Ches Stubbs
Job Description
Whalechaser Captain, Gunner
Period
1954 - 1975
Ches served in the Army in Borneo during World War II. In 1947 he joined the Albany Whaling Company as a gunner on the whalechaser "Wadjemup". However the Albany Whaling Company closed down in 1950 after three years due to lack of resources and equipment, having only taken six whales.
In 1954 he joined the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company as an Able Bodied Seaman, and from there to Mate and then Skipper. With seventeen crew they hunted for Sperm Whales. In October 1965 he had a serious accident when his foot got caught in the Harpoon rope. His foot was severed about 8 inches above the ankle. John Bell the Spotter Pilot landed on the sea in his float plane, a Cessna 172, and flew him to a place where a doctor and an ambulance were waiting. He spent two months in hospital where he was fitted with and artificial leg, and came back whaling as Senior Skipper for another 10 years.
Ches Stubbs