TRAINING OF SHIP’S CREW
12. INDIVIDUAL TRAINING.
=a. General.= Most of a port repair ship’s crew will have had training
and experience in civilian life to qualify them for the highly
specialized jobs they are assigned in this military unit. Before
receiving further technical instruction, all personnel are given basic
military training.
[Illustration: _Figure 42. View of interior of recompression chamber.
If divers must be brought up in a hurry they are rushed into this
chamber for decompression to prevent their getting the “bends.”_]
=b. Diving and salvage training.= The diving and salvage training is
given officers and enlisted men with particular emphasis on operations
performed in and around docks, quays, and other waterfront structures,
harbors, inland waterways. Diving and salvage operations are essential
to the rehabilitation of ports. The training should include the
following:
(1) Diving-team problems with timber and steel construction; underwater
concrete construction; underwater demolition of docks, piers, and
ships; and actual salvage operations.
(2) Individual diving problems including underwater reconnaissance,
pipefitting, patching, welding, cutting with hydrogen torch and
oxyelectric machine; survey of underwater conditions in mud, swift
currents, and various tide actions; use of jetting nozzle and siphon.
(3) Use of hand tools, air tools, machine tools, pumps, winches, and
blacksmithing.
(4) Rigging, beach gear, and hi-lines.
(5) Elementary instruction and training in—
(_a_) Diving-gear nomenclature.
(_b_) Diving-gear maintenance.
(_c_) Hazards of diving.
(_d_) Physics of diving.
(_e_) Skin diving.
(_f_) Recompression tanks and tables.
(_g_) Air compressors, air flasks, field expedients.
(_h_) Signals and communications.
(_i_) Ship construction.
(_j_) Mooring and maneuvering.
(_k_) Sketching.
(_l_) Tactical military instruction.
[Illustration:
_1. Hand pump._
_2. Rubber sneakers._
_3. Air hose._
_4. Diver’s underwear._
_5. Expansion tank._
_6. Face mask._
_7. Weighted belt._
_Figure 43. No. 2 diving outfit set._]
[Illustration: _Figure 44. Diver in No. 2 diving outfit set._]
=c. Diesel engineer training.= This is advanced training for those men
having previous Diesel experience. The operation, maintenance, and
repair of Diesel engines are studied.
=d. Seaman training.= The apprentice seaman is given a basic course in
seamanship. It includes instruction in—
(1) _Nautical terms._ All nautical terms and what they mean, including
the parts of a ship and construction terms.
(2) _Ground tackle and its use._ The various kinds of anchors and how
they are used; rules for anchoring.
(3) _Lifeboat seamanship._ Lifeboats and their handling, surf
seamanship, the sea anchor, use of oil, helmsmanship.
(4) _Safety at sea._ Avoiding accidents, keeping equipment shipshape,
safeguarding against fire, fire-fighting and life-saving equipment,
first aid.
(5) _Marlinespike seamanship._ The common knots, how to make fast to a
cleat, whipping, splicing, the care of rope, handling and use of lines.
(6) _The compass._ Types of compasses, installation and care, boxing
the compass, points and degrees, variation and deviation, compensating
the compass.
(7) _General._ General seaman duties and seaman watches.
=e. Visual signal instruction.= The visual signal training should
include:
(1) International code flags.
(2) Semaphore.
(3) Flashing light signals.
(4) The signal code.
(5) Typical signals.
(6) Special Navy signals.
(7) Signaling Navy and Coast Guard vessels.
(8) Special flags and pennants.
(9) Pyrotechnics.
=f. Degaussing school.= At the Navy degaussing school, complete
degaussing of a ship is taught, including what equipment is required
and how it is used.
=g. Wartime radio procedure.= The wartime radio procedure is that
procedure practiced by the Navy. It includes:
(1) Ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore, and ship-to-plane radio instruction.
(2) Call numbers and identification.
(3) Codes.
(4) Radio discipline.
(5) Operation and maintenance of marine radio equipment.
(6) Operation of radio direction finder.
[Illustration: _Figure 45. Outboard profile showing cathead and cargo
booms._]
[Illustration: _Figure 46. Forty-ton cathead mounted on bow of ship._]
=h. Gyrocompass instruction.= The Navy gyrocompass school teaches:
(1) Basic principles of the action and operation of the gyrocompass.
(2) Cause of gyrocompass errors and how to correct or compensate them.
(3) Maintenance and care of the compass and its equipment.
=i. Convoy communication.= The Navy convoy communication school teaches
the various types of signaling used between ships in a convoy. The
instruction includes:
(1) Naval signal codes and calls.
(2) Procedure signs.
=j. Machine-shop training.= The machine-shop training includes the
operation of drill presses, grinders, lathes, cutters, punch and shear
machines, shapers, forging hammers, and milling machines. The men work
with different types of metals, receive practical experience in various
kinds of machine-shop jobs, and learn how to maintain the equipment and
tools.
=k. Demolition training.= Training in explosives and demolitions
includes the following:
(1) Theory of explosives.
(2) Calculation of charges.
(3) Capping and priming.
(4) Field expedients.
(5) Cutting, cratering, and flattening charges.
(6) Booby traps.
13. SHIPBOARD TRAINING. Training aboard ship involves molding the crew
into an efficient, smooth-running organization. This requires constant
drill, practice, and working out of operational team problems.
[Illustration: _Figure 47. Single-speed winch for operating 10-ton
cargo boom._]
[Illustration: _Figure 48. Fifty-ton barge made up of 21 sections and
propelled by 115-hp outboard engine._]