Flint (AE 32) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 31 text:

ETC Burch recalls reading a table of deck seamen of ordered to work down below on the first coal-burning ships. The man who signed the order was reportedly name Snipe. This correlates with other sources who say snipe was once synonymous with black coal gang , the men who fed the boilers. I ■ 27

Page 30 text:

What ' s A Snipe? Ask an engineer what a Snipe is and he ' s like to put his hands on his hips, throw his head back and give you a look that could turn ice cream into cottage cheese. When you ' ve recovered enough to ask someone more responsive, you ' ll find out that ' s what they call a man who works in the engine room. But have you ever wondered where the word came from? Mr. Webster defines Snipe as a wading bird who lives mainly in marshes. The word itself derives from the ancient Danish, though the spelling, sneppe, later evolved into snype when the Angles and Saxons migrated to England. Mr. Shakespeare used the word in Othello to mean a contemp- tible person , but that was in 1604 and by the early 1900 ' s the term was used for workers on railroad gangs. Sometime in the early 1920 ' s the term was applied to engineers aboard Navy ships. But who coined the phrase, or why, is still a mystery. v I Could it be the nickname snipe refers to a hole-dwelling marsh bird. EM2 J P Morgan is an outspoken proponent of this theory. 26

Page 32 text:

(STANDING, left to right) HTC Fred Vance, HT2 Kenneth Welch, MRFA Shawn Hilton, HT1 Leonard Martin, HTFN Michael Josselyn, HTFN Richmond Huntley, HT3 Adrian Hernandez, HTFN Oscar Williams, HTC Joseph Pryor. (KNEELING) HT3 George Jenkins, EN3 Mario Cawile, HT3 Harry Oliver, HT3 James Anderson, HT3 Bruce Allen a R ' Division The men of R Division are tasked with overall responsibility for damage control and shipboard repair in both normal and emer- gency situations. The Hull Technician (HT) and the Machin- ery Repairman (MR) are highly skilled in the use of precision tools, welding technique and general damage control theory. One of their jobs is to train the rest of the crew in firefighting and other emergency evolutions, but their day-to-day work ranges anywhere from fixing a leaky faucet to bailing out a flooded compartment after heavy weather. Keeping FLINT seaworthy is a constant process of exposing and eliminating safety hazards, checking the readiness of fire-fighting equipment and keeping tabs on the preventive maintenance system. Suited up and ready to weld. 28