Shipboard Radio Officer Career With Historical ties to Ham Radio Moves Into the Modern Age

ok, nice job...use to be at that position on EAC - Maersk - Torm - but never with that high salary... a GO for a single young R/O is my guess.

 

K0IP: Just read your BIO page!! WoW!! I started in 1960 with WN4AUT call. My grandfather was W4ZX, licensed when the FCC was called the Federal Radio Service. Great to read your history. I was in Viet-Nam 66-67 at Chu-lai , Danang, Saigon and Phu-Bai. Navy Radioman. We set up Communication relay and portable units for the Marines. Best Regards John 73's OM..Steve

 

to W4AUT, thanks for the good word , and thanks for your service,

 

I had some involvment in Union matters during the late 80s and early 90s, where the wage statistics for both shore-based and sea-going R/O sometimes were discussed.

This was during the final years of the seagoing R/O, and the position was considered as a form of "white collar proletariat" in the Nordic merchant fleets.

Some could get very good salaries, but that was for special roles such as on oil drilling platforms and when a ship that had exemptions from carrying an R/O on regular routes needed one for an one-off occasion.

If you were a frugal character, it was quite possible to save up some due to the relatively low cost of living on-board, but more than one "blew" any savings on shore stops...

A considerable fraction were single, or eventually became single.

73/
Karl-Arne
SM0AOM

 

The Navy Ship I was aboard, had 8 RM's, I was the RMIC of the Radio Gang. We blew our pay on port call's also. The XO kept a slush fund to bail us out of jail or any other "Emergency"!! 1974 the cruise ship Cunard Ambassador caught fire in the Gulf and we responded to assist in evacuation of the passenger's and crew. I spoke with the British R/O's and they were great sailors. Did not pry into their salaries, but assume they were well payed. The ship was towed the Key West where it was sold years later for scrap. The fire started in the engine room and up the shafts, it spread quickly. Took three days of firefighing to get it extinguished. 73's Karl

 

With all of the SKILLS and KNOWLEDGE THAT PARTICULAR JOB POSITION requires THEY "SHOULD EARN" A HECK OF ALOT MORE THAN THAT!!! :-/

 

And there is still some small possibility of being at the wrong end of a pirate's weapon or an early retirement home next door to Davy Jones.

 

U.S. Navy Radioman have those SKILLS, plus Sailor Shipboard duties. We did not make very much money, but we had a Hell-Of-Life. Would not trade my memories for a R/O on a commercial Liner!! 73's O.M. Steven

 

Nice story, i have had a great time as Radio Officer for 37 years at sea worldwide. Not so many people stay on sea for so many years,
nevertheless married and four children. Job was well paid, good social safety, good retirement money.
It was my profession and my hobby the same time.
For our US hams: My FCC 605 schedule E equivalent is PG/DO/T1
Details on my QRZ-page.

 

Hmmm, Radio Officer is a traditional word. Some of my collegues were called "sparks" or with the german word "Puster"

 

Sure a different world now.....different from when the radio officer operated from the bilge all day.

 

Just kidding...the radio rooms of most larger ships (that required them) were pretty nice. But even better now.

 

Glad you had a "Great Time" O.M. I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1963, prior to the Viet-Nam war. I served in Vietnam (IN-COUNTRY) as a Radioman.
Those were not "GREAT TIMES" but I made life long friends!! Was Station in Paris 64-66, and traveled to Germany, Great people and loved their BEER!!! " Fair Seas and Following Winds" to you Sir!!

 

The R/O job title was a somewhat "touchy" subject for some, who got upset
if the were referred to as "Radio Operator".

In the Swedish merchant fleet, the "Sparks" had technically not an officer rank. "Ship's Clerk" was more of an accurate description.
Actual radio operating were a quite small fraction of the R/O time
and tasks while at sea.

Rank-wise they were considered to be somewhere along the senior engine-room crew but were for practical reasons allowed to have their own quarters close to the radio room, and to have their meals in the junior officer's mess on larger vessels.

In the Navy, radio operators that did actual operating almost never held commissioned officer's rank. In the heyday of the Swedish Navy, before there were more Admirals than ships, radio operators usually were conscripts with Corporal or Sergeant rank that had undergone training at the Naval Radio School in Karlskrona.

This training ended in the issuing of the First Class International Radiotelegraph Certificate, as the larger naval ships sailed under SOLAS regulations (500 kHz watch). Smaller naval craft did not have formal requirements, but the radio operators often had the radiotelegraph certificate anyway. Larger vessels had one or more signal officers that usually were Lieutenants or Ensigns that oversaw the radio operations and were shift managers.

Today's Navy do not have specialised radio operators anymore.
There is at least a Technical Officer (Ensign or Lieutenant) that oversees system operations, and a Signals Officer that coordinates message handling.
Bridge crew or Combat Centre crew handle navigational and combat related traffic.

A piece of history.

73/
Karl-Arne
SM0AOM