man' had lost it) until we arrived at Freemantle 42 days later.
We carried an Extra 2nd Officer as Cadet Instructor and being equipped with wireless telegraphy equipment (Morse code) a Radio Officer and also a Doctor but we had no refrigeration so that after some ten days when the fresh food in the large ice box was finished, we lived on hard tack, I suppose tinned foods in general, and were issued each forenoon with a tot of lime juice in accordance with Board of Trade Regulations for the prevention of scurvy.
At sea we were allowed to buy from the ship's slop chest one tin of 50 Players cigarettes per week for 1/6d or a ¼ lb tin of Capstan Navy Cut tobacco and some Rizla cigarette papers for an equivalent price. We usually took the tobacco as if we made thin cigarettes we could stretch it to more than 50, although by the end of the week they were often very thin indeed.
The cadet's accommodation in the AUSTRALIA was right aft in the 'tween deck of the after hold. It consisted of two large 18 berth dormitory cabins, one on each side with a dining saloon between them. Forward of the starboard cabin was a 3 berth cabin for the Petty Officers and on the port side a similar cabin that was used as a Pantry for serving the food. The toilets and ablutions were housed in a deck house on deck immediately above.
The 39 cadets were divided into two watches, Port and Starboard in their respective cabins, each watch had its own Cadet Petty Office and there was a Cadet Chief Petty Officer. It was the custom at sea during the long haul to and from Australia for the two watches to alternate week and week about as deck watch and study watch. Both watches turned to before breakfast to wash down the decks, after breakfast one watch stayed below studying with the Cadet Instructor Officer while the other would carry out all the normal ship board duties, day work, provide Quartermasters, Bridge watches and lookouts in the Crows Nest at night.
On Sundays at sea, both watches were mustered on deck in full uniform for Sunday Divisions and were inspected by the Captain escorted by the Chief Officer, the Cadet Instructor Officer and the Doctor. After this inspection the Captain would go below to inspect the accommodation escorted by the Petty Officers. For this he wore white gloves and woe betide us if his finger tips picked up any dust or dirt on beams or other nooks and crannies. These inspections were followed by a short Divine Service from which the Catholics were excused.
Senior cadets were allowed to use the first trippers or 'Rooks' as they were called to do a variety of jobs for them, often menial. It might be to make up the senior hand's bunk for him each morning or if a senior called 'ROOK' all the rooks in the vicinity had to rush to him. It was wise to be quick on the response to such a call as the last to arrive invariably was given the task, possibly to dhobi his dirty socks and smalls.
There was also some ragging of rooks, usually fairly lighthearted and good natured, generally taking place in the evenings to alleviate the monotony during the long hauls at sea to and from Australia. To take a personal example, two senior hands argued as to the number of pieces in a toilet roll, one said 250 and the other 300. I, as the last to respond to their call of Rook, was given the task of going up to the ablutions to actually count a roll. I knew that I was on a hiding to nothing, if my count favoured the 250 man then the 300 man would give me a beating and vice versa, so I decided to box clever and after a suitable interval returned to say that there were 275 pieces to a roll. This plan back fired as both of them then punished me. A very usual punishment for real or imagined misdemeanors, committed or omitted by a rook was to be given several dunts (I think from memory that was the term used) which were glancing blows to the scalp delivered by the knuckles of a clenched fist and believe me a dunt, administered by a practiced hand, could be quite surprisingly painful.
Neptune's Barber, Frank Downer. Policeman Dick Crow
Outward bound King Neptune and his court would board at the Equator and the usual 'crossing the line' ceremonies were observed. The Rooks (first voyage cadets) were the prime targets of Neptune's Officials but any other newcomers such as 5th Engineer Officers or the young Doctor would also be roped in. All the victims would be given a good going over, in my case my hair was given a two inch wide parting from the front to the back of my head by Neptune's barber which did not improve my appearance but was a useful talking point when chatting up the Australian girls.
