Burton Island (AGB 1) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 39 text:

A t Q mfm-Am X Q: ww f-9 :, N-FQ 9' I ' f 4- ' an , f f - ' f f V 1 X w X f 1 41 X mf X f f f 1 ,,,,.,,,Q,f,,,,:,:,f. ,TGP 5 V f ' -Q f KR NN X 1-02 ,fx ZY27'7f-'i74?0f'1f5'WWf7M5W5'! 'fl EN 'Q ,. m --4 , 2 z

Page 38 text:

f Q E DIVISION The Engineering Department is almost twice as large as any of the other three departments on board. Despite the fact that the Engineers provide such prime commodities as fresh water, heat, electricity, and main propulsion power, they get very little ugloryn. There is plenty of work, though, to make up for the lack of glory. The Engineers are in charge of the maintenance and repair of all the machinery aboard the BURTON ISLAND. Wheree the C Division has its radar, the S Divi- sion has its typewriters, and the First Division has the fresh air, the E Division has a bewildering maze of pipes, valves, and noisy engine rooms or so it seems to everyone else. Most of us do not know what they are doing, but are willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they are doing a good job. Ask them to make it runv, and they usually do.

Page 40 text:

MAIL DROP The sight of the mail plane overhead was always welcome. The planes came from the Kodiak Navy Air Station and usually performed an ice reconnaisance while in the area. While the ship was setting up the EPI station on Banks Island, the mail cans were parachuted near the shore party. During the Spring Cruise the cans were dropped on the ice. Occasionally the cans, which were supposedly watertight, would be dropped in the water, invariably one or two of the cans would leak. Despite all efforts to dry the mail in the boiler room immediately, a few letters written in ink were all but illegible. Of course, the mail from home was the most welcomed and important part of the delivery, but the official mail sometimes brought good news. The official letter everyone wanted most to arrive was the confirmation that the overhaul originally scheduled for San Francisco had been changed to Long Beach. - Although the BURTON ISLAND carried gear for a mail pick-up, it was never used. The pick-up gear was set up once in the ice as an experiment. f a.,,4 4 , X