Columbia (CL 56) - Naval Cruise Book

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if FAKTNN rf '13, 5 6. llllll y E it Ffa -gf FC: nl ' 'WU T x n Ig, 1 x , X J l A, L L 2 CSU.-ll, ' E255-'53 4- 0700 -El Q Q le-lm .W V fli ally referred to as the nectar of the Godsf' They could be spotted by the fresh drool spots on their shirts. As the chronometer hands crept toward 1600, all activity ceased, and there was a noticeable shifting toward the compartments. As the fate- ful eight bells struck, all hell broke loose. The living compartments swelled with their human cargo till their sides bulged. Inside, each man was desperately pushing and fighting his way to his blue uniform, with its unused stripe, then back to his locker. Clothes were Hying every- where. Men assumed all types of positions in frantic efforts to make enough space to put on their pants. Y As suddenly as they came, they left. They swamped the quarterdeck bent only on reaching that tantalizing shore. In the compartments there were piles of motionless gear, and here and there a broken body, looking enviously at the retreating horde. So they went, some to be reunited with old pleasures, some to be introduced .to new ones, but all to banish for a few hours the thoughts of Load! , Fire! , Student Officer, et al. But as it must to all things, the end came to our sojourn in Newport. No longer would the spires of the Queen City of Narragansett Bay pierce the morning brightness and awe the sleep from drowsy eyes as we stood at morning quar- ters. No longer would we have Christie's, the Viking or Luke's Lodge nearby to prepare their world-famous Lobster Thermidor for us, nor be able to attend exclusive parties at the swank Ideal Cafe. No longer were we to be served by the handsomely appointed and adroitly handled craft of the Boat Pool. No longer could we attend the latest Broadway hits or newest films at Newport,s theaters, and then stop for an after-performance snack at any of the popular Drive-In's, such as the Texas Lunch. No longer could we visit the T. S. Officers' Club for quiet relaxation or perhaps an afternoon cocktail in its aristocratic atmosphere. No more of these frivilous pleasures for us, now it was off to the wild, unconquered watery l thirty-one

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thzrty could find our statlons w1th a m1n1mum of casualtles We found to our surpr1se that our watches mcluded a great varlety of dut1es Some were h1ghly 1nterest1ng and some were not In Gun nery we stood guard over the turrets and other mstallatlons Some wandered over the dark ened superstructure bangmg therr sh1ns and heads on all of the unseen appendages but nevertheless managmg to guard agamst m1s haps 1n the upper gun 1nstallat1ons CIC watches were stood 1n the C I C room actually workmg w1th the equipment there and helplng to supply vltal mformatlon to the brrdge wh1le underway the coffee wasn t bad elther' C8cR watches conslsted of holdmg down Cen tral Statxon and a comfortable cha1r wh1le keepmg an eye on watert1ght mtegrlty In Nav1gat1on we stood O OD and JO OD watches w1th the regular O D s from sh1ps com pany oiicers Wh1le underway we stood on the bridge and hstened to the preposterous amounts of mformatron that came 1n We reallzed that w1th about SIX years more trammg we mlght be come quahfied OOD s We stood lookout watches and learned whxch end of the b1nocu lars to look through and after that how to re port and how th1s mformauon was evaluated In Engmeermg we watched valves d1als pumps d1als bo1lers d1als gyroscopes d1als machme shops d1als and swrtchboards w1th more d1als Although we all seemed to get nothxng but mld watches we dxd learn how to stand the watches and at the same tlme a l1ttle about what we were workmg w1th The br1ght spot of our day was the tlrne set as1de for us to agam become officers and h1t the beach on llberty About 1500 act1v1ty would speed up and a sort of expectant hush would fall over the whole Shlp No lengthy study of psychology or ph1losophy was needed to charactenze each of the faces near us Those w1th long sad faces could be delinltely catalogued as e1ther on duty or broke Those Wlth that 1ndescr1bable gleam 1n thexr eyes were undoubtedly headed for an evenlng of femmme compan1onsh1p Those w1th thelr tongues hangmg notlceably out were ln fo1 an evenlng of compan1onsh1p Wlth what was poet1c t 7 I - C ' ' l . , . ' 9 1 1 J 3 J 1 1 1 : J - J ' :

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wastelands. And for these fearless adventurers there lived a prayer in the heart of many a Newport maiden, as they sat by their candles in a window facing the sea, and watched us weighing anchor for faraway New London. Having made the hazardous trip from New- port, we anchored in the Thames River off New London. The term anchored is used with reservation since it is rumored that the hull was in the mud before our anchor, but be that as it was, we were. And so to the business at hand. A careful study of the probability function as applied to student officers showed that by working two shifts a day, and by throwing overboard all prospective USN signees, all stu- dent officers could have the chance to visit the submarine school and base, actually the source of all submarine personnel in the Navy. So soon we found ourselves in an LCM head- ing for the fleet wharf. From there, a half hour ride in a rwank bus made by the Inter- national Truck Company terminated at a point, also on the river, at least a full half mile from where we came ashore. However, we did not arrive too late, but rather, just at the right time. For we were immediately ushered into a chow hall, and. . I N ' D 1 it fr : if ' AR- - 5 - j X auch Z W7 Y xy W.. f fa ,. err ,., , ' 6-SJ1, Y 2 u l mf xc actually ate, foff plates and with clean silver- warej, steak, mashed potatoes, a variety of vegetables, and pie, all in unlimited quantities. Happy sighs were heard, broken only by the popping of buttons. After a few minutes spent on the lawn, bask- ing in New London sunshine, we began our excursion. Armed with polaroid glasses, our first stop was the machine gun firing building, where six Daniel Boone's tried to hit stereoscop- tically described planes with electronic bullets- which no doubt explains the low scores! From there we traveled by foot, by bus, and by elevator, to buildings crammed with blowers, hydraulic systems, control boards, torpedoes and Hring chambers, Diesel engines of all types, dry cells, mock-ups, and mock-ups of the mock-ups. Of particular interest was the escape tank, where it was demonstrated that free ascents could be made from a depth of 100'-although it was admitted that fins and gills would be helpful! After this exhibition, plus demonstrations of engine room technique, consisting mainly of a cacophony of beeps and dings and honks broken by the crash of control levers, and the irml