RE: [Radio Officers, &c] The Shipboard Bully

[Dick Singer]

Joel – that seems to be par back in the 70’s. When I went to work for Exxon, it seemed I would be assigned to different ships and the crews were great and got along fine. Then the third ship assignment turned out upside down. No one got along, the C/E and the Captain would not eat together at the same meal hour. They would post nasty messages on each other’s doors. I couldn’t wait to get off those ships. There seems to be people that have an attitude “BIG ME LITTLE YOU” One ship I remember, the 1^st Assistant would hit the new 3^rd Assistant in the mouth the first he day he came on the ship. So it seems that was the norm in those days.

 

Thanks

Dick/K6KSg

 

From: radio-o...@googlegroups.com [mailto:radio-o...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Joel Roberson
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 9:42 AM
To: radio-o...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [Radio Officers, &c] The Shipboard Bully

 

The ship's entertainment system was modified slightly so that the TV channel 3 output of the officers' lounge VCR was routed up to the

radio room for amplification and distribution throughout the ship. The evening movie usually began around 1800, just after

dinner. Those who were lucky enough to have a TV in their stateroom could view it peacefully away from the roucaus, frat house

atmosphere that usually developed in the lounge shortly after the engineers had downed a few beers. Or in other words, about 10

minutes into the movie. It was at about that point that the first assistant engineer, never quite satisfied with making life

miserable for his unlicensed shipmates during normal working hours, would disconnect the video output cable and reconnect it

direct to the TV set so it could only be viewed locally in the officers' lounge, thus denying access to everyone else. Knowing

unlicensed crewmembers were watching in their lounge, he'd delight in having taunted them with a few minutes preview before

snatching it away. Sometimes he'd further amuse himself by reconnecting the cable temporarily to allow a few more brief minutes

of movie sharing before disconnecting it again. Something needed to be done, but crewmembers, fearing retribution, were reluctant

to complain. . .

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[Richard Monjure]

Hello Dick and Joel, and CQ,

What you are talking about is psychopathic types.

This board is about telling stories, right?  Did you ever hear the one about the C/E who was held by his ankles over the rail mid-Atlantic Ocean?  After that, he stopped messing with people... and interestingly enough decided to quit his C/E job when the ship hit the next U.S. Port!

Now, I wonder why he did that?

Rich

[Joel Roberson]

Sorry for the repeat. Apparently this board doesn't allow editing, but here's the full version of my anecdote for what it's worth, so it isn't fragmented.

 

The ship's entertainment system was modified slightly so that the TV channel 3 output of the officers' lounge VCR was routed

up to the radio room for amplification and distribution throughout the ship. The evening movie usually began around 1800, just

after dinner. Those who were lucky enough to have a TV in their stateroom could view it peacefully, away from the raucous frat

house atmosphere that usually developed in the lounge shortly after the engineers had downed a few beers about 10 minutes into

the movie. It was at about that point that the first assistant engineer, never quite satisfied with making life miserable for

his unlicensed shipmates during normal working hours, would disconnect the video output cable and reconnect it direct to the

TV set so it could only be viewed locally in the officers' lounge, thus denying access to everyone else. Knowing unlicensed

crewmembers were watching in their lounge, he'd delight in having taunted them with a few minutes preview before snatching it

away. Sometimes he'd further amuse himself by reconnecting the cable temporarily to allow a few more brief minutes of movie

sharing before disconnecting it again. Something needed to be done, but crewmembers, fearing retribution, were reluctant to

complain.

Since the entertainment system was radio department turf I didn't take too kindly to someone tampering with it, especially in

an effort to degrade it and exclude others from it. Of course there could have been an unpleasant confrontation, but after

some thought, I decided that it might be effective and an entertaining challenge to come up with a clever solution to maybe

outsmart the culprit. The idea I finally hit upon was to modify the lounge TV so that if its coax was disconnected from the

entertainment outlet, the TV would shut down. After all, the First liked to watch movies himself while denying others, so he

needed to be prevented from rerouting the VCR output locally. To do that I installed a relay inside the TV. When its contacts

were closed, line voltage was connected to the TV. Open, it shut down. The relay driver inside the TV chassis was switched by

a current limited bias voltage applied from a circuit in the radio room through the entertainment system coax down to the

lounge radio-TV signal outlet. So when the First started up his customary movie preview teaser and then pulled the coax from

the outlet to connect to the TV directly, it died. In a few minutes the phone rang. It was the First letting me know that the

TV had "crapped out." He asked if I would come down and have a look at it.
I stepped into the lounge and had a quick look around. "OK, here's the problem," I said, "the coax has to be connected to the

bulkhead outlet for it to work." I reconnected it and the TV soon came to life.
He was a smart guy, and never questioned the requirement, but was apparently completely befuddled trying to figure out a

workaround after I returned to the radio room.
Movie time went smoothly and virtually uninterrupted for the remainder of the cruise. I left notes on the modification

including a schematic for my relief. Being cautious, I had decided to include a bypass switch as a fail-safe. I learned later

that the anti-tamper circuit had performed well until he finally discovered the bypass switch. I had underestimated him and

hadn't hidden it well enough.

[Dick Singer]

Yep Rich – I have met some of these types over the years. We had a C/E who used a little black box to connect to phones ashore to make free calls. Why? C/E’s make good money. Go figure. He was caught and I think had  to do a little time.

[Mike Zbrozek]

 

 

Hello Group-

 

Since we are on the subject of crude Engineers.....

When I sailed for Arco one CE would bang his flashlite on the door frame

before entering the Officers Mess....that was rude and dumb until I saw him

wipe his mouth many times with the table cloth rather than the table napkin.

