After the storm

Through my sleep I dreamt of eating fish and chips. Probably because my stomach was so empty, and I was hungry after my miserable first watch on the monkey island.

However, that dreamy state of half-awake and half asleep was rudely interrupted by a sound in my ear” Sahib, Sahib, one bell”. This cannot be right; I had just gotten off to sleep but no there he was waiting for to get out of my bunk. “It is quarter to eight in the morning, Sahib, breakfast time”. Well I was certainly hungry and thoughts of an English breakfast with all the trimmings did not seem a bad idea. But how did I get it and where did I go to get it? That’s the question.

Colin, the senior apprentice, popped his head around the door still puffing on his pipe and in his soft Welsh lilt said: “Wakey, wakey, breakfast at 08:30 in the officer’s saloon. Make sure you have your uniform on and it is tidy”!

Okay, quick shower, teeth cleaned and dressed in my new uniform with stains from last night’s debacle on the monkey island removed I was ready.

In the 1950’s daily life on board a liner company, because that is what we were, was very ordered but also very segregated.

The total complement was made up of sixteen white officers, all English, Welsh or Scottish covering deck officers, engineering officers, radio and purser officers.

Separately there were four English or Scottish quartermasters and a carpenter who lived and messed on their own.

Then there was the Indian crew totalling around sixty-five persons covering the deck, engineering, and catering department. They lived aft and messed on their own. The Indian cooks, Bhandari’s, cooked for everyone.

Officers ate in the saloon amidships under the officer’s accommodation, so I walked along the boat deck, down the ladder to cross by hatch three and enter the rear door to the officer accommodation.

The weather had changed since I left the bridge at 04:00 and now there was blue sky with small puffy clouds scudding across the sky from starboard to port as we ploughed our way south and west down the Irish sea. The wind had dropped and there remained a low oily-topped swell from the south with small white waves on their tops. Seagulls circled around looking for scraps thrown overboard whilst the deck crew washed down the decks after two weeks in port.

The door to the accommodation was a large mahogany affair, heavily varnished with a brass plate over declaring I was entering the officer’s domain.

Inside was a corridor split left and right leading to officer’s accommodation whilst ahead was a double set of mahogany glass doors heavily engraved with the word saloon.

Through the glass of the door I could see what seemed to be the dining room of an old-fashioned luxury hotel with white coated waiters serving uniformed officers. The smell of curry was all-pervading.

What should I do, where will I seat and how do I order my breakfast? All these thoughts raced through my mind as I prepared to enter. Nothing like this had ever happened to a sixteen old boy from North Yorkshire before. School dinners did not compare!!This was virgin territory!

Heads turned as I entered the saloon and the captain sitting at the head of one of the tables, said, “Ah, the new apprentice that does not know his leeward from his windward side! Come sit at the end of my table”. I noticed that the other apprentices not on watch were also sat there. Duly sat I looked around to see what others were eating. Everything from egg and bacon to what seemed to be a fish curry! The Second Mate was cracking raw eggs into a glass and drinking the concoction after a thorough stirring. Not for me I thought! The Indian waiter pointed to a menu on the table, and I instinctively went for the egg and bacon option noticing that the fish curry was called fish kedgeree, another term to remember.

Looking round I noticed there were two tables and the other table seemed to have mostly junior engineering officers, purser and radio officer. Why was I at the Captains table? Was it a deck and engine room segregation thing?

Any way the breakfast was sumptuous and filled my empty stomach.

As the clock approached 09:00 the Second Mate said to me,”OK laddie, time for you and me to go on the bridge and do some navigation”. What, I thought, don’t I start at midday? Apparently not and as I was to learn, the Second Mate is responsible for navigation and charts. That means every day in the morning, before watch, he calculates the days run over the last 24 hours and prepares for the “noon position”. The noon position is the position of the ship at ships local time, 12:00. Ok so straight up to the bridge and into the chartroom behind the bridge. This is the domain of the Second Mate.

First, he checked the latest position that the current officer of the watch, the Chief Officer, had laid down. As we were coasting the position was by direct measurement of navigational aids such as lighthouses, prominent pieces of land etc. Plotting these points was done out on the bridge wing and the Second Officer took time to show me how it was done.

“First, laddie, we need to identify from the chart likely targets and then confirm them visually and then we can use them. See here on the chart, St. David’s Head. According to where we are now it should be abeam on the port side, let’s check.”

