ON BOARD A RED BATTLESHIP

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17693, 2 August 1919, Page 7

ON BOARD A RED BATTLESHIP

BOLSHEVIST DISCIPLINE.

TWO DAYS IN THE NEVA.

(From a Russian Correspondent of the Morning Post.)

Au interesting document has just como into my hands. It is a, description of a couple of days on board ono of the ro mairunrj Russian men-of-war, now belonging to tho Bolshevist llect. 'J he battleship in question was at the time December, IDI8 — and, 1 believe, still is, lyin-j; oil' one of the shipbuilding yards un tno Nova at Petrograd. teho was disarming- and preparing to go out of commission for tho winter, 'but tno whole crew, tile officers included, were still on board, as there was a lot ol work to be completed before tho ship could bo handed over to the port authorities. The author of tho document in question was in somo way connected with jhis work and had to pass a certain time on board, whero ho was received as a friendly visitor by the cllicers. The latter, despite their unwillingness to serve the Bolshevists, were not allowed to resign, and had to dontinue their service 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 tiie topmast head, and picking my way with great difficulty up the inclined, ice-covered, slippery deck, I went straight to tho officers' quarters, without being stopped by any sentry. Evidently no watch was kept on board, or the members of the watch preferred to stay below out of tho cold.

Hie executive or senior officers (they are called first mates now in tho Bed fleet) met tho visitor in the officers' mess-room, and ■welcomed him to a cabin. It was pointed out that ho would have to .do all tho cabin work himself, as no servants were allowed to the officers by the ship's committee. Ono of the former stewards volunteered' to continue his work in the iness room for extra pay, _ but the commit/tee refused their permission, because of the "degrading character" of such work for a frea sailor. MUSIC AND DANCING.

The depression prevailing in the officers' mess room, was in striking contrast with tho liveliness prevailing in the sailors' quarters, whence was hoard ail clay long the sound of several gramophones and the shuffle of dancing. The executive officer, or first mite, explained that the pay for tho disarmament work -was additional to tho regular pay—the men received 22-25 roubles aday for it —and that only those sailors worked who wanted to earn extra money ; the sailors who ware content with their regular pay—TOO roubles a month (£7O) for an ordinary seaman—were not forced to work. So they spent their time singing and dancing' and gambling. Tho visitor had to witness a disagreeable incident bstween a lieutenant —the second engineer—and the chief stoker, responsible for the fuel on board. Tho officer was sent by his chief to inquire how much naphtha oil there was left in the tanks, but on doing so ho was advised by the chief stoker to dive into tho pit-hole himself or "Go to hell!" When warned that he was on duty and must be civil, the man. retort ad, using the second person singular: "Oh, those times have passed when we had to report. Go and see for yourself, and report to ma, or I'll chuck you off the ship and take you to tho Gorohovaia!"'' (the headquarters of the Communist police). The young officer waa saved fro-a ill-treatment by ths president of the ship's committeo ,who was passing by chance at tho 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 tho galley to fetch the soup, which proved a horrid concoction of hot water and oil, with cabbage leaves and microscopic bits of horseflesh floating in it. A piece orf bread, a plate of soup, and a oup 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 4- 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 amusement were too expensive for them, and visits to friends in town were quite out of the question under the prevailing conditions. A CHILLY NIGHT. The visitors also 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 4 p.m. the tug 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 board the warship from being frozen in their hammocks during the night. After protracted negotiations an agreement was concluded, and the tug returned, but when the steam pipes had to be connected it was found that the engineer who knew how to make the connections had already left for the theatre, and had locked up his keys and instruments somewhere whero nobody could find them. So the ship had to remain unheated for the night.. The frost, luckily, was not very acute; the thermometer did not fall below 12deg or 13deg 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' mess room and cabins got. full of steam, which ruined the panelling and upholstery; the damage done was estimated at £2000.