HOW
IT ALL BEGAN Let
the records show that I actually joined the Merchant Navy on Friday the 4th June 1954, my 13th birthday. A rather strange
statement certainly but how can that be? Well, that was the day I became a teenager and as such, would then be allowed to
go out at night on the fishing boats in Carradale. Here I think, an explanation is required! As a family, Mum and Dad together
with my two younger brothers Alan and David, had for years taken our summer holidays in Carradale on the Mull of Kintyre on
A tradition at Carradale that seemed to involve the entire local and visitor
community alike was to go down to the harbour just as dusk was approaching each evening to watch the boats go out for another
night’s fishing in search of the elusive, above mentioned Silver Darlings! I was fascinated by the sea and had been
for as long as I could remember. I loved pottering about in our small dinghy in and around the old pier, and the thought of
being able to go out at night and accompany the fishermen seeing them at work, had been an obsession with me for ages. I could
see each evening that as the boats left the shelter of the old pier, in addition to the oilskin cladded fishermen, there appeared
to be a number of visitors going along for the ride as it were. It was fairly obvious that they were going out with the fishermen
to see what happened during the hours of darkness and I too wanted very much to experience this for myself. I was forever
asking Mum and Dad if I too could go out on the boats but was always being told - wait until you’re a little bit older
and in your teens and we’ll see. I clearly remember, as if it was only yesterday, a conversation I had with Mum as we
left Carradale in early September of 1953 that the next time we were in Carradale, I would be able to go out to the fishing! I was right too, because in August of 1954 I was able to experience at long last,
the thrill and excitement of watching these fishermen, hardy souls each and every one, hard at work as they hauled in the
nets time after time during the course of a nights fishing. I loved being out on the water, the movement of the boat the sights
and smells but above all else, the privilege of being allowed to be with these men as they went about their daily work in
all weathers. Undoubtedly, the many evenings, and there were plenty that I spent on board these herring boats night after
night, prepared me for what was to come. This experience had sown the seed and I longed for the day when I could leave school
and seek a career that would allow me to further my ambition. That
therefore, is the background to this story. All that remained was for me to compete my education at The As I started what
turned out to be my last full term at Friday 28th June
1957 dawned and so ended the formal part of my education. This was really the
start of the summer holidays but this would be very different to those that had gone before. Instead of setting off for Kintyre
and our annual stay in Carradale, I would be endeavouring to find some way of fulfilling this ambition of mine by joining
the Merchant Navy. During a conversation one evening that Mum was having with
Grandpa Taylor in Although it was
something I had never thought about, training to be a Radio Officer was a means to an end in that I would be able to go to
college and further my education rather than sit at home and wait for something to happen. Courses lasted for 12 months and
at the end, either a First or Second Class Radiotelegraph Operator’s Certificate would be awarded. I’m pleased
to say that the aforementioned certificate was always referred to as the PMG 1 or 2. (Postmaster General) and these awards
ensured employment, either afloat in the Merchant Navy, or indeed could be used at the many shore establishments up and down
the country and overseas that monitored radio traffic coming into or out of the UK. I was lucky enough to be in a position
to enrol in the upcoming course; one scheduled to begin on Monday the 2nd September and this would take me through until August
the following year. I had to call upon Dad to help me here as this was a private college and the course had to be paid for.
Unfortunately, I no longer have the records to show the cost of this course but I do remember it wasn’t cheap. The After initial instructions
and introductions, we were given a tour of the college, which consisted of the main tutorial room where obviously the principal
instruction would take place. We were introduced to what would become our own particular place in this room, the desk we would
operate from every day for the coming twelve months. Although I would have to work hard and learn, this was different from
the formal schooling I had just completed. Hopefully, I would now be learning something that would stand me in good stead
for whatever was to come in the future. Apart from the main room, there were other smaller facilities containing many types
of radio and signal equipment, not unusual I suppose bearing in mind the training I was about to undertake! We were told that
the rest of this first week would really be just a familiarisation exercise of all the equipment; rules and regulations etc.
