Slop Chest

This section of the site is our next project. It will describe what life was like for a typical Conway cadet during the various phases of the ship's life.

Ensigns & Crests

Cups & Prizes

Deck Plans

Hammocks

Motto

New Chums

Numbers

Petty Officers / Cadet Captains

Quarter Boys

Scholarships                

Slang

Teaser

Top & Cadet Numbering System

Uniforms

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Ensigns & Crests

There are three quite different emblems associated with Conway:

1. HMS Conway Ensign

There have been three formats to the HMS Conway ensign. The first ensign was simply the 'House Flag' of Conway's owners, the Merseyside MMSA. It is on the left below. In 1896 the Admiralty sanctioned use of the blue ensign defaced with a yellow castle. The version in the middle below was adopted in 1896 the one on the right in 1927. There are strict rules about its use governed by the Admiralty, not the Conway Club, these are set out here.

2. HMS Conway Badge

The castle with the motto and waves below and the naval crown above below is the official crest of the HMS Conway school ship. It was carved above the main entrance to the New Block. There have been many versions over the years and they can be seen here. The first from 1859 is on the left below. As Conway's legal successor, this badge is now the property of the Conway Merchant Navy Trust who have adapted it slightly for use by current Conway Cadets:

Cups & Prizes

Deck Plans

In 1953 in preparation for the planned refit., drauhmsten from Alfred Holt & Co produced incredibly detailed plans of every deck of the Ship. The originals are held by the Friends Of HMS Conway but copies are reproduced below.

Conway Hold

Conway Lower Deck

Conway Orlop Deck

Conway Main Deck

Conway Upper Deck

Conway Cross Section

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Motto

The ship's motto was "Quit Ye Like Men Be Strong". This was taken from 1 Corinthians Chapter 16 verse 13 in the King James's Bible. The newer version of the bible translates it somewhat differently: "be men of courage; be strong".

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Hammocks

1945 QBs were allowed to use hammock stretchers which apparently made them much more comfortable!

1948. The order 'Lash up and stow' prompted a headlong helter-skelter down the hatch ladders in a race to reach your hammock into which you hastily stowed your bedding and lashed it up with (as I recall) seven equally spaced half-hitches which you laid back on with all your weight before rushing it off to fall in line with the rest of your Top to present your handiwork for inspection. The last one in the line immediately got three over the backside (somebody had to be last!). The inspecting CC then bent your hammock double to loosen the lashings, and then vigorously tugged at the canvas in the six spaces between the lashings to see if he could expose any bedding. You got one over the 'Butt' for each space where bedding could be exposed, and it follows that if bedding could be exposed in one space the canvass could be pulled through to expose it in the other five! And that was just the start of yet another day for your long-suffering 'Butt'! Happy Days!...

1949. The general opinion was that they were comfortable to sleep in, but I slept in one for 2.5 years and I disagree. I adjusted to nettles, and even brought a small pillow from home and smuggled it onboard, but I could never get as comfortable as a half decent bed. Furthermore some miscreant could let you down in the night just for fun, and then there was the awful moment in the Summer when you had to put the whole kit and kaboodle on your shoulders and carry it ashore for scrubbing. At 13 years of age an about 130lbs ringing wet to carry it complete with contents down or up steep ladders and into a cutter jammed in with as many as possible and then up the pier to the scrubbing area was not a happy time. If memory serves the half hitches were actually supposed to be marline hitches and there was a difference in that to make the hitch the rope went over the standing part not under. The punishment for such infractions was you had to take your hammock ashore and double around the parade ground with it. Some of the tough kids would keep going for several hours but eventually collapse face down in the dirt and not moving, and the Seamanship Officer and Ex Heavy Weight Champion of the Navy would just stand there in the rain staring into the middle distance.

1952. Another shipboard memory concerns sleeping in a hammock. Some New Chums, myself included, had difficulty in lashing-up and stowing properly in the mornings. The ideal was to fold bedding and pyjamas into the canvas such a way the hammock could be tightly lashed in a series of looped rope, and end up by being relatively firm. It could then be hoisted onto one's shoulder and carried down to the hold where hammocks were stowed in the daytime. As you can imagine, a floppy hammock was not only difficult to wield, but could easily become undone to the acute embarrassment of the cadet concerned.

