Maine Maritime Academy - Tricks End Yearbook (Castine, ME)

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foundation of a life's work had been laid, and, with their aid, another cornerstone was firmly embedded. Since that day in July, 194-2, the engineering department had taken many ad- vancing strides, and was now fully prepared to carry 011 its training program, and to continue on its trail of development. .0 ,I '- fl fm 9 ,. Wu 4 ff WS t x: . W lf! K I Z f ll - iv by 'i' N Upon returning to Castine, three courses were added to the program, Diesel engines, turbines, and machine shop work. One afternoon a week was spent in the basement of the administration building, operating lathes and doing practical work. As the winter months rolled by, the en- gineering department continued to take firm and steady steps forward. In the classroom, new texts were acquired and a system of monthly exams was set up. ln the machine shop, a sim- plex pump, a one-cylinder engine, and numerous valves and fittings were acquired. To the eye, these additions were slight, but to Mr. Murry, who was constantly striving to garner useful equipment, they were a stepping-stone to the future. By June, the class, which now numbered only f orty-one, was ready to put their months of study to practical application on the training ship '4American Pilot. They were upperelassmen now, the eight seniors had graduated to their positions in the Navy and Merchant Marine, and in their place were fifty-five ufI'CSlllllCll.,7 To aid the growing department, Lt. Kilby was added to the stall' as auxiliary machinery in- structor.

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Tl-1E ENGINEERS ln July, 1942, approximately sixty-one newly appointed llllfltillilllllfill tackled the task of learning marine engineering in sixteen months. To them, the time seemed more than adequate, but to Lt. ,lames Murray and his assistants, Lt. g.i William Arnold and Lt. Herman Meier, every day counted. The task of forming a curriculum capable of developing these raw recruits into third assistant engineers was not an easy hurdle to jump. o simplify matters, the course was divided into six subjectshreciprocating engines, boilers, auxiliary machinery, practical mathematics, electricity, and rules and regulations. The first few weeks of classes were, in many respects, a proving ground. Officers, who were more accus- tomed to doing than telling, familiarized them- selves with the class room atmosphere. Students, with hooks as their tools, set out to learn the theory and mechanics of the plants they would some day operate. The initial step had been taken, but for the olhccrs, a welcome breathing spell came in September, when the stage was shifted to the training ship E'Alleghany. Down in the more familiar surroundings of the engine room, the instructors found the task of indoc- trinating the future engineers, a much easier one. .After three months of standing watches, operating and dismantling pumps, firing and cleaning boilers, and witnessing emergencies, the students, with the picture of an engine room firmly fixed in their minds, were ready to return to the classroom. The instructing staff, which had acquired an additional member, Lt. g.J T Seymour Erdrich, was also more confident in embarking on the second phase of training. The summer months were spent down on Long island Sound, where the upperclassnien found themselves with Il101'C responsibility than they had ever had before. In thc engine room they rotated the duties of cadet engineer, fireman, water tender, oiler, electrician, etc., with the underclassmen as their assistants. They handled the throttle, operated the boilers, and cut the plant in and out regularly. A daily wateh-stand- ing routine of four hours on and eight hours off was set np. This was alternated at two-week intervals with practical repair work throughout the ship and machine shop practice. There is no doubting the fact that this phase of the train- ing gave the midshipmcn their closest contact with the work and duties for which they were preparing. Xvith their six months of ship duty completed, the now seasoned students returned to Castine for the final steps. During the two short remain- ing months, they reviewed and studied possible license questions. At the Sallie time they were gaining new knowledge, for they all grew to learn that an 6IlgillCC1'-,S days of learning are never ended. Eager to see what the future held for them, they nervously passed through the academy finals and sat for their licenses. Then, on October 30, 1943, they reached their ultimate goal as they accepted their third assistants' license and ensigns' commission in the U. S. N. R. Ahead of these newly comniissionecl officers lay innumerable opportunities. For them the

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W ssxkz THE DECKMEN The deck department of the Maine Maritime Academy, consisting of four deck sections, Dl, D2, D3 and D4, have industriously spent the time between July, 1942, and October, 194-3, intensively studying all those subjects which go towards the making of a master mariner - navigation, seamanship, cargo, mathematics, rules and regulations, communications, naval science, ship construction, first aid, and ele- mentary engineering are all necessary to attain this goal. These subjects were at first a mystery and seemed far beyond our grasp, but under the capable and untiring efforts of our instructors, we have become familiar with the intricacies of a mariner's life. Navigation, supplemented by mathematics, is the principal deck subject. For it is by means of a 'thorough knowledge of this art that the ships of our Merchant Marine safely and eco- nomically ply the oceans of the world. No man is a sailor until he has finally mas- tered the practices of common seamanship - a study which ranks next to navigation in im- portance at this academy. Naval Science, to those of us who upon grad-' nation intend to accept commissions in the Navy and go on active duty as Ensigns, U. S. Es E . gsm W' 1 s s s is W ii L as is E ,. 5? N. ll., is of importance, for in this course Naval caslcnis, gunnery, drills and Naval Regulations .. c studied in detail. 'L he subjects embraced by this course can be me e app.eciated for their importance when one .considers that our curriculum has been :he tened from three years to sixteen months. Our academic studies are not entirely depend- ent on theory alone for six months of our course is spent on practical work aboard ship. It is during these months that we learn to apply the theories taught in the classroom. It is during this time that we are first indoctrinated to the new environments of a mariner's life. The dramatic clamor of the General Alarm calling us to abandon ship, collisions a11d Hre stations, and General Quarters is never to be forgotten. Nor will be the many evenings spent in sailing, swimming, attending the movies, or just ushoot- in' the breeze with our fellow shipmates. Now as the time for our graduation approaches and with this graduation the taking on of the responsibilities of an officer in our Merchant Marine or Navy, we can look forward to the future with conlidence that comes from the knowledge that we have received here at the Maine Maritime Academy the finest education obtainable to start us on our 116W careers.