Beyond The Sea by Jack Lynch

Author:Jack Lynch [Lynch, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-907179-79-2
Publisher: Original Writing

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

After arriving in East Ham I went through the usual formalities. Here, I had to wait for four days before being assigned to my next ship, s.s Tower Hill. I can’t remember where I stayed in East Ham whilst I kicked my heels. At least I did not have to travel out of London for my new ship as she was berthed close by in Tilbury Docks. Of course, I did not forget my Cork friend, and brought bacon, and Cherry Brandy to him. He was thrilled, and we had a good chat about Cork.

The s.s Tower Hill was registered in London and had a gross tonnage of 7258.17 tons so was one of the sturdiest ships around. Her captain was Captain L. Luishman, Master of the ship and he, along with the Second Mate P.J. Morley and the Third Mate Cyril L. Longhurst were an accomplished crew.

I signed on this ship in Tilbury, London on January 23rd, 1950 for what was set to be a six month voyage. We proceeded from Tilbury into the North Sea and set off to await orders. Everything was running very smoothly with the only discomfort being the cold weather. As we got into the English Channel the weather began to act up, and we had some nasty heavy seas and very heavy sea traffic. Ships seemed to be all around us going up and down the channel, as well as the ferries criss-crossing between the UK and France. Strict watch had to be maintained at all times, as we did not have radar on the ship. I was wondering what the Bay of Biscay would be like this time as we were heading for Gibraltar through the Mediterranean, and on to Port Said in Egypt for orders, where our final destination would be revealed. It was typical with tramp steamers that they are ordered to sea by their owners with no final destination having been directed. The ships would receive their orders whenever the company got business and that could be at any stage along the voyage.

I kept taking weather reports on a regular basis and the weather forecasts looked to be improving. When we did get into the Bay it was smooth like glass. We made good time and were soon going through the Straits of Gibraltar. The North African coast was soon visible I could see that Gibraltar was very close. It was a beautiful sight. The weather was glorious and I spent every free moment I had out on deck watching the coastlines and the ships passing by. I saw flying fish as they flew and glided across the sea, often landing on the deck of the ship. The ship’s black cat had a feast when the fish landed at his paws. It was all strange, new and exciting to me and I enjoyed every second of each day. I had been communicating our position regularly with Alexandria radio (SUH) This radio station had a high squeaky tone. It seemed to go up, and down, as its signal was being transmitted.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.