Stand By! Naval Sketches and StoriesDorling, H. Taprell (Henry Taprell)
History
Stand By! Naval Sketches and Stories
Dorling, H. Taprell (Henry Taprell)
Great Britain. Royal Navy; World War, 1914-1918 -- Naval operations
Next the gunner (T), responsible for the torpedo armament, electrical
fittings, and the actual mechanism and mountings of the guns. He is a
very busy man, for his torpedoes, like children, always seem to have
something the matter with their insides.
Then comes the surgeon probationer. He is not a fully qualified
medical man, but a student from one of the large London hospitals
temporarily enrolled in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. He gives
hygiene lectures to the ship's company, attends to their cuts,
contusions, and minor ailments, and packs them off to hospital or to
the mother ship if necessary. After an action he would be more useful
still.
Lastly the "Snotty" of the Royal Naval Reserve, who does odd jobs of
all kinds and generally assists the first lieutenant and the sub.
"Cuthbert," our dog, is a Sealyham terrier. He lives either in the
wardroom or the skipper's cabin. He has bad dreams sometimes, and
makes strange noises in his sleep, but is the only member of our
community who is really cheerful in bad weather, and is always ready
for his food.
"Bo," or "Hobo," to give him his full name--somebody was reading Jack
London's "The Road" when he came aboard as a tiny kitten--is a
black-and-white tom-cat of plebeian origin. He is an honorary member
of our mess and occasionally pays us visits at meal-times, and after
nourishment sometimes condescends to occupy the armchair in front of
the stove. He is very friendly with Cuthbert.
The first steward we had was an ex-valet. He suffered from a swollen
head and what he was pleased to call a "college education." He may
have been an excellent valet, but was no earthly good as the steward of
a destroyer, and soon departed. His sins would fill a book. He used
our expensive damask table napkins as dish cloths, involving us in
endless complications with the Victualling Yard authorities, who
objected to their being used for such a purpose. He produced cold ham,
biscuits, and pickles for breakfast, lunch, tea, and dinner. Excellent
in their way, no doubt, but rather monotonous in the depths of winter.
On one occasion he skinned a pheasant to save himself the trouble of
plucking it--we will draw a veil over what happened.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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