Davey Jones's Locker

by Christopher Cummings

  Luke nodded. “That my great uncle Absalom. All them old fellas were divers.”

  Andrew nodded and felt quite ashamed. He was now struck by the difference between the albums. Never in his life had he seen one full of pictures of black people and it was only from reading Luke’s assignment that he had learned that most of the pearl and trochus shell divers back in the 20th Century had been either Torres Strait Islanders or, before World War 2, Japanese. Very few had been Europeans. Looking at the pictures made him uncomfortably aware of just how ethnocentric he and his group were, although he had always prided himself on not being racist. Yet here before his eyes was the evidence of another strong and vibrant culture with its own proud traditions and heritage.

  While they looked at the photos Blake and Simmo joined them. They also leaned over to look. It was when they reached the photo of the Deeral that the conversation turned back to the mystery of what happened to her.

  Luke pointed to the photo of the Deeral. “My Nanna say that my Grandad, he went missing when he sailed on that ship. They were looking for the wreck of the Merinda,” he said.

  Andrew was astonished at the coincidence. “Which one was your grandad?” he asked. Luke had told him the previous day but he had forgotten.

  “That Solomon Tapau fella,” Luke replied, pointing. “He was my ma’s dad.” The two boys looked at each other. “And you are sure that the wreck that you found at Cape Upstart is the Deeral?” Luke asked.

  “Positive,” Andrew replied. He then detailed again how he was sure of that.

  “And definitely scuttled by explosives?” Luke queried.

  Again Andrew described the wreck and what he had seen and been told by the Dive Trip Director. Luke looked very thoughtful and shook his head. “This don’ add up. It don’ square with the newspaper article you quote.”

  “That’s what Carmen and I think too,” Andrew answered. What he was still reluctant to do was voice his theory so he remained silent.

  Luke opened up Andrew’s assignment, which included the news articles about the Merinda and Deeral. They reread these and Luke kept shaking his head. “My Nanna, she thinks this is really sus. She would like me to show this to my uncle Moses. He will be real interested I reckon.”

  “I didn’t know Moses was your uncle,” Blake quipped. “Has he still got the Ten Commandments?”

  “Very funny!” Luke replied. He looked at Andrew. “Would it be alright if I borrow this assignment until after the holidays?”

  “Sure. Where does your uncle live?” Andrew asked, his hopes of getting another lead going up.

  “Mackay,” Luke replied.

  That really got Andrew’s interest. “We are going there for camp tomorrow. Maybe you will get a chance to see your uncle then?”

  “That’s what I was thinkin’,” Luke replied. “He might be able to tell us more.”

  “I hope so,” Andrew said. “And I will see what else I can dig up.”

  “Dig what up, skeletons from the family closet?” Blake added with a laugh.

  Andrew gave a wry smile and changed the subject. There were times when Blake could be a bit of a pain. Then another worry crossed his mind. “Don’t you blokes talk about this please. I wouldn’t like anyone’s feelings to get hurt, ok?”

  “Because of Muriel’s grandad?” Blake queried.

  Andrew nodded. Blake then asked, “How are you getting on with her? I heard you had a bit of a bust up.”

  That hurt, and the public shame made it worse. “We did,” Andrew answered, colouring crimson with embarrassment. “It was over the location of the Deeral and the discrepancies in her grandad’s story. So I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention any of this to her. I want to try to get back into her good books.”

  They left it at that and made their way to class. Geography was first up and Andrew made a point of showing Capt Conkey the photo album. He was also pleased to learn that he had achieved 95% in his exam results and a VH for his assignment. Capt Conkey looked at the album with evident interest and then said, “You off to camp these holidays Andrew?”

  “Yes sir. We leave tonight on the HMAS Tobruk. We are going to be in Mackay for a week. I am doing my quartermaster gunners course.”

  “That sounds interesting. I hope you have a good camp, and a good holiday.”

  “Same to you sir,” Andrew replied.

  For the rest of the day Andrew was in a mood of tingling anticipation and apprehension. As soon as school was finished he hurried home and completed packing. By 4:30pm both he and Carmen were ready, dressed in their navy grey and black camouflage work dress with grey caps. Their mother arrived a few minutes later and they loaded themselves and their gear into the car. 5:00 pm found them unloading at TS ‘Endeavour’.

