Flagship Magazine Spring 2011

the magazine of Seafarers UK

issue 16

spring 2011

The Duke of Edinburgh launches the President’s Appeal how you can help

24 Peaks raisies £100,000 2011 Seafarers Week and Nautical Friday Fish and Chips Awareness supper success Changing lives atdanger Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society The continuing of asbestos

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ICAL T U A N Y FRIDANE 10 JU T

STAR G IN PLANN p17 NOW!

issue 16 | spring 2011

features

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16

President’s Appeal launched

Seafarers Awareness Week

at Buckingham Palace

How to get involved this year

20 Charity focus: Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society

22 Train for a life at sea?

Merchant Navy Training

inside news

Community ...................................... 6

regulars

From the bridge. .............................. 2

Scotland........................................... 9

Letters. ............................................ 3

Events ............................................ 10

Jackchat......................................... 25

Corporate update. .......................... 12

Crossword. ..................................... 25

Flagship review. ............................. 30 Nautical ‘Apps’, British Cruisers

Times past...................................... 36 Captain Hoste & the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Lissa

Meet the staff................................. 38 Farewell to ‘Manchester’................. 13 Seafarers UK awards. ..................... 13

Writes of passage........................... 26 An impressive first encounter with the RNR

Gold Challenge............................... 15 RM Band Concerts: new season...... 24

the latest news and updates: www.seafarers-uk.org Flagship magazine is published by

Editor

Editorial inquiries/submissions flagship@seafarers-uk.org

Patron

Associate Editors

Kirsty Aldis, Craig Ryan

Change of address notification kirsty.aldis@seafarers-uk.org

President

Art Director

Advertising

Commodore Barry Bryant CVO RN

James Sparling

8 Hatherley Street, London, SW1P 2QT T: 020 7932 0000; F: 020 7932 0095 Seafarers UK (King George’s Fund for Sailors) is a Registered Charity in England & Wales, No. 226446, incorporated under Royal Charter. Registered in Scotland SC038191.

Design, production & editorial

SDB Marketing, Brighton Tel: 01273 594455

Warners UK, Lincolnshire

Admiral of The Fleet HRH The Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh KG, KT

Chairman

Vice Admiral Peter Wilkinson CB, CVO

www.lexographic.co.uk flagship@lexographic.co.uk

Printers

Her Majesty The Queen

Director General

Commodore Barry Bryant CVO RN TT-COC-002452

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EDITORIAL

From the bridge

Commodore Barry Bryant CVO RN Director General Seafarers UK

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Regular readers of this column will know that I frequently refer to the frenetic pace of what outsiders would think was perhaps a fairly routine and steady business. While sometimes I wish that was the case, every day in Hatherley Street seems to throw up its share of excitement, new initiatives and talking points, and so far this year has certainly been no exception. The Fundraising Department has been fitted with go-faster stripes, campaigning is the new buzzword, a much improved financial software system has been introduced and proven, two new excellent trustees have been recruited, and external liaison with the Maritime Charities Funding Group and the Confederation of Service Charities (COBSEO) continues to show the huge value of partnership working in many fields.

In March, with a large reception at Buckingham Palace, in the presence of our President, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, to organise, it was Action Stations for all. If the President was going to give his name and backing to this year’s Appeal, it was going to be done properly! As you will see as you read on, we also had a lot of fun doing it... It was Prince Philip’s expressed wish at the reception that anyone who would like to recognise his great personal support for the maritime cause should do so by supporting his Appeal, and the endorsed letter within this issue of Flagship give you a chance to do just that!

Any charity must, as it seeks to increase its income and therefore its service to its beneficiaries, ensure that the giving public understands exactly what they’re giving to. In the case of Seafarers UK, many of our donors have either been to sea themselves or come from seafaring families, and are therefore well aware of the ever-present danger, the traumas of separation and the emotional turmoil associated with a nautical career. However, a large majority of the modern public do not have a clue about

F L AG S H I P S P RIN G 2011

“Any charity must ensure that the giving public understands exactly what they’re giving to. In the case of Seafarers UK, many of our donors have either been to sea themselves or come from seafaring families, and are therefore well aware of the ever-present danger, the traumas of separation and the emotional turmoil associated with a nautical career. However, a large majority of the modern public do not have a clue about such things...” such things, and that is why we held a successful ‘Seafarers Awareness Week’ last year in a bid to educate them.

This year we’re going one better, and including many of our charitable partners, either working with us or using the central message to promote their own events. We believe that as the ‘umbrella’ charity for the sector, we have a duty to coordinate ‘core’ initiatives that can help our colleagues, and that by working together and concentrating our events on one week, we will create a far bigger impact on the public. All relevant details are on a special website devoted to the week, www.seafarersawarenessweek.org, which also showcases associated events ranging from memorial dedications to art competitions.

In the longer term, we are working closely with the Royal Navy, the reinvigorated Sea Vision educational campaign and other interested groups with the aim of coordinating production of the ‘Maritime Message’ – a collection of

LETTERS

Letters relatively simple but hard-hitting facts that we can all use to show the nation how much it relies on the sea and those who work on it.

Our Annual Meeting in London’s Mansion House is now on the horizon, and with it the publication of our Annual Report and Accounts.

I mention this because as a matter of policy we believe that this document should not just be a collection of statutory figures but should tell the detailed story of what we have achieved in the past year and our hopes (tempered sometimes by fears!) for the future. While we limit the print run for reasons of economy, the full document will be available on our website and this year it has a section dealing with our intended strategy for the next five years. I commend this to those of you who may wish to understand the longer-term vision set out by the Chairman and Trustees.

Indeed, I believe the whole report demonstrates a realistic appreciation of the huge problems confronting our maritime communities, matched with the confidence, competence, flexibility and enthusiasm that we require to overcome those complex needs. It certainly does not reflect any diminution of effort in any of our diverse areas of operation, nor the determination, as the report says, to achieve our aims with a sense of mission – and a sense of humour!

Finally, the clocks have changed, the flowers are blooming and it’s time to take a Seafarers Challenge! We have an impressive and varied programme of events this year for all (or most!) ages and abilities, and the enclosed leaflet gives you all the details you need to know to get involved. Even if the events are not personally of interest to you, please pass on to any friends or family who may enjoy a challenge.

As ever, my sincere personal thanks to all of you who support us both voluntarily and financially. To anyone reading this and thinking about it – come and join in! You won’t find a better cause...

Do you have something to say about what you’ve read in Flagship or something you’d like to see included? Or perhaps you just want to get something off your chest? Please write (maximum 400 words) to the editor at Flagship, 8 Hatherley Street, London SW1P 2QT or email to flagship@seafarers-uk.org – mark letters ‘for publication’. The editor reserves the right to condense letters.

Armed and dangerous?

Re-reading Barry Bryant’s article, ‘A defining moment for MN Veterans’, (Flagship, Spring 2010), I was suddenly struck by the words, ‘I can hear the obvious objections already: “I wasn’t in the Armed Forces!”’

As the term ‘Armed Forces’ obviously applies to the three fighting Services, which are armed on a permanent basis, the exclusion of the Merchant Navy is understandable. Nevertheless, merchant ships were certainly armed in wartime, hence their description as Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships, or DEMS. Nor were their weapons exclusively used by those Hostilities Only (HO) personnel known as DEMS Ratings. As a junior radio officer, I attended

four anti-aircraft gunnery courses, in Bombay, Colombo, Port Said and Gibraltar. My ‘hobby’ paid off when, during the 1943 invasion of Sicily, I was allowed to take charge of the Oerlikon gun on the starboard bridge – safely above the heads of everyone else on board!

We heard a dive bomber screaming down overhead one bright moonlit night when we were doubtless highly visible.

I nipped into the gun-pit and loosed off a whole magazine in the direction of the noise, but the bomber remained invisible and apparently unharmed. In the event both he and we escaped unscathed, but I like to think I may have spoiled his aim.

Richard Shaw, Dunstable.

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Seafarers UK launches major appeal for 2011 at Buckingham Palace

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is Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, President of Seafarers UK, has graciously endorsed our 2011 fundraising campaign, The Seafarers UK President’s Appeal 2011. It will be the underlying theme of our individual fundraising throughout the year, and it aims to work towards closing the £2m funding gap between the requests made by, and grants given to, our maritime charities.

His Royal Highness further granted us the honour of a launch at Buckingham Palace on 15 March, held in the magnificent Bow Room, during which he met and acknowledged representatives of our wide beneficiary base, and loyal and committed donors at every level.

Julie Behan, Seafarers UK Fundraising Manager for Individuals, said: ‘In addition to showcasing our own remit right across the maritime sector, we were delighted to be able to celebrate our President’s own distinguished naval career, and his lifelong commitment to this island nation’s maritime community.’

The Second Sea Lord and the Deputy Master of Trinity House were joined by young people at the outset of their careers in the Royal and Merchant Navies, and by veterans with a history of distinguished service. Senior figures from the corporate sector stood alongside individual donors to hear His Royal Highness reflect on his long association with Seafarers UK, the nation’s continued reliance on the seafaring profession for our security 4

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Deck Cadet Edward Scott from Warsash Academy, Lieutenant Commander Paul Ashley from HMS Kent, Mr and Mrs Assem Allam

and economic well-being, and our responsibility towards those who brave the dangers of the sea on our behalf.

Launching the appeal, Vice Admiral Peter Wilkinson, Chairman of Seafarers UK, reminded the guests that ten per cent of the Naval Service would be deployed in Afghanistan this summer. The Royal Marines 3 Commando Brigade is now the most extensively and frequently deployed brigade in the British Armed Forces, and at a time when the demands on all our servicemen and women are increasing on a daily basis, it is very timely to launch this major appeal. Vice Admiral Charles Montgomery, Second Sea Lord, was asked particularly to convey the good wishes of all present to the personnel about to deploy, and to their families.

The Duke of Edinburgh appeared to enjoy the company of such a wideranging cross-section who had come together to champion the maritime cause, and acknowledged each guest individually.

The exchange of personal experiences, knowledge and anecdotes (and some salty tales!) generated lively conversation and a convivial atmosphere.

Our work starts now and we turn to all our supporters, both new and old, to help us in our aim to raise the extra £2 million that our beneficiary charities so desperately need. By making a donation or perhaps doing some of your own fundraising you can join The Duke of Edinburgh in endorsing our appeal and supporting Seafarers UK. For more information email julie.behan@seafarers-uk.org, phone 020 7932 5981 or visit www.seafarers-uk.org

NEWS SPECIAL

Lt Cdr Tony Quirk, from HMS Collingwood talks to The Duke alongside his wife Alison watched by Mrs Rosemary Headon and her daughter Caroline

Lieutenant Colonel Dougie Keelan RM Chairman of Perthshire committee, his wife Susan and Mr Reg Miles Chairman of Guildford Committee chat with The Duke

Sub Lt Hugh Gaskell-Taylor being presented to The Duke watched by Mrs Janet Bootherstone Chairman of our Dartmouth Committee, her daughter Anne, and Mr Ian Quest and Mrs Vicki Jones of Newton Europe

photos: Victor Shack

Mr David Layte, Chairman of Three Rivers Committee, Mr Simon Walters of Carnival UK and his wife Sarah chat to The Duke

Members of HM Royal Marines Band Portsmouth meet The Duke. The band provided music throughout the evening taking requests from guests

Mr Alexander West MBE, Director of Westward Fishing Company watched by his wife Eleanor and Mrs Maureen Freemantle SPRING 2011

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community news Committees and Volunteers the backbone of Seafarers UK Alexandra Sard MBE Community Support Manager, Seafarers UK already in the diary for this year are Coffee Mornings, Street From the time of King George V and Collections, an Evening of Musical Entertainment by local the founding of King George’s Fund performers, Fish and Chips and Quiz evenings, a Garden for Sailors (KGFS), the charity’s Opening, Cocktail Parties, Bridge Tournaments, Lectures committees and volunteers have been by well-known personalities and of course, Royal Marines Band Concerts. Committee activity varies tremendously and the backbone of the Fund. As Seafarers UK

today, our loyal supporters and volunteers work as hard as ever on our behalf, and appear to take great pleasure in doing so. In 2010, the money raised by committees and volunteers did not disappoint and Seafarers UK is once again indebted to all of them for their effort and hard work – not to mention the enthusiasm with which it is done!

