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Chapter two - page 4
Because of the exigencies of the time the sea service requirement and examination syllabus was much reduced and Claude, having decided to make a life for himself at sea took advantage of this. Most if not all the officers of the ‘Sagitta’ would have been Royal Naval Reserve, those from civilian life termed Volunteer those from the Merchant Service dropping the ‘volunteer’. It is not then surprising that he did not consider staying in the Navy where promotion to officer status would have been all but impossible opting instead for the Merchant Service where officer status was granted on merit proved by the passing of a stiff examination.
Precisely when Claude sat his examination is not clear, the letter from his commanding officer on the ‘Sagitta’ dated 17th of December 1917 suggests that he was then in the process of ‘putting his papers in’ to sit for the exam. The letter dated the 30th of January 1918 whilst much more precise in terms of exactly when Claude joined and to what date he had served states that he has passed his exam and will be joining the S.S. ‘Porto’ as fourth officer.
But we know that in January 1918 the ‘Sagitta’ was in Southampton fitting out prior to sailing for the White Sea (Russia), I think it certain that Claude took this opportunity to sit his exam whilst serving on board the ‘Sagitta’. So at the end of January we assume Claude left the ‘Sagitta’ to join the S.S. ‘Porto’, unfortunately there is no entry in his Discharge Book for the S.S. ‘Porto’, in all likelihood Claude’s Merchant Service Discharge Book was still being issued and his time on the ‘Porto’ being on a paper discharge. It is probable that Claude was directed to this ship by the Shipping Federation Pool.
| Confirmation of C.S.G. Keen's service aboard the 'Sagitta' |
The first entry in Claude’s Discharge Book is that on the 8th of March 1918 Claude signed on the R.M.S. ‘Kenilworth Castle’ as a fourth officer. So we are left with a gap between the 1st of February and 8th of March, I am somewhat doubtful if a voyage to Russia at this time of year would have been possible due to ice, and would it have been possible in just a month?
I make this point because of a very clear memory I have of father’s reply to my asking him how he had come to joining Union-Castle. "I made a voyage to Russia, it was so cold that I determined to join the first company I found that went to somewhere warm’.
The fact is that other than this letter from the Captain of the ‘Sagitta’ there is no documentary evidence of my father sailing on the ‘Porto’, Claude could very well have been referring to his voyage to the White Sea on the ‘Sagitta’.
Leadenhall and Fenchurch Streets in the City of London, meet conveniently at one end so that they formed the letter ‘V’, walking down them was like walking through the British Empire; in these two streets most of the great British shipping companies had their head offices. The grander the company the larger their name stood out in gold letters, the Orient Line to Australia, Royal Mail Line to South America, Ellerman, Bank Line, and many others all trading to their own allotted corners of this by now rapidly vanishing Empire.
Union-Castle Line’s head office stood astride this galaxy of shipping greats, in Fenchurch Street, a distinctly gloomy building known down the generations of Company officers as ‘Bleak House’. To young Claude with his brand new Second Mates Certificate, the ink barely dry it must have been a proud moment for him when he walked through the front door of Bleak House to keep his appointment with the Marine Superintendent, his feeling of pride was short lived. It was made abundantly clear to him that the only reason his application for a post with the Company had been entertained was the shortage of Company officers due to losses at sea and to the Royal Navy. What was even worse, and here the marine Superintendent probably made Claude feel about an inch high, he only held a shortened Second Mates Certificate, under normal circumstances the Union-Castle Line required a much higher calibre of officer. To add insult to the Company’s injury because of this acute shortage Claude would for his first voyage have to be appointed to one of the prestigious mail passenger ships, the ‘Kenilworth Castle’. Normally before an officer so much as set foot on the bottom rung of the gangway he had a Master’s certificate in his pocket, Claude was made to understand that he would not be making a second voyage in such exalted company for many a year. I’m sure my father would not have, had he been asked at this interview, told the exact truth as to why he wanted to join the Union-Castle Line, it was as he said, the first office he had come to that advertised ships going to a warm place!
A chastened Claude left Bleak House, maybe chastened for now but determined that one day it would be him sitting behind that Company grandee’s desk.
S.S. ‘Porto’
Built as ‘Prinz Heinrich’ (N.D.L.) in 1894, seized by the Portuguese
Government and chartered to the British and managed by Cunard. |
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