Farewell to Captain Tom

I was first introduced to Tom over 20 years ago.

A man of diminuitive size but as always with such characters his personality seemed ten feet tall and about as wide. This was no surprise to me based on his upbringing amongst six sisters and a few brothers. He would have had to put up a scrap just to get noticed or even to the dinner table.

Smartly turned out I had him labelled as coming from a mililtary background. He always seemed to be in a suit, shirt and tie, shiny shoes and neatly groomed especially his small whitish grey ,precisely trimmed beard at all times. Perhaps his title of Captain Tom was a bit of a give-away for a disciplined lifetime but in fact it was a rank in the Merchant Navy.

Recently retired he was a rich source of stories and saga's from his days on the great Oceans of the world and I was always interested in listening to him recount  things which would overwhelm persons of less commitment. His last on board command was displayed in photographs around his house, a Texaco operated Super Tanker of mega proportions, the sort of vessel that you did your deck inspection on a motorbike.

He confimed to me the facts behind the popular myths of trying to stop and even turn around such a large ship. In actuality it consisted of a very high risk and hazardous operation. Imagine sitting on one of the largest explosive devices and trying to park it next to a refinery or facility representing an even larger potential danger of ignition and conflagration.

I tried to prise out of Tom other information about things I had heard relating to oil tankers such as cracks appearing in a highway a few miles inland from a wharf where a similar sized juggernaut had failed to stop. He was tight lipped about it upholding the ethics of his Profession and neither confirmed nor denied it happened.

In his Service Whites as seen on other pictures he struck an authoritative figure and I can well imagine that he ruled the Bridge without too much trouble from fellow officers and a transient crew.

He was certainly a product of  a different time. A Gentleman Seafarer who played hard, worked hard and in his downtime enjoyed the theatre, amateur operatics and all things cultural. He also liked and appreciated a drink but then again that was to be expected as standard for his type of working life where isolation and loneliness, even on a bustling ship, was commonplace for the senior ranks.

At all times he was amiable and good company although he often attracted unsavoury hangers-on during his return from the local pub where he held audience and will have stood out as being a fascinating character.

He was always interested in others and the first to offer assistance and counsel, such was his generous streak. In later years he was in ill health but maintained his spirit and enthusiasm for life with immense courage and steadfastness.

I was sad to hear of his death yesterday.

He will be greatly missed.

I passed his old house today. It is a large, Edwardian semi detached, rendered and colourwashed in a shade of cool ocean blue. The many storied and windowed gable wall occupies a dominant aspect over the busy street. It is not too hard to imagine it to be like the superstructure of an oil tanker and I half expected Tom to be seen at its helm and in his natural element.