Sierra (AD 18) - Naval Cruise Book

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., ,.... , CATHQLIC SERVICES CN THE BOAT DECK 1 PRCTESTANT SERVICES CN THE BCAT DECK

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the harbor, our chaplain would exchange services with him, thus giving the crew the advantages of properly-conducted Protestant and Catholic serv- ices. The chaplain was always ready to talk to the sailors from the ships alongside, as well as our own ship's company. l-le maintained a library for the crew and used this library as a book exchange for the destroyers. They would bring their books over to the Sierra and swap them for some of ours Engineering Department The engineering department of our ship made its most important con tribution to the successful completion of our first overseas assignment by get ting the ship where our orders told us to go. However, when we dropped anchor and prepared to take the tin cans alongside for repairs, the engi neers' work did not stop. Many of the ships that came alongside had to se cure parts of their engineering plants in order to effect repairs to boilers generators, pumps, or steam lines. The tender's fireroom gang were not only making steam to run our own auxiliaries, but they were also supplying steam to as many as four or five ships alongside. Likewise the large turbo generators in our enginerooms supplied electricity not only to run the ma chines and equipment all over our own ship, but also to run the electrical mission. The distilling plant of the Sierra had capacity to distill up to 60,000 gal lons of water per day from sea water, and much of this water was pumped to ships alongside as drinking water or boiler feed water. The tender's ice making plant manufactured l000 pounds of ice daily, and this too was occa sionally supplied to destroyers. And if the regular fueling activities were in adequate, the Sierra's oil king could supply the smaller ships with fuel oil, diesel oil, or lubricating oil from our reserve of over a million gallons C 61 R Department The construction and repair department, headed by the First Lieutenant consisted mainly of from l00 to 240 men in the deck force. These men han dled the lines of each ship that came alongside the Sierra, and their work as riggers with the ship's six cranes was a necessary item contributing to the success of the repair department's activities, When we changed the twin five-inch gun mount on the USS California and swapped stacks between two destroyers,- the deck force was the group that handled the rigging. ln addition, men from the deck force were assigned as boat crews for the Sierra's eighteen boats which were often loaned to other ships to haul am munition, stores, or liberty parties. On occasions working parties were even sent along from the Sierra to help discharge stores from a cargo ship to the vessels we were tending. - equipment on the destroyers alongside, whose generators were out of com-

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Supply Department A The supply department on a destroyer tender plays a major role in the daily operations of the ship, whether they concern services to another activ- ity or maintenance of our own vessel. ln order to carry out these duties the department is divided into four distinct groups, these are the disbursing group, the general stores group, the commissary group, and the special ac- tivities group. ln addition to maintaining the pay records of our own ship's company, the disbursing office has been called upon many times to pay the officers and men of various small craft temporarily separated from their own disbursing activity. ln some instances the disbursing office has also handled foreign ex- change, so that the men could make purchases ashore. Over twenty storerooms are required to carry the thousands of tons of various articles found in the general stores group. These are the materials necessary for the maintenance of the' ships tended by the Sierra. Some of this equipment is issued directly to other ships, while the rest' is used by our repair department in their work on these ships. One of the most important groups in the supply department is the com- missary group. We carry'large quantities of dry, fresh, and frozen foodstuffs not only for our own consumption, but also for issue to ships assigned to us for tending. lt has been necessary to continually replenish the many dry provision storerooms and the huge chill boxes, .capable of holdingihundreds of tons of fresh and frozen prod-ucts, so that we could fulfill the needs of our brood. The galley and bake shop are also integral parts of the commissary group. Many times it has been necessary to feed the crews of other ships or furnish bread and pastry when the facilities of ships alongside have been temporarily put out of commission. . And last, but far from least, is the special activities group which is set up to furnish all hands with their many personal needs. Coming under the cognizance of this group are the barber shop, tailor shop, cobbler shop, ship's store, clothing and small stores, laundry, and soda fountain. During the past two years the crews of many other ships have also enjoyed the benefits of these very efficient services' F Accurate maintenance of allgirecords concerning these activities is car- ried out in the supply and disbiirsing offices, and a close coordination be- tween all the various groups of the supply depargtyment has resulted in the rendering of services of the highest caliber during the many months that the Sierra has been in commission. , Medical Department Behind every functioning department of our ship stands the medical de- partment-endeavoring to prevent accident and disease and always ready