On my first night aboard, I wondered whether it would be possible to sleep on my right side, as I habitually did. It was!

Some apparently helpful seniors would "assist" New Chums to attach their hammocks, but use a slip-knot, so that the hapless cadet would crash to the deck when he got into his hammock. Of course, this was potentially very dangerous, as serious injury could have resulted had a New Chum landed sharply on his head.

Once hammocks we were safely slung, and we were comfortably settled for the night, a bugler would sound the Last Post. If this was expertly played, it could be a very moving moment. Sleep, like death, should ideally involve a trusting surrender, and there was something strangely humbling and comforting in this knowledge, underlined as it was by the evocative notes of bugler.

1968. Whilst sleeping in hammocks ended with the loss of the ship, even in 1968 cadets were still sleeping on hammocks as they were by then used as a liner between bed mattresses and bed springs.

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New Chums

Life onboard was very strict with many rules and regulations. When new cadets arrived they were called New Chums and given a period of grace to learn the ship's customs and patterns. After that all too short period, punishment - usually with a ropes end called a 'teaser' and delivered by one of the senior cadets, was sure to follow any breach. These arrangements were still in place over 100 years after the ship first opened.

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Numbers  (of cadets)

1859          17 rising to 50 (104 in total for the first year)
Feb 1860    102
Jun 1860    79
Jun 1862    107
Dec 1862   120
1863          117
1864          123
1865          126
1866          108
1867          94 (dropped to 89 later in the year)
1868          95 rising to 123
1869          122
1870          125 dropping to 115
1871          113 rising to 123
1873          127
1874          114
1876          123 rising to 163
1878          175
1879          178
1880          162
1882-3       172
1884          176
1885          The 2000th cadet joined
1888          153
1889          210 in October. Average for the year 154
1891          199

1893          160 cadets (on 17 th April )
1896          The 3000th cadet joined in April

1898          3,170 cadets had joined by the end of the year of which 2,310 joined the MN, 68 the RN, 260 the RNR and 29 the Bengal Pilot Service

1900          Average numbers pa since 1880 was 163 with an average of 60 joining the MN pa
1906          Average age of cadets joining was 14 and a half but boys as young as 12 were aboard
1907          The 4000th cadet joined in September
1916          The 5000th cadet joined in April
1917          220, over 100 joined the Royal Navy
1928          The 6000th cadet joined
1933          Only 7 cadets joined
1934          130
1939          180
1941          250
1945          250
1947          260
1949          275
1970          180

Cadet Numbering System

Every Conway cadet had a unique number although few understood how these were allocated. It was all down to your first entry in the ship's registers. The registers are very large tomes (about 4 inches thick) and they had numbered pages and as each individual joined up his details were entered on the next free double page spread and that page number became a boy's cadet number. For instance, Volume 13/36 (MMM numbering) showed   - Webber page 225 - Woodger   page 226 - Bissell page 227 - Hayter page 228 - and Allen page 229. This volume went up to page 300 - then the next volume (MMM 13/37) went from 301 to 599. Over the years numbers were reused many times.

The left hand page was for personal/family contact details and itemised fees paid (or not in some cases) The right-hand page generally had course performance details including physical measurements, exam results, sports colours, promotions etc., as well as shipping company joined. the registers are in the archives of the Merseyside Maritime Museum.

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Petty Officers / Cadet Captains & Punishments

From the outset in 1859, a small number of senior boys were promoted as Petty Officers responsible for the good and orderly day to day operation of the ship. Each PO was given a specific area of responsibility, either for part of the ship e.g. Library,  Armoury or Canteen, or for a body of cadets e.g. Port Fore and Stbd Main. The head boy was called the Chief Petty Officer (CPO). POs had very considerable power including laying on casual corporal punishment with a rope's end called a Teaser. In the RN they were called Starters - because a quick stoke would get slower sailors promptly started on an order. Later a formal Gun Room system was instigated whereby POs had to charge a miscreant with a misdemeanor which was then examined and punishments awarded. Punishment Books recorded all reports and outcomes. The majority are now in the Conway Archive at the Meseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool. The punishments still included corporal punishment but also (in the eyes of many cadets) far worse things like an early heave out.

