Oral History Recording with Frederick Mondahl Part 2
Digital sound recording in two parts
Subject: Merchant Navy; Deck Department: Ordinary Seaman, Able Seaman, Mate, Master
*This interview contains language and opinions that may cause offence. All views expressed are the interviewee's own.
OHY/6/90/2 - 2.2 GB; 01:35:42
Quality: 2/5
Frederick Johan Wilhelm Petersen Mondahl was born in 1887 in Zealand, Denmark, becoming a ‘naturalised’ British citizen in 1923. He worked on fishing boats, deep sea ships, coasting vessels, tugboats (towing mud barges), as a pilot, in a dockyard and on a chain ferry in Eel Pie Island. Interestingly, his grandson, who we also interviewed, talks about spending summer holidays with his grandfather on the chain ferry. Mondahl worked in both sail and steam as an ordinary seaman, able seaman, bosun, mate and master, though he never got his tickets. He married in 1911 and talks about taking his wife (and sometimes also his son) to sea with him in the summer months. After his wife died, he married her sister. In his interview, Mondahl gives accounts of certain dodgy financial dealings, which allowed him to make extra cash on the side. There is also mention of a trip to Hong Kong, which is where he was when he heard of the sinking of the Titanic. Mondahl reveals a lot about the social isolation of seafarers and the challenges working at sea presents to family life. It also appears, as with many masters and mates we’ve come across, that Mondahl was a freemason.
Administrative / biographical background
Oral history with Frederick Mondahl conducted by Campbell McMurray
Subject: Merchant Navy; Deck Department: Ordinary Seaman, Able Seaman, Mate, Master
*This interview contains language and opinions that may cause offence. All views expressed are the interviewee's own.
OHY/6/90/2 - 2.2 GB; 01:35:42
Quality: 2/5
Frederick Johan Wilhelm Petersen Mondahl was born in 1887 in Zealand, Denmark, becoming a ‘naturalised’ British citizen in 1923. He worked on fishing boats, deep sea ships, coasting vessels, tugboats (towing mud barges), as a pilot, in a dockyard and on a chain ferry in Eel Pie Island. Interestingly, his grandson, who we also interviewed, talks about spending summer holidays with his grandfather on the chain ferry. Mondahl worked in both sail and steam as an ordinary seaman, able seaman, bosun, mate and master, though he never got his tickets. He married in 1911 and talks about taking his wife (and sometimes also his son) to sea with him in the summer months. After his wife died, he married her sister. In his interview, Mondahl gives accounts of certain dodgy financial dealings, which allowed him to make extra cash on the side. There is also mention of a trip to Hong Kong, which is where he was when he heard of the sinking of the Titanic. Mondahl reveals a lot about the social isolation of seafarers and the challenges working at sea presents to family life. It also appears, as with many masters and mates we’ve come across, that Mondahl was a freemason.
Administrative / biographical background
Oral history with Frederick Mondahl conducted by Campbell McMurray
Record details
| Item reference: | OHY/6/90/2 |
|---|---|
| Level: | ITEM |
| Date made: | 1970 - 1980 |
| Creator: | Mondahl, Frederick; McMurray, Campbell |
| Credit: | National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London |