Produced by sp1nd and the Online Distributed Proofreading
Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
[Illustration: 'That's 'er.'
''Oo?'
PAGE 1.]
Pincher Martin, O.D.
A STORY OF THE INNER LIFE OF THE ROYAL NAVY
By
'TAFFRAIL'
Author of 'Carry On,' &c., &c.
ILLUSTRATED BY
C. Fleming Williams
LONDON: 38 Soho Square, W.
W. & R. CHAMBERS, LIMITED
EDINBURGH: 339 High Street
1916
Edinburgh:
Printed by W. & R. Chambers, Limited.
PREFACE.
This story was written in rather difficult circumstances, and subject
to frequent interruption. Indeed, when the first chapters appeared
in _Chambers's Journal_ early in 1916 the narrative was barely
half-finished. Sometimes I almost despaired of ever completing it,
for it can perhaps be understood that writing on board a small ship
actually at sea in time of war is impossible for more reasons than one.
The reader is cautioned against accepting the story as an official
account of the part played by a certain section of the Navy during the
war. Incidents described are true; but, for reasons which must be
obvious, it has been necessary to give them fictitious colouring. It
also seems desirable to add that all my characters are fictitious, and
that each chapter was submitted to the censors at the Press Bureau
before publication.
It should be added that a considerable amount of matter is contained
in this volume which did not appear in _Chambers's Journal_ when the
story appeared in serial form.
More than ever am I deeply sensible of the very real debt which I owe
to my wife, both for her help in revising and correcting the proofs,
and for her many suggestions for improvements.
TAFFRAIL.
1916.
TO MY WIFE.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. HIS FIRST SHIP 1
II. THE DAILY ROUND 12
III. WORK AND PLAY 30
IV. THE STRENUOUS LIFE 50
V. THE OFFICERS 67
VI. 'THE 'ORRIBLE DEN' 84
VII. AN AFFAIR OF THE HEART 101
VIII. A FAIR SKY 124
IX. THE CLOUD 151
X. WAR 171
XI. BLACK FRIDAY 191
XII. H.M.S. 'MARINER' 212
XIII. FRITZ THE FRIGHTFUL 234
XIV. THE NORTH SEA 248
XV. COMINGS AND GOINGS 271
XVI. MINOR INCIDENTS 298
XVII. THE DAY 313
XVIII. CONCLUSION 338
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
'That's 'er.' ''Oo?' _Frontispiece_
'It was 'is fault! I saw 'im stick 'is foot out!' 115
'Gosh! there ain't no bloomin' error abart this 'ere' 152
Raising his voice, he tried to shout for help 203
''Ow do, granfer? Where did yer git that 'at?' 230
The shooting was very accurate, far too accurate to be pleasant 310
The dark hulls of the enemy were hidden in the blinding
glare of their searchlights 333
PINCHER MARTIN, O.D.
CHAPTER I.
HIS FIRST SHIP.
'There ye are, Martin. That's 'er.'
The leading seaman in charge of the party paused, and waved a hand
toward a squat gray battleship lying on the other side of one of the
basins in Portsmouth Dockyard.
The little expedition of which he was the leader consisted of himself;
Martin, the man he had spoken to; and a small hand-cart propelled by
another ordinary seaman, breathing heavily. The cart contained a
sausage-shaped, khaki-coloured hammock, bound with its seven regulation
turns of lashing, and a bulbous brown kit-bag. They were Martin's
belongings. He was joining his first seagoing ship.
''Er?' he queried in answer to the leading seaman's remark, shivering
and looking rather puzzled. ''Oo?'
He was a puny, undersized little rat of a man, with a pallid, freckled
face and a crop of sandy hair. It was early winter, and the piercing
wind bit through to his very marrow, while the drizzling rain had
already found its way through his oilskin and down the back of his
neck. It was distinctly chilly. The tip of his nose and his fingers
were blue with cold, and he looked, and felt, supremely miserable.
He repeated his question as the leading seaman executed a few violent
steps of a clog-dance, and flapped his arms like an elderly penguin to
restore his circulation. ''Er?' he said at last, pausing for breath and
seemingly rather surprised at Martin's ignorance. 'That there's the
_Belligerent_. That's the ship we're goin' to join--you're goin' to
join, that is.'
