Quote:The Royal Navy is ending its century-old tradition of having Chinese servants on warships amid fears that they could be forced to spy for Beijing.

Hundreds of Chinese laundrymen have worked on Britain’s warships since the 1930s, with most hired from Hong Kong to wash and press sailor’s uniforms and officers’ white tablecloths.

Nepalese Gurkhas will replace them due to fears that Beijing could threaten the servants’ families in China to make those on board ships pass on Royal Navy secrets, The Sun has reported.

The Times

Quote:Chinese Laundry - What a Naval luxury

The Royal Navy had many traditions, procedures, routines, organisations, but none transcended the act of nightly communal dhobying and showering followed by a change of uniform into 'night clothing', affecting every member of the crew.

Recently, we have witnessed the passing of Mary, the Mary of the Hong Kong side-party. She became famous because she took on a task (with her mainly female workers) sailors didn't like doing, namely to keep the ships side at 1 deck and below looking smart, clean, rust free and well painted right down to the water line so including the boot topping. In the main, sailors maintained 01 deck upwards. To those of us who served in Hong Kong, Mary was not only a 'saving grace' work-wise (even mine, but in black instead of grey for I was a submariner there), but had a choggie (naval speak for Chinese people) smile which illuminated Hong Kong and Kowloon together. However, it has to be said that Mary was nothing but shrewd and became a rich person whilst most of her peers were markedly poor.

It is not absolutely certain when Mary started her service to Hong Kong's dockyard, and after its demise, to the ships moored in the environs of HMS Tamar, but it is believed to date from the 1950 period more or less five years after Hong Kong bounced back from the Japanese occupation of the area.

However, her services do pre date the more profound yet unsung services of the inestimable value of the Chinese Laundry, which just about every warship came to value irrespective of where, geographically, it served. If Mary provided a 'service' to the Royal Navy it was parochial, whereas the almost countless Hong Kong families afloat in HM Ships provided a service considered by many to be yet another branch, living, working and yes, fighting alongside the other more well known branches of seamen, engine room, electrical, S & S, communicators, aviators and Royal Marines. In short, the Chinese laundry in HM ships became indispensable.

Whilst doing one of my regular runs to the National Archives, I was able to get this BR, and because dhobying per se and laundry matters generally affect the whole of the crew, I thought it a fitting subject for a webpage.

In a moment, I am going to publish the content of the BR, but before I do just a quick note about the Laundry School in HMS Drake. The Laundry School was just one of several schools within the main RNB at Devonport. It became known as the ''NAVAL JOURNEY'', and throughout units in the Fleet (which had a laundry), a laundry man became known as 'Journeyman'. Now, the definition of a 'Journeyman' is a person who has finished an apprenticeship and is qualified, but works for a person other than for himself. Clearly, a laundry man was not so well qualified, and in any event, in the navy, that description fitted well to an artificer or a mechanician. The title, although coined to fit the nomenclature used in the naval laundry business was soon dropped, but for many years it meant that your dirty laundry would take a 'journey' through the cleaning processes and finish up all nice and clean the other end.

That will become apparent in the contents of BR 1277 below.

For many years, ships based on Hong Kong and Singapore used laundry features offered by the locals. This method ran in parallel with what was happening in the Fleet at large viz, RN Laundries. Some of the larger ships which had LAUNDRIES fitted, stood down the RN laundrymen and in their place came local Chinese men often interrelated. At first, when such a ship had completed its 2?? year commission and was due to return to the UK, the Chinese crew were landed and the RN 'dhoby Wallah's' resumed their task. However, as time passed, these Chinese crews would take passage to the UK and then transfer to a ship coming back to serve in the Far East. After a while, they became permanent in the RN, shifting ships when necessary as refits and long DED's occurred. Moreover, the permanency soon saw them serving in ships in waters around the world, and that was the point, albeit piecemeal, when the RN stopped servicing their own LAUNDRIES. Remembering the piecemeal bit, by the early to mid 1960's Chinese laundrymen were the norm onboard RN surface ships.

I was amazed about what was involved in the RN laundry service and the BR tells all. Different I agree, but worth a browse to recall names like Teepol, Bendix washing machines, detached stiff collars which I wore in the early 1960's with front and back stud, and the like. Some of it is really fascinating especially the Presses and Pressing section. Get your wife to have a look at it and check that she is doing it properly - the pukker and pusser way ! Enjoy.

Chinese Laundry - What a Naval luxury

Quote:I have constituents—sadly no longer working—who served on ships in the NAAFI. Service personnel on those ships will benefit from any review and are entitled to other benefits that are already available about which the Minister talked. Many civilians who served the three services are not being given the option of being included. Sadly, many of them have had a very swift brush off from the MoD.

What about the Chinese laundry men who worked on Her Majesty's ships who, with a cavalier sweep, have been dismissed? [Laughter.]

Mr. McWilliam

Quote:I hope that Opposition Members who are laughing have the opportunity to visit the war memorial at Fitzroy in the Falklands to see the names in Chinese of the Chinese laundry men who were killed unnecessarily in that place.

Mr. Hancock

Quote:I represent 40 of the 80 chinese laundry men who currently work for the Royal Navy—and I am proud to do so. Many of them wear three or four medals on their chests in honour of the service that they have given the nation. Many of them feel very bitter about the way in which, sadly, they have been dismissed as if they are no longer important since the MoD has taken on contractors who would rather employ retired Gurkha soldiers or others. If we are to care for our service personnel, we need to care for all the service family.

Hansard House of Commons: Defence Policy - Volume 299: debated on Tuesday 28 October 1997