United States Coast Guard Academy - Tide Rips Yearbook (New London, CT)

Page 33 text:

3 t?S ' s» Vif ' - Tuice is potential pcnvcr and, as cngmccr, tl an oHiccr should know liow to control it and develop it. Our first encounter with the intricacies of elec- tricity begins during the Physics course. Here we are introduced to the terms, perform elementary experiments, and obtain a thin crust upon which to base the more complex and formidable knowl- edge of the subject. D.C. Circuits and Machinery is the next step and it proves to us that there is more to electricity than just pushing a button. Lieutenant Creedon is ever inclined to allow the cadets to express their opinion as to the truth of a statement. Typical polls: How many say this answer is right? — 6. How many say it is wrong? — 4. How many don ' t vote? — 11. Total in class — 36. But we master D.C. and go on to A.C. This is perhaps the most theoretical and at the same time the most practical part of elec- tricity. We study the operation of the alternator and the A.C. motor and their attendant phe- nomena. Radio is the final branch of E.E. and is a necessary study as it deals with the nerve system of the service. Laboratory work is concomitant with theory. It is here that each cadet actually gets the feel of the humming machinery and becomes ex- perienced with its idiosyncrasies. CAPT. (E) G. R. O ' CONNOR Head of Engineering Department 29

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n n tID tttl Mc (PuMe MACHINERY and Power are the flesh and blood of the modern Coast Guard cutter. Every officer, since he will sooner or later serve a tour of duty in the engine room, must therefore be a trained marine engineer. For if the cutter is to help other ships in distress its machinery must be so much the better than average. It is no easy matter to learn such technical and detailed subjects as Thermodynamics, Heat En- gines, Boilers, I. C. Engines and Turbines. Prac- ticability has become the watchword of the de- partment. Careful sifting of material directly ap- plicable to Coast Guard work and repetition of the more important phases is considered the wis- est approach. As a result, we learn how to avoid serious breakdown of machinery as has liap- pened according to Mr. Jones. And if we ever happen to find ourselves with a spare pound of steam we know just what to do with it. For to an engineer the primary goal is safety to person- nel; the second, performance of mission. With the hours of higher temperatures and higher pressures and where are the boilers!! spent in Captain O ' Connor ' s class supplemented by practical cruise experience, the graduated ca- det has a sound foundation for his service career.

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I Ssf? :: ' tt n u n ttl LIEUT. COMDR. W. R. RICHARDS Head of Department THERE is hardly need to expound on tlie ad- vantages of courses in gunnery today since most people would rather be on the sending than the receiving end of a five-inch shell. It is the pur- pose of ordnance to show us how to send that shell on its way. Exterior ballistics shows us what happens to the shell in flight. And again, ordnance teaches what happens when it arrives. Much of the work in gunnery is theoretical. For long hours the classroom echoes the cry Salvo — Raft, as an imaginary cutter sinks an equally hypothetical target ship. But long and short range battle practice during the sum- mer months bear out our knowledge in fact. Ordnance is also chiefly theoretical, but after reading about the big deck rifles we get into dun- garees and actually break them down. We are in- formed that the only time disappearing guns are met with in the Coast Guard is when the recoil cylinders aren ' t filled. In correlation, part of our course in tactics is devoted to a study of small arms. The net result of this combination of courses is a thorough knowledge of our weapons — we can fire them, repair them, and make them do anything but shoot around corners. 30