Lexington (CV 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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77 some tight squeezes at most unexpected times, but we are proud to say that action on the part of our lads has brought us safely to port. Ideas, special knowledge and a heck ofa lot of work ha nated from the division. ' We have followed every path of the Blue Ghost in the planning, in the executing, in the recording. We have taken orders from and made friends with nearly all the officers aboard. We have watched our gunners blaze away at the enemy. We have seen her pilots make history. We have made friends with her Hsnipes' over the UV phones. We have delivered valuable dope from her lookouts and C.l.C. We have to step over her electricians in port and under way. We have grown in the process to know her like a book and in the knowing to fall a little in love with her. But lets get this straight: We haven't a darned thing to do with supply, ve GITICI- Tl-lE BUGLERS We are also the men in the middle-strictly in the middle as far as reveille is concerned. The 0.0.D. says, Blow Reveillef' We blow it, and a concerted groan rises from 3000 throats. But we have our N Division fBGhdl fn? - if au-nl 1' ' ,f

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- ,.. .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

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AVIGATION compensationsi the cheers at mail call and libe. the beauty of some of the calls like tattoo, taps an church call, the knowledge of skilful work done THE YEOMEN We are in the middle, tooe-right between tiff typing of court-martial proceedings and getting the log typed and signed tespecially the latterl, We get a lick or two in on the side doing, a little specio. work and taking care of the l,D. cards, liberty, ITITIQYY' tenance of the crews library and part of the edu cational details. All in all, we lead a busy if none too happy life THE BAND Our job it is to make like Dorsey, lames, Goode man, Krupa and Tatum, to entertain, provide ree laxation and relief from the strain of hectic times and otherwise keep the morale of the entire ships personnel at a high level. We've had breaks both good and bad. We've played in some of the swanks iest officers clubs the Navy has, and ridden in some of the vilest garbage trucks to get to them. We formed the unit in music school at San Diego and left the States early in August 1944. With us then were some of the best in the profession, some of whom we lost along the way, and some of whom are still with us. At the present writing we consist i I ' 1 I 4 N it 'N