Columbia (CL 56) - Naval Cruise Book

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nz- rules and integral tables, but trod with deter- mined steps to our classes-say, for instance, firefighting. There can be no question but that firefighting knowledge is of prime importance in many emergencies at sea, and we agree wholeheartedly that we should understand it. And with its usual thoroughness, the Navy is interested in giving us the best possible instruction in the short time available .... To give us an appre- ciation of Hre, we learn that fire requires oxy- gen. Fire needs heat to start. Fire must have fuel. Water extinguishes Hre. Another Audio- Visual-Aids masterpiece shows us that a float- ing body displaces its weight of water, that the water produces a buoyant force, that a moment is a force acting through a lever arm .... All this we learn in only two hours. Then to the fires .... Break down those hoses .... Roll up those hoses .... Hook up those hoses .... Nozzle this way, handle up. Forward position off, vertical position fog .... On these Christmas Trees, keep low .... How diya keep these boots on? I have to take three steps before mine move. But we get the feel of it, and the fires get bigger. The applicator gives us an umbrella of spray, possibly to filter the smoke we breathe. Then the engine rooms .... Hey, stop push- ing the hose! . . . Take it slow, no hurry. . . . How do you breathe? It's pure smoke! . . . Can't see that again .... Cold out here, isn't it? . . . Then it's foam and CO2 and Handy Billies, and as we nurse our wounded, dirty our faces, and Ungentine our burns, we begin to think that maybe we could tackle a fire. But it is work. Our pictures show it, and our stomachs know it.

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As days wore on, things smoothed out, or at least, it seemed so. There are those of our number that claim that like a fighter who is hit so hard and so often that he ceases to feel pain, we were, to put it in plain language, punch-drunk. We stood in a line two thousand men long to get paid. We stood in a line one thousand men long to get something to eat . . . and cursed long and heartily at the consuma- tion of the act. We couldn't eat it anyway . . . but there was always the everfaithful bulk of ships service, where- the line was only five hun- dred men long. fNote: It moved slower.j However, as the month struggled to a close, we managed to live it through. We shut one eye a bit more tightly, clutch the pillow angrily, and worm our way just a bit deeper into the blankets. Newly married, newly deprived men mumble something about, Oh, go to sleep, Honey. But' slowly our pri- vate room for eighty comes to life. First twenty men stay in the sack. Better hurry up . . . Huh? Seven-fifteen? I must have gone to sleep! Let's go to chow. Beans? No, its Tues- day. The chow line is there, swaying like. a giant Conga line to Serenade to Blue Fingers. Hurry up and wait. Hey, let's pull the cord up there. . . . c'Cereal should taste good. It'1l have tomato soup in it. Wonder who washes these bowls? . . . uSay, what is the--. No, maybe you'd better not tell me. The odor of dish- water, steam, and hot coffee, along with the crash of trays and the yells of messboys endow our wardroom with a certain intangible decor. Breakfast having been taken care of, we burp our way to morning quarters, unless, of course, beans have been served. Imagine the spectacle: 4-50 impeccably groomed, handsome, debonair young Ensigns standing in perfect formation, alert, eager men, men of brain, bone, and sinew! And then in a dynamic voice, comes the clarion call we know so well, Regiment-td attention! Regiment-to-attention! And a strange, fierce pride mounts within us. QDamned strangelj But we are not here to play. We rnust study, and strive to master intricacies of Navy work and Navy tools. We may leave behind our slide

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Back to the barracks. just try to get that oil off. Best way is to light a match and burn it off. But why bother-our hands are probably cleaner than the spoons anyhow. So we walk briskly over to the chow line-again, hurry up and wait. But we can take it, because we,re Ensigns, and they can take anything .... Once inside and seated, we immediately determine that there must be four cooks. This becomes intuitavely obvious in that the soup has just exactly four times the pepper in it that it should have. We are relieved to find that the peas have been salted by only two of the four, and finally decide that the meat dish had been assaulted by three. But anyhow, the ice cream is good, and with half a can of milk added, the coffee is drinkable. We may live, if nothing worse happens to us. Having eaten our fill, it's back to the pad till a few minutes after we're to muster-After all, the squad leader never comes in 'til then any- how. But when he does, it's, fall in and we march off on another mental conquest. We are amazed to find out that the models they have in the engineering building cost the Navy something over 825,000 each. But look at them: a perfect reproduction of the Columbia in every detail save perhaps for a lack of student officers running around for a hawser pipe with left- hand threads .... Maybe' sometime we will be able to explain how that DAT works. Water at 2180, 57.5 psi, steam from air ejectors and gland seal condensor at 5 psi and a million other dislocated figures running through our minds, making the ME blood boil .... 'gClose these valves in the right order, or you'll foul things up .... Remember, the larger the num- ber the smaller the burner . . . Well, that hour is up. What next-gunnery? We stop to silently praise', the magnificent organization of the classes. They are alternately from one end of the base to the other. Perhaps we took all those strength tests in V-12 just so that we could get callouses on our feet, huh .... Now remember, before you start to play with the joy-stick on those 4-0's, make sure everyone is on the mount .... When you handle those ammo loads, keep the shells in the clip. If she jams or you drop one, there'll be trouble. As our gun spins gayly around, we wonder who will have the honor of first shooting out the lights in the pilot house. Or how many seagulls will become widows at Casco Bay .... But now it's secure. Be it door, galley, head, or class, it's still secure! , In line with our usual policy of walking miles, the next period finds us in Navigation, doing a little brain-work over our plotting and giant economy sized stack of manuals, trying to look up the integrated havesin of the cosine of arc- secant of .780l2. Then back to the plotting board, the sextant, the DRT, and finally the paper of the man next to us, and we find that we are in the Grand Canyon sailing up the Colorado Riverq . . . Couldn't be us-impossible! Ensigns never foul up! Perhaps the compass was off, or the tables-or anything! But just wait till we try to hit Bermuda. Bali, here we come-but perhaps that wouldn't be so bad after alll Last class over, back to the barracks via the mail boxes. A letter from Mother, or perhaps the Little Womann! 'Oho, well, another day, another five dollars. It will be better, though, when we know that we are earning our pay. Just give us time, and we'll learn our stuff .... But tonight, let's go over to the rec hall and have a couple of beers and then see the show. Maybe tomorrow ....