  After farewells to their mother brother and sister shouldered their kitbags, picked up their hand luggage and walked inside. Already half a dozen other cadets were present, as well as several of the adult staff. Andrew looked anxiously around to see if Muriel was there but saw no sign of her. He went to join the others and was at once directed to PO George, his watch Petty Officer, to help load stores into a truck.

  While he was doing this with Percy Parsons and Simon Creswell Andrew saw Muriel arrive. Just once she glanced in his direction so he wasn’t sure if she had seen him or not. He was actually surprised to see her as he had thought she would not go to camp. Worrying about what she now thought of him got him all in an anxious state; half hopeful, half fearful.

  He got a clue when they were called on parade for roll call at 5:30pm. Once again Muriel glanced briefly in his direction but she then went and stood with the starboard watch. Knowing she could not do that without having been transferred Andrew began to worry what she might have told the officers. It was a blow to his hopes but he tried to ignore it and resolved to just get on with doing his best on the camp.

  The events of the next hour helped drive such unhappy thoughts from his head. Andrew had been on two navy ships before, the patrol boat HMAS Fremantle for a couple of hours, and the Landing Craft Heavy HMAS Tarakan for a day trip out to the reef and back. But going on board the Heavy Landing Ship HMAS Tobruk was an altogether different experience. After checking that all unit gear and stores had been loaded onto the truck (which was driving to Mackay) the cadets shouldered their gear and marched out the gate and across the hundred metres to the front gate of the naval base, HMAS Cairns. From there a naval rating acted as guide and led them through to the main wharf and then up a gangway onto the Tobruk.

  As they approached the ship Andrew’s interest and excitement rose to a new pitch. Just the sight of those high grey steel sides and of the masts, rigging and other nautical details got him looking eagerly in all directions. He was gripped by a fierce desire to soak up as many experiences as possible. This was the world he wanted to be part of and he intended to learn as much as he could and to savour every moment of it. Just struggling up the gangway under the cynical gaze of the real sailors was a small adventure. He could imagine he was actually a hardened old salt returning aboard with vital orders to sail on a desperate rescue mission.

  He knew already that Tobruk was one of the oldest ships in the RAN but that did not bother him because he was also aware that she was one of the navy’s most useful ships and had a very proud record of operational duty: taking troops to Somalia, Kuwait, Bougainville, East Timor and Makasang. He also knew her main characteristics so only half read the pamphlet they were all handed when they were assembled in a flat.

  A regular Petty Officer briefed them on the ship: a displacement of 5800 tons, length of 164 metres, beam of 18 metres and a draught of only 4 metres. “That is so we can get right in close to the shore to land tanks and vehicles across the bow ramp,” the petty officer explained. Andrew was surprised to learn that the ship could carry up to 18 main battle tanks or 35 APCs on her main cargo deck. She could also carry troops and in fact was transporting an army engineer squadron and its plant and vehicles back to Brisbane after a deployment
to the Solomon Islands.

  The petty officer then handed over to a lieutenant. The lieutenant wore his dress white uniform and Andrew studied him with hungry ambition. His eyes took in every detail of the peaked cap, tanned and handsome face, the black epaulets with their two gold bars, the obviously fit body in the brilliantly white uniform. The lieutenant looked exactly like what Andrew thought a naval officer should look and he at once hero worshiped him and hung on very word. Even that impressed him. The man spoke very clearly and precisely and was so obviously master of his profession that Andrew felt great confidence in him.

  The lieutenant gave them a detailed safety briefing. At the end of this he called over several ratings who distributed lifejackets to everyone. The cadets then practised putting the lifejackets on, the ratings checking every cadet. After the lifejackets were taken off and stowed the cadets were split into groups, each group in the charge of a rating. The rating then led them to their allocated mess deck.

  All of the boys in the port watch were berthed in the same quarters- bunks in the troop space but separate from the adults and the soldiers. The glimpse of the camouflage uniforms of the regular army engineers added another dimension of interest to the event. The cadets having stowed their kit in lockers the rating then led them on a guided tour of those parts of the ship not out of bounds at that time. As the ship was preparing to sail this did not include the bridge, control room or engine spaces and even the focsle and upper deck were off-limits.

