<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> T H E B O S U N ' S C H R O N I C L E The official Ezine of the Thomas Kydd Shipmates' network <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> July 2008 Avast, Shipmates and anchors aweigh! 1 DISPATCHES 2 BOOKSHELF 3 BLACK TOT DAY 4 SALTY SAYINGS 5 CONTESTS 6 FEATURE 7 SHIPMATES AROUND THE WORLD 8 ASK JULIAN ==================== 1 DISPATCHES + Sea Festivals If you're in Southwest England between the 4th and the 6th of this month, why not drop in to "Sea Salts & Sail 2008", a biennial maritime festival at Mousehole, a picturesque village on the Cornish coast that was once home to the fastest sail fishing fleet in the world. Julian will be there on the Sunday signing copies of his latest paperback, which is set in the seas around this rugged coastline. Www.seasalts.co.uk And the big one, from July 11-17, Brest 2008, brings together an extraordinary fleet of some 2000 traditional sailing boats from 30 countries. It's held every four years in Brittany. http://www.brest2008.fr/en + Hello, sailor! Here's another chance to get a maritime fix this month - from the 25th through the 27th at the Portsmouth Naval Base, the Royal Navy is putting on the biggest show since the Trafalgar celebrations three years ago. Scores of ships to tour over, arena events, air displays - and more... http://www.meetyournavy.co.uk/ticket-pricing.htm + Hornblower enthusiasts Many Shipmates have enjoyed the sea stories written by C S Forester, whose contribution to the genre in which Julian now writes is undeniable. Julian was at sea when Forester died, and felt a real sadness that his wonderful tales would come no more. The C S Forester Society has just relaunched their website. www.csforester.eu + Over 1000 clove hitches John Thompson's splendid model of "Teazer", Kydd's first command, continues apace. Such is the painstaking nature of the work that at last count, the ratlines have required no less than 1125 clove hitch knots to complete. John now has all the standing rigging in place and is moving on to the running rigging. You can follow the build progress on Julian's website. Www.Julianstockwin.com + Ship vs. boat Julian was delighted to present a signed hardback of MUTINY as a contest prize in a recent issue of The Australian Wooden Boat Festival e-news. The question was: "What is a ship?" Dianne Hergatt won with the first correct entry drawn: "In strict maritime usage a 'ship' signified a vessel square-rigged on three masts". The contest generated some most imaginative answers and among the ones Julian particularly enjoyed were:- "As an ex-Royal Navy man, and a survivor of a submarine sinking in the '39-'45 war, the answer to this question is patently obvious. A ship is A TARGET." "I defer to Kenneth Grahame and 'The Wind in the Willows' where Ratty extols to Mole the joy of 'simply messing around in boats.' So for me, a ship is a commercial craft for navigating from A to B, whereas a boat implies the simple pleasure of being on the water. As my old sailing skipper used to say, 'If you can spit over the side from the helm position, she's a boat, all others are ships.'" "A ship is NOT a boat that you can put a boat on, a concept born of fools who work on big modern boats like tankers and such so they can call their tub a ship! A ship is any boat with three or more masts." If +you+ have any thoughts on the subject, do email Julian! He'd love to hear from you. + Upcoming title Authors of the highly-acclaimed "The War for all the Oceans", Roy and Lesley Adkins, have turned their attention to the lower deck with "Jack Tar", a fascinating account of the life of the seamen of Nelson's Navy. The book is scheduled for publication on October 2. We'll have two copies up for grabs in a contest in September! + Ship found after 228 years The wreck of HMS "Ontario", the 22-gun British sloop of war that went down in Lake Ontario in a gale in 1780 with the loss of 130 souls, has been discovered in the Great Lakes. The find is being hailed as an archaeological miracle, the oldest confirmed shipwreck and only fully-intact British warship to have ever been found in the North American Great lakes. The ship, still the property of the British Admiralty, is being treated as a war grave. http://www.shipwreckworld.com/story/shipwreck-explorers- discover-1780-british-warship-in-lake-ontario.aspx ==================== 2 BOOKSHELF + Shipmate recommendations Thank you for all your emails with the names of sea books that you've enjoyed. # From Gerry Reilly, New Jersey. "A Splendid Exchange, How Trade Shaped the World" by William Bernstein. Gerry also nominated two books by Joan Druett - "In the Wake of Madness" (about a mutiny on the whaleship "Sharon" in 1841) and "Island of the Lost" (which compares the very different fates of two ships wrecked at the same time at opposite ends of Auckland Island, New Zealand, in 1864.) # From Paul Lefebvre, Florida. "The sea novels of economist C Northcote Parkinson, such as 'Devil to Pay'." # From Jenifer Faulkner, Scotland. "'The Enemy We Killed, My Friend' by David C Jones. David was a cadet when his ship was torpedoed in the South Atlantic in 1942; the U-boat surfaced near the two crowded lifeboats and her captain showed them their position on his chart and the best course to set for the Liberian coast, 1200 miles away. A tough voyage, but they made it. After the war David heard that the U-boat had not survived, but he eventually made contact with the captain's family in Germany." ==================== 3 FEATURE Black Tot Day Julian is "Old