In Memory of the SS Steel Flyer. My first job as salior and first ship. |
SS Steel Flyer Slips into the Dark There is nothing like ships and sailors, amen. Age sixteen, twenty or thirty, from the union they send. Kids we are and men. Seafarers are drawn by seagoing magic, money, or friend. Be it first or last ship; all seamen aboard: bulk carrier, tanker or freighter, its seafaring adventure with ship mates like kin. Fireman, water tender, oiler man, and all hands, the pilot is on the Captain’s bridge and the voyage begins. From the bridge to engine room, galley and deck, all aboard; Captains orders break water past; full ahead now and smooth travel, no wind. The screw churns and turns and sailor’s tales we spin. Fire, oil and steam; fire it up Captain And heave-ho, it’s the Bar Pusan and Saigon our cherry boys will go. It’s the ships and sea adventure that will change the sailor’s life you know. Tied up and let go, from sea to sea, the SS Steel Flyer American Flagged she be. The house always full and many lives she sees; her logs retired and steam no more. Her colors down and history read, the sailors last disembarked, the SS Steel Flyer slipped into the dark. 1943 - 1971 SS Steel Flyer Taiwan Ship Breakers |