Isle Royale (AD 29) - Naval Cruise Book

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OOPS! There yo the liahts Arsenic anyone ? How come they always put the big guy in the small place ? The Fire House Five Put the round peg in the square hole

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B DIVISION standing : Leffingwell, FA ; Morecraft, FN ; Roath, FA ; Drain. FN ; Colvin, BT2 ; Long, FN ; Richard. FN; Jack FN; Polenski, BT3 ; Wilcox. FA; Martin, FN; Tupin, BTl ; Harter, BTl ; Smith. SPCM. Kneeling: Sukert, BTFA; Smith, BTFN; Travelstead, BT2; Saunders, BT3; Presley, BT3; Cunning- ham, FN; Brickhouse, FA; Doran, FN; Barfield, FA. a chore. There are men like Hrankie, Ski, goes. This in it itself proves to be qui that can be awakened bv nothing short of an atomic bomb. But bv about 0615, with At 0600 reveill Elvis and Billv Jc . a dim view on life and angry with the world, they crawl out of their racks, and begin washing the sleep from their eyes. They go down to breakfast at 0630 and after their first cup of coffee, and only then, can a twinkle of a sniile be seen. At 0730 with their bellies full and all bright eyed and bushy tailed I they fall in for quarters to count heads and get the morning scoop. At 0800 the working day begins. For B division this means holding a field day or repairing the fireroom, machinerv and valves. The men enter the fireroom to the crack of the whip of our saltv second class P. O ' s and they soon lose the sluggish feeling and start working. Although a BT is se seen topside or heard about, they are the heart of the ship. The BT ' s operate and maintain the Idom The BT ' s operate and maintain the two Foster Wheeler modified D type boilers, the fuel oil service pumps, the feed pumps and the forced I draft blowers. The boilers supply steam to our own ship and ships alongside, as well as supply steam to ; the generators that put out electrical power to our ship and those in the nest. B division also has a section, small but very important, known as the Oil Kings who keep the ship supplied with fresh water, lube oil, and fuel (black) oil. Frenchy, Billy Joe, W. W., and Wing Ding run the happy little laboratory under the supervision of Tupin, BTi. Jeff runs the tool issue room and Skeeter is in charge i of supplying the men with parts for the various repair jobs. The BT has a large area in which to work, ranging from the bilges at the very bottom of the ship to the brim of the stack at the very top. According to Harter, BTi, in charge, B Division is a very hard working, swell bunch of men, even ' though they cut the wire pretty close sometimes as far as getting repair work on boilers and machinery done before getting underway. Refueling sometimes poses a problem it someone makes a mistake. Mistakes can result in having black oil all over the main deck, the side of the ship and half a dozen BT ' s. If this does happen, we clean up the mess under the watchful eves of Mr. Redding, Chief Smith and some evil-eyed Boatswain ' s Mates. But it doesn ' t happen verv often. hvervone is supposed to stay in the fireroom (the HOLE ) until 1600, but sometimes people start to disappear a little bit earlv until the mean little kid snares them and brings them back. At 1630 liberty uli ' Toes and the libertv hounds hit the beach and leave the dutv section behind along with the lazy ips gc at 2200 but when tht ibertv hounds return and use othi - people as a stvp ladder to get That is whv most of the men into their racks, a little hate and discontent is raised among the troop fioht for a top rack so thev are not the walked on, but the walkees. This has been an ordinary working day for B division and who knows, tomorrow might be a holiday Maybe we will have to clean firesides, punch tubes, refuel or clean up oil.

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Front row: LT Hovey ; Greene, EM2 ; I)ol;ine , K.Mli; Stevens, EMI; Perkinson, ICl; Boyett, ICl and Pratt, TMC. Secoiul row: (.riHin. EM3 ; Green, EMFN ; Gordon, EM3 ; Teachout, EM3 ; Koch, ICFR ; Bass, EMFN ; Kreiger, CT3 ; Duke, EMFR and Herrmann, EM3. Third row: Johns, EMS; Hultquist, ICFN; Goldfarb, ICFN; Buckley, ICFN; Graham, EMFN; Peters, EM3; Maynard, EMFN; Masker, IC3; Rhoades, EM3 and Davis, ICFN. E-Division is comprised of personnel in the Electrical and Interior Communications ratings. The Division ' s major func- tions are operating and maintaining the Ship ' s electrical equipment, and supplying tended ships with shore power, telephone service, etc. All hands in the Division pitched in with real Christmas spirit to give the ship a holiday look second to none. With the assistance of the Damage Control gang, all exterior decorations were designed, manufactured and rigged on short notice, much initiative and hand work being displayed. Peters, Koch, Graham, and Greene qualified as pole climbers extrordinaire while hoisting the Star and Cross to a dizzy height. Not the least of trying experiences was unrigging the remains of the decorations on Christmas eve, during the gale which had blown them down the night before. Rebuilding, and rerigging was accomplished that day in time for lighting up Christmas. After this experience, there was no doubt but that the remainder of the cruise would seem routine. Spirits are high as we look toward going home with a real sense of accomplishment and a feeling of a job well done. In this respect, there is significance in a newly adopted motto : We have done so much for so long with so little, now we can do almost anything with nothing . E D I V I S I o