ON BOARD A RED BATTLESHIP

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 12, 28 July 1919, Page 6

ON BOARD A RED BATTLESHIP

BOLSHEVIST DISCIPLINE

TWO DAYS IN THE NEVA (Prom a Russian Correspondent of the "Homing, Post,';) An interesting document has just come into my hands. It is a description of a couple of days on board one of the remaining Russian men-of-war, now belonging to the Bolshevist tlcet. 'the battleship in question was at the timeDecember, 1918—arid, I believe, still is. lying off one of'the shipbuilding yards on the Neva at Petrograd. She was disarming and preparing to go out of' coinmission for tho winter, but the whole crew," the officers included, were still on board, as there was a lot of work to be completed before the ship could be I"'"fled over to the port authorities. the author of the document in_ question was in some way with this work and had to pass a certain time on board, where :he was received as a friendly visitor by the officers. The latter, despite their unwillingness to serve the Bolsheviks. wero not allowed.to resign, and had to continue their servico under almost impossible conditions. My informant writes:— I crossed a long and shaky gangway to get on board the flagship, distinguished "by a broad red stripe "at the topmast head, and, picking my way with great difficulty up the inclined, ice-cov-ered, slippery deck, I went straight to the officers' quarters, without being Siopped by any sentry. Evidently no watch was kept on board, or the members of the watch preferred to stay below out of the cold. _ The executive or senior officers jitney are called first mates now in the P>ed j fleet) met the visitor the officers mess-room, and welcomed him to a cabin. It was pointed out that ho would have to do all the cabin-work himself, as no servants were allowed to the officers by the ship's committee. One of the former stewards volunteered to continue his work in the mess-room for extra pay, but the committee refused their permission, becauso of the "degrading character" of such work for a'free sailor. Music and* Dancing. The depression prevailing in the officers' mess-room was in striking contrast )vith the liveliness prevailing in tliu sailors' quarters, whence was heard ml day long the. sound of several gramupliones and the %liuffle of dancing. I'iie executive officer, or first mate, explained that the pay for the disarmament work was additional' to the regular pay—tho men received 22-25 roubles a day for it— and that only those sailors worked who wanted to earn extra money; the sailors who wero content with their regular pay —700 roubles a month tJiTO) for an ordinary seaman—were not forced to work. So they si>ent their time singing and dancing and gambling.' The visitor had to witness a disagreeable incident between a lieutenant—the second engineer—and the chief stoker, responsible for the fuel-' on board. The officer wits sent by his chief to inquire how much naphtha, oil there was left in the tanks, but on doing so he was advised by the chief stoker to dive into the pit-hole himself or "Go to hell!" When warned that he was on duty and must be civxl,". the man retorted, using the second person singular: "Oh, those times have pa:sed when we had to report. Go and see for yourself, and report to me, or I'll chuck you off tho ship and take' ; r ou to the Gorohovaia!" (the headquarters of the Communist police). The young officer was saved from ill-treatment by the president of the ship's committee, .who was passing by chance at the moment, and succeeded in restoring peace. The incident was reported afterwards to the Admiralty, but without any result, and the second engineer had to ask for a transfer to another ship. At noon, when the men were piped to dinner, one of the officers, whose turn it was, went to the galley to fetch the coup, which proved a horrid concoction of hot water and oil, with cabbage leaves and microscopic bits of horseflesh floating in it. A piece of bread, a plate of soup, and a cup of tea formed the menu, which was repeated for supper at 5 p.m. The officers, like the men, received two pounds of sugar and one pound of butter or oil per month. One hour before supper,' at i p.m., the working day ended, and most of the crew went ashore. The officers stayed on board, because the theatres or other places of amusenieul: were too expensive for them, and visits to friends in town wero quite ou.t of th" question under the prevailing conditions. A Chilly Night. The visitor' nlw 'stayed on board, where a painful experience awaited them. The ship's boilers being out of order, she was heated by steam from a tug. At

The visitor' nlw stayed on board, where a painful experience awaited them. The ship's boilers being out of order, she was heated by steam from a tug. At •1 p.m. the lug left to coal, and refused to. return after coaling, as the crew wanted to go to the theatre. Orders were of no avail, so the man-of-war had to send a special delegation on board the tug to implore the engineers to come back and save those on 'hoard the warship from being frozen in their hammock!. during the night. After protracted negotiations an agreement was coneluded. and the tug returned, bu.t when Die sleam pipes had to lie connecletl it was found, that the engineer who knew how to mnke i.lie collections had already left for the theatre, and had locked up his keys and instriniients somewhere where nobody could find them. So the ship had to remain nhheated for the night. The frost, luckily, was not very acute: the thermometer did not fall below 12deg. or l.ldeit Fahrenheit. But next morning the pipes were frozen, and when heating was re-established at 8 a.m. the pipe communicating with the officers' quarters burst, and. the officers' messroom and cabins got full of steam, which ruined tho panelling and unholsterv: the damage done was estimated at .£2OOO.