'That 'er?' Martin ejaculated, gazing with awe at the battleship's
great bulk. 'That 'er? Gor' blimy!' He seemed rather appalled.
The leading seaman tittered and sucked his teeth. 'Lor'!' he laughed,
not unkindly, noticing the anxiety in the youngster's eyes, 'you
needn't look like that. They can't eat yer; leastways not if you
be'aves yourself they won't. 'Er commander's a werry nice gentleman;
'e wus shipmates along o' me in th' _Duncan_ up the Straits[1] six
year ago. 'E wus a lootenant then, an' a bit of a flyer; but 'e's a
gent so long as you don't get in the rattle.'[2]
[1] 'The Straits' = the Mediterranean.
[2] 'In the rattle' = in trouble.
He paused and eyed the ordinary seaman with the hand-cart, who had
released the shafts and was swinging his arms. ''Ere, young fella, not
so much of it!' he ordered abruptly, quite forgetting that he had
called the halt himself. 'Get a move on yer! You ain't no bloomin'
baronite drivin' your own motor-car, to stop 'ere an' stop there has
you thinks fit. You ain't wheelin' no perishin' whelk-barrer down
Commercial Road neither. Show a leg, me lad!'
The ordinary seaman seized the shafts, and the procession moved
forward.
Ten minutes later Martin, with his bag and hammock, was standing on the
quarterdeck of his Majesty's first-class pre-Dreadnought battleship
_Belligerent_. The leading seaman and the man with the hand-cart were
already on their way back to the Royal Naval Barracks, and Pincher
Martin, alone, for the first time, felt horribly nervous and
uncomfortable. He had been received with scant courtesy or interest by
the marine corporal of the watch, who had told him to remain where he
was while he fetched a ship's corporal; and now, eyed critically by the
grinning side-boy and the messenger, youngsters like himself, who made
facetious, rather uncomplimentary, and very audible remarks about his
personal appearance, he shivered and waited.
Over on the other side of the deck a tall officer, clad in a greatcoat
and swinging a telescope, was walking up and down dodging the
rain-drips from the awning. He was a lieutenant, from the two gold
stripes and the curl on his shoulder-straps, and was, as a matter of
fact, the officer of the watch. Presently the merriment at Martin's
expense became rather raucous, and the officer turned round and saw the
messenger and the side-boy laughing together. The chubby-faced youths
caught his eye roving over them, and immediately both became rigid,
with an innocent expression on their faces.
'Come here, you two!' he called, beckoning with his telescope.
The two youngsters trotted up and halted before him with a salute.
'Skylarking again, eh?' the lieutenant asked.
'Oh no, sir. We wusn't skylarkin',' the elder of the two protested.
'Humph! I don't know so much about that. I suppose you were making fun
of that man who's just joined, eh?'
'Oh no, sir. I only said to Horrigan'----
'I don't want to hear what you said to Horrigan, or what Horrigan said
to you,' interrupted the officer of the watch, smiling to himself.
'Evidently the time hangs heavily on your hands, and I'll not have the
quarterdeck turned into a bally music hall.' He looked round the deck,
and noticed some untidy ends of rope near the ship's side.
'You, Bates,' he went on, 'can amuse yourself by coiling down the ends
of these boats' falls and awning jiggers; and you, Horrigan, can broom
all that water into the scuppers.' He waved his hand toward some pools
of rain-water near the edge of the deck. 'When you've done that you can
let me know, and I'll find you another job. Go on--away you go!'
The boys pattered off, and the lieutenant resumed his perambulation.
Presently a ship's corporal, accompanied by the marine who had gone in
search of him, came through the battery door and went up to Martin.
'Name and rating?' he demanded abruptly, referring to a book in his
hand.
'Martin. Ord'nary seaman.'
'You'll be in No. 47 mess,' said Ship's Corporal Puddicombe, 'and will
be in the forecastle division, starboard watch, first part, first sub.
The capten of your top--Petty Officer Casey's 'is name--will tell you
off for your stations in your part of the ship. You'll stow your bag in
the fore cable flat, starboard side, and your 'ammick in the starboard
forecastle rack. I'll show you where to put 'em, and if you comes along
to my office after tea to-day I'll give you a card with it all written
on--see?'
'Yessir,' said Martin, looking very bewildered, for he had hardly
understood a word of what the man had said.
'It's all right, me lad,' the corporal went on, more kindly. 'You
needn't look so scared. You'll soon shake down. Is this your first
ship?'
