HIS MAJESTY’S SAILORS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 51, 10 February 1911, Page 11

HIS MAJESTY’S SAILORS

THE POPULATION OF A MODERN SHIP OF WAR. ( Daily Express.’’) The citizen upon whose shoulder' Mats the burden of providing a ®avy reads in his morning paper that a new cruiser will be comnsi--Boned. He has but a vague conception of the work involved in the commissioning of a new ship. For the officers and men concerned, however, it is a very different matter, and, even with a small ship like the Bristol, commissioning is c*nr ■>: the most trying experiences in a seaman’s life. In the V’iy cai’y morning ho L fumbled out of his hammock in barrack 1 ' to the lusty bawl of the boat-s-.vau.’s mate suninmninz “ali ir.f'ii on draft for the B; istt>'.’’ or 17- .• venture, or Dreadnought, as D.ise may be. In the drill si * i there are naval poime waiting for the draft to cheek nil present, bag and baggage. In tender the draft are taken out t » their new floating home, and o.u e all hands are on board the order is: ‘‘Clear lower deck ; fall in on the quarter deck I" Some of the junior officers are on board, but the real work falls at this stage on the shoulders of the warrant officers. Each man receives a card on which is detailed the number of his mess, his position in the ship, of which l»oat he forms part of the crew, and the number he will take at the By nine o’clock nearly all the officers are on board, and, f the ship is a flagship, the admiral and his staff come alongside, up the starboard gangway, on the quarter deck. The Heads. Admiral: Represents the King and the Admiralty. He does not deal with the internal working of his own ship at all. He is there to command and manoeuvre his di viaion of ships, and, with his staff of flag captain, flag commander, and flag lieutenant, he manages to dir ect that division. He is also allotted a fleet paymaster, two assistant paymasters, and a private secretary.

Captain: Is the “headmaster,” ao to speak, of the ship. He is responsible for the tone of officers and men, and for any mishap that may come to his ship while he in on board her. He has a cabin and a chart-room for navigational pur poses, and he is always informed immediately anything of any importance is tn be put in the log He submits that log to the admiral every evening. His dealings are not much with the crew, that being the duty of the Commander, who may also be 'described as the house master. His duties are to keep the ship’s company thoroughly employed and see and know that each “top,” or “division,” of men does its work properly, and without the least hitch. He has c signalman and two me* eengers at his disposal, and is alsgiven an orderly midshipman to see his orders carried out. The commander must know exactly what s taking place in his ship at al! times. He is responsible for the men, the ooats, the upper deck, and everything appertaining tn t 1 c work of the ship. “Number One.”

First Lieutenant: Popularly -phown as "Number One," is everywhere at the same time. When mooring ship “Number One" will always be seen on the fo’c’sle, supervising the cables and the men on the hawsers. At battle practice he is in the turrets or in the fire controls. His special charge is A turret, which is the foremost turret in a ship, and, being on the fo’c’sle is near the cables. He is in charge of the upper deck when the commander is haring his “spell.” Liuetenant: May specialise in various subjects, such as gunnery, navigation, or torpedoes. Gunnery Lieutenant: Is responsible for the turrets*- turret crews, guns and gun crews of his ship. He has several junior lieutenants under him, and they are stationed either in the after turrets or the casemates. In war time the gunnery lieutenant "spots" and finds the range from the fire control platforms, which are situated at the point where the tripod masts <Mmne into conjunction. Any grievances of the guns are immediately reported to and remedied

by him. Navigator : Is always to be found on the bridge or *’ monkey island" (upper bridge) in any fog or difficult passage. He is informed of the position of the ship every hour, but he has no regular watch Torpedo Lieutenant : Is a mysterv. He supervises the electrical works of the ship, together with his Whitehead torpedoes, which arc stowed and fired from Lis sub merged flats. The Torpedo Jack is a very clever person, and he ■pends most of his time below.

though sometimes he runs the wireless room also. Other ward-room officers are the marines and engineers, surgeons, chaplains and paymasters. Down Below. Engineers officers now have titles similar to those of the ordinary executive officer, but they have no deck responsibility, and are con cerned solely with the smooth running of the works of the ship. Gun-room officers are the junior officers, sub lieutenants, and midshipmen. merry young monkeys at sea, however much of the “blueeyed little dear” there may be about them at motheYs apron string*;. Each midshinman is in charge of a certain number of men. mostly old enough to be his father, and to them he issues his orders with all the assurance of a flag lieutenant. The warrant officers are: — Chief gunner (turret work and ammunition). Cl ief boatswain trope, sail, if any. and boat work). The junior gunners and boatswains work iti the same manner. The chief and other petty officers are the hardest worked class in the ship. Their duties are ex-

I tensive and peculiar. For all gun- ; layers, first, second and third ! classes, and gunners’ mates, we 'get a chief petty officer, gunner, a i petty officer gunner, and a leading f seaman gunner. There are, moreI over, torpedo petty officers, chief i yeomen of signals, petty officers f and chief petty officers (seamen’s I branch), petty officer telegraphists, chief and petty officer stokers, chief armourers, etc. There are also such ratings on men-of-war as ‘ electricians, armourers, black- ; smiths, coopers, painters, plumbf ers, clerks, and sick-bay men. The marines rank mostly as in the army, with additional gunnery ratings. Their duties are turret drill, cleaning guns and servant work. They supply the band of the ship, which is generally a good one.

There is still one gentleman, who, with his subordinates, is much feared by our "niatloes." He is the master-at-arms. His fellow "crushers." as they are called, help him in maintaining order and soberness on the lower deck. They are the ship’s policemen, and are men of high repute.