THE NEW SHIP 



that they had been justified, and others said that a mishap at the 

 launching boded ill for her future. In fact, when she had been 

 properly ballasted she proved to be one of the most seaworthy 

 vessels ever built ; although she was lively she was extremely 'dry' 

 — that is, she rode the seas and shipped very little water onboard. 

 All who have served in Challenger speak highly of her fine qualities 

 in this respect. It was an exciting experience to stand on the 

 bridge looking aft when the ship was running before a really high 

 following sea; great waves would come towering towards her 

 tiny quarterdeck and at the last moment, when you could be 

 sure that it was too late and that she was to be badly pooped, 

 her stern would rise steeply upwards and a great wave would pass 

 safely below. 



Challenger was completed in the autumn of 193 i : her Captain 

 had been chosen and the scientists had been selected; but 1931 

 was the year of the great financial slump, the economy drive was 

 on, and soon the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries realised 

 that they would be unable to afford this ship. So Challenger lay, 

 complete and ready for sea, in the basin at Chatham, her future 

 uncertain at the very commencement of her career. 



Lieutenant-Commander Baker, a forthright officer, and known 

 affectionately in the Surveying Service as 'Buck', took command 

 of the ship with only a handful of men to keep her alive. Buck 

 knew, as all good seamen do, that if a ship is once reduced to a 

 care and maintenance state she will take a very long time to get 

 back to sea again. A ship lives only when men are looking after 

 her, and when her gear and equipment are receiving daily atten- 

 tion. Buck resisted, as only he can, all the efforts of officialdom 

 to reduce Challenger to a care and maintenance state. He, his 

 Engineer Officer, his Boatswain and his few seamen and stokers 

 got down to the work together, wielding brooms and paint 

 brushes, deck scrubbers and holystones. The ship remained alive 

 but her future was still undecided. 



This was the state of affairs a few days before Christmas, 1 93 i . 

 Every man who could be spared from Challenger^ s skeleton crew 

 had gone on Christmas leave when the Captain was called to the 

 telephone. The Operations Officer on the staff of the Com- 

 mander-in-Chief, The Nore, asked him if he could be ready to 

 sail for Portsmouth in the morning as the ship was required by 



