USS Whitehurst Logo by: Pat Stephens, Webmaster, DESA
 

Refresh Your Memory

This page contains various and sundry items that may be of interest to old sailors. Contributions are invited and corrections are welcome.

Contributors: Roger Ekman Capt USN Ret., Tim Lake GMC Ret, Ken Baroa Rd2, QMCM Al Crawford, Max Crow, Todd Willmarth Historian of USS Willmarth DE 638, Jack McLaughlin SSgt USAF, family and friend of USS England

Conditions Underway: Condition IV: Normal steaming with a 1 in 4 watch. That is one fourth of the crew on watch and three fourths "crapped out". It is the normal peacetime cruising with no guns manned. On some ships the crew size and rating require a 1 in 3 watch. Conditioned III: Lowest degree of armed readiness, 1 in 3 watches, one third of the main armament manned. Condition II: High degree of armed readiness. This is normally set when hostilities are expected. Port and Starboard watches: 50% of the crew on watch and/or at GQ stations. This is a real pain because it requires half the crew to be on station and ready, and generally requires six hour watches instead of the usual four. This allows the off section to eat and sleep. Condition I or General Quarters: All hands at battle stations. These conditions may be modified for specific needs such as ASW (Antisubmarine Warfare), or AA (Antiaircraft) battle. Condition III AS or ASW would be set, Condition II AS etc. It is common in high threat areas to go to the highest degree of readiness a half hour before sunrise and a half hour before sunset and remain in that condition for about an hour. These are the most critical times for an attack. Watertight Integrity: During normal steaming, all fittings marked with an "X" are secured. As readiness is increased to Condition III, the fittings marked "Y" are also closed. During GQ all "Z" fittings as well as X and Y are closed. Sometimes during normal steaming, Y fittings below the waterline which are infrequently used are also closed. The choice of symbols X, Y, and Z, was strictly arbitrary. Another symbol commonly used is the D inside a circle. Circle D fittings are closed in the "Darken Ship" Condition, i.e. battle readiness at night. Material Condition Able is a means to set and maintain "watertight integrity" of the ship. Generally it requires that all Z fittings be closed. Material Condition Baker allows for freer flow of activities below the main deck and in general allows for all Z fittings to be opened while X and Y are closed. Material Condition Y is usually set from 2000 to 0600 in peace time. i.e. X and Y fittings closed. Note: When the Phonics Alphabet was changed in the late 50s, Able became Alpha, Baker became Bravo, etc. Ship handling: It is an art. Some get it and others should never try. I think it is based on knowledge, experience, and foresight. No two events are identical. Things to keep in the back of one's mind: The base of the ships main mast is generally the center of the turning point of a ship. Speed and momentum play a very big part in maneuvers. One must always be mindful of advance and transfer. (Advance is the distance a ship travels on its original course before coming to the new course. Transfer is the distance sideways a ship travels before coming to the new course.) One should never be too proud to use a tug in restricted waters. When using a tug, have the first make up to the bow of your ship, point aft, and be parallel to you. If a second tug is used, have it make up on the same side but on the after quarter, parallel to the ship and point forward. This allows you to move sideways, by having the tugs apply equal power and opposite rudder angles. Draw this out on paper to get the idea. Guns: Gun tubes are referred to as "rifles". The term "caliber" is used ammo and rifles. It is a relationship between the diameter of the bullet/shell and the length of the rifle. A 3"/50 caliber gun fired a 3" round/bullet through a rifle 150 inches (3x50) long. Other examples are: 5"/38, 5"/25, and 16"/50. In hand guns and long guns, caliber is a unit of measurement for the diameter of the bullet. Guns 5" and smaller are housed in "mounts". Guns 6" or larger are housed in "turrets". The Whitehurst had 3 3"/50 open mounts. The one piece rounds were stored below decks and in "Ready Boxes" near each mount. Each round weighed approximately 25 pounds and was hand loaded by a man chosen for his strength. When the gun was fired, a "Hot Caseman", wearing asbestos gloves, kept the empty brass from interfering with the loader who immediately loaded the next round. The 3"/50 guns on DEs were manually operated by pointers and trainers who cranked the guns into firing position by "matching pointers" on dials controlled by the Mark 52 gun director. Some DEs used the 5"/38 guns in enclosed mounts. The 54 lb projectiles and 28lb powder bags were brought up from below the mount and the guns were positioned by either hydraulic or electric drives. The first centerline mount is #1 and so forth. The most forward 3" mount would be 31, the next 32, and so on. 40mm mounts would be Mount 40 one mt 40 two and so on. Mounts not on the centerline are designated by even numbers on port and odd numbers on starboard. Thus the most forward 40mm mt on the starboard side is mt 41 and first one on the port side is mt 42. A single 40mm on the centerline would be mt 40. 20mm mounts have similar designations. Usually guns 40mm and larger have a direct phone line to the bridge. A series of 20mm guns are usually controlled by one man connected to the bridge who announces "open fire" and "cease fire". Communications Terms: "1406 Flash red, control yellow, went to General Quarters. 1435 Flash white, control green, secured from GQ. Flash is the term for the highest delivery priority for a message. The hierarchy is: Flash, Operational Immediate, Priority, Routine, and Deferred. Color terms: Red...Air attacks imminent. Yellow...Air attack is probable. White...All clear. Control yellow (green) is a task force condition for control of gunfire. A ship in formation cannot, except in certain conditions, open fire. Control Red means, "Guns free. Shoot the bastards"; Control Yellow means, "Guns tight". Keep guns loaded but don't open fire until told. Control White means, Unload and return guns to normal positions. Control Green could be used for something special. Ships could get this information via radio if use of radios was permitted. Other means would be, flashing light, flag hoists, semaphore (waving skivvies), or even sonar. Phone Circuits: US Navy ships use "Sound Powered" communications circuits for maximum reliability. The ship may be totally lacking of power but these phones will work as long as the circuit itself is intact. Circuit names and functions. The "J" series were the primary battle circuits and were labeled JA through JZ, although not all ships have every circuit. JA was the CO's main battle circuit connecting the bridge with the Combat Information Center (CIC), after control, damage control, and others. 1JV was the main maneuvering circuit connecting the CO with the engineering spaces, after steering, mooring stations, the forecastle (foc'sle), and the fantail. JX was the intership telephone operated with push buttons. Secondary circuits were identified by the prefix X, such as X1JV, and provided a backup system in the same locations as the primary circuits. Contributed by Roger Ekman Captain USN Ret.  who served as Gunnery and Operations Officer onboard Whitehurst 1953-1955

