|
A
ROYAL VOYAGE
A
wild ride with a Duchess on board
I had but one voyage on the Rangitiki and a
momentous one it was for me,
but maybe of no little moment for NZSCo too. I don’t have the
voyage number now, but she sailed from No9 Pyrmont, Sydney, for
London on Feb.6th 1947 to a massive send-off with a military
band playing ‘will ye no come back again etc’.
Then as she passed under the bridge the whole of Sydney came alive
with a cacophony of ‘cock-a-doodle-doos’ from every ship, ferry, tug
and bum-boat around the harbour.
|
 |
|
Note by Mr. Brooking:
"...taken by my brother from
North Shore
as she sailed down the harbour - dressed Overall (how apt!)
the racket from all the sirens was deafening!
I’m still hiding there just abaft her after mast. |
The
company had responded to the Duchess of Gloucester’s request to
return to Blighty at the end of her husband’s term as Gov. General.
He was to fly home – a tedious process then. So
Rangitiki was despatched across the Tasman to collect her
with her two young princes. She may not have been so keen had
she realised what was to come.<<Selection in Document>>
The trip across the Pacific was idyllic including a ‘heave-to’ off
Pitcairn to meet the Bounty descendants and to dispense the time-honoured
gifts of construction materials etc. Then the passage through
the canal, with Panamanian officials waiting to greet the royal
party at the lock sides – with more military bands and
ceremonies. Out into the Carib’ and on to bunker at Curacao,
but once out of the tropics all those gorgeous starry nights
disappeared and although far from the hurricane season, we were hit
by a furious storm in the western approaches.
My berth was in the sick bay high on the poop and at the height of
the storm I very carefully calculated the length of the seas – they
were fully three times our length – and breaking horribly. Sleep
was impossible as her stern rose out of the water with each crest
and left her screws racing. But at this point – sudden horror
– her engines were shut down! Her master – probably weaned on
square rig –
hoisted a huge jib for’d to hold her head off to prevent a
disastrous broach with her accommodation presented to the breaking
seas.
Life had to go on and we inured ourselves to the eerie contrast of
the howling storm and ‘marching’ creaks of the ship’s bulkheads –
but with the awful void left by the absence of those engine
vibrations. The crew were philosophical - ‘More days – more
dollars!’
Eventually, after many anxious hours a great cheer went up around
the ship
as her engines came to life once again.
The Duchess must have had second thoughts about her chosen
route home! We went alongside at Tilbury landing stage on the
morning of March 19th and soon made our way up a still crowded river
and into
Royal Albert and home - well, for me anyway.
Alan
Brooking
October 2008 |