Out on the bridge wing he pointed to a vague cliff in the distance. That’s it so let’s get a bearing. Stand on that pedestal and rotate the metal ring over the gyro compass repeater until you see the Headland directly over the prism on the edge of the bearing ring. Then read the number in the prism. That is the true bearing of the headland. Got it?

No way, too much information but dutifully I tried and after several attempts got a reading. Back to the chartroom and the Second Officer laid off the bearing on the chart. “We are on that line. All we need is to find some more targets that we take bearings of and then we will have a position. However, I see your eyes are in the back of your head so we will pick this up later. Go back to your cabin and read a little on navigation from your Nichols Seamanship and nautical knowledge book. See you up here at 12:00”.

 

The supermarket run

For pensioners

As pensioners we constantly adapt to keep up with daily life. Such is the case with supermarkets. No longer is it easy to find a friendly local butcher, greengrocer, or baker. We shop in a giant warehouse, often out of town, that they call either a shopping centre or a supermarket. This requires different strategies to successfully complete our purchases that fit our needs and pocket.

Timing is also important. Avoid the commuter rush and especially the “after work” peak to the supermarket. Late morning, early afternoon is best, there is more parking space!

Parking is the next challenge. Do I need to find an automat, have I got the right app or is it all done automatically by cameras. Getting it right is important to avoid a heavy fine.

Is this a big shop requiring a trolley or a small shop where a basket is enough. The result of the decision determines whether you can use the “self-checkout” or not. No trollies in self-checkout. Today it is a basket shop.

The one-way system for walking in the shopping centre has been abolished now covid is no longer a threat and we do not need to wear masks anymore, good job really as I have forgotten mine.

Am I ready for this expedition? Yes, mobile in left pocket, glasses in the right pocket and wallet with shopping list in the back pocket, car keys in my jacket pocket. Time to enter the fray!

Push through the entry gate narrowly avoiding a determined lady pushing her empty trolly aggressively into the narrow entrance. Time to “gird my loins” and prepare for battle. Not sure where I got that phrase from, but it seems appropriate to this challenge.

Get a clean basket without paper advertisements in it and step outside of the mainstream of people to plan my route through the supermarket. The best place to do this is by the bread shelves. OK, best to start with our meal today as often there are queues around the meat and fish counters and especially the cooked foods. There is not a queue but a lot of people pushing against the long counter trying to attract the attention of a counter person! Not sure that is the right term for someone behind the fish counter, but it will do. Next, shouts one of these persons and I raise my hand but to no avail as the young upwardly mobile lady with sunglasses perched on the top of her head behind me shouts “me” and pushes in front. So the battle has started. Shall I complain? No, not worth it let her go and then perhaps I can get the fresh fish wok in front of me. First item on the list completed so retire to plan the next move. As it is a basket on my arm it is important to leave the heavy objects until the last so it will be “pålegg”, the things you put on your bread or Ryvita. Today we need ham and cheese. Problem is ham is in one location and cheese in another! There are hundreds of hams in plastic wrappers, not only ham but turkey, beef, chicken, and some of indeterminate origin. What to choose? Should I use price as a guide or not. Impulsively I grab the nearest packet of slices of ham and quickly vacate the space as a “browser” nudges me with his trolley, a clear sign I am in his way.

Having been here before I have a good navigation plan in my head, first fruit, then vegetables and finally milk and juice, the heavy items. Wait a minute there are two other items, mango chutney and desiccated coconut. Where on earth are they? Those overhead signs are no good either as they are so general. Will mango chutney be in “Asian foods” or spices and herbs” and desiccated coconut in “baking” or “spices” wherever that is. Must ask for assistance. Now there is a challenge. I have often found myself addressing a customer rather than an employee by mistake! Must look for the uniform. Start scouting around the aisles and find someone stacking goods on shelves. Just as I reach them and wait patiently for him to finish and turn around, one of those military type pensioners with moustache and chequered shirt over a worn jacket shouts “you there, where is the butter section”? The reply is interesting. Try section 8 over there the employee shrugs and responds. No thank you from the military type just a shrug of the shoulders and some unheard comment as he stalks off. The employee turns to me and asks, “How can I help you? Follow me he responds to my question and takes me to both sites I had visited earlier and points out the products! I felt such an idiot not spotting them before but there are so many bottles and packages to scrutinise.