In Oct 1893 the CPO's title changed to Senior PO but in March 1904 he reverted to being called the CPO again, and the POs were renamed First Class POs but given the title Captain (eg Capt of Stbd Fore).

On 1st November 1908 Captain Broadbent announced that the system of Petty Officers was to stop forthwith and be replaced by a new title of Cadet Captain, with the head boy called the Chief Cadet Captain (CCC but more commonly still called the CPO) and the heads of Top Watches designated SCCs. No explanation for the change was given. The term CPO continued to be used colloquially as an alternative to CCC well into the late 60’s

Promotions were awarded at the end of each term. 'Ranks' were indicated by gold braid on No 1 dress uniforms and by small collar badges for normal working kit. Punishment evolved to include early heave outs with additional morning exercises, stone picking (with a marlin spike on hands and knees in the playing fields), extra duties and loss of shore leave. As before many cadets preferred  the Teaser - it was over an done with quickly - no one wanted to get up early and do exercises or stand watches during the minuscule amount of free time allowed. The Teaser stopped in 1968 on the change from the MMSA with a Captain Superintendent to normal school with a Headmaster in command.

A list of all known names is here.
Photos of POs/SCCs are here.

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Quarter Boys

In the 1850s, in order to qualify as a merchant navy officer a four year apprenticeship had to be served at sea. The Liverpool shipping company of Jones, Palmer & Co and others had, at the opening of the school, announced that two or three years on the Conway would be accepted by them as the equivalent of one year at sea, reducing their apprenticeship time. In 1861 the Board Of Trade decided that two years spent training at Conway would count as one year served as a cadet at sea. Thus Conway cadets only had to complete three years training at sea instead of the four required for anyone going straight to sea. For this reason Cadets in their last term were called Quarter Boys or QBs. This practice continued for over 100 years until closure in 1974. Cadets received a Conway Passing Out Certificate of Exemption when they left Conway.

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Scholarships

Slang

Conways developed a whole language of their own in addition to normal naval terminology.

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Teaser

The 'Teaser' probably derived its name from the rope ‘Starters’ used historically in the RN; short lengths of rope used to strike, encourage or "start" any crewman who did not respond promptly to an order. The Teaser was a vicious little weapon made from 3/8" tarred hemp maybe 18" overall with an eye-splice at one end, and a 6" back splice at the business end. The back splice thickened and strengthened the rope. The back splice was also "whipped" using a very thin twin to give it further strength and make it less flexible. It was stored in a bottle of salt water which gave it the consistency of a metal bar. Sometimes there was metalwork in the whipping. This rope was then used to beat cadets as a punishment. In the early years it was wielded liberally by anybody with the slightest pretence to petty authority. Over time it was used far less and in more controlled circumstances. It was an extremely painful punishment which very few Conway cadets avoided.

1943-45. Concerning the teaser in my time it was not used all that much. I think the first 2 or 3 weeks as new chums we were let off but as soon as it was over we were liable and I got 3 on the first day. It was from my Chief Cadet Captain he gave me an order and I asked "Why" I never questioned an order again but I did not get it much after that save under the bell, when according to Bossy I was in a disgusting condition at Sunday divisions. The Skipper Wah said he had seen a spot on my collar.

There was once a semi public flogging. Wah went into a pub near the Bangor pier and found 2 Cadets drinking. At Divisions the nest day before marching off the lower deck, the 2 Cadets were fallen in front of the Skipper and told that on account of their offence they would be flogged. "Mr Phelps please take these Cadets to the Orlop deck." Bossy turned up with a cane under his arm. "The Cadets under punishment follow me to the Orlop Deck" They did and we heard the thrashing taking place , 4 or 6. When finished they were marched back before the Skipper and Bossy reported "The Punishment carried out Sir" The Cadets were then told to fall in with their divisions and we marched away.

