Porterfield (DD 682) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 34 text:

After Station Forward Station f Uur rimary Purpose While it is the Operations personnel who keep the ship informed on Where it is supposed to be at a given time, and the Engineers who actually provide the steam to get us- there, it is the Weapons De- partment personnel Who are primarily responsible for fighting the ship. Whether ,in a Naval Gunfire Support action or an Anti-Submarine Warfare environment the effectiveness of the shipas a fighting unit depends mostly on the skill and alertness of the gunners, fire controlmen, sonarmen and torpedomen. For not only are they responsible for the operation of our Weapons systems, but also they must maintain the equipment in the best possible repair. Equipment failures inevi- tably led to a flurry of activity and there was little rest for the technicians until the equipment was once again operating normally.

Page 33 text:

F0 nw im ENS H. BIDDLES ASW OFFICER WW NOT PHOTOGRAPHED Wayne Spacek ST1 R- Armstrong ST1 R. Cregger STG2 L. Landis TM2 L. Seitz STG2 M. stricken STG3 S. off STGSN R. Barbaria TMSN D. Abeym TMSN J. Clevengef SN J- Webber

Page 35 text:

,,A'i I v fi' 1 1 'af IV gr. rf LV' 'S 51 , r I Set the helo detail. The work of the Weapons Department is not all so glamorous, for the often thankless job of cleaning and preserving 907, of the topside spaces falls to them. Since the ship experienced more than its fair share of heavy weather, the job was especially difficult. First division personnel alone used about 400 gallons of paint during the cruise in their never ending battle to stop the rust which seemed to come from everywhere. Aside from this, first division personnel had the respon- sibility of manning the lifeguard, planeguard and helo details which were called away often several times during a day. Lower her away. Veteran of the wars.