With Exxon one CE stunk up the room at lunchtime while eaing green pea soup.

His loud fart was accompanied with his hearty laugh. A Harvard man, not.

 

73

Mike K8XF

[Dick/K6KSG]

Yes Mike – we sure have had our share of screw-balls in the fleet. However on the other hand there were some really great seaman and officers as well. Most of the ships we had fun poking fun at each other and doing practical jokes, which harmed no one. It made the time pass more pleasantly.

 

Dick/K6KSG

[Richard Monjure]

When I was still sailing, I often wondered how such IDIOTS wound up on ships.

For a lot of people, working at sea is where they wind up when they fail at everything else in life.

Rich

[Joel Roberson]

I wasn't going to comment, but poor judgement prevailed. The relief of the 1AE I mentioned earlier had a tendency to drop by the lounge when several officers where watching a movie, munching popcorn. He'd stand off to one side quietly watching for a few minutes then hurriedly step out into the passageway as if continuing on his rounds. A few seconds later the room would fill with an overwhelming stench so potent that the room would empty. Unfortunately this resulted in copycat stealth farting attacks which developed into a sort of competitive sport complete with critiques.

[Mike Zbrozek]

 

Hello Joel and Group-

 

Its amazing that these children demonstrate their lack of intelligence with little regard

to their fellow shipmates. I hope when these babies are home they act like

a grown-up....because living on a ship for months is no picnic with idiots like these.

Like others on this group we dont have to worry about that anymore.

 

 

73

Mike K8XF

 

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[Richard Monjure]

Hi Mike and CQ,

I was thinking about what you said.  I liked going to sea for the job.  I did not like being away from my family on board a ship where everyone hated the R/O.  If I could have stayed working at the Coast Stations I would never have gone to sea to be locked up with a bunch of maniacs and psychopaths that hated me because I had a job as shipboard Radio Officer.

We put up with it for as long as we could, then they eliminated the job.  All those R/O haters got a dose of how "easy" our job was once they had to do it.  Most of them couldn't, and so the job does not get done to this day.

The U.S. Flag merchant fleet is almost non-existent, and I am sure they are being paid the lowest real wages in the history of the U.S. commercial fleet.

It's just a career that no one should pursue today.  I feel sorry for the poor kids going to Maritime Academies dreaming of "seeing the world."  All they'll see is a huge container yard for the 6 hours they are in port.

Shipping today seems to be the place men wind up when they have absolutely nothing else going for them.  Either that, or slave labor on FOC ships. 

Ships are full of losers and I guess it's really been that way all along.  Why?  A good man has a hard time working in that environment.  

73,

RM

[Mike Zbrozek]

 

 

Hello Rich and Group-

 

Your comments are right on the money...as they say.....

In  the beginning of my career...with msc from 1980-1983 I didnt

find that much hostility towards the REO. Later when I sailed with Oil Companies and then

Union ships the hostility showed up....dont understand that kind of behaviour....HI....

[Richard Monjure]

MIke and CQ,

I think the problem with those R/O haters was:

1) They did not understand our jobs, and thought we just sat in a radio office all day doing nothing.

2) They were JEALOUS because we worked in an air conditioned space, when they didn't.

3) Some of us were the highest paid men on the ship, if you were a Union R/O on a scab hull.

Also,

Some of these guys forgot about the STRUGGLE that took place from the 1930's through the 1960's to get the good wages and benefits.  Too many of them felt the were "too valuable" to the companies and that they would never be laid off.  A very foolish notion.

How many of you remember the history of the Seaman's Union riots on the West Coast in 1934?  100 or so people DIED for a decent wage and working conditions on ship.  So many of those guys forgot all about that, and that these companies would not have given an American Seaman sh** if they were not forced to through STRUGGLE.

The AMO guys on the Ambassador KRFK found out the hard way.  When that ship came out in 1982, it was MEBA District 1.  The company worked to get MEBA 1 off the ships.  They were successful, and some of the D1 guys actually turned TRAITOR on their own union.  The company AT FIRST kept paying them D1 wages and benefits.  THEN, one day, the Company came on board with an AMO D2 representative and said "We're going AMO!  Take it or you're fired.

IMMEDIATELY - all the officers took a 50% pay cut on base wage, O.T. and VACATION.

In 1997, right before they flagged the ship out, the AMO guys had taken even further cuts.  They were working for base pay.  I don't know about the Engineers, but the Deck Officers got NO OVERTIME.

The AMO guys thought they were smart.  The 2nd officer, a guy named Wayne, told me... "Why shoould they pay you all that money when I'll do it for free?"  SUPER SCAB he was, and found out what the company thought of him and all the AMO types when they flagged the ship out.

The Ambassador was scrapped in the Far East in 2010.  It was 30 years old.

73,

RM

[Mike Zbrozek]

 

 

Hi Rich and Group-

 

I saw the Ambassador once while transitting the Panama Canal.

 

Most of the people sailing on US Flag ships have no knowledge about the past regarding the

old struggles. Due to their young age many people couldnt identify a foto of the US president

during  WW2.Thats says a lot....about the current US seaman.

 

I have gone over this subj regarding the US Flag melting away...therefore its pointless

discussing the issue since it seems to anger some people in this group. Besides its

late and its time to qrt...................

[Barry Basel]

Hi Joel!
I know the name, but don't recall the circumstances.
Deep sea, for sure.
Anyway, wha'chu up to these days?

On this end, I'm ex of AMO and ROU. These days still working the boats with the ARA.
Barry Basel
barr...@yahoo.com