| Ship's Diary |
| During her time at sea, HMS Endurance will be sending back regular diaries to keep us all up to date with what is happening on this deployment. Use the links below to read extracts from the diary. |
| Ships Entertainments |
The passage down to South America from the UK has provided the ships company with an opportunity for training and pre work period preps, but also time to settle into the deployment routine, and to get to know one another as approximately 1/3 of the ships company has changed since the last deployment. The entertainment committee was busy even before the ship left Portsmouth, planning the ships recreation whilst at sea. During the work periods (once we reach South Georgia and the Antarctic) the ship will operate in daily working routines for 4 weeks at a time with little opportunity for wholeship fun. The passage to South America is relatively long, and so there was plenty of opportunity for some rest, relaxation, and fun, in and amongst preparations for Captains Rounds and the ongoing training that is integral to every ship in the Royal Navy.
Crossing the Line CeremonyThis ceremony has is origins obscured in the history of the RN, but it is believed to have originated in an old pagan ritual of seamen paying homage to King Neptune at the crossing of the equator….As HMS ENDURANCE approached the equator on the night of the 6th of November, she was accompanied for some while by a number of whales and dolphins gambolling in both the wake and bow wave of the ship. Quite suddenly a thick fog came down, the ships company were summoned to the quarterdeck where they were confronted by an odd spectacle, Neptune’s messenger, in the form of his mistress, ‘Devonport Shazz’ awaiting the Commanding Officer with a pack of ferocious bears. The frightened ships company cowered whilst the bears took swipes at the nearest until the CO appeared. Upon his arrival Devonport Shazz read from a scroll for 10 long minutes, whilst the bears paced, snarled and attacked unruly members of the crowd. In short the CO was told that the novice members of his ships company (those who have not crossed the line before) were to appear before Neptune’s Court for ‘initiation’ the following morning. The Captain agreed that all novices should be presented to the court the following morning, and without further ado, all returned to their various messes. Shazz and her bears did the rounds of each mess identifying and charging novices to appear the next morning, Shazz’s quiet authority and demure air backed up by the barely restrained snarling bears, and there were few objections or excuses ventured. The next morning as called the ships company assembled on the flight deck in front of Neptune and his Queen (and a random mermaid). One by one the novices were called, some came quietly to knee humbly before the court whilst others ran, and others hid, some fought and some cried out, but to no avail. Neptune’s policemen, with truncheons, awaited and persuaded those more reluctant. On the reading out of the charge, and pronouncement of the verdict (all were found guilty) the accused was led to the chair. Here he was held down, first shaved of facial hair, and then fed a bitter pill, made especially for the occasion. And once swallowed the unlucky novices were tipped back into a pool, full of angry bears, who threw them high, and pulled them down, and threw them high again. Finally the newly initiated were permitted out the pool, and congratulated with a beer, and left to watch the trials of other novices. The day was rounded off with a quarterdeck BBQ, hosted and organised by the wardroom. With good food, and cold beer (in moderation, for non watchkeepers) available there was a general feeling of contentment aboard HMS ENDURANCE that night. Pickle NightThe following night was Pickle night. This is a senior rates mess dinner held in celebration of HMS PICKLE. When Lord Admiral Nelson won the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and was mortally wounded, Admiral Collingwood took command of the fleet. He selected HMS PICKLE, the second smallest ship in the fleet (a crew of 32), commanded by Lt John Richard Lapenotiere to carry his dispatches back to England with the news of the glorious victory and the death of our most famous admiral. The weather was eventful with gales (during which she was holed and flooded), and complete calm (during which the crew rowed at a steady 2 knots). The journey took 8 days to Falmouth, and a further 36 hrs in a postchaise to cover the 265 miles to London. For his actions Lt Lapenotiere received the sum of £500, was promoted to commander, and given a silver sugar sifter from the Kings breakfast table.On the 8th November the Senior Rates spent Saturday afternoon decking out their mess with cannons, hammocks and material to transform the mess to a galleon. At 1900 the they gathered for pre dinner drinks on the quarterdeck followed by a toast to Nelson with the traditional rum. At 2000 the mess is called to dinner by bosuns call. During the meal traditional despatches are read by selected members of the mess which together tell the story. At the end of the meal the tradition is to have a defaulters table for all those people who have broken mess dinner rules these range from eating before the Mess President to the heinous crime of lifting the port decanter from the table. Birdman CompetitionSunday saw the advent of the ‘birdman’ competition. Spurred on by the XO’s promise that anyone who managed to reach England could stay there, there were 9 entries in the competition, from across the ship. The rules were simple, entries would be judged on costume/creativity, distance covered, and time air borne. Competitors had a run up across the flight deck to launch themselves from a platform and then gracefully plummet 30ft down into the Atlantic Ocean. The first competitors, the ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Bootnecks’ hurled themselves from the flight deck aided only by sleeping bags (???), closely followed by the ‘Lost Thunderbird’ in attractive blue tights (all members of the RM detachment). Next was ‘Top Goon’, the eventual winners of best design, (LMEM Hawkely, and LMEM Meredith) in a clever parady of the film Top Gun, complete with flying suits, aviator shades, and a lean, mean, cardboard cutout, two seater flying machine. Wtr Benton followed next as the 'Communist Dictator’ in a warm sheepksin coat, just right for the tropical afternoon! ‘Ikkarus the Wonder Boy’, in the form of MEM Davis was the next to fling himself skywards and indeed did seem to have some ability, achieving the furthest distance. In a good imitation of a Dodo, OM Rachel Watsons entry ‘I believe I can fly’, plummeted straight to the ocean below, where her ‘egg’ proved a good floatation device whilst awaiting rescue. As ‘Jet Pack Jack’, LSR Davies suffered an equipment failure as his jet pack parted from Jack mid flight, and ‘Buster Hi man and the Penny Trators’ (the galley representatives) suffered a similar fate, spreading their tin foil across the sea for the lucky rescuers to retrieve. Longest in Flight was won by Major Brain Damage with his scaled up version of what appeared to be a glorified paper aeroplane, and a final random entry appeared from ‘Father Who Art’, a monk (the Flt Cdr, Lt Jameson), who merely leant backwards and toppled from the launch platform!All in all the weekend was a good one, and many members of the ships company were relieved to get back to a normal working day on the Monday. |
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