Everett Larson (DDR 830) - Naval Cruise Book

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— b Sonarman on watch

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SUPPLY In almost every way of life one tends to forget those who perform the routine but vital tasks which make that particular life possible. So it is aboard ship. The preparation and serving of food, the requi- sitioning and storing of supplies and provisions, the operation of the Laundry, Ship ' s Store, Sick Bay and Barber Shop, the accounting and disbursing of funds, — none of these appear as important or in- teresting as, say, the firing of a 5 gun or the detec- tion of an unidentified air contact on the radar scope. Suspend any of these activities for a few hours, however, and you will discover only too quickly their importance. This is not to suggest that these jobs are in some obscure way heroic or glamorous. No work in a destroyer is alamorous, and where every man has a General Quarters station, heroism, if such there be, must be divided pretty evenly. Neverthe- less, a great deal depends on whether these day to day things are done well or not. You will look hard to find a happy or efficient ship with a poor General Mess, an inadequate Ship ' s Store, and an ill-man- aged laundry, for instance. And a Supply Office which never gets around to procuring the requisi- tion of the various departments can ham-string the best trained ship in the Navy. The tasks of supply are not thankless; no thanks are required for per- forming them any more or less than others aboard ship. But the degree to which they are done can contribute inestimably to the physical welfare of a ship and are most accurately reflected in the morale and appearance of the crew.