Practical English For Seafarers
Question and Answer
(Deck Officer)
(Deck Officer)
Question :
How would you get a hold ready for cargo
after discharging coal?
Answer :
Sweep the sides, bulkheads and ceiling
dowe thoroughly, send the sweepings up out of the hold.
If the weather is suitable and there is
time for drying purposes, rig the hose and wash well down. If not, sprinkle
damp sawdust and sweep up clean. Lift the limber boards and clean out the
bilges. Give them a coat of cement wash. See that the rose boxes are all clear.
Replace limber boards and dunnage the hold. If the cargo is to be grain in bags
or anything which requires special protection, cover all bare Iron with
battens, burlap, dr mats. Rig shifting boards if necessary.
Question :
If you were stationed in the hold to
look after the interests of the ship during the loading of general cargo, what
would you consider it your duty to do?
Answer :
I would inspect the cases or packages as
they came on board, and if any appeared to be damaged, notify the chief officer
at once before he gives a receipt for it. I would see that any directions
printed on any package were observed whilst being stowed, such as "this
side to be stowed uppermost," or "stow away from the boilers,"
or "that hooks were not to be used for bale goods," etc. I would
particularly guard against broaching or stealing of any cargo, and see that all
was properly stowed and blocked off securely. Should not stow liquids above
solids if it is possible to avoid doing so.
Question :
What would you look out for in the hold
whilst discharging?
Answer :
As before, I would prevent any
broaching, and see that no cargo was damaged by rough improper handling. If any
cargo appeared to damaged I would call attention to it before disturbing it, so
that, IF necessary, it may be surveyed.
Question :
If a vessel has 'tween decks,' would
they require dunnaging?
Answer :
Yes, sufficient to keep the cargo clear
of the deck, an inch or so for cases, and little more for bales or bags. I
would lay it athwartships, so that in case of leakage the water might drain
freely to the scuppers.
Question :
What special precautions would you take
if you were going to load grain in bags for a long passage ?
Answer :
I would line the hold out with boards,
and cover them with old sails, burlap, bagging, or mats. I would also cover up
all bare iron likely to come in contact with the cargo, such as stanchions,
mats, etc., and lash good shifting boards on both sides of the stanchions
amidships, so as to form a fore-aft bulkhead, to prevent the cargo shifting.
Question :
If you were going to load a cargo of raw
sugar or molasses, what would you be careful about in dunnaging the hold?
Answer :
To leave a free course for the drainage
to run the pump well.
Question :
Where would you stow bags of sheep dip,
or patent manures, or any other strong smelling cargo?
Answer :
Where it would not be possible for it to
cause damage to other cargo by reason of the strong odour which it emits. Tea,
for instance, is very liable to absorb any foreign smell; I should see
therefore if any was to go in the ship that it was stowed in a different hold.
The same precautions would apply to any food-stuffs such grain, flour, etc.
Question :
In loading a mixed cargo, how should It
be generally distributed in the hold?
Answer :
The deadweight or heaviest portion of
the cargo amidships in the main hold; Liquids, if any, in the ends at the
bottom; bales, cases, etc., in the 'tween decks or upper part of lower hold.
Question :
How would you stow a ground tier of
casks or barrels?
Answer :
I would stow each barrel fore and aft on
two good beds of sufficient thickness to keep the bilge clear of the floor, and
put quoins under each quarter. When stowing alongside the keelson, I would keep
the bilge clear of it by putting stout pieces of wood, upright or vertical,
between each quarter and the keelson.
I would see that when stowed the bung
was on top, and be careful to keep the tier strictly level. After stowing the
wing barrels, I would fill up any space left with dunnage in order to secure
the cargo.
Question :
How would you stow the riding tiers?
Answer :
In the cantlines of the lower tier, each
barrel lying on the quarters of four barrels below it.
Question :
How would you stow a graound tier of
barrel containing dry goods, suds as cement, flour, etc.?
Answer :
I would dunnage the floor and then stow
the barrels fore and aft, resting evenly on the dunnage.
When placing them I would see that the
pieces of wood forming the head were vertical, so as not be so liable to split
with the weight of the riding tiers.
Note.- Barrels containing liquids are
made so that the grain of the wood in the head is in a line with the
bung, so that when stowed bung up the
head pieces are vertical.
Question :
How would you stow barrels of tar,
pitch, etc.?
Answer :
The sides of these barrels being
straight I would not use beds, but stow them for and aft flat on the dunnage,
bung up.
Question :
How many hoops are fitted on a good
cask?
Answer :
Eight : Bilge, quarter, and two chime
hoops at each end. The rivets of the hoops are in line with the bung.
