The Volunteer - National Maritime Museum

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Summary of volunteer activity Here’s the usual summary of the Programme as at December 2012. We now have 242 volunteers, with several people volunteering for more than one role: Directorate (15) Assisting in the Press Office and Membership Office. Helping to sell Membership of the Museum to visitors. Researching the Museum’s history to create a database of statistics and other information. Collections (16) ‘Cleaning up’ entries on the Collections database. Listing and ‘housing’ paper-based material. Assisting in the Textile Studio. Creating boxing and protective sleeves for paper objects. Listing, organising and researching the ship plans and other Brass Foundry collections. Research & Planning (46) Assisting readers on arrival in the Caird Library—specifically with readers passes. Drafting additional text for the ship portrait catalogue. Assisting with work on the Museum’s archives. Helping to sort modern records. Royal Observatory, Visitor Experience & Communications (124) Conducting escorted tours for visitors and helping with events, such as Evenings with the Stars. Assisting with administration & other tasks. Assisting in the Horology Department. Winding the clocks at the weekends. Being a Visitor Support Volunteer & assisting in a variety of ways such as welcoming tourists off the river boats & in Greenwich (seasonal), assisting visitors in the Compass Lounge & assisting staff as they welcome visitors to the Sammy Ofer Wing and Royal Observatory. Conducting 25 minute escorted tours of the Queen’s House and Neptune Court. Helping to welcome visitors to the Queen’s House as a Queen’s House Room Guide. Operations & Human Resources (5) Assisting in the Volunteers Office and in HR department. National Historic Ships (2) General administrative support. Youth Advisory Group (22) Joining a group which gives young people a voice in the Museum. Exhibitions & Programmes (30) Assisting the Family Programme with children’s events. Assisting the Adult Programme with their events. Joining the Envelope Team and responding to ad hoc requests for help with large mail outs. [Launching soon - Sea and Me volunteers— recounting maritime experiences.] 4
The Voyage of the Ping Wo The Ping Wo (‘Equitable Harmony’ in Mandarin) was a flat bottomed river steamer of 3105 tons, built in China in 1922, which had operated on the Yangtze River between Chongqing and Shanghai before she found her way to Singapore. How and why she arrived there in 1941, I have been unable to discover. She was requisitioned in December 1941 by the Royal Navy and used to tow the destroyer HMAS Vendetta, which was refitting there, to Australia at 3 knots. She was then commissioned by the Royal Australian Navy in May 1942 and operated throughout the Pacific War in a variety of roles. In 1946 the RAN planned her return to the pre-war owners and it was in April that year that I had my first sight of her in Sydney Harbour. I was one of a Royal Navy party drafted to take passage in her to Hong Kong, and as we boarded her the C.P.O. of the regular RAN crew opined that it was very unlikely we would complete the voyage. Given that she had been described as a ‘clapped out rust bucket’ by her first C.O. it was easy to understand his pessimism, and mine! Our sailing was delayed for 11 days till a cyclone passed and we finally left on 20 April. It would take much more space than I have here to detail all the incidents encountered on the voyage, but this brief narrative includes some of them. A severe leakage in our water tank developed immediately and we put into Brisbane for repairs. We then sailed, first to Townsville and then on to Thursday Island off the tip of NE Australia. We had to anchor every night as the bridge compass developed a fault, and there were obvious navigational problems proceeding through the dangerous Barrier Reef. After an interesting stay at Thursday Island, where I met some pearl divers, one of whom had lost a leg to a shark, we wallowed across the Gulf of Carpentaria to Darwin in a heavy swell. The noise of the sea smashing up against the sponsons was an unpleasant accompaniment to our progress, compounded by water flooding into the after -hold through a cargo door on the waterline. To our relief a shipwright on board was able to cement the door, but soon after this our steering gear broke down and we had to drop anchor for the night 50 miles from Darwin while repairs were effected. Darwin itself at that time was a small town, still with heavy bomb damage left over from Japanese air raids in 1942. Our progress from there across the Timor Sea was interrupted when a rating on board developed acute appendicitis and we had to turn back, racing for 7 hours at 12 knots to meet the cruiser HMS Euryalus, which had fortunately just left Darwin for Sydney and which sped north at her maximum speed. As our normal designed speed was a rarely obtained 10 knots it felt as though Ping Wo would be shaken to pieces in this dash which, however, had a happy outcome with the rating having a successful operation after being transferred to Euryalus. Our passage through the Flores Sea was very scenic, with a long string of volcanic islands visible, some rising to 5000 feet. Many shore navigational lights in these waters were still missing at this time and as a result one night we nearly ran aground on an island. 5
Page 1 and 2: The Volunteer January 2012 - Issue
Page 3: A Life in the Day of Amaya Wang Can

The Volunteer - National Maritime Museum

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