Autobiography: The unusual career of a 20th century mariner

by David Smiley

Of interest to seafarers like myself, who went from the time of pre-container shipping until the end of the 20th century, this mariner served on conventional reefer/bulk/tramp and tanker ships, until the non-conventional lead to an enjoyable period in the islands of the Western Pacific, an introduction to Offshore Support and finally to Piloting large tankers at buoy mooring Terminals. Further non-conventional commercial exposure saw a number of years of travel within the Middle East, before a similar period working in South East Asia, for the well known Dutch company of Smit International. Returning to the United Kingdom, a short period was spent broking in Aberdeen, before a longer period with the American OSV operators Tidewater.
The end result highlights many 'adventures' and some questionable activities that have not been disclosed before. This should intrigue the reader, and hopefully will not blow-back on the author.

211 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 4, 2017

About the author

Colonel David de Crespigny Smiley, LVO, OBE, MC & Bar (1916 - 2009) was a British special forces and intelligence officer. He fought in the Second World War in Palestine, Iraq, Persia, Syria, Western Desert and with Special Operations Executive (SOE) in Albania and Thailand.

He was Commander of the Sultan of Muscat and Oman's Armed Forces between 1958 and 1961.