Francis Davies - With Scott Before The Mast

Our first port of call was Portsmouth to pick up some special Navigational instruments which were being loaned by the Admiralty. Leaving Portsmouth, on our way down Channel en route for Cardiff, we steamed into Portland harbour and through the fleet which was assembling for a review at Spithead in honour of a visit from the King of Spain. It was a grand sight, Britain’s sure shield, the Royal Navy. As we passed through the lines of ships their crews cheered us on our way, it was a wonderful send off.

At Cardiff we loaded thirty tons of coal briquettes, fuel for the shore parties, and about four hundred tons of coal, gifts from the shipowners of Cardiff. We were entertained right royally at Cardiff. I remember one rather amusing incident which happened at a reception given in honour of Captain Scott by the Lord Mayor at the City Hall, to which the ship’s company was invited. As one of the seamen, accompanied by a lady friend was ascending the marble stairs behind a lady wearing a train, he accidentally stepped on it.

The lady turned round and in very dignified and haughty manner, fixed him with her lorgnette. He was so caught aback he almost forgot to apologise.

Cardiff also did the expedition proud in the matter of funds. One night at a dinner given by the shipowners to which we were all invited, Mr. Dan Radcliff, the shipowner, gave a fairly large sum and ragged his brother, Henry, to follow suit.

Things got rather hectic towards the end of the evening, most of us were well oiled when Mr. Dan, in a burst of exuberance got on the table and walked from end to end. Dodging the bottles just to show us he was still able, I suppose. We were also entertained at the Stock Exchange to lunch and the hospitality of its members wanted some standing up to.

Captain Scott, to show his appreciation of the exceptionally practical help and interest in the expedition by the citizens of Cardiff, promised the Lord Mayor that Cardiff should be the port of call in the United Kingdom on his return – three years later to the date on which we sailed Terra Nova returned to Cardiff - ALAS Without Captain Scott and his gallant companions who had perished with him.

After the ship had been loaded with coal a very serious leak developed, making nearly four feet of water a watch. It was thought to be somewhere in the bows, anyhow a certain amount could be heard trickling in near the stern. However, as it could not be located by the shipwrights it was decided to proceed and hope for the best, and to see what could be done in Lyttleton, where she would be dry docked before leaving for the Antarctic. This leek caused us a great deal of trouble from first to last, before it was discovered quite by accident nearly two years later.

Captain Scott did not sail in the ship from Cardiff, joining her later at Simonstown, South Africa. He had a very full programme of lectures to raise badly needed funds for the venture.

Mrs Scott on board Terra Nova just before the ship sailed from England with Lieut Henry R. Bowers and Captain Lawrence E.G. Oates

Lady Bridgeman- Raising Ensign

Petty Officer Edger ‘Taff’ Evans

Chapter III. Setting Sail

Lieutenant Evans was in command of the ship when she sailed on 15 June, 1910. The other members of the ship’s company were Lieutenant Campbell, RN Chief Officer (Later leader of the party landed at Cape Adare) Lieutenant Pennell, Navigating Officer – lost in HMS Queen Mary at the Battle of Jutland, 1916. – Lieutenant Rennick, RN, Second Officer, and hydrographic Surveyor – also lost during the first world war in HMS Hogue when she was torpedoed by a German submarine, U29, 1914; Lieutenant Bowers RIM, Third officer, and Sailing Master – perished with Captain Scott; Captain Oates, Inniskilling Dragoons, who later had charge of the ponies who also perished on the return journey from the Pole; Surgeon Lieutenant Commander Murray Levick RN, ship’s doctor – landed with Cape Adare party. Surgeon Lieutenant Atkinson RN, an Engineer Officer RN, who did not get further than Melbourne, outward bound; Lieutenant Gran of the Royal Norwegian Navy, ski Expert, Doctor Wilson, Chief of Scientific Staff perished with Captain Scott; Doctor Simpson and Mr Wright, physicists, Doctor Nelson and Doctor Lillie, biologists and Mr Cherry Gerrard, zoologist made up the Afterguard.

Amongst the crew under the foc’le were a Bos’n RN who left the ship at Lyttleton, outward bound. Alf Cheetham, merchant Navy, Bos’n of the ship; Billy Williams CERA, RN, Second Engineer; Bill Lashley, Chief Stoker RN, Third Engineer; Taff Evans and Mick Crean, Petty Officers RN, in charge of Port and Starboard watches respectively; Bill Heald and Tom Williamson – served in Discovery ; Patsy Keohane, Joe Ford, Fred Parsons, Arthur Browning – Harry Dickason, all Petty Officers in the Royal Navy; Hugh Mather, Petty Officer, RNVR, Walter Archer, Chief Steward and Chef; Tom Clissold, assistant Chef; Lofty Hooper and Bill Neald, Stewards; Bob Brissenden , Stoker Petty Officer RN – drowned during a survey of the French Pass, New Zealand,1912 – Tom Mckensie, Billy Burton, firemen also Stoker Petty Officers RN, Bill Smythe, Sailmaker, and myself, Carpenter. There were a few seamen in addition to those mentioned by name but these mostly faded out before the ship left Lyttleton, on her first voyage South.

We had two dogs on board presented by Peary, first to reach the North Pole, called ‘Peary’ and ‘Cook’ by the ship’s company. Cook claimed to have reached the North Pole before Peary the same year, but was later discredited. The name Cook was officially changed to ‘Yank’ for obvious reasons.

In spite of the fact that it was generally acknowledged this was the best equipped expedition that had ever left the shores of this country, or any other country for that matter for Polar exploration, most of the ship’s fittings were antiquated and we were minus radio. Maybe it will not be out of place to describe some of these ancient appliances which were more or less my special ‘babies’ and took an awful lot of nursing.

Pride of place must, I think, be given to the windless. This piece of ‘Armstrong’s patent’ (hand) machinery ‘lived’ just under the break of the foc’le and was of course used for heaving up the anchor and operated by the Capstan on the foc’le which was hove round by means of wooden bars (capstan bars). The motive power being supplied by every man jack of the crew who could be clapped on the bars to the tune of a favourite shanty, generally ‘Rio Grande’. When it first came under my notice it looked almost like a solid billet of rusted iron though the working parts could hardly be described as delicate. I should think somebody had at one time had a brain wave and fitted a gypsy (endless chain) between the fore winch and the windless, so that it could be operated by steam instead of by hand.

Terra Nova

In order to connect the winch and the windless the gypsy had to be passed through the galley, which had two small shutters fitted, one on the fore end and one on the after end for this purpose.