because the fun and games would start the following week. So began
the process of reporting to college every morning for a 9.00am start. There was a break of fifteen minutes mid morning and
a lunch break of 45 minutes at or around 1.00pm. In the afternoon, a second fifteen
minutes break was had before lectures or demonstrations ended for the day at 5.15 pm. It wasn’t too hectic a day but
the routine was fairly constant and followed a more or less similar pattern day after day. The morning session up to the mid
morning break was taken up by lectures on procedures and the rules and regulations surrounding the role of Marine Radio Operators
– be they on board or in shore establishments. The remaining part of the morning was invariably taken up with the basics
of using Morse. Obviously we had to learn the code and the very simple process of repetition achieved this. Trial and error, sounding out aloud to a colleague so that the noise emanating from that tutorial room
every day would drive any visitor up the wall! It must have sounded awful but very soon we were more or less proficient but
still very slow. The speed would come later. At this early stage, we were nowhere
near being allowed close to a Morse key; that day would come eventually but it was something we did eagerly await. During the two sessions
in the afternoon, various pieces of equipment were taken apart and put back together again, this appearing to be the best
way of demonstrating how the various items operated. The ‘Oceanspan’ transmitter was to become very familiar to
all of us during the coming months. Apparently, this was the favoured machine in use in the majority of establishments –
be they afloat or on dry land! That therefore was
our day and this carried on until we broke for a weeks break over Christmas and New Year. Four months of a daily slog had
been completed and it was hard to believe that we were already a third of the way through our course. The ninety minutes each
day that we spent on the Morse Code, although rather tedious to begin with, gradually became more exciting as our expertise
improved. What had started with us sounding out to colleagues verbally eventually led to us actually being allowed to use
a Morse key. The operation of such a key is a fairly simple procedure; you merely press down and make the required contact.
The clever part is using the key to differentiate between dots and dashes and in time we all managed to do this quite successfully.
As a requirement
to securing the coveted PMG Certificate, we had to prove that we could send and read at a minimum of twenty five words per
minute but in reality, something approaching forty words was perfectly achievable. In the early stages during that first term,
twenty five words per minute seemed a very long way off and I think that something like five words per minute would have been
nearer the truth! So day after day we would practice sending messages and reports taken from newspaper articles. Our instructor
was able to listen in to any conversations that were taking place in the room and we often incurred the wrath of this gentleman,
either for some minor misdemeanour or more likely, some inappropriate comments were being made about fellow classmates! At this point I
should mention that each evening I made my way back to 26 Rowallan Gardens in Hyndland where Grandpa and Grandma Taylor, together
with Alexa and Edith, looked after me so well. I was able to take a tram from After enjoying a
few days with the family, it was time to begin my second term at the College. I was thoroughly enjoying my time there and
was more or less convinced that as soon as I graduated with my PMG Certificate, I would be off round the world. Advertisements
were appearing all the time and during our breaks, we would all avidly appraise them comparing the terms and conditions that
all the various companies were advertising. One in particular drew my attention but it was in a most unlikely direction. Rather
than be attracted to the higher salary being offered to fully qualified Radio Officers, I liked the idea of taking up a deck
apprenticeship with a company that would allow me to pursue a career as a deck officer.
Such a company was the Anchor Line, probably the best known of all the shipping companies sailing out of the Without too much
delay, I decided to apply for an interview with the Anchor Line whilst still leaving my options open at the In his letter offering
me an interview, Mr Noble also explained that apprenticeships with the Anchor Line were indentured and as such my parents
would have to pay for this privilege. This was quite a shock to the system but both Mum and Dad said that as this was always
what I had wanted to do, they would not stand in my way and I should go through with the interview. So it was that on the
appointed day, Mum and Dad were able to come up to One of the vessels
in the Anchor Line fleet was a general cargo ship called the Tahsinia that was due back in The Tahsinia was
