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manner that differed entirely from the management of lesser ships. Firstly, the
crew was substantially bigger and hierarchy more established. Secondly, everyone
had to look smart all the time, and thirdly, one was encouraged to fraternise
with the passengers. And, just as advantageously (as it turned out) there was no
accommodation available in the officers’ quarters; we were obliged to utilise a
cabin on a first-class passenger deck. It was immediately apparent that this was
likely to prove a substantial social advantage. Of less apparent advantage was the
fact one of the other cadets (of which there were six in total) was one Stuart
Woodward. He, being a quiet and studious fellow, was very charming, with a sort
of amiable insouciance about him that, I soon discovered, mightily attracted the
opposite sex. It did not take too long, however, to discover that this demeanour
also had, for me, an unexpectedly favourable side.

When I boarded, few crew members were aboard (between trips or cruises
passenger ships enjoyed few days in port; they only made money when at sea
with passengers aboard and carried little commercial cargo) and I introduced
myself to the 4th mate, a reasonable fellow who let me in on a few important
details. The most cogent of his advice was that for the deck department this was
not the happiest of ships, the mate, Mr Lefevre, being something of a martinet
who had a problem with his sense-of-humour-ectomy and enjoyed a negative
reputation throughout the fleet. He was not aboard I was pleased to note (as I
now knew that to cadets the mate was usually by far the most significant of the
officers (Basil was a notable exception) I felt that an introduction could wait).
Somewhat confusingly, the big ships also carried a 1st officer, termed the 1st
mate, the senior of the watch-keepers.

Arcadia was to complete two cruises before returning to the Australia run.
The first comprised calls to Gibraltar, Dubrovnik, Palma and Naples, a selection
with which I was quite happy to become familiar, though Naples was the only
one where our ship could berth alongside a wharf. The first thing, however, was
to become familiar with the boats which we were to supervise, a passenger ship
at that time basically having three types of lifeboats, these being two ‘crash’ boats,
perhaps four or more motor-powered covered boats (which were used as shore
tenders) and more numerous open lifeboats, often powered by very clumsy hand
cranks or simply by oars. All cadets, having been to nautical colleges, knew about
the handling of small boats, but the 3rd engineer, being responsible for the motor
boats, gave us careful instruction in how not to overuse the gears and engines in
his precious charges. We got to know him quite well.

Though putative deck officers, the six of us did not easily fit in with the
established hierarchy; while I must have met them, I have no recollection of
meeting with the Captain or the Staff Captain. The latter rank was something
of an anomaly unique to the big passenger ships. He was a full-fledged Master
but was on a daily basis actually in charge of little other than the running of the

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