There are more than 30 committees throughout the UK, ranging in size from 20 members to as little as three or four in some cases! We also have a band of individual volunteers in the community who work on behalf of the Fund to raise money in whatever way they can. Many committee members have served with KGFS, now Seafarers UK, for 15-20 years, but others have recently joined us, bringing fresh ideas for new fundraising events.

What do committees do? They usually meet around three or four times a year to discuss and plan the running of future events. To give you an idea of what can be achieved,

East Yorks fundraising feast Seafarers UK East Yorkshire Committee organised its final fundraising event for 2010 on 14 November at the Woksoever Restaurant in Cottingham. Sixty supporters enjoyed a delicious Chinese banquet and over £500 was raised.

The Committee received a surprise cheque for £230 from a participant in September’s Great North Run. Committee member Alan Wilford’s niece, Alice Dalton, had registered for the Run to raise funds for Seafarers UK but withdrew, as she would have been seven months pregnant at the time! However, Alice’s partner, Jonathan 6

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while some committees regularly run six or seven events a year, some committees only run one. Every penny helps, but we do appreciate that everything is done on a voluntary basis and is thus a call on the spare time of our volunteers.

Committee membership comprises a variety of people from a plethora of careers, backgrounds and ages. Around half of members have served or are still serving in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines or the Merchant Navy. The remaining half is made up of people who just wish to help raise funds and have chosen Seafarers UK as a good cause. Committee structures also vary, but generally a Chair is appointed along with a Treasurer and Secretary wherever possible.

So how about joining a committee or even starting a new one? There is so much untapped resource available for fundraising with which you can help us. If you are interested please contact me by email at alexandra.sard@ seafarers-uk.org or by telephone on 02392 726101.

Hollyman, completed the run and very nobly split his sponsors’ donations between his chosen charity, the local air ambulance service, and Seafarers UK. Baby Martha arrived in November!

All hands on decks Seafarers UK Dartmouth Committee held its annual Bridge Lunch on 27 October at the home of committee member Christine Speed and her husband Tony. The event was organised by local bridge instructor Margaret Turner. There were nine tables in all and guests played before and after a delicious lunch served by the Committee. Prize giving, raffle draw and a Seafarers UK Christmas card sale followed the event. Another successful

and enjoyable day for Seafarers UK Dartmouth Committee!

NEWS IN BRIEF Sailors from Felixstowe Ferry Youth Sailing celebrate the launch of Beryl T

Beryl T sets sail at Felixstowe thanks to Seafarers UK

A local sailing organisation, which provides sailing tuition for young people in Felixstowe, was celebrating last November after a donation from the Seafarers UK Beryl Threadkell legacy enabled the sailing club to purchase a new rescue boat.

Felixstowe Ferry Youth Sailing (FFYS), based at Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club, is now the proud owner of a brand new rigid inflatable boat, aptly named Beryl T. She was officially launched on 6 November 2010 at a ceremony attended by Seafarers UK Heads of Grants Dennis Treleaven and over 70 young people

learning to sail at the club.

Seafarers UK is delighted to be able to support the work of FFYS and enable the club to purchase a new safety boat. Young people are vital to the future of our maritime sector in the UK and FFYS does important work in helping young people develop an understanding and appreciation of sailing and the sea. The grant was made possible through the generous legacy from Mrs Beryl Threadkell, a long-time supporter of the Charity who lived in Felixstowe. Mrs Threadkell’s legacy has also supported a number of other maritime organisations in Felixstowe

and surrounding areas.

Bob James from FFYS expressed his sincere appreciation and gratitude to Seafarers UK for the wonderful donation towards the new craft, which will be manned by dedicated volunteers and will ensure the safety of the youngsters on the water for many years to come.

FFYS has an extensive fleet of dinghies, from Wayfarers and Picos for beginners, up to high performance Buzz dinghies for the more experienced. All students are given the opportunity to take formal RYA qualifications.

Lincoln celebrates Trafalgar Night

Well done to Lincoln Committee Chairman Commander David Drury RN and fellow committee members for organising a successful and enjoyable 2010 Trafalgar Night Dinner at the Assembly Rooms, Lincoln. Sixty-seven guests enjoyed Surgeon Cdr Peter Brinsden’s rendition of the Immortal Memory and a total of £600 was raised for Seafarers UK.

Charity for £2,000 as the proceeds from a golf day organised by the Isle of Man Shipping Association in conjunction with the Isle of Man Marine Administration, taking the total for the evening to £8,583. A wonderful result!

Manx ball raises over £8,000 From right to left: President Brian Brown, Mrs Olive Brown, Surgeon Cdr Peter R Brinsden RN (Speaker),Vice Chairman of the Nelson Society, Cdr David Drury and Mrs Kate Drury and Mrs Jill Singleton.

On 14 October 2010 the Isle of Man Committee held their 44th annual Trafalgar Night Ball. As usual, the event was a great success, raising £6,583. In addition a cheque was presented to the

Dick Welsh, Simon Pressly and David North, Chairman of Seafarers UK Isle of Man Committee SPRING 2011

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NEWS IN BRIEF

‘Heroes and Warriors’ at Chichester Band Concert Chichester Festival Theatre is one of the south’s most popular and well-known venues, with an enticing programme of events on offer throughout the year. Therefore, Alexandra Sard at Seafarers UK was delighted to be able to secure a date in February for a Seafarers UK

Bath reels in £2,500 The Bath Committee of Seafarers UK held its annual Scottish Reeling Ball on 6 November. This was the fourth year of the event and it proved to be as successful as ever with all tickets being sold! George Buchanan and his Band provided the music and guests danced the night away until midnight.

The Ball was sponsored by Thales and BMT and over £2,500 was raised for the charity through tickets, a raffle and donations. Local businesses who generously provided excellent prizes for the raffle included Loch Fyne, Onefishtwofish, Future Bath Plus, Bath Spa Hotel, Theatre Royal, Barters Plant Centre, Network Hairdressers, Center Parcs and Champneys.

Next year’s Ball will be held at St Margaret’s Hall, Bradfordon-Avon on 19 November 2011. If you are interested in attending please contact Alexandra Sard on 02392 726101.

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Sea Cadets from Chichester with Seafarers UK Chairman Vice Admiral Peter Wilkinson and Director of Music Major Jason Burcham.

Royal Marines Band Charity Concert as part of the annual Seafarers UK programme.

The concert entitled “Heroes and Warriors” was a huge success. The auditorium was packed and local Sea Cadets were on hand to add a naval flavour and wield collection buckets!

However, it was also tinged with a little sadness, being Director of Music Major Jason Burcham’s final concert with Seafarers UK as he moves from Collingwood Band to run the Royal Marines Band School of Music in April 2011.

NEWS IN BRIEF SCOTLAND

All change in Scotland

S C O T L A N D

Ewan Hastings, formerly Scottish Charity No: SC Head of Fundraising for Scotland, has moved on and we wish him well as he starts his new job working for the Edinburgh-based Eric Liddell Foundation.

However, Seafarers UK Scotland is very much a going concern; Captain Nick Davies remains as the Seafarers UK Regional Representative for Scotland and is being backed up by Londonbased staff where appropriate. Nick can be contacted on 07885 555760 or at nick.davies@seafarers-uk.org.

New memorial for Scotland’s merchant seafarers

Star Soprano at Aberdeen Music Hall An audience of almost 700 filled The Music Hall in Aberdeen, a magnificent Victorian venue renowned for its excellent acoustics, to enjoy the annual concert with the Band of HM Royal Marines Scotland. In addition to the traditionally excellent band performance, locally educated star soprano Lisa Moffat (pictured) sang several numbers, including Robbie Burns’ classic ‘My Love is like a Red, Red Rose’. The audience were especially enthusiastic over her passionate rendition of the traditional song ‘The Lights of Old Aberdeen’, which brought the house down!

The Sea Cadets (pictured right) from the Aberdeen Unit TS Scylla were on parade and did an excellent job selling programmes. VIP guest for the evening was the Lord Provost of the City of Aberdeen, who is, by virtue of his appointment, also a Vice President of Seafarers UK. The concert benefited from the sponsorship of seven local firms, which went a considerable way to offset the costs of running the event, which raised the impressive total of over £7,000 for Seafarers UK.

Unveiled by HRH The Princess Royal in November 2010, Scotland’s Merchant Navy Memorial in the Inner Harbour of Leith commemorates Scottish Merchant Navy seafarers and fishermen who died in service, including the many who have no known grave. It also records the 132-year history of nautical education at Leith Nautical College, where many Merchant Navy personnel of the deck, engineering and supply branches received their formal naval education.

The stone monument was designed by the sculptor Jill Watson and follows a tradition of naval columns going back to classical times. The memorial scenes, in cast bronze, are arranged on all four sides and include panels depicting a variety of merchant ships, scenes of war at sea, images of trading routes of the world and figures from everyday maritime life. On the ground level are scenes commemorating the educational role of Leith Nautical College, and the

top of the column forms a crown made up of ships’ bows and sails.

The wartime record of the Merchant Navy is often overlooked. Between 1910 and 2010, 47,000 British merchant seamen gave their lives in conflict, and Scottish seafarers made up a significant proportion of all ships’ crews. It is recognised that many more lives were lost and went unrecorded. Unfortunately, there are no reliable statistics for the actual number of lives lost in peacetime, nor for the large number of fishermen who have died at sea while on service, both as fishermen and while attached to the Royal Navy during both world wars.

The Merchant Navy Memorial Trust (Scotland) was founded in 2009 to commemorate the sacrifice made by Scottish Merchant Navy personnel and fishermen.

For more details visit: www. merchantnavymemorialtrust.org.uk

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EVENTS SEAFARERS UK Events Diary Sunday 17 April 2011

Virgin London Marathon

23 entrants will be running 26.2 miles for Seafarers UK this year, including Royal Marine Sergeant Carl Creasey (pictured) attempting to beat a world record for the fastest time carrying a 60lb pack. Turn out to cheer them on!

Monday 6 – Sunday 12 June 2011

Seafarers Awareness Week

The third year of our exciting awareness raising event, more at www.seafarersawarenessweek.org.

Sunday 10 July 2011

Fish & Chip Feast 2011 Seafarers UK was thrilled to get fantastic support from the fish and chip industry for our first ever Fish & Chip Feast in 2010.This year the event is October 14-16 and it’s not too early to get planning!