'Yessir.'
The corporal nodded and went off to report to the officer of the watch,
who presently returned with him.
'Ord'nary Seaman Martin, sir. Come to join the ship from the barricks.'
The lieutenant eyed the new arrival critically. 'What division's he in,
corporal?' he queried.
'Yours, sir. Forecastle division.'
'How long have you been in the service?' the officer asked next.
'Six an' a narf months, sir,' said Martin.
'Well, it's about time you got your hair cut, my lad. It's much too
long. The forecastle division's my division, and the smartest in the
ship, so look out you uphold its reputation. Is your kit complete, by
the way?'
'Yessir, all but one pair o' socks.'
'All right; we'll see to that another day. Show him where to put his
bag and hammock, corporal, and tell him where his mess is. You'd better
introduce him to the barber, too. I can't have the men of my division
looking like a beauty chorus.--You,' he added, addressing Martin, 'had
better get yourself thoroughly warm. We don't want you to start off by
catching a chill.'
'Thank you, sir.'
'Come along o' me,' said the ship's corporal gruffly; and Pincher,
picking up his bag and hammock, followed him along the deck.
In another minute they were on the mess-deck. It was a strange place to
Martin, accustomed as he was to the large and airy rooms in the
barracks ashore. It seemed cramped and restricted. The steel beams
supporting the deck above were barely eighteen inches over his head,
and every inch of space seemed occupied with something or other. But a
sense of order and cleanliness prevailed; for, though the ship was in
dockyard hands, and the first lieutenant would have described the
mess-deck as 'filthy,' it seemed specklessly clean to an outsider. The
glare of the electric lights shone on the spotless white enamel and
polished metal-work, and every inch of wood-work which was not
varnished and polished was well scrubbed and white.
Moving along a narrow gangway about eight feet wide, they passed the
officers' and men's galleys or kitchens. These were placed amidships,
and the great cooking-ranges, newly blacked and with their polished
steel knobs and utensils winking in the glare, vomited wisps of steam
and savoury smells. The black-and-white tiled floors were spotless, and
so were the wooden slabs upon which the meat and the vegetables were
cut up. Farther forward came small, curtained-off enclosures serving as
messes for the chief petty officers; and then, forward again, white
enamelled steel bulkheads stretching from floor to ceiling.
Extending out from the ship's side, with its row of scuttles and wooden
mess shelves and boot-racks, were numbers of white wooden mess tables
and narrow wooden forms. They were spaced at precisely equal intervals,
and at the end of each table was a neatly rolled strip of white
linoleum which served as a tablecloth at meal-times, a couple of
shining tin mess kettles, and a teapot. On the deck at the foot of each
table was a bread-barge, a squat-shaped tub, to contain the bread
belonging to the mess. The barges were all exactly similar, having
scrubbed teak sides and polished brass hoops, with the number of the
mess in neat brass figures, and each stood at precisely the same
distance from its own table.
From the ceiling or deck overhead hung racks for the reception of the
men's circular, black-japanned cap-boxes, and others for their white
straw hats--each in its duck cover to keep out dust and dirt--and the
newly scrubbed ditty-boxes. These, of white wood, are the receptacles
in which sailors keep their small personal belongings. They contain, as
a rule, photographs of wives, sweethearts, relations, and friends;
letters; and other purely private and valued relics; but, though
provided with a lock and key, it is an unwritten and invariable law of
the mess-deck that they shall be left unlocked. A man must show his
trust in his messmates, and a thief has no place on board one of his
Majesty's ships. If petty pilfering does occur, there is no mercy for
the culprit, and he is speedily discovered and removed.
It was a Saturday afternoon, and, as the ship was in dockyard hands
undergoing a refit, more than half the men were on leave, and the
mess-deck was comparatively empty. Those men who were left on board
were spending the half-holiday in blissful slumber, for many of the
tables and forms bore sleeping figures wrapped in blankets or
greatcoats. They snored melodiously and in many keys.
Here and there a man writing a letter or reading looked up with some
curiosity as Martin passed, but otherwise he attracted little
attention. The advent of another ordinary seaman was too common an
occurrence to call for remark, though to the ordinary seaman himself
the day of his arrival on board his first seagoing ship would
thereafter be mentally marked with a red figure in the calendar of his
life.