one of three general cargo ships, known as the “T” boats, all employed on the north Atlantic run between the With my interview
at an end and as we were now in the middle of February, there was not a lot of time left to make all the necessary arrangements,
the most important of which was to purchase all the uniform equipment I would need. There were so many loose ends that needed
tying up with the Naturally I was
sorry to say goodbye to the many friends I had made over the preceding five months but I knew I was making the right decision
and perhaps one day our paths would cross again. It was back down to To start with the
actual uniforms. Two were required, one for general or working use and the other to be for more formal occasions such as at
meal times or when we were in the presence of passengers. Each uniform suit consisted of a jacket and two pairs of trousers
and of course, the hat. Two were required, adorned with the well known cap badge of the Red Anchor. All the buttons on the
jackets had the Anchor Line emblem and to complete the picture, cadet’s epaulettes were sewn onto each lapel. A navy
duffle coat, oilskin coat and boots completed the main items. Various items of workwear also had to be purchased and this
included navy coloured boiler suits and work gloves. Along with other personal items, we all left
The
MV Tahsinia was built by John G. Kincaid & Co. Ltd. Greenock and launched on the 16th May 1946. Her registered number
was 169473 with a gross tonnage of 5680 tons. Length of 425 feet, Breadth 58 feet and a Depth of 38 feet. The weekend
of the 8th and 9th of March 1958 was soon upon us and on the Sunday with Mum and Dad, I left Dumfries to go up to Speaking to a security
guard on the gate, we explained the situation to him and he kindly allowed us to take the car onto the quayside and see the
Tahsinia close up. She, of course, looked enormous and the biggest ship by far that I had ever seen. The fact that she was
empty of any cargo and was therefore riding high out of the water just emphasised this but I did know that once cargo was
loaded, she would eventually settle down and perhaps not look quite so big. Dad did take a few photographs before we left
to go to A day I never thought
would come, Monday 10th March, did eventually arrive and although no time had been given to me, I had been asked to report
on board to the purser so I was itching to get on my way. Breakfast over, we were off and on arrival at Yorkhill Quay felling
just a trifle apprehensive, I made my way up the gangway. The whole scene on the quayside, to my eyes anyway, appeared to
be quite chaotic – cranes swinging in and out, lorries in a queue right round the warehouse obviously waiting to be
unloaded and noise!
All the documentation
I would need for my time in the Merchant Navy; Discharge Book, Union Membership Book and in front, my British Seaman’s
Card or Passport. On deck, I was
met by another cadet, a young man called Phil Streeter who like myself, was joining the Tahsinia for the first time and the
two of us made our way below to find the Purser. For the rest of that first morning, various important documents were completed
including the all important Seaman’s Record Book and Certificate of Discharge. In addition, we were issued with a British
Seaman’s Card, our equivalent to the British Passport and last but by no means least, a membership card for the Merchant
Navy and Air Line Officers’ Association, our
"Tahsinia"
at Yorkhill Quay on Sunday the 9th March 1958. Anchor Line's dock. In the background may be seen one of the U.S.
Lines Victory boats e.g. American Packer, American Scientist etc.
I think it is fair to say that
the rest of that first day was a bit of a blur. We were told to familiarise ourselves with the ship as best we could and to
stay out of trouble! Later on,
Phil and I met
a third cadet and the three of us wandered round with eyes like saucers. Everything
was so new and strange but armed with plans of the ship that had been given to us earlier, we slowly but surely worked our
way around. We were told that our captain was Mr Ramage, always referred to as the Captain and nothing else. The Chief Office
was Mr Lamont but as to the names of anyone else, that would have to wait. During our familiarisation tour and in the accommodation
block on the first deck level, we discovered our own cabins. As far as we were concerned, Phil and I would be sharing a cabin
and with two bunk beds in it, we tossed a coin to decide who would sleep where. I won and chose the top bunk and, as I was
later to find out, this would be my resting place for the coming year! In the same accommodation alleyway on that first deck, we were able to identify cabins for the Captain,
Chief Officer, Second and Third Officers and the Chief Engineer. The Radio Officer and Purser also had cabins very close to
our own. Opposite our cabin door, was a staircase or companionway as it should properly be called, leading to the bridge.
