A major bollocking, a minefield and pinched motorbikes
An example of how one can go from being a bright lad to a dogsbody involved a cock up I made one afternoon. When I joined the ship the Skipper hailed me as the one signalman with initiative due to the fact I had made my own way from Malta to catch her up at Bari. It appeared the Skipper had something against signalmen (the rumour was that a sig had put his daughter in the club) and he treated them like pariahs and nailed them for the slightest thing.
This particular afternoon he had left a change of course with the junior watch keeping officer. He gave me the course and I asked him if I could do it with flags (shades of Palace Tower). He agreed and I hoisted the necessary flags. Of the four ships with us, three merchantmen and one ML, only the ML answered and then called me up and said what about the other three. I then realised that I had put it up in naval code instead of international code that made no sense to the merchantmen.
I then cancelled everything on the masts and sent up the international signal flags that they all answered. The time had expired for the execution and we were leaving or left the swept channel in the minefield. I executed the signal as quickly as possible making a flashing command signal – “Follow HMS Vetch in line ahead”. It was a complete shambles with flags ankle deep on the bridge when his nibs decided to return.
“What are we celebrating or is it Blackpool Day?” he retorted.
The duty officer tried to explain it but to no avail. This was his big chance “Get all the sigs. up immediately and fetch the Yeoman” he barked. He ordered my removal and never wanted to see me again. This sort of thing makes one very popular!
Endeavouring to avoid the Captain on the bridge of a ship just does not work and watch keeping became a nightmare. It was a sad affair until the Captain was relieved at Malta quite soon after. I told the fellows I had considerable pull but they would not believe me…
As a matter of fact I did see him three days later when he gave me 14 days jankers for having too much initiative. Such is life.
Actually, being in the minefield was not unusual to us, as we were ploughing our way through the Adriatic we would meet the minesweepers going about their business in a very smart and orderly fashion. They would flash messages such as - “Good morning, nice day, are you aware you are outside the swept channel?” or “You are on the wrong side of the buoys” etc.
I often used to think, “I wonder what the safety margin was outside the swept channel?” as I nodded off in my hammock. I never did find out but it must be pretty wide. The navigator did not know, or so he said. It did not surprise me.
The navigator was our divisional officer and quite a character in more ways than one. When he went ashore he could be relied upon to come back with a jeep or motorcycle. The jeep was left on the dockside, but the bike invariably went on board then over the side if the Skipper discovered it.
This particular afternoon he had left a change of course with the junior watch keeping officer. He gave me the course and I asked him if I could do it with flags (shades of Palace Tower). He agreed and I hoisted the necessary flags. Of the four ships with us, three merchantmen and one ML, only the ML answered and then called me up and said what about the other three. I then realised that I had put it up in naval code instead of international code that made no sense to the merchantmen.
I then cancelled everything on the masts and sent up the international signal flags that they all answered. The time had expired for the execution and we were leaving or left the swept channel in the minefield. I executed the signal as quickly as possible making a flashing command signal – “Follow HMS Vetch in line ahead”. It was a complete shambles with flags ankle deep on the bridge when his nibs decided to return.
“What are we celebrating or is it Blackpool Day?” he retorted.
The duty officer tried to explain it but to no avail. This was his big chance “Get all the sigs. up immediately and fetch the Yeoman” he barked. He ordered my removal and never wanted to see me again. This sort of thing makes one very popular!
Endeavouring to avoid the Captain on the bridge of a ship just does not work and watch keeping became a nightmare. It was a sad affair until the Captain was relieved at Malta quite soon after. I told the fellows I had considerable pull but they would not believe me…
As a matter of fact I did see him three days later when he gave me 14 days jankers for having too much initiative. Such is life.
Actually, being in the minefield was not unusual to us, as we were ploughing our way through the Adriatic we would meet the minesweepers going about their business in a very smart and orderly fashion. They would flash messages such as - “Good morning, nice day, are you aware you are outside the swept channel?” or “You are on the wrong side of the buoys” etc.
I often used to think, “I wonder what the safety margin was outside the swept channel?” as I nodded off in my hammock. I never did find out but it must be pretty wide. The navigator did not know, or so he said. It did not surprise me.
The navigator was our divisional officer and quite a character in more ways than one. When he went ashore he could be relied upon to come back with a jeep or motorcycle. The jeep was left on the dockside, but the bike invariably went on board then over the side if the Skipper discovered it.