Another traditional outward bound event was the Rooks concert usually held during the third week of the voyage. The Rooks had to put on a concert which would be attended by all hands including the Captain and Officers. This ordeal had been hanging over our heads since departure from Liverpool because, apart from any sketch or other team effort, each Rook had to stand up and perform a solo turn. In my case, being a Yorkshireman with a northern accent, I gave them Stanley Holloway's monologue 'Albert and the Lion'. Fortunately for me it went down quite well chiefly, I think, because it ended with 'bloody lions' and it was thought quite daring to swear in front of the Captain. This concert was usually followed by a Ships concert at which the more talented performers often including one of the ship's Officers would do their stuff. You must remember that in those days, there were no private wireless sets or radios and we had to make our own entertainment.
A healthy inter watch rivalry was encouraged in work as well as in play. For example, cleaning ship after coaling, a tedious task, could be enlivened by each watch taking an alleyway or section and then 'job and finish' beat the other watch for first use of the ablutions. We held inter watch boxing contests, and around the Australian coast inter watch cricket and football matches. A regular event was the inter watch boat race using ship's lifeboats which, believe me, are heavy to shift at any speed by six oarsmen.
With 39 young men aged between 17 and 21, we could field teams for whichever sport was in season and we had contacts in most of the Australian ports. The University of Perth when in Freemantle, the English Speaking Union in Melbourne, cricket at the Rushcutters Oval in Sydney and in Brisbane the St. Andrews Ladies Hockey Club. If you haven't played hockey against a Ladies team you haven't lived life dangerously to the full. One voyage they had the Toowoomba Ladies Hockey Club from up country visiting and so we played both teams and then ended a memorable day with a Fancy Dress dance.
1933, Left to Right. Cadets Bunn, Crow, Taylor,
Hain/Walton, Haynes, Joss.
In Melbourne in 1932/3 we met out sister Cadetship NARDANA (Captain O'Reilly) and, amongst other diversions, took them on at cricket. 1932/3 was the year of the 'Body Line' tests between England and Australia and feelings were running high. I recall that I was barracked by some Australian spectators when one or two of my slow to medium left arm inswingers got up and hit the batsmen around the rib cage.
The AUSTRALIA's next, and last voyage as a Cadetship, was to Calcutta and on our return to the U.K. we were transferred to the NERBUDDA at Falmouth. The NERBUDDA, Captain John Blencowe, was a twin screw coal burning steamer of some 7900 tons gross. We had only one, but quite eventful, voyage in her to Australia.
NERBUDDA
Ian J. Farquhar Collection.
Built in 1919 by Barclay Curle & Co., Glasgow.
Tonnage: 7,911grt, 4,928nrt, 11,250dwt.
Engines: Twin Screw, Triple expansion by builder, 5,500 IHP, 12.5 Kts.
Launched 15th February 1919, completed 11th April 1919, Yard No 563.
Nerbudda was a division of the former United Provinces and a river that flowed into the Gulf of Cambay.
C/O Parker on an isle off Queensland coast.
Outward bound our port engine broke down off the West coast of Africa and we had to put in to the French port of Dakar for repairs. Captain Blencowe, who I believe held a square rigged masters certificate, was a fine seaman and shipmaster and it was commonly thought by the cadets that he negotiated a contract with the repair firm that allowed them a bonus if they completed the repair within two days, but that any time over would incur a penalty. The repairs eventually took about five days and it was popularly thought that the repairers paid us to do the job.
Captain Blencowe also took great interest in the Cadets training and had us sewing canvas, wire splicing etc. Amongst other things, I recall that in the trade winds he had the masts stepped in all the lifeboats and the sails set and reckoned he gained half a knot by so doing. Limping in to Dakar on one engine he had us rig tarpaulins as head sails on the foremast to improve the steering.
To my mind an outstanding example of practical training was, while we were at anchor at Dakar, when he ordered, at short notice and without warning, the cadets to abandon ship. Leaving only a skeleton crew onboard all the boats were sent away and told not to come back until the afternoon. The most realistic emergency drill I've ever had and one that may have been of benefit to those of my shipmates who had the misfortune to have to abandon ship for real in the forthcoming war! One of the lifeboats sailed close hauled to the far horizon, went about and then sailed back close hauled on the other tack and just cleared the bow of the ship! An indication to us all that ships lifeboats did not sail to windward very well.
