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Pages tagged with: seafarers

Sea shanties
Sea shanties, work songs sung on board sailing ships, were a feature of seafaring life in the 19th century. Although most shanties were of British or American origin, some had a distinctly New Zealand flavour.
No grave but the sea - the Merchant Navy
For the Merchant Navy the cost of victory was high: between 1939 and 1945 almost 5000 Allied and neutral merchant vessels (over 21 million tons' worth) were sunk, and around 60,000 seafarers were killed – more than half of them while sailing under the red duster (red ensign) of the British Empire and Dominions.
New Zealanders at sea - D-Day
By 1944 more than 4700 New Zealanders were based in the United Kingdom and were serving in Royal Navy ships.
Sailor celebrating VJ Day
An unidentified seaman celebrates VJ Day with a cigarette and beer in Wellington, 1945
Sound: Jim Blundell remembers VJ Day
Hear former merchant seaman Jim Blundell describe VJ Day celebrations
Sound: life at sea in the Merchant Navy
Hear Les Watson talk about the food and accommodation aboard the Raranga.
Sound: the sinking of the Limerick, 1943
Hear Allan Wyllie recall the sinking of the Limerick in 1943
New Zealand seamen celebrate VE Day
New Zealand seamen celebrate victory in London in 1945. They are some of the 4700 New Zealanders who were attached to the Royal Navy on D-Day. Many of them were on board the ships that carried the invasion force to Normandy and supported it with naval gunfire.
Merchant seamen on D-Day
A number of New Zealand merchant seamen served off the D-Day beaches on hospital ships and other support vessels. This image, taken off Omaha Beach, shows a landing craft alongside the British hospital ship Llandovery Castle, on which New Zealander Cliff Turner served as a baker.
Seamen on the Kaiwarra, 1940
Merchant seamen pose on the Union Steam Ship Company's Kaiwarra in Auckland in December 1940
Stewards at sea
Les Watson (second from left) stands with other stewards on the new Shaw Savill & Albion (SS&A) liner Ceramic (II), during its maiden voyage to New Zealand in 1948. The first Ceramic had been sunk in 1942, with heavy loss of life.
Allan Wyllie, Merchant Navy seafarer
Allan Wyllie stands on board the Limerick.
Sound: a Merchant Navy seafarer looks back
Hear Dan Bashall reflect on some of his wartime experiences
Sound: seafarer recalls German air attack on his convoy
Hear Jim Blundell recall the German air attack on his convoy
Sound: merchant seafarer describes shipping out
Hear John Montgomery describe how he got a job on the Aquitania.
Roll of honour - the Merchant Navy
This roll lists the names of seafarers who died while serving on New Zealand merchant ships and New Zealanders known to have been lost while sailing under the flags of other countries (mainly Britain).
Notes and questions, merchant seafarers - war oral history programme
Advice and suggested questions for seafarers from the Second World War
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