Question :
How many heights of barrels, hogsheads,
puncheons, pipes are allowed to stow?
Answer :
Eight of barrels, six of hogsheads, four
of puncheons, and three of pipes.
Question :
Why should the number be limited?
Answer :
Because the lower tier, having to bear
the weight of all above it, might be damaged If too may heights were stowed.
Question :
Where and how would you stow wines and
spirits ?
Answer :
Where they are least likely to be
pilfered by crew or cargo workers. Should see that cases were all well blocked
up, and that cask were carefully stowed bung up and bilge free, and well
quolned and secured.
Question :
How would you stow bale goods of manufacture
materials, etc.?
Answer :
On their flats, with mark and number
uppermost, wing bales on their edges, mark and number inboard.
Question :
How would you stow cases of glass, slabs
of marble or grindstones?
Answer :
On their edges; as they would then be
less likely to get broken. Large cases of plate glass are best stowed
athwartships.
Question :
Suppose you were loading grain, and a
compartment in the lower hold was to be stowed Partly in bulk and partly in
bags, how would you stow it?
Answer :
No more than three-fourths is allowed to
be In bulk. I would take that in first and level it off, then cover it over
with mats and boards and stow the bags on top. Fore-and-aft board must be not
more than 4 feet apart. Athwartship one not more that 9 inches apart. The
athwartship one must be on top of the fore-and-aft ones.
The Meaning Of "Dead Reckoning"
During the Great War millions of the worst linguists on earth – the
English- were called upon to fight in many countries in Europe, Asia, and
Africa, and their great failing in knowing other tongues than their own has,
perforce, induce the natives of foreign countries to pick up a little knowledge
of the language of Tommy Atkins, so that, without any specially directed
propaganda on our part, English has gained immensely during the war, and may be
regarded as little short of the universal lan¬guage.
But the curious thing in all this is that English language is only a
creation of yesterday.
Through the long-drawn centuries-from the days of the Ancient Britons down
to the reformation it underwent a slow process of development, all the then
known foreign tongues contributing to its formation.
One source of weakness in the process of the development of the language
was the liability to misunderstand and to misconstrue the meanings of words and
phrases used in foreign tongue, so that there are many expressions now in use
which cannot be traced to their original foreign source, or the same word has
two or more different meanings, many words have completely lost their original
meaning because the early writers were indifferent in their modes of spelling,
or in the use of abbreviations.
Perhaps one of the most remarkable of these posers is a word which is
familiar to every English-speaking sailor in the Naval and Mercantile Marine
services of the world, and is in perpetual use every day in the year. It has
also been adopted by all British and American aviators as the word to use in
navigating the aerial ocean overhead. Yet the word is a flat contradiction of
what it is intended to mean, and of what was meant by the word used originally.
In every ship's log, in all books of instruction, in all works on navigation,
and in innumerable other publications, we find a special made of the "Dead Reckoning" on board ship. Why Dead ? It has been for a century or more a stumbling
block to investigators.
One after another has attempted to arrive at some reasonable explanation of
it, but has had to abandon the task as perfectly hopeless, for when they have
marshaled all the facts at their disposal, it is always found that the
operations which the word covers are anything but dead. They are, indeed,
very much alive !
Whether it be on board a becalmed wind-jammer, on board a crawling tramp
steamer, on board a 25-knot ocean liner, or on board a torpedo-boat destroyer,
tearing through the sea at 36 knots, there is sleepless watch being kept by
officers and men, the ship itself is never still, and in one form or another
there is perpetual restless motion.
Still more absurd and inapplicable is the word when it is used for the
change of position of an aeroplane, speeding through space at a velocity of 80,
100, 120, or 150 miles an hour. In all this violent activity we can conceive of
nothing in the nature of death-like inactivity.
More than one hundred years ago, in 1819, Dr. Gregory, in his
"Complete Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, wrote : "Dead Reckoning, in navigation, the calculation made of a ship's place
by means of the compass and log; the first serving to point out the course she
sails on, and the other the distance run. From these two things given, the
skilful mariner, making proper allowances without any observations of the sun
or stars, to ascertain the ship's place tolerably well"
All dictionaries have failed to give a full account of the origin of the
expression.
The late Sir James Murray gave three quotations of the expression,
respectively 1613, 1760, 1840. He might have gone further back, to 1580. The
writers of text books on Navigation, with one exception, have adoptedDead
Reckoning without question, there being no obvious
explanation of the sense of the word Dead. The present writer,
having had a great deal to do with the logs of the Royal Navy, as far back as
the middle of the seventeenth century, long ago discovered the real solution of
the difficulty.
