Obituary: John Dix Godden

March 16th, 2012 by JCB
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JOHN DIX GODDEN : 1931 – 2011

 

 

Born on 1st July 1931, John enjoyed a normal a childhood in Cambridge despite schooling being disrupted by the war years. A keen scout, he achieved the distinction of becoming a King’s Scout and his interest in the sea was triggered  when a new Sea Scout group was formed, In April 1948 he passed the entrance exam for the Warsash School of Navigation where he rose to the rank of Cadet Captain.

Upon leaving Warsash, John joined the Blue Funnel line with his first ship being the Telemachus. 

It was whilst serving as a cadet that John decided that he wanted to become a pilot. Sailing with a Captain who was particularly bad tempered, John was amazed to see this monster transformed into a normal friendly human being when a pilot was on board and so decided that Pilotage was where his future lay!

John stayed with Blue Funnel, serving on their Far East and Australian trades until 1954 when, having obtained his First Mate’s certificate, he decided to join the General Steam Navigation Company running between the UK and near continent. In addition to short voyages this company had the advantage of providing regular ship handling experience and thus advantageous to achieving the goal of becoming a pilot. In particular a seasonal appointment on the passenger vessel Royal Daffodil running between London and France provided valuable experience in navigating the Thames at high speed in all weathers!

Royal Daffodil

In 1958 upon obtaining his Master’s Certificate John applied to Trinity House for a pilotage post whenever the “list “ was opened and in 1965 was accepted as a “Cinque Ports” pilot working the London District inwards between Dungeness and Gravesend.

John enjoyed the varied life of a pilot and progressed through the grades to become one of the 12 senior “Berthing Pilots”  handling the largest tankers at the Shell and Coryton oil refineries.

1984 saw turmoil in the UK pilotage world when Maggie Thatcher decided to introduce legislation to bring pilotage under control of the ports. As Chairman of the Cinque Ports Pilots’ Association and the UKPA representative for his district, John became embroiled in the politics leading up to the 1987 Pilotage Act, an experience that left him with contempt for the parliamentary procedures of British politics.

The other immense challenge was negotiating the transfer from self employment under Trinity House to the  new employed  status under the Port of London Authority. Given that the committee was representing nearly 500 pilots from the four separate groups which made up the London district this was a monumental challenge! The fact that we are still working under the same agreement twenty five years later bears testimony to the considerable dedication shown by John and others at the time.

As if all this upheaval wasn’t sufficient, at the same time, John saved this magazine from an almost certain demise by taking on the editorship and he successfully transformed it from a rather dull publication into a new and interesting magazine which he diligently edited until I, ignoring the old but sound advice of “never volunteer”, took over in 1996.

John retired in 1994 and in retirement enjoyed many activities, in particular walking with his second wife, Jean. His love of France led him to purchase a cottage in the South of France where long holidays were enjoyed. However, he maintained an interest in port operations as a Sandwich Harbour Commissioner. Diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2010, John decided to refuse further treatment and his cheerful determination to see his 80th birthday saw him defy medical opinion and achieve that goal and more!

John will be sadly missed by his family and all who knew him.                           JCB