# A real Radio Officer



## spongebob (Dec 11, 2007)

Ship Builder’s post #488 on the “Mariner competence” thread reminds me of the Radio Officers that I sailed with and one in particular, Dan Alexander a doyen of the Union Steam ship Co’s radio men.
Dan was an older man, never committing or admitting to his actual age but I am sure that he was near to entering his 70’s when he sailed with me on the “Navua.” in 1958. That age would have seen him born around 1888 and while Samuel Morse had by then created his gift to the world of telegraph messaging it was well before Marconi made his name with his wireless transmissions at the turn of the century. As I recall Dan became a telegraphist as a youngster and had spent many years at sea including the war time and a few years on the Union Co’s passenger ship TSS “Monowai”.
Dan was the consummate mine of information, we used to say that he had three positions on board the ship, his bunk, the dining saloon and his radio shack and the latter was where he spent most of his time and well in excess of his normal watch keeping hours.
I used to share the table with him at breakfast and he never missed a good meal of bacon and eggs. He was a devotee of Lea and Perrins Worcester sauce and also had the peculiar habit of putting a dab of Coleman’s hot English mustard on his bacon, a habit I copied and one that took a year or two to break once ashore.
During these breakfasts he would be a “Tusitala teller of tales”, a mine of information as to events and happenings around the world, maritime news, other ship’s whereabouts, news of conflicts, financial and political trends and even bits and pieces of scandal that he would have picked up from the air waves as he listened and chatted his way through the night.
He was the ship’s paymaster, the supervisor when loading the special locker with bonded goods, a confidant of the skipper, a wise old sage toward anyone that asked his opinion or advice and a thoroughly nice person to boot.
There may be another old Union Co men that might have sailed with Dan and remember him. 

Was he really that old? 

Bob


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

I sailed with a chap called Jack Barter on Royal Mail Line. An excellent operator, he spoke Spanish very well, played the stock market and was always interesting to talk to. We remained at sea during the Seaman' strike which was very interesting as the GKA passenger ship traffic list got shorter and shorter. He married late in life the headmistress of a school in Bedford.
He had been on the South America run since 1939 and in 1974 died ( along with everybody else) on the Royston Grange in the River Plate. I shall never forget him or the other old R/O's on RML.


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## duquesa (Aug 31, 2006)

This brings back memories - long buried - of an R/O I sailed with in Houlders. I can only relate what I recall being told at the time. It seems he spent his career in the main with Cunard and saw service in many of the great old liners like the Aquitania, Berengaria etc. He had been Senior R/O on both Queen Mary & Elizabeth. On retiring he simply, for whatever reason, couldn't hack it and returned to the fairly genteel seagoing life of an R/O on board Houlder meat ships. He was one of the world's gentlemen in every way and a great shipmate, not only with lowly apprentices but through all ranks and passengers with whom he was, understandably totally at ease. He was known by all, always, by everyone including the Captain as, Mr Clegg. Never "Sparkie/Sparks".


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

On another RML ship I sailed on my chief was a chap called Ted Winslow.
Another great character. Personal friend of Lord Mountbatten whom he referred to as "Louis". Told me he sailed with Spanish Civil War gun runner "Potato Jones". He made a crude alteration to his birthdate on his ticket so that he could stay at sea. He didn't have much of life outside the ship. On his last trip he pursued with great effort a Brazilian widow but failed in his endeavours. Sad really but an interesting if rather crusty bloke.
This thread could go on for pages as there were lots of interesting types.
GKA was full of them....


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