Rupertus (DD 851) - Naval Cruise Book

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Anyone who has ever been aboard a Naval man-o-war is undoubtedly familiar with a certain group of individuals called the Deck Force. The Deck Force consists of Seaman supervised by calm, quiet, gentle souls known as Boatswains Mates. In accordance with Naval tradition, our jobs are many. While at sea, we rig the stations to take on fuel so that the ship will continue to steam. We not only take on fuel, but we take on mail. In fact we take on anything. We're the rescue detail for downed pilots or men over-board. Wfe are the fearless men who shoot her guns during battle. We are the ones who paint her, maintain her, care for her boats and ground tackle. We are hard working men who bring her in and out of ports with the help of a certain crowd below called the snipes',, oops, excuse us, engineers. We, the deck seaman, are a group of men who are closely united, for we can get very confused at times. For example, at 0400 we are rousted out of our bunks and are told that we will be refueled at 0600. Our job is to rig all fueling stations to Port. After ninety minutes of grunting and groaning, our job is done. We relax while awaiting the oiler. Then, ten minutes before we are to refuel, the word is passed that the ship will refuel to Starboard. We grimace as we realize the whole fueling rig has to be shifted to Starboard in almost record time, but nonetheless we get the job done. At last we are back in port and everyone is on the beach. Everyone, except WD divi- sion, who is assigned to scrub sides from a stage. This is how we get to see the beach. One of the seaman tending our stage assures us that he is an expert knot artist. Not worrying about a thing, we climb over the side and put our full weight on the lines. In the brief time before we hit the cold water of Yokosuka harbor we feel that our friendly stage tender wasnit telling the truth about his knot tying ability. Who says this d ---- division is closely united? As deck seamen We are called upon to show our special abilities when entering port on a Destroyer. Your station is number one heaving line! You are proud when the time comes and you stand majestically by the bullnose, knowing that the Captain and dependents are watching. The word comes, and you rear back to throw. It is a mighty toss, going, going, gone, as you stare with helplessness suddenly remembering that you forgot to hold on to your end. The man behind us during all these tedious operations can probably best be seen stand- ing in the background during an evolution, or walking along the main deck with a large cup of coffee in his hand and a frustrated look up on his face. All in all, as deck seamen, we can say that we are a happy lot, and with few excep- tions, proud.

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W. D. DIV Front row, left to right: Harvey Pitcher, SN, Alvin Cruz, SA, Neil Padgham, BM3, George Corona, SA, Ernest Villialobos, SA, Leo Huerre, SN, Edward G'Brien, BM2, Jerry Willyard, SA, Dale Stoner, SN, Harry Register, SN, Dennis Smith, SA, Jerome Deschaine, SN, Anthony Caputo, SN, Billy Morris, BM3, Joseph Martin, SA. Second row: Howard Burgett, SA, Kit Keith, SA, Howard Burg, SA, Phillip Duciaume, SN, Raymond Andreoli, SN, Kurt Kelley, BM2, Calvin Hamilton, SA, Billy Conoly, SA, Dewey Olander, SN, Richard Gade, SA, Glenn Carpenter, SN, Billy Michaels, SN, Johnnie Thomas, SN, Mario Moreno, SN. Third row: Robert Bembry, SN, Frank Marker, SN, Claude Mattingly, SN, Anthony Ferraro, SA, James Birchfield, SA, Werner Hoeizle, SN. Fourth row: Kenneth Pedersen, BMC, Samuel Gray, SA, Walter Burkhartsmier, SN, William Stewart, SA, Michael Beliveau, SN, Stephen Mason, SA, Marvin Blackman, SA, John Buchanan, SA, Frederick Meinhardt, BM1, John Polar, BM3, Joseph Kwitowski, SA, Edward Scherpf, SN, Raymond Wright, SN, William Rowe, SN, John Gardner, SN, Homer George, SA, Larry Jones, SA, Russell Gilbertson, BM2, LTIG Joe Saul. 'B lx xr ,, 1, l as 5 rw. www X H W The lililv

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