A Lifetime of Adventure

Having served my National service in the Royal Navy, I was de-mobbed as an Engineering Mechanic first class or, as we were generally called – Stokers. I'd spent two years working in boiler rooms in terrific heat, cleaning, painting and polishing brass as well as assisting the Artificers in stripping and repairing machinery. I'd travelled to foreign countries, having a great time with very little responsibilities, and had gained excellent practice in the use of tools and general engineering principles.

Now it was time to get back to my job in the laboratory, testing oils and rubbers. I tried to settle down to the routine of going to work every day at the same time and coming home at the same time after work. How I managed to keep doing that boring routine for the next four years, I'll never know. I yearned to get back to sea, to shake off the shackles of a life ashore. I dreamed daily of packing it all in and getting a bit of interest and adventure into my miserable existence. I wrote to shipping companies, offering my services, but none of them replied. There were seamen in my town who I knew and they offered differing advice, go to seaman's training school, get a pier head jump, go aboard ships and ask for a job. One guy told me to go to the Seamen's Union where they assigned men to vessels, and tell them I wanted to get away to sea.

What did I have to lose? I had plenty of experience of ship-board life. I took the plunge and went up to the counter in the Seamen's Union. I told the Officer there that I wanted a ship. 'Where's your Seaman's Book?' he asked.

'I don't have one but I've got my discharge papers from the Royal Navy.' I handed them over.

He studied them and said, 'You were an Engineer?'

'Engineering mechanic. Do you think I could be employed as a fireman or a stoker?'

He pursed his lips. 'Hmmm. I think I can get you employed as a Junior Engineer Officer.'

I was gobsmacked! An Officer!

He wrote out a ticket for me, introducing me to the Superintendent of a Local Shipping Company.

'Take this ticket to the Super and show him your discharge papers. He may give you a job on one of his ships. I know that he's short of Engineers, so you'll be in with a chance.'

I was absolutely elated, and thanked him profusely. I dashed around to the Company and asked to see the Super. I showed him the ticket I'd been given and gave him my discharge papers. He asked me questions about ships' machinery, how did condensers work, what is super heated steam, how does a steam turbine work, what are atomisers? I answered them all. He paced around while I was talking. Then he said, 'OK. I'll sign you on as a Seventh Engineer. You can join our ship in Teeside next week.' He gave me a letter for the Union so I could get proper documents.

I floated out of his office with a huge grin on my face. This was it! I'd done it. I'd joined the Merchant Navy as an Officer. I gave my notice at the laboratory and dashed around getting my Seaman's Book and Identity Card.

I joined the Steam Turbine Ship Llangorse, an oil tanker, due to sail for the Persian Gulf to load a cargo. She was a lovely ship, modern with huge cabins and lounges. The engine room was spotless, although the heat down on the deck where the boilers were blazing away to supply water and steam for machinery and domestic use was terrific. I wondered what it would be like down here when the ship was in the 140 degree heat of the Persian Gulf. I found out soon enough. We sailed through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea, then on to the Persian Gulf. We were bound for Mena-Al-Ahmadi at the furthest end of the Gulf. The heat was terrific on deck as the sun blazed down pitilessly, the steel becoming too hot to touch with the naked hand. Down below in the engine and boiler rooms the temperature rose to 160F and the only way to try to keep cool was to stand under a cool air blower. We ate salt tablets like they were going out of fashion. The only way to climb the ladders to the accommodation was to take a tablet at the bottom of the ladder, then climb. By the time you got to the top you were nearly exhausted and had to take another tablet. We worked constantly – four hours on and eight hours off. It was non-stop very hard work and if a breakdown of machinery happened, you kept working until it was repaired. On many occasions I worked right through my time off period and then continued on my next watch. The ship did many trips to the Gulf in the six months I was aboard her, taking cargoes to Europe, to the Caribbean Islands and to North America. While on board I made great friends of the two Radio Officers. What a great life they had. Their hours were only two hours on and two hours off from eight a.m until 10 p.m. They shared those duty hours out between them. They lived in air conditioned accommodation, they were always neat and clean and they had little to do. I was green with envy. They kept telling me to go to College and take the exam for Radio Officer, and I had to admit I gave it serious thought.

When I was discharged from the Llangorse I thought I'd try my luck on smaller ships so the Union found jobs for me on coasters. The trips were shorter but the conditions were worse. They were dirty, noisy, cramped conditions and everything smelled of diesel oil. It was in my hair, my clothes, I stank. I kept thinking of the lovely conditions the Radio Officers worked in. My future wife and I had met and were about to get engaged, so I came ashore and found a job in a factory.

It was dead end but the money was good, so my girl and I decided that I would save enough money to take me through College to become a Radio Officer. The course was for two years full time and in the vacations I would go back to sea on coasters and earn more money for the next term. It worked out well, and at the end of the two years I was a qualified Radio Officer. I jumped for joy on my first ship as junior Radio Officer. The job was all I had dreamed it would be. The work was interesting, the accommodation was great and I was treated as a Ship's Officer, not the greasemonkey that I had been. After two trips I was promoted to Chief Radio Officer. How life had changed. I was on a regular run from a South Wales port to Europe, Canada and Russia. When we came into port in the U.K, I closed down the radio room, locked it and went home. I rejoined the ship when she was due to sail. After two years of this I started to look around for a job ashore as it was getting harder and harder to leave my wife on her own. I finally found a job with the Decca Navigation Company, servicing their navigation systems on board ships. I applied and was accepted but the job had changed while I was training on their equipments and I found myself on their Survey ships in the North Sea, positioning rigs and barges in the oil industry. It was a good job though, as were were never away at sea for too long. We bought a house in Norfolk and started a family. Decca was expanding, taking on more men and ships and after a few years I was promoted to the underwater unit that the company had started. I gathered equipment together, serviced it and sent it out to ships to be fitted by our engineers, before they sailed on it and completed the job. Life was great, our two daughters were growing up, I was at home all the time and we were happy.

Then the crunch came! In 1979 the company was taken over. The new bosses decided they didn't want a shipping company, so they sold all the ships and the men were made redundant. Including me. We moved back to South Wales. After a few years of trying to make a living there was only one thing left to do and that was to hire myself out as a freelance engineer. Survey Companies were short of people, there was plenty of work available. I didn't look back. I was a freelance engineer until I retired in 2001. I travelled to many parts of the world in my work, writing when I could. My experiences have been the basis for the five books I've written. Visit me at www.dericbarryfictionbooks.com