by Jack Lynch
While in the Liverpool Marconi depot I was called to the office one day and a smiling manager took me aside and said they were offering me a unique job that would result in the top rate of pay available for a Radio Officer. My ears pricked up at this but at the same time I withheld my excitement as I had never heard of the Marconi Company doing anything for a Radio Officer unless there was something in it for them. I sat down and was amazed when this guy said the job was manning a Radio beacon on an island in the Persian Gulf. I would be there on my own and for an undisclosed period of time. I had experience of the Gulf before and it was not on my first choice of holiday resort so it did not take me long to give my answer to the manager. He tried all his persuasive skills to change my mind but there was no way I was going out there. No thanks!
My decision made, I stayed on standby in the Liverpool office and within a few days I was sent to join my next ship, hoping and praying that it would not be to the Gulf.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
My tenth ship was the Tramp steamer s.s Selector. It was my ninth deep sea voyage and was to the Leeward and Windward Islands in the Caribbean Sea, British Honduras, in Central America and back to the UK. The ship was another Liberty type ship and was registered as No.169505 with a Net Tonnage of 4743. The Master of this ship was Captain R.L. Williams. When I signed on in Liverpool on March 13th, 1954 I was not aware of the fact that this would be the last British flag ship that I would sign on for a long time.
When the day came to board I took a taxi to the docks at Liverpool and found the Selector tied up, and looking like any other merchant ship. A dark hull and white superstructure greeted me. There was nothing exciting about the exterior of this ship so I was quite surprised when I went aboard to find the Captain in full uniform, including peak cap. Normally, the Captain’s would dress less formally so this made me wonder who this man was. I soon found out when I went to sign on. He told me that he was a Royal Naval Voluntary Reserve (RNVR). This meant that he had either served as a fully commissioned Royal Naval Officer and retired, or that he had volunteered for active duty if he was needed. I never bothered to find out whether he had seen active duty during the war. So now I was going naval with all this entailed. We would have to be spick and span and in uniform at all times. This did not sit easily with me, as I liked to dress in Khakis, or anything I felt like, except when I was on a passenger ship. However, I had to wait and see how things would work out on this ship before I took any chances. As it happened, I very nearly did not sign on this ship, as I had a run in with the Captain at the signing on process. He was filling in the data for me when it came to the question of Nationality and he said; “British.”
I answered, “I beg your pardon but I’m Irish.”
He immediately repeated “British” and I repeated, “Irish.”
He then started to get hot under the collar and said, “You were born in 1927, which makes you British.”
I said, “I was born in Ireland in 1927. I am Irish and proud of it. I have signed on all the other British ships as Irish and I don’t intend to deny my nationality to make it convenient for you because your crew list would show a foreigner amongst the British crew.”
He then got mad as hell and said, “The ‘Black and Tans’ were the boys to sort you lot out.”
By now I was fed up with this guy and I replied, “Your murdering friends should never have been let loose on innocent people and if they were your friends, which you admit to, then I want no more to do with you, or them, Goodbye. I’m not signing on this ship.”
I picked up my bags and started to go down the gangway when he came after me and apologised. He asked me to reconsider. I think he knew he had overstepped his authority and seemed sincere. He offered his hand in a handshake and I took it.
I said, “Captain, if you want me to sign on, it will be as Irish, and I don’t want any remarks or baiting about politics, or religion, during the voyage. If you agree to this I will sign on.”
He accepted, and he kept his word for the entire voyage. In fact we became good friends, and he told me later that he admired how I defended my right to be Irish.
After the first period of the voyage which was in the Home Trade I signed off in Liverpool on April 2nd, 1954 for a week’s leave only to return to rejoin the Selector and prepare for the next part of our deep sea voyage on April 14th,1954.
On board we had a Scottish Chief Officer who used to listen to his Eddystone receiver (Short wave radio) whilst he was off watch. It was his favourite pastime. One night the Captain came to my cabin, during my time off, and asked me to send an urgent telegram for him. The Chief Mate was also off duty, listening to his radio as usual, when I started up my transmitter and commenced sending the Captain’s message. All hell broke loose as the Chief Mate came storming into the radio room and ordered me to shut down, as I was supposed to be off watch and was interfering with his radio. I told him to leave the radio room and mind his own business. Just then the Captain came rushing into the radio room, to find out what was going on. It did not take him long to get the drift of things and he told the Chief Mate in no uncertain terms to leave the radio room, and that he had no jurisdiction over me or when I worked the radio. The Chief Mate avoided me for the rest of the voyage and I shed no tears for him.
On this particular voyage we had various items of cargo, and amongst the cargo was a deck cargo of long steel pipes about ten inches in diameter. There was also one car on deck. This car was for a special customer in the island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean Sea. The ship and cargo was heading for the Caribbean Islands where it was being delivered to various customers in various destinations in the Islands.
