Sierra (AD 18) - Naval Cruise Book

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Small boats have engines which from time to time need repairs, and there is the boat engine shop to do this type of work. ln addition to those already mentioned, there are several other shops: the print shop, the photo shop, the welding shop, the refrigeration repair shop, and the sail locker. The repair department of the Sierra accomplishes for ships of the fleet work which cannot be done by the ship itself for lack of equipment, mate- rial, or trained personnel. Whe'ther or not a ship comes alongside is deter- mined by the size of the job and the number of jobs to be done. Duringha period of nineteen months more than 250 ships have been tied up alongside our ship for repair work, and more than 500 have been tended in other berths. Those tied up alongside have ranged from little LCl's and YMS,' which were dwarfed by the huge Sierra, to the USS California. As the sizes of the vessels tended have varied, so have the jobs. lt might be turning out a small gear in the machine shop, or it might be lifting the stack off one de- stroyer and setting it down on another, and that stack switchingjob was ac- tually done by this department. lt isn't just the fine tools and equipment that makes the repair department a going concern, it's the men using them that count. Quite often during the war these men worked round the clock in shifts in order to put a combat ship back on the firing line. Seven days a week they worked, and there was no time and a half for overtime or double time for Sundays. The USS ,Sierra operated in the Pacific Ocean areas with the assigned task of repairing ships that needed it. She can report to the world at large- Mission accomplished. 1 Communications Department The communications department of the USS Sierra has given valuable service not only to our brood of ships, but also to the staffs which have had their headquarters on board this ship. Our signal bridge and radio room, as well as the coding room, worked night and day sending, receiving, coding, and decoding messages not only for our own ship, but also for all ships alongside. ln addition the men of the communications department daily edited and mimeographed the press news for distribution around the Sierra and all ships alongside. At one time our signal bridge handled an average of l50 messages a day, and twice that number of messages were handled in one record 24-hour period. Our general message center played a very large part during the war in supplying small craft with back copies of general messages. During a period of twelve months over one million copies were mimeographed and distributed. The post office was another function of the communications department handling a large volume of mail, as well as selling money orders and stamps. Every Sunday church services are held either on the boat deck or in the mess hall, and our schedule of religious services was sent to all the ships nearby, so that they could attend. When there was a Catholic chaplain in

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CIARPENTERS' SHOP BQILER SHOP INSPECTING A CASTING IN THE FOUNDRY

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? BLACKSMITH SHOP UPPER MACHINE SHOP 4 QPTICAL SHGP PQ