The Feast is a nationwide fundraising campaign which also raises awareness about the challenges faced by our fishing fleets who face serious risks every day of their lives to put food on our table. The industry’s support helps give our fishing communities a voice and recognition which they truly deserve.

As reported in Winter Flagship, fish restaurants, large chains and small family-run shops got involved to raise money. Supporters included Fishy Fishy Seafood Brasserie, RockFish Devon, Livebait, Deep Blue Restaurants and long-term supporter, Fish ‘n’ Chick’n.

Not only could your business help seafarers, but it would also benefit. Fish ‘n’ Chick’n raised over £12,000 last year by fundraising in shops across eastern England and have been supporting us since 2009.

James Lipscombe, Director of Fish ‘n’ Chick’n said: “Our partnership with Seafarers UK is entering its third year and we are hoping that this is going to be our most successful fundraising year yet! We always come up

with quirky fundraising ideas from sponsored skydiving to sponsored Curry Sauce baths! We try to educate our customers in how Seafarers UK use the money we raise to help the thousands of people in the seafaring industry. This way we hope they will engage with the charity and be willing to give even more money.

“We held our main fundraising event on October 1 and due to the incredible effort our staff made, we actually saw an increase in sales! It is important that as a company we give something back to the thousands of hard working people who make our business what it is. We are proud to continue to support Seafarers UK and look forward to the challenge of beating last year’s fundraising total.”

We are also asking suppliers to help us spread word of the event – we are delighted to announce that T Quality has already pledged support for this year!

Last but not least, Seafarers UK would also like to thank Seafish for a place at the annual Fish & Chip Awards Lunch in January, which was a very rewarding day for everyone.

Contact Elma Glasgow, Corporate Fundraising Manager, to find out more: elma.glasgow@ seafarers-uk.org or 0207 932 5978.

Lloyd’s Register Marine team receive top fundraising award

British 10k, London A 10 kilometre race along a central London route lined with Union Jacks and cheering crowds. Why not sign up to run and raise valuable funds for Seafarers UK? Saturday 16 – Sunday 17 July 2011

The 24 Peaks Challenge One of the most gruelling, but also rewarding, mountain challenges organised as a charity event.

Saturday 24 – Sunday 25 September 2011

The Welsh 3000’s A new mountain challenge for 2011 – whether you have already conquered the 24 Peaks, or simply fancy an event later in the year, this challenge could be for you!

Friday 14 – Sunday 16 October 2011

The Seafarers UK Fish & Chip Feast (see right)

A chance to support our fishermen and other seafarers while enjoying a classic British supper.

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Earlier this year, the “Salty Dogs” team from Lloyd’s Register Marine, our top fundraisers for the 24 Peaks event in 2010, were presented with their trophy by Sarah Slocombe, who was our interim Head of Fundraising prior to Nigel Shattock’s arrival.

The team raised over £11,000 for Seafarers

UK, and were presented with a special peak-inspired trophy (pictured). Other top fundraisers in 2010 were Carisbrooke Shipping and ABP A-Roving. If you are interested in taking on this year’s 24 Peaks Challenge, please visit www.seafarers-uk. org/24-peaks.

CORPORATE NEWS Corporate focus

Corporate donations Corporate supporters of Seafarers UK have continued to be very generous throughout the winter.

Donations have been received from a wide range of companies, including long-standing supporter BAE Systems, who gave a very generous donation of £10,000. Over £4,000 was received from onboard collections from guests on voyages with Cunard and P&O. The Seafarers UK affinity credit card continues to bring in much needed funds – in 2010 over £900 was raised by supporters using the card for purchases. Also, DFDS Seaways has donated in kind to support our fundraising activity this year.

Thanks to all of our corporate supporters for their loyal support which is most appreciated in these challenging times.

Seafarers Ale going down a treat barrel sold, and funds are raised through sales of cask beer and bottles, which were sold as a seasonal beer in Sainsbury’s stores last autumn.

It is expected the beer will raise over £25,000 in this financial year.

Seafarers Ale is set to become yet more popular as Fullers make it available in kegs which can be used in a wider range of venues. So keep an eye out for the opportunity to enjoy the ale and support us.

Seafarers Ale continues to go down very well while raising money for Seafarers UK! Fuller, Smith & Turner Plc has announced sales of Seafarers Ale are doing extremely well. Thank you to all our supporters who have been enjoying the beer and helping us raise as much money as possible for the welfare of seafarers.

Seafarers UK receives £5 per

Spot the Seafarers Ale Dray!

A new and striking Seafarers Ale dray has just been launched! To celebrate, Seafarers UK and Fullers are running a competition for our supporters. If you spot the truck going about its deliveries to thirsty

Recycle for Seafarers

New partnership with Cutty Sark

Your company can donate to Seafarers UK while supporting your own environmental policy through recycling. Seafarers UK is working with The Recycling Factory to raise money from donations of ink cartridges and mobile phones. This is a great way to raise money throughout the year and provide a sustainable form of income for Seafarers UK. Recycling can also be an excellent addition to an existing partnership with Seafarers UK. If you would like to get involved email: seafarersuk@trf-uk.com or contact Elma Glasgow, Corporate Fundraising Manager on 020 7932 5978.

Cutty Sark, a blended Scotch whisky, is proud to be supporting Seafarers UK, the country’s leading maritime welfare charity.

Cutty Sark and Seafarers UK share a strong and long-standing connection to the maritime world, making the partnership a natural fit. Named after the legendary tea clipper, Cutty Sark evokes the ocean-going life. By working with Seafarers UK, Cutty Sark is supporting the welfare of seafarers and their families who suffer from a combination of problems caused by maritime occupations, including bereavement, injury, feelings of isolation, poverty, homelessness and disability.

Jason R Craig, Global Brand Controller at Cutty Sark said: “Cutty Sark whisky celebrates exploration and adventure. However, there is a human cost attached to life at sea. Indeed, the ship from which we take our name is in part a memorial to lost sailors of the Merchant Navy. We are, therefore, proud to support Seafarers UK.” Director General of Seafarers UK, Commodore Barry Bryant, added: “We are delighted to be

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customers, let us know and we will enter your name into a prize draw to win a very nautical Seafarers Ale gilet.

Please let us know the location, date and time you spotted the dray along with your size (small, medium, large or extra large). Tell us your full name, a contact phone number, postal address and email address by Friday 27 May 2011.

Email elma.glasgow@seafarersuk.org or post to: Seafarers Ale Competition, Seafarers UK, 8 Hatherley Street, London SW1P 2QT.

working with Cutty Sark – an iconic whisky brand founded just a few years after Seafarers UK. The partnership will help boost the charity’s diverse grant-giving programme which funds crucial welfare services for people who spend their lives at sea.”

NEWS

Farewell to the ‘Mighty Manch’

After 28 years successful service, during which she steamed 860,337 nautical miles and spent 71,505 hours under way, HMS Manchester was decommissioned at Portsmouth on 24 February (writes Captain Nick Davies, former ‘Manchester’). In winter sunshine, the Ship’s Company and Guard paraded together in a dignified

and emotional ceremony attended by the Lord Mayors of the Cities of Manchester and Portsmouth, family, friends and former “Manchesters”.

This was the third ship to carry the name, the first being a humble stores ship of 1814 vintage, and the second a ‘Town class’ cruiser that saw action in many theatres of World War Two and was

sunk in the Mediterranean in 1942. The third HMS Manchester was commissioned in 1982, the first of the ‘stretched’ T42 destroyers designed for ‘air defence’. Her first Ship’s Company included significant numbers of survivors from HMS Coventry and Sheffield, lost in the Falklands conflict. During her service, Manchester completed six operational deployments to the Arabian Gulf, including winning battle honours in the 1990 Gulf War, went to the South Atlantic twice and circumnavigated the globe. Her final deployment has featured in the recent Channel 5 documentary ‘Caribbean Patrol’.

Manchester, affectionately known as ‘The Busy Bee’ from her funnel badge, derived from the city’s coat of arms, always had a reputation for being a happy and successful ship. She will always be special to those of us who served in her. It was fitting that the first of the new class of Royal Navy destroyer, the impressive HMS Daring, sailed by as Manchester’s commissioning pennant was hauled down, rather as if the baton was being passed to the next generation.

Royal Family with distinction in a personal way.

Following his distinguished career in the Royal Navy, during which he saw active service in the Falklands conflict, Commodore Bryant has devoted himself for the last eight years to the cause of raising public awareness of this island nation’s reliance on the seafaring men and women who daily safeguard our security and economic well-being on the high seas.

Commodore Bryant said: ‘While this is obviously a huge personal honour, I believe it reflects the deep personal interest of Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, as Patron and President respectively of Seafarers UK, in the welfare of our seafaring men and women. It is also a great tribute to my own team and all our colleagues across

the maritime charity sector.’

The Merchant Navy Medal is a recent institution.

Introduced in 2005 as a charitable initiative with the support of the Chamber of Shipping, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the trades unions, it is awarded in recognition of meritorious service or acts of courage by merchant seafarers.

Captain Glass’s career spans 45 years working in, or in association with, the Merchant Navy. He is one of only a few to receive this accreditation. In addition to his role as Vice Chairman of Seafarers UK, Captain Glass is the Rental Warden and Director of Pilotage for the Corporation of Trinity House, one of the General Lighthouse Authorities, and Chairman of the Royal Alfred’s Seafarers’ Society.

Captain Duncan Glass was awarded his medal

by Admiral Lord West of Spithead at a ceremony attended by many senior figures from across the industry including the Minister for Shipping, Mike Penning MP. ‘I feel honoured to have been nominated by my peers for the Merchant Navy Medal,’ said Captain Glass. ‘I have been fortunate to enough to work in roles that have meant I could contribute to the maritime industry and so I am very proud to receive my award and to have been recognised. In addition, I also accept the award in the name of all those that work so hard in the industry and in the name of the charities that do so much for those in need.’

All at Seafarers UK are proud and delighted that both Commodore Bryant’s and Captain Glass’s commitment and efforts have been recognised through these highly prestigious awards.

Director General and Vice Chairman of Seafarers UK receive major awards Warmest congratulations to Commodore Barry Bryant, Director General of Seafarers UK (pictured), and Captain Duncan Glass,Vice Chairman of the General Council, who have both been recognised for their work on behalf of the maritime community in recent months.

Her Majesty The Queen bestowed the honour of the rank of Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on Commodore Bryant in the New Year’s Honours List.

Captain Glass was awarded the Merchant Navy Medal in December, for exceptional services to navigational safety and seafarers’ charities.

Commodore Bryant’s award recognises his relentless personal commitment to, and tireless efforts on behalf of, the welfare of the nation’s maritime community.The Royal Victorian Order, instituted in 1896 and entirely in the Sovereign’s personal gift, rewards those who have served the Monarch and the

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NEWS

Return to Southwark Cathedral

In December we were pleased to return for our second year as partner to the Merbecke Choir Christmas Concert to enjoy an evening of superb

music from the choir and the Little Baroque Company. As a maritime charity, it felt fitting to be back in the picturesque cathedral located next

to the River Thames, once the hub of trade and defence within the city.

Southwark Cathedral is London’s oldest gothic cathedral dating back to the 13th century, and offered the perfect location for a Christmas celebration.