Another Cadet got 3 under the Bell on one occasion and when they had finished he did not get up and was told that he should turn in. "But I thought I was going to be thrashed Sir"

The thought of the teaser kept me from being caught out - I seem to remember was it not called being bummed?

1945/46 was a period when the teaser was used unmercifully. I well recall the lashing up of hammocks, and anything more than two minutes after your first day on the ship incurred the immediate wrath of a teaser wielding JCC. The lining up and bending the hammocks was done all the time, and one over the bum for every bit of bedding in sight. Also one if it was considered that you did not employ enough energy in bending the hammock over. Never really enjoyed the hammock, except as a QB when we had the seniority to use hammock stretchers. The last term was the only time that this little luxury was permitted. The teaser was used indiscriminately on anyone for any dreamt up excuse. Failure to ask to ask for "top" when moving around the deck was a cardinal sin. I went to the Conway a wimp, but when I eventually left and went to sea, it was a life of luxury in comparison and the hard knocks were easy to take. A great pity that we are unable to knock the young blokes into shape today. In the long run they will be the losers.

1947-49. Any CC or JCC could legitimately carry a teaser to administer "justice" for any breach of rules, spoken or unspoken, any breach of cadet etiquette, or any other reason that offended the sensibilities of a CC. Official Justice was done under the ship's bell at lights-out, usually by a CC under the watchful eye of an officer, and usually limited to "six of the best"!! As JCC and cox'n of the pinnace, I had the "honour" of carrying a teaser, which I am pleased now to say that was used VERY infrequently and only for genuine transgressions.

1949 saw a very dramatic reduction in teaser use on the appointment of Captain Hewitt. Prior to that year teaser punishment was not an after-lights-out-washroom job for genuine misconduct, but was the on the spot immediate consequence mostly for minor infringements of Conway rites and practices; failure to ask permission before crossing the deck or going up a ladder for example, being the last to fall-in to a bugle call, you could get six for a poorly lashed-up hammock, and so on. As a result teaser were much in evidence everywhere and it seemed to me that more than just CC's carried teasers. The widespread daily teaser wielding which needed little excuse was a constant fact of shipboard life. I doubt if any from those days can remember how many 'cuts' they had and certainly not tell you any of the petty reasons why. From 1949 its use was severely limited and infinitely more regulated. Certainly the ever present threat of the teaser as we had known it was no longer there after 1949. Misconduct was an entirely different matter. For offences of this nature there was either the much preferred immediate Gun-room job, or more serious offenders were dealt with by the Duty Warrant Officer under the bell after lights-out. (Presumably so sighted at the through decks hatch so that just like the bell, the whacks could be heard the length of the ship by us all as we lay (thoughtfully!) in our hammocks.)

1954. The funny thing is that I can't remember this beastly rope's end being called a teaser. Although I do definitely remember cuts. Cuts weren't too bad really although they couldn't half raise a welt if the administering CC put his mind to the job at hand. I think I must have been the only cadet ever to have been caned by the Murph, the six-gun toting Shurff of Beaumaris. I've no recollection of how I aroused his ire, but I remember going round to the camp staff room (not far from the Hold huts) and finding Murph reading Sea Breezes. He asked me why I had come and I reminded him he wanted to cane me. He looked at me rather doubtfully and told me to bend down, which I duly did. Seemingly with great effort and a considerable amount of panting he applied the cane to my backside with four of the gentlest taps you can imagine. That was it. So we shook hands and I sloped off.

1954-56. The teaser was still fully employed and as Deputy Chief my allowance officially was up to 3 cuts, Senior Cadet Captains 2, and Juniors was one cut. This was matched by an equal number of Extra Watches or for a delightful variation Slack Party.

1955-58. I can remember many a visit to the washroom for cuts. You were expected to shake hands afterwards too, I usually did but not to xxxxxxx!