Group of Cadets containing Delaney and Joss, picnic off Great Barrier reef.
We had the misfortune to run aground off Adelaide in poor visibility.
I recall that we were having breakfast in the messroom when word came down from the Bridge for a cadet to man the chains i.e. take soundings with the hand lead. Very shortly afterwards we came to a stop and found ourselves hard and fast aground. Later that morning a lifeboat was sent away in charge of the 2/0 to take soundings around the ship and in the vicinity. The next day we were refloated with the assistance of a tug. Fortunately the bottom was sandy and no damage had been occasioned to the ship.
The expression "man the chains" in the preceding paragraph originates from the days of sail when the "Leadsman" would stand on the "Chains or Chainplates" which projected from the upper deck of sailing ships and to which the mast shrouds were made fast. In the steamship era the "chains" was a portable grating or platform which was fixed to project some two to three feet outboard of the bulwark, usually on the starboard side just forward of the Bridge structure, on which the Leadsman stood, wearing a canvas safety harness and apron, to cast the lead. The lead itself was a seven or eight pound piece of lead attached to a light line which was graduated in fathoms by "marks" and "deeps." The marks were of distinctive materials such as leather or coloured cloth (e.g., the 3 fathom mark was 3 tails of leather, the 5 fathom a piece of white linen, the 7 fathom a piece of red bunting, the 10 fathom mark a piece of leather with a hole in it) so that they could be distinguished by feel in the dark. The lead was cast by swinging it round vertically over the head two or three times to gain momentum and then hurling or casting it well forward so that by the time the lead hit the bottom it would be, with the forward movement of the ship, more or less vertically beneath the leadsman who, seeing which mark was nearest the sea level, would call out the appropriate sounding e.g. "By the mark 5", "deep 6" or "and a half 6 "as the case might be. Nowadays, of course, the hand lead is archaic and has been superseded by the echo sounder and suchlike electronic devices except, perhaps, in sail training ships.
Having discharged our outward cargo at all the usual ports round the Australian coast we had a few days to wait for a loading berth or some such reason. The Captain anchored the ship off the Queensland coast inside the Great Barrier Reef. The names "Whitsunday passage" and "Thursday Island" ring a slight bell for me but I cannot now remember whether they apply to this locality or this occasion
Whatever, one afternoon we were fishing over the side and hooked a sizable shark, it was thrashing about and we were having difficulty hauling it aboard when the 2/0, who had a .22 sporting rifle said "Hang on, I'll get my gun". Taking careful aim he only succeeded in severing the fishing line which allowed the shark to swim away free.
On another day a number of the ship's company, including the C/O (A.A.?) Parker and the 2/0 with his gun, landed on a nearby island for a picnic. Looking for something to shoot the 2/0 took aim at something in the top of a palm tree, but only succeeded in bringing down a coconut which nearly brained the C/O.
We could never decide whether he was a very poor shot or a very good shot seeking promotion!
DEVON
J. Clarkson from Tom Rayner Collection.
Built in 1915 by Ateliers & Chantiers de France, Dunkirk.
Tonnage: 9,025grt, 5,490nrt, 11,307dwt.
Engines: Twin screw, 2 x Triple expansion by builder, 5,000 IHP, 12 Kts.
Passengers: Temporary Accommodation for 300 Emigrants.
Refrigerated Space: 394,000cu ft.
Launched December 1914, Towed and completed in England due to the advance of the Germans through Northern France and Belgium, March 1915.
On arrival in the U.K. the cadets were again transferred, this time to the DEVON, ex Federal Steam. Of some 9000 tons gross, the DEVON had some refrigerated holds for the carriage of frozen cargoes, not usual in the B.I. at that time, so we all, from the Chief Officer downwards, had to learn some new tricks. A far cry from the old AUSTRALIA and her ice box!