In spite of heavy snow on the day and in the proceeding week, around 200 people enjoyed a répertoire including J.S. Bach’s renowned Magnificat, based on Mary’s words when she learned from the angel Gabriel that she would give birth to The Saviour. It was a thrilling performance by a multi-national ensemble specialising in 17th and 18th century music, and the only amateur chamber choir attached to a London cathedral. Alongside Bach’s Magnificat, the choir and ensemble performed modern and renaissance carols by Schütz, Praetorius, Sandstrom, and Gabriel Jackson.

Seafarers UK’s Alexandra Sard thanked guests and the Southwark Sea Cadet Unit for braving the weather and generously supporting the event.

Royal Ulster hosts fundraising lunch

The Royal Ulster Yacht Club (pictured above) provided a magnificent venue for the annual fundraising luncheon organised by the Belfast Committee to raise funds for Seafarers UK. The event was well supported, with 60 guests sitting down to an excellent meal surrounded by yachting history, including some fascinating memorabilia from the era of Sir 14

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Thomas Lipton.

Located on the south shore of Belfast Lough, the Royal Ulster Yacht Club (RUYC) was established in 1866 and received its Royal Warrant in 1869. It is particularly famous for its association with the ‘boating grocer’ Sir Thomas Lipton who, having been blackballed from the Royal Yacht Squadron, launched his America’s Cup bid from

the RUYC in 1898 with the first of a series of yachts called ‘Shamrock’ (pictured top right). Lipton continued to sail from the Royal Ulster until 1929, and although he never won the coveted America’s Cup, he was loved and respected for his sportsmanship.

Thanks go to Mrs Annie Armson and her committee for arranging the event which made £1,000 for Seafarers UK.

Team Seafarers UK takes on the Gold Challenge!

Gemma Wilson, Stacey Addison, Anna Tibbs and Liana Richards

When the staff at Seafarers UK began to encourage our supporters to take part in the Gold Challenge, we decided to lead by example (writes Stacey Addison, Team Captain). And why wouldn’t we want to get involved? The Gold Challenge is an exciting way to try new sports, embrace the excitement of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and raise vital funds for Seafarers UK. So this is how ‘Team Seafarers UK’ was born. We signed up to take part in five Olympic sports between now and the end of 2012. We made sure that all the sports we opted for had some connection to water: kayaking, rowing, swimming, sailing and water polo.

The first challenge was kayaking. All we had to do was go to the Gold Challenge

website and find our nearest kayaking centre – the Pirate Club in London’s Camden Town. We certainly raised a few eyebrows when we announced to friends and family that we were planning to go kayaking on a chilly winter’s evening in the dark, but we definitely felt that this was enough of a challenge to attract some serious sponsorship!

After overcoming lots of nerves while being briefed at the water’s edge, we got into our kayaks to start our two-hour session. Some were naturals; others took a while to get the hang of things. Soon all of us were skimming along the Regent’s Canal taking in the amazing atmosphere under the stars, seeing such sights as a pretty floating Chinese restaurant and even paddling past the huge Snowdon

NEWS

Aviary at London Zoo. Friendly instructors taught us the basics at various stops along our route, including how to rotate a kayak, how to paddle backwards and most importantly how to stop!

At the end of our session, we felt a bit cold and achy but extremely satisfied and dare I say a little smug at what we had achieved. We’ll be attending another session soon in order to complete the required three hours coached activity – as set out by the Gold Challenge – and look forward to improving our kayaking skills.

Team Seafarers UK is a mixed bunch, so the fact that every team member only has to take part in at least one sport suits us down to the ground. Each member takes part in the sports that interest them and can opt out of any that just aren’t their thing. Four of us took part in kayaking and we look forward to introducing you to the rest of our team as the challenge progresses. Meanwhile, if you would like to support our efforts please visit our fundraising web page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/ teamseafarersuk We hope that Flagship readers will consider getting involved or encouraging friends and family members to have a go.

Whether you want to take on the Gold Challenge as an individual or as part of a team, your efforts will help encourage engagement with sport and raise vital funds for Seafarers UK. From complete beginners to those who want to push themselves to the limit (you can even choose to run a marathon as one of your activities), the Gold Challenge is open to everyone. For more information please visit our website at www.seafarersuk.org or phone our Events Hotline on 020 7932 5961.

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BMT Defence Services, Bath, Seafarers Awareness Week, 2010

Is Seafarers Awareness Week

by Nick Harvey, Seafarers UK Communications and Campaigns Manager.

Seafarers Awareness Week, 6-12 June, is being coordinated and promoted

by Seafarers UK to raise public awareness of seafarers, the work they do and its importance to everyone in the UK. We will highlight the risks, challenges and stresses seafarers face everyday, and their welfare needs - during and after employment – and those of their dependants.

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Now in its third year, Seafarers Awareness Week has evolved into a campaign to highlight ‘sea blindness’, whereby people overlook the huge contribution shipping and seafarers make to the UK economy. New research to be published on 6 June will help to spread our messages to the general public and hopefully encourage more people to support seafarers and their families.

Seafarers UK is making a thoughtprovoking video to show how our ‘island nation’ would suffer if food, goods and supplies – crucially including fuel – were not safely delivered by ship. Social media including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube will be used to promote the video to thousands of people of all ages.

In addition to live radio interviews around the UK, an interactive TV show will be shown on websites, including those of media and ‘partner’ organisations.

Seafarers UK is not alone in raising awareness of our dependence on seafarers. Our beneficiary charities – 70 of which received grants from us totalling £2.5m last year – are being encouraged to organise their own activities to support the campaign.

In fact, all our supporters can play a part in making Seafarers Awareness Week a success. It provides a great opportunity to run local fundraising events, from coffee mornings and cocktail parties to public displays and cash collections,

especially as it coincides with the 67th anniversary of D-Day on 6 June and our President The Duke of Edinburgh’s 90th birthday on 10 June.

Free resources for event organisers are online at www.seafarersawarenessweek. org where headline events will be listed, including the dedication of RFA Sir Percivale’s anchor at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas in Staffordshire.

‘Sir Percivale’ Anchor Dedication

The Arboretum was established to commemorate those who lost their lives in the course of their duties since the beginning of the 20th century. The largest single site is the Merchant Navy Convoy

the cure for sea blindness? which consists of 2,535 oaks; one for each British merchant vessel lost during World War II. That conflict was chosen as it represented the largest Merchant Navy (MN) losses during any one conflict – 31,908 souls (proportionately a higher loss than any of the three armed services).

The Convoy is a reminder of all such sacrifices made by British merchant seafarers and fishermen in over 100 years of conflicts which include both World Wars, Korea, Suez, Kuwait and the Falklands, as well as wars of other nations such Iran/Iraq and Vietnam.

Outside the two World Wars, the greatest loss of MN lives, in any one conflict, was during the Falklands War in 1982 when 19 men were killed.

The Merchant Navy Welfare Board, on behalf of the MN, has purchased one of the anchors from the now dismantled Royal Fleet Auxiliary landing ship ‘Sir Percivale’. She took part in amphibious operations throughout that War, firstly landing troops in San Carlos Bay and subsequently was the first British vessel to enter Port Stanley following the Argentinean surrender. The vessel later served in the Gulf War of 1991, was twice deployed in support of British operations in the Balkans and was present at the handover of Hong Kong to China. ‘Sir Percivale’ was crewed throughout her life by officers and ratings of the MN. The anchor will be mounted on a plinth and become one of the

centrepieces in the glade of the Convoy.

The Board has taken responsibility for collecting funds and arranging the Service of Dedication. This will take place on Wednesday 8 June, during Seafarers Awareness Week. The date marks the anniversary of the bombing of ‘Sir Percivale’s’ sister ships - ‘Sir Galahad’ and ‘Sir Tristram’ - in Bluff Cove during the Falklands War. Further details are available on the Merchant Navy Welfare Board’s website at www.mnwb.org.

Join Nautical Friday fundraising: 10 June 2011

Seafarer Support Radio Ads

During Seafarers Awareness Week a new advertising campaign on Gold radio stations around the UK will promote Seafarer Support, the confidential referral service for serving and former seafarers and their families in times of need.

Managed by the Merchant Navy Welfare Board for the Maritime Charities Funding Group, Seafarer Support is a free service, telephone 0800 121 4765 (Monday to Friday, 09:30 to 16:30), or visit the www. seafarersupport.org website.

By providing a ‘signposting’ service to maritime and other charities, Seafarers Support staff can direct callers to the most appropriate sources of advice, financial help, health support, plus grants and interest-free loans for Merchant Navy career development.

Visit www.seafarersawarenessweek.org for more information.

Seafarers UK is calling all maritime companies to jump onboard and raise money for seafarers on Nautical Friday – Friday 10 June.

The day provides a fantastic opportunity for employees to dress up in a nautical style, wear something blue or simply a Seafarers UK captain’s hat, and organise fundraising activities.

Last year companies ran raffles, office treasure hunts, muffin bakes and quizzes and we worked together to secure excellent PR. Nautical Friday is part of Seafarers Awareness Week – 6-12 June. Already this year Maersk has pledged nationwide employee involvement, and North is organising a fundraising ‘Nauti Ball’ in Newcastle for the North East England shipping community.

For more information please go to: www.nauticalfriday.org.

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FREEPHONE

0800 121 4765

A free confidential referral service for serving and former UK seafarers (Royal Navy, Merchant Navy and fishing fleets) and their families in times of need

www.seafarersupport.org

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SAILp2

4/9/2008

4:27 pm

Page 1

The Seafarers' Advice and Information Line is a telephone, email and letter advice service operated, on behalf of the Seamen’s Hospital Society, by the Greenwich Citizens Advice Bureaux, to provide advice and casework to merchant seafarers, fishermen and their families. The line is open 10.00am to 4.00pm Monday to Friday.

Seafarers' Advice & Information Line PO Box 45234, Greenwich, London SE10 9WR Tel: 08457 413 318 Fax: 020 8269 0794 Email: admin@sailine.org.uk

Greenwich Citizens Advice Bureaux Ltd. Company Limited by Guarantee.

Registered number: 3346379 Registered Charity number 1064404 Designed by Riverside Design Associates www.riversidew6.co.uk 09/08

SC 87x130mm advert _Layout 1 29/04/2010 12:15 Page 1

InspIre the next generatIon of saIlors – support sea Cadets We are working with the Royal and Merchant Navies to keep our maritime legacy alive.

Join us – Leave a legacy and help us keep Britain shipshape. Call: 020 7654 7000 or visit: sea-cadets.org/legacies A charity registered in England and Wales 313013 and in Scotland SC037808

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A safe haven With plans underway to launch the UK’s first specialist dementia care unit for former seafarers in 2011, the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society invited Kirsty Aldis to find out more about the charity and the nursing care and housing options it offers to elderly, disabled and retired seafarers, their widows and dependants.

E

stablished in 1865, the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society has spent over 140 years caring for men and women from the UK and beyond who have served in the Royal Navy, Merchant Navy and related maritime professions. The charity’s fantastic work caring for people who have served at sea has been supported with grants from Seafarers UK for many years, to top up the less consistent donations and legacies it receives.

The charity operates from the idyllic countryside of the Weston Acres Estate in Banstead, Surrey. The estate houses the Society’s flagship nursing home, which has marked its 10th anniversary this year, together with residential care and a housing centre.