Shopping list completed and basket now heavy I navigate towards self-checkout. I head into a free station and plop my basket down on. I never know which side I should place the basket as someone once told me they weigh the basket and contents and compare it with what you move over to the other side. However, I am not sure this is true as I had bread from the bread shop and I did not get a red light, a warning or intervention by a watchful supervisor. Relatively easily go through the basket followed by beeps as each product is identified and priced. Then the dreaded moment, the bar code cannot be read, and the identifying digital code underneath the product is too small and unreadable. Press the help button, and an overhead flashing red summons the supervisor and makes me somewhat conspicuous and feeling like an idgit. With quick movements through the online menu my product is found and registered. That only leaves those fruit and vegetables without bar codes. Problem is there are many banana items, and I cannot identify the loose ones I chose. Click for the first one, hoping it is right and move on. Time to pay and respond that I need one plastic bag feeling a little guilty that I did not choose paper bags or that I forgot to bring a bag from home. Payment with Google pay, and my mobile is so much simpler than dragging out credit cards and scanning them. Pick up my bag and receipt and us it to exit the supermarket exhausted. What I need now is a large flat white coffee and a sticky bun!

 

 

Human cargo

Shipping people overseas

The transport of goods by sea on scheduled services has been a necessary maritime activity for centuries but also the carriage of people by sea has been a much smaller but nevertheless important part of maritime trade.

The Vikings did it in the first century and before that the Romans, the Greeks also travelled around their new lands they conquered. However, there is no sign that the ships they used were specially built for passengers. Warships and cargo boats were common, but ships and boats primarily built for passengers are difficult to find.

However, the word passenger is often interpreted as travelling freely and perhaps in some state of luxury. This was not always the case and therefore the term “Human cargo” seems a more appropriate title for many of the early maritime ventures.

 

Therefore we differentiate between those that travel of their own free will and those that are part of “forced travel” such as troops, convicts under “transportation” and slaves.

The types of “passenger trade” and the ships that carried people are quite different. We will focus on the era of the sailing ship in this article.

Emigration

[1]Perhaps the voyage of the Mayflower in 1620 classifies for passenger transport as this 180-ton ship

Figure 1 - Copy of the Mayflower

of around 26m in length sailed across the Atlantic with 102 passengers intent on settling in this new colony that became the USA. In a voyage of around 10 weeks with 30 crew members they landed at Cape Cod as the "Pilgrims" to establish a colony with freedom to express their religion.

The slave trades

Figure 2 - Slave carrack

Of all the shipment of people by ship, the slave trade was the most repugnant. It has a long history linked to the colonies established overseas by European maritime nations. The Portuguese took slaves from West Africa to Brazil in the 16^th. century.[2] In small ships called “carracks of 36m loa. and around 400 tons. They were able to moor in the creeks of West Africa and slaves were [3]brought from the interior to be loaded as “cargo” in these small vessels. The ships were not adapted for the carriage of people and each slave was crammed into the holds of the ship. Many died on the voyage to Brazil.

As the colonies grew ships became bigger as they crammed more slaves into the ships to maximise profit, so the conditions deteriorated. In this classic diagram of a slave ship, it is possible to see the inhumane conditions.[4]

 

Figure 3 - layout of a slave ship

The room allowed for each slave was:

Men: 6 ft (182.9cm) by 1ft 4 inches (40.6cm)

Women: 5ft 10 inches (177.8cm) by 1ft 4 inches (40.6cm)

Boys: 5ft (152.4cm) by 1ft 2 inches (35.6cm)

Girls: 4 ft 6 inches (137.2cm) by 1 ft (30.5cm)

Thus, a ship of nominal tonnage 297 tons with a crew of 45 could carry 609 slaves.[5]

It is said that a chained slave took less room than a dead man in his coffin.[6]

Transportation

Banishment of undesirable persons to a foreign land was also a major shipping trade and as early as 1717 the UK sent around forty thousand men and women to the USA over the next 60 years to work on the plantations. However, as the slave trade started from Africa the transport of convicts from the UK to America ceased and the UK needed a new place to continue their transportation.

Emigration to Australia

Following the “discovery” of Australia by Captain Cook in the early 1770’s, emigration to Australia started with the transport of convicts from overcrowded prisons in the UK in 1788 when the first penal settlement was created.

Eleven ships carried over 1400 men and women, along with the supplies they needed to set up a colony in Botany Bay over a voyage of 15000 miles. The majority of those who travelled to Australia on the First Fleet were convicts. The voyage took eight months with the loss of 48 persons and without any loss of ships. A remarkable voyage.[7]

Figure 4 - Convict ship Alexander

One ship, the Alexander[8], a three masted barque was built in Hull in 1783, so she was a relatively new ship for her first voyage to Australia in the first fleet of ships to arrive in January 1788. She was 35 m in length, a beam of 9,5m weighing 460 tonnes. With a crew of around 30 and 37 marines she transported 213 male convicts.

