The John Barnes Story
Part 4
RFA Olna
I have noticed Peter Maddison’s very detailed reports, sad to say I cannot match his format; he must have kept a very accurate diary and taken a lot of photographs. Good on ya Peter, your stories certainly bring back more memories for me!
RFA Olna (3)
I still have my Discharge Book so can be quite certain of when I signed on and off Olna, a relatively short trip from the 29 December 1967 to the 16 April 1968. However Olna was not “O lord never again” for me, apart from a run in with the Chief Engineer, George Burnett. Signing on in Singapore, another trip to Australia (Sydney this time) and a long trip home to Plymouth prior to a refit, an NBCD Officers course at HMS Phoenix (long gone now I believe) for your truly. That was a bit of an eye opener which I enjoyed immensely.
The John Barnes Story
Part 4
RFA Olna
I have noticed Peter Maddison’s very detailed reports, sad to say I cannot match his format; he must have kept a very accurate diary and taken a lot of photographs. Good on ya Peter, your stories certainly bring back more memories for me!
RFA Olna (3)
I still have my Discharge Book so can be quite certain of when I signed on and off Olna, a relatively short trip from the 29 December 1967 to the 16 April 1968. However Olna was not “O lord never again” for me, apart from a run in with the Chief Engineer, George Burnett. Signing on in Singapore, another trip to Australia (Sydney this time) and a long trip home to Plymouth prior to a refit, an NBCD Officers course at HMS Phoenix (long gone now I believe) for your truly. That was a bit of an eye opener which I enjoyed immensely.
Olna seemed to be a dumping ground for junior leckies, Ted Edmonds was the Senior Electrical Officer, I was the 2nd Electrical Officer and we had 2 juniors, Barry and “Tinker” Bell. The ship was almost brand new and thank god had A/C electrics, wonderful after Reliant’s ageing DC. My own cabin with excellent Air Conditioning, but still communal ablutions for 3rd Engineers and below.
With so many staff the workload was pretty light, but we managed to keep busy. A problem we had (and I don’t know whether it was fixed) was the “Bow Thruster”. This also led to my run in with the Chief. Every time an attempt was made to run it, the breaker on the main switchboard tripped, now the Chief and the Senior Electrical Officer very much took over the trouble shooting and we others were out of the loop so to speak, even when we “split the board” (had one alternator feeding the bow thrusters), it would still not take the load.
Voltage drop was thought to be the problem, cables running just about the length of the ship 415 Vac at that time. I assume that HV is common these days.
My big mistake came when the Chief handed me a pair of Vernier’s, and tells me to go and measure the O/D of the cables. That was not and still is not how we measure cables, I tried to explain this to the Chief but he did not want to listen. You know how it works (rank that is), four rings has always out voted one ring, so I was told in good old Geordie invective “away and measure the f***ing cables laddie”. So I did and my protestations followed me for the rest of the trip.
Should there be anyone out there who is aware of what the problem was, please let me know!
Another item of 1960’s modern technology was the Engine Room “Data Logger”, traditionally a Junior Engineer ran around the Engine/Boiler Room taking 2 hourly readings and recording the data in the “Logbook”. This modern piece of gear had sensors in all the appropriate places, wired back to the “Logger”. A cabinet about the size of a double wardrobe, which housed the electronics (still valve technology). At the push of a button, a log sheet was printed via the old “Golf Ball Printer”. There was also a Mimic panel with a cord just like the old telephone operator’s connecting device, whereby an instantaneous individual reading could be obtained.
All well and good you may think; but electronics were very susceptible to changes in temperature, and the cabinet had been well positioned just inside the M.C.R. (Machinery Control Room) air lock door. Yes, you are so right, Engineers in and out of the door all the time, so the electronics get a continuous blast of hot/cold air. All sorts of crazy information was forthcoming, the printer printed red for alarm parameters, so the log was quite colourful.
One young chappie, who shall remain nameless, let his female side came to the surface and punched the hell out of the thing one night, causing extensive damage. He should have been sacked, but if the face fit’s you are safe!
Talking of technical changes, speed control was relatively simple on DC ships; basically the voltage to the shunt winding was adjusted and had a wide range. On AC ships things were different, AC induction motors can be speed regulated by change in the number of poles, or a change in frequency. Pole changing is only achieved at manufacture and back in the 1960’s frequency was pretty well fixed.
