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In All Respects Ready: The Merchant Navy and The Battle of the Atlantic, 1940-1945
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest, most unremitting - and perhaps the most crucial - campaign of World War II. Most of Europe had quickly fallen to the Nazi's, and Britain's defiance was not expected to withstand the imminent invasion.
It was the Allied Merchant Navy that formed the fragile lifeline carrying vital supplies of food, munitions and fuel through waters prowled by an enemy bent on cutting the slender thread. Without those convoys, Britain could not have survived.
IN ALL RESPECTS READY tells, in human terms, of the little-known struggle of a handful of Canadians to help keep the Allied Merchant Navy afloat, both physically and psychologically, during those dark days. It tells the story of the merchant seamen who repeatedly faced death for six long years and by whose deeds victory was made possible.
It was the Allied Merchant Navy that formed the fragile lifeline carrying vital supplies of food, munitions and fuel through waters prowled by an enemy bent on cutting the slender thread. Without those convoys, Britain could not have survived.
IN ALL RESPECTS READY tells, in human terms, of the little-known struggle of a handful of Canadians to help keep the Allied Merchant Navy afloat, both physically and psychologically, during those dark days. It tells the story of the merchant seamen who repeatedly faced death for six long years and by whose deeds victory was made possible.
- GenresNonfictionWar
221 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1985
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July 1, 2015
If you are looking for a book that will tell you all about the trials and travails of the Merchant seaman while at sea, then this book is probably not the right book for you. The author, Watt is actually Commander Frederick B. Watt RCN (R) Retired and apparently most of what is in the book was directly related to his wartime experiences. The Introduction was by a Gerald A. Morgan M.N.I. To quote from his introduction: For many sailors, all illusion was lost in the hazard's brought by war to the cold North Atlantic. For many, it might have seemed better to kick down the "system" before their lives were uselessly lost. Let the shore folk, who never learn, find other fools to "do it again". But if a demoralized sailor realizes he is the hope of millions of people, if someone lets him know by tone or gesture that his work, his sacrifice, is known, then he cannot choose but to sail again. This is what happened in Halifax, where the convoys assembled. How it happened is Ted Watt's tale.
He writes of his work, with others, in the Naval Boarding Service, which ensured that each ship to join a convoy for the cruise among U-boats to the mines and bombs of Britain's home waters was "in all respects ready for sea". This meant it must be seaworthy in hull, engines, guns (if supplied), lifeboats and in the minds and hearts of its crew. Battleworthy, in short, and tallied as such by the Naval Boarding Service."
While this book doesn't focus on what happened at sea, it does focus on what had to happen in order to keep the merchant seamen at sea where they faced incredible danger with out much appreciation from others of the difficulties that they had to endure. Frederick Watt describes himself as similar to many other Canadians who were thankful to have a "full-time, paid" job again. His hope initially was to go out to sea as he had experience both during the first World War and also afterwards where he had qualified as a lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Volunteer Reserve. When finally called up in 1940, he was sent to Halifax and ultimately appointed (at the request of one of his old commanding officers, Richard Oland) to NCSO - something that he was totally unfamiliar with. He was disappointed to find out that this wasn't a seagoing position at all. NCSO stood for Naval Control Service Officer and what they had to control was all the merchant shipping that came in or went out of Halifax harbour.They were responsible for each vessel's movements and every detail of convoy assembly and routing. Watt agreed to try out the job for two weeks, still thinking that he wanted a corvette appointment as soon as possible, but within two weeks he realized the value of the job and the possibility he had to make a difference if he elected to stay.
Every ship that entered the harbour was visited by members of the Naval Boarding Service before it left harbour again. Initially the sailors didn't have much respect for those men boarding and inspecting them, but there was a real concern that there was the possibility of sabotage that might take place on board, especially in ships that might have come from the USA where, because the Americans were not at war, regulations were looser and ships more prone to disturbance from others. Over time, through very hard work, a trust developed between the merchant seamen and the men in Halifax who were sent out to inspect their ships. If a ship was in bad condition, the sailors could count on Naval Boarding Service to see that repairs were ordered and implemented as soon as they possibly could be. Little things were initiated to improve on board conditions - for example, some women in Halifax collected magazines which were taken around to the ships so the sailors would have reading material. Many ships had not been built for the conditions that they would have to face in the Atlantic convoys, so sailors were faced with extreme cold while perhaps only having clothing for summer sailing conditions. When ships arrived in Halifax, at times the sailors would refuse to continue on to the point where it was impacting on the ability to send convoys out in a timely manner. The men of Naval Boarding Service had to be diplomats, good at negotiating. Ultimately they became so successful at it in Halifax that it was determined that they needed to train the inspectors in other Canadian ports so they would all be working in the same way. Most of the seamen who were doing the inspecting did so in spite of the fact that it really limited their own opportunities for advancement as it was a land-based job.