However, as in the case of the Mayflower with emigrants fleeing to America, so famine and stories of a better life overseas started a new trade, that of persons freely wishing to emigrate. Michael Stammers in his book “Emigrant Clippers to Australia” [9] provides an insight into this service in the 19^th century.

For the convict voyages the ships were chartered by UK government commissions and in the case of emigration generally, the vessels were also chartered by Government Commissions that enabled the shipowner to offer subsidised fares to passengers.

There were generally three classes of service, first class, second class and steerage, each quite distinct.

On a Black Ball Line ship from Liverpool first class passengers paid between £45 and £75, second class £25 to £35 and steerage £14 to £18 in the middle of the 1800’s.

The ships offered a type of liner service but as sailing ships the schedule needed to be flexible. So, the ships sought return cargoes that often required them to sail to China or India to pick up homeward bound cargoes thus increasing the round voyage time considerably to around 8 months.

Figure 5 - Black Ball Line "Champion"

One of their largest clippers was “Champion of the Seas”[10] built in 1854 she was the second largest ship in the Black Ball fleet. In this period of wooden ships the Americans were the dominant builders of fast commercial ships, and “Champion of the Seas” was built and registered in Boston but operated mainly between Liverpool and Australia. With a gross registered tonnage of 2447, 77m in length and a nearly 14m beam she was impressive. A full rigged ship with over 5200 m ² she covered 465 nautical miles in one day on her maiden voyage.

She also was a troop carrier for a while taking 1000 troops to Calcutta during the Indian Mutiny of 1857.

However, it was as a passenger ship she plied her trade.

Conditions on the three-month voyage to Australia varied and passengers were segregated by class of travel.

[11]

Figure 6 - Cross section of an emigrant ship

First class passengers could expect permanent individual cabins aft amongst the officer accommodation, a dining saloon and free access on deck. Second class passengers had small temporary cabins at the after end of the tween decks below or in a deckhouse on the main deck. They had a separate dining saloon.

Steerage passengers had a very different experience as Stammers explains. They were accommodated below deck either in the tween decks or the upper part of the cargo hold. The need to segregate single men and women meant that dormitories were established with married families been quartered between these two groups. Bunks and straw mattresses were provided for sleeping and for eating the passengers were divided into messes of eight persons who received meals from the ships cook, did some cooking themselves and then distributed the food.[12]

 

Figure 7 - Passenger layout in an emigrant ship

All the steerage passenger accommodation was temporary and had to be dismantled for cargo space on the return leg of the voyage to Liverpool.

However all this was to change as Stopford[13] explains.

“Between 1833 and 1914 every aspect of ship design changed.  137 tons to 45,647 tons. switched from wood to iron in the 1850s, from iron to steel in the 1880s, Triple expansion steam engines arrived in the 1880s and turbines from 1900.Speed increased from 7 knots per hour in 1833 to 25 knots per hour in 1907, and fuel consumption from around 20 tons a day to 1,000 tons a day.”

This would have a profound effect on the passenger and liner trades.

---

[1] Keleher, Mayflower II.

[2] MSW, ‘Slave Carrack’.

[3] MSW, fig. Replica of the carrack ‘Santa Maria’.

[4] ‘Diagram of a Slave Ship’.

[5] Atlantic Slave Trade.

[6] Lubbock, Coolie Ships and Oil Sailors, page 11.

[7] ‘Convict Journey’.

[8] North, Convict Ship Alexander.

[9] Stammers, Emigrant Clippers to Australia.

[10] Southworth, Champion of the Seas.

[11] Stammers, Michael, ‘Emigrant Clippers to Australia’.

[12] Stammers, Emigrant Clippers to Australia.

[13] Stopford, Martin, Maritime Economics.

References

Atlantic Slave Trade. 22 August 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atlantic_slave_trade&oldid=1106036570.

Brookes. ‘Diagram of a Slave Ship’. Accessed 14 August 2022. https://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/large106661.html.

‘Convict Journey’. Accessed 10 August 2022. https://www.eastridingmuseums.co.uk/museums-online/convict-connections/convict-journey/.

Keleher, Paul. Mayflower II. 29 May 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mayflower_II&oldid=1090385269.

