BP APPRENTICESHIP 1955-60
BP Tanker Company Limited
Graham J. Wallace
Marine Engineering Apprenticeship 1955/60
( Alternative Programme for Marine Engineers)
The document I signed with BP for the apprenticeship was termed an Agreement for an Apprenticeship. (studying the document I see I actually signed with The British Tanker Company which always seemed a class above the BP Tanker Company name.)
"A course of training in accordance with the Ministry of Transport's scheme for the training of seagoing Engineers published February, 1952, and based on the regulations relating to the Examination of Engineers in the Mercantile Marine (April1949 Edition and subsequent amendments thereto)".
Wage scales
1st year -100 Pounds/ annum
2nd year -130
3rd year -145
4th year -160
5th year -185
The programme consisted of the following three Phases
Phase I
Two years full time study for the Ordinary National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering endorsed for Marine Engineering. This was accomplished at Acton Technical College in West London.
The course started in early September and finished in late June. I believe it was closely allied to a Mechanical Engineering O.N.D. course but had specific biases towards Engines and Naval Architecture. For example there was no "Strength of Materials" or "Theory of Machines".
The first year was known as Diploma I Marine and consisted of the following subjects:
Mathematics.
Applied Mechanics.
Heat Engines.
Engineering Drawing and Design.
Electrical Science. Text book,"Electricity Applied to Marine Engineering" by W.Laws
Chemistry.
Physics.
Workshop Technology.
Workshop Practice.
English. Taught by a young ex R.N Officer
I just do not remember any of the textbooks we used. As far as I was concerned I thought it was a marvelous course, however I had come from a Grammar School background that essentially was for the Arts and did not have technical facilities. I had good Mathematics and Sciences but no practical aptitudes I knew of. The cycle of the course were those 10 subjects taken in a week and repeated in the same order for the rest of the year. To me it was heaven, I did not even know how to file when I started, and what was a lathe? I was like a sponge for those two years.
The College summer vacation duration was 10 weeks in length. As apprentices we had 2 weeks vacation with the remaining 8 weeks spent at various Engineering companies around the country on what was classed as, "Vacation Training".
In 1956 I was sent to Thom Lamont, a pump manufacturer in Paisley, Scotland. I was 17 years and 3 months old and I now think it was excellent life training for us all. We had to arrange our "digs " with little help from the companies. BP paid travel and lodging allowances so we were not out of pocket. "Lamonts" as it was known made me feel as if I had gone back in time to the Industrial Revolution, the place was ancient and decrepit, overhead lineshafts and flat belt take off to similarly decrepit machines, dreadful facilities. But again I think, excellent training for character and experience. The 2 months were essentially fitting and the building of steam reciprocating pumps from castings machined on site. I probably wondered what I was doing there then but now I know the experience was invaluable.
In September essentially without a break the College second year started. There was a slight change in subjects:
Chemistry was discontinued.
Metallurgy was started.
Naval Architecture was started. "Naval Architecture and Ship Construction" by R.Stuart Hogg.
At the end of the second year the final examinations were sat in the school. All the subjects taken in the last year were written but if I remember correctly only 7 subjects counted towards the OND. The first four had to be passed and two out of the remaining three. I took no chances and thankfully passed them all.
Mathematics.
Applied Mechanics.
Heat Engines.
Engineering Drawing and Design.
Electrical Technology.
Workshop Technology.
Physics etc.
Again as soon as the College closed we were sent off to another vacation training establishment. In my case this was South Shields Marine and Technical College(SSM&TC). This College was not the best place to send 20 or so of us for Engineering Training. The College had just been built or was transferring to these new facilities and we were essentially unused, I specifically remember turning samples for tensile testing machines. I think it was a disaster, we were wasted, the College had no idea of what to do with us, and there were quite a few of us meandering around.
As an interesting aside, BP later incorporated SSM&TC into the apprenticeship program. Instead of the previous full year at a heavy engineering establishment, the new program involved six months of heavy engineering and six months at SSM&TC.
So ended Phase I, however the OND at that time gave exemption from Part I of the Second and First Class MOT Certificates, no more academics, or so I thought.
I have always considered that my time at Acton was well spent and was a good basis for my further engineering studies. I have always found that teachers once I left basic education were all dedicated to ensuring you understood what was being taught, especially those in my HNC night school studies, it made for easier learning.
During my College years BP maintained a dress code, all Apprentices wore a black blazer and probably gray pants and were issued with a company badge for the blazer. There were frequent badge issues as they were not to look worn.
It was mandatory to join the Institute of Marine Engineers and attend meetings. I do not know now at what frequency but I do remember going to "The Minories" where they were held at that time and having light refreshments before the meeting. I hardly ever understood what the meetings were about but that was not necessarily the main motive for going. Incidentally when I left the sea my first place of work was at Beldam Asbestos /Autoklean Strainer Co. which was owned by Robert Beldam, the son of Aspen Beldam, the founder of The Institute of Marine Engineers.
BP had a flourishing sports facility, two in fact, "Lensbury" at Teddington and one at Sydenham in S.E.London. I played Soccer; there were 10 BP teams in the "London Banks" League, their facilities were wonderful. I remember phoning the contact at BP Head Office early in the week and a return ticket for the train from Charing Cross station to the nearest station arrived later that week. Saturdays were always a full day for me in those 2 years. I played with many different people, essentially always older; it was a great experience. BP gave one the chance to get involved; it was not just a work place
Phase II
When I first signed on as an apprentice this part of the Apprenticeship was the 18 months seagoing phase and then the Workshop Training Phase III. However, in mid-stream BP decided to change the programme setup. The Alternative Programme for Marine Engineers had commenced at BP in 1952 so there were 3 years of apprentices ahead of me, the first year just finishing their 'time' as I was due to go to sea. BP's experience with apprentices coming ashore after their 18 months at sea and then being sent to shipbuilding yards was that they were a little too 'worldly' for the shipyards and were often absent whenever a superintendent made a surprise visit. I believe the story of the time was that they were moonlighting for the local Borough Councils, painting lamp posts for extra cash.
