varies from 120 degrees to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. One stoker usually has four furnaces to attend to, and while feeding one furnace a man has to be extremely careful or his arm may be burned by the furnace behind him. As a rule a man is occupied about three minutes at each furnace, and directly he has finished he rushes to the air pipe and waits until his turn comes again. The intense heat of the furnaces has sometimes rendered stokers temporarily insane, and there are many cases on record where they have jumped overboard after having made their way to the deck.38
For every three firemen, the stokehold watch carried two coal trimmers, who provided coal to the firemen and had to work quickly to make sure that there was always a pile of coal within reach of the fireman’s shovel. Trimmers had the most difficult job of all, working quickly to supply firemen with a constant supply of coal while struggling with the heat and coal dust. A British seaman, David Simpson, gave a vivid description of their work: “Trimmers have always had the dirtiest and the most physically demanding jobs on the ship—the absolute bottom of the engineering hierarchy. Needless to say—they received the lowest pay.”39 Trimmers would wheelbarrow the coal from the bunkers and drop it on plates at the firemen’s feet. They were in constant motion, moving coal and “trimming” each pile into evenly arranged groupings, ready for the fireman’s shovel. They also took away ash and raked out the ashpits and fires, cleaned and degreased machinery, and painted the engine room when necessary. In short, trimmers did “any unpleasant and filthy job you can think of that didn’t require the touch of a skilled or semi-skilled rating.”40 The trimmers’ responsibilities kept them working even when the ship docked, as Simpson explained: “While in port, most of the crew could count on ‘going ashore’ at one time or another—and blow off a little steam. Unfortunately for the trimmers, when the ship is ‘bunkering,’ they had to stow the coal being loaded and trim as the coal was loaded and moved about—with nothing more than a wet rag tied over their face to keep the choking dust out of their lungs. All, of course, under the watchful eye of the chief engineer.”41
The division of labor on board ships on Europe-Africa routes was largely determined by race. Until the final years of colonialism, and the establishment of the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL), the officers in each of the departments were Europeans. In the engine room, the chief engineer and the second, third, and fourth engineers were all Europeans. On deck, the chief mate, as well as the first, second, and third mates and the boatswain and carpenters, was also European. Finally, in the catering department, there was a European chief steward, second steward, and cook.42 In the colonial era, the vast majority of Africans worked as ordinary seamen, stewards, firemen, and trimmers, and virtually no Africans rose to the rank of officer before the final years of colonial rule.43 As will be seen in chapter 5, the lack of officer training among Africans in the colonial era meant that initially Europeans had to fill the top-ranking positions on the ships of the Nigerian National Shipping Line. The establishment of the national line finally opened the way for large numbers of Nigerian seamen to become officers, but it took several years before any ships were fully under the command of Nigerians, leaving some ratings to wonder what had actually changed.
Throughout the colonial era, African seamen worked on the average ten hours a day, with the workday beginning at 5:00 a.m. and finishing normally at 5:00 p.m. Hours varied with the types of vessels, and fluctuated over a journey according to the work at hand. On mail boats, African crews worked a 60-hour week, or 120 hours over 14 days. On cargo ships, the workweek was 45 hours long, with an average of 135 hours worked over a period of 22 days.44 But routinely, seamen were forced to work overtime. This was particularly the case when there was cargo to load and unload. Some seamen recalled working for twenty-four hours at a time as British captains pushed the crew to finish the work in order to get on with the voyage. Diane Frost quoted one Kru seaman as saying: “Sometime the captain in a rush to go to England so we start at 530 am and finish at 1200 am.”45 Shipping companies did not pay for overtime, and as will be seen, this became the single greatest complaint among Nigerian seamen in their protest against British management.
For African seamen signed on in West Africa, wages were considerably lower than for those signed on in England. According to Diane Frost, a fireman engaged in 1940 in West Africa earned £6 a month, while West African firemen engaged in Liverpool earned £12, and white firemen earned £16. Shipping companies rationalized these differences by claiming that the cost of living was lower in Africa. But the disparities angered seamen; as one explained, “There was a big difference between the salaries of the European crew and the African crew. What often bothered us is that we are all working on a ship, and if an accident should happen, it does not know whether you are a black man or white man.”46 Wages also varied between the crew departments, with firemen earning the highest wages, followed by able-bodied seamen, and then trimmers and ordinary seamen.47
The length of voyages varied according to the types of ships, with cargo ships taking longer than passenger ships to make the journey to Europe. Making frequent stops to load and unload cargo, these ships were slower than passenger ships that kept to a fixed schedule. Some seamen preferred to work for cargo vessels, as the voyages were longer and more wages could be earned. During the colonial era, African seamen signed articles as “running agreements,” for up to six months; or “voyage” articles, lasting for up to two years.48 For many seamen, the waiting time in between signing articles was very difficult, as they were not paid for the months ashore. Seamen could be dropped in England at the end of the voyage, and many stayed on, usually in Liverpool, for months or years in between articles. It was commonplace for seamen to take up shore work, and some stayed on permanently in the UK. In most cases, seamen were away from home for months, or even years, at a time. Some welcomed this as an opportunity to spend time in England and other destinations around the world. But there was also much difficulty and uncertainty associated with this type of employment. Voyages could be suspended in ports around the world due to repairs or delayed because of cargo. Thus, one seaman reported waiting in Bremen, Germany, for six months while his ship was being repaired.49
For families back home, seamen’s terms of employment posed many difficulties. Seamen were regularly away from home for three to six months at a time, but some reported staying abroad for years in between journeys.50 Seamen’s wives had to manage all the affairs of the household, and they faced many difficulties, often without their husbands’ knowledge. As one woman said, “It was not easy at all. I was doing the work that was meant for two people in the family.”51 Another claimed, “I tried to cope as a wife and mother of my children, but it was not easy for me. I had to be determined in such a situation.”52 Women interviewed reported giving birth to their children while husbands were away, and having to deal with sickness and economic hardships all alone. One woman recalled, “I had babies born while he was away. I even had a stillbirth because he was away for eight months and there is no money to take care of myself, even to buy medicine. Nobody came to help me.”53 Many wives complained that they had to rely on help from their extended families and neighbors in times of need. One woman sought help from local churches: “Particularly when he traveled to Congo and there was a lot of fighting over there and no letter from him, I was very worried. I just had a baby during this period and also lost one child and he was away for about nine months. It was very tough. I was just moving from one church to another seeking solutions to different sickness the kids were having.”54 Women also had to deal with loneliness and isolation; as one woman said, “I always tell my husband because of my lonely staying, I don’t feel any happiness. I feel very, very bad, extremely bad. One year plus and your husband will not get to his house.”55 The long absences were particularly difficult for children, one seaman’s wife explained: “It was very difficult for them because it was like having a parent that you do not know much about his identity. Because, the father came in for about one or two months, then go back again for a very long time. It was not for them at all.”56 When they finally returned home, seamen’s families had to readjust to a new reality. Some even reported that children did not recognize their fathers. As one woman recounted:
At
