Guided
Missile Destroyer: Guardian of the seas. |
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A
sailor has a word with the Chief. As always, the Chief
gets in the last word. |
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A
young British Navy officer circa 1770. The British did
not take the talk of rebellion by the American Colonists seriously. They did not believe they would
actually do it. Besides, if it happened, they had little
to fear from them. They were the mighty British Empire. It was
all a big joke for them. |
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The
Captain has placed the ship at General Quarters. All
hands are at their battle stations and are ready for
action. The Captain has turned the ship and they are
approaching a suspicious vessel the lookout spotted on
the western horizon several minutes ago. The Ship's
Gunner stands by on the the gun deck, with all of his
gun crews at the ready. |
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The
Ship's Bosun briefs the crew on the Navy's Equal
Opportunity Program. Of course, we all know there was no
such thing as Equal Opportunity back then - in the Navy
or anywhere else. The best advice for a young sailor
would be follow his orders and keep his mouth
shut. . |
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A
sailor aloft swings from the running rigging of a
sailing ship. Rope riggings such as depicted here were
placed around the working deck of a sailing ship to provide the sailors with a means for
getting to the masts, yard arms and sails quickly, so they could do
their work and handle emergencies. More permanent
standing rigging also provided added support for the
masts and yard arms. There was a high
incidence of masts and yard arms breaking and sails collapsing,
causing injury or death for the sailors below. The able bodied
seamen spent much of their time aloft. Use of the
running riggings enabled several sailors to climb to the
site of a crisis at the same time, so they could take
emergency action faster and start repairs. |
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STAY
AWAY FROM MY SHIP! The Japanese Kamikaze attacks during
the last days of World War Two were devastating for the
ships that were hit. Our sailors performed bravely and saved many
ships that could have been lost. |
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Captain
John Paul Jones. Father of the new American Navy. Said
to walk with a bad limp, sometimes using a cane, because
of an early injury. |
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Captain
(Ship's Master) 1790. |
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This
drawing depicts a young helmsman and an Officer on the
open conning station on the deck of a sailing ship. They are
passing through a blinding rainstorm. The rain is heavy and
wind blown. The ship is being tossed about. Things are
falling and it is noisy. The officer places a hand on the young
helmsman's shoulder to calm and reassure him as they sail through
very perilous waters. "Hold her steady, lad. Hold her
steady." |
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Able
bodied seaman circa 1790. These men often had to work
high on the masts and in the riggings to keep the sails
properly rigged and trimmed - sometimes under very
adverse conditions. Called "Sail Monkeys", the men were
young, agile and fearless. It was all very
dangerous work - not for those with a fear of heights. |
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Working
as a lookout in the crow's nest. This was one of the
most important watch posts on the ship. Perched near or
at the top of one of the tallest masts on the ship, the lookout
posted there could see for many miles in all directions.
Being up there must have been like sitting on top of the
world. However - just getting up and down was very dangerous. I
would never have made the grade as a mast climber back
in those days, as
I have a fear of heights. |
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A
Sail
Monkey hard at work aloft, setting up the rigging for a
new sail. |
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Old
Navy enlisted man 1870. The older men usually worked in
the shops as artificers.
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Warships
stand off close to shore, watching and waiting. |
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A
Chief engages in casual conversation with a Seaman
while taking a smoke break on deck. No - he is not
getting his shoes shined. He is resting his foot on a
deck cleat. |
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A
Navy Chief makes a point. |
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A
break for coffee. |
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Navy
bluejacket circa 1880. |
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Battleship
sailor circa 1895 |
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U.S.
Navy bluejacket circa 1840 |
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The
Carpenter 1966. CWO4 Mathiassen. Old Navy. WWII vintage,
he had 2 ships shot out from under him in the Pacific. A
straight shooter, he backed us up 100 percent and
expected 110 percent back from us. He ate up
full commanders from the regular Navy like they were gum
drops. They were just a bunch of kids to him. "Make an
appointmentif you need to talk to me , son", I heard him
say to one full commander. |
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Navy
Chief Petty Officer |
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The
Chief musters the crew. |
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DCC
SIMS, my boot camp Company Commander. I can't remember
much about his appearance but this drawing depicts the
kind of guy he was: VERY BAD TEMPERED AND MEAN. To give
him fair credit - he had a tough job and he did it well. |
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Captain on the bridge wing. |
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CAPTAIN
RELAXING IN HIS CHAIR ON THE BRIDGE: The Captain's Chair on the
bridge is hallowed space. No one sits in the
Captain's Chair at anytime. Only the Captain can sit
and relax there. If he chooses to take a short nap
there, it is his option. |
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The
loneliness of command at sea. The Captain is reponsible
for everything that happens on his ship at all times. |
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Captain on the bridge during
General Quarters, wearing a battle helmet. |
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Old
Salt. Circa 1910. |
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A
young seaman slips away for a few minutes to have a
coffee break on deck in the open air. |
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First
Class Boatswain's Mate on station. The boatswain's mates
in the deck division are responsible for keeping things
topside ship shape. The first class is in charge of
supervising their work. What a job!. |
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Bluejacket
from the Vietnam War Era on liberty. |
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Captain
visiting with the Command Master Chief in the Goat
Locker. I am sure that most Captains would rather spend
their time in the Goat Locker than in the Wardroom, if
they had their choice about it. The Chiefs are closer to the Captains age. However,
protocol dictates that there must be separation between
the officers and the enlisted men, including the Chiefs. The
Captain visits the CPO Mess only when he is invited. On
most ships, frequent invitations to visit the Goat
Locker are sent by the Command Master Chief to the
Captain and they are usually accepted. During the
Captain's visits with us, the CPO's were expected to
conduct themselves properly. We let the Command Master
Chief do most of the talking. We spoke when it was was
appropriate to do so - usually when we were spoken to by the
Captain. We were not coached about it but we all knew we
should be careful about what we said. We should be
politically correct at all times. |
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Helmsman
strapped in - ready for heavy weather. |
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Happy
Boat Coxswain. |
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Man
Overboard! |
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A
Saturday with Daddy. |
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Ready
for liberty call. It was always exciting when we pulled
into a liberty port after being at sea for a while. |
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Experimental
high speed patrol hovercraft the Navy played around
with in the 1980's were interesting. Among them were the
PEGASUS CLASS. More like an
aircraft than a ship in many ways, it was capable of amazingly high
speeds and was very maneuverable. When operating at full
speed, the entire crew had to be seatbelted in. The trip
from Key West to Jacksonville did not take long at all
and the ride was not that rough. I was hoping something
would come of it but the program was scrapped, due
to a tightening of the budget by the Navy.
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When
a fire or other emergency happens on a Navy ship,
the Flying Squad responds. This nucleas emergency team
is made up of around 20 people. They are led by the On
Scene Leader. Their job is to get to the scene quickly
and take immediate actions to control the situation and
save lives. They do what they can to contain and
extingush fires and control flooding. They set
boundaries to contain the casualty and keep it from
spreading . The On Scene Leader appraises the situation
and reports to higher authority. A decision is then made
about sounding the General Alarm and going to General
Quarters. All of this happens in the span of a few
minutes. |
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Navy
CPO circa 1915. |
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Ship's
Captain/Master |
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Ship's
Surgeon |
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Ship's
Boatswain (Bosun). |
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SShip's
Carpenter. |
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Ship's
Gunner. |
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Ship's
Sailmaster. |
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A
Navy Bluejacket from sailing ship times. |
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A
tall sail ship from the 1800's. |
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