Sea Communications
'Life at Sea'
Captain JAMES GRIFFITHS
Last week's talk in this series showed how boys enter the Merchant Service, and discussed the question of hours of work at sea. Tonight Captain Griffiths, who must know as much about life at sea as any man alive, is to describe it to listeners. He will show how a crew signs on, the arrangements made for its safety and comfort by the Board of Trade, and the work done at sea.
Captain Griffiths was born in 1874 and went to sea at the age of fourteen, serving his time in sailing ships, trading round Cape Horn ; he gained his Master's certificate at the age of twenty-five, left sail and went into steam. He has been shipwrecked twice and on each occasion endured life in an open boat before being rescued. He is a Trustee of the National Union of Seamen and can speak with full knowledge of conditions at sea today. He served at sea during the war, was deputy Lord Mayor of Cardiff in 1923. 1924 and 1925, and was the first seaman to attain this position in the Port of Cardiff.