I only managed half a voyage in the DEVON, being hospitalised in Newcastle N.S.W. with enteric (typhoid) fever, caught, it was thought, from drinking water from a standpipe at a Townsville cricket ground.
When admitted to Newcastle Hospital I was very ill and was quite delirious for the first couple of weeks. Later, when I was recovering nurse Beryl, who I had fallen for, told me that one morning during Matron's round of the ward, I caused much shock and amusement by demanding that she give me back my clothes so that I could go home, claiming that I was a fruit farmer from Victoria and had come to visit my brother when I was put into bed in mistake for him.
Being delirious at the time I remembered none of that but I do remember some weeks later two giggling young probationer nurses giving me an intimate bed bath and my acute embarrassment when he who resides below the belt stirred and showed signs of life, "Oh good exclaimed one of the nurses, I see you are getting better!"
Newcastle Hospital was ideally situated just behind one of the bathing beaches, when I was convalescing I and other convalescent patients were allowed to go up on to the roof from where we had an excellent view of the annual Lifeguards and Surf Boats regatta.
I should like to add that the B I were punctilious in keeping my parents informed of my progess in hospital
After some three months in hospital I was repatriated as a D.B.S. in the P & O branch line steamer BENDIGO and then completed by cadetship in the Home Line passenger ship MANTOLA on the U.K. to East Africa run.
MANTOLA
P&O Collection.
Built in 1921 by Barclay Curle & Co., Glasgow.
Tonnage: 8,963grt, 5,453nrt, 11,080dwt.
Engines: Twin screw, 2 x 3 Stage Brown Curtis Turbines by builder, 4,320 BHP, 13.3 Kts @ trials.
Passengers From 1933 168 One Class.
Launched 15th October 1921, completed 14th December 1921, Yard No 586.
Mantola is a village in Rewa State, Central India.
My first trip on the Mantola, after my long illness was specified to be, by 122, Leadenhall St., one of "light duties". These proved to be as an assistant to Mr. Dinsdale, the Purser.
My stint in the Purser's Office opened my eyes to aspects of the sea-faring life undreamt of by cadetship cadets, taught me to type with one finger, a skill I still retain as these notes shew, gave me, quite legitimately, opportunities to fratenise with young lady passengers and an insight into the political protocol necessary in the smooth running of a passenger ship.
As a result of working in the Pursers Office in Mantola I can confirm that the expression POSH is derived from PORT OUT STARBOARD HOME. In the good old days (sic) of the pre-war, pre-airconditioned "M" class ships the port side cabins outward bound and the starboard side ones homeward bound were the coolest in the heat of the Red Sea and so the most desireable.
Passengers in those favoured cabins were thought to have that little bit of extra pull or influence with the Companys' booking offices, and some of them thought so too. I never actually saw a ticket stamped with POSH , although it was said that it did happen sometimes, but if not in fact it was there in spirit .
Even when, on subsequent voyages, I reverted to normal cadets duties, these were very easy by comparison with life on a cadetship.
Cadets, left to right. Bennet, Crow, Sachs.
Go to Richard Crow's B.I. Career continues .....
Hain/Walton, Haynes, Joss.
The AUSTRALIA's next, and last voyage as a Cadetship, was to Calcutta and on our return to the U.K. we were transferred to the NERBUDDA at Falmouth. The NERBUDDA, Captain John Blencowe, was a twin screw coal burning steamer of some 7900 tons gross. We had only one, but quite eventful, voyage in her to Australia.
NERBUDDA
Ian J. Farquhar Collection.
Built in 1919 by Barclay Curle & Co., Glasgow.
Tonnage: 7,911grt, 4,928nrt, 11,250dwt.
Engines: Twin Screw, Triple expansion by builder, 5,500 IHP, 12.5 Kts.
Launched 15th February 1919, completed 11th April 1919, Yard No 563.
Nerbudda was a division of the former United Provinces and a river that flowed into the Gulf of Cambay.
C/O Parker on an isle off Queensland coast.
