Hamner (DD 718) - Naval Cruise Book

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rx --me msi'fife'e-E rff'4lf 7 R' 'i ! V THE DECK FORCE FIRST DIVISION DECK-Front Row: MALONE, WICKS, IENKINS, W. R., JOHNSON, V. H., BERRY, J. R.: Back Row: PACK, CROM- WELL, SMITH, LTJG BETHEL, WALLROFF, NELSON, E. E., BERRY, M. W.: Missing: SAADI, LUNSFORD, FUENTES, PUFFENBURGER. From swab down in the morn till well after 1600 sweepers, we of the deck gang, undermanned as usual, can be found working the sides, cleaning or painting weather deck areas or, during foul weather, blocking every inside passageway with our scrubbing and painting. Topped by our two boisterous but very effective leaders, the Boatswain's Mates of the HAMNER fight the continuous, often despairing, seldom encouraging battle to preserve and keep shipshape the exterior areas, the,crowded heads, and the equipment-packed passageways. To ease our never ending need for more men, almost every seaman apprentice reporting aboard fresh out of boot camp can look forward to a manda- tory tour of duty with us to orient him rapidly to the rigors of destroyer life before he is considered eligible to strike for other rates. We are the Turn To gang on this ship, make no mistake about it. It is we who ride the spinning anchor buoy while struggling to link up, crawl out the mooring lines to tie on rat guards, and spend days suspended over the sides in the dinky boatswain chairs or from swing- ing stages. Whenever there is a refueling or transfer at sea to be accomplished, the deck gang does the rigging, handles the greater share of the inhauling, and receives, on occasion, the soaking black slimy oil spray from an overflowing oil trunk or parted fuel hose. Upon sighting our next port of call, little time is left for daydreaming of liberty ashore, the Boats keep us keenly aware of more timely tasks at hand such as a complete fresh water washdown of the ship, rigging of awnings, laying out of mooring lines, assembling the accommodation ladder and preparing the motor whale boat for its various duties in port. The clutter of paint cans, uncleaned brushes, soiled rags, and worn canvas about the paint locker in port or underway and the figures of tired men, paint brush or chipping hammer in hand, at random about the decks indicate we're busy, and as the other one hundred and seventy HAMNERites start their eternal complaining about the blocked-off passageways, secured heads, or roped-off deck areas, you KNOW the deck force is turning to! Keeping the HAMNER's appearance squared away is OUR job, and we give it our best! We also draw our share of the watches varying at sea from the various lookout stations, all either under the torrid tropical sun, in the face of heavy winds, torrents of rain and bow salt water spray or SECOND DIVISION DECK-Front Row: FOWLER, R. H., RITCH DUFFY, SWALLOW, FLOYD, F., RO0TS:iSecond Row: ROBINSON MEBUS, TAUL, ENS BEIERLING, SUMNER: Back Row: ROSENFIELD BELL, S., BADAYOS, McCOgMICK, CALDWELL, MAKIQ Mlsslng COX, I. E., CHEVEZ, SIMS, F WLER, C. S., JENKINS, D. L. during the frigid black nights of the Taiwan Patrol, to the more shel- tered duties as boatswains mate of the watch, helmsman, lee helms- man, messenger, and phone talker. After a tiring day's work on mport duty days, there is no escaping, no matter how much we try, the long, uneventful, lonely, sleepy bow or stern sentry watches. However, regard- less of how long, tiring, tedious or repetitious our duty may be, we Boatswain Mates boast with great pride that our rate, senior in the Navy, was pulling its load in our Navy long before most of the other rates were conceived and will continue to do so long after they have expired. For there is no ship, sail, oil or atomic powered, Man 0' War or merchant, that will ever put to and stay at sea without us. . . . .,. ,...,f,,.,.:-zz ,,.,-gff.--11.-.1. . .. nv. 2 ., ... ..- A11 . .. .., , . L --Hr-L,-

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FIVE INCH GUNNER'S MATES-Front Row: FULMER, C. R., RUSSEL, 0'NEIL, SAUION, WILSON, I. F., MILLER, R.: Back Row: FLANAGAN, MARTIN, PURDY, BAIN, WARD, H. H., RYAN,- LTIG GOTTSCHALKQ Missing: POOLE. ...5fn,:.:..,! !,!l'F! FIVE INCH GUNNER'S MATES Three primary design factors, concentration of fire power forward for aggressive sea action, accuracy for providing close-in fire support for troops ashore and rapid defensive fire against oncoming aircraft at either high or low elevations are all combined into the HAMNER's three 5 f38 mounts which we of the five inch gun gang so meticulously guard. Experience has proven that our guns will provide reliable fire in actual battle for the accomplishment of these missions only if the pre- ceding days, months and even years have shown careful cleaning, lubricating, protective oiling and constant performance checks by the assigned gunner's mates. ln accord to these standards, we can boast freely that our guns of the HAMNER's main battery are ready! ! We're not seen much topside except for chipping and painting of the exterior of the mounts, cleaning and oiling the bores, or greasing up the bare metal portions of the barrels. Most of our work takes place inside the mounts or handling rooms where no salt, grit or dirt can 41 be toleratedg the hundreds of fittings, gears and cams, the chain hoists and the various motors must be kept thoroughly lubricated, and areas of bare metal such as the recoil and slide assemblies, loading trays, breech block and breech areas are maintained smooth, shiny and cov- ered with a thin protective layer of oil. Whenever a casualty develops, it must be expeditiously repaired, and we are constantly probing to find advancing stages of future trouble. On days of scheduled firings, we take our guns through complete pre-firing checks to minimize the possibiliies of a casualty during the actual firing runs, and immediately after General Quarters, its turn to to erase the corrosive or damaging potential of residue powder, burnt-off oil and general soot which seems to appear from everywhere during the shock of firing. Overall, our one main peacetime objective is to get that big white E painted on the side of the mount and keep it there! ! ! S A 2 2 slevi as gf XI f X f do I! I I 1 fir ON..-Zi