Ludlow (DD 438) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 40 text:

and pumping out or. flooding various compartments. Speaking of fighting flfes and PIPE' ging A holes, there was the time when the ol' Lud was off the .coast of Africa, CCasablanca, to be exactjnblasting away at the ,lean Bart, French cruiser. Suddenly, the mighty L lurched and snorted. She had been hit-a direct hit forward of number two magazine. Everyone was stunned, and for a few seconds, welded to the deck. .But it had. its effect-this was no drill! This was it! Here wasnwhere these men, these drill-happy fire- eaters, showed their stuff. In a short time, the fire was out and the hole plugged. When things calmed down again, it was found that there was not a single casualty. I At a later date, the Lud received another hit, while steaming off the coast of Italy fAnzio, this timej. But that damned can was charmed. The shell ripped through her decks, -but it was a dud. No explosion occurred. However, a few electrical fires broke out. Again these men were right on the ball. No sooner were the fires under control than word was passed that the shell had ruptured the fire main, flooding the mess hall. Tarpey, knowing the ship better than his own home, cut the supply of water to and from the ruptured sec- tion, then had his men rig jumpers and set up the pumps. A while later the mess hall was ready for use again. It all seems like a long time ago now. Well, to get back to the details again, this outfit is also trained to maintain stability :against war damage and storms. If one compartment should happen to become flooded, taking the ship off an even keel, they have to know which compartment has the same ca- pacity, and by flooding it too, bring the ship to an even keel again. Underway, this gang stands security watches consisting of checking all compartments and bilges against flood- ing or fire, and keeping the officer of the deck informed of their conditions. Most of the time these reports are routine and monotonous. But there was one time when the 0.0.D.'s were anxious tophear them . . . On the way back from the Pacific the Luci was sent on a trip to the Aleutians. Upon arriving there, high winds and unfavorable seas caused her to ram the dock, ripping a nine 'foot gash six inches above the water line in her starboard bow A temporary patch fwhich leaked slowlyj caused many sleepless hours on her final trip back to the States. But now she's home, awaiting the final curtain on a grand and glorious career. The vigilance of those guys in C8zR will long be remembered by the officers and men of a great ship- The United States Destroyer 438. CIC I CIC stands for Combat Information Center but with all of the gadgets, radars, plotting boards, radio phones and speakers, voice tubes and demands for information from the bridge and several other places, it is affectionately tagged Cripes, I'm confused , or better yet, Cripes it's crowded . . . Probably all the work, effort and money invested in this small room has been well spent however. when it's value to the war effort is tabulated. The story of the surprise attack on the Lud at anchor by a German E-bgat at Gglfe Juan, Southern France, shows the value of CIC. What chance would we have had of chas- ing that fast enemy boat at night without our radars and expert tracking ability to keep its positions plotted, keep track of its changing speed and course and finally be able to train and point the 5-inch guns into the darkness so accurately that 40-knot targets can be knocked out of the water. Even the splashes of our salvos showed up on the screen as the pursuit continued. The chase and probable destruction of this target took less than an hour. A high speed example of excellent, well trained teamwork on the latest gear. Much of our Success against our enemies is due to the effectiveness of our CIC teams. CIC with its constant use of at least the surface radar and it's dead reckoning track play a vital role even in peace time. Here navigation with comparative safety in any kind of weather is its big contribution. Just as enemy targets, planes and ships etc, could be tracked and always accounted for, so can peaceful ships, rocks, floating wrecks, islands, and other na- vigational dangers be seen and avoided miles before they become dangerous Better than 32 '

Page 39 text:

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

Page 41 text:

anything else is the fact that a clear radar scre . we Shipping or other navigational danger to be iiiclian ive .3 reasonably certainty that there is and tracked with the radars- Considering the n one with. Even ram squalls can -be seen CC l Billy tint these war Years and the resultant shoriiiieyofotrr the ciremendous elipanslon of our ships, it must be realized that this almost im oss'bl ame men and Officers to mn the There is no substitute for - ' v i ' P I ? task was made a lot Simlllef by radar experienced captains to quickly train the ff' i a e it possible for the old shil-TS in relativell' short time. O was of the deck necessary to man the new Theeffi' ' f 'f ' - our first fouri:liiRfLa,si?mnsL liaczlzi we hliwci: It today, however, was not an actuality in the day of in those days While Seellnin 1 r We 3 f true, but the two comparatively crude radars aboard It waSn,t until March of 123gZ4m1?3Cu10US,hwere located in a corner of the Captain's sea cabin. t u . a er our it at Anzio that the t I the division conimander's stateroom below the bridge. presen C C was made out of e essential information CIC continuously puts out on movin O experience at ship handling but CIC m d ' ' i But, in addition to th Sllifls in rings of its radar eyes- it is CVC11 1T1Ore popular with the night watches for its pri .eision-ma e rew called coffee. Varying all the way from really fine tasting stuff in a rea- n a slimy mug, it was always friend- sonably clean cup of an evil brew of Lord knows whati ly and never failed to warm and cheer. Occasionally when a heavy roll sent someone's -coffee spilling over -the fresh-laid tracing cloth on the plot, The CIC Officer would inti- mate that the next time it happened the coffee pot was going out for good. Itboiled on, however, right to the end, adding a real measure of comfort in the otherwise dreary and dark black hole of Calcutta. As one might imagine the dark and not too well ventilated shack had more than its share of seasickness, but somehow even in the roughest weather when chairs would not stay upright and the DRT tracking arm was unmanageable, the required infor- mation still went up to the bridge. The men and officers standing these four-hour watches in rough weather made-frequent use of wastebaskets in their illness, but no complaints. The watch and the storm would pass and all would be well for a while again. THE DECK FORCE N the days of old, when men went down to the sea in ships, and Diesel and Steam Engine were words yet unknown, every, sailor was a seaman, and every seaman a stout-hearted man through and through. With the passing of the years, there was an acceleration in the migration of peoples and an increase in world trade. These things brought on the building of new and modern ships and gave birth to jobs and skills never before practiced on the world's water. Yes, men still go down to the sea in ships, but, now, not every sailor is a seaman. There are engineers, shipfitters, radiomen, radar- men, and many others. As a result, the men who still carry on the traditions of the salty occupants of Davy Jones' place, are now formed into their own select group on ships, 'known as The Deck Force. Well, wife, mother, father, sister, brother, do you know much about that sailor of yours since he joined this cocky outfit? Oh, you probably know he's in the deck force but do you know anything about his job or the men he works with? Well, then, give a listen. On a Destroyer, the Deck Force has two divisions, numbered l'1st and 2nd . The ratings are usually divided equally between them, seeing as how their -Jobs are equally im- portant. The majority of the men are of the Seaman second class ratings. lxlext there are a smaller number of Seaman first class ratings. Men promoted .from Slc become Cont- swains, Qand say coxin to him, not cox-swane , or he'll cringej. Next step up. is Boatswain's Mate second class, followed by BMlc , and finally by Chief B0atSWa1n S Mate, fand give that word Boatswain the same treatment as Coxswain Their main job is to see that this ten million dollar can moors to a pier, or anchors, 11 d or in'ur . To do this they have to be ,and gets underway smoothly and wit out amage J y Smart in handling lines and fenders, and quick m understanding and obeying orders. They can make or break a ship. Theirs is the outward sign that represents the navy. 33 '