| VOL 1 | 9 AUGUST 1941 | NO. 11 |
Article Index
One of the first memoranda distributed prior to commissioning read: "A ship's reputation is made by the men who man that ship". It is noted with gratification that the reputation of the Washington is being established by the Officers and men aboard along the pathways that lead to ultimate success and to a happy ship.
This exceptional spirit of cooperation was outstanding during the difficult operation of loading aboard 3,266,500 pounds of ammunition. The intense heat, the familiarizing of new equipment the teamwork of each and every man with each other--a misstep might have meant serious injury or even death--the long hours during which all hands stuck to their stations, the constant vigil and supervision so necessary towards unity of action—all these bespeak not mechanical adjustments but the human element. That element is the difference between a hulk of steel and a fighting ship; a group of men and a well trained, smooth functioning ship's company; lost motion and directed energy; useless efforts and concentrated action.
To the officers and men responsible for the grand success of which we are justly proud--a hearty and most sincere "Well done!"
H.H.J. BENSON
Captain, U. S. Navy
Commanding Officer
TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED
Tomorrow, Sunday, 10 August, newsmen will record, photographically, Divine Services aboard a Man-o'-War. Since these pictures will have nationwide distribution, it is sincerely hoped that the usual fine attendance will be the order of the day.
Many inquiries are made by families of service men as to the opportunities provided and the facilities at hand for attendance at Divine Services. This newspaper article and illustrative pictures will clearly show that every effort is made not only ashore but also afloat to promote the worship of Almighty God.
Sunday, 10 August, Church Call 1000.
ABOARD WASHINGTON
On Tuesday evening, 19 August, radio station WFIL will broadcast from the main deck aft a one-half hour program of entertainment by the ship's company. It is planned to have as varied a routine as possible and all in all--should provide a most pleasant experience and enjoyable evening.
In order to offer the best possible combinations over the air-waves, the eager cooperation of all hands is expected. If you have any ability of an entertaining angle, please get in touch with either the Chaplain or Chief Scarsborough. Rehearsals will begin the first of next week.
In the middle ages, when battleships were of a far different type than they are today, the law of the service was: "Anyone lawfully convicted of theft on board ship shall have his head shaved and boiling pitch poured upon it, and feather of down shall then be strewn upon it, for the distinguishing of the offender, and upon the first occasion he shall be put ashore."
Later the order was slightly modified, but the humiliation was possibly worse--a man convicted of theft was stood on the "Scuttlebutt" with a sign around his neck, "I am a Thief." Twenty years ago the Master-at-Arms stripped a thief's uniform of its insignia and white tape and tore the cap ribbon and grommet from his flat hat before "kicking him off the ship."
The most despised man in the Navy is a thief. When a man is caught stealing on a ship he is classed as an enemy of the crew, an outcast and a "rat" and gotten rid of by sending him to prison or giving him other suitable punishment--he is never retained in the service to again prey upon honest men.
With selective recruiting the "rat" is fast disappering from our Navy; however, out of a hundred thousand men one may show up with a tendency to use the property of another without authority, from time to time. Recently a battleship in the Fleet found it necessary to run the following notice in the "morning orders."
"There is a Thief on Board"
"A Thief in my Home and in
Your Home!"
"Most of us want to feel that our ship is a happy family—but there can be no happy family with a thief in it. All of us are victims of that thief. The man who loses his money is not the only one--the man who is unjustly suspected (and there are always suspects) is harmed more than the loser, and to those of us who are forced to suspect a shipmate--a member of our family--can hardly be happy about it.
"Now a thief is a slimy creature. He works in the dark and on the sly. The officers can't catch him. The Chief Petty Officers can't catch him. Even the police petty officers and all the other petty officers on the ship working together can't always catch him. But if Every honest man on board ship-and that means all but one man--keeps his eyes open and watches for him, that thief is sure to be caught. You catch that man in the act, or with the goods on him and the Captain will do the rest. In doing so you will protect yourself, your shipmates, and your ship, and earn the gratitude of every one of us."
The above item indicates the attitude that every honest man takes with regards to a thief.
A chipper young lieutenant with an eye to the future approached a notoriously grouchy brigadier-general at his club in London one day.
"Good morning, General," he saluted ingratiatingly.
"Grumpff," responded the general.
