All, I've spoken to a few retired sailors who have been on carriers and cruisers. I've got a few questions on daily life and berthing.
Been recommended to bring along a sleeping bag to reduce the time remaking my rack. Been told to make sure to use only liquid soap(bathing and laundry.) Max amount of civilian outfits should be kept to three sets for space requirements.
Originally posted by yakspeaks: All, I've spoken to a few retired sailors who have been on carriers and cruisers. I've got a few questions on daily life and berthing.
Been recommended to bring along a sleeping bag to reduce the time remaking my rack. Been told to make sure to use only liquid soap(bathing and laundry.) Max amount of civilian outfits should be kept to three sets for space requirements.
Any other input?
Racks on ships are completely different than the ones in boot camp or school, it takes nothing to make up a bunk and a sleeping bag may not be allowed, or you may have to stow it each day, thus taking up space.
Use of soap is completely up to you. When living on the ship, I sent uniforms and such to the ship's laundry. Civies I would do at a laundramat or use one of the machines in the barracks from time to time.
As for civies, it is up to you. A coffin locker gives you some more space to keep more personal stuff, but whatever you can fit you can store in your locker. I had more than 3 sets and didn't have a problem, just don't take a ton of stuff with you. You will learn on how much space you will have once you get to a ship.
I had more than 3 sets of civvies while on board ship. I learned how to fold them to maximize space and still fold my stuff the same way some ummmmm 13 years later after getting out.
It doesn't take but a few minutes to make your rack on ship if that. You will most likely be issued a set of white sheets and a gray wool blanket. basically what I did was spread the sheet out over the mattress and tied it tight at each end. In the morning I would check for wrinkles and smooth them out and then fold my blanket up and place it at the foot of the rack. We were allowed to place our laundry(dirty) bag at the foot of our rack on top of the blanket. And we were also allowed one civilian blanket as well folded as well at the foot of the rack!
Originally posted by whyworry: Making the rack???? What the hell happened to fart sacks and a grey or green blanket??? No big time consuming chore there!
_______________________________________________ Canvas bunk bottoms and white-line bunk lashings?
Those were the days my friend, We thought they'd never end.
How's the chow? I'm not picky but want to try to eat healthier, lots of veggies and limited meat so I can maintain a proper weight and fitness level. Also, I quit smoking before but realize that I may pick up the habit again. I know it is a terrible habit but has it's uses at times. Are cigarettes sold on board?
This has been answered before, but what about PT orders? Other than the semi-annual PT, does the ships crew get to PT together?
Originally posted by yakspeaks: All, I've spoken to a few retired sailors who have been on carriers and cruisers. I've got a few questions on daily life and berthing.
Been recommended to bring along a sleeping bag to reduce the time remaking my rack. Been told to make sure to use only liquid soap(bathing and laundry.) Max amount of civilian outfits should be kept to three sets for space requirements.
Any other input?
1. Leave the sleeping bag at home and learn to make your rack. You probably won't have room to stow it in your locker during the day and if you leave it out, well, in my day it was called gear adrift and subject to confiscation.
2. Have enough working uniforms and undergarments to last for two weeks in case the ship's laundry either breaks down or some of your gear is lost. Only time you should need laundry soap is when you take your stuff to the laundromat in town when you go on liberty.
3. Your first priority is your uniforms. If you don't have enough space for uniforms and civilian attire that is presentable, send the civilian clothes home. I found the way we learned to fold in bootcamp saved a lot of space.
4. With regard to civilian attire, try to be conservative. Some ports you don't walk off wearing anything indicating you are a US citizen, be it a t-shirt from a 5K race, a cap with a NASCAR logo on it, or a sweatshirt with an NFL team logo on it. Make sure if you go overseas you check the local customs to make sure you don't set yourself up for problems with the locals.
You see... this silly stuff about your rack is yet another reason to go submarines. On all 3 of the boats I was on they didn't care what kind of sheets you had on your rack. NOBODY on the crew had a standard squid sheets and Navy blanket. There was ofen competition to see who could have the weirdest comforter. We had guys with all kinds of cartoon characters, and kids sheets. I had Star Wars. Some guys had sleeping bags, all a matter of personal preference. We also didn't have whole divisions to do our laundry for us... that's soooo skimmer. On a boat, every division has their own laundry day, you do your own, or beg someone to do it for you. Some cone divisions had a nub be the "s**thouse mouse" that did all that stuff.
We also didn't have silly "daily inspections", as unlike targets we didn't have "working hours" so that means someone is always sleeping in the bunkrooms. Field day was Saturday, and the bunkrooms got a look over then.
That is the big difference between boats and targets. I had a sleeping bag but I was on a fast boat. Lots of hot racking. I did prefer to do my own laundry.
Some cone divisions had a nub be the "s**thouse mouse" that did all that stuff.
On my second boat (first boat was a smoke boat and we didn't do laundry underway), we had two nonquals assigned to do laundry. They did it for everyone. It was better than mess cranking because you threw the laundry in the machine, started it up and then you would work on quals. Usually these guys qualified in one patrol.
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We also didn't have silly "daily inspections", as unlike targets we didn't have "working hours" so that means someone is always sleeping in the bunkrooms. Field day was Saturday, and the bunkrooms got a look over then.
That part always gets me. "Regular working hours are until 1600 unless you have a watch later." As a YN, I had regular work hours. They went from the time the CO woke up until he went to bed, and stopped only because he could hear the typewriters through the false overhead we shared. Everyone else worked a regular 18-hour day. Our field days were on Friday, but that just shows that each boat is different.
