TRAINING AT SEA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20988, 26 September 1931, Page 11

TRAINING AT SEA.

CADETS ON THE CORNWALL.

WORK AND STUDY MIXED.

SPLENDID TYPE OF BOY.

Life at sea has changed greativ in a generation or "ess, but its call to virile youth is as strong as ever. No one watching the lads aboard the Federal Line s cadet ship Cornwall, at present in Auckland, will have any fears for th e British mercantile marine officer of the future. A better or keener lot of boys it would be hard to find anywhere.

There are 40 of them, and they do all the work of a normal complement of some 25 seamen, besides a full course of nautical studies. The Federal Line for years has taken a pride in maintaining cadet whips, and now it has four of them. The Cornwall is on her maiden voyage in this capacity, and there are also the Westmoreland. Northumberland and Devon.

In oider days the rule was to carry a handful of apprentices aboard a ship, and many lines still follow it. However, in the mercantile marine, as everywhere else, the tendency is toward a higher standard of professional training and more efficient methods of providing it. This is only natural, considering that deep sea passengei and cargo vessels are becoming ever larger and faster, and more expensive to build and maintain. It is no uncommon thing for a captain to have several million pounds' worth of property and over a thousand human lives under his charge. Fine Quarters lor Lads. The Board of Trade requires four years' sea service of a candidate for second mate's certificate, but lads who have been cadets in such recognised institutions as the training ships Conway and Worcester, or the nautical college at Pangboume. are allowed one year less on that account. A number of the Cornwall's cadets have had early training of this kind. Most of the others are from public and other schools of repute. There is keen competition for sea cadetship in good vessels, and the Federal Line accepts lads only after very full inquiries.

In order to fit her for use as a cadet ship, part of the Cornwall's cargo space on Xo. 3 bridge deck, immediately below the officers' quarters, has been converted to the use of the lads. It extends the full width of the vessel. There are six sixberth cabins, one with four berths, a dining room, schoolroom, and large washroom, all finished- in shining white enamel and excellently lighted. In the centre is a hatch-space which, when not needed for cargo, can be used as a recreation room. The forecastle not being needed, has been locked up. Involved Boutine. it is a far cry to the days when an apprentice hid no place to call his own but a sea-chest, over which his hammock was hung. Each cadet has an iron-framed berth, a large wardrobe, and two drawers for his belongings. To do all the work of the ship, watch and watch about, and to maintain a course S of studies takes some contriving, but it is managed most successfully. The Cornwall does not carry a special tutor, but all her deck officers, including a supernumerary third officer, take a share _ in teaching* the lads. They are all R.N.R. men, drawn from the four corners of the company's fl'?et. They are not specialists, but each has at least one pet subject, and the curriculum has been arranged accoiuirglv. It- includes navigation, chart-work, the "theory of ship-design, cargo-handling and stowage., and first aid (taught by the ship's surgeon) Needless to there is ample training in all phases of practical seamanship, including boat work, splicing wires and ropes, and sadmaking. Much of this comes from the boatswain. The Mercantile Outlook. The ship carries a physical training instructor, and when the weather suits a lar-e swimming bath is rigged on deck. Tennis and deck-cricket are played, and in port Rugbv football is encouraged. It would" be hard to imagine a better vrav of training lads for the heavy responsibilities of an officer in large modern liners A cadet who has been through such a course knows by practical experience the effect of every order that _ in after years he will be called upon to give. He will also be well grounded in theoretical knowledge of his profession. With innumerable ships idle through the economic depression, it is natural to 2S k what the future holds for mercantile marine cadets when their studies are over. The answer is that there is always room for those of outstanding ability and character, qualities which never faii J° come out aboard a training ship. For the rest, even if fortune is unfavourable three or four years at sea are no bad preparation for entry into a shore career at 20 or so However, it is not too much to hope that by the time the younger of the Cornwall's cadets sit for their "tickets" the world's merchant fleets will be busv once again. Everyone who sees the fine bearing of the lads will hope that they may see long service under the Keel Ensign.