Uniform

[Mike Hall]

Looking through old photos,I saw me in my Vindi uniform.

Can anyone of you remember what you did with your Uniform?.

I put mine in a cupboard at home.its not there anymore.

[j.sabourn]

I had 3 uniforms which I paid for in 50 years . First one was apprentices uniform which had to have to gain entrance to the saloon and to join or leave ship in , which changed into mufti usually in the first gents toilet to come to, the second one when rose to the dizzy heights of third mate which I could still squeeze into for the next 20 + years. A good few years when company grey livery were supplied free gratis. And the third one bought with expenses mainly for visit to the palace in case was needed on my continuance at sea for the next 12 years. One had the choice of uniform or morning suit , think morning dress had more chance of being lost in your cupboard Mike. Cheers JS
Still have the last one for laying me out, the rest of clobber can go to the Sally Ann.JS.

[Johnny Kieran]

I think my Vindi uniform ended up going over the wall. None of it was any good for wearing on deck. I did keep the wet weather gear though, and put it to good use in rough weather, especially the sea boots and socks. Think I still had them when I came ashore, probably still at the old family home.
Reminds me of an old saying older blokes used to tell us youngsters, "I've wrung more seawater out of my seaboot socks than you've sailed across".

[j.sabourn]

#3 I was in Baghdad when you were in Dads Bag ?.
0r
I’ve spent longer adrift on a piece of oily waste.?.
A good answer to if said with malice was…
If wit was s***t you’d be constipated .
JS.

[Mike Hall]

That was the thing with the Deck and engineer officers they would have to have a posh uniform.

apart from that ,I worked in the galley as a galley boy wearing Jeans and a t- shirt.

When i go promoted to a second cook it was Cooks checks and a shirt.nothing posh.

[Ivan Cloherty]

That was the thing with the Deck and engineer officers they would have to have a posh uniform.

apart from that ,I worked in the galley as a galley boy wearing Jeans and a t- shirt.

.

Count your blessings, in my days we had to pay for our own. Being a Council House boy I had to borrow money from the Missions to Seamen to outfit myself to PSNC requirements, of Blues, Whites (including number tens) regulation black and white shoes, books and other oddities, all to earn £6 a month, took me nearly six years to finally pay them back, but I did, during the 3.5 year tenure cadet and growing I survived on purchasing hand me downs from bigger cadets.............happy days !!!!!!!!!!????????????////

[Bill Morrison]

Ivan. Had a similar situation, just completed my apprenticeship and joined Trident Tankers Ltd. They were part of P&O. so dress was formal. navy uniform, cap with white cover, every thing was in threes. White shirts , white shorts, long white trousers, long white socks. Black ties. White deck shoes and a cummerbund.
When stopped going deep-sea packed them all in an old suitcase and put it in the loft. I opened many years later the whites had gone all yellow but the uniform and cap survived which I still have.
Bill.

[James Curry]

First set of Blues from Alibabas Holts Mutual Benefit Society beside Odessey works Birkenhead. Think Ocean deducted so much each month. Blues 2 sets of whites, refused the white canvas shoes thought they were for poofters. 3 boiler suits.
Blues were Barathea ended up replacing them as the stitching in pants was beyond repair after a game of bar rugby.
Jackie Tailor Hong Kong for an further uniform requirements. Then it was just White long sleeeve shirt and black trousers some oldmen would prefer to see a black tie as well, then in Whites when the weather got on the warmer side.

[Doc Vernon]

Never did have any Uniform as such, as i dod not attend any such Training Schol in the UK.
Did my Silver Service Training at a place in Cape Town called then SASSAR , 6 Months , also similar i guess , with the Billetts etc. But we were locked in there for the Duration.
So did in fact get issued with the Waiters Uniforms etc.
But at the end of the Course we had to hand all our gear back in.
Then we were posted to the actual Long Distance Trains from Cape Town to various parts of South Africa.
We had to then Buy all our own outfits.
So all my gear i bought after Resigning, i sold back to a Lad who was in need of some at a cheaper rate.
Cheers

[j.sabourn]

There is only one British Merchant navy uniform and that is the official one as laid down by the highest courts in the Land.The others are company livery. Even so the British MN rules are broken frequently and today no one seems to care. E.G. the mn braid consists of gold bands with a coloured background for various departments , these gold bands have a diamond intertwined with at the centre of the cuff and is often worn by persons not entitled to wear. The diamond signifies that the wearer is a genuine certificated ships officer , how often have you seen uncertificated people wearing, this also applies to pleasure launches on river and other estuaries. Where you get so called master mariners driving a 50 feet launch. Whenever I have had call to take visitors on the canals and tributaries of Mandurah I always call them Admiral by the amount of MN braid they seem to like to wear, maybe it does something for them in their dreams !!!??? Or maybe just to fool all of the people all of the time. JS
PS There is only one MN cap badge as well the larger imitation one nicknamed the Bombay Basher is not an article of standard uniform . Is purely there to enhance its owners appearance. Cheers JS.