BACK TO SAIL?

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 156, 3 July 1937, Page 7

BACK TO SAIL?

LITTLE POSSIBILITY. BRITISH MARINERS. NOW TRAINED IN STEAM. An emphatic "•no." not infrequently' t i lined with a trace of regret, is the j almo-t invariable answer to the query.' will (ireat Britain ever revert to sail training": l'erhap- an old -hellliack here and there. with ha/y memories of days -pent liefore t lie m-i-t. mellowed by t lie pa--age of time, might say. '"Well. niavl* 1 ." but an aliirinat ive opinion indicate- optir.ii-m in inverse propor- j tion to po— i'tility. Certainly there are some who will! quote other maritime nation*. and infer that Britain will not be long in following. "Cermanv. Finland. Italy. Sweden." they will say. "are going back to .-ail and even !' building m w ships— perhaps B'itain will do the same." Quite right; Britain; might do the same, but it is a very, very | slender possibility. Why? For one thing. sailor< nowadays have to -ail steam-'i]'-. They serve their apprenticeship? and graduate to the 1 bridges of steaiue. s and motor vessels. They Kire conecrned wiili mechanics and mat hematic- rather than knot- and' j splice#. To be able to operate a telemotoj i- of more importance than the ability to brace yards and take out a head earring. For and Against. j And so they po <11. The arguments for] and apain-t are without end. but the j fact remains that sail traininp 110 longer: j exist- oil a practicable basis for the i British merchant service. 1 Britain has not one seagoing squarerigged training ve.-scl. She has oiilv , thiec regular cadi t -hip-, although the majority of ships flying the red ensign I carry two. thtee or four apprentices. The j Cornwall. which i- discharging Home | cargo at Auckland at present, was. until j recent year-, a cad-t ship. So were the; j Northumberland and the Devon. Now | Itlm-,. ships carry no cadet.-—-they are all trained in the Durham, the Federal Steam Navipniion ( 0111 pain 's regular cadet ship, j Str.inueiv enough. the pilot service! '•email.U that applicant- for certificates inu-t post— ma-tcr-' ticket- in square I rig. That the ca-e in 1110-1 Briti-h 1 Jiort - itnd in a large number of foreign ! ports, jt jipplie- to Auckland. The men i eiitrn-ted with the exacting rcspon«-i- ' bilit v of guiding in and out of port -hips j from over-ca* are all qualified to cominand ;i deep water square rigger. Few Old Barques. The time i- coming, and coming fast, when that stipulation will have to be abandoned. Pilots cannot go on indefinitely. and there are nm sufficient sailing vc.--el- to train tho-e who eventually will till their positions. There remain a few old barques and four-mast barques roaming home from Australia with golden -a in a lid collect ing an odd cargo I here and there, but each succeeding vear their number- dwindle. Berths in these [craft are difficult to obtain, and there are always many youthful Nordic mariners eager to join them. j ll Br;t i-h.-i <- cannot obtain sail trainling' they will be unable to qualify for tiieir pilot's ticket- under the existing stipulations. If tho-e requirements are nm given cla-ticity the unfortunate po-ition will aii-e of Briti-h ports vvithio;it Isriii-h pilots. lln re is not milch ;rhaiice of Britain returning to sail, if j only for training uhe altruistic Sir j William Carthwaite tried, but lje was : given little support 1. so the i-siie 1 appeal - to be clear-cut — pilots soon vv ill jn.it be required to po—e-vi tickets in [square rig.