HMAS MILDURA - Life on Board a Corvette

Home

The Ship

Training Ship

The Crew

The War Years

Links

HMAS MILDURA Association.

Games

More stories of life on board HMAS MILDURA

STOKERS

On a small ship like the MILDURA it was usually obvious what the various people did, because you could see them at work. Seamen scraped, chipped and painted the ship. Officers, Chiefs and PO's barked orders and looked important. The HSD took a fiendish delight in disturbing the Signalmen's serenity to play with his Asdic dome (housed in the signalmen's mess). The LTO ruled the blunt end like a warlord, always with an eagle eye on his beloved depth charges etc.

But what did the stokers do? Deep down in the bowels of the ship they were screened from prying eyes of the curious. There was no coal to shovel and we all knew they had no trouble getting their washing dry.

Recollection of Les Lawler, HMAS PIRIE
Printed in NSW and Qld Corvette News Letters.

"The boiler room was equipped with two Yarrow tube boilers, each with a steam drum and two water drums. The steam drum formed the apex of a triangle with the two water drums at the base. Each water drum was connected to the steam drum by about 400, one and a half inch steel tubes. The furnace was lined with fire bricks which were usually repaired or replaced during boiler cleans." (Boiler photos, click here).

"There were six oil sprays firing into each furnace. Each spray had a steel cone positioned in the furnace to spread its oil. Carbon formed on the cones depending on the quality of fuel oil used. It was the stokers on watch main duty to keep the cones clean with a steel poker."

Stokers from HMAS MILDURA taking a break.

"A Stoker Petty Officer and two stokers maintained the boiler room watch while the ship was under steam. The boiler room was pressurized with an airlock and fan to maintain the correct air pressure. There were inspection holes to check the furnace for smoke. White smoke meant too much air and black smoke not enough air. The steam left the boilers at 210 lbs per square inch which powered the engines, tiller flat, minesweeping winch and capstan on the fo'csle."

Engine room, HMAS CASTLEMAINE

"When under steam, the engine room was manned by an ERA, a Leading Stoker and a stoker. The ERA supervised the watch while the Leading Stoker carried out the instructions recieved from the bridge via the voice pipe or the telegraph. The stoker regularly oiled around the main and auxiliary engines and when the main engines were doing high revolutions, felt around the main bearings for over heating. Several times during the watch the Stoker visited the tiller flat and oiled the steam steering engine there."

Engines, HMAS CASTLEMAINE

Engine room telegraph, HMAS CASTLEMAINE

The MILDURA stokers say that the technical details were pretty much the same for all the corvettes, but they have some of their own anecdotes. Ted Clark remembers "the top of the water drum being used as a hot plate for bacon or snags for a snack." Woofa Steele remembers "a well polished copper drainpipe providing steam to make excellent coffee and for boiling overalls. Against better advice, one "know all" stoker put his wool flannel shirt in the kero tin and was rather surprised to see it quickly become a glutinous mess." Jim Stark recalls assisting a certain Stoker PO make a model train. Unfortunately the electric soldering iron he was holding wasn't earthed and a loud bang flung him to the deck and blew the lights. Phil Underwood remembers "an OD Stoker throwing buckets of water over an overheated diesel with disastrous results." Max Choat can remember "a few buckets of water thrown into the fan intakes up top and showering us below - no one owning up, of course."

THE CAPTAIN'S CONGRATULATIONS

When Claude Guille skippered the MILDURA 1942/3 he had a reputation for demanding the highest standards, and sloppy performance of any kind was not tolerated. He also believed in giving credit when it was due, which is illustrated in the following note purloined from the Ship's Noticeboard by Norm Davidson more than sixty years ago.

HMAS MILDURA
23 June 1943

Yesterday I inspected the Engine Room Department and I congratulate C.E.R.A Johns and all the members of the Engine Room and Stokers Department on the very fine appearance of the machinery and boiler spaces of the ship.

The inspection revealed what in my opinion was one of the cleanest departments in the RAN and is a credit to all concerned, the boiler room particularly so.

Signed C.J.P.Guille Lieut. RNR,
Commanding Officer.

PLUMBING
Recollection of "Woofa" Steele

"Norm Davidson ("Davo") was one of a party of upper deck stokers under Chief Stoker Alf Graham. The particular job was to clear a blocked effluent pipe draining the seamen's heads. The said pipe came through the engine room bulkhead high on the starboard side, made an elbow and was discharged through a non return valve through the ship's side. Davo and his oppo were working on the generator catwalk, a confined space and had managed to unbolt a sight plate in the offending line."

"We on watch were observing all this, much shouting to the Chief Stoker up top out of sight with his plumber's plunger. All conducted in well modulated naval phrases like, "Heave...Hold on...Watchit...Lookout...Watcha say?...Go to___you stupid ____," when suddenly the unseen Chief's efforts were unexpectedly succesfull. Need I explain there was Davo and his mate all covered in glory and we on the engine room plates in hysterics. This fouled up the engine room, of course, and took lots of hosing down and bilge pumping to restore reasonable conditions. I wonder whether Davo washed his boiler suit or just ditched it."

Home