1958-60. I can definitely and personally verify the existence of teasers and subsequent "cuts" in 58-60. I managed to qualify to experience them both in the first term at the House and later at the Camp. As I recall, firstly for hiding in my locker to avoid the early morning pre-breakfast run which qualified for a couple of cuts. Too many of us chose to hide on the same day and the large absence must have been rather noticeable as we were all exposed in a snap locker inspection. To receive the cuts, the drill was to appear in pyjamas in the bathroom just before lights out for the rounds to report to the JCC administering them. It was then obligatory to return to the dormitory and display them to all and sundry to see how good (accurate) the JCC was. There was some admiration, not from the recipient, when consecutive cuts had been administered all in one place. I managed at least one set of six cuts from an officer for suspicion of smoking when at the camp. Apparently when returning from shore leave the nicotine fingers and somewhat smoky uniform were a bit of a giveaway.

My QB book has a centre double page for the 'Gun-Room' signatures. Varoious JCCs are listed surrounded by my own scribed border of well known phrases or sayings of the time. "I'll turn you in" "Did you get a substitute?", "That's no excuse", "Do you agree with the punishment?" (that really was a good one), " Three cuts", "Days Slack", "Early Heave Out", "Shake hands" (no hard feelings afterwards!!), "Extra watch". I think I experienced all of them more than once. They were after all my formative years. But no grudges held, I know I deserved all I got. It was just that once bent-over there was a pre-strike tightening and smoothing of the seat of ones trousers by the CC which I rather resented, a bit of slack might have eased the pain a bit.

1959. Cuts came in groups of one to 12! Down at the house I remember having six because a parcel of food from home had £1 included.

1961. It is amazing to think how many cuts were given for smoking. It never seemed to deter most people. Most of the Officers smoked - in fact I believe Hewitt smoked - and never thought for a minuite about the double standard. As someone who has had to motivate people to excellence in my live after Conway, I look back on the use of the Teaser (which was, as noted, used all through my time) and wonder what on earth the people in charge were thinking! My lasting memory of the teaser was having to get an extra cut because I refused to say Thank You and shake hands with the cadet captain who delivered the cuts!

1964. I recall falling out bigtime in my first term with the DCPO House my Divison JCC. Think I ended up with 24 "cuts" that term, the last 3 on the last day of term for coming second in a fight! My mother saw the damage a few days later and was more concerned at the bruises on my buttocks than the stitches in my mouth!

1967. "Teaser" salt water soaking was definitely still on in '67 and I can remember being told that saying the phrase "May the Lord harden my heart and strengthen my arm to administer justice to this culprit!" was just long enough to let the sting of the first cut really take home! Still I always preferred the instant justice of cuts to being forced to run up and down the dock road holding stones in outstretched arms until you lost all feeling, had involuntary tears rolling down your cheeks and still had some sadistic b...d screaming at you at the top of his lungs, threatening you with another early heave out!

1968. The Teaser was still in use although in a very limited and controlled way. It’s appearance was little changed although it no longer had an eye splice at one end. It was kept in a milk bottle full of salt water which had the effect of stiffening it so it was more like a solid metal rod than a length of rope. Any offence or misdemeanour was liable to result in the cadet being put on a charge by the JCC or Senior Cadet Captain. JCCs could also be put on a charge by an SCC. Offenders would have to line up outside the Gun Room – generally with some trepidation as cuts were very painful. They always caused bruising and often drew blood, recipients sometimes went straight from the Gun Room to sick bay! Not all cadets could stand the pain and had to return for their allocated number of cuts to be completed. Offenders were marched into the Gun Room, accompanied by their accuser. The CCC or his deputy (standing behind a desk with the SCCs standing around him) would read out the charge, give the offender an opportunity to explain himself before some (if any) punishment was awarded. More often than not this was a Slack Party or extra watches (both of which deprived the person of what little free time they had), an early heave out (and we got up early enough as it was) or a number of cuts from the teaser. The CCC could deliver 6, other cadet captains lesser numbers depending on rank. Any cadet who was promoted to Cadet Captain and who had never received any cuts would have to receive some before they were allowed to deliver them as punishement to other cadets. All punishments were recorded in the Punishment Book and reviewed by Captain Hewitt. (Ed: Punishment Books are all held by the Club and are not in the Conway Archive).

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Top System

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Uniforms

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