The charity was founded by and is still run by former seafarers, and its core interest is still the same as it was 140 years ago – to provide a safe haven for seafarers in old age, sickness or adversity, whatever the level of support required, or whether they want to live independently in one of the Society’s residential flats or require 20

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24-hour care from its nursing team.

The charity also offers respite care and welcomes non-seafaring residents when able to do so.

The society has created jobs locally, currently employing 90 hardworking members of staff. Of these, 20 are registered nurses, including a full-time home manager and deputy. The successful day-to-day running of the home also relies on care assistants, a maintenance engineer, a porter/driver, a gardener, bar manager, administrator and a team of domestic, catering and laundry staff. There are also two activity coordinators who organise in-house activities and events, as well as regular leisure and sightseeing trips offsite, facilitated by the home’s own minibus and a 4x4 vehicle.

With new statistics showing that by 2021 a million people are likely to be suffering from dementia in the UK – an alarming increase from the current number of 750,000 – the charity is unfortunately seeing a prevalence of the condition among its new and existing elderly residents. It has taken a highly proactive approach to supporting them, with a new annexe adding to specialist dementia care facilities

due to open this year. The unit, one of the major projects funded by Seafarers UK, will provide care for up to 36 residents living with dementia. The charity expects to complete the annexe by the spring, with the first residents beginning to use its facilities in early summer. The building will include nursing en-suite bedrooms, two-bedroomed apartments and two safe and secure internal courtyards, one with sensory landscaping, for residents to enjoy the outdoors in a calm and comfortable setting. There will also be a dedicated activities co-ordinator to ensure residents with dementia can enjoy the fulfilling leisure time that makes living with the condition bearable, if not easier.

In addition to the expertise of qualified nurses, all employees on-site are being trained to fully understand and be able to care for the particular needs and traits of people living with dementia.

This new facility will also allow the Society to provide all residents with a full range of accommodation and nursing care services on one site, avoiding the need to transfer them to other homes as their needs change.

By keeping fees low and levels of staff

CHARITY FOCUS Geoff Talbot

Nesta Straw and care high the Society manages to just break even, or thereabouts, at the end of the financial year but only with the help of generous grants from fellow maritime charities and organisations such as Seafarers UK. This financial assistance is imperative in subsidising the costs of some of the less well-off seafarers who need the Society’s help.

The people currently living and in care at the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society come from a broad spectrum of careers, backgrounds and experiences, and have lived all over the world. Current residents include former members of the Royal Navy, including ‘Wrens’ and the Merchant Navy, as well as people from the RAF, the Army and other non-seafarers and their dependants. The Society also welcomes Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel, fishermen, and port workers.

Nesta Straw, 85, is one of the Society’s newest residents, having moved to the home when she became ill and needed additional support. She served in the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) for four years, until she left on her 21st

birthday. During her time as a ‘Wren’, she worked as boats crew and a switchboard operator, and was also posted to Scotland during German ‘doodle-bug’ (V1 flying bomb) raids. After the WRNS, she married a cable engineer, whose work took the couple all around the world. Because of this, Nesta has lived on islands – and near the sea – her entire life, including Ascension Island, the West Indies, the Azores, and most recently, the UK. Despite missing the independence she once had, Nesta has been made to feel very welcome and has enjoyed taking part in the Society’s range of activities and events.

The Society was founded as a Merchant Navy institution and still caters for former members, including 87-year-old Geoff Talbot, one of the longest-standing residents. He was a ship’s radio officer and was at sea for 41 years. Approaching 70, Geoff sought somewhere he could retire to happily but still retain his independence.

He moved to Weston Acres in 1992, and lives independently in a well-appointed flat. He has made a number of long-term friends with similar backgrounds and enjoys the social aspects of life at the Society.

Thomas Anthony, 93, has been a resident for over three years and has become one of the home’s most popular members.

He served in the Second World War from 1940 to 1945 as a warship gunner. He lost a lot of comrades, including in the violent siege of Tobruk, and saw many Naval ships sunk. He left the Royal Navy when his wife

was pregnant with twins. Today, like Geoff, he lives in one of the Society’s sheltered flats, enjoying independent living but able to call upon extra care when needed. Tom has spent many years in care homes but welcomes the fact that the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society offers him and others of similar backgrounds, who have lived through open war and long periods at sea, a safe haven where they can share their experiences in comfort and tranquility.

‘No other care homes I’ve been in over the years are a patch on the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society,’ he said.

Commander Brian Boxall-Hunt is chief executive of the Society. He said: ‘One of our top priorities is to ensure other seafarers out there, living anywhere in the UK, who are in need of support, nursing care and like-minded companionship, are aware of what the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society offers. Having worked with hundreds of former seafarers, we have seen important anecdotal evidence that many have had issues in the past knowing where to turn for help due to the unique nature of their lives and careers and have suffered isolation or loneliness as a result.

I am delighted that we are now able to offer specialist dementia care and respite opportunities.

‘This is why it is so important that charities and support organisations do what they can to let seafarers know what support is available.’

For more information on the Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society, visit www.royalalfredseafarers.com or call 01737 353763. The charity also has a Facebook page – search for The Royal Alfred Seafarers’ Society, or visit: http://on.fb.me/h11ylb SPRING 2011

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Mapping out a career at sea Do you have a sense of adventure, a desire to see the world and an ambition to succeed? Then perhaps you should consider a career at sea. Kirsty Aldis looks at the different ways you could be part of the merchant maritime industry.

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ith 70% of the earth’s surface covered by water and 90% of the world’s trade carried by ship, it’s no surprise that there are lots of maritime career opportunities.

You can no longer run off to sea at the age of 16 by hanging around a port and finding work as a rating. To embark on a career as a merchant seafarer you will need a professional seafaring certification and qualifications gained through education and training courses.

Even today, there are still many oldfashioned and stereotypical ideas about seafaring careers, but in truth there are many varied opportunities, including working in marine science, engineering and technology. In many cases a trainee will be working with the most up-to-date technology from all over the world.

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or geology then you may be suited to a nautical career.

Ship’s Officers

Ship’s Officers generally work in two departments - Deck and Engineering.

The training for both disciplines involves a mixture of academic work combined with practical training both at college and at sea.

Navigation Officers are vital members of a ship’s management team. While on duty they make decisions about steering and manoeuvring the ship, and control navigation and communications. In port they are responsible for cargo handling and ship stability.

Training as a Ship’s Officer will put you in an excellent position if you ever wish to work permanently ashore. The technical and managerial skills you learn at sea are transferable and can be developed with further training.

Adam is training to be a Navigation Deck Officer, with sponsorship from Trinity House. “After finishing University I was

looking into joining the armed forces but came across the Careers at Sea website and had a look at all the information. My family have mainly been involved in the Air Force so I didn’t know much about working at sea, but I was interested in the wide variety of careers available and not getting drawn into the ‘nine-to-five’ routine.

“It’s been great training with Trinity House as I’m getting lots of different ship experience. So far I’ve had two periods on board, one with the PH Galatea, Trinity House’s flagship. It was a great experience but a shock to the system. I loved getting involved with all the activities and that’s when I decided I wanted to be a Navigation Deck Officer.

“In July I will hopefully join an oil tanker or cruise ship which, again, will be a great learning experience.”

Marine Engineering

Marine engineers are involved with every aspect of the main propulsion and auxiliary machinery systems found in ships and offshore rigs. Their work ranges from design and construction to maintenance and repair, ensuring that engines and systems work efficiently.

They have to be able to deal with new and emerging technology, often working alongside engineering technicians.

A Marine Engineer will operate at Incorporated and Chartered Engineer level.

TRAINING Management expertise is essential in order to supervise staff and operate effectively.

To become an Incorporated and Chartered engineer you start by taking a degree accredited to the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) in a relevant subject such as marine engineering, marine technology or ship science. You then need to undergo on-the-job learning before an assessment of your technical and managerial competence at a professional review. You can go on to study marine engineering at postgraduate level if you have a science or engineering degree qualification already.

In the Merchant Navy, engineers work on a variety of vessels from cruise ships to tankers. They work with engineering ratings who undertake the routine maintenance and repair work in the engine room, checking instrument readings and operating controls.

Working in Ports

In Europe alone, over one thousand ports handle more than 3.5 billion tonnes of cargo every year. Jobs in ports range from stevedores to harbour masters.

The most important function of ports is the loading and unloading of cargo, which needs to be done quickly and safely.

Port workers need to be organised and efficient as vessels may be waiting to berth and navigation in and out of harbours is affected by tides. There are opportunities in technical work, administration, customs and management. Some of the jobs available in port operations are described below: Marine/port operatives ◆ Undertake various jobs on the water around the harbour or port area, such as moving navigational markers, positioning gangways and taking marine pilots out to ships.

Stevedores ◆ Load and unload cargo; they may decide how to stack cargo in the best way or how to unload goods quickly and efficiently.

Vessel traffic services operatives ◆ Work in the port control centre, controlling the safe movement of ships and boats around the port or harbour area.

Port managers ◆ Manage all aspects of the port’s work including health and safety and port development, and liaise with organisations using the port, such as freight companies.

Jack, a student studying Maritime Business and Management at Liverpool’s John Moores University, wants to work in ports when he finishes his course, particularly within port management or freight forwarding.

“I don’t come from a nautical background but found out about the industry when I finished school and was trying to find the next step in my education. When I initially started looking into the maritime industry I heard about Maritime Sciences and looked into taking that route, but I struggled to find the sponsorship required. I was still drawn to the maritime industry, as there seems so much room for career growth.

“After my initial search I began looking into all the other careers available in the industry and decided that the job opportunities associated with studying for a Maritime Business degree really appealed to me. There’s lots of room for progression and it offers a lot of variety within the job.”

Jack’s course will leave him with a variety of job opportunities, including marine underwriter, shipping business analyst, operations assistant, trainee shipbroker, the management of freight forwarding or transport insurance, port terminal operation, trainee maritime lawyer and shipping company management.

Hydrographic Surveying

A less-obvious career choice – and one most people won’t have heard of – is to become a hydrographer. Hydrographers use state-of-the-art technology to produce

accurate plans and charts of the seabed, from the deep ocean floor to harbours, showing depths, shapes and contours.

It’s vital when making plans for new shipping routes that accurate information is available so possible hazards such as large rocks and sand banks can be avoided.

And engineers building offshore wind farms need to know if the seabed will support new structures.

Hydrographers are involved in: ◆ Gathering information for predicting the effects of proposed developments (such as wind farms) on the environment. ◆ Finding out if shipping channels are being altered by silting or erosion and, if so, at what rate. ◆ Planning and monitoring dredging work to ensure safe navigation, or to allow new construction work. ◆ Exploring sites for extracting minerals from the sea. ◆ Advising on the location of offshore wind turbines, oil platforms and subsea cables.

These are just a few examples of careers at sea. There are many more opportunities available and a variety of websites offering more information can be found below to help you start training for a new life at sea.

