A Deck Boys Diary

By John Richardson. Published by Classic Marine Publications, Swansea. Price £15.00

This very readable book tells of the author’s "First Trip" to sea in 1953. Like a first love, every seaman remembers his first trip with great clarity. I certainly remember mine, although it was some ten years later, and as an indentured apprentice strongly bound to "diligently serve his said masters... and not frequent alehouses or houses of ill repute save on the service of his said masters....", still, we were both still sixteen.

John Richardson went to the Wellesley Nautical School and sensibly in my view, did not carry on into the Royal Navy but joined the Merchant Navy citing the inducement of more favourable pay, and because he had heard of a more liberal freedom. I was left with the feeling that the latter was perhaps the more dominant because a little later he said he had been sent to Wellesley for non compliance with school rules. I immediately felt some affinity to another free spirit.

In May 1953 he joined the Watts and Company ship, Willesdon as a "Peggy" or Deck Boy, on the princely pay of £10 a month, and overtime after 56 hours, of 1/6d. I cannot say whether other readers from different backgrounds will find this book so evocative of past times and similar experiences but I suspect anybody who has been to sea will find it charming and read every page with growing nostalgia. It is safe to say that going to sea has changed more in the last 40 years than it had from the change from sail to steam. In fact the last major change at that time had been in 1894 when the Merchant Shipping Act came in, regulating at last, pay, conditions, victualling allowances as well as seaman’s lodging houses, thus attempting to stop the hitherto awful exploitation of seaman.

Willesdon was an Empire boat built during the WW2 Emergency Programme which included the American built Sam boats, and Canadian "Fort" and "Park" boats. These vessels offered two berth cabins, running water, steam heating and other luxuries. I read of his going up the gangway of his first ship, the strange smells and sounds that ships have as he timorously sought out the Bosun who gave him his jobs as mess boy. This entailed keeping the mess room clean and tidy making the tea for "smokos". Here I remembered "Board of Trade" coffee which when washing up turned the water green. The only milk being "connie-onnie" and "shakey" (condensed and evaporated milk.) The peggy had to collect the food from the galley to the mess room and do the washing up. He had to ensure that dry stores, condiments and sauces were available at meal times and generally look after eighteen men. Having also been to a sea school I also remembered the abundance and quality of the food at sea and the seaman’s judgement of a shipping company as to whether they were "good feeders"

The book continues with his experiences during the course of his first trip and I was left pondering as to whether things had changed for the better. At the time I railed at the continuous scrubbing and cleaning, but in reality it was a very good way to teach boys to become good seamen. Imagine a sixteen year old today beset with NVQs, training programmes in comparison. The reality however is that by confining young boys to menial tasks they soon got any cockiness knocked out of them, but were kept in a safe environment until they found their feet. In hindsight the men looked after the boys, and listening to them "swinging the lamp", the boys learned. I still remember some of the early hard lessons when I had done something stupid and was mercilessly ridiculed. Simple things which today would be given the grandiose title "Essential safe working practices" or outlawed because they were bullying. I remember that the older men always kept an eye out for the boys and ensured things didn’t get out of hand. Finally the joy of joining your second ship and no longer being a first tripper and being given jobs with the men.

I heartily agreed with the author that the Merchant Navy was the greatest school of life. The close knit society on board led to great tolerance for people’s weaknesses, as long as they did their job, "it was none of your business what they did", coupled with total intolerance of inconsiderate behaviour, being noisy, slamming doors etc. Whilst at sea nobody ever touched anybody’s possessions and nothing personal was ever locked. Theft from your fellow "Board of Trade acquaintances" was the most heinous crime. Communications were difficult and expensive and the little village of the ship went around the world, and barring some football results, got and relayed by "sparky", we had little interest in the outside world.

This book wonderfully re-creates that long gone world, wondering whether human beings do know what’s good for them. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and was sad when I reached the end. It would certainly make a very good Christmas present for anyone who was in the "Merch" prior to 1980.

One final reservation, I suspect, born out of the author’s modesty and self effacing style, we were told that he left his last ship in 1990, I suspect as Master, to retire, and it would have been nice to know briefly what happened to him after finishing his "First Trip".

Reviewed by Jeremy Puckett

Add your comments

Please note: this is not an email facility, all comments are placed on this page and on our Forum

Message type (select one)

Respond to this whole topic.

Respond to part of it using this sub-title

Start an entirely new topic using this title

Your name

Message contents