Columbia (CL 56) - Naval Cruise Book

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officers learned with disappointment that a red light displayed aboard ship had quite a different meaning than our experiences ashore had led us to expect. Our weary heads were filled with still more mental notes, such as red over white, fishing at nightf' and white over red, pilot ahead. The rules themselves we found to be comparatively simple, but the exceptions to those rules proved to be an endless source of frustration. Many usually diligent students were overheard fervently praying that they might never have to navigate on the Red River of the North, which seems to be gov- erned solely by the exceptions. As seems to be the policy of every depart- ment, everything that was not covered in our instruction periods was fully covered on the test. Most of us felt that we were fully as sorry to leave C 81 R as C gl R was to see us leave. Gentlemen, the function of Naval Com- munications is to provide-er-ah-welL it is all contained in the book called Communications Instructions, Anything you want to know is in this book and you are not supposed to memorize it. That was our introduction to Naval Communications as taught during our memorable cruise. Each squad was assigned to communications for one week, and during that period, we learned all there was to know about Naval Communications as taught by Slover, Stone and Sirap fParis spelled backwarddstrictly for ef- fectj. All phases of communications from sig- nalling to the proper form of letters was cov- ered. It might seem to the observant reader that this is an impossibility. Take it from those who have successfully fanother question mark twenty-five

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this? , pointing to a slowly moving circle of light on a transluscent table. That, our guide replied, swelling up with importance, is the bug. We all nodded wisely. So thafs what it was! Uh, the meek looking trainee hesitated. Yes, our instructor eagerly promoted him. What is CIC for? , he asked with childlike simplicity. The function of CIC, our informant recited impressively, is to collect, display, evaluate, disseminate, advise, and control? An awkward pause followed. We were duly impressed. Any questions? our instructor asked confidently. The silence was unbroken. Very well, he stated magnanimously. The class is secured. Navigation, from whence the Navy got its name, is the science of knowing exactly where we are going and finding out where we are when we wind up somewhere else. Up forward in the Warrant Officer's Mess we spent a full week learning the intricacies of the navigation business. We worked with dividers, protractors, and not--so-parallel rulers finding the theoretical position of a hypothetical ship on an imaginary course at some arbitrary tirne. After a series of enlightening films we were convinced that the sun revolves in a circle around the earth. The practical applications of navigation were discovered at four-thirty in the morning when, twenty-four sextant in hand, we climbed to the signal bridge and shot stars. The whole idea was to find the star we wanted in the place we wanted it, or some reasonable facsimile. They all looked the same at 0430 anyway. The sextant gave the possible elevation of the probable star in con- sideration, which when checked through a series of doubtful calculations showed us whether we were before or behind ourselves. After we had undergone all this hearty in- struction we had to pass a final examination based on material we surely knew by this time. We were assured of passing easily if we paid attention in class. Everyone is suddenly wor- ried. Given the course of a ship whose captain is three feet tall located in the eighth latitude above 720 Fahrenheit, we must find the speed of sunrise and the temperature of the Executive OHicer's shower. With the test completed and navigation safely a thing of the past, we decide that we didn't really want to go USN in the first place. In our week of instruction in the C 8: R de- partment we acquired still more of those in- tangible little qualities which are so essential to the good officer. Indispensable information which was overlooked in our formal training, 'gknowledge never learned of schools, was then revealed before our wondering eyes. The exact science of opening and closing a vise, the most practical stroke in scraping paint, the complex inter-locking grip used on a hammer-all these fine arts were explained with meticulous care. Here, too, we Hrst became acquainted with the traffic rules of the high seas, The Rules of the Road. Many of the more naive student

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is appropo completed this course, that it most certainly is impossible. The watches were very interesting to stand. One man remarked, 'Tll never understand why they say stand watches since most of the watches I have ever 'stood' were sat. Upon entering the shack we were handed a copy of communi- cation order No. 13-46 which put the skids on any ideas we might have had about tuning in a New York station for Stan Shaw 'gThe all night record man. Since that was the case, we would settle down and curl up with our little copy of Comm. Instructions. When we awoke two hours later with an aching wrist, we would find it was about time to be relieved so we began to ask all sorts of stupid questions to show that we were interested in radio. When we didn't receive an answer after repeating the third time, we concluded that perhaps the super- visor was too busy to bother us. Besides why should we wake him up. Some were lucky. They didn't have to stand a signal watch. They would wait in the com- partment for the aspiring signal oificers to come OH watch. It was a little messy with that ice melting from their noses but they always had exciting tales to tell. It seems that the signalmen had a better time on liberty than the radiomen. Most of the receiving of messages was done in Radio One and the transmitters and RBO fthe ball game boysj receivers were located in Radio Two. Down in the bowels of the ship in some incovenient place was tucked Radio Three which is mainly for emergencies. The TBS ftalk between shipsj may be operated from practically anywhere on the ship. Under- way, the bridge usually operated it for tactical operations. V The Communications Department did a fine job but was handicapped by lack of suiiicient time to give more than a smattering of ignor- ance to the ignorant. After some time on board, the extent of said time depending on the squad we were in, we were all exposed to the rigors of the Engineer- ing Department. From the sunlight and air of the upper decks, we were herded down, down, down, into the black depths of the ship's bowels, there to learn the science of the Engineering Gang. From dawn to dusk we were in classes, large open forums in which the instructor told us the war history of the COLUMBIA, their own personal records, or the type of women to be found in Fall River. But from this, and a sprinkling of drawings, we were able to glean some gems of information that, together with our previous training, tended to make the tasks twenty-six .4 in