It was not until nearly the close of the eigh-teenth that printed log books
were supplied by the admiralty. Long before that, officers were compelled to
keep a journal, the form of which was only gradually develop. Originally it was
on loose sheets of small size, and the columns, when introduced, had to be
ruled by hand. The log of the Dreadnought, 1679, had 12 very
narrow columns on page. For want of space the column for the latitude "deduce from the reckoning" was headed "Ded. Lat."
This abbreviation De., for deduced, has be-come corrupted
into Dead, which has for gen-erations served to
exercise in vain the most learned savants on two continents to get at its real,
and in the result perfectly simple meaning. There is not a mariner who, on
reading this explanation, will fail to realize that deduce is the only word which correctly
expresses the method of obtaining his so called Dead Reckoning.
He deduces his position from the account he has kept, just as any tradesman
deduces his profit or loss from his account.
DEPARTURE (LEAVING PORT)
THE PILOT HAS ENTERED THE SHIP TO TAKE HER OUT
Pilot : Good Morning, Sir!
Mate : Good Morning, Sir!
Pilot : Are you the chief officer?
Mate : Yes, I am. And you are the pilot, I
suppose?
Pilot : Yes, sir. Are you all ready to make a
start, Mr. Mate?
Mate : The captain will be here (at) any
time, I expect
Pilot : well, single up your ropes then. Just
keep the spring and a bow rope forward, and the buoy- rope and stern- rope-aft
Mate: All right, sir! Get all hands on the deck, second
THE CAPTAIN COMES ON BOARD
Captain : Is the pilot on board, Mr. Mate?
Mate : Yes, sir, he is on the bridge already
Captain : Take in the Gangway and send a man to
the wheel, second!
Pilot : Give them "Stand By", captain!
Let go the bow- rope! Let go aft! A small kick ahead, captain! Stop her!
Check her up in the spring! Easy, don't break it!
Let go the spring! Heave away your buoy- rope!
Look out for the pier- head!
Stand by with a couple of fenders!
Easy now! just pick up the slack!
Let go, and heave in
Let us (=Let's) know when the propeller is clear!
(FROM THE POOP) : ALL CLEAR AFT!
Pilot :
All right, sir. Slow astern, captain!
Port your helm, hand over.
Full speed astern! stop her! Full ahead! Shift your helm! Half speed! Ease
your helm! Steady! As she goes now!
Mind your steering! don,t look too much at the compas!
Get a good mark on shore!
We'll have to slow down when we pass the ferry-boat station, captain.
Slow speed! Dead slow!
Let her go full now, captain!
(THE CHIEFT OFFICER IS NOW ENTERING THE BRIDGE AS THE CAPTAIN WANTS TO GO
DOWN INTO HIS CABIN TO HAVE LOOK AT THE SHIP'S DOCUMENTS)
Pilot : A lovely afternoon, Mr. Mate, isn't?
Mate : Yes, it is, but too hot.
Pilot : Well, you might have some breeze when
you get outside
Mate : Have you had your supper, Pilot?
Pilot : No, sir. Just tell the steward to give
me a cup of coffee and a couple of sandwiches. Will you, please?
Mate : Certainly, I will
Pilot : (To the man at the wheel) What's her
head now?
Helmsman : South eight-two (degrees) West, sir
Pilot : Keep her west by south! I have to ask
you some question, Mr. Mate
Mate : Of course, Pilot. What do you want to
know?
Pilot : What's her gross tonnage?
Mate : Forty-seven ninety-six (tons)
Pilot : And her nett?
Mate : Twenty-eight fourteen.
Pilot : And what's her draught?
Mate : Twenty-five three and a half (25 feet 3
inches and 1/2)
Pilot : Who is your agent (=Broker)?
Mate : Mr. such a one
Pilot : Thank you, sir. I have to put this on my
bill. Nice and clean these new diesel-ships, Mr. Mate
Mate : Yes, sir. We took her out from the
ship-yard only six months ago
Pilot : Where was she built?
Mate : In Copenhagen by B & W. Engine &
Shipbuilding Corporation, Ltd.
Pilot : Has she never been in drydock yet?
Mate : Yes, sir. we had to dock at Boston after
th last trip across
Pilot : Any repairs to do?
Mate : Wll, not much. Besides ordinary cleaning
and painting (of) the bottom, there were some leaking rivets in the forepeak
and No.1 tank to shift of
Pilot : Is that so! In new ship like this?
Mate : Oh, We had a very heavy weather. Ballast
trip across the north Atlantic in wintertime you know
Pilot : Yes, sir. I know them. How much does she
carry? ( What is her dead-weight?)
