The Chief Officer and a crewman tensing the grappling rope on the deck of the cable ship John W. Mackay (1922) at sea. The photographer is standing just off the centre line on the port side just aft of the bow sheaves and gantry looking aft and slightly to starboard. The Chief Officer is in the foreground leaning his back against the grappling rope. The Chief Officer appears to be holding some sort of device in his right hand. A crewman stands on the Chief Officer's left side holding the grappling rope. A crewman is sitting on a bollard on the starboard side of the ship. 3 buoys are fastened to the fore deck on the starboard side, with a forth hanging from a boom over the side. A partial view of the superstructure is in the background. This is Slide 13 of a series of slides detailing Captain H. Bird's service as Watchkeeping Officer on board the cable ship John W. Mackay (1922) owned by the Commercial Cable Company of London from 22 January 1973 to 26 April 1973. The series consists of 62 slides.