TRAINING AT SEA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 230, 29 September 1931, Page 10

TRAINING AT SEA

CADETS ON THE CORNWALL WORK ANdTsTUDY MIXED SPLENDID TYPE OF BOY. Life at sea has changed greatly in a generation or less, but its call to virile youth is as strong as ever. No one watching tue lads aboard the Federal Line’s cadet ship Cornwall, at present in Auckland, will have any fears for the British mercantile marine officer of the future, states the New Zealand Herald. 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 maintaing cadet ships, and now it hasfour of them. The Cornwall is on her maiden voyage in this capacity, and there are also the Westmoreland, Northumberland and Devon. In older 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 passenger 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 for 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 Pangbourne, 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 No. 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-berth 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 Routine. It is a far cry to the days when an apprentice had 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 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 super-numerary 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 fleet. They are not specialists, but each has at least one pet subject, and the curriculum has been arranged accordingly. 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 say, there is ample training in all phases of practical seamanship, including boat work, splicing wires and ropes, and sail making. Much of this comes from the boatswain. The Mercantile Outlook. The ship carries a physical training instructor, and when the weather suits a large swimming bath is rigged on deck. Tennis and deck’crickct are played, and in port Rugby football is encouraged. It would bo hard to imagine a better way of training lads for the heavy responsibilities of an officer in large modern liners.- A cadet who has oeen 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 ask 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 fail to tome 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 Cornwall’s cadets sit for tiieir “tickets” the world’s merchant fleets will be busy once again; Everyone who sees the fine bearing of the lads will hope that they may see long service tinder the Red Ensign*