Navy" and recalls not only the days when sailors slept in hammocks, but when there were no women serving aboard the ships of Her Majesty's Navy. He also was at sea when rum was still on daily issue. But while many customs and traditions of the Service remain, hammocks have been replaced by bunks, ships are now manned by both sexes - and the rum ration, so much a part of a sailor's life for over 300 years, is no more. The issue of rum at sea was governed by strict protocol. The boatswain's mate piped "Up Spirits", the signal for a petty officer to collect the keys to the spirit room from an officer. He was then joined by the ship's cooper and a detachment of Royal Marines. In procession, they unlocked the door of the spirit room and witnessed the pumping into a keg of the allowance of rum for every rating and petty officer on the ship. Two marines then carried the keg to the deck. There, the rum was measured out, neat for the petty officers, mixed with water for the ratings. (In Kydd's day the ration was usually served twice daily, a half pint in total, but this was later decreased to one eighth of a pint. Mixing with water for the ratings was brought in under Admiral "Old Grogham" Vernon in 1740.) Friday, July 31, 1970 saw the daily routine pipe of "Up Spirits" sound for the last time - and became forever known as Black Tot Day. Ceremonies were held around the Fleet to make it a day to remember. Sailors conducted mock funerals and wore black arm bands. The annual Christmas-pudding-stirring ceremony in HMS "Bellerophon"was brought forward so that the usual four pints of rum could be included in the 150-pound mix. At HMS "Jufair", a shore establishment, a special service was held. A rum barrel with a headstone bearing a suitable epitaph was interred with the words: "For as much as it hath pleased the Lord High Admirals to take away from us the issue of our dearly beloved tot, we therefore commit its cask to the ground, sip to sip, splashes to splashes, thirst to thirst, in the sure and certain knowledge that it will never again be restored to us, but with the glorious hope that it might be according to the mighty working whereby MOD [the Ministry of Defence] is able to accomplish all things unto itself." At sea, HMS "Fife", being at Pearl Harbour and close to the international date line at the time made the last regulation "Up Spirits" to be heard anywhere in the world. But this sad tale is not all gloom and doom. The Sailors' Fund was established, capitalised with funds that would have been used to purchase two years' supply of rum for the navy. It disburses grant in the region of ?400,000 a year for amenities for serving naval personnel. And the unique flavour of navy rum lives on thanks to the enterprise of a former US marine, Charles Tobias. He obtained the special formula from the Admiralty for the mix of five different West Indian rums, and the rights to sell the blend as "Pusser's Rum". A contribution from the sale of every bottle goes to the Sailors' Fund. ==================== 4 SALTY SAYINGS Footloose Today, if we speak of someone as being footloose we mean he or she is free of all responsibilities and ties. The origins of this word are definitely salty. In many sailing vessels the lower edge of the mainsail, known as the foot, was lashed to a boom to keep it stretched and properly shaped. However, some vessels did not have a boom and the sail was allowed to hang loose along the foot; and sometimes a sail was set on a boom but with only the tack and the clew secured. Loose-footed sails like these had a mind of their own and were difficult to control. ==================== 5 CONTESTS Emails to Bosun@Julianstockwin.com Deadline: end July. + Audiobook For a chance to win a copy of the unabridged audiobook of KYDD, superbly read by Christian Rodska, email the working title of the Kydd book to be published in 2009. THE ADMIRAL'S DAUGHTER will be launched in audiobook format in October, and all the earlier titles are now available. Www.audiobooks.com + Signed copy of THE ADMIRAL'S DAUGHTER If you'd like to go into the hat for a signed paperback of this title, name one Royal Australian Navy ship in which Julian served. We have two books to give away! + Winners all! Congratulations to the twelve winners of an uncorrected bound proof of THE PRIVATEER'S REVENGE - Paul Astbury, Chris Allen, Tom Le Poidevin, Gordon Berlyne, Robin Burnham, Natasha Jarman, Alan Rootes, Mike Abrams, Roger Newton, Mike Fitzpatrick, Nicholas Schlee and Owen Pollard-Rice. And a mystery sea gift will soon be on its way to both Grant Woolley and Alan Cater. ================= 6 POWDER MONKEYS One of the commonly-held beliefs about life on the lower deck in Kydd's day is that small boys known as powder monkeys were assigned one to each cannon and used to carry filled cartridges of ammunition from the magazines deep in the bowels of the ship up to the guns during battle. However, Standing Orders of the time clearly stated that no boys were to be in or near the magazines; during engagement with the enemy their main role was to douse down loose powder around the guns. In the process they would have become covered with smoke and powder and the term powder monkey probably comes from their looking as black as monkeys. Nor was there a boy allotted to each gun. The number of boys in any one ship did not meet even half the number of guns. "Victory", for example, had 100 guns but only 31 boys. [Boy was the rate given youngsters joining the navy under the age of 18; boys less than fifteen were Boys Third Class while those under