Outward bound our port engine broke down off the West coast of Africa and we had to put in to the French port of Dakar for repairs. Captain Blencowe, who I believe held a square rigged masters certificate, was a fine seaman and shipmaster and it was commonly thought by the cadets that he negotiated a contract with the repair firm that allowed them a bonus if they completed the repair within two days, but that any time over would incur a penalty. The repairs eventually took about five days and it was popularly thought that the repairers paid us to do the job.
Captain Blencowe also took great interest in the Cadets training and had us sewing canvas, wire splicing etc. Amongst other things, I recall that in the trade winds he had the masts stepped in all the lifeboats and the sails set and reckoned he gained half a knot by so doing. Limping in to Dakar on one engine he had us rig tarpaulins as head sails on the foremast to improve the steering.
To my mind an outstanding example of practical training was, while we were at anchor at Dakar, when he ordered, at short notice and without warning, the cadets to abandon ship. Leaving only a skeleton crew onboard all the boats were sent away and told not to come back until the afternoon. The most realistic emergency drill I've ever had and one that may have been of benefit to those of my shipmates who had the misfortune to have to abandon ship for real in the forthcoming war! One of the lifeboats sailed close hauled to the far horizon, went about and then sailed back close hauled on the other tack and just cleared the bow of the ship! An indication to us all that ships lifeboats did not sail to windward very well.
Group of Cadets containing Delaney and Joss, picnic off Great Barrier reef.
We had the misfortune to run aground off Adelaide in poor visibility.
I recall that we were having breakfast in the messroom when word came down from the Bridge for a cadet to man the chains i.e. take soundings with the hand lead. Very shortly afterwards we came to a stop and found ourselves hard and fast aground. Later that morning a lifeboat was sent away in charge of the 2/0 to take soundings around the ship and in the vicinity. The next day we were refloated with the assistance of a tug. Fortunately the bottom was sandy and no damage had been occasioned to the ship.
The expression "man the chains" in the preceding paragraph originates from the days of sail when the "Leadsman" would stand on the "Chains or Chainplates" which projected from the upper deck of sailing ships and to which the mast shrouds were made fast. In the steamship era the "chains" was a portable grating or platform which was fixed to project some two to three feet outboard of the bulwark, usually on the starboard side just forward of the Bridge structure, on which the Leadsman stood, wearing a canvas safety harness and apron, to cast the lead. The lead itself was a seven or eight pound piece of lead attached to a light line which was graduated in fathoms by "marks" and "deeps." The marks were of distinctive materials such as leather or coloured cloth (e.g., the 3 fathom mark was 3 tails of leather, the 5 fathom a piece of white linen, the 7 fathom a piece of red bunting, the 10 fathom mark a piece of leather with a hole in it) so that they could be distinguished by feel in the dark. The lead was cast by swinging it round vertically over the head two or three times to gain momentum and then hurling or casting it well forward so that by the time the lead hit the bottom it would be, with the forward movement of the ship, more or less vertically beneath the leadsman who, seeing which mark was nearest the sea level, would call out the appropriate sounding e.g. "By the mark 5", "deep 6" or "and a half 6 "as the case might be. Nowadays, of course, the hand lead is archaic and has been superseded by the echo sounder and suchlike electronic devices except, perhaps, in sail training ships.
Having discharged our outward cargo at all the usual ports round the Australian coast we had a few days to wait for a loading berth or some such reason. The Captain anchored the ship off the Queensland coast inside the Great Barrier Reef. The names "Whitsunday passage" and "Thursday Island" ring a slight bell for me but I cannot now remember whether they apply to this locality or this occasion
Whatever, one afternoon we were fishing over the side and hooked a sizable shark, it was thrashing about and we were having difficulty hauling it aboard when the 2/0, who had a .22 sporting rifle said "Hang on, I'll get my gun". Taking careful aim he only succeeded in severing the fishing line which allowed the shark to swim away free.
On another day a number of the ship's company, including the C/O (A.A.?) Parker and the 2/0 with his gun, landed on a nearby island for a picnic. Looking for something to shoot the 2/0 took aim at something in the top of a palm tree, but only succeeded in bringing down a coconut which nearly brained the C/O.
