# A Letter to Head Office.



## Dartskipper (Jan 16, 2015)

I am still in the process of clearing out the many old papers ac***ulated by my late Dad, and found this gem. Please accept my apologies if this has been seen before, but it made me laugh. I have re written it as the photcopy in my possession is not of high enough quality to scan.

The letter reads;

Dear Sir,

It is with regret, and in haste,that I write this letter to you - regret that such a small misunderstanding could lead to the following cir***stances, and haste in order that you may get this report before you form your own preconceived opinion from reports which will appear in the world press. I am sure they will tend to overdramatise the affair.

We had just picked up the Pilot, and the Apprentice was on the bridge. He was replacing a "G" flag with an "H" flag and was having difficulty with a fouled halyard.I proceeded to show him how to clear the flag and told him to "Let go." The lad, although willing, is not too bright, and I was obliged to repeat the order, but in a sharper tone. At this moment, the Third Officer appeared from the Chart Room, having plotted the vessel's progress up the channel, and thinking I was referring to the anchor, repeated the order "Let Go!" to the Chief Officer on the fo'c'sle head. The port anchor, having been cleared away, but not walked out, was promptly let go. The effect of letting go the anchor while the vessel was proceeding at full harbour speed proved too much for the windlass brake, and the entire length of chain was pulled out and lost over the side. I fear the damage to the chain locker may be extensive.

The braking effect of the port anchor naturally caused the vessel to sheer in that direction, right towards a swing bridge that spans a tributary to the river up which we were proceeding. The swing bridge operator showed great presence of mind by opening the bridge to my vessel. Unfortunately, he did not think first to stop the vehicular traffic, the result being that the bridge partly opened, depositing a Volkswagen, two cyclists, and a cattle truck on the foredeck. My ship's company are at present rounding up the contents of the latter which, I would say from the noise, are pigs. In his efforts to stop the progress of the vessel, the Chief Officer then dropped the starboard anchor, too late to be of any practical use as it fell on the swing bridge operator's control cabin.

After the port anchor was let go, and the vessel started to sheer, I gave a double ring Full Astern on the Engine-Room telegraph, and I personally rang the Engine-Room to order maximum astern revolutions. I was politely informed that the sea temperature was 53 degrees, and was asked if there was a film tonight. My reply would not add constructively to this report.

Up to now, I have confined my report to the forward end of my vessel; back aft they were having their own problems. At the moment the port anchor was let go, the Second Officer was supervising the making fast of the after tug, and was lowering the wire to the tug.The sudden braking effect of the port anchor caused the tug to run under the stern just at the moment when the propeller was answering my double ring Full Astern. The prompt action of the Second Officer in securing the inboard end of the wire delayed the sinking of the tug by some minutes, thereby allowing the safe abandoning of the vessel.

It is strange, but at the very same moment of the letting go of the port anchor, there was a power loss ashore; the fact that we had passed over a Cable Area at that time suggests that we may have touched something on the river bed. It is perhaps lucky that the high tension cables brought down by our foremast were not actually live, possibly having been replaced by the underwater cable. Owing to the shore blackout, it is impossible to say when the pylon fell.

What never fails to amaze me are the actions and behaviour of foreigners. The Pilot, for example, is at this moment huddled in the corner of my Day Cabin alternately crooning to himself and crying, after having consumed the entire contents of a bottle of my best Gin in a time worthy of inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records.
The Tug Captain, on the other hand, reacted violently, and had to be forcibly restrained by the Chief Steward who has him handcuffed in the ship's hospital, where he is telling me to do impossible things with my ship and person.

I enclose the names and addresses of the drivers and insurance companies of the vehicles deposited on my foredeck which the Chief Officer collected after his somewhat hurried evacuation of the fo'c'sle. These particulars will enable you to claim for the damage that they did to the railings around the hatchway of Number 1 Hold. I am closing this Preliminary Report, for I am finding it difficult to concentrate because of police sirens and flashing lights.It is sad to reflect that, had the Apprentice realised that there is no need to fly a Pilot Flag after dark, none of this would have happened.

For my Weekly Accountability Report, I will assign the following Casualty Numbers; T/750101 to T/750199 inclusive.

Yours truly,

(signed)
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Master.


