Torpedoes Approaching from Port

Arthur H. Black DSC Master Mariner

Description

The memoir of a master mariner as he experienced life on the seas as a deck officer during the Second World War and a cadet on a cargo ship in 1927.
During an uncertain and dangerous time in the world, Arthur Black learned how to not only endure hardship but also accept it, as did all the others who demonstrated courage while navigating through extremely difficult circumstances in world history.
In a compelling eyewitness account of life as a deck officer (navigation and gun control) in a cargo ship in the Merchant Navy during the Second World War, Black offers a fascinating glimpse into day-to-day life on the seas divided into a three-part narrative. He shares facts about the ship and the way it sailed, insight into the varied colorful characters who were his good shipmates, and the frightening events that occurred while sailing the Mediterranean in the face of Axis bombardment. Included are excerpts from a diary he kept while on his first voyage in 1927 on a full-rigged sailing ship from Australia to Peru that details his experiences as he survived torpedoes, lifeboats, and prisoner of war camp.
Torpedoes Approaching from Port is the memoir of a master mariner as he experienced life on the seas as a deck officer during the Second World War and a cadet on a cargo ship in 1927.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Military
• History

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse UK
• Date de parution: 28 octobre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781728376301
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

TORPEDOES APPROACHING FROM PORT
Part 1 Convoy on Zigzag course | Part 2 Carry on and Hope for the best | Part 3 Green Seas over the deck
The Clan Line Steamship Company worked to a strict schedule, throughout World War II, transporting military supplies and carrying vital cargoes from Britain to India, South Africa and the Mediterranean Sea. Arthur H Black a serving officer, in Clan Line ships kept a journal of his experiences. This is an eyewitness account of war at sea when your ship is the target. The Merchant Navy personnel were non-combatants during World War II.
ARTHUR H. BLACK, DSC MASTER MARINER


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© 2022 Arthur H. Black, Dsc Master Mariner. All rights reserved.
 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
 
Published by AuthorHouse 10/28/2022
 
ISBN: 978-1-7283-7631-8 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-7283-7632-5 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-7283-7630-1 (e)
 
 
 
 
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
CONTENTS
Part 1 — Convoy on a zigzag course
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
 