BP deciding that these young men were too "experienced in life" reversed the Phase II and III programmes such that we were sent directly to our "Workshop Training" period after second year college vacations. Possibly on the other hand BP considered it was a preferable process to complete all shoreside training prior to sea service, however I prefer the former reason. For those reasons I believe, none of my apprenticeship year went to shipyards, there were about 100 apprentices, we all went to BP refineries! A pity as I still think that the shipyard programme managed properly would have given us invaluable knowledge into ship construction and machinery.
In September 1957 I was sent to the Isle of Grain Refinery near Rochester in Kent. This was another experience like no other I had ever had. There were 25 apprentices; we spent approximately 2/4 weeks in each, of about 10 departments. Some were valuable to our experience and others I felt were a complete waste of time. At times we worked shift hours and they were an experience we had never had before. The refinery was 20 miles from the nearest town, there were special buses to be caught in many areas so it was quite a different challenge in organising one's life.
The departments as I remember them were:
3rd Sept - 9th Sept Induction Course
10th Sept - 4th Nov Plant Inspection Dept. (Mr Pringle)
This department was staffed essentially by ex Marine Engineers and really was excellent if boring initiation into refinery inspections. But the opportunity was there to talk to ex seagoing personnel.
5th Nov - 2nd Dec Machinery Fitting, Site area No.1 (Mr. Hale)
3rd Dec - 16th Dec Power Station Electrical Control Room Watch. (Mr. Wisdom)
For me this was boring beyond belief, the operator sat at a console and controlled the refinery lighting and monitored power loads for all areas. I think it was 2 weeks of Hell.
17th Dec - 30th Dec. Machinery Fitting, Site on Shift
31st Dec- 24th Feb. Machinery Fitting, Site area No.2 (Mr. Winterflood)
25th Feb - 24th March. Installations. (Jetties I believe)
Tanker loading at the jetties. Not exactly engineering experience but a marvelous opportunity to go aboard the ships and into the engine rooms. Also to buy cheap duty free cigarettes as in those days every body rolled their own.
25th March - 21st April. Instruments, site and workshop. (Mr Beauchamp)
Another memory loss, as far as I can remember though it did involve Bailey meters control equipment throughout the refinery.
22nd April - 19th May. Boiler House Operation.
This was shift work and as far as I remember the operators were too busy? with their work load and essentially we were left to our own devices, quite boring unfortunately.
20th May - 16th June. Boiler House maintenance
17th June - 13th Aug. Workshops Machinery fitting
. Here we worked with mechanics on maintenance and repair of all the refinery equipment. I remember possibly getting more practical experiences here than anywhere else in the site.
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On Friday afternoons (or was it all Friday) we went to The Medway College of Technology for further studies. A certain number of Apprentices had failed their OND and were in separate classes, to take an ONC. Those who were successful at OND took S3 endorsements. I do not remember them having official recognition, essentially they gave more knowledge in existing subjects.
Electrical Engineering.
Marine Power Plant.
Naval Architecture.
Now I come to think of it this was not really the time for those of us with the OND to take "another" set of similar subjects. It was possible that this day release was not well organised. I do not remember the course content or my interest but I managed to pass all 3 subjects in the final examinations.
Phase III
This was the seagoing time for the apprentices and we were sent to join BP vessels in the September of that year. I then finished the apprenticeship 18 months later in the March of 1960, 41/2 years after I started. I was on leave at the end of my time but I believe those who were at sea were accordingly made up to Junior Engineers.
We were given a task book for our sea service and had to make sketches and write about specific equipment, all the major parts of the engine room and ship controls These tasks were vetted by the Chief or Second Engineer and forwarded to Head Office for marking and comments. The sea time was fun as well as a good grounding into safe practices, I learned a lot there that stood me in good stead when I became a Junior Engineer. Tracing pipelines, bilge lines, the knowledge of what valves did what, safety equipment and many other things. It was a great time. I spent one month working on deck machinery, a pleasant change from the engine room. We worked day work on maintenance and repair and also stood watches.
The Merchant Navy took us to places we could have never imagined 3 years before.
I was (and still am) extremely proud to be a Marine Engineer, I think they (we) are a very different breed of men, very independent, extremely competent and yet knew how to live life. I successfully sat for my Second Class Steam Certificate of Competency in March 1962. I never went back to sea; instead I went back to 4 years of night school to get an HNC and endorsements in Mechanical Engineering and A.M.I.Mech.E., C.Eng, but I always thought I had a fabulous apprenticeship.
I do however see now what I perceive to be deficiencies, the scheme was only 3 years old when I started and was still going through developmental adjustments. I have since met a BP apprentice of the1953 intake who was sent to a Trawler company in Grimsby for a 2 month Vacation Training period. He said that he became very adept at filleting fish!
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I have lived in Canada for the last 35 years, recently due to financial considerations I decided to resign my membership in both the Institute of Marine Engineers and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Neither organisation has the facility to allow one to retain membership on a retired basis at reduced cost…a pity! I still retain my membership in the Canadian Association of Professional Engineers and will always remember those UK Engineering times.
My Apprenticeship affected me in such a positive way that now over 40 years later I have made my own web page titled," BP Marine Engineering Apprentices" and I am endeavouring with considerable success to reconnect with ex BP Apprentices and BP crew members of that era.