Ludlow (DD 438) - Naval Cruise Book

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i1 - THE HUMAN ELEMENT HE t' h' h f 11 W5 is not repeat, not for you old salts, both real and self styled. It sec ion w ic o o T . a - better half or little t , Wh ever our mother, dad, your is purely for home consump 1on en Y LOW PH Ou can break out junior starts prodding with, just what did you do. on the - Y HH d ye olde Ship's History and turn to the indoctrination section and SaYf ere' 'ea this. -- . 4 RADIO THE Radio gang under full wartime complement consists of a Chief, a first class, two sec- -. ond class, four third class radiomen and three strikers. Their duties are carried out in Radio Central and in Emergency Radio when necessary. . . h 'The biggest job from standpoint of time and effort for the radiomen is copying the Fleet Broadcasts or Fox Skeds . This traffic is transmitted to all fleet units in Interna- tional Morse Code at speeds varying from 18 to 25 words per minute. Generally, copying skeds is the duty of the third class radioman. - D I . . Before a striker sews the coveted crow on his arm, 1115 dUf1C5 are Varied- Flfst he 15 3 messenger, routing all traffic to the Captain, Executive, Communications Officer and to whomever else is concerned. Of course, the shack must be kept clean and orderly and as usual in this man's Navy these tasks fall largely to the junior men. Naturally making a .good pot of coffee is a prime prerequisite. ' 1 U ' s A RM2c is usually the supervisor of the watch. It is his duty, while acting in this ca- pacity to make certain that the best frequencies for proper reception are in use, to have all 'incoming traffic routed promptly, and to clear outgoing messages and dispatches, He is the snapper or foreman of the watch and he must constantly guard against discrepancies in circuit discipline so as not to hinder transmission and reception of high priority traffic. A first class radioman has added to the duties of the second class petty officer, the job of copying the radio press for the daily fweather permittingl perusal of the morning paper. Radio press is the only real link with the world when the ship is at sea. All the im- portant news is edited by the operator on the circuit and mimeographed in time to go with morning coffee. It is this same press news that has cumshawed many a loaf of warm bread from the baker or an egg sandwich from the cooks for the mid. or morning watch. The Chief Radioman is at the top of the ladder. He is the key to the performance of the entire gang. Among his duties fall the jobs of advising on advancements in rate, desig- nation of watch supervisors and organization of the watches. The diligence with which he fulfills these tasks is reflected in the finish ed product each radio guard. p All radiomen feel a certain pride every time a wide eyed landlubber is introduced to the complicated maze of the radio shack. Many a chest has noticeably swelled at these words, How can you ever learn what all those knobs and dils are for? or All those signals sound the same to me. This is the reward of many hours of hard work. p i . SHIP'S LAUNDRY THIS Destroyer was built for fighting, and this is her primary purpose for existence every- thing else being considered secondary. The ship's laundry comes under the latter and crammed in a 5'x12' space isa washing machine, dryer, extractor, and press leaving, very little room for the operators. This was reason enough to make a big job difficult but rough weather and invasions were the real stumbling block and it has not yet been decided which of the two was the most hazardous since during rough weather the extractor had ta bad habit of bounding all over the place making it equally as dangerous as an invasion, Besides invasions and rough weather, break downs in equipment were not unusual Q which naturally only happened when all ry,-,,.yf was Caught up With. Breakdowns Could be re 30 A

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-wfq as-1 aa... . wil ,hte sumnfef 35 COUVPY escort for shipping bound to the United Kingdom. Following 1 period of training exercises, the Lucky Lud joined a task force accompanying a convoy bound across the Atl t ' f ' ' - an ic or the invasion of North Africag on Nov. 8, 1942, she was off Fedala, French Morocco, serving first as a control vessel for landing craft in the assault waves and then as a fire su t h' ' ' ' . . ppor s lp for the Army forces ashore. When hostilities opened the exchanged fire with shore batteries at Chergui and Cape Fedalag a little later she came under the fire of the French Naval forces moving up the coast from Casablanca, was hit emporary repairs, and from there she took an interest in this and forced to retire to effect t war which the Nazis will always regret. -wastefu- l 29

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paired however, if the parts could have been obtained b t able. Regardless of these hindrances we man d i' u rarely were spare Parts avail. age to c t ig it Wag m the popular shade of tattle-tale grey. on mme 0 tum out clean gear' even If h . . Fiction Z? g5f10dS,:nb,Ibe N3-Vy Yard were used to greatest advantage, yet at the com- ' , , I alfa' a .1 WY: 3 new breakdown was inevitable. Even our good fortune in receiving a new machine was bad luck, since it turned out to be the wrong type of cur- rent, but we managed to keep everyone happy Cwe hopej, Buttons were always our greatest woe, and someday we hope to open a button factory and replace all the many buttons that we always found in the bottom of the machines. P. S. officers will refrain from using paper clips on their cuffs in place of buttons, the Ship s Office complains too much. There were ho . u h wever many happy days between our ups and downs like finding dollar bills floating on the water in the washing machine and it was not unusual f th ff' . . , or e o icers and crew to double time to the laundry in search of a lost fountain pen The honest laundry men would always return these, after all, they were so badly damaged, they were of no use to us. Honest fellas, we did the best we could. SHIP'S STORE HE ship's store, known as the Bait Locker in better circles, was designed to provide -. men with those items which make life aboard a destroyer just a little pleasant, as well as necessity items, such as razor blades, shaving cream, soap, and other little unmention- ables . This ''little-bit-of-Macy's-on-a-destroyer'' is under the cognizance of the Supply Officer and capably handled by a storekeeper or storekeeper striker. Although the quantity of stock carried is not large, an effort is made to carry a large variety of items. In some cases variety of stock ranged from Mennen's foot powder to Chanel No. 5-perfume and at the height of cigarette rationing, men on the LUDLOW were contentedly puffing away at the brand of their choosing for only fifty cents a cartoon. These same cigarettes were a fast moving item on the beach at 314.00 per cartoon. p The maximum allowed profit on the ship's store is 15 percent. All profits thus de- rived are turned over to the Welfare Fund, where they are expended at the discretion of the Commanding Gfficer for the welfare and recreation of the crew. The money is usually spent for those long remembered ship's parties, or for athletic gear. This book, for the most part, has been paid for with ship's store profits. In spite of the usual healthy gripes, the ship's store has always been the most popular' spot aboard ship, and a great factor in maintaining morale at a high level when days were: d k t. , , ar The customer fusuallyj was satisfied, and we in the S Division feel that the ship's store has served it's 'mission in a creditable manner. ' SHIPFITTERS GANG l HE last compartment aft on the starboard side, like the caboose on a powerfully loaded T Freight train, is the office and shop of the mightl' Lad?-9 Capflble Shlpflttefis gadg- Winding up under the ever-loved Chief Shipfitter Tarpey, this outfit takes just pride in IIS long record of improvising and efficient work at any hour and 1n any part of the world to ke the Lud watertight and on the move regardless of its shell hits or hull rips. Known ep th C8zR ang fconstruction and repairj, these men operate in and from their 2'x8' also as k.e if all Carpentry plumbing, sheet metal work, and all necessary repairs Sho? ta Tghcare' mee,-in gpacesi This department has a well established war record cov- Ziiiigdifacst :ind itfgective ripair of damage from enemy shelling, bombing, and mines, and v f t l h l th h li being Constantly readY for any CmC1'genCY ffiin flghtmg Q 'res O p uggmg O es m e ul