Life in the lower decks of the Royal Australian Navy in war and peace. The author served in cruisers, destroyers, corvettes and HMAS Platypus, whose annual visit to the Cockatoo dockyard for bottom cleaning etc was farewelled near Garden Island by a ship’s band playing See the Conquering Hero Comes. He was a signalman in the crew of HMAS Perth during operations in the Mediterranean in 1940-1941. 010115