SHIPS' OFFICERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22346, 18 February 1936, Page 17

SHIPS' OFFICERS

SAIL TRAINING URGED LEARNING TO LEAD MEN The desirability of officers in the Merchant Service being trained in sailing ships as well as in steamships was stressed by Captain J. R. Hamilton, of Bluff, in a talk to members of the Invercargill Rotary Club. "The Merchant Service to-day," said Captain Hamilton, "consists of many more types of vessels than it did 40 to 45 years ago. In thoso days boys went to sea as apprentices in sailing ships to serve the four years required by the Board of Trade regulations prior to an examination. Although their parents had probably paid a premium for them, these lads had to do every kind of dirty work the same as ordinary seamen, but they had their own quarters away from the crew. In most ships the officers would not allow too much familiarity between the seamen and the apprentices; and, however hard the ship may have been, the lads were recognised as officers in the making.

"Training in a sailing ship taught a youngster to be resourceful. Having to do a job aloft or to furl a sail singlehanded taught him to think and to act quickly. When tho lad became an officer, and even if ho was promoted beforo passing for a certificate, he had learned not only to lead men, but also how to command them. As an officer in charge of a watch, he had to take full responsibility. He was tho loader of his watch, alert and ready to act quickly, for by his ability he saved sails from being lost or more serious damage. The open air life, and the hard work aloft toughened his muscles and gavo him a constitution. Generally a picture of rugged health, the sail-trained lad was a handy, good fellow to havo with you in any trouble. "To-day in first-class cargo steamers, officers who have served as apprentices in that typo of vessel can know very little of what it means to lead men. They pass their orders on through a bos'un; and unfortunately in their everyday work there is nothing worth speaking about that gives training in the command of men. The apprentices, in the various lines of steamers that carry them, each have a different training. None has any proper ground work upon which to build. "The reason why sail training is the only training to make a sailor is that the elements become a vital part of his environment. He lives close to them, and the more he learns about them the better navigator he becomes. Jt was a hard training which resulted more or less in the survival of the fittest, which is as it should be, for the sea is no place for a weakling The sailing ship turned out seamen. Their navigation came to them by their own efforts; but seamen they had to be."