Merchant Navy Training Board: www.mntb.org.uk 020 7417 2800 Careers at Sea: www.careersatsea.org UCAS: www.ucas.ac.uk 0871 468 0468 Sea Vision: www.seavisionuk.org 07703 187716 Ship Shape Training Group: www.sstg.org 01634 820820

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THE BANDS OF NEW SEASON 2011/12

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Eastbourne Winter Garden

Thursday 19 May 2011

Glasgow City Halls

Sunday 29 May 2011

Oban Corran Halls

Tuesday 7 June 2011

Plymouth Pavilions

Wednesday 28 September 2011

Perth Concert Hall

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Guildford G-Live

Wednesday 5 October 2011

IOW Medina Theatre

Thursday 3 November 2011

Tunbridge Wells Assembly Hall

Saturday 19 November 2011

Edinburgh Usher Hall

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Truro Hall for Cornwall

Sunday 27 November 2011

Carlisle Sands Centre

Saturday 3 December 2011

Southampton Guildhall

Thursday 8 December 2011

Aberdeen Music Hall

To be announced

Cardiff St David’s Hall

Sunday 18 March 2012

For tickets contact the venues direct. For further information contact Alexandra Sard on 023 9273 6101/020 7932 0000, or alexandra. sard@seafarers-uk.org. For Glasgow, Oban, Perth, Edinburgh, Carlisle and Aberdeen, contact Nick Davies on F L AG S H I P S U M ME R 2011 07885 555760.

JACK CHAT the CUTTY SARK PRIZE crossword

MAIN There will be a bottle of Cutty Sark whisky for the first correct entry pulled out of Flagship’s bicorn hat after the closing date of 1 June. Post your entries to: Flagship Prize Crossword, Lexographic, Phoenix House, 24 High Street Wanstead, London E11 2AQ.

JackChat

cartoons by Paul Thomas collision which could result from ‘crossing their bow’.

Scribes

Standard nickname for a ship’s ‘writer’ – a rating (in both Merchant and Royal) employed mainly on clerical duties. A scribe in action gear is said to be ‘crossdressing’.

Yardarm

© GAP productions 2011

The In and Out

ACROSS 1 Brief garment which might afford glimpse of briefs (9) 6 Thin slice of potato can describe an apple (5) 9 Go back about a few lines (7) 10 Useful guide when entering or leaving 18 (5) 11 The back at 18 (3) 12 Where? When? We won’t find out about it until late (9) 13 Deeply love commercial with raw mineral (5) 14 Manoeuvre and talk terms (9) 17 Place for a crow to keep a lookout or harbour its young (4) 20 Much ado (4) 22 Can active cavorting confer immunity to diseases? (9) 26 Stupefy a complex path (5) 28 Crew boss at 18 (9) 30 Not a thing (3) 31 It appears to be something (5) 32 Pup, for example, by a pole, will need these to keep balance at 18 (3-4) 33 Someone on the other side (5) 34 He collects the products of 18 (9)

Last issue’s crossword prize was won by Sonia Anderson from London, the solution is here: DAMBOVITA (Bucharest), LAGAN (Belfast), RHINE (Vaduz), AARE (Bern), SAVA (Belgrade), ISHM (Tirana), TAGUS (Lisbon), AKERSELVA (Oslo), DNIEPER (Kiev), MTKVARI (Tbilisi), LIFFEY (Dublin), VISTULA (Warsaw) are all rivers that run through European capitals, hence the heading BOUQUET (flowers in capitals).

DOWN 1,25 It Transports cargo across 18 (8,6) 2 One version holds not any time (5) 3 One who waits (7) 4 Resistance to change of pace (7) 5 River in Cornwall, waterfront in Hong Kong (5) 6 He calls the shots at 18 (7) 7 Ice house (5) 8 Peter confused, left 18 bird (6) 15 Sounds like the latest wildebeest (3) 16 Beverage for two? (3) 18 The main note, we hear? (3) 19 He claimed that nature was red in tooth and claw (8) 21 Something to enjoy en route (7) 23 Cedric has sister, found supporting body (7) 24 Official way to dine when visiting New York (7) 27 It’s accepted as true (5) 28 Cove in the Falkands, an action without a hand (5) 29 Forming a T-junction (5)

Commonly used nickname for the Naval and Military Club in St James’s Square, London. Founded in 1862 by officers unable to gain admission to other service clubs, its name comes from the direction signs for vehicles painted on the gateposts of the original club building in Piccadilly. Today the words ‘IN’ and ‘OUT’ are painted on the pillars either side of the front door. The In and Out was the first London club, in 1919, to provide facilities for women, and today membership is open to men and women on an equal basis.

Cross his (or her) bow

To cross someone’s bow (that’s ‘bow’ rhyming with ‘sow’ not ‘sew’) means to annoy or insult someone more senior, usually unintentionally. The expression comes from the custom for a junior officer to give way to a more senior one onboard ship, or seek approval to pass ahead, so avoiding the possibility of

The outer portion of the horizontal spar attached to a mast. Signal flags are hung from the yardarm and, in the days of capital punishment at sea, condemned men

were hung from it. When the sun passes ‘over the yardarm’ around noon, it is traditionally considered acceptable to have the first alcoholic drink of the day.

You can order a signed copy of Jackspeak: a guide to British Naval Slang and Usage, by Dr Rick Jolly OBE, for just £10 including p&p, a saving of £2.50. Send cheque or postal order for £10 to Palamanando Publishing, PO Box 42, Torpoint, Cornwall, PL11 2YR, marking your order “Flagship Offer”. The author will personalise copies being bought as gifts on request.

SUMMER 2011

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Writes of Passage

First Encounter

by Commander Charles Wylie OBE FCMI RN A filthy winter’s night in Rosyth, in 1980: in spite of a neck-towel, the force six horizontal rain drove rivulets of near-freezing water inside my foul-weather jacket as I stood on the bridge wing of a Ton Class sweeper waiting impatiently for the arrival of a bus from Glasgow bringing a Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) passage crew to take the ship around the north of Scotland to the Clyde.

A bedraggled lot in plain clothes, eventually disgorged onto the jetty with suitcases and tramped on board looking just like the motley bunch they were – butchers, accountants, plumbers, solicitors and the Lord knows what.

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Mine Countermeasures (MCM 10) Squadron, this was my first encounter with the seagoing RNR. ‘God help me,’ I thought, ‘Am I to trust myself with such an unprepossessing bunch of amateurs to go to sea in a yachtsman’s gale, after 30 years in a professional navy?’

I was a bit surprised, only 40 minutes later, to find the ship alive with a full complement of officers, Senior Rates and Junior Rates, and the Commanding Officer (CO) taking reports of “Ready for sea, Sir.” They had changed into uniform, mustered the books from the Royal Navy staff and accepted the ship and its stores in short order.

But my main interest was in the RNR Commanding Officer, a Lieutenant on his first trip in command, and therefore a prime psychological study in himself, particularly with me as a new boss breathing down his neck and observing his every move.

Unberthing was going to be a tricky business with driving rain reflecting dockyard lighting like curtains of shooting stars and reducing visibility to a cable or

WRITES OF PASSAGE

“Unberthing was going to be a tricky business with driving rain reflecting dockyard lighting like curtains of shooting stars and reducing visibility to a cable or so, a gauntlet of another half dozen mine countermeasure vessels berthed either side of the narrow exit lane and a howling wind blowing diagonally across the track.”

so (approximately 600 feet), a gauntlet of another half dozen mine countermeasure vessels (MCMVs) berthed either side of the narrow exit lane and a howling wind blowing diagonally across the track.

“Captain, Sir, strong wind warning.”

“Thank you, Yeoman*.”

“MCM 10, Sir, SW Force 7 forecast...” His voice trailed away as he looked quizzically into my unsympathetic face.

I turned to the CO. “Your task this weekend is to take the ship round to the Clyde, CO, and to give your crew some training. Make a decision.”

A large intake of breath, a slight pause and then, “Stand by forrard and aft,” was his response.

I must acknowledge that his first unberthing as a CO, in such vicious conditions, was neatly done, and I muttered a grudging, “So far, so good”. As we groped our way down the channel and into the sepulchral blackness of the Firth of Forth, the Yeoman reported, “SW, veering West or NW, Force Eight Gale Warning received, Sir”. Once again, to the CO’s entreating look, I offered only, “Your decision.”

All seemed a little better when the wind came astern, a fug built up inside the enclosed bridge, and we ploughed on toward May Island, the CO peering intently into the murk.

Just before the Middle Watch, with Special Sea Dutymen stood down and the CO and I both anticipating a long night, the Yeoman reappeared.

Without a glance in my direction this time, he handed the clipboard to his captain.

The CO read the signal, picked up the main broadcast microphone, and announced, “Special Sea Dutymen will be required in half an hour. The ship is returning to Rosyth.”

He handed me the signal pad and its Severe Gale Force Nine message without a word. He wasn’t standing for any nonsense from a Squadron Commander, however high and mighty he might think himself. He was in command, and his decision was made.

“Good move,” I said with a nod, secretly thinking.

“So this is what the RNR is made of.\’ As we were buffeted on our way back to harbour again, I recalled from my Latin lessons at school that the word amateur is derived from ‘Amo, amare, amavi, amatum’, and that an ‘amateur’ is someone who does it for love. Since then, my respect for the RNR has grown and never wavered. They certainly taught me a thing or two, including a modicum of well-merited humility. *Editor’s note: In the naval context, a ‘yeoman’ is a petty officer or noncommissioned officer in the Royal Navy or Royal Marines who is responsible for signals and communications.

WIN THE ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATION OF YOUR OWN SEA STORY

Send your stories, memories and anecdotes (maximum 800 words), marked “Writes of Passage”, to flagship@seafarers-uk.org or by post to Flagship, c/o Lexographic, Phoenix House, 24 High Street Wanstead, London E11 2AQ. The writer of our featured story will be given the original artwork of their story drawn by award-winning illustrator David Simonds.

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c/o Stolt-Nielsen M.S. Ltd 65 Kingsway London WC2B 6TD Tel: +44 20 7611 8960 Fax: +44 20 7611 8965 www.stolt-nielsen.com RMC General Ad 1/2 A4:Layout 1

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Set in the heart of British naval tradition and synonymous with naval excellence, The Royal Maritime Club offers club members and guests:

• our popular restaurant serves a set price dinner choice from a 2 or 3 course menu • traditional buffet style English breakfast

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All this at the centre of Portsmouth’s unique naval heritage – HMS Victory, the Mary Rose and HMS Warrior are all very close by. So too are rail and ferry links, the harbourside Gunwharf Quays shopping complex and the breathtaking Spinnaker Tower.

Contact us for details of former Military and Associate Membership.

T: 023 9282 4231 Advanced Bookings: 023 9283 7681

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Proud Supporters of Seafarers UK Trinity House provides nearly 600 Aids to Navigation from lighthouses, buoys and beacons to the latest satellite navigation technology in England, Wales & the Channel Islands. We provide commercial services to the maritime industry, offer voyages on our flagship THV PATRICIA and have converted a number of keepers’ cottages to holiday accommodation.

Trinity House is also the UK’s largest fully endowed maritime charity.

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Flagship review ‘APPS’ round-up:

information, and even then it only provides links to the port’s Wikipedia entry and its official website (neither of which are always the most reliable sources of information). But if you need to know that Aabenraa is in Denmark or that there is a port in America called Big Stone Beach then, at just over a quid, this is probably easier than spending an afternoon assembling this information yourself.

Caught Apping?

David Hilton browses the latest selection of the nautical apps for your smartphone.