We had a quick look round here but more would be explained to us in due course. One deck down, on the main deck, we located
the dining room and accommodation for the remaining engineering officers. However, as the galley was not operational as yet
and meals were not being provided, the three of us managed to find our way to a café close to the warehouse and had a snack
there. Back on board, we were introduced to the Second Officer and he was able to give us a lot more information about what
we would be doing during the coming week before we sailed for lorries I had seen
on my arrival were called onto the quayside in turn and the cartons and crates were then stacked onto pallets before being
lifted and lowered into one of the waiting holds, Down in the holds, other dockers or stevedores to give them their correct
titles, were waiting to offload the pallets before stacking each individual box neatly. It certainly was a high labour intensive
operation and there were literally hundreds of dockers labouring away both on and off the ship. that once
the hatch covers and tarpaulins had been put back in place at the end of the working day, the hatch locking bars would then
have to put into position and padlocked. The locking bars, once positioned correctly on top of the hatch covers, had large
bolts and nuts, which had then to be screwed up tightly before attaching a padlock. To this end, we three cadets were each
issued with a very large Stilson wrench that would become our most prized possession and woe The Tahsinia on
Sunday the 9th March 1958 with loading yet to start. heavy and
cumbersome bars in place. Six locking bars per hatch were required so working as a team, we soon mastered the art and we finished
each of the four holds in about an hour although I can honestly say, I was extremely tired at the end of the operation. We
were also considerably dirtier than what we had been on starting out and the need for working overalls had certainly been
proved very necessary. Another important role that we cadets would have to perform was the raising and lowering of the Red
Duster and the Company House Flag at sunrise and sunset each day. The Red Duster is the affectionate name for the Merchant
Navy Union Jack and was always flown at the stern of the ship whilst in port. At sea, it is flown from the main mast. So each
day, having carefully worked out and had the timings checked for sunset and sunrise, one of us would perform the necessary
duty, taking it in turns to share out the duty. If we had to stay on in the evening, someone else would come in first thing
in the morning and vice versa. As I mentioned, I was tired but also exhilarated and we cadets sat for quite some time talking
over our thoughts and feelings about our shared experiences on this our first day as cadets.
this time, I had
been told that we would be sailing in the early evening the coming Friday so I was able to let my families know that Thursday
would be my last night at home. During Thursday,
the eve of our sailing, we were given details of our duties regarding the watches we would be doing once at sea and our duties
when leaving port. At sea on board ship, the day is divided up into six four hour spells or watches. Entering and leaving
harbour and time actually in port would be dealt with at a later stage. Each of the three cadets were allocated a particular
watch and I was to be on the four to eight watch, both in the morning and early evening.
This was also the watch that the Chief Officer was in charge of so I felt quite privileged and the hours didn’t
seem to be all that bad. Little did I know what was about to happen! I found out also that the Second Officer always took
the twelve to four watch whilst the third Officer, the eight to twelve one. The Captain didn’t stand a watch but obviously
could appear at anytime. However, that was not quite upon us yet. The following evening at high tide just after eight pm or
twenty hundred hours as it should be called, we would leave Yorkhill Quay behind and start the long journey to the other side
of the where I would have
to keep a record of all that happened in the bridge log. At the rear or
aft end of the bridge, was a high desk above which were a number of telephones connected to different parts of the ship. The
bow and stern were fairly prominent plus of course, a telephone connection to the Engine Room.
It would be my job to record the time, and report all verbal commands issued on the bridge, reports coming in from
other parts of the ship and this would continue until such times as I was relieved or when there was no longer any need for
a full report to be recorded. Just after 6.00pm activity increased as two Clyde
Port Authority tugs appeared and took up position forward and aft of us. At this time, I was told that all we were waiting
for was a starting
to move under our own power. I was being kept busy answering various telephones and reporting on all that was happening that
I never noticed how the time was passing. No sooner had we
left Yorkhill Quay when I was aware that we were about to pass the point where the Renfrew Ferry crossed the river. By this
time, we had cast off the aft tug but we were still under the control of the forward tug and I was informed that this would
be in place until such times as we reached the Tail o the Bank near moved past Gourock
and rounded the famous Cloch Light at the entrance to the I had a rather
rude awakening for my first morning at sea – 3.30am to be precise! My opposite number on the midnight to four watch
brought me a mug of tea and the news that it was pouring with rain and better wear an oilskin coat! It was pitch black as
I made my way onto the bridge, rather feeling my way as my eyes got used to the darkness. The Second Officer was in the process
of handing over to the Chief Officer and I was told that we were now rounding the Mull of Kintyre having made our way south
from the Clyde during the four or five hours since I had turned in. I was just
a trifle homesick at this point because I obviously knew this area so well having spent numerous years in Kintyre during our
holidays each year in Carradale. I could see the Mull of Kintyre Light flashing away to starboard and it appeared to be quite
close. I had a quick look at the chart laid out on the table inside the wheelhouse and noticed that our course out into the
the safety of everyone
on the ship. Tahsinia was moving to a slight swell but the motion was actually very comfortable as I settled down to enjoy
the rest of my first watch. A rather amusing moment occurred when I asked the
Chief if he wanted me put up all the flags as we had done each day whilst in port. He replied that this wasn’t really
necessary as who would be around to see them! Certainly the Red Duster could go up but instead of raising this at the stern
as we had done in After breakfast,
I changed into working clothes and reported, as I was later to do each day, for duties and to undertake any tasks that were
required of me. This could range from clearing rust from the ships rails, perhaps the odd touch up painting job in and around
the bridge to just about any odd job that needed doing – anything really
to keep us occupied. A favourite job for the cadets was to keep the two bridge engine room telegraphs, one situated on each
side of the bridge just outside the actual wheelhouse, spotlessly clean. These were substantial brass telegraphs and we had
the devils own job keeping them clean. This work, plus the two spells on watch each day, was to be the norm whilst at sea.