  They did tour the flight deck and part of the upper deck to be shown their ‘abandon ship’ emergency station. They also went down to the tank deck. This was an eye-opening revelation to Andrew. To his eyes it was huge. It was lit by electric light but still gave the impression of being a vast gloomy steel cavern. The lines of dark green military vehicles and the usual festoons of pipes and wires all gave an impression of power and efficiency.

  After being shown the ‘heads’, showers, mess and rec rooms they were led back to their berth space. By then it was 6:45 pm (1845 as the rating put it). “Ship is due to sail at nineteen hundred,” he said. “By then you are to be formed up on the flight deck in your S. Eights.”

  There was a hurried changing into white shorts and shirts, white caps and dark blue long socks and black boots. Andrew was a bit shy of changing in front of the others, being used to the privacy of his own bedroom, but he did it as quickly as he could and then adjusted his cap in front of a full length mirror on the end bulkhead.

  Luke joined him, giving a big grin as he did. “My Ma, she has rung Uncle Moses,” Luke said. “He is going to visit us in Mackay.”

  Being reminded of the mystery at that moment was a slightly irritating jolt to Andrew as he had become absorbed by the experience of being on the ship but he gave a friendly reply and then led the way up to the flight deck.

  Even just walking along the corridors he enjoyed. It was all so novel: the smells of paint, oil, diesel, and a hundred other softer odours; the sight of all the pipes, wires, boxes, fire hoses, and so on that lined the bulkheads (He almost called them walls and had to correct himself); the feel of the forced draught air conditioning, the vibration from machinery. It was a distinct change in the tremor from what he assumed were the main engines that got him hurrying. There was no way he wanted to miss the experience of sailing out of his home town while standing on the deck of a navy ship.

  On reaching the flight deck the cadets were marshalled into lines five paces back from the deck edge (even though it had safety netting beyond that) by the adult staff. Luckily, being Port Watch, Andrew was lined up on the side facing the city. By the time the cadets were ready the shore lines had been singled up and the ship’s engines increased in tempo again. From where he stood Andrew could not see either the wharf or the water astern so he had to imagine the scene as the last lines were cast off and the ship began to swing out from her berth.

  On sensing that first movement Andrew experienced another spasm of excitement. This was the real thing! This wasn’t just a little day trip or a dive trip in a small launch. This was a famous navy veteran setting sail and he was on her! His imagination began to conjure up all sorts of romantic and exciting stories. But that almost spoilt it. Into his mind crept images of rescuing a pretty girl from rebels on a tropical island like Bougainville. But the face that he conjured up was Muriel’s. That made him risk looking over his shoulder to where she stood on the other side of the flight deck. Luckily she had her back to him so did not see his glance but there was still a sharp spasm of regret.

  The ship slid quietly down the Inlet past the oil wharf and the main wharf and marinas. By then it was almost a dark and, to his disappointment, there seemed to be almost no-one watching from the shore. He did see a few people waving and he knew that his parents would be among them, but he could not tell if they were or not. Nor did he relax his self discipline to wave. He just stood to attention when ordered and stayed that way till ‘stand easy’ was given out past the first harbour beacon.

  On being told to fall out and make their way to the dining mess Andrew paused for a few seconds and looked around, sniffing the sea and air and relishing being afloat. He had a strong feeling of adventure and happily enjoyed the sights. Then he turned to follow the others- to almost immediately have his bubble of joy pricked.

  CHAPTER 25

  SOUTH BY SEA

  Andrew made his way below, then joined the others from his watch in a queue at the dining mess. Blake stood in front of him in line and Luke behind. As the queue shuffled into the mess Andrew was talking to Luke. At the door he paused to look around the space, feeling both shy and inferior in the presence of the seated regular seamen and soldiers. While not being overt about it they radiated such a sense of superiority that Andrew had an urge to hide in the crowd.