UK Warships

Designed by Sean Makin, this app will help you identify many of the ships of today’s Royal Navy, with diagrams and data on aircraft carriers, landing platform docks, ballistic missile submarines, nuclear fleet submarines, destroyers, frigates, mine counter-measures and patrol vessels. The latest (presumably smaller) version has been updated following the defence review and includes new information on weapons systems for some ships, with more promised in future versions. Useful for maritime and naval trainees and anyone who needs to brush up their spotting skills, although obviously not as comprehensive as established reference sources like Jane’s. It’s cheaper than chips on Portsmouth harbour! iPad and iPhone – 59p Available from the iTunes store www.pod200.com/warships.html

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Would you like to review for Flagship?

To join our list of reviewers, contact Craig Ryan on 020 8532 9224 or flagship@lexographic.co.uk

Royal Navy – Engineer Officer Challenge The Royal Navy has launched its first iPhone app to encourage engineers and engineering students to consider a career in the naval service. The app, developed with Marvellous Software, offers five interactive challenges which simulate real situations faced by navy engineering officers. These include, fixing a broken engine, preparing for a missile attack and re-wiring the radar system. Captain Mike Davis-Marks of Naval Recruiting, said: ‘We are currently looking for recruits who have a keen interest in being part of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines and feel that they need a new challenge.’The app even includes a link to the Royal Navy careers website so potential recruits can apply to join on the spot. For those chained to their desktops, the challenge is also available via Facebook. iPhone, iPad, Android & Facebook – free Available from the iTunes store and Android Market

Ports Information This does just what it says on the tin: a list of more than 2,500 ports around the world.

But that’s about it. You’ll need an internet connection if you want to access any more

iPhone – £1.19 Available from the iTunes store

Sea Web Mobile Sea Web, the web-based maritime information service has launched a number of mobile apps covering all the major platforms. Free to Sea Web subscribers, the mobile apps contains details of more than 100,000 ships, including information on tonnage, capacities, cargoes, equipment, inspection results and ownership, as well as records of 200,000 shipping companies worldwide. An extensive image library includes more 50,000 ship photographs. Information on more than 10,000 ports is expected to be added to future versions. You need to be connected to a data network to access the service. iPhone, iPad, Android & Blackberry Free to Sea Web subscribers | sea-web.com

Navigation Rules This app contains a full set of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREGS), including all subsequent

REVIEWS active personnel, reservists, cadets and anyone with a personal or professional interest in the British Armed Forces. It includes information on the roles of the Marines, profiles of weaponry and vehicles, details of Royal Marine ranks, colours and insignia, descriptions of units and specialists and a brief history of the Marine corps. Nothing you couldn’t find by searching the web, but handy to have it all in one place for just 59p, and it seems to be updated (for free) fairly regularly. Warning: doesn’t work on iPad. iPhone – 59p; Available from the iTunes Store www.pod200.com/warships.html

Skype

amendments, as well as the rules for inland waters. This will be useful for navigators on ships and boats of any size as well as those studying fort a pilot’s licence or other navigation exams. An annotated table of contents and links within the text mean you can quickly find the relevant rule and associated references, including a glossary of terms. You can of course create your own bookmarks and search the text to find the reference you need. It is not updated in real time, so for updated regulations you will have to wait for an updated version (although these are usually free). iPhone, iPod & iPad – £1.79 Available from the iTunes Store

A Pocket Guide to the Royal Marines

This app is aimed at anyone with an interest in the Royal Marines, including potential recruits,

Not specifically a maritime app, but very useful for anyone who spends a long time away from home. Skype allows you to make phone calls using the internet, thus cutting down on expensive international call charges. Calls to other Skype users connected to the internet (on their phones or computers) are free, while calls to ordinary phone numbers are significantly cheaper because the international traffic is routed over the internet. For a small fee you can also buy a Skype virtual number – a UK phone number that allows people to call you wherever you are for the price of a domestic phone call. iPhone, Android & Symbian – free Available from iTunes Store, Android Market & Skype website

Other useful apps With space at sea always a premium, eBooks are a must for the seagoing reader. As well as eBook reading devices like Amazon’s Kindle, eBook apps are available for most smartphones, and you can read Kindle books on your iPhone or iPad using Amazon’s Kindle iPhone app, free from the iTunes store. Apple’s own iBook app (also free) will handle all other eBooks, including PDFs. If you’re somewhere where you don’t speak the local lingo, the Linguo Multilingual Translator (for iPhone and iPad only) will put thousands of useful words and phrases at your fingertips in 25 languages. As well as all major European languages, it covers some that are particularly useful for modern seafarers – including Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Norwegian and Greek. And you can store the phrases you’ve discovered yourself alongside the ones provided.

Finally, Coracle Online’s Maritime Glossary, reviewed in Flagship 12 (Winter 2009) is now available for the Blackberry as well as iPhone (www.coracleonline.com).

RECOMMENDED READ:

British Cruisers,Two World Wars and After

by Norman Friedman

Conceived as warships capable of operating independently in distant waters, Royal Navy cruisers were initially intended for the protection of the maritime trade routes essential to the British Empire. Smaller and less well armed than a battleship, cruisers were expected to be selfsufficient, with the speed to evade opponents they could not fight. Other roles included scouting ahead of the battle fleet and screening it against destroyer attack. War experience generated other specialist uses for these ships such as anti aircraft capability and as fast minelayers, while new technologies such as radio and radar brought changes to the way cruisers evolved.

Cruisers were magnificent ships. What naval enthusiast could fail to be impressed by the elegant ‘County’ class heavy cruisers of the 1920s resplendent in their tropical livery of white hulls and buff funnels, or the business-like and balanced lines of the successful ‘Southampton’ class ships of the mid 1930s? The evolution of each class of Royal Navy cruiser is meticulously described, starting with the ‘Town’ class of 1908, right through to the development of the last design, the ‘Invincible’ class ‘through-deck’ cruiser. Norman Friedman writes well. His explanations of how each design evolved against the various competing factors such as cost, stability and top weight, technology and the limitations imposed by the inter-war naval treaties are fascinating. The detailed and well-researched text is well supported by numerous good quality black and white photographs and line drawings.

This is a book for the specialist ship enthusiast or serious naval historian, and it’s worth having just for the illustrations. Firmly focussed on design and development, it does not cover the operational history of the ships, but it does include a full list of each class and a line on what happened to each.

Reviewed by Nick Davies Seaforth Publishing, 320pp, £45 ISBN 9781848320789 SPRING 2011

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©

Men and women in the Royal Marines and Royal Navy serve their country, often at times of danger: the RNBT serves them and their families, at times of need, throughout their lives. Your donations and legacies help us to help them.

The Royal Naval Benevolent Trust Castaway House, 311 Twyford Avenue, Portsmouth PO2 8RN t 023 9269 0112 f 023 9266 0852 e rnbt@rnbt.org.uk w www.rnbt.org.uk

The man who lost his life in Iraq, now lives in Birmingham.

Wars such as Iraq have resulted in many victims. For some their battle scars are invisible psychological illnesses.

They carry the mental scars around with them, affecting their employment, family and friends. Many become tragic victims of alcohol, drug abuse, homelessness, some become suicidal. If you are reading this as an ex-Service man or woman and you think, ‘this

sounds like me’ or you know someone ex-Service who is suffering, please contact us on:

01372 841 680 or email us:

contactus@combatstress.org.uk

www.combatstress.org.uk

Charity Number England: 200602, Scotland SCO38828

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Supporting independent living for our ex-Service community

Supporting Our Heroes Poppyscotland provides year-round support to veterans and their families across Scotland We rely wholly on public donations so we can provide financial assistance directly to those in urgent need. Your donations also help to fund specialist services such as long term care, housing and employment for veterans of all ages. Poppyscotland reaches more veterans living in Scotland than any other charity providing for their immediate and future wellbeing.

Please don’t leave it until November to give your support.

To find out more about us or to make a donation, visit our website: www.poppyscotland.org.uk Poppyscotland, New Haig House, Logie Green Road, Edinburgh EH7 4HR 0131 557 2782 enquiries@poppyscotland.org.uk Poppyscotland is a trading name of The Earl Haig Fund Scotland. Scottish Charity No SC014096.

A Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in Scotland No 194893 at the above address.

“I don’t have to worry about being lonely”

Rosendael  Comfortable  Affordable  Friendly  Independent living with support when you need it.

Worried about loneliness, security or paying the bills?

Rosendael in Broughty Ferry, Dundee offers first class residential accommodation for veterans of all ages. If you or your spouse served in the armed forces (including reserves) or merchant marine, call today and find out more.

Don’t hesitate, call today.

Call Max or Carole on 01382 477078 or visit www.svronline.org Registered Charity No. SC 015260 SPRING 2011

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RM Charity Ad W87xH116

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ROYAL MARINES CHARITABLE FUNDS

The Royal Marines maintain two principal charitable funds to support and enable welfare, morale and esprit de corps.

Income to these funds is heavily reliant on the generosity of donors. Whilst the Corps would welcome donations to either of the two funds below, Corps Funds Trustees are particularly keen to encourage donations to the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund.

THE REGULAR FORCES EMPLOYMENT ASSOCIATION (RFEA)

•

The Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund (RMCTF) The RM Charitable Trust Fund exists to maintain the efficiency and esprit de corps of the Royal Marines and also to provide benevolence support to those in need. In addition to benevolence work, there are many other calls upon Corps funds. These range from providing wreaths at Remembrance services through support to veterans’ reunions and the RM Museum to the construction and maintenance of war memorials. The RM Charitable Trust Fund is a Registered Charity, No 248733.

•

The Royal Marines Benevolent Fund (RMBF) The RMBF provides monetary grants to serving and former Royal Marines, their wives and dependants who are in need or distress whether due to death, injury, illness or any other unforeseen circumstances. The RMBF is a Registered Charity, No 1069059.

RM Corps Secretary, Building 32, HMS EXCELLENT Whale Island, PORTSMOUTH, PO2 8ER Tel: 023 9265 1304 Email: admin@royalmarinesregimental.co.uk www.royalmarinesregimental.co.uk.

Thank you for your generosity.

•

Our core activity is to provide life-long job finding advice, information and support to service leaders.

Additionally, we provide this service as part of the Career Transition Partnership, using the amalgamated resources of the RFEA and the Officers’ Association, through a network of 24 reginal offices and specific overseas and executive appointment consultants.

We offer employers access to thousands of quality candidates through our no cost recruitment service.

If you are a service leaver looking for support, or an employer looking to recruit, log on to our website www.rfea.org.uk or call our central employment team on 0121 236 0058 for details of your nearest RFEA office.

SEAFARER BOOKS Storytellers of the sea

SIGNALMAN JONES TIM PARKER

The Royal Alfred Seafarers’Society

Based on the recollections of Geoffrey Holder-Jones www.royalalfredseafarers.com

Providing quality residential, nursing, dementia and respite care primarily for seafarers and their dependants. The nation owes a great deal to its seafarers and our home provides them with a safe haven in old age and adversity. If you know of someone that needs our help please contact us.

We offer modern en suite rooms and sheltered flats set in 14 acres of lovely Surrey countryside on the edge of Banstead. Donations and legacies are vital to us and help ensure that our residents continue to receive the best possible care.

For further information about the services we provide, or for advice on tax efficient giving, please contact the Chief Executive, Commander Brian Boxall-Hunt OBE, at Head Office, Weston Acres, Woodmansterne Lane, Banstead, Surrey SM7 3HA.