In addition, we had to keep up to date with our studies and the Merchant Navy Training Board had set out a schedule that we
all had to adhere to. The Anchor Line were very clear on this and during my interview, Captain Noble had stressed how important
it was to keep up to date. A nominated officer on board and in the case of the Tahsinia, this was the second officer, would be checking on our progress on a regular basis.
Something like an hour each day really had to be spent on the likes of International
Code Flag recognition and the Morse Code. This is where my six months at the On our first full
day at sea and once we had cleared the coast of Northern Ireland, a surprise lay in store for those of us on our first trips
when we were told that we had a Duty Free shop or bond on board, something that we were completely unaware of. As the ship had now entered International waters, the bond could be opened and various items could be offered
for sale free of Tax. The likes of cigarettes were an obvious popular choice but chocolates too figured high on everyone’s
lists. I saw and bought a most beautiful Parker Fountain pen with a gold top that I certainly couldn’t have afforded
back home but it was something I would be able to use for many years to come. The bond was actually open for a short while
every day under the control of the Purser but with shortage of funds being a fairly important issue, I wasn’t able to
take full advantage of this as much as I would have liked. It was noticeable, however, that the bond was a favourite place
for everyone the day before we arrived back home as we all sought ideas for gifts for family and friends! imagine our surprise
and delight when we were able to see at first hand, the magnificent Queen Elizabeth making her stately way to
capture the sun
when several days may have passed when it was impossible to see it. Me and my sextant.
Every day whilst at sea, we had to shoot the sun – provided it was there to see! Another interesting
fact I discovered was our course was not just simply a straight line between the coast of In addition, because
of the time difference between the showed that we
had approximately 200 miles to go, something like fifteen hours sailing time so by my estimation, we would be in a position
to pick up a pilot sometime during my evening watch. For this my first
trip, I was excited, as were my fellow cadets, that we were about to dock in one of the most famous cities in the world and
we would be arriving in daylight so would have a chance to see some of the sights that we were all so familiar with. I was
particularly looking forward to seeing the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island, which was right in the entrance to the
of the same name
was leading a campaign to weed out and stop communism from pervading American society. Whilst we were being piloted into the
dock area, the entire crew had to line up and during very brief interviews these Port Authority agents asked questions such
as – “Do you have any Communist Leanings?” I didn’t even know what Communism was let alone have any
leanings towards it so I’m afraid I wasn’t much use to them! We also had to undergo personal questions regarding
our health but nothing untoward was discovered and as far as we were concerned, were now free to enter port once we had tied
up – or so we thought. By the time these interview sessions were completed, I never saw the Statue of Liberty but I
hoped that on our reverse trip out of the harbour, I would get a chance to see her then. However, we did have to take up our
positions for entering harbour so I found myself, once more, on the bridge with the Captain, Pilot and Third Officer. As we moved slowly
up the Having taken the
advice offered to have an early night, we were given a rude awakening just after 7.00am when we heard teams of dockers streaming
on board to begin the task of unloading the hundreds of thousands of cases and crates of An officer was
assigned to each of Tahsinia’s holds and would remain in position there as long as work was going on. Even at break
times, the locking bars would be put back and then and only then, would we be allowed to leave the deck. So started an exceedingly
long and tiring day sitting down a hold watching pallet after pallet being unloaded. Breakages did occur and we all saw examples
of bottles being rescued from broken cases and being hidden away obviously for removal at some later stage. However, we soon
discovered that provided the dockers were ‘allowed’ to have a bottle to take away, the level of breakages certainly
diminished. We soon struck up a level of friendship with the men, most of whom
were of Polish descent, and the day did eventually pass without too many incidents to report.
