Chemung (AO 30) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 56 text:

Consolidations with other oilers, like USS CACAPON, could be very intricate when both ship ' s rigs were used to expedite. The crew was skeptical... A rig captain ' s nightmare. Just who ' s pumping to whom, anyway? .but it was all in a day ' s work to the old-timers. . ■jgwi i — yt? 5 ' ' ! - V fc a k u .«. • » ' ,. K«. s . C «■ »:

Page 55 text:

It ' s actually very simple and soon becomes routine: just UP and. ..UP. ..and. ..and... Somewhat quicker but no less dangerous is a VERTREP transfer; CHEMUNG ' S Helo Detail were all Olympic track stars before long. ...and (whew!) DOWN. Transferring personnel by highline is an all-hands evolution for CHEMUNG. The winchman is scarcely less tense than the passenger; there are few more crucial skills than his. as

Page 57 text:

i ' ISS ' A destroyer se nds back the last hose (fixed to drip oil dou-n CHEMUXG ' s side, of course). T.B. checks his stoppers. After a long day under the hot sun, sack time looks pretty attractive to the CHEMUNG sailor. Securing the rigs always seems to take hours, however, especially if your rig captain is a perfectionist. The mess cleaned up, even bos ' n ' s mates can relax. Who needs a mattress? Sailors can sleep on ANYTHING. The DCA finally must have taken the list off the ship. mm