In every British man or woman is born the spirit of our sea-roving and sea-fighting tradition.

Take this inheritance, plant it in the right suroundings, nourish it with sound training and you will produce the finest sailor in the world.

Extracted from the April 1931 prospectus of the Conway, the training ship established for Merchant Navy deck officers.

When anyone asks me how I can best describe my experience of nearly forty years at sea,
I merely say uneventful.
Of course there have been winter gales and storms and fog and the like, but in all my experience, I have never been in an accident of any sort worth speaking about.

I have seen but one vessel in distress in all my years at sea ....
I never saw a wreck and have never been wrecked, nor was I in any predicament that threatened to end in disaster of any sort.

Extract from a presentation by CAPTAIN E.J.SMITH - 1907.
On April 14th 1912 the R.M.S.TITANIC sank with the loss of 1,500 lives ... one of which was the Master CAPTAIN E.J.SMITH.

There was an old sailor from Weston
Who sailed round the coast with his vest on,
He ventured too far
And crossed over the bar,
His funeral’s on Monday in Preston.

If you have been to sea at some time and you fancy joining our MERCHANT NAVY ASSOCIATION we meet at the Royal British Legion Club in Whitchurch every second Wednesday of the month from about midday when the bar opens.