BACK in 1928 a group of 21 master mariners, who had all served before the mast in the days of sail, met in Southampton's Royal Mail House, close to the Eastern Docks.
Their objective? To found a local institution that embodies the port's seagoing history and traditions to this day.
Over the years the Southampton Master Mariners' Club, with its motto "Ready for Anything'' has become a significant influence in the dockland community.
The organisation's past and present members are recognised as being some of the most respected and experienced seamen.
Now a book has been published that looks back across the decades and recalls many of these memorable characters and also the great vessels that have been at the heart of Southampton's role as one of the world's major ports.
The Master Mariners Of Southampton by Simon Daniels, himself a member of the club, takes a sweeping look from the club's history right up to the arrival of the latest generation of cruise ships.
"The Dock of Greeting and Farewells: the very mention of Southampton sent pulses quickening in the heyday of the ocean greyhounds,'' says the author, looking back at former times in the port.
"Somehow it is always summer in the imagination when you conjure up ideas of Southampton in the Roaring Twenties, in an era which mirrored the world of P G Wodehouse and Hollywood parties, a time of romance and fun that revelled in the re-emergence of luxury travel after the despair of the Great War, and inevitably these times smiled upon the Gateway to the World, the mighty port of Southampton.
"No other port in the world could boast the elite sailing list of Southampton, for here was home of the crme of ocean liners, the mailships.'' The author also recalls the days when Britannia really did rule the waves during the high point of the British empire.
"At any one time, British ships were carrying 200,000 passengers and as many seamen, and of every 1,000 tons of shipping using the Suez Canal, 700 tons were British,'' says Mr Daniels, who lives at Fritham in the New Forest.
"One of the most extensive lines was the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, whose famed Indian mail service had opened in 1842 when their magnificent flagship SS Hindoostan sail from South-ampton's fine new docks.
"From their Red Sea route came the term POSH - port out, starboard home - representing the best accommodation for passengers travelling with P&O through the Red Sea. On the outward journey, cabins on the port side escaped the worst of the day's sun, so they were much cooler to sleep in, and on the homeward journey it was, of course, reversed.''
The book contains many seafaring anecdotes and takes a nostalgic voyage back to the days of ships such as the first Mauretania, Aquitania, Berengaria, Queen Mary, Normandie, Queen Elizabeth, United States, the Union Castle fleet and Canberra.
The author also examines the role of pilots who guide vessels in and out of the port as well assessing the modern day success of Southampton Docks, now the UK centre of international cruising.
"It is a question of prestige. A hallmark upon which today's cruise companies place much value,'' says Mr Daniels.
"To sail from Southampton is to enhance your business with the glory of maritime history.''
o The Master Mariners of Southampton is written and published by Simon Daniels.
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