This song was collected from a navy sailor but would seem to have some general application:

A parody of "Down Below" by Sydney Carter, ©, 1958
From GREY FUNNEL LINE, edited by Cyril Tawney, p. 35-36.

Corrosion Has Set In

Corrosion has set in,
Down below,
The plates are getting thin,
Down below;
There's a leak in the forepeak,
And how those bulkheads creak,
I hope we last a week,
Down below!

Boiler room's a-leaking…
Crack is nicely seeping…
Fire and bilge will do their best
While the diver's getting dressed,
Splinter-box will do the rest…

Chippy wears a frown…
It's coming in again…
They've taking up a shore
To the for'ard naval store
And they're sawing up some more…

Chippy's got an ulcer…
It plays him up a treat…
His feet are getting wet
As he watches concrete set,
But he's short of "aggreget"…

The ship is like a sieve…
I hope they're PST…
For the lifeboats they inflate
Premature. Can this be fate?
Oh, we're in a ghastly state…

Making a "splinter-box" is a way of dealing with a small hole in the ship's side; a steel T-piece is passed outside the hole and a steel box bolted to it from the inside. "Taking up a shore" is a reference to further reinforcing the splinter-box with wood or concrete. "Chippy" is of course the ship's carpenter. "PST" indicates that a sailor has passed his mandatory swimming test.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble