Bunkerbarge

This all reminds me of the great list of tricks traditionally played on cadets/apprentices/trainees in the engineering world.

The ones off the top of my head are:

1) Send one to the stores for a "Long Stand"
2) Send him to the stores far a bag of "Screw Holes".
3) Ask him to "Float Test" something. (That means chuck it over the side!!)
4) A popular one is stick a funnel down your trousers and drop a coin, balanced on your forehead, into the funnel. Not too difficult but make out it is. When the young lad tries it pour water/milk/warm engine oil down the funnel.
5) Send him to adjust the "Wobble Throbble" valve to 3.5 turns open.
6) Send him to the stores for a "Sky Hook".
7) Wait until he is adjusting a piece of machinery for the first time, under strict instruction to be carefull as the machinery has always been temperamental, and crawl below him in the bilge space where you can see him. When he touches the machinery hit the steel floor plates below his feet with a hammer.
8) Ask him what the hell he has done with the "Wobble Throbble" valve as the "Turbo Farter" is now playing up.

The list goes on....

One of my own most memorable ones was when I had to parallel two generators for the first time manually. You have to carefully adjust the speed of the incoming machine with the distribution board frequency until the indicator is turning slowly clockwise and at just the right spot, at about the 5-to 12 position, then hit the breaker button.

The breaker goes in with a hell of a bang anyway but in my case the Fourth Engineer switched off the control room lights at just that second and for an instant I thought I had blacked the ship out.

rjwood_uk

oh we have a few in the catering trade.

to name a few.

1. we also have the funnel trick...its a grate one...
2. send them to the stores for a long "weight"
3. fillet whitebait (if anyone does not know its a tiny fish you usually fry, about and inch long, so small you eat it whole bones/guts...the lot and would be near impossible to fillet under i magnifying lense!
4. Cornflour Sandwich (hillarious, cant open their mouths after the first bite!)

5. the best one iv seen was making someone eat a spoon full of cocao powder (not hot chocolate...has to be cocao!) as soon as it goes in the mouth its like pure starch, your teeth and mouth stick togeather, you accidently breath it which makes you caugh out little clouds of cocao and the taste is so bitter you will have it in your mouth for a good day!!!

tigertc

Bunk!....Well thought out........well executed.....The perfect new boy introduction.
I hope the tradition continues (but not in a warzone)

wonwinglo

These tricks were once all part and parcel of the apprentices indoctrination process,a cocky little so and so who thinks he knows it all and needs to be brought down to reality ! I have never heard of the funnel one before,a sort of sidetrack to get the funnel down his leg ready for the liquid !
I seem to remember that they sent me for some pyrene equipment ? it turned out that I came back with a sack full of old junk on my shoulder unaware that it was a prank,thinking that I was doing a service to the community !! so young and innocent,and gullible.

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