Lubbock, Basil. Coolie Ships and Oil Sailors. Brown, Sons and Ferguson, 1935.

MSW. ‘Slave Carrack’. Weapons and Warfare (blog), 8 July 2010. https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2010/07/08/slave-carrack/.

North, Jamie. Convict Ship Alexander. Accessed 13 August 2022. https://sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/stories/first-fleet-ships/alexander.

Southworth, Hawes. Champion of the Seas. 26 February 2022. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Champion_of_the_Seas&oldid=1074157804.

Stammers, Michael. ‘Emigrant Clippers to Australia’. Mielpost Research, 1995.

Stammers, Michael. Emigrant Clippers to Australia: The Black Ball Line, Its Operation, People and Ships 1852-187. s.l: Milepost Research, 2013.

Stopford, Martin. Maritime Economics. page 29-30. Accessed 5 May 2022. https://asp.bibliotekservice.no/sjofart/title.aspx?tkey=55207.

 

Surviving entry into a foreign country

 

Surviving entry into a foreign country

The plane came to a stop and the seatbelt signed pinged and switched off. It was if it signalled the start of a race or the commencement of a rugby scrum! People pushed and shoved, climbed over seated persons to reach the aisle, and establish a place in a queue for a cabin door that was not even open! Overhead bin doors flew open and without any regard to people below dragged out their luggage and forced a place in the queue for it. If their baggage was not adjacent to their seat, they pushed past with the determination of a scrum forward without apology or concern for others. What is it in us that brings out this behaviour?

Having checked in baggage I knew there was no need to rush so sat back and enjoyed the debacle of sensible people reduced to a rabble in their urge to leave the plane.

The door opened and the pushing started but also a sense of decency returned as people waited for others to rise and exit their seats. Soon the pace of exit reduced to a trickle, and we rose, collected our bags, checked we had not left anything in the seat pockets and left, thanking the air hostesses for their service.

Outside the aircraft there were a couple of guys just watching us as we went up the ramp. They were in civilian clothes, and it looked as though they were customs or immigration checking us out!

Came to the top of the ramp and then came the information overload. Signs for everything in all directions! Stopped, got bumped by passengers behind me as they raced for the exit but finally deciphered the two most important signs we needed, baggage reclaims and toilets! Then started a long walk with escalators and left and right turns until we came to a large sign that read “You are now entering the UK border control area! More intimidating than welcoming. More signs separating Europeans from non-Europeans, so we chose the queue for Europeans and prepared ourselves for the automatic electronic scan system with my passport. Chose my UK passport and stepped onto the yellow footprints on the floor, removed my cap and inserted my passport into the scanner. No response as I waited and waited. Reread the instructions and began to panic thinking of all the people behind me in the queue getting impatient. Still no response from the machine. In desperation I turned the passport upside down and bingo it worked, and a picture of my face was taken and the gate to the UK opened.

One down 2 to go.

The baggage hall was enormous, and an overhead screen announced that our baggage would arrive on belt two. Dutifully checked the belt signs and walked down the hall. The belt was stationery and the overhead sign said last bag on the belt for passengers from Stockholm. A guy removed all the last remaining bags and there began the scrum to be nearest to the chute ejecting the bags onto the belt. Never mind the yellow safety lines just get close to the belt seemed to be the objective. Having learnt the folly of such a move I went to the other end of the belt were there were less people. Suddenly a light came on over the belt and a bell sounded and everyone became agitated, the bags are coming and so they did. Everything from large well wrapped packages to rucksacks and suitcases that had not survived the baggage handlers and were disgorging their contents on the belt!

Round and round went the bags, saw that red one last time round, where is my small black suitcase with a red address label? There it is, so excused myself and got to the front and extracted the suitcase.

Now for the next hurdle, customs. Choose the green channel passing two nonchalant customs officers leaning against the wall with their eyes everywhere. I wonder what they are looking for. Passed by the inspection area and could not help a peep into it and sure enough there was a family with large suitcases having to unpack them for inspection.

A sliding door opened, and we had entered the UK and it was complete chaos. People lined up against a barrier with name tags or just searching for faces, happy reunions and business people being rushed away to their booked transport.

Again information overload and we scanned for car rentals and followed the signs. More confusion as we must take a lift down to the next level. Remembered where the car rental office was and headed for it only to find it was a building site and we were redirected to the multistorey carpark second level.

There we were met by a friendly attendant who led us to our little Fiat 500 and after checking it for damage we were off or were we. How do we get out of this place!