Kookaburra2011
NAVY LIFE: Essay by Kim Dunstan - Kim's Mess.
2867. Is that a comfortable couch a sailor is resting on, the one with his foot resting on the guitar case center-left? In any event these are Kim Dunstan's memories of home sweet home, Messdeck 4 Charlie Port on the aircraft carrier HMAS MELBOURNE [II] in the early 1960s.
Kim writes: ''This is the mess deck I shared with many others. The area shown in the photo was the living/sleeping space for 24 sailors – all lower deck naval airmen mechanics and technicians. Just outside the picture area there were another 60 bunks – this was duplicated on the starboard side in 4 Charlie Starboard mess deck – about 150 sailors + - with one small bathroom. It was no luxury cruise. The fold-down bunks meant the maximum number of people in the space available. Although there was forced ventilation, in the tropics it was almost impossible to sleep, in the cool/temperate areas it was tolerable. There was no privacy as such and as you might imagine it was pure chaos at wakey-wakey. Despite the lack of space and discomfort, everyone put up with it - and the wonderful camaraderie made up for a lot.
Photo: Kimberley Dunstan, RAN 1958-1967, Melbourne. Conceived and executed 50 years ago, this is now a Photo Essay Special for the Unofficial RAN Centenary 1911-2011 Photostream.
NAVY LIFE: Essay by Kim Dunstan - Kim's Mess.
2867. Is that a comfortable couch a sailor is resting on, the one with his foot resting on the guitar case center-left? In any event these are Kim Dunstan's memories of home sweet home, Messdeck 4 Charlie Port on the aircraft carrier HMAS MELBOURNE [II] in the early 1960s.
Kim writes: ''This is the mess deck I shared with many others. The area shown in the photo was the living/sleeping space for 24 sailors – all lower deck naval airmen mechanics and technicians. Just outside the picture area there were another 60 bunks – this was duplicated on the starboard side in 4 Charlie Starboard mess deck – about 150 sailors + - with one small bathroom. It was no luxury cruise. The fold-down bunks meant the maximum number of people in the space available. Although there was forced ventilation, in the tropics it was almost impossible to sleep, in the cool/temperate areas it was tolerable. There was no privacy as such and as you might imagine it was pure chaos at wakey-wakey. Despite the lack of space and discomfort, everyone put up with it - and the wonderful camaraderie made up for a lot.
Photo: Kimberley Dunstan, RAN 1958-1967, Melbourne. Conceived and executed 50 years ago, this is now a Photo Essay Special for the Unofficial RAN Centenary 1911-2011 Photostream.