The locking security
bars can be seen on top of number one hatch cover. With the day drawing
to a close at 4.30pm, and after the daily ritual of locking up securely, after our meal thoughts did turn to the possibility
of going ashore into the City that never sleeps! The somewhat important matter of money then cropped up but as I mentioned
much earlier, I was only earning the princely sum of £3.00 per week. Having started with the Anchor Line on Monday 10th March,
I had been in employment for exactly two whole weeks and as such, was owed something like £6.00. Wow!! What was I going to
spend all that money on? Obviously I am being just a trifle facetious but with that sum of £6.00, I was then able to augment
this with a couple of pounds I still had from when we left the first time
what a commercial radio station sounded like. Such a thing was unheard of in the
first day in Unlike the previous
day, our first, unloading of the whisky continued more or less continuously with no real issues other than the minimum amount
of damage and subsequent ’pilfering’. We knew by this time, that at the current rate of unloading, a further three
to four days would be needed to complete the task which would mean that sometime over the weekend we would be in a position
to move out and on to our next port of call. That was in the future however.
Right now I was more interested in finishing that second day because it would give me the opportunity to go ashore, something
I had been eagerly looking forward to since arriving nearly two days ago.
city which
he kindly lent to us and on looking at this, we saw that getting around didn’t appear to be too much of a problem. The
city was laid out in grid fashion, Avenues going from North to South whilst Streets went from East to West; all very simple
- or so we thought. Immediately outside the gate to Pier 86 was a very wide road that we could see was signposted as Waiting for export
to some far flung destination. Compared to what we were used to in the
Traffic was fairly
solid and we couldn’t find a place to cross with any degree of safety. Bearing in mind that traffic was coming at us
in a direction opposite to what we were used to in the This was accomplished
satisfactorily and after seeing off my first very large American hamburger with accompanying French Fries, I parted with almost
half my money. So one day down, eight dollars spent and still at least another three or four days in about seven blocks,
we arrived in reverse tracks
and go all the way back to the shop and hopefully, pick up the remaining sections hoping that I would be remembered by the
shopkeeper. I was, by this time, becoming an expert at crossing Preparations were
now well under way with regard to our departure later for Moving slowly back
down the Rather than being
called at my usual time of 0330 for my morning watch, this time it was 0200 when I had my morning mug of tea brought to me!
We were well inside Chesapeake Bay and about to board our pilot who would take over control of Tahsinia for our final manoeuvres
prior to docking in if there is movement
during transit, there is sufficient reserve storage that will take up any slack. It was these reserve storage bins that were
being built that we were seeing this first morning in Construction continued
all day but we were assured that everything would be completed in order to start work with the actual loading the next morning.
So it was that we were able to be moved along the quay wall to a position under this giant grain elevator in such a way that
two of our holds could be loaded at the same time. As well as being susceptible to movement in transit, grain has to be loaded
in a particular way. If too much is loaded at any one point, this will undoubtedly cause stress at that part of the ship so
very careful monitoring has to take place at all times. It is merely a matter of moving from one hold to another with like
quantities being loaded each time. This is a long and tiresome process but one that has to be followed very strictly or serious
consequences can follow. There have been examples of ships breaking their backs, even in harbour, caused by dangerous loading
practices so it is imperative that correct working procedures are followed. The Master has ultimate responsibility for this
but the Chief Officer was ever present as we loaded all day. seemed to be the
ones that the officers fell back on if they could think of nothing else for us to do – all very boring. Loading of the
wheat continued each day until the weekend when everything stopped and unfortunately we then had two days of nothing to occupy
ourselves, We were so close to completion and it was a shame this could not have been planned better. However, we knew by
this time that with luck, we would finish quite early on the Monday and therefore be in a position to leave As expected, work
on our loading did complete before lunch on the 7th and without any further delays, we were able to leave on time just after
1400. After dropping off our harbour pilot, we sailed under the quite spectacular would, in all probability
be in a position to get to Dumfries in about ten days time. Over the
weekend, we three cadets were told that one of us could leave the ship in Avonmouth so we drew lots to see who that lucky
person would be. Suffice to say it wasn’t me but I knew I only had a further week to go before I too could go on leave.
