Intro
D 

Verse 1
      G               D            C
I can well recall the first time I ever put to sea
    G             D        F              A
Was on the old Calcutta in eighteen fifty-three
      G             D                C             A
I was just a lad of fourteen years a midshipman to be
   D              Am
To make my way in sailing ships
       G          D A Bm A G D
Of the royal navy

Verse 2
       G               D                C
By the time that I was twenty-one I had sailed the world around
G                       D                   F                A
Weathered storms in the China seas with the hatches battened down
    G              D                 C                A
And made my way by starlight off the coast of Newfoundland
    D                 Am
And dined on beer and herrings 
          G               D A Bm A G D
While the waves blew all around

Bridge 1
Bm
I live in retirement now
    E                                    Em
And through my window comes the sound of seagulls
                   Bm
And sets my mind remembering
                                     E
The evening stars like memories sail far beyond the distant trees
    Em                         Bm
Way out across the open seas I hear them sing

Verse 3
       G                 D                      C
Oh the wooden ships they turned to iron and the iron ships to steel
    G                     D                      F              A
And shed their sails like autumn leaves with the turning of the wheel
    G           D                  C               A
And I was given captain's rank and soon took under me
    D                  Am
The proudest ship that ever sailed
    G                D A Bm A G D
For queen and country

Verse 4
       G             D                    C
Ah the old queen she passed away with the new born century
    G             D       F                A
And I received my calling up to the admiralty
    G                     D              C             A
The sands ran through the hourglass each day more rapidly
      D                   Am
As we watched the growing of the fleets
   G          D A Bm A G D
Of High Germany

Bridge 2
Bm
So at last the Great War blazed 

I waited with the passing days
    E                            Em
The call to arms that never came writing letters
  Bm                              E
I may be old now in your eyes but all my years have made me wise
    Em                                 A
You don't see where the danger lies so call me back
A
Call me back

Verse 5
G              D                          C
But the war it ran it's course they could find no use for me
    G             D                C              A
And I live in the country now grandchildren on my knee
    G                  D                  C                A
And sometimes think in all this world the saddest thing to be
    D            Am         
Old admirals who feel the wind
    G             D A Bm A G D
And never put to sea

Verse 6
    G                  D                     C
Now just like you I've sailed my dreams like ships across the sea
    G                 D                 C              A
And some of them have come on rocks and some faced mutiny
    G                   D               C              A
And when they're sunken one by one I'll join that company
    D            Am
Old admirals who feel the wind
    G             D A Bm A G Bm A A D
And never put to sea