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## IAN M (Jan 17, 2009)

Dartskipper

I read this some time ago, but I laughed as much again. Thank you for posting it.


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## Somerton (Oct 24, 2008)

Dart skipper I enjoyed this so much . Thank you for posting it . I remember one time in Belfast a Coast Line ship was berthing there when the anchor was dropped and fell on the foredeck of the boatmans boat . He was not too pleased nor was the captain .
Alex C .


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## graeme murray (Jul 9, 2008)

*Ooops!*

This is an oldie but goody.

Maybe 30 years ago a Splosna ship, dropped her anchor down the funnel of a tug when taking avoidance action of another vessel when entering an Italian port.


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## Varley (Oct 1, 2006)

An unfortunate second mate with a poor complexion and penchant for blue boiler suits managed to get a stern line round the propulsion of a tug at Arzew.

I don't think its power plant stopped but what had been going in at the front end of the gearing no longer came out at the back.

I regret the "What is....." Joke that went round. It was "What is blue, spotty and fukcs tugs?"


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## Dartskipper (Jan 16, 2015)

I think my Dad kept this story because it contains echoes of an incident involving an Eagle Oil tanker he was on during the War.
I will have to dig out his memories he wrote down, but it involved the tanker dragging anchor off Perth Amboy, crashing into a tug doing damage to its dinghy in davits and a companionway,and colliding with a USN vessel that suffered severe damage to its steering gear amongst other minor disasters.

The tanker captain had the presence of mind to get signed declarations about the extent of the damage to other vessels and sending them to Head Office to ward off any extravagant insurance claims.

Many thanks for the shared entertaining memories.

Roy.


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## Dartskipper (Jan 16, 2015)

I found Dad's notes about the accident involving his tanker. These are his recollections as he wrote them.

On one voyage from Newcastle down the East Coast to load "Blending Spirit" in London,our 1st Mate got too close to a Channel Marker buoy and took the tip off one of the propeller blades, and left us with a "singing prop." We thought they would dock us and replace the prop, but no such luck, our cargo was urgently needed in the States. So we were stuck with a singing propeller all the way across the Atlantic, an open invitation to any U Boat. Fortunately they were either all deaf or had gone home for tea.
After discharging our cargo, we anchored in East River, just off the Brooklyn Piers. The Old Man went ashore, and as is always the case,the weather worsened. It was winter, and the wind freshened from the Northwest and of course the inevitable happened and we started dragging our anchor. The Mate was in command on the bridge, and I as Second mate went on the forecastle head with the Bosun and Carpenter to heave up the offending article. We had got the anchor just clear of the water (it was the Starboard anchor) when we got the order to let go the Port anchor. Securing the brake on the Starboard anchor, we let go the Port anchor, which also didn't hold and we drifted closer to the Brooklyn Piers. A tug which had been assisting a U.S.Navy support vessel to berth on one of the piers, saw us drifting closer, and going full astern managed to pick up our Starboard anchor on his Port quarter, drag it along his port side deck until it dropped back over his bow. We duly ended up across 3 of the piers having "nudged" the projecting stern of the support vessel and pushed him further up the pier. I went on board the supply vessel to see their commanding officer and together we inspected where we had bumped into him, including the rudder. He was quite happy to assure me that no damage had been done, and he confirmed this in writing. I was then sent off to hospital, and later heard from our office in New York that when the supply vessel wanted to leave the pier, the rudder wouldn't move and a diver discovered that the rudder stock was fractured and that the heel of the rudder was adrift. Deep consternation and a Court case, but we had a letter, and a first class lawyer!

(Dad went to hospital in New York for surgery to sort out problems caused by him accidentally ingesting bunker fuel after the sinking of Empire Norseman in 1943. The tanker involved in this episode was San Veronico, which he joined in North Shields on 8/10/1945, leaving her in New York on 4/12/1945. He returned to the UK in Aquitania after his operation. He carried the scar across his belly for the rest of his long life!)


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## Bill.B (Oct 19, 2013)

Great story about your dad Dartskipper. Thanks for sharing.


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## Dartskipper (Jan 16, 2015)

Thanks Bill.B,

Dad only started to talk about his experiences much later in his life, and I'm sure he never said everything about what he saw during the War. He'd probably be a bit embarrassed if he knew I had posted some of his recollections!

Regards,

Roy.


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