How women saw the sea
A Wife on the Ocean Wave by Carole Goldsmith
Texaco Overseas Tankship Ltd was the UK based tanker operating company of the American oil giant. Formed in 1950 its fleet of product tankers transported oil and oil products around the world. By 1974 its British flagged fleet would reach 30 ships, and it was not long after this that Carole Goldsmith arrived onboard the 23,000 tonne Texaco Rome for first time accompanying husband and third officer Andy Goldsmith.
A Wife on the Ocean Wave is a memoir of Carole’s early years of marriage travelling the world, taken from diaries and letters written to parents over a five-year period. Each chapter is divided by tours of duty, and over five years our plucky pair gad about the world exploring North and South America, the Middle East, Far East and Australia, Europe and Africa.
What strikes you about this story is the sense of community onboard. Set as it is just before the grinding economies of scale made every job and every action about efficiency, there is a relaxed and collegiate atmosphere. Carole often helps with odd jobs, turning her hand to painting, repairing, sewing, paperwork and eventually engineroom and deck support. Of course, Carole has a lot of adventures and a few hijinks during her time at sea. She may have joined as a wide-eyed wife, but she left as a self- composed young woman.
Unfortunately for Texaco Ocean Tankers, not long after our story ends, commercialisation and low oil prices finally forced its American parent to divest of ship ownership in favour of chartering under management. It’s unlikely that Carole’s story would be the same had she joined a ship post 1980s. For one thing it’s a lot less common to see spouses onboard. For even if they are allowed there’s no longer as much opportunity for down time or shore visits. And that's a shame, because if it were possible to regain some of the joie de vivre from this time onboard today’s tankers, they would undoubtedly be a much nicer place to spend eight months of every year.
A Wife on the Ocean Wave
By Carole Goldsmith
Self-published (available in the Nautilus Bookshop
ISBN 978 17897 26329
Buy this book in the Nautilus Bookshop
While you're there, why not browse the rest of the titles in our unique maritime bookshop, which sells all the books reviewed on these pages.
Buy nowMore Books
Excellent engineer memoir tells a lesser-known seafaring story
In the Treacle Mine by JW RichardsonStarting with his college days at Poplar Tech in London, In the Treacle Mine follows John Richardson's seafaring years as he rose through the ranks on Esso and Mobil tankers and ended up as a chief engineer on a variety of vessels.
Ship recycling on an epic scale
From War to Peace: The Conversion of Naval Vessels after Two World Wars By Nick RobinsAuthors have thoroughly documented the stories of merchant vessels that were converted for wartime; the redundant navy ships that went the other way are less well known.
Picture tribute to Belfast builders
Harland & Wolff and Workman, Clark: A Golden Age of Shipbuilding in Old Images by Richard P de Kerbrech and David L WilliamsHarland and Wolff in Belfast was once one of the UK's pre-eminent shipyards, noted particularly for the construction of the Titanic.
Escape to a land of nautical legends
In the Wake of the Gods by Sam JeffersonWith all the grim news in shipping at the moment, sometimes you just need a nice book that reminds you what is appealing about the sea, and In the Wake of the Gods hits the spot.