Eventually all the boarders were also given opportunities to have some training on the convoys so that they could see exactly what the merchant seamen were facing and they were also given the opportunity to speak to those in power in Britain so that they could be brought on board to similar management of advance boarding inspections.All of this was extremely important in keeping the convoys going so that Britain would receive the goods it needed in order to continue to fight.
It is difficult in a review of this nature to really explain just how fascinating this book was to me as a reader. Individual stories are too lengthy to quote in a review of this type, but my eyes were definitely opened to the extreme nature of the difficulties faced in order to keep the convoys moving. The situation was severe enough that the government had to put laws in place allowing the Naval Control Officers to have men arrested if they refused to fulfill their duties.It was a power that had to be used more than once, but having it in place and making it known to the seamen seemed to make room for better understanding.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in finding out more of what went on behind scenes in Canada to keep the convoys moving in as safe a way as they possibly could.
He writes of his work, with others, in the Naval Boarding Service, which ensured that each ship to join a convoy for the cruise among U-boats to the mines and bombs of Britain's home waters was "in all respects ready for sea". This meant it must be seaworthy in hull, engines, guns (if supplied), lifeboats and in the minds and hearts of its crew. Battleworthy, in short, and tallied as such by the Naval Boarding Service."
While this book doesn't focus on what happened at sea, it does focus on what had to happen in order to keep the merchant seamen at sea where they faced incredible danger with out much appreciation from others of the difficulties that they had to endure. Frederick Watt describes himself as similar to many other Canadians who were thankful to have a "full-time, paid" job again. His hope initially was to go out to sea as he had experience both during the first World War and also afterwards where he had qualified as a lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Volunteer Reserve. When finally called up in 1940, he was sent to Halifax and ultimately appointed (at the request of one of his old commanding officers, Richard Oland) to NCSO - something that he was totally unfamiliar with. He was disappointed to find out that this wasn't a seagoing position at all. NCSO stood for Naval Control Service Officer and what they had to control was all the merchant shipping that came in or went out of Halifax harbour.They were responsible for each vessel's movements and every detail of convoy assembly and routing. Watt agreed to try out the job for two weeks, still thinking that he wanted a corvette appointment as soon as possible, but within two weeks he realized the value of the job and the possibility he had to make a difference if he elected to stay.
Every ship that entered the harbour was visited by members of the Naval Boarding Service before it left harbour again. Initially the sailors didn't have much respect for those men boarding and inspecting them, but there was a real concern that there was the possibility of sabotage that might take place on board, especially in ships that might have come from the USA where, because the Americans were not at war, regulations were looser and ships more prone to disturbance from others. Over time, through very hard work, a trust developed between the merchant seamen and the men in Halifax who were sent out to inspect their ships. If a ship was in bad condition, the sailors could count on Naval Boarding Service to see that repairs were ordered and implemented as soon as they possibly could be. Little things were initiated to improve on board conditions - for example, some women in Halifax collected magazines which were taken around to the ships so the sailors would have reading material. Many ships had not been built for the conditions that they would have to face in the Atlantic convoys, so sailors were faced with extreme cold while perhaps only having clothing for summer sailing conditions. When ships arrived in Halifax, at times the sailors would refuse to continue on to the point where it was impacting on the ability to send convoys out in a timely manner. The men of Naval Boarding Service had to be diplomats, good at negotiating. Ultimately they became so successful at it in Halifax that it was determined that they needed to train the inspectors in other Canadian ports so they would all be working in the same way. Most of the seamen who were doing the inspecting did so in spite of the fact that it really limited their own opportunities for advancement as it was a land-based job.
Eventually all the boarders were also given opportunities to have some training on the convoys so that they could see exactly what the merchant seamen were facing and they were also given the opportunity to speak to those in power in Britain so that they could be brought on board to similar management of advance boarding inspections.All of this was extremely important in keeping the convoys going so that Britain would receive the goods it needed in order to continue to fight.
It is difficult in a review of this nature to really explain just how fascinating this book was to me as a reader. Individual stories are too lengthy to quote in a review of this type, but my eyes were definitely opened to the extreme nature of the difficulties faced in order to keep the convoys moving. The situation was severe enough that the government had to put laws in place allowing the Naval Control Officers to have men arrested if they refused to fulfill their duties.It was a power that had to be used more than once, but having it in place and making it known to the seamen seemed to make room for better understanding.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in finding out more of what went on behind scenes in Canada to keep the convoys moving in as safe a way as they possibly could.
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