eighteen were Boys Second Class. Boys First Class were training to be officers.] Powder cartridges (in special wooden containers) were passed via a chain of seamen along the decks and passageways and at nominated ladders and hatchways, with specific routes to ensure the right-sized charges reached the guns they were intended for. A charge for a 32-pounder placed in a 12-pounder would have disastrous results! Around nine percent of the crew would be employed in the process, in "Victory" this was between 80 and 90 people. The boys would have remained stationed on the gun decks, taking the cartridges as they were passed up through the hatchways and then supplying them to the appropriate guns. ==================== 7 SHIPMATES AROUND THE WORLD This month we feature two readers with naval connections, who both see in Tom Kydd aspects of their own lives and experiences. Ken Yalden, who hails from Hampshire in the south of England, has a passion for the craft of knot tying . An ex-Royal Navy sailor, he says: "Like Tom, I have in my time joined a new mess and looked at all the faces looking at the new boy." Ken is a member of the International Guild of Knot Tyers, which has over 1000 members world-wide. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in the art, craft and science of knotting. For anyone wanting to try their hand, Ken suggests the book "Knots, Splices and Fancy Work" by C L Spencer. THE IGKT will be aboard HMS "Victory" demonstrating their skills on August 7, 14, 21 and 28, port side for'd, 'tween-decks. A great opportunity to see some of the knots Kydd would have been familiar with! Ken says they're planning on including the basic tenderfoot knots, small ropemaking, foxing, spinning yarn, square knotting - and turk's head, on request. Www.igkt.net === In the April issue of the Chronicle we reported that Shipmate Jim Parker would soon be deploying to southern Sudan as a UN Military Observer for six months. A great fan of the Kydd series, he's now in Dilling and recently got in touch with some interesting reflections on his life there: "What would Thomas Kydd do if he found himself far from the seas he so loves? Perhaps I could learn something from him as I have been cast adrift from Victoria, British Colombia to the arid parts of the Sudan? I, too, am a sailor, although a Canadian naval reservist and lowly lieutenant, never destined to reach the lofty heights of flag ranks that we know Kydd will attain! Thomas Kydd's era long pre-dates that of the United Nations. But as Julian draws him, many if not most of his traits and characteristics are as valid today as they were in the early 1800s. Kydd epitomises loyalty, integrity, honour, innovativeness and inventiveness throughout his time with the Royal Navy. These are traits that are highly valued in society, the military - and for sure at various team sites throughout southern Sudan. With so many players, a huge country and ever- changing rules and agreements, you can imagine that being flexible is a must. Kydd very much is a people person and this is our strongest tool, being unarmed observers. As military officers we are expected to be loyal and respectful. I see this displayed daily by my colleagues to each other, their country and to the ideals that have them here in Sudan. What type of sailor-like things do we do here at our teamsite? The easiest and most fun is using nautical terms to describe various items around camp. This has the added bonus of setting our army colleagues' teeth on edge. Terms such as 'galley' for the cafeteria, 'heads' for the showers and wash spaces, 'cabin' for our quarters, reading 'charts' (apparently they call them maps...) My naval colleague and I are quite adept at organising our patrol teams and thinking outside the box and both of us attest this is due to our Service training. The only water here is after the violent rainstorms. One might float a small skiff, if you could get the camels and others who are drinking the water out of the way. Still, I can see Kydd someday being given a land appointment where he will have to use his intellectual and cerebral skills more than his practical ones..." You can see a photo of Lieutenant Jim Parker in the Sudan on Julian's website in the Shipmate Album. =================== 8 ASK JULIAN David Coote wanted to know the origin of the word "ahoy". Julian replies: "A hoy is a small sturdy coaster dating back to at least the fifteenth century. Some, as I mention in the Kydd books, were used as craft in the dockyards. There were gun hoys, powder hoys, anchor hoys - and others, all rigged sloop fashion. The hail 'ahoy', is an ancient cry of a sailor to attract attention, possibly deriving from the interjection of 'a' and 'hoy'. Some believe 'ahoy' is from a Viking war cry. And to this day, when any naval craft is seen moving towards a naval ship at its mooring the approaching vessel is challenged with 'Boat ahoy'. The appropriate answer from the visiting boat depends on who is aboard. If a member of the royal family was among the passengers the cry would be 'Standard!' referring to the royal standard. If a captain is on board the visiting boat the reply is the name of the ship that he commands. If the passengers are officers other than the captain the reply is 'Aye, aye'. And if there are no officers, the answer is 'No, no.'" =================== Yours aye, THE BOSUN Coming next month - you can try out your naval knowledge in our Battle of the Nile quiz, there's a double helping of Salty Sayings - and more great prizes... ++ Download back issues from the WebSite ++