Along the route on this journey we were lucky enough to island hop to a lot of the nicer Ports and Islands. In the Leeward Islands we visited Basseterre in St.Kitts, Cul de Sac bay in Dominica and to St. Lucia in the Winward Islands. We also tied up at Montserrat and Martinique islands, nowadays exotic holiday destinations though in those days they were very underdeveloped. We berthed in San Juan in the Dominican Republic and in Kingstown, St. Vincent and finally St. John in Antigua before we crossed to Belize in British Honduras, Central America, and Houston, Texas.
When we reached the Caribbean we discharged the pipes, plus other parts of the general cargoes in various ports. We called to Belize, for bunkers before setting off for Houston, Texas. Thankfully each trip was short and within sight of land so we were never more than a few days from port. I got ashore in most ports and enjoyed the quietness and calm that prevailed on the islands. The local people were friendly and smiled a lot and there was no sign of begging. Children ran around happily playing and loved it when I spoke to them. Sadly, it was years later when I found out about the close association between the island of Montserrat and Ireland. Apparently there are many locals there who have Irish names! I only heard of this connection when the local volcano which overlooked the town erupted and almost obliterated the town. In 1493 the island was discovered by Christopher Columbus and the British colonised it in 1632. 20 years later a large contingent of Irish settlers moved there from the neighbouring island of St. Kitts. Monserrat is also known as the Emerald Isle because of its lush green tropical landscape.
I really enjoyed the beautiful sights on the islands, they were stunning. I loved to watch sunsets, like nothing I had ever seen before, drink in the amazing colours of the various flowers and trees, and listen to the wonderful sounds of exotic, multicoloured birds whistling and flying close by. Local fishermen would come out and try to sell us fresh fish and we bought some lovely lobsters which made a wonderful change in our menu.
After all this peace and tranquillity it wasn’t long before trouble came our way again. We were in Houston, loading some cargo of grain to take back to the UK when disaster struck. As we manoeuvred to get alongside the docks with the assistance of two tugs, one fore and one aft I was on deck watching when the tug at the bow began to push and nudge the ship and the tug astern awaited the order to move in to assist. The
tug was about seventy feet off when she got the pilot’s signal to push the stern. I couldn’t believe what happened next. Amid screams and shouts from the pilot and Captain, the tug came towards us at full speed and caught us in one hell of a wallop astern, rocking the ship massively and jolting us all from our stances. When all the commotion died down and everything was stabilised a brief investigation showed that the Mexican Captain of the tug was drunk. Inspection of our ship showed that some metal plates were buckled and some rivets popped so it was decided that we would do temporary repairs until we got back to the UK when the permanent repairs mending could take place. On the inside of the ship a wooden frame was built around the damaged area and was then filled with concrete. The temporary repairs complete and with all the crew crossing their fingers they would hold, we left port and headed back across the Atlantic with a load of grain. Very mindful of hurricanes because this was the season, we hoped we would get away and avoid any that might evolve. Though we didn’t get caught in any full blown hurricanes we did hit some bad weather and rocked and rolled as we danced our way home over leaping waves. Thankfully, and to our great relief, the temporary repairs held up and we arrived back intact and much relieved.
Finally I signed off in Manchester on July 7th, 1954, and I took a train to Liverpool and reported to the Marconi office where I handed in all my documents and log reports. Whilst sitting around in the office waiting I got fed up and made the decision to try working ashore for a change. After a few days I heard about a job ashore and I decided to ‘Swallow the Hook’ (Give up the sea) and work on land. I went into the office and in one of my biggest decisions to date, resigned.
“You’ll be back,” the clerk said.
“Not me, this is the end of my sea going days.” I retorted, and I meant it at the time. It was July 10th, 1954. This was going to be a momentous time for me and I had taken the first step of settling ashore….
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
I had now retired from sea life and was wondering if I had made the right decision. For better or worse I had to try a shore job and I reasoned with myself that I could still go back to sea if I felt like it. So off I went in July 1954 for my first interview and hoped that all would go well. I didn’t like the idea of going back into the Marconi office begging for my job back so I was determined to make things work. The job I was applying for was working as a Radio operator with the British Civil Service at the American Air Force base in Burtonwood, Lancashire, just outside Liverpool.
After a tough interview I was delighted to hear that my application was successful so I embarked on the next part of my life; I was attached to the United States Air force, under the ‘Native Son’ programme. This apparently was the name given to any non U.S. person who worked for them when employed by the British Civil Service. I worked in a radio room at the USAF Airforce base, and had a fellow Irishman from Limerick with me for a while in the same capacity. He too was an Ex-Radio Officer but he left soon after I got there. Our job was to maintain constant radio contact by Morse with all the US bases in the UK and some in Europe. I remember the call sign of this station was AJC20 As this was the biggest United States Air Base in the UK in WW II I was kept busy taking stores lists and other messages which were confidential under the secrecy laws. I had to sign and was sworn to uphold these secrecy laws governing all messages. This was a USAF maintenance base for C-54s used during the Berlin Airlift. During WW II this base was very busy and many planes operated out of here. Whilst I was there lots of planes kept coming and going and it housed a lot of scrap planes as the years passed.
