[pompeyfan]

CANBERRA PART SEVEN


The next day we were at Los Angeles or rather San Pedro the port for Los Angeles. I did not go ashore, being too hot, 101f. When there in July that year aboard Iberia, I went to Disneyland. It was 88f that day. The area around the green bridge at San Pedro was used as location for the American television series Rockford Files starring James Garner. That bridge takes you to Long Beach and Queen Mary. Leaving at 1700, we headed back to Honolulu. On Wednesday 13th October, a European steward was admitted with gastroenteritis. I hope a pattern is emerging now as to what nonsense it is that they are banging on about gastroenteritis outbreaks today aboard cruise ships as if it is something new and blaming ships not being cleaned properly. We kept a close eye in the medical department on cleanliness, food handling, storage and so on. I cannot believe some of the stuff I read today where all the blame is put on not cleaning properly or passenger to passenger contamination. Of course it can be passed on once spread so once in the system passengers will pass it on because norovirus is very contageous, but my point is that it was exactly the same during my day. We nipped it in the bud early doors finding the source, but that did not mean it didn’t return on a regular basis. Nothing has changed, except the blame culture of a very common group of viruses first found in 1968.

Canberra arrived back at Honolulu on Thursday 14th October 1971 leaving the same day bound for Yokohama Japan. I still had a few crew in my crew section, European and Asian, but it was getting busier, all types of illness including fatigue and personal worries. As male nurse (Hospital Attendant) in charge of the Crew & Isolation Hospital, I was responsible for all members of crew except officers who were treated in the passenger hospital, although I sometimes had them in my hospital still keeping in contact with one, a former engineer. I obviously knew the medical condition of all crew I looked after physical or mental some that I can never tell for confidential and other reasons that could identifythem albeit it in the past. Because I was responsible primarily for crew, I worked closely with the Welfare Leading Hand who looked after European crew, along with the Chief Pantryman in charge of Goan crew, and the Serang, Indian and Pakistan, and other department heads etc. The Assistant Surgeon (Baby Doc) was the doctor responsible for crew, but of course it all came under the umbrella of the medical department, and the Surgeon. We worked as a team. Today, there are no Welfare Leading Hands or Chief Pantryman aboard cruise ships. Not too sure about Serang’s. My position is also gone, as has a Crew & Isolation Hospital.
Also, the medical department is smaller today on ships far bigger than mine, some over three times bigger than Canberra. There are male nurses today of course, but could not cover what I did having no crew hospital to keep a close eye on vulnerable people.

European crew signed on articles before each voyage or cruise the articles on this voyage was for four months. Asian crew were on board for much longer, nine to ten months. It is the same today on P&O ships, very long articles for Asian and other nationalies, but some European crew at least have more leave, although on world cruises, I think the medical department are on board for the entire trip as we were. Some crew find it hard to be away from home for so long, they also get very fatigued working seven days a week for the entire articles. I was on call 24 hours a day seven days a week again for the entire four months. The Surgeon and Baby Doc took turns at being on call, as did the nursing sisters, but I was not so lucky. We did get time off in port covering for each other, and all crew had some time off in port, but stewards got very limited time off. We also had afternoon siestas, so important when on call day and night.

With the above in mind, it never surprises me when I hear a member of crew has gone missing. Some fall overboard accidentally, others not. I have sat for hours talking to crew who wanted to jump overboard. None ever did during my time, but they were very depressed some their first time away from home, left after a row, fatigued by work, all kinds of below deck activity people shore side never get to hear about, and indeed many aboard were unaware of the full details. Some were sent home at the next port. There were lots of fights below deck, and various crimes, but nothing that did not happen shore side. It seemed worse aboard ship because of such a tight community, and the fact we were at sea. Crew also jumped ship, Australia and New Zealand being the favourites. Others simply went missing, went ashore, never to return. Not always jumping ship, but other reasons such as going ashore alone in dodgy ports. Some members of the ships company was brought back on board by police, and some were very violent. Not the crew, the police!

It is the fact that there does not seem to be the close supervision of vulnerable crew as my era my job gone and no Welfare Leading Hand to whom his job title says it all is very worrying. He like me spent hours talking to crew who had become suicidal. Those jobs were there for a reason, crew welfare being no different today than my era.

Anyway, back to Canberra. I was now very busy in my hospital alone. Crew admitted and discharged every day with a variety of problems including psychiatric which increased as the weeks rolled by. We also had Bell Boys on board in those days. At 18 they became ratings, stewards. Below that age they were very much under the wing of the Welfare Leading Hand.

On Sunday 17th October we crossed back over the international dateline heading west. That meant that Monday 18th October never existed for us, because the next day on board was Tuesday 19th October!. On Thursday 21st October Canberra reached Yokohama Japan. I friend of mine, Mori who I met in Auckland met me. He was Japanese, working in Auckland, but had returned to Japan, to Tokyo where he lived. He showed me around the city in his car. In the evening I took him aboard showing him around the ship.

Tokyo was an incredible place, the amount of people alone. But the thing I liked best about Yokohama was a place called the Silk Centre near to the ship. At this place you could buy all the latest technology the Japanese had become famous for, Cameras, Hi Fi Systems, the lot. And due to the value of the Yen at the time buying this stuff was cheap. I bought the latest Sanyo Music Centre. When I arrived home on leave for a few days in December, I took it home with me. I then went into our local store to see how much it would cost back home. I think it was about £80, but I paid nothing like that. But the model they had was the model before mine. I asked how much the next model would be. They said they had no idea because it was not in the country, and not expected for a long time. Their jaws dropped when I told them I had one at home!

This was my first time in Japan, and was very impressed, not just at the sheer size of Tokyo, the millions of people, the entire place, and the port of Yokohama, absolutely huge, never seen so many ships all the way into port. And of course the latest gadgets. We left Yokohama the next day at 1400 for Kobe reaching our second Japanese port on Sunday 24th October 1971. I only went onto the terminal, but quite a terminal with more Japanese made gadgets. I had patients in hospital, so could not venture too far. We left Kobe at 0800 the next day for Nagasaki arriving at our anchorage on Tuesday 26th October 1971. We could not go alongside in those days. The port was full of shipping, a huge amount of shipbuilding going on. I went ashore going to the epicentre of the second atomic bomb dropped on August 9th 1945 killing 40,000 people and destroyed 40 per cent of the city.

We left Nagasaki at 1800 a very humbling place, very eerie at the epicentre of the bomb, knowing the damage it made, and the number of people killed. Yet they were rebuilding the city and building ships like I have never seen before. Yokohama was alive with shipping, anchored outside the harbour, Kobe was busy, and now Nagasaki.

Next stop Hong Kong, which became my favourite port. I was impressed with Japan, but the best was yet to come. We stayed in Hong kong for three days. The ship had a wash and brush up painting the entire side after chipping the rust off driving us mad all night banging away hundreds of Chinese hanging onto flimsey looking boards held in place by ropes, entire families, parents grandparents children the lot, I have never seen people work like it. They did in three days what it took shipyards here to do in a month or more. But we had a wash and brush up too. Clothes made to measure, shoes, suits the lot. The passenger terminal was like a mini city, I had my eyes tested, new glasses, teeth seen to, and the best shave you will ever have. We bought electrical and other items without even going into town. Junks followed us in, scaling the side the the ship like ants, setying up their stalls on the Prom Deck before we even tied up. They even had stalls in crew quarters, selling boxer shorts(or Hong Kong Skids as we called them) before they were even invented here, five pairs for a pound. And who remembers Hings?! What an amazing place, and people. More to come later.