01737 353763 Fax: 01737 362678

Phone: Reg Charity No 209776 Est 1865

The remarkable wartime exploits of Signalman Jones (later LieutenantCommander Geoffrey Holder-Jones DSM, VRD, RNVR) are here told for the first time. After he survived a German mine in the Thames estuary, the war took him to Iceland, Spitsbergen and the USA. Commisioned and given command of his own ship, an armed whaler, he patrolled the waters off Newfoundland before returning to Britain in 1944. This true story, written by Tim Parker on the basis of personal conversations and a scrapbook entrusted to him 60 years after the war, illuminates one of the war’s great achievements – the beating of the U-boat blockade of the American coast by squadrons that were little more than motley collections of armed trawlers and whalers. A keen observer with an eye for the absurd, his story is shot through with the good shipmate’s sense of decency and humour.

‘A real feel for the fighting Royal Navy in the middle of the last century’ – Rear Admiral John Lippiett, CB, MBE Illustrated. £9.95 + £2.05 p&p 102 Redwald Road • Rendlesham • Suffolk IP12 2TE � 01394 420789 fax 01394 461314 www.seafarerbooks.com • info@seafarerbooks.com

SPRING 2011

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TIMES past

Commander William Hoste and the plan of the battle as it began

LISSA

‘The most brilliant naval achievement in the war’ 13 March marked the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Lissa, one of the most important but overlooked naval confrontations of the Napoleonic Wars. David Hilton revisits the battle and the little known British commander, Captain William Hoste.

The Battle of Lissa (now called Vis in Croatia) is not as well known as the navy battles of Trafalgar, the Nile or the Glorious First of June. But it is significant for being described 36

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as one of ‘the most brilliant naval achievements’ of the Napoleonic war and for the unusual and memorable signal flown by the British commander before the engagement.

At the outbreak of the war in 1793, when Nelson was appointed captain of the Agamemnon, he took on board the sons of three Norfolk parsons as midshipmen. One of these was William Hoste, who served with Nelson for nearly six years before being given his own command. He became Nelson’s favourite and most successful protégé; Emma Hamilton prophesied that he would become ‘a second Nelson’ while the Admiral himself wrote of Hoste that ‘to the gentlest manners joins undoubted courage’.

It was one of Napoleon’s ambitions to wrest control of India from the British.

He made his first attempt in 1798, when a

large and powerful French squadron invaded and captured Egypt, only to be frustrated when Nelson severed his lines of communication by annihilating the French fleet on 1 August in Aboukir Bay in the engagement that became known as the Battle of the Nile.

After Trafalgar, Napoleon planned a further attempt, but needed first to bring Britain’s allies, the Turks, over to his side either diplomatically or forcefully to secure his passage through the Near East to India. This route required uninterrupted passage through the Adriatic and, having conquered most of Italy and the Dalmatian coastlines, Napoleon’s only remaining problem was the small British naval base on the island of Lissa, off the Dalmatian coast, which Admiral Collingwood had established in 1807 after seizing control of the island from the short-lived Kingdom of Italy

TIMES past established by Napoleon two years earlier.

By 1810, a squadron of four frigates with a compliment of 124 guns, under the command of William Hoste, flying his flag in the Amphion, were preying, with much success, on French and Venetian shipping in the Adriatic.

In October 1810, while this squadron was out on patrol, a French fleet landed on Lissa and destroyed some merchant ships, but withdrew after only a few hours fearing the early return of the British squadron. The following year, Captain Bernard Dubourdieu, one of France’s most successful and dashing naval officers, received a personal order from Napoleon to capture Lissa.

Dubourdieu had a distinguished naval record; on a cruise, he had captured 13 British merchantmen with 300 prisoners, and had later taken the British frigate Proserpine. With a force of six frigates totalling 224 guns, together with a further six small vessels and 700 garrison troops, Dubourdieu arrived off Lissa on the morning of 11 March where Hoste had stationed his four frigates in a defensive line. As the French approached, to inspire and encourage his men, as Nelson had

done at Trafalgar, Hoste hoisted the memorable signal “Remember Nelson”, which was greeting with rousing cheers by the British sailors.

In the very brisk action that followed the French flagship was sunk and Dubourdieu was killed in action. Two of the frigates were captured and taken into service in the Royal Navy. A third frigate could also have been taken, but because there were no crews available to take possession, the frigate was able to escape.

A total of 45 British crew were killed and 145 wounded in the action, while the French losses were estimated as 700 killed, wounded or taken prisoner.

Professor Sir John Knox Laughton, in his 1896 biography of Hoste, wrote that owing to the vast numerical superiority of the enemy and the decisive result, the action of Lissa was considered one of the most brilliant naval achievements of the war. Napoleon’s eastern ambitions were effectively ended with a second successful British naval action in the Adriatic later in the year, after which Britain formerly annexed the island, appointed a Governor, built hospitals and dockyards and even levied duties and

Have you seen the old man outside the seamen’s mission?

Memory fading with the medal ribbons that he wears And in our winter city the rain cries a little pity For one more forgotten hero and a world that doesn’t care

taxes. Following Napoleon’s final defeat in 1815, the island was passed to the AustroHungarian empire under terms agreed at the Congress of Vienna.

Hoste went on to capture the cities of Cattaro (now Kator) and Ragusa (now Dubrovnik) by the time-honoured expedient of his seamen hauling their cannon on to the heights dominating these cities as Nelson, Lord St Vincent and Alexander Cochrane had done elsewhere earlier in the war. For these captures Hoste was knighted by the Austrian Emperor and, in 1815, by the British. It was reported that Hoste earned £60,000 in prize money, a tremendous sum in those days, much of which was frittered away by his parson father, who had also borrowed money from the Norfolk Coke and Keppel families to pay for his profligate life style. Hoste married Lady Elizabeth Walpole, who bore him four children, the eldest of whom also joined the Navy. In 1825 he was given command of the royal yacht but he died in 1828, at the early age of 48, and was buried in St John’s Wood Chapel in Regent’s Park.

Don’t Forget The Seamen’s Rest!

Queen Victoria Seamen’s Rest is the Seamen’s Mission of the Methodist Church.

Queen Victoria Seamen’s Rest has been serving seafarers in the East End of London since 1843.

We accommodate 170 men and we see our work as offering these men a home.

Our work is motivated by the love of Christ.

In the words from Ralph McTell many of these men are ‘forgotten heroes’ many have fought for their King/Queen and country and now find themselves trying to survive in a world that ‘doesn’t seem to care’. Thanks be to God for places like the ‘Seamen’s Mission’ a place where God willing ‘old men’ can stand outside for many years to come.

To support our work and/or request a copy of our Annual Review Contact: Alexander Campbell alexcampbell@qvsr.org.uk 121-131 East India Dock Road London, E14 6DF Tel: 02079874622 Registered Charity Number 1106126

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MEET the Staff This issue we introduce the three latest recruits to the Seafarers UK team.

Nick Harvey

Communications and Campaigns Manager What are your main responsibilities at Seafarers UK? My role is to help create an environment in which Seafarers UK can meet its objectives, including efficient fundraising. My campaigning work includes the coordination and promotion of Seafarers Awareness Week (6-12 June).

What part of your job do you enjoy the most?

Handling campaigns and communications plans from start to finish. Coming up with fresh creative ideas to suggest to my colleagues. And collaborative working with promotional partners to make our joint efforts more productive.

What is your history in relation to the charity sector?

I have worked in ‘not for profit’ marketing for 12 years: handling marketing communications and publishing for a membership organisation, the coordination and promotion of National Bike Week, and management of last year’s Silver Surfers’ Day.

Do you have any special links to the sea?

My late father served in the Fleet Air Arm and my father-in-law has sailed all his life.

Living in Sussex, I have never been far from the sea. I have owned a variety of boats over the years – canoes, dinghies, and a 22-foot fishing boat – and I am currently restoring a 1980s ski boat with a very thirsty 135hp outboard motor!

What are the best things about working with Seafarers UK? Working as part of a dedicated team. Everything we do is driven by a desire to help people. It’s good to know that our efforts result in support for those most in need. That’s much more satisfying than promoting business-tobusiness services or consumer products (both of which I have done in the past).

And finally, why do you think people should support Seafarers UK? By supporting Seafarers UK, donors are continuing a tradition that was started in 1917. The services we fund and the people we help may have changed over the years, but the need is undiminished.

Stacey Addison Events Assistant

What are your main responsibilities at Seafarers UK?

Do you have any special links to the sea?

I help our Events Manager, Liana Richards, with certain aspects of running the events programme at Seafarers UK. For example, by making sure all our event participants are happy and have all the materials and support they need.

I have no special links to the sea, however 95% of all UK trade is carried by sea, so we’re all connected to it really; that’s why we all owe such a huge debt to our hardworking seafarers!

What part of your job do you enjoy the most?

I really enjoy speaking to our event participants, they have so much passion and energy and work really hard to support Seafarers UK. I also enjoy the creative aspects of the role, such as inputting into new event plans.

What is your history in relation to the charity sector?

I have previously worked as an event assistant for Cancer Research UK, helping to deliver their ‘Race for Life’ and ‘Run 10k’ events. I completed an internship with the same charity where I organised a fundraising event and supporters’ conference.

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What are the best things about working with Seafarers UK? Knowing that you are part of an organisation that makes a difference to people’s lives.

And finally, why do you think people should support Seafarers UK? Everybody should support Seafarers UK because we rely on people that risk their lives everyday working at sea for goods, food and security. Seafarers risk injury and even death just doing their job and exseafarers are particularly prone to poverty, unemployment, post-traumatic stress disorder and bereavement. They need our help and it is our duty to support them.

MEET the Staff

Nigel Shattock Director of Fundraising & Communications

at Citizens Advice (the head quarters of the CAB service for England and Wales) where I was responsible for communications and various fundraising projects.

Do you have any special links to the sea?

My father was a Captain in the Royal Navy (his last command being HMS Glamorgan) who married the daughter of his commanding officer, the Commanderin-Chief, Americas and West Indies at the time. My early career was also spent running events and conferences around the world for the commercial shipping sector.

What are the best things about working with Seafarers UK? It melds my family background and various careers to date (including Lloyd’s List, PR and communications and working for a front-line welfare-based charity) into a perfect organisational match. I have always had immense respect for the seafarers of the past and of today, and so I feel proud to be supporting them in some way.

What are your main responsibilities at Seafarers UK? My primary role is to develop a long-term strategy that achieves a step-change in fundraising income for Seafarers UK, enabling us to better meet the ongoing financial needs of the beneficiary organisations we support in a stable and secure way. In doing so I have overall responsibility for our different income generation streams and our communications.

What part of your job do you enjoy the most?

And finally, why do you think people should support Seafarers UK? It’s still early days, so I have yet to experience the delights of our challenge events or the feeling of a long-term plan coming together (which is my main aim!).

In the meantime I am enjoying working with what is clearly a great team here at Seafarers UK – the Fundraising and Communications Team.

What is your history in relation to the charity sector?

I am relatively new to the charity sector but have worked in the social policy arena for over ten years. My last three years have been

Without seafarers, and the maritime spirit of this island nation, we wouldn’t have such an incredible history or our still impressive position in the world. Our seafarers underpin and protect our trading, economy, society and way of life. This alone makes supporting seafarers’ needs important.

When you factor in the immense risks of the sea as a daily working environment and the stress of working away from home, then supporting a charity focused on looking after the needs of serving and ex-serving seafarers and their dependants, has even more justification.

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