Monday morning arrived and stevedores arrived to begin the unloading process, which started more or less straight away. As
it turned out, this lasted until Thursday and late that evening we duly left the Bristol Channel and headed north through
the Irish Sea towards the The next two hours
passed very slowly as, after picking up the obligatory pilot, we made our way up the Clyde and after being taken into Queens
dock to allow us to do a one hundred and eighty degree turn in order that we could then face in the correct direction when
next we left, we tied up at our home base, Yorkhill Quay. So ended my first trip with the Anchor Line in the Tahsinia. Six
weeks had simply flown past and I had so many stories to tell to whoever would listen to me and I couldn’t wait to do
it all again very soon. After saying my goodbyes, I was given permission to go on leave with the news that I should report
back again on Monday 5th May, a mere ten days away.
Managing to find
my way to Before carrying
on, I would like to tell of an interesting story that occurred during one of my brief spells at home. On one of these breaks,
I met up with two old school friends, Leslie Higgins and John Ratcliffe. They, together with yet another classmate, Bobby
Prentice, had all joined the Merchant Navy at more or less the same time as I did. Leslie, John and myself happened to be
at home at the same time and the local newspaper, The Dumfries and Galloway Standard, got wind of this and did a short article
about each one of us. Unfortunately, Bobby was away at the time but the fact that three of us managed to be present was extremely
fortunate. Getting four together was well nigh impossible!. Anyway, we all enjoyed ourselves and I did eventually bump into
Bobby in the most unlikely of places as you’ll soon find out! Getting back to
the real story, I will not begin to relate each and every voyage I was to subsequently make on the Tahsinia. Suffice to say,
I did a further six trips all more or less the same. Whisky out and grain coming home – all very boring if the truth
were known. These trips took place between May of 1958 and April of 1959 as follows:- Signed On
Signed Off 2. 08/05/58
28/06/58 3. 04/07/58
22/08/58
4. 23/08/58
20/10/58 5. 21/10/58
21/12/58 6. 22/12/58
22/02/59 7. 06/03/59
15/04/59 I would like, however,
to tell an interesting story that occurred on one of the outward bound trips. I’m sorry to relate that I am not at all
sure on which one this particular story happened but it is worth telling nonetheless.
In addition to the whisky, we had to make room for some passengers. Now Tahsinia was not a passenger ship as I’m
sure you know so who were these passengers? Answer, one hundred Shetland ponies! We realised something
unusual was in the wind when we saw animal pens being constructed in our tween decks. A tween deck, as the name implies, is
an intermediate deck inside the hold underneath the main deck. Normally, this is merely additional cargo space but when special
lighting was also being installed, this merely confirmed to us that we were about to experience something very different.
I do recall that once all other cargo had been loaded, a convoy of trailers arrived on the dockside at Yorkhill Quay and a
modified horse box was then used to lift these rather cute animals on board. They had to be lifted up and then lowered into
the tween deck area where they were then released and subsequently coaxed into the pens that I’ve already described.
This process was quite lengthy as I’m sure you can imagine, but it was completed successfully - eventually. allowed to climb
into the pens and just be with the animals. I do like animals, which was lucky I suppose, but it did enable me and the others
to build some sort of relationship with these creatures during our ten days with them. On arrival in more or less as
soon as we had been cleared by port officials to try and find out if Bobby was actually aboard. Taking Phil with
me and having been advised to go in company uniform, we set off to walk back to the Cunard Pier, some distance away. We did
make it eventually after a considerable walk but that actually turned out to be the easy bit! The difficult bit was to convince
both the security on the gate and secondly, a very severe looking Master at Arms strategically placed at the inboard end of
the gangway that we were genuine visitors. The Master at Arms is a marine equivalent of a policeman and those on board the
So ended my time
on the Tahsinia and seven enjoyable trips to the States. Exciting times lay ahead however, because I was now going to need
all the clothing items that were on my second uniform list. I was off to ____________________
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