A snapshot of life of a Young British Seaman
At the age of eleven or twelve, I started to read stories and listen to family and friends about the sea and what sailors did. Most of the tales came from my brother-in-law John Gaetto who spent years sailing many oceans and seeing different places around the world.
I left school at fifteen years of age, (early 1952) I had all my hopes set on a career at sea. When I was almost sixteen, I went to the shipping federation to gather what information I could, two weeks later they sent for me! In May 1953 I went down once more to the Shipping Federation to pay twelve shillings and six pence, (150 pennies) for the medical examination for the National Sea Training School at Sharpness. I passed the medical with flying colours. In July of that year I received my papers to travel to National Sea Training School in those days young men joining up had to pay Five Pounds for the uniform. The camp was set out the same as an army barracks, quite big with many huts. As you'd expect they were all very clean and tidy.
At the side of the river was an old ship called the Vindicatrix. She had been built on the Clyde in 1893 as the Arranmore. In 1903 she was wrecked at Algoa Bay where she laid for five months then towed 6.800 miles to the Clyde. 1910 she was sold to Germany, renamed "Waltraute" 1913 her masts were taken down and she then became Hamburg Seamen's Mission's rest ship, for German Naval Auxiliary U-boat crews. In 1920 she was surrendered to the British, and in 1923 the Shipping Federation bought her and renamed her the Vindicatrix. In 1926 she became Gravesend Sea School, and was eventually towed from the Thames to Sharpness.
Thousands of Young boys/men learned the art of seaman-ship aboard her.
Whilst at the Vindi, (as we called her) I was on an eight week Catering Course I was very pleased when I received my proficiency Certificate.
It was soon time to go home and see the family for a short break. But it was sooner than expected when I had to join my first ship, the SS Rembrandt, which belonged to the Bolton Steam Packet Company. She was bound for La Colette in Tunis North Africa, when I told my mother where I was going she went up the wall. I think she thought I would be off to Blackpool! She said "You can't go to Africa at sixteen", still, that's Mothers', always worrying.
I joined the S.S REMBRANDT, at Irwell Park on the Manchester Ship Canal, I was well and truly excited about going to sea for the first time, that is until I actually went on board, it was sheer hell, with thousands and thousands of Cockroaches, and I mean thousands not hundreds, they were all over the place, most of them dead, but still horrible things. After a big clean-up we set sail. I have to admit that, with having passed a course in Catering, I didn't expect to sail out as a galley boy, peeling all the potatoes, cleaning all the pots and pans, collecting what was required from the stores and also the fridges, it was hard work, very hard. The Chief Cook was a lad from Cape Town called Clem Erisbie, the second cook and baker was called Spud Murphy, they both always looked out for me.
Whilst have a short break at home, during December to January, the ship had a refit and change to the accommodation, in preparation for a long trip, all was ready late January 1954. It was then I changed from being galley boy to junior seaman, working on deck.
Another voyage I went on was to a place called Gdynia in Poland in the Baltic Sea area, it was freezing. After five days in Gdynia we sailed for Gibraltar stopping for fuel only, we then sailed to the Suez canal calling at Port-Said, it was a lovely sight going through the Canal. Our next port of call was Karachi Pakistan) a large city with plenty of life and colour. It wasn't long before we set off again, this time to Goa, West India; across the bay was the Portuguese town of Vasco De Carma. I remember we went swimming one day and shortly after being in the water there was all-out panic, some one shouted Shark and he wasn't joking! I clambered up a thin line within ten seconds, never went in the sea again! Watching us was the Captain, who called us a load of Idiots for swimming in Shark infested waters and stopped us all two days pay!
There are lots of funny stories and anecdotes I could tell but one I think I must share with readers is when we ended up in Australia in a little place called Wallaroo. I went ashore with some of the lads to have a drink, if I remember rightly, the bars closed at l800hrs (6pm) anyway after a short spell a middle aged lady, started to chat me up, now she might have been put up to do this, I don't really know, but what I do know and this isn't a joke, no disrespect to her; the lady had one eye, one arm and one leg all missing from one side of her body! She said to me, "Don't you fancy me?" and being only seventeen I said, "Certainly not!" She then said, "When you drink more of that wine and beer you soon will!" I was a very scared boy and shot back to the ship like lightning.
That was a true story and the reason I haven't forgotten it, was not because of her disability but I found out later the lads couldn't stop laughing at me!
As much as I loved the sea it could at times be quite boring especially at night if you was not on watch, all there is to do is play cards have a smoke and maybe a few drinks, then its back to your bunk for a few hours, and that was almost every night.
Listed below are some other ships that I sailed on. During my career as a seaman
Ability
Egret
Esso Saranac
Flathouse
Foam Ville
Hendon Hall
John Charrington
Lock Don
Manchester City
Manchester Faith
Manchester Mariner
Manchester Merchant
Manchester Progress
Manchester Regiment
Manchester Spinner
Pacific Reliance
Riverton
Sir Johnstone Wright
Temple Hall
Walter Scott