CHRISTMAS ON A BATTLESHIP 1907
( By the Rev.G.Goodenough Chaplain of H.M.Dockyard
,Sheerness )
Whatever may be the case ashore , the seamen and marines of the Royal Navy know how
to make Christmas when it comes around , a time of good cheer. And in this they
are only keeping up a jolly tradition of long standing in our ships of war.
The Rev. Henry Teongue, chaplain of H.M. ships
Nowadays we dont wake our men in the Navy with
the sounding of trumpets but we still
keep up the custom of a right Merry
Christmas .Let me describe such a Christmas as I once experienced in the
flagship of the Channel Squadron.
The coming great event cast
its shadow before in the laying in stocks of hams- dear to the heart of the
blue jacket turkeys , geese , and fresh beef , vegetables , fruit nuts ,
biscuits etc. Then ,
on Christmas Eve ,all but the absolutely necessary work of the ship was
suspended, the hands were piped down and everybody was free to prepare the
birds and joints for the galley, stone the raisins and mix the duff , and last , and not least to
decorate the mess deck with chains and chandeliers of coloured paper and
trophies of photographs and curios.
I had a couple of cardboard alphabets , which were in great request for cutting out
mottoes , and had to work away with the scissors till my fingers ached . Hard
as we all worked and never were there more cheerful workers we had to ask
for extra lights to enable us to finish our preparations , and it was past
midnight before we turned in , tired ,
but happy in anticipation of the forthcoming festival.
On Christmas morning the Church Pennant was duly
hoisted as early as possible , and we went to church on the upper deck ,
dispensing with the usual arrangements of chairs for the Offices and capstan
bars or buckets for the men , for it would have been a shame to disturb the
festive arrangements of the mens messes.
The Christmas morning service
is not a long one .The Chaplains sermon did not occupy many minutes
, so nobody minded standing for this. Of course we had the proper
Christmas hymn
Hark the herald angels sing , While shepherds watched and Oh, come all
ye faithful ! And splendid it was to hear the dear old words rolling forth
from hundreds of lusty voices.
Church over, then came a pause , and then the ceremony of the day begins with the
appearance of the Master-at-arms to announce
that the mess deck is ready for the visit of the Admiral , Captain , and
Officers. Up strikes the band with The Roast Beef of Old England and off we
start , headed by the Admiral and the Captain to make the round of the messes ,
partake of the mens hospitality , and exchange hearty
greetings with them.
As we come to each mess there stands to receive us two of its members
, one with a plate of Christmas pudding or plum duff to give it its naval
title , and the other with cake, nuts
and biscuits . It is usual for each officer to take toll in this way from every mess , so
that as we get on with our journey we become loaded with sticky treasures . I
did not however , bargain for having my pockets turned
into receptacles for pudding and cake by a mischievous messmate .
A Merry Christmas to you
sir greets us all as we pass , and we
are equally ready with the cheerful and friendly The same to you , and many
of them , No sooner had the last officer quitted the mess-deck then all
hands fall to with a will ,and the feast
goes merrily on. In the Ward room and the Gun room there are healths to be drunk and Christmas good cheer to be enjoyed too, though not perhaps
of the same gargantuan order as prevails on the ,lower deck . Then out comes
pipes and cigarettes and yarns are spun and jokes cracked until one by one we
drift off to quiet spots for a stretch off the land or shut eye and
by-and-by no sound is heard , save , perchance the murmureus breathing of
some comfortable sleeper.
At