Espionage

…When you see this picture of the ‘Utrecht’ you immediately notice something.
Not her powerful lines, an engineer on the bridge wing, broken windscreen, the men on the aft deck or, as usual, that the ship is neatly painted.

Nice and clean.

What I am referring to are the antennas just behind the chimney.
You start to think of the antennas of a spy vessel as used by those Russian trawlers in the past.

Russian spy ship.

On the ‘Utrecht’ it was much more innocent.
They were TV antennas.
At that time they had a TV set on board.
It was rented from the shore.
If you wanted a good reception, most channels in England had
to have the right antennas installed without getting in the way of towing work.

Tv was watched when the ship was anchored in the Mountsbay.
The problem, however, was that when the current changed or the wind turned, the image fell away due to the movement of the ship and exciting images turned into snow.
In the beginning someone ran to the antenna and started to turn it until they called out through the opened porthole that there was something to see again.
It was quite difficult but the next thing was found.
Through an ingenious rope and pulley system the antenna could be operated in the ‘mess-room’ through the same porthole.

As long as there was an image, everyone was satisfied with it and we watched the favorite programs, such as football, Top of the Pops and Magic Roundabout.
A children’s programme that was broadcast when we were just eating.

Once you’ve heard that tune, it will stick in your mind all your life.