Ships and the Sea

[backsplice]

Brian,
I'm sure we do have some mutual shipmates, lets start with bosuns. As you know, Blue Funnel bosuns were the acknowledged masters of their trade, and most were widely known throughout the company and beyond.
On the Achilles it was Bill Carmody from New Brighton. On the Peleus it was Jock Sutherland, inventor of the term 'Whammy'.
Eumaeus it was Butch Mason from Seacombe, Hector it was Ned Philipps from North Wales.
Menelaus it was Mick Brabander from Birkenhead.
All of these were excellent bosuns, Jock Sutherland I thought was the best of them, but that was because he used to send me ashore after smoko while in port, to buy him a half bottle of Bells, and always gave me half a crown for going.
Regards,
Backsplice

[brian daley]

Backsplice, I did my first trip with "Whammy", he was a prankster of the first order and I have written about him in my thread "Hullo Old Home " on this site. There are a few characters in there that you might recognise too. I believe he fell in the dry dock and drowned ,I don't know if that is true because I heard it as scuttlebutt a few years after I left Blueys,
BrianD

[backsplice]

Backsplice, I did my first trip with "Whammy", he was a prankster of the first order and I have written about him in my thread "Hullo Old Home " on this site. There are a few characters in there that you might recognise too. I believe he fell in the dry dock and drowned ,I don't know if that is true because I heard it as scuttlebutt a few years after I left Blueys,
BrianD

Brian,
Jock Sutherland was drowned in Gladstone Dock. It was in 1961 I think, we joined the Hector at 08.00, and she was sailing to Glasgow at 23.00, so after we had finished on deck at about 18.00, we all shot up the road to the Caradoc for a few pints. We all got back around 21.30, but no sign of Jock.
As sailing time drew closer and he still hadn't shown up, the mate promoted the Leading Seaman , Stan Murray, to Bosun.
When we docked in KGV we heard that Jock's body was discovered floating face down at the after end of the Theseus which had been berthed further up the branch. It was assumed he had tripped and fallen into the dock on his way back to the ship.
A sad end for a fine bosun.
A day or two later a replacement bosun arrived on board Hector, Tommy Hogan, known to all as 'the binman'.
Stan Murray became a bosun permanently about two years later but I never sailed with him in this capacity. He was however a really good sailor and a pleasant bloke .
Best Regards,
backsplice

[Trader]

Welcome to the site backsplice. I think I recognise you from another site. I was in Blueys a bit before your time. I joined in 1952 and left in 1956. My first ship was the "Bellerophon" and I was in her for two years. Six Far East trips and three coasting. The Bosun was Bill Thomas from Anglesey. I then coasted the "Nestor" and the "Ixion" before joining the "Astyanax" and doing two Far East trips and one coasting. Big Jake Cleary was Bosun.

I then joined the "Neleus" on the Aussie run. Our first Bosun was Spud Murphy who had a nervous breakdown in Aussie and had to pay off and the Lampy, Dan Proctor, took over. In our last Aussie port Spud rejoined us and came home as DBS which I thought was wrong and embarrassing for poor old Spud.
Dan Proctor didn't want the Bosuns job, he was content to be Lampy, so Jimmy Mason joined as Bosun for my last trip with Blue Funnel.

I left in 1956 and joined Manchester Liners for several years.

Alec.

[Waterways]

Any of you ex Blue Funnel men remember David Morgan who was with them around the early 1960s?

[brian daley]

Memory is not as good as it used to be Waterways,so many of the guys are remembered by their nicknames. Was he Welsh? there were an awful lot of North Walians in Blueys,that is why it was called the Welsh Navy.
Does anyone remember the fabulous Wally Skeggs, a legend if ever there was one. I was with him on the Jason and my memeries of him have not faded one little bit.

[Waterways]

Memory is not as good as it used to be Waterways,so many of the guys are remembered by their nicknames. Was he Welsh? there were an awful lot of North Walians in Blueys,that is why it was called the Welsh Navy.

From Liverpool.

[backsplice]

Memory is not as good as it used to be Waterways,so many of the guys are remembered by their nicknames. Was he Welsh? there were an awful lot of North Walians in Blueys,that is why it was called the Welsh Navy.
Does anyone remember the fabulous Wally Skeggs, a legend if ever there was one. I was with him on the Jason and my memeries of him have not faded one little bit.