The most common speed control was achieved by the “Ward Lennard” system, which in some respects was a step backwards. The set up was an AC motor, driving a DC generator which in turn fed a DC shunt wound motor. The voltage across the shunt winding could be varied with a relatively small potentiometer. The result being a very finite speed control with little or no loss of torque, the initial outlay of course was quite considerable.
I remember distinctly the goods loading crane on Olna having this type of control. Another type of AC speed control is secondary resistance where resistances are switched into a wound rotor circuit, creating a stepped speed control, once again without loss of torque.
These days oh so different; electronics have screamed ahead with VVVF controllers (Variable voltage variable frequency), giving an almost infinite control of large AC induction motors. Before retiring I was involved in the mining sector and manufacturing sector, even more advanced controllers are now available which ramp up/down and can stop a machine within 1mm or less, giving excellent positioning ability. I digress, but it is all part of the story; how I would like to have a look at the modern vessels.
Some reports in “Life in the RFA” tend to be very technical and factual, that is good because it allows me to ramble on about the more personalised aspects of my time at sea.
I remember we were working up with a fairly old destroyer fresh out of refit, lovely grey paint job, scrubbed timber decks etc, we were RASing FFO, fairly late in the day. For all the different means of communications, the Navy still had to use a chalk board; the engineer officer was in a hurry, so the chalked message was to the effect “pump as fast as you can”! Our 2nd Engineer had a very sad sense of humour (Willie was his name, a Scot with a van Gogh beard), he ‘phoned the pumpman with the appropriate instructions, I cannot tell you the exact pumping ability of our turbine pumps, but the bloody hoses just about pushed the ships apart. Remember me talking about “goosenecks”, well the destroyer had them as well, in no time at all there was FFO running everywhere, across the deck, down the ship’s side, everywhere. The next message read “STOP PUMPING”.
We left Singapore and embarked on exercises with all the Allied navies, RN, RAN, RNZN, and of course the USN. We were at sea for ages. Going up the Gulf of Tonkin (we weren’t in Vietnam you know, and it is more than 40 years so no one will lock me up!)
Just another digression; we didn’t have females in the RFA back then (don’t get me wrong I have absolutely nothing against the fairer sex, unfortunately), but one evening I got called out to an air conditioning flat to fix a fault. I made my way down the alleyway, low and behold, hanging over the handrail were a black nylon slip and a pair of black stockings. We had been at sea for some time, so a stowaway or what? Fix the fault and return to safer climes!
Eventually we anchored in Sydney harbour ships everywhere, 12 days we were there; personally I don’t like the place.
Sydney Harbour in the 1960’s
There was a “cake and arse party” (Cocktail Party) onboard either an aircraft carrier or the converted carrier which was a workshop ship (Pete Maddison will know). White mess undress, the works. I homed in on a Midland’s accent, the wife of an RAN Lieutenant (writer) “Tug” Wilson. It turned out that the lady was brought up very close to me, her grandmother was still alive and whom I eventually visited. This couple looked after me while we were in Sydney. Everyone in Australia seemed to own a beach house at that time (developers have stuffed that now), but mossies lord above they just picked me up and carried me away!
The night of the party I received a letter from home, giving me the address of a chap I used to work with, so; Olna was out on the buoy, the boat routine was infrequent so we jumped a cab and went to my mates place (bloody miles away), time has a way of changing people so, we didn’t stay long and hopped another cab and finished up in “King’s Cross” (King’s Cross to the uninformed, if you could buy anything in Singapore’s fair city, you could buy them by the dozen in “The Cross”).
Kings Cross in the 1960’s
There were about four of us (in full Mess Undress, with caps, etc) and we decided to go for a drink, well we are playing pool and really enjoying ourselves, a couple of very attractive ladies join the group, one of whom asks me “would you like to go to a party after the pub, no worries as they say down under?”
After a while I said where is the party? “anywhere you like” she says, $10 for a room in the pub and $20 for the party, well bugger me, come on guys were off back to the ship and that is the truth!
Back to the dockyard, all the troops are waiting for liberty boats, there was a large pontoon and lord knows how many men, being in uniform we thought it a good idea to stand back away from the throng. American Officers just cannot get the picture, they have to stand down on the pontoon and talk very loudly after a few bevies, so it didn’t take long before Jolly Jack decided that the USN needed a dip in the harbour. So it happened, commissioned Yanks got thrown in, non commissioned thought that this was not the way for their officers to be treated, so it was on for young and old. The worst pain was from laughing.
