Smalley (DD 565) - Naval Cruise Book

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in Ilixi TN ion frrgzhferilrg Dcyfarfmmf Engineering was the largest department' on the ship and the most varied. It eonsisted ol' ten different rates, all specialties required to keep the machinery and associated auxiliaries of a modern man-of-war operating. Three-fifths of the Smalley consisted ol' main propulsion machinery. The Machinists Mates and the Boiler Tenders who comprised ISV Division saw us through sixty-five thousand miles of steaming with a minimum ot easual- ties. In the two fire rooms the BT,s operated the four boilers and the auxiliary equipment required to give the turbines the six hundred pounds of steam that they so readily devoured. From FULL BACK to STOP and then to FLANK the fire rooms always got the steam up. Remember when we blew safetys at thirty- five knots with 77? Un the other side ol the bullcheads in the engine rooms the MMR sent the steam into the turbines and made her gof, The Machinist Mates and the lioiler Tenders are probably the elosest knit group on the ship without one, the other is worthless. 1 x - Ihr hottcst. dirtiest jobs, but the most neees . 4 s uxg this was the lot ot the engineers. llnderwfax, exaeting response and eontinual mamtenauee was oi' the utmost importanec tor without .1 perleet engineering plant Sm alley would have been a eold dead ll tht llllx tilt to wfithout light. without heat. and una e' move. A ship eau nexier be any more eiheiellf than her engineering department q . t XVhile the rest ol the ship was staudiugt in three or on ' n w ' - . - rv IIN e in lour, the Ill s were dowll l tour their in the iire roems tor a lour on alll eil ioutme. The Nlaehinist Xlates never Q ot better than .1 llour on and eight oil w'aiL'll sehedule 1 eto In port tht seherlule was just as rough. Nlilm 1 dax lound the lil s worlxnn' around tht liberty was 1 f' I el4 eleaning or repairing a boiler. For lllt'lll l tlwaxs last on the list. ln thc engine rooms there were pumps to he NWI' down and paekine, to lie it-plat-eil. 'llllt'l'l' WVU' do ze T- ns ol xalxes both lavage and small that had 59 nd 1

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. af, .fW.,.,,,,,., lt Division to be repacked, bilges to be scraped and bulk- heads to be XYZlSllL'Ll. :Xnd then there were those in the engine rooins among the Nlachinist Mates who probably received less I't'CUgllltlOll than any other group, tl1e evaporator lI'lCIl. Twenty-four hours a day in port llllfl underway they had to he on the job. Tl1e 111c11 of Division, whose idiosyncrasies were never co1n- pletely tathomed by tl1e nninitiated, were always 'iready to answer all bells. To the Shipfitters of R Division fell tl1e task of keeping tl1e utin can from disintegrat- ing. You could follow any welding li11e to its end and find a shiptitter busily patching up a seam or putting up a IIGWV bracket for a fan. The heart of tl1e damage CUl1tI'Ol parties. tl1e Ships plumber a11d general repairnian. the members of tl1e shipfitters gang were literally jacks of all trades. The electrician's do1nai11 ran from the HIIIN- eral lights on tl1e bow to tl1e stern light. i11 Short the whole ship. It electrical current flowed tllfflllgll it tl1e electricians 111ates were on hand to keep it flowing. They switched generators and split the plant with the Silllll' ease that they changed lnses. They showed 53 movies a11d repaired the projector and when a 'glenionn was shown they took the rap as if it were they who had personally produced the Hop. And finally the third but not the least of the groups in KRD Division, the Av gang. It was their sweating and swearing that kept our temperamental dishwashing machines operat- in ging throughout the cruise. They maintained the refrigerating system and the emergency Diesel generator. They can be congratulated for having the most complete and up to date set of records in the Department. Then of course there was the 1nan with the typewriter. He not o11ly chased the liberty cards and the logs down each morning, but kept a fantastically large number of blueprints. records and files in order. It is probably because there is no other job anywhere on the ship aki11 to that of the engi- neers that their efforts are not always fully appreciated, but it 111ay be 11oted with pride that 11ot o11ce was tl1e Smalley unable to ful- fill l'l0l' operational coinmittnients because of a11 enginee1'i11g casualty.