Background Notes
Part 2 — Carry-on and Hope for the Best
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Part 3 — Green Seas Over The Deck
Crew of the “William Mitchell”
PART 1
CONVOY ON A ZIGZAG COURSE
CHAPTER 1
I n May 1938, after a spell ashore, I was appointed second officer of TSS Clan Chisholm and joined her on 25 May after taking a three-day course, at S. G. Browne’s Works at East Acton, on the working of the gyrocompass.
The course in itself was not difficult to take in, but there were six French officers from SS Normandie who held up proceedings a bit, as their good English did not rise to the occasion as far as technical terms were concerned and everything had to be explained in Basic English. Also, they invariably arrived late in the morning, having repeatedly got on the wrong underground train and arriving at Marble Arch.
At the end of the course, we were given a simple examination and a certificate to the effect that we were able to work and maintain a gyrocompass, automatic helmsman, and all the other gadgets that went with it.
The Clan Chisholm was lying in King George V Dock at the end of her maiden voyage and was just completing discharging a cargo of sugar from Mauritius. When I arrived, I had left most of my gear at Paddington Station and had lived out of a suitcase while I was staying in London. I went to the company office to find out how to get to the ship, as we usually berthed in Tilbury Docks and I wasn’t familiar with the Royal Docks. The cashier was going down to the ship, so we took a taxi from St Mary Axe to Paddington for my gear, and then went down to the ship in the Royal Docks, at the company’s expense. I truly enjoyed myself, as we seemed to be caught in endless traffic jams and the meter was ticking up all the time.
The Clan Chisholm was one of a very fine class of ship that had been started in early 1937. The previous two ships were the Clan Cameron and the Clan Campbell . The Clan Chisholm was followed by the Clan Chattan and then a slightly modified version in the Clan Ferguson and the Clan Forbes .
They were all 485 feet in length overall and had a 66-foot beam, propelled by twin triple-expansion reciprocation engines with a low-pressure turbine on each shaft. They had a maximum speed of sixteen knots, and the boilers could be fired by coal or oil fuel. They carried a deadweight cargo of 10,500 tons and were fitted with two 15-ton derricks at numbers two, three, and four hatches and two 5-ton derricks at numbers one, two, three, four, and five hatches. Also at number two hatch was an 80-ton derrick and a 40-ton derrick at number four hatch. The two heavy derricks were interchangeable, which made a very sophisticated arrangement for cargo handling. Each had a long forecastle which extended to the foremast, and this made them dry ships in bad weather.
They had been built to form a new service in conjunction with the Ellerman Line and the Harrison Line to Durban, Lourenco Marques, and Biera. The Union-Castle mail steamers used to leave Southampton on a Thursday and arrive at Durban in twenty-five days after calling at Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and East London. The new service left Liverpool on Saturdays and arrived in Durban to start unloading the same day as the mail steamer. When all the ships in the three companies were completed, they planned to cut the time down to seventeen days.
The accommodation was a new departure for our company. Hitherto, the officers’ rooms were on the main deck in the bridge house and the engineers were also in the main deck, around the engine room. Now we were moved up one deck, which also had the advantage of lifting the navigating bridge up another ten feet and improving the visibility enormously. Having our rooms above the main deck meant that we had no working alleyway going past our doors, which made things much quicker in port. As there were only six rooms on our deck, we had large rooms, each with a port in the forward bulkhead and the door opening aft so that we had a good current of air through the rooms in hot weather. Our rooms opened onto a large veranda which was comfortable for sitting out on at night in the tropics.
I spent the rest of the day with my predecessor, going over every inch of the gyro installation and all the other navigation gear for which we were responsible. I was feeling a bit overawed and wondering if I would be able to cope with it satisfactorily. We started talking about a mutual friend who was in one of the new ships, and Bill said, ‘You know, I was worried to death about this newfangled gear when I joined this ship, and then I thought, Damn it, if George can manage it, daft as he is, surely I can! ’ This cheered me up no end, and from that moment, everything took on a much brighter aspect.
We were sailing for Glasgow the next day, so the two of us started the machinery and got it all lined up and ready for sailing. The gyro took eight hours to settle into the meridian from starting, so the next morning, I was happy to find that everything was in perfect order. Bill left the ship that morning, as he had just been promoted to chief officer.
The chief officer (of the Chisholm ) was an old friend of mine, as we has sailed together when I was third officer, and he was the most efficient chief officer I ever sailed with. Because of this, we seemed to get through a prodigious about of work without seeming to do very much! The third and fourth were both new to the ship and proved to be ideal shipmates.
The only remaining hurdle to be surmounted now was the captain. He had a formidable reputation in the company, and it was said that you sailed either with him for one voyage out and one home or for life. He was a Captain RNR, retired, and ex- RNR, ADC to King George V. He had a number of peculiar habits, but we all seemed to fit in together well and seldom suffered his vitriolic wrath.
He always had to be piped aboard and met at the gangway by the officer of the Day. The flags had to be piped up at 8 a.m. and down at sunset, and there had to be no shouted orders going into and out of port. This was a good thing, really, as we had telephones to all parts of the ship from the bridge so there was no fear of misunderstanding orders. Another good standing order was that in port all noise should cease at 11 p.m. unless there was an official party in operation!
We duly sailed from the Thames and proceeded to Glasgow at full speed. I had been looking forward to steaming at sixteen knots, as I had never done more than a hard-fought fourteen knots previously. Alas, I was disappointed, as the hull was so well designed that there was very little disturbance in the water and one had no feeling of speed on the bridge until one found that everything else seemed to be standing still.
When we got to Glasgow, we found we had to lie up for three weeks before going onto the berth to start loading cargo. Discovered during the first voyage were a number of teething troubles to put right. In fact, it was a pleasant time because the weather was good and the Glasgow Empire Exhibition was taking place then. The chief officer and I had our wives living aboard with us, and it was a very civilised way of