
I always enjoy Andrew Linington’s Ships of the past articles, but I was particularly pleased to see RFA Resurgent take centre stage (Nautilus Telegraph, June 2020). I was on Resurgent for her last foreign voyage, to the Pacific coast of USA and Canada, and also previously served in her sister ship Retainer.
It was widely thought that these ships were considered ‘naughty boy’ postings by our appointers in London, and we never sought to disabuse them of this notion! It is true that they took a lot of work for the engineers to keep them in good order, but with the generous manning of chief, second, 4 thirds, 3 fourths, 7 juniors, 3 electricians, 2 fridge engineers and usually a pair of cadets, I don’t recall the workload ever becoming onerous. Any displays of dismay at being given an appointment to these elderly ladies of the sea were, therefore, purely for effect, in the knowledge that a great trip awaited us!
Stephen Piper
More letters
Support our call sign campaign
Please back our campaign to get the Radio Society of Great Britain to issue a new call sign for the radio society at Mariners' Park
Plymouth reunion 2026
Calling all Ancient Mariners who began their careers c.1970-75 in Plymouth at the then School of Navigation.
Inflation information request
What is the Union doing for the members to bring pay in line with the inflation we have had over the last five years, particularly in the offshore renewables sector?