Stoddard (DD 566) - Naval Cruise Book

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l DIVISIDN The earth is not moved by steam propulsion, but in the world of a ship, it is the only thing. Ultimately, all the power that STODDARD uses and brings to bear on the enemy depends on pure water heated into steam. Steam makes the engines go, powers the electrical generators, pumps the water, makes the drinking water. The job of making steam belongs to the Boiler Tenders. lt's sometimes a thankless job, especially when a puff of black smoke sneaks past, or the soot from the tubes lands on deck instead of the water. But there is the compensation of knowing that the ship can survive without it's men to watch the water in the glass, clean the firesides, gently adjust the burners and forced draft blowers. The BT's enjoy their own world apart, a world that is filled with incomprehensible terms to the uninitiated-downcomers, uptakes, periscopes, tubes, firesides and watersides. To those who don't know, it is a world in which pipes seem to run at random from one amazing place to another astounding one. But the real BT sees his plant as a whole, understands the function of each pipe and valve, and sometimes one thinks he'd like a few more, just to make it a little more complicated.

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Like a centralized fix-it shop R Division con- gregates all the men who repair all the things that could go haywire throughout the ship. lf the plumb- ing doesn't work R Division will help. lf the gyro is acting up, R Division will fix it. If the whale boat won't run, R Division will get it going again. From a hole in the hull to a light that is burnt out, R Division is ready to repair it. The ingenuity and resourcefulness of the tra- ditional Yankee mechanic is the special characteristic of all the men in this division. They can and will try to do the job. And if the job, no matter how large or how small, is humanly possible, they will do it. These are men that can't be stopped and won't take no for an answer. In their hands a piece of wire, some putty, and a screwdriver become more than tools and materials, they will form a plug for a leaking pipe, a secure connection for a telephone jack, even, if necessary, a jumper for a shorted wire. Their job is a large one on a ship nearing the quarter-century mark. The fact that it is still holding together better than its builders expected is due to them and to their predecessors. DIVISION SFP2 Tozzi fixed many items on the vise in the shipfitters' shop. -- .,,.,, ,.,,,, , ,, ..,. W 1 mower- Mil: limes an '1 H 1 ' V '