Lexington (CVA 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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osborne sometimes we have fo make our own paris. faleni musf be everywhere. an aviation gasoline pump room. fools and paris are inve nioried daily

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Titel The engineering department of a ship is responsible for The oper- ation, care, and maintenance of all propulsion cmd auxiliary ma- chinery, the control of damage, and The accomplishment of those repairs which are beyond The capacity of The repair personnel or equipment of other departments. This responsibility appears to be a broad one and iT is. People sometimes wonder how a ship of The vintage of LEXINGTON can continue to steam at continuous high speeds and meet all operational commitments. This famous LEXINGTON reliability is no accident. Lex Snipes are not always in a position to be observed by The visitor or casual shipboard observer, but as long as The ship is able to steam, recover, and launch aircraft you know LEX engineers are on The iob. The department is a large public works organization of approxi- mately 525 men and T6 officers. The services provided are almost too numerous to mention and They are vital to not only The oper- ation of The ship but The health and comfort of The crew as well. Without engineering There would be no electrical power, ventilation, heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, water, aviator's oxygen, plumbing, carpenter work, locksmith work, or hull repair. Coffee pots are repaired free of charge and this may be The most vital service of oll. salty commancler The tive divisions of the department found plenty to keep them busy aboard and ashore during the course of the cruise. Auxiliaries division found several problems To keep Them busy. The change SGH-y ghiefg back and forth from hot to cold weather kept The steam heat and air conditioning gangs on their toes. The aviation and boat crane kept hydraulics personnel wondering what would happen next. l O2N2 personnel proved that an outstanding group of technicians can make air practically without a plant. If there are any heroes on this cruise they belong to the boiler division. Whenever any time is spent in the South China Sea it is uncomfortable for all hands but particularly so for B Division per- sonnel. They may not particularly like the extreme heat but the way they work and stand watch in the T30 degree plus temp- eratures you would never guess it. Everyone has something electrical which makes a friend in E Di- vision a real asset. Keeping the TMC, telephone switchboard, distribution switchboards, mirror landing system, fans, sound-powered phones, battle lanterns, pitometer log, motor-generator sets oper- ating has kept The electrician mates and interior communications electricians going day and night. salty warrant Mike division personnel kept their engines, generators, pumps, and evaporators operating at peak efficiency throughout the cruise. No matter what speed the Captain called for or how fast the crew used water, and they used an enormous amount, it seem that Main Engines Division personnel could come up with a little extra. The Repair Division found themselves without any Solariums or cages to build for airedales but nevertheless found plenty to do. A ship as old as LEX requires a tremendous amount of repair work but R Division personnel were equal to the task. Both UDT iurinal drain techniciansl men and Damage Controlmen pursued a vigorous program of readying the ship for battle in their separate ways. Between San Diego in early November T96T and San Diego in late May T962 LEXINGTON will have steamed neary 50,000 miles and will have consumed millions of gallons of fuel oil iNSFOl. Propelling 42,000 tons through the water for 65 months without major incident is a large order and is primarily one of never ending routine. When each member ofthe team does his routine iob in an excellent manner a successful cruise is achieved. This has been a successful cruise from an engineering standpoint.

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we have our own lighi' and power company service-excellenf price-free engineering watches are often boring and always hof. fuel-oil purify fest