Mate : Eighty-five fifty
Pilot : Except bunkers?
Mate : No, sir. Bunker, water, stores, and
provision included
Pilot : What's her daily consumption of fuel?
Mate : Ten tons (per day (=10 t. a day))
Pilot : Not much for this ship, I should say.
And she might run fast too?
Mate : Fourteen now she is light, eleven and a
half when loaded
Pilot : What is her bunker capacity (=her
capacity of fuel oil)?
Mate : About thirteen hundred tons or eight
thousands barrels, and that means a cruising radius of more than thirty-five
thousand (nautical) miles
Pilot : Well, Mr. Mate. Please tell "the
old man" that we are at the pilot-boat in about ten minutes. Have the
ladder and boat rope ready on your starboard side. And (remember) a heaving
line for the hand bag
Pilot : (jumping into the boat) : All clear,
Captain! Happy Voyage!
ARRIVAL
The Pilot Comes on Board
Captain : Good morning, pilot!
Pilot : Good morning, captain! Give her full
ahead!
(To the helsman): Port a bit! Ease your helm! Steady her
on East half North.
(To the captain) : Is the single- or twin- screwed?
Captain : She is single- screwed.
Pilot : What (= How much) does she run?
Captain : Twelve or thirteen knots, I suppose.
Pilot : Then I think you will be there in about
three in about three hours. The tide just coming out now. Where do you come
from?
Captain : From Antwerp
Pilot : Good morning, sir!
Mate : Good morning,sir!
Pilot : Are you the chief officer?
Mate : No, I am the second.
Pilot (To the helmsman): Keep her East three
quarter North.
(To the mate) : Your compasses seem to have 2 or 3
degrees' deviation.
Mate : That's right, just what we have got for
these easterly courses.
Pilot : She is steering pretty well, this ship,
Mr. Mate.
Mate : Yes, she is.
Pilot (To the helmsman) : Starboard half point!
Watch her head now, Don't let her come the Least thing to port! Starboard! Ease
your helm! Steady as she goes! Keep that white light just a little bit on your
port bow! Port your helm! Midship! Port a little more! Ease! Steady so!
(To the mate) : Half speed! I want a man on the
forecastle- head now, Mr. Mate. Tell them down below that we shall be there in
about twenty minutes. Slow! Stop her! Give three long blast! (The captain is
now entering the bridge to take charge of the ship)
Pilot (To the captain) : We might have to (go to an) anchor,
captain (= drop the anchor, to bring up); I can't see the harbour pilot yet.
(To the mate on the forecastle- head) : Standby your starboard
anchor!
(To the captain) : Full speed astern! Port your helm. Hard
over! – Midship! Stop her, sir! Slow ahead! Stop her!
(To the mate on the forecastle) : Stand by your
starboard anchor
(To the captain) : Full speed astern! Port your helm, hard
over! – Midship! Stop her, sir ! Slow ahead! Starboard ! Stop her!
(To the mate) : Let go (the anchor)! Veer out to forty-
five fathoms on the Wind lass! How is the chain?
Mate : The chain grows astern, sir.
Pilot : All right, sir. Give her slow astern,
captain!
Mate : The chain is right up and down.
Pilot : Stop your engines, captain!
(Tothe mate) : Hold on your chain! How much in the
hawse pipe now?
Mate : Forty- five in the water, sir!
Pilot : Right you are; I think she has got
enough. (The harbour pilot (or dock pilot) takes the ship alongside the wharf).
Pilot : Give them" stand by" down
below, captain! Heave away the chain, chief! Heave short!
Mate : The anchor is aweigh, pilot.
Pilot : All right, sir.- Slow ahead, captain!-
Starboard, just a little bit, steady!- Stop Her! Get your bow- rope ashore!
Have a good manila ready for the tug, Mr. Second! On your port side! Hold on,
make fast the tug- rope!
Heave away the (back-) spring!
Easy (= Gentle), Don't break it! Finish your engines, captain! (= That will
do the e.) ou'll have to shift your stern- rope to the next post, she has to
come about fifty feet more ahead! Heave away forward ! slack away aft!
Vast heaving forward, hold on aft. Tie her up like that!
Put the bight ashore again when your wire is fast, the current is very
strong here at time.- Please, sign this bill, captain?
Captain : Certainly, pilot. Do you want a drink?
Pilot : Yes, please.
Captain : What do you drink?
Pilot : Gin, sir.
Captain : Here you are, sir; help yourself! Good
luck, pilot!
Pilot : Good luck!- Very fine stuff, sir.
Captain : Another one?
Pilot : No thanks. So long!