Phonic Alphabets Used by the Navy. The one adopted in 1956 is known as: The NATO Phonetic Alphabet. From the Tin Can Sailor Oct, Nov, Dec 2000 issue ......1917...............1950...............1956 A....Able...............Able..............Alpha B....Boy.................Baker............Bravo C....Cast...............Charlie..........Charlie D....Dog.................Dog................Delta E....Easy................Easy...............Echo F....Fox..................Fox.................Fox Trot G...George...........George..........Golf H....Have................How...............Hotel I.....Item.................Item..............India J....Jig....................Jig.................Juliet K....King..................King..............Kilo L....Love.................Love.............Lima M....Mike................Mike.............Mike N....Nan...................Nan................November O....Oboe................Oboe.............Oscar P....Pup...................Peter.............Papa Q....Quack..............Queen...........Quebec R....Rush.................Roger............Romeo S....Sail....................Sugar............Sierra T....Tare..................Tare...............Tango U....Unit....................Uncle.............Uniform V....Vice..................Victor.............Victor W....Watch..............William...........Whiskey X....X-Ray................X-Ray..............X-Ray Y....Yoke.................Yoke..............Yankee Z....Zed....................Zebra............Zulu

Ken Baroa, Radarman on Whitehurst in mid to late 50s, says the navy began using the current alphabet in 1957. He remembers the confusion caused by the change. Ken has done some research on the World Wide Web and found conflicting reports about just when the current phonic alphabet was adopted. The logical conclusion seems to be that that the navy changed in 1957 and by the early 60s all the US military was using the one reported above as coming into use in 1963.  max crow paraphrasing Ken Baroa. For more on this subject see: Phonetic Alphabet and Signal Flags

