END OF SEA SLUMS

Evening Star, Issue 22804, 12 November 1937, Page 6

END OF SEA SLUMS

FO'C'SLE TO DISAPPEAR OLD-TIME MEMORIES On July 2G Mr W. Jl. Spence, secretary of the National Union of Seamen, announced the terms of an agreement with the Shipping Federation which may have the consequence of gradually abolishing the “ sea slums,” or obsolete tramp steamers, altogether, writes Frank 0. Bowen, in the ‘ Manchester Guardian.’ An agreed code is now before the Board of Trade, whose consent is not in serious doubt. The “ sea slum ” should become a thing of the past under the lied Ensign, excepting only in those old ships which cannot be altered. All new vessels and all ships which can reasonably be changed will have crews’ quarters on the same standard as the modern Scandinavian, German, and American ships, n standard which has until now been entirely voluntary on the part of the British owner.

There is. perhaps, no British industry in which tradition is more carefully preserved than in shipping, but many of these traditions are not worth keeping and have had a great deal to do with deterring the right type of youngster from following a sea career, or persuading him to leave it for a job ashore after a few years. The placing of the crew’s accommodation right forward was logical enough in the old days of sail, but with full-powered steamers or motor ships it only increases the chances of casualties in the event of a collision, and it causes a lot of unnecessary discomfort to the sailors and firemen, especially when the ship is being butted into a head sea. In future the crew will have to be accommodated amidships, after the fashion of many modern cargo liners, or aft under the poop. CONSERVATIVE SEAMEN. Without such alterations it is certain that the industry will never persuade the best boys to follow a sea career, but the old sailor has a profound contempt for the innovations, which he regards as merely softening the younger generation. Yet the unnecessary discomfort and hardship of the old sailing ship fo’o’sles remain a marvel to the younger generation. The old fellows realised their discomforts well enough at the time, and the few British sailing ships which had their crews’ accommodation in deckhouses were fully appreciated, while a measure of praise was given to some well-known sailing ships, including the Pass of Brander, Bannockburn, Clackmannanshire, and others, which had an improved type of topgallant fo’c’sle forward. Being good, beamy ships, there was room to divide the fo’q’sle into two, each watch having Its own side, so that the sleep of the_ “ watch below ” was not unnecessarily disturbed, while down the centre, between the two sides, there was a passage into which the hawse-pipes which passed the anchor cables led, the windlass being in. the middle of it. The water . which came in through the hawse-pipes would pass through this central alleyway on to the open deck, while the space above the windlass offered some opportunity of drying oilskins and clothes. “ DISCOMFORT OF FO’C’SLE. Such ships.were in a minority, and most of, the . sailing vessels under the Red Ensign, in whose fd’c’sles many a liner captain spent some of his time when it was considered no disgrace for an ex-apprentioe to do a voyage as an able seaman, were the height of discomfort. The windlass, humorously called the piano, was in the middle of the fo’c’sle, and its awkward shape made it take up an unnecessary amount of space. From it the chain cables were led through the hawse-pipes in the forward end of the fo’o’sle. As soon as the ship was out of soundings and was unlikely to have to anchor the chains were unshackled from the anchors, which were lashed on the fo’c’sle head, and the hawse-pipes were stopped with long wooden plugs which were made nominally watertight with canvas and cement.

They never kept the water out, while when the ship was approaching shore they had to be knocked out and the cables passed - through the pipes, so that a sailing vessel which might have to spend a week beating up the Channel or Irish Sea would have her. forecastle flooded out every time she dipped her bows into the sea. It was called the hardening process, but it was the cause of many old sailors spending their old age as martyrs to rheumatism. A minor disadvantage was that’the fo’c’sle was situated directly over the forepeak, in which the barrels of beef and pork were stowed, and as a general rule the smell rising from this store was appalling, especially when the meat was condemned naval stores which had been bought cheaply. ROOM TO EAT. The new seamen’s accommodation, which will probably be called the fo’c’sle for many years to come, is to include separate messrooms, and it will be just as important for the seaman to have adequate _ table and seating space as it is for him to have his quota of square feet of deck according to the regulations. In sailing ships few fo’c’sles had tables; where they were installed they were between stanchions reaching to the deck above, so that they could be pushed up out of the way when the space was badly needed. Normally the seaman had to eat his food from his knees, or from the lid of his sea chest if there were enough space in the fo’c’sle to. stow them. It wanted a sharp appetite to enjoy a meal eaten from the man’s knees, sitting on the side of his bunk, having to bend forward all the time on account of the low space "allowed by the bunk above. All liquids were taken from hook-pots, which were pannikins with one side flat and the other side semi-circular, having hooks- on the flat side to attach them to the edge of the bunk. Any spare time that the man might have had perforce to be spent in his bunk, except for the traditional relaxation of the dog-watches in fine weather, and even if there were reading matter on board there was seldom sufficient light in the fo’c’sle to read. Almost to the last days of sail many fo’c’sles were artificially lit only by the smoking slush-lamp, an old tin with a wick made of sail canvas, burning fat skimmed off the galley saucepans. EVEN TRAMPS BETTER.

Even the worst-found tramp steamer of modern days is an improvement on the sailing ship standard, but many of them leave much to be. desired. The accommodation forward is never comfortable and can be made infinitely worse by wooden bulkheads and fittings which harbour the vermin to which all ships are liable. Often enough the forward well deck is full of water and the men coming on watch on the bridge or in the crow’s-nest are drenched through before they start their four hours’ duty. Tables are

fitted in most fo’c’sles.'but when there is the minimum of space allowed they, do not add very much to the comfort,At the same time the British sailor, especially the older generation, is % difficult man to please. Within recent years a number of cargo liners have been built with excellent crews accommodation admidships,. each two men having a comfortable little cabin to themselves, which, while it is naturally not elaborate, gives all that could reasonably be asked. Some of the old shellbacks have been complaining bitterly about these cabins; in the old fo’o’sles it was easy to .shut out all: ventilation with an old pair of. but when there are a . door and window to each cabin fresh air cannot possibly be excluded altogether. But the new ships are designed for seamen who have different ideas on ventilation ana hygiene.