Monongahela (AO 178) - Naval Cruise Book

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THE SNIPE ' S LAMENT Now cad; of us froyy iivne to time h s cjazed upon the sea, and ntiiched the ynicjhty) n arsh}})s leaz ma port to keep t is country) free. And Kno.st of us haz ' c read a hook, or heard a iust ) tale ahout the men who sa ' A these ships, throuah { a tn nQ, w nb, and h ii But there ' s a place within each ship, that stories nez ' er teach and there ' s a special breed of men that lei)ends nez er reach- It ' s down below the waterime., it t a es a liz ' inQ toll, a hot metallk liz in0 h ll that sailors call t(7e hole. It houses eM iwci run o ueayn, that make the screw ' s go round, a place of fire, noise, anb heat t¥}at heats y)OHr spirits down. where hoiiers like a yeiiish h yt, with blood of an r steam, are armoreb gods without remorse, who MMt y)our ei er p dream. The threats from the fire roar anJd are like a uziin0 doubt, ti t an minute ste m would escape and rub vk)m out. whose twromes, fi e tortMred som{s alone and lost in Hell. are ordered from somewhere above, they) answer ever tf bell. The men who keep the fires lit, and make the en0ines run, are strangers to the world of ii t, and rarely) see the sun. The ofTUt no time for man or God, no tolerance of fear. Tl ir respect pay}s no liuin thinQ a tribute or a tear. For there ' s not much that man can do, t at these men v aijen ' t done, beneath the decks deep m the hole, to make the en mes run. And every hour of every) d m tif keep their wauh tm Heff, for if the fires ez ' er fail their ship ' s a useless sheiL when shws converge to figh a war, upon the angry sea, the men below just grimly svnile at wh xt their fate mi be. They ' re locked in oeiow like men foredoomed, who hear no battle cry, it ' s well assumied that ' they ' re hit, the vnen below will die, For ez ' eryday ' s a war down there, when theaau es ail read red, si x (7MHdred ])ounds of Ideated ste an can f lyou mighty dead. ?eople. as a general rule, dont hear a dying soul, so little is heard about the fJlace ti; sarlors call t(;e Hofe . BMt, I can talk about the place, and try to niake you see the hopeless life of vnen down there, cause one of thevn is me. l ' z e seen sweat soaked hero ' s fight in superheated air, to l eep t(;eir ship aliz ' e and right, though no one mom ' s they ' re there. And, thus they ' ll fight for ages on, till warships sail no more, amid the boilers mighty heat, and the twroiMes hellish roar. So when you see a warship leaznng port to meet a warlike foe, reynember [ intl 7 if you can, t(7e ynen yx ' ho siiil below.

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Engineering Department %P9 Boiler Machinists Technician Mate i LT Kenneth Frack LT Joseph Connors Engineering Officer Electrician ' s Main Propulsion Ass. Mate o Engineman | ST Interior Communications Electrician ENS Charles Carl V Damage Control Ass. m f Bl Hull Machinery Technician Repairman 16

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Auxilaries Division EN3 Rico EN3 Bunce MMFN Jackson ENFN Huang 18