We could never decide whether he was a very poor shot or a very good shot seeking promotion!
DEVON
J. Clarkson from Tom Rayner Collection.
Built in 1915 by Ateliers & Chantiers de France, Dunkirk.
Tonnage: 9,025grt, 5,490nrt, 11,307dwt.
Engines: Twin screw, 2 x Triple expansion by builder, 5,000 IHP, 12 Kts.
Passengers: Temporary Accommodation for 300 Emigrants.
Refrigerated Space: 394,000cu ft.
Launched December 1914, Towed and completed in England due to the advance of the Germans through Northern France and Belgium, March 1915.
On arrival in the U.K. the cadets were again transferred, this time to the DEVON, ex Federal Steam. Of some 9000 tons gross, the DEVON had some refrigerated holds for the carriage of frozen cargoes, not usual in the B.I. at that time, so we all, from the Chief Officer downwards, had to learn some new tricks. A far cry from the old AUSTRALIA and her ice box!
I only managed half a voyage in the DEVON, being hospitalised in Newcastle N.S.W. with enteric (typhoid) fever, caught, it was thought, from drinking water from a standpipe at a Townsville cricket ground.
When admitted to Newcastle Hospital I was very ill and was quite delirious for the first couple of weeks. Later, when I was recovering nurse Beryl, who I had fallen for, told me that one morning during Matron's round of the ward, I caused much shock and amusement by demanding that she give me back my clothes so that I could go home, claiming that I was a fruit farmer from Victoria and had come to visit my brother when I was put into bed in mistake for him.
Being delirious at the time I remembered none of that but I do remember some weeks later two giggling young probationer nurses giving me an intimate bed bath and my acute embarrassment when he who resides below the belt stirred and showed signs of life, "Oh good exclaimed one of the nurses, I see you are getting better!"
Newcastle Hospital was ideally situated just behind one of the bathing beaches, when I was convalescing I and other convalescent patients were allowed to go up on to the roof from where we had an excellent view of the annual Lifeguards and Surf Boats regatta.
I should like to add that the B I were punctilious in keeping my parents informed of my progess in hospital
After some three months in hospital I was repatriated as a D.B.S. in the P & O branch line steamer BENDIGO and then completed by cadetship in the Home Line passenger ship MANTOLA on the U.K. to East Africa run.
MANTOLA
P&O Collection.
Built in 1921 by Barclay Curle & Co., Glasgow.
Tonnage: 8,963grt, 5,453nrt, 11,080dwt.
Engines: Twin screw, 2 x 3 Stage Brown Curtis Turbines by builder, 4,320 BHP, 13.3 Kts @ trials.
Passengers From 1933 168 One Class.
Launched 15th October 1921, completed 14th December 1921, Yard No 586.
Mantola is a village in Rewa State, Central India.
My first trip on the Mantola, after my long illness was specified to be, by 122, Leadenhall St., one of "light duties". These proved to be as an assistant to Mr. Dinsdale, the Purser.
My stint in the Purser's Office opened my eyes to aspects of the sea-faring life undreamt of by cadetship cadets, taught me to type with one finger, a skill I still retain as these notes shew, gave me, quite legitimately, opportunities to fratenise with young lady passengers and an insight into the political protocol necessary in the smooth running of a passenger ship.
As a result of working in the Pursers Office in Mantola I can confirm that the expression POSH is derived from PORT OUT STARBOARD HOME. In the good old days (sic) of the pre-war, pre-airconditioned "M" class ships the port side cabins outward bound and the starboard side ones homeward bound were the coolest in the heat of the Red Sea and so the most desireable.
Passengers in those favoured cabins were thought to have that little bit of extra pull or influence with the Companys' booking offices, and some of them thought so too. I never actually saw a ticket stamped with POSH , although it was said that it did happen sometimes, but if not in fact it was there in spirit .
Even when, on subsequent voyages, I reverted to normal cadets duties, these were very easy by comparison with life on a cadetship.
Cadets, left to right. Bennet, Crow, Sachs.
Go to Richard Crow's B.I. Career continues .....