The ship's corporal, anxious to resume his interrupted sleep in the
police-office, hurried on; and soon, after climbing down one slippery
steel ladder and up another, they arrived in the foremost bag-flat.
This compartment was provided with tiers of numbered racks stretching
from deck above to deck below. Each division in the racks held its own
brown canvas or painted kit-bag, with the brightly polished brass tally
on the bottom stamped with the owner's name, all the tallies being set
at precisely the same angle. The guide halted and pointed to a vacant
space. 'There you are,' he said. 'That's where you stow your bag.'
Martin dropped his hammock, and after some difficulty succeeded in
insinuating his bag into its appointed place.
''Ere, that won't do,' observed the ship's corporal, shaking his head
with a pained expression on his face. 'Slew 'er round till the letters
on your tally are 'orizontal. The first lootenant'll 'ave a fit if 'e
sees it shoved in any'ow like that.'
Martin did as he was told, and when at last he had stowed his bag to
the corporal's satisfaction, was taken to another flat somewhere in the
bowels of the ship, where he was shown where to put his hammock.
He was next taken to his mess, and was introduced to the leading seaman
who acted as senior member and caterer. This worthy, a ruddy-faced,
heavily built man called Strumbles, was discovered asleep on the table,
and was none too pleased when the ship's corporal tapped him on the
shoulder and woke him up.
'Strumbles,' he said, ''ere's another O.D.[3] come to join your mess.
Martin's 'is name. Just keep an eye on 'im. 'E's a bit noo to the
service. 'E wants 'is 'air cut, too, so you might send 'im along to the
'aircutter after tea.'
[3] O.D. = the slang term for 'ordinary seaman.' 'O.S.' is
one official naval contraction, and 'Ord.' another. 'O.D.' is
derived from the latter, in the same way as an able seaman is
known as an 'A.B.'
Strumbles sat up sleepily and signified his willingness to perform
these favours, but the moment the corporal was safely out of sight
glared unpleasantly at the new arrival. 'Bit noo to the navy, are yer?'
he demanded. 'Name o' Martin, eh?'
'Yessir.'
'Don't call me "sir." My name's Strumbles. Nutty Strumbles they calls
me. Is this yer first ship?'
'Yes.'
'Thought so. If it wasn't, you'd know better than to come wakin' up a
bloke wot's 'avin' 'is Saturday arternoon caulk.'
'I'm sorry,' Martin stammered. 'It wusn't my fault. I didn't know'----
'Course you didn't. 'Owever, now you're 'ere you can just wake me up at
seven bells. Know what seven bells is, eh?'
'Yes. 'Arf-parst three.'
'Right. At 'arf-parst three you wakes me up, an' when you done that you
can go along to the galley an' wet the tea. Me, an' Ginger Strudwick,
an' Nobby Clarke, an' one or two others, is the only blokes o' this
'ere mess aboard. Them two's on watch now, but they'll be down at eight
bells clamourin' for their scran like a lot o' wolves; so look out you
'as it ready. When you've wetted the tea you can run along to the
canteen an' git height heggs an' height rashers for our supper--I'll
give you a _chit_ for it when I wakes up; an' when you done that
you can tidy up them there mess shelves an' polish the mess kettle an'
teapot ready for the rounds to-morrow. Understan'?'
'Yes,' said Martin, hesitatingly.
'Orl rite, look out you does it, then,' remarked Strumbles, laying his
head back and resuming his interrupted slumbers.
Martin began to feel rather sorry he had ever joined the navy, for as a
young and very ordinary seaman on board a ship it appeared as if every
one was his master. The recruiting posters which had been responsible
for his entry had said something about 'seeing the world, with plenty
of pocket-money.' This was what they meant, evidently. He sniffed
dubiously. In the barracks where he had undergone his preliminary
training he had been one of many others of his own age; but here he was
cast entirely on his own resources. He felt lonely and miserable;
nobody seemed to take any interest in him, and everybody ordered him
about in a dictatorial way which he didn't like at all. He gulped
suspiciously, and then looked round with a nervous expression lest the
slight sound should have awakened Strumbles.
