Q1. Before we talk more about your life and work as a marine surveyor, please turn your mind back briefly to the events of 12th May 1982 when you experienced something in the Falklands that probably no-else reading this article has ever experienced, nor are they ever likely to. In brief, what happened?
At the time I was a young Chief Petty Officer engineer serving on board HMS Glasgow. She was the first ship into the war zone and the ship was the sole survivor of the three air defence ships Glasgow, Sheffield and Coventry. On May 12th we were carrying out an NGS (Naval Gunfire Support), basically shelling the Argentinian troops ashore. This apparently wasn’t going down too well and as a result we were attacked by aircraft, several of which were shot down, but one managed to hit us with a 1,000 lb bomb. I was at action stations in the aft engine room when the bomb passed through without stopping and fortunately without going Bang! The bomb travelling at about 500 mph carved a path through everything in its way, machinery, systems, fuel and oil tanks, missing me by a few feet (hence my nick name ‘Head the Bomb’ or ‘Bomb Head’) and then turning me into a human wick with diesel fuel in the process. We had two large holes on the water line, in and an out. My job was now to isolate systems and then try to reduce the flooding and later effect more permanent repairs. To cut a long story short we succeeded and continued to fight until relieved and as they say ‘Limped Home’.
HMS Glasgow
Q2. Now as you look back many years later, how did those events of more than 30 years ago change your outlook on life?
I was amazed by the resilience of the even younger engineers around me, some of whom were only 16 years old and still in training, only six to eight weeks since joining up. An example was one such lad standing holding a mattress into the starboard hole in the side with a length of 4 x 4 against his chest with sea water at freezing point pouring over him. He turned to me and said ‘Can you sign this off in my task book now Chief’. To be brutally honest my control of emotions has never been the same. Call it PTSD if you like - it did take quite a few years to take effect; but even now an act of selfless dedication can soon reduce me to tears.
Q3. How easy was it when you left the Royal Navy to finally transition into the life of a marine surveyor and what new skills did you need to acquire for you to make it a success?
Leaving the Navy was awful. Having spent 24 years in an elite organisation, I handed my ID card to a young wren and was told to ‘leave by that door over there Chief’. I had no time to even think about transition. I applied and got a job as a Ship Repair Manager at a shipyard in Southampton and actually started work whilst still serving under the Royal Navy’s resettlement program and ironically enough my fist MOD contract was one of my own Royal Marines landing craft.
Q4. I recall joining you for my first survey experience in Southampton Docks soon after I joined the organisation and I was astonished at both the clout a surveyor has and the importance of his/her role. Why then, do you think, that surveyors are not given the credit sometimes they deserve and that surveyors are sometimes seen in a dim light?
If you want to be liked and have a stress free existence then marine surveying is not for you! Surveyors are often considered the ‘Enemy’, because in loading operations, for example, it is a surveyor’s job to record events and the actions of others and advise and record on any shortfalls. In condition surveys it is our job to report on the ‘true’ condition of a vessel and unfortunately as you know the truth hurts. It is human nature not to like someone looking over your shoulder and making notes, or telling you that the vessel you consider to be your pride and joy is in fact considerably less than that. Perhaps the only time surveyors receive any real respect is when involved in expert witness work, but with that comes the realisation that your reputation rides on a knife edge.
Q5. When you were headquartered in Southampton, you often spoke to me of your frustration with the attitude of young, aspiring surveyors who were not prepared to put in the necessary commitment and graft. What message do you have for younger surveyors looking to make their mark in this profession and what attributes would you look for now if employing a younger surveyor?
My previous answer pretty much covers it, but hey let us rub salt in the wounds. To go with the unpopularity and stress, there are also long hours and lots of travel for what seems like little reward at times. When recruiting young ‘would be’ surveyors, at first they see it as a glamorous and exciting job to be sent at short notice half way round
76 | The Report • September 2018 • Issue 85
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