Bowen (FF 1079) - Naval Cruise Book

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BT3 Darryl Hodges and BT3 Ken Brown, right, hoist number two fire pump off of the deck plates on the lower level of the flreroom. BT3 Brown, above, rigs the chain fall that will be used to lift the fire pump into place. 44- Bouciilife

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Visibility is just part of the job F or USSBOWEN ' S boat- swain ' s mates, visibil- ity is just part of the job. rio matter what job they- ' re involved with, the results of First Division ' s work is there for the whole ship to examine. Consider, for example, rig- ging the accomodation lad- der for small boats when the ship is anchored off the coast during a port visit. It ' s almost a division- wide evolution, said BMl Claude Ward, leading petty officer of First Division. There ' s a lot of heavy equipment. If the J bar davits, outng- ger, lower platform or H frame is defective in any way, the ship ' s boats, which are also run by First Division, will not be able to transport BOWEn sailors to liberty on the beach. The ship ' s moonng lines are another critical responsi- bility of the boatswain ' s mates, and one that they do not take lightly. Splicingjust one of the 6-9 mooring lines which are used to moor the ship to a pier can take a couple of hours according to BMl Ward. Boatswain ' s mates also carry much of the re- sponsibility for underway re- plenishments, bridge watchstanding, and the pres- ervation and appearance of the majonty of the ship ' s topside spaces. I ' i-X At left, SM Scott Daly, BM3 Ar- mando Magpayo, BM3 Joseph Johnson and BM2 Qlen Thompson prepare to lower the accomodation ladder in Villefranche, France. Bowncniifc 43

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MLg Br y flSfS V Moving a Monster t a weight of just over J 1100 pounds, moving . m.a fire pump motor can beachallengingjob. Particu- larly if the motor doesn ' t co- operate. BOWEN ' S engineering plant includes four fire pumps, one in each main en- gineering space, which sup- ply firefighting water to the ship at 900 gallons per min- ute. On occasion, the four foot tall motor must be re- moved from its foundation for repair. At times like those, the boiler technicians (or ma- chinist mates) break out the chain falls. Maneuvering the huge electric motor, the largest in the engineering plant, is no easy task, normally, four technicians require five or six hours just to lower the pump from its foundation to the deckplates — a vertical distance of just a few feet. ' You can ' t just swing it over, said BTC (SW) Rickey Dawson. Ain ' t nobody gon- na catch it. if th e problem is relatively simple, repairs may be com- pleted by ship ' s force on the deckplates. If more complex repairs are required, the mo- tor may have to be removed from the ship to a shore based facility. In that case, ladders and other interfer- ences must be removed throughout the ship in order to move the motor to the main deck and then onto the pier. When repairs are complet- ed, the whole process is re- peated in reverse. After the motor has been returned to its foundation, it must be carefully aligned to the pump — a process that in it- self can take as long as 12-14 hours. This page, top to bottom: BT3 Brown and BT3 Hodges maneuver the fire pump motor into position on its foundation; BT3 David Mill- saps attempts to remove the chain- fall from the fire pump after it has been lowered onto the foundation; BTl Dick Moravec aligns the elec- tric motor to the pump. Bowenlife 45