Wally Skeggs , I heard of him, but never sailed with him, apparently he was supposed to be almost blind.
Another character was Aussie Burke, the original ancient mariner. he was well over sixty when I sailed with him on the Achilles, about five feet six in his socks he was as strong as a bull. He was reputed to have his name tattoed on his todger. What his name actually was, nobody knew, it could have been Ben, or Benjamin, we never found out, he was just known as Aussie.
Backsplice

[brian daley]

Eleven names right down the shaft,and there was Elwyn Jones to with the two ladies who were the inside of his thighs ,arms aloft ,hands supporting the crown jewels. A mad,mad ,mad North Walian,he and Wally were cabin mates. And Wally? Well he had 20/20 vision but he could'nt raise his eyelids ,excepting when under extreme duress,read my tale ,it's all there.
BrianD

[backsplice]

Welcome to the site backsplice. I think I recognise you from another site. I was in Blueys a bit before your time. I joined in 1952 and left in 1956. My first ship was the "Bellerophon" and I was in her for two years. Six Far East trips and three coasting. The Bosun was Bill Thomas from Anglesey. I then coasted the "Nestor" and the "Ixion" before joining the "Astyanax" and doing two Far East trips and one coasting. Big Jake Cleary was Bosun.

I then joined the "Neleus" on the Aussie run. Our first Bosun was Spud Murphy who had a nervous breakdown in Aussie and had to pay off and the Lampy, Dan Proctor, took over. In our last Aussie port Spud rejoined us and came home as DBS which I thought was wrong and embarrassing for poor old Spud.
Dan Proctor didn't want the Bosuns job, he was content to be Lampy, so Jimmy Mason joined as Bosun for my last trip with Blue Funnel.

I left in 1956 and joined Manchester Liners for several years.

Alec.

Hello Alec,
Yes, I knew all of those characters except Spud Murphy.
All except Jack Cleary and Jimmy Mason I found to be Ok.
Bill Davies would disagree with me here , but I found Jack Cleary to be a nasty piece of work. Butch Mason, in his cups, was a bit of a bully, sober he was fine.
Backsplice.

[backsplice]

Eleven names right down the shaft,and there was Elwyn Jones to with the two ladies who were the inside of his thighs ,arms aloft ,hands supporting the crown jewels. A mad,mad ,mad North Walian,he and Wally were cabin mates. And Wally? Well he had 20/20 vision but he could'nt raise his eyelids ,excepting when under extreme duress,read my tale ,it's all there.
BrianD

Brian, I knew Elweyn Jones, or to be precise, I knew three of them, two came from Amlwch, and the other from Nefyn. All three had tattoes up to the armpits. No doubt there was a whole raft of Elwyn Jones's out there , it is a very popular name in North Wales.

[Trader]

Hello Alec,
Yes, I knew all of those characters except Spud Murphy.
All except Jack Cleary and Jimmy Mason I found to be Ok.
Bill Davies would disagree with me here , but I found Jack Cleary to be a nasty piece of work. Butch Mason, in his cups, was a bit of a bully, sober he was fine.
Backsplice.

I know what you mean about Jack Cleary, he was a bit of a bully but for some reason I got on OK with him. When he was pi--ed he was an animal.
I only did one Aussie trip with Jimmy Mason and found him to be OK, I must have caught him when he was on the wagon

[backsplice]

I know what you mean about Jack Cleary, he was a bit of a bully but for some reason I got on OK with him. When he was pi--ed he was an animal.
I only did one Aussie trip with Jimmy Mason and found him to be OK, I must have caught him when he was on the wagon

Trader,
I was on the Eumaeus round the land with Butch Mason, I was still a peggy at that juncture. we joined in Hull and Butch was already on board when we arrived and was much the worse for wear. he swaggered down the sailor's alleyway, shouting the odds and offering to fight any one of us.
A Birkenhead AB named Frankie Branscombe, stepped out, hit him once and it was all over.
Mr Mason was very quiet after that.
Frank Branscombe had been a professional wrestler and was a very hard man indeed.
The Lampy on that Eumaeus was Mick Austin, who I met years later after I came ashore. Poor Mick was living in a bedsit with no family and hardly any posessions, legacy of a life spent at sea. I am glad I packed it in when I did, and married and brought up a family.
regards,
Pat

[brian daley]

The Lampy on the Jason was called Vic,I cannot remember his second name ,but he had a brother who had something extraordinary happen to him ,he was swept overboard from the fore well deck and washed back on to the after deck; ring a bell with anyone? Vic was a big balding guy with strawbeery blonde hair .A nice guy . And big Albert Williams,Bluto was modelled on him, ring a bell? The screaming skull ? lovely man,I think not. But characters all, Blueys were loaded with them!

[kevin]

I think all Yo non-sailors reading this thread will think the Merchant Navy was full of thugs and bullies. Maybe that was the case in the 50s and 60s, but I saw no evidence of it in the 70s and 80s.
Did things change, or is it that with the passing of time it is only the more extreme characters that stay in the forefront of our memories?