Call Signs of the ships in CortDiv 40 in WWII Cort/Div-40 US Navy Call Signs APC-113, 1944  Destroyer Escorts   USS Foreman       DE-633           NTQM USS Whitehurst   DE-634           NTVD USS England        DE-635           NTQJ USS Witter           DE-636           NKXO USS Bowers          DE-637           NHPA USS Willmarth     DE-638           NTKS  Cort/Div-40 Call Signs US Navy DNC 3A 1946 APD’s  USS Bowers        APD-40             NQKI USS England      APD-41             NFHJ USS Witter         APD-58             NFIQ Call Signs researched and contributed by Jack McLaughlin SSgt USAF, family and friend of USS England

Time as marked by the bells The use of the bells to mark the time stems from the period when seamen (1) could not afford a personal time piece (i.e. - a watch) and (2) even if they could, they had no idea on how to tell time with such an instrument. The bells mark the hours of the watch in half-hour increments. The seamen would know if it were morning, noon, or night. Each watch* is four hours long and the bells are struck thus: Mid Morning Forenoon Afternoon Dogs* First 0030 - 1 bell 0430 - 1 bell 0830 - 1 bell 1230 - 1 bell 1630 - 1 bell 2030 - 1 bell 0100 - 2 bells 0500 - 2 bells 0900 - 2 bells 1300 - 2 bells 1700 - 2 bells 2100 - 2 bells 0130 - 3 bells 0530 - 3 bells 0930 - 3 bells 1330 - 3 bells 1730 - 3 bells 2130 - 3 bells 0200 - 4 bells 0600 - 4 bells 1000 - 4 bells 1400 - 4 bells 1800 - 4 bells 2200 - 4 bells 0230 - 5 bells 0630 - 5 bells 1030 - 5 bells 1430 - 5 bells 1830 - 5 bells 2230 - 5 bells 0300 - 6 bells 0700 - 6 bells 1100 - 6 bells 1500 - 6 bells 1900 - 6 bells 2300 - 6 bells 0330 - 7 bells 0730 - 7 bells 1130 - 7 bells 1530 - 7 bells 1930 - 7 bells 2330 - 7 bells 0400 - 8 bells** 0800 - 8 bells 1200 - 8 bells 1600 - 8 bells 2000 - 8 bells 2400 - 8 bells notes: * - The period from 1600 to 2000 is split into two dog watches. These watches run from 1600 to 1800 and from 1800 to 2000. This alternates the daily watch routine so Sailors on the mid-watch would not have it the second night, and, the split also gives each watch stander the opportunity to eat the evening meal. ** - The end of the watch is considered at 8 bells, hence the saying "Eight Bells and All Is Well."   Al Crawford  QMCM USN Ret.

Dress Ship Navy ships, like women, like to put on an extra bit of finery now and then.  With a U.S. Naval vessel this is called dress ship or full dress ship.  A "dressed ship" her largest national ensign from the flag staff and another large size ensign from each mast head.  A "full dressed ship" takes up where the dressed ship leaves off.  It displays a rainbow of signal flags and pennants bent on a "dressing line" which runs from the foot of the jackstaff to the mastheads and down again to the foot of the flagstaff.  Occasions on which to dress or full dress a ship are national holidays, especially Washington's birthday and the fourth of July.  Ships also don their flags on other special occasions, as directed by the Secretary of the Navy.  Then too, they may dress or full dress when in foreign ports or in company with foreign ships during foreign national holidays or other solemnities.* Preparations for fully dressing usually begin the previous evening when the operations gang secures the flags to the dressing lines.  Such forehandedness enables a ship and others with her to put her display aloft promptly at 0800 on the next morning.  Ships keep their displays flying until sunset, when they haul them down together on signal.  Only ships which are not underway dress or full dress.  Ships underway don't do it. This article copied from the July, 1953 issue of Al Hands.  Our thanks to Hugh Toney BT2 for preserving the magazine over half a century. *Whitehurst displayed full dress in June of 1953 to honor the crowning of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.  A photo is displayed on the Home page of this website.  max crow site author

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