"Lovely day isn't it?"
"Grumpff,"
"General, I trust you will pardon me for speaking of such personal matter, but I read in the papers that you buried your wife yesterday, and I want to express my heartfelt sympathy." The general adjusted his monocle and stared at the young man for a moment.
"Oh, yes--yes," he replied. "I buried my wife --- Had to--dead, y'know."
---That the Bayonet derived its name from the town of Bayonne, in France, where it was invented in the fifteenth century?
---It is an infantry weapon of close individual, face-to-face and hand-to-hand combat where the only law is survival of the fittest?
---It supersedes the clubs and spears of the ancients and pikes and lances of medieval times?
---The use of a bayonet is proper in all close fighting where it is inadviseable or impossible, because of endangering one's own comrades, to fire the rifles?
---In addition to its use in assaults, the bayonet is a weapon of reliance in one's ability to use it; advancing willingly in the attacks, seeking to close with the enemy, or in defiance to close quarters?
---This is done by developing a fighting capacity for close combat, by building up confidence in one's ability to a point where he feels invincible, and by creating a spirited desire to press forward and overcome all resistance. This force of morale that carries the decisive human element forward with fighting zeal and a determined resolution for close physical encounter is know as "The spirit of the Bayonet". It is the spirit that wins the battle.
---"That once in a blue moon," a blue moon is very rare, the last one having been recorded on December 10, 1883? --D.J.M.
When Noah put the Ark out of commission, he was not accountable to anybody for getting the animals ashore, and so, evidently some of them stayed behind long enough to leave their marks on board, some, of which have come down to this day.
The are dogs all over the ship, ducks in the sail room, a cathead on each bow, many a gooseneck about, and a swallow in every block. The pelican hook keeps out the crow's nest but is usually the better for a little mousing around. The little colt, or short rope's end which every captain of a top carried in his cap handy for assisting the lagging top-men up the rigging grew up into a Flemish horse, which took his meals in the manger, so called because near the hawse, alongside the jackasses, in the cool breeze coming through the bridle port, and supporting the weather earing man after he had used the foot ropes in the stirrups to get out the cockscomb. The cat fish used to get the anchor in, and a crane now gets the boats out. Sword belts and some uniform coats have frogs, the back stays are snaked down for action, and the shrouds have ratlines. Wireless has introduced a rattail and a squirrel cage. A bull ring and bull rope are ready and waiting, but we only have the bull's eyes and his tobacco. Possibly he was kept away by the wildcat and lioness which used to hang around the capstan where she left her whelps. Neither the centipede nor the shark's mouth bites; foxes are seldom seen on a whaleback; but a navy yard a camel may come alongside. Everyone knows that the watches between 4 and 8 p.m. are called dog watches because they are curtailed.
The ship herself has a head, eyes, waist, body and bowels, a forefoot, a regular devil's claw and sometimes a heel. She prefers to wear colors by day and always celebrates in full dress. But when not particular about wearing, she sometimes gets in stays. Those fine, hardwoord bars around the capstan have given place to powerful winches, but the ship still gets regularly lit up. Now and then she gets on a slue.
Remember, a fly in Your soup
is better than no meat at all.
Most people who are familiar with the requirements of the Navy often wonder why the Navy spends so much time and money for training cruises. One excellent answer to this query is this incident:
When the destroyer, the U.S.S. Cassin, was torpedoed in 1917, every man in her after compartment was stunned and temporarily blinded; yet they all escaped, leaving every door and hatch closed and properly locked behind them. Afterward, not a man recalled having done a single thing. Incessant drilling had trained them to instant and intelligent response; so that when the emergency arose, they felt what to do and did it without conscious effort. This is invaluable training even after one returns to civil life.
The following question and answer is taken from papers of a student at the Officers' Cooks and Stewards School at San Diego:
"What influence has a good mess boy on a ship?" A mess attendant can influence a happy ship in a great deal. Suppose I'm a Captain's boy, early in the morning I prepare everything ready and set for the old man. What he got to do is just slip in his nice well brushed uniform, shiny shoes, brass buttons, and immaculate white hat. When he. walks and pave the deck he says good morning to the executive and he is in a happy mood. Then in turn the crew is happy because the two big shots in the ship didn't raise hell because I make the first two happy by doing extra work early in the morning."