The same daily travel and being alone in the radio cabin soon made me wonder if I had made a big mistake giving up the sea life. At least there I had plenty of company and split watches which gave me time to mingle and have a bit of craic. I soon found the job tedious and boring and with no chances of promotion I decided to resign, and look for a better job with more prospects elsewhere. The money I had been earning was mediocre enough so I didn’t feel too worried when I tendered my resignation. When my boss heard I was resigning I was immediately called into Major Strong’s office for interview. This was my top boss in charge of the Radio shack.
When I got into the office I got a shock because I did not expect Major Strong to be a woman. She was a well-built lady, with a nice manner, and when I told her I was going for more money she said she understood but could do nothing about that as the British Civil Service controlled pay scales. She said she would willingly give me American rates for the job, which were far better, but she could not override the existing structure of payment. She then suggested that I might consider joining the American Airforce, and she would be glad to approve me for acceptance. I had not considered this possibility and said I needed time to think about it. After some thought I decided to start afresh and leave altogether, thanking Major Strong for her offer but declining it nonetheless, I had worked here for seven months. I said farewell to the lads I knew, and to Major Strong, and returned home to consider my next move. There was no chance of getting work at home and to be truthful I still missed the sea life.
It was now late January 1955 and with time on my hands I enjoyed being at home again and Molly and I had a great time. My parents were delighted to see me and were quick to tell me all the stories of what had been going on in my absence. They related a funny episode that had taken place in one of their ventures. Daddy and mammy used to let out rooms to some couples from time to time and told me about one couple who had rented out two rooms upstairs. The couple, Billy and Nellie, got on like a house on fire except when Billy arrived home after a hard day’s work. It was in the middle of winter and very cold. As he got in to his room shivering, Nellie was asleep and well covered up. Billy shouted, “Fire Fire,” Nellie awoke startled and sat up in bed shouting, “where’s the fire?” Billy shouted back; “Exactly, where is the fire? It’s in every F****** house in town except here!” He then threw a jar of water over her in the bed. The argument went on for ages between them and mammy and daddy were in hysterics recounting the tale.
Now that I was back home and with some money of my own I was pleased to be able to give some to mammy. Daddy went and bought a Hoover vacuum cleaner with this money. He seemed oblivious to the fact that we did not have one carpet in the entire house. All the rooms were covered in Linoleum or the floors were painted. He needed a vacuum cleaner like he needed a hole in the head. He claimed his reason for buying this machine was because poor Billy, who lodged upstairs, was a salesman for these vacuum machines and daddy thought that Billy could do with the commission. So in fact I supplemented Billy’s rent to pay daddy. The logic of what he had done escaped me. My sister later told me daddy used the machine to vacuum up plaster which had fallen down after he had being doing a job in one of the rooms so I guess it came in useful in one way.
Having returned to Liverpool after two weeks, and after some more consideration, I decided to try freelancing as a Radio Officer because the money was better than that offered by Marconi. I headed for the Radio Officers’ Union offices, and for the first time in my life I became a Union member. They soon offered me the chance to start a new and rewarding career as a freelance Radio Officer. On March 19th, 1955 I joined my first Liberian Flag ship in my new role as a freelance Radio Officer, and other added responsibilities
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
My first freelance ship was my eleventh ship to serve on and was a Liberty tanker, named s.s Albert G. Brown. She was registered in Monrovia, Liberia. Her Gross tonnage was 7289 and her Net tonnage was 4475. Her official No. was 406. Onboard she was always referred to as the AGB. Being a freelance Radio Officer I was now in a position to negotiate my own wages and terms of employment within the regulations governing seamen and their terms of employment. I would be a shipping company employee now and not a Marconi man.
The owners of s.s. Albert G. Brown were Bernuth Lembcke Company, New York, also known as Torres Shipping Company. When I joined they owned two tankers but later purchased a third
tanker. The AGB was commanded by Captain Julius Vice and there was also a Relief Captain, named G. Catlender.
Unfortunately, I encountered a problem when I first met Captain Vice. Initially, I seemed to unintentionally aggravate some Captains, I wasn’t sure why. We were discussing the terms of my contract when the matter of salary came up. Captain Vice asked me what I expected and I said the minimum Union rate. This was about £60.00 per month. The mention of Union, however, nearly made the Captain choke on his Lucky Strike cigarette.
“We don’t have union people on this ship,” all six feet of him drawled in his Louisiana voice.He continued, “I will offer you better rates, but not if you are a union member.”
“How much will you give?” I asked.
We struck a deal on a salary, and so my union membership was bought out. I had no regrets about this because I had never been a union member, though I never told him that. So, with everything settled and my terms agreed I was off to sea again.
The ship was waiting in Stanlow, Ellesemere Port on the Manchester Ship Canal and I joined her there, feeling good about my new role and happy. I signed on this time on the 19th March 1955.
My tenth deep sea voyage had included trips to the East and West coasts of the USA, Cuba, Aruba, Curacao, Venezuela, Panama Canal, Puerto Rico, France, Germany, Holland, and U.K. This ship differed from normal tankers in as much as it was exactly the same as a Liberty cargo ship, but had tanks instead of cargo holds.