When, seven months before, Martin had put on his bluejacket's uniform
for the first time, he had felt immensely proud of himself. Everybody
in his own small village had turned round to stare when he first
appeared in it; and he was rather disappointed when, on his arrival in
Portsmouth, people in the street neglected to notice him. He liked his
jumper, with the V-shaped opening in front, and the blue woollen jersey
underneath. He was proud of his blue jean collar with its three rows of
narrow white tape, which, he had been told, commemorated Nelson's three
great victories of the Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar. He had heard,
too, that the black silk handkerchief worn round his neck and tied in
front was a badge of mourning for the same great naval hero. But both
in the matter of the collar and the handkerchief he had been led into
believing a very popular fallacy.
The square collar was first introduced in the latter portion of the
eighteenth century as a means of preventing the grease and flour with
which the sailors anointed their pigtails from soiling their clothes.
The three rows of tape, moreover, were placed upon it merely for
ornament, for there is no evidence to support the belief that they
commemorate the three famous victories. The black silk handkerchief
came in at much the same time. In early sea-fights the heat on the
gun-decks was stifling, so much so that the men were forced to strip to
the waist. To prevent the perspiration from running down into their
eyes and blinding them, they were in the habit of tying handkerchiefs
round their foreheads, and at ordinary times these were worn round the
neck for the sake of convenience. It is true that up till a few years
ago our modern bluejackets wore their spare black silk handkerchiefs
tied in a bow on the left arm when attending funerals; but there is
nothing to support the theory that they were introduced as badges of
mourning for the immortal Nelson.
But Martin believed these things implicitly, and perhaps, as it
fostered the traditions of the service, it did him no harm.
Another portion of his attire of which he was inordinately proud was
his bell-bottomed trousers. He firmly imagined that these had been
introduced merely to give the sailor a rakish appearance, and was not
aware that they were brought in so that the garments could conveniently
be rolled up to the knee when their barefooted wearers were giving the
decks their usual morning scrub.
Some few years ago a proposal was on foot to do away with the loose
trousers, and to clothe the seamen in garments shaped like those in
everyday use ashore. As a reason for the change it was urged, with some
truth, that in modern ships the men seldom went barefooted, and that
less flowing trousers would be less likely to catch in the intricate
machinery with which modern ships were supposed to be crammed. But the
storm of indignation with which the proposal was received by the men
speedily caused it to be dropped. The seamen take no small pride in
their nether garments; some of them even go to the trouble and expense
of providing themselves with specially wide pairs in which to go ashore
on leave.
The wide-brimmed straw hat, which constitutes the modern bluejacket's
full-dress headgear, was first introduced in the West Indies early in
the nineteenth century, but was not made an article of uniform until
much later. Before that time, and up till thirty or forty years ago,
shiny black tarpaulin hats, much the same shape as the straw 'boater'
of commerce, were _de rigueur_ in the navy. The term 'bluejacket,'
too, owes its origin to the short, blue, brass-buttoned jacket--rather
similar in shape to an Eton jacket, but with no point at the
back--which was worn until 1891.
But all Martin's ideas as to his own importance were speedily knocked
on the head. By the time he sought his hammock at nine-thirty on that
first eventful day he had come to realise that he was very small beer
indeed, a mere excrescence on the face of the earth; and that, like
Agag, it behoved him to walk warily and with circumspection.
The captain of the forecastle, Petty-Officer Casey--'Mister Casey,' as
he insisted on being called--had taken him to his bosom in a gruff,
fatherly sort of way, and had given him a few words of advice.
'It's like this 'ere, me lad,' he had pointed out, but not unkindly.
'You're an ordinary seaman, an' wot you've got to do is to carry out
other people's orders. If you're told off to do a thing, do it at once,
an' cheerful like; don't slouch about th' ship like a ploughboy, nor
yet a Portugee militiaman neither. 'Old yourself erec'; take a pride in
yourself, an' obey all orders at the rush. If you gives no trouble I'm
yer friend, remember that; but if you gits up agin me, an' starts
givin' trouble, I won't raise a finger to 'elp you, an' you'd best
stan' clear. Don't forget, neither, that I've got my eye on you the
'ole time; an' don't run away wi' the idea that you're doin' the navy a
good turn by joinin', like so many on 'em do. It's the navy wot's doin'
you a favour by 'avin' you. If you bears orl this in mind me an' you'll
get along orl right, an' some day, p'r'aps, you'll be a petty-orficer
the same as me.'
Martin remembered Casey's words of wisdom, and derived no small benefit
therefrom.