Were you in the NS back in the days......

[lefty]

The navy life sounds like great craic. Sure theres bad points to it to but from what i read here it sounds like the best career in the world. Officers/Enlisted men having a laugh together sounds good dunno if ud see much of that in the army. Suppose its coz u all have to live together for weeks n weeks. Anyway navy sounds the dogs bolox

[moggy]

The navy life sounds like great craic. Sure theres bad points to it to but from what i read here it sounds like the best career in the world. Officers/Enlisted men having a laugh together sounds good dunno if ud see much of that in the army. Suppose its coz u all have to live together for weeks n weeks. Anyway navy sounds the dogs bolox

A lot of stuff we did in the 80's would not be allowed now, especially drinking in the mess
i hear this is all controlled now , there was no mots on ships back then, there is now
you have to be very carefull???

[Laners]

There was probly too much drinking back but how could you not at .50 pence a pint I think it was. You only relised how much you drank for the week when Ted Bradly slipped you bar bill for the week under your cabin door .Ted was the bar manager for the senior rates mess and did not drink so he was perfect for the job , but i think he got some sick satisfaction in handing out the bills . There would be howls of protest from the mess members about their bills especialy from Doggie Keany rip, and blleedin George Carr both of whom seemed to have bills for about twice as much as everyone else .

[hptmurphy]

Imagine what happened when he took over the canteen aboard......I don't think anything was ever paid for in cash..everything was on tick.

Excessive drinking was easy given that it was only 45p per pint...a fiver for two hundred fags.

[Laners]

Well I was close about the price of a pint at least , and Ted took over the canteen I,m not surprised , the gummy bastard , but he was a great dusty, he could write off anything and provide you with anything within reason and sometimes beyond . He had a greath undestanding of the ration scale and how to work it and around it and as a P/O COOK I never had to worry about how mouch to use each day thanks to him . Belive it or not he would always say , Just feed them , don,t worry about ther rations , I,ll take care of that

[sba]

Hey! Sounds like ye all had a great dusty! We had "The Famine Master" on Emer , a guy who could work more miracles with food than the late great JC himself! Talk about sticking to the ration scale!! This guy would feed 10,000 on a loaf of bread and a pint of milk, then look surprised if you asked for more!! The PO Dusty on the other hand on P20 was a pure gent. Always able to work the ration scale in the crews favour, and make sure we had plenty of grub.

I know what you mean about not getting away now with what we got away with back in the 80's moggy. Back then, some patrols were quite lively when it came to getting ashore. As an SBA, I was well used to being woken in the wee small hours of a Sunday morning, when one or other of the ships company "fell" while ashore! Great times though. Wouldnt swap those memories for anything. Anyone here remember GHQ in Dun Laoire when four ships were alongside, and a small argument broke out in one of the pubs ? As far as I can remember, ourselves (Deirdre), Emer, Aisling, and I think it was Aoife, were there.

[hptmurphy]

Aha ...now I can put a face to the name...Laners was the PO Cook when I joined the Eithne...and he wasn't a bad one either .Bradley had near miracle qualities when it came to supplying stuff and besisdes the gruff exterior he always had the welfare of the crew at heart....I think ...if he had a heart.

SBA at least you were to found when needed.....The two medics I remember on the Eithne...not the first one....were never to be found.One guy was nicknamed 'Miley' because of his fruit and veg round and was the first breeder of tropical fish that I ever met......The second shall we say was a little light on the loafers with a lisp.

[Sluggie]

An endless supply of free fresh fish was always a great supplement to the ration scale. If a dusty had the crews' interest at heart it gave him room to get little luxuries for the PO/Ck. There's always grub left out for snacks these days so you can raid the galley 24hrs.

[sba]

Ah Murph...I know who you are referring to with regard to the lisp!....Strange bloke, who shall remain nameless on this board! Think he's still serving....God help the lads!!!!!!!

[hptmurphy]

In fairness even back then grub was never in short supply at least on the Eithne,especially when at se. Breakfast was self sevice, lunch was quiet substasial,lasagne ,salad,curry ,spag bol...and dinner in the veening was invaiable a good meal There was usuallly tarts or some such left out supper...and night rations for the night watches. All this could be supplemented by regular trips to the canteen which was well stock with all sorts of goodies.

The situation alongside was a little diffent but again a trip to the base canteen for a toasted sandwich and a cup of tea was always an option ...all in all we fare exceptionally well except when some wanker...Debbie Byrne, put black pudding in the coddle and the out come was disgraceful. You ain;t had christmas diner till you had it on the Eithne. Never have I seen so much grub for so few people

[Laners]

Murph, I will take it as a compliment that I was not bad , black pudding pudding in a coddle , now that sounds pretty bad, I just hope it was not a cook from Dublin that did that , and yes Christmas Day was a great time onboard as was Easter . The great thing about cooks in the Navy is that they live and work with everyone one board and go ashore with them on liberty, unlike the cooks in the Army who seem to all live off barracks and are more concerned with getting the hell out of the place with as much rations as they can conceal in their pockets and sports bags . As for the Army School of Catering at Mc Kee , what a joke . The only good thing about it was that I was home in Dublin.

[yooklid]

....unlike the cooks in the Army who seem to all live off barracks and are more concerned with getting the hell out of the place with as much rations as they can conceal in their pockets and sports bags . As for the Army School of Catering at Mc Kee , what a joke . The only good thing about it was that I was home in Dublin.

Reminds me of my recruit camp in Kilkenny. We had "Spaghetti Bolognese" - ie spaghetti, mincemeat and carrots...

[sparky]

th army cooks make a great stew , then again thats all they make, so they have plenty of practice

[sba]

One of the best cooks I ever had the pleasure of sailing with was a guy nicknamed "Jaffa". Great cook , especially in bad weather, but also a great character...nothing quite like his rendition of "dirty old town" after he had consumed some alcohol....not sure where he is now, but hope he's doing well

Overall, I think the cooks in the NS do a great job...up in all sorts of crap weather, working in fairly hot conditions, looking after everyone....anyone who knocks a Navy cook, hasnt a clue what they are talking about.....and the same must go for the cooks I served with overseas....great bunch of lads, who would go out of their way to make sure everyone was fed and watered....only bad experiences I've had with cooks was here at home!...wonder why that was????

[hptmurphy]

Ah ! sba thats taking it a bit far ...there were naval cooks who should have been strung from a yard arm...

Laners I served with three PO cooks On the Eithne and in fairness you were the best.....and yes the black pudding coddle was at the hands of a Dubliner....its ok ..he was formerly a seaman.

Navy cooks definetly desreve respect given the conditions they work under ...well done to one and all.