Oldendorff Centenary Book - Flipbook - Page 161
BLACK FRIDAY AND A
FROZEN BALTIC SEA
The extreme winter and economic crisis of 1929
made life tough for shipowners and crew alike.
Seafaring in those days meant hard manual work. Accommodation on board
was anything but luxurious. Officers had narrow and sparingly furnished outer
cabins accessible from hot alleyways leading to the engine room. Ratings,
stokers and coal trimmers were put up under the forecastle head, the most
obvious place in vintage steamers. Newbuildings from the Thirties onwards
had accommodation amidships or aft, but older vessels would of course not be
converted solely for the purpose of improving crew accommodation. Nautical
crew and the cook had the privilege of the starboard compartments, stokers
had theirs on the port side.
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