I still have some photographs of Tug’s children and the old Holden station wagon, it’s really scary to think that they will be in their forties if not older (do they remember me or are they still alive?).
Sydney traffic in the 1960’s
Please don’t think me distasteful, but I must tell you of this and if you are a Commodore (E) tough! We had a really rosy cheeked Engineer Cadet onboard, whose name was Bater and of course was immediately nicknamed “Master Bater”! It just had to be, well whilst in Sydney we were visited by some ladies who were members of “The Young Victoria League” and “The Old Victoria League”, some very experienced ladies I am sure, well one who purported to be a retired air hostess took a maternal interest in young Mr Bater. To the extent that he disappeared for several days. Upon his safe return no longer Master but Mister Bater, the Doctor said he was suffering from strains and exhaustion (lucky little B)
One night myself, Barry? And Graham a junior Engineer went ashore for a run, we had been to a couple of places in the “Cross”, had just got out of a cab when two cops bailed up, “Where are you blokes from” they asked, “From the RFA Olna in the harbour”. “I don’t like f****ing poms, so get off my beat” says the friendlier one. I wanted to discuss matters with them but as they were armed, my companions said just get into the nightclub!
There are two nightclub’s of a similar name “Pink Pussycat” and “Pink Panther”, anyway we went in and had a meal and blow me down there were blokes with their wives in there, the deal was that you had to guess which of the performers was the bloke; there were all these topless skimpy bottomed people, one of which was a bloke! Very confusing I can tell you! The meal was good though.
We left Sydney as I said after 12 days R & R, heading towards Singapore exercising with the Fleet all the way, I think we were at sea for 49 days all up when we arrived in Plymouth.
I am not sure if we were in the Gulf or just in the area, but we burned out an induced draught fan motor on one boiler and getting the spare from its position at the bottom of the Boiler Room to the top of the Boiler Room was done by snatch blocks and come alongs. I only know it was 125 degrees F out on deck and all hands were called to the job, after about 15 minutes you needed to go out on deck for a breather, but eventually the spare motor was in position and we were on our way again. The Suez Canal was closed, so around the Cape we went, via Madagascar, where we stopped to pick up mail from an Army VERTREP, a bit dodgy as they are not used to landing on a moving ship, just shows what our guys are good at!
Carpet bowls was the favourite game, mind the ship would roll and the game would change immediately.
During a long trip at sea things are very quiet, once we struck the African Coast no exercises took place so things were very ordinary, up the West coast of Africa large Sea Otters could be seen lying on their backs cracking open shellfish.
Eventually we arrived in Plymouth to discharge cargo, prior to going into refit. I guess we all know about sailor’s legs; after 49 days at sea we went ashore for a meal and were scared to cross the roads. Why did we always go for a run ashore for a “good meal”? Most of the meals onboard were excellent!
I had expected to “Stand By” during the refit, but instead was sent home first and then on to an N.B.C.D. Officer’s course at HMS Phoenix.
I think I’ve said it before, but the more I write the more I remember going back to Reliant and John Williams, who had paid off and then joined another ship in Singapore, we had a run ashore together, now Johnny liked a “Tiger Tops” or two, but had had an accident of some kind in his earlier life resulting in a “wobbly gait”. We got back to Reliant and he wished to come onboard to catch up with former shipmates, it must have been high tide as the brow was very steep. The usual section of rail had been removed and made up with ropes (which were pretty slack), as he stepped down from the brow to the temporary steps, he took a stumble and went backwards, his instinct was to crouch but doubled up too much and slipped through the ropes, falling between the ship and the dockside. He finished up lying face down on a steel fender.
I got the QM to get a rope rigged, which I slid down (no skin, very quickly). The Doctor was raised and Johnny was on his way to BMH (British Military Hospital). Several of us visited him before he went home, that was the last I ever saw of him, a character if ever there was one!
I could ramble on forever, but will close this chapter with the memory of a group of us ‘relocating’ an upright piano from one of the old Fort boats which was paying off. Our Doctor would play all night, as long as there was a G&T sitting at his elbow! Ross Hunt would tune the thing with a 12 inch shifter (adjustable spanner)
Enough enough.
Till next time