Lexington (CV 16) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 103 text:

NGINEERI G DEPART The electrical equipment aboard the Lex will rightly stand for the nerve system for her engineer- ing man. The motor nerves of the system would be our four main generators, for which, incidentally, M-Division machinist's mates keep the driving part turning over, Then the cables and leads would be the network of connector cells, while the receptor cells would be all other electrical equipment aboard the ship. The navigation equipment, such as the gyros, dead reckoning tracer, and many other give our man sight, while the guns and fire control equipment give her powerful punch, such nerves are vital. Other nerves are convenient and pleasant to have, as for example the Ioe pots, hot plates, fans, radios, movies, and flood lights and loud speakers for our happy hours. The electricians mates of the power and distribution gang tend all this equipment and repair electrical machinery. The men from the interior communications and central station details care for the delicate instruments and equipment. X The plant and the trainers and operators have accomplished some astonishing things. The ship has steamed 204,735 miles from commissioning to Ncvember l, l045, burned 910,878 barrels of fuel oil, distilled 58,220,000 gallons of water. I-ler l50,000- igorsepower has always, except when the ship was torpedoed, been available when needed. The men who cared for and operated the plant deserve the credit, at times working in temperatures up to 130 degrees on the floorplates. Like all trainers and operators, their job has been hard and hot, sweaty 'ina stinking, but they did it and did it well.

Page 102 text:

4 I

Page 104 text:

- ,.. .z ,. . 1.0, fNAVIG THC? The personnel of N Division is made up of quar- termasters, yeomen, buglers, and the band. Let us hear from them in order. QUARTEHMASTERS There is little doubt that we are the men in the middle, for most of our million and one duties are concerned with the preservation of the contact be- tween the command and the crew, in maneuvering the ship, in administering the ship, and in navigat- ing the ship. Nothing makes us more angry than to have a civilian remark: Oh, you are a quarter- rnaster. What is that, a supply rate? As a matter of fact, supply is about the only thing we haven't got much of a finger in. We have done practically everything on the bridge and quarterdeck but a triple somersault. We have corrected every chart for the areas from Timbuctoo to Wolf Trap Light- house finclusivei and points north, east, south and west. We have steered, ieered, painted, swabbed, repaired, adjusted and denounced every square inch of the bridge Cincluding the wings and that cussed splinter shieldl, Battle ll, the quarterdeck, and Steering Att. We know a little about compasses, bearing circles, time ticks, Mercator projections, gyro Compasses, stadirrieters, range finders and a DEP RT thousand other gadgets essential and ornamental to the proper functioning of the pilot house. We are expert paint chippers and phone answerers, passa- ble talkers on the sound power circuits, and double on the side as keepers of the loe pot and chroniclers of the log. Boy, are we busy! But we don't have a darn thing to do with supply, We get a lot of laughs out of the deal and a lot of opportunity to see events as they happen. The brains of the ship ffiguratively speakingl are in the pilot house-thus the impulses from every part ot the ship are conveyed there. We are privileged to know the immediate intentions, the actual move- ments, the emergencies, the whole situation as it exists abcve and below decks. Sometimes we even get a cup of wardroom coffee fvile stuff, by the wayl. We can see the sun come up and set tand record it in the logl. We can see the stars come out Cand take sights on theml. We can watch the clouds X I1 Q i ins' ,f-lvl Q l i l i i roll by tand jot down what kind they arel. If it is l Z a nice day we have to describe it in the columns i log. If it is raining we have to say so. We have our heroes. We prefer to forget the occasions which produced them. We have had N Division lim I tl 3 t Wx. t x if I F H' N i l l i 4