  Then he noted Muriel further ahead in the queue. The queue went along the passageway and then turned to cross the front of the cafeteria style servery. Muriel was at the start of the servery. As he looked at her he noted that she was talking to Shona and that both were looking in his direction. Even as he watched they both looked away, then glanced in his direction again, then away. Muriel had an unhappy expression on her face, almost a scowl. Andrew felt a peculiar sensation in his skin and he shivered.

  ‘They are talking about me,’ he thought unhappily. From the look on Muriel’s face he was sure that what they were saying was not good and it caused him to feel a sick sensation in the stomach. Wondering what he had done to upset her now sent his mind back over the day’s conversation. ‘I hope Blake hasn’t told Shona about what Luke and I were discussing,’ he thought.

  He never did find out, but it almost spoilt his meal. The food was excellent, with three choices of main course, but somehow his appetite was gone. Muriel, he noted, sat with her back towards him and he was careful after that not to look at her in case he annoyed her even more. ‘I will never get her to like me again if I do,’ he reasoned.

  After the meal the groups were again taken on a guided tour of the ship, this time taking in such places as the engine and machinery spaces, the bridge and hangar. By then the ship was out of the channel into the open sea beyond Cape Grafton and had begun to move with quite a lively motion. Andrew was amazed at how such a large vessel could pitch so much but the motion had no effect on him. Not so on others. The first shamefaced victims of seasickness went off to their bunks. This included several older cadets with rank and caused Andrew to experience a spasm of relief, and of superiority.

  To his regret the cadets were not allowed out on the open decks after nightfall so he only got a few glimpses of the dark sea and the odd flickering light when they visited the bridge. They were then led back down to a briefing room and shown several videos about the navy and its ships. By the time they were over it was 2130 hrs so they were ordered to bed, to be ready for check parade at 0600.

  Back in his mess on the berth deck Andrew cleaned his teeth and changed into his pyjamas before climbing into his bunk. His was above Blake,
with Simmo opposite him and Luke beneath Simmo. By then the ship was rolling as well as pitching and even more cadets were looking a bit green around the gills. Andrew merely wondered if he might roll out of his bunk during the night. For a while he studied his chart, calculating the ship’s probable course and progress. Satisfied he knew where they were he snuggled into his sleeping bag and joked with his friends while enjoying every second of the experience. Even after grouchy old Chief Petty Officer Walker had come round to enforce ‘lights out’ he was still happy. He lay back, daydreaming about being at sea in wartime in a convoy of troopships on their way to land a force under fire on a hostile shore.

  With happy fantasies of how bravely he would save the ship and help the assault to succeed he drifted into a restless sleep, broken by the unfamiliarity of his surroundings, the motion of the ship, and the fidgeting and movement of the others.

  The morning check parade and roll call was on a cold and windy flight deck. To Andrew it was really enjoyable but he could tell that many cadets were feeling tired and miserable, if not actually seasick. The thing that he was not prepared for, even though he had read about it often enough, and experienced it several times in smaller vessels, was the way the horizon moved- or rather, the way it appeared to move as the ship rolled and pitched. The weather was not bad, just brisk, and the waves only one or two metres but there was a long swell that the ship was quartering and that made the movements seem enormous.

  To some it was obviously a frightening experience, to judge by their pale and anxious faces. A couple fell out, including Leading Seaman Holloway, Andrew’s immediate, and disliked, superior. As he did Andrew was careful to avoid his eye or to show any of the very real satisfaction the sight gave him. Once the roll was marked they were briefed on the morning’s program and then fallen out to carry out their morning routine and to have breakfast.

  While he’d been standing in ranks Andrew had been noting the landmarks that were visible. Only a couple of miles off the starboard beam was a large, mountainous island. Later, as they were being briefed that they would be entering Townsville soon he had guessed it was Magnetic Island. Out of curiosity he walked across to the starboard side and looked forward. Beyond the end of Magnetic Island a large mountain was visible in the distance. Even as he looked forward the ship changed course to starboard. Into view beyond the end of Magnetic Island Andrew glimpsed the distinctive shape of Castle Hill and in the distance the even more familiar shape of Mt Stuart. For a few moments he experienced a wave of pleasurable memories about the holidays in January and the adventures that had befallen him.