Dynalow:
I went aboard the America once at NOB to mooch parts. I made it down to one of the firerooms and negotiated a trade okay but got lost returning to the quarterdeck. Ended-up on the flight deck. Twice.

Plankowner, USS Ponce (LPD-15). Two Modified D-type (650 PSI 840F superheated) boilers. I left it when it went into the Philly yards prior to a Med cruise and took a early-out transfer (like Dubyuh) to New Orleans. The ship is still in commission for some reason. It was a dated design when the keel was laid. I heard recently that the class (not sure, maybe Dubuque?) is being phased-out.

I sure wouldn't be surprised if BT was phasing-out. Propulsion design had already gone beyond conventional steam generation in the 1950's. Back then I thought that diesel/electric was the way to go and I thought turbines would be too demanding of fuel quality and technical expertise of the crew. Looks like I was wrong. Not an unknown quality.

IIRC, the Oil King billet was E-6. I held it as an E3/E4 because of a huge shortage of BT's and they needed E5 through E7 as topwatches. I got bumped by an E6 when I qualified as topwatch. That was my last 8-9 months, mostly in the Caribbean.

TheDon: Ignore Dynalow's advice.

Big ships with huge crews suck. Chow sucks. Everything is institutional and you don't get to know everybody. I liked it that when I stood quarterdeck watches I rarely had to look at an ID card.

The best duty (IMO) is a destroyer. Yeah, they're bouncy. But the crews are tight and they visit quiet, out-of-the-way seaports that big ships never see. My ship has about twice the company of a destroyer and less than a tenth of an aircraft carrier. After my ship sent our marine detachment camping and hiking and whatever, we'd visit some great places and had a great time. When we had marines onboard we only went to huge seaports. Same with birdfarms. Their ships company is so large that it takes a large city to accommodate them. Big ports have seen a million sailors already. If I had it to do over again (mercifully, I don't) I would try for a destroyer or frigate. Especially if I was an officer because on a small ship even a very junior officer has more responsibility than a similar rank on a major vessel.

You know when people tell you never volunteer for anything? Ignore that advice. Go ahead and volunteer. Yeah, you'll get screwed-over most of the time but sometimes you'll get stuff nobody else gets. Like I got to train with a sidearm (.45) and M-14 rifle. Qualified Expert with both. I got the training because I volunteered to be on something called, "Boarding and Securing Detail." I was young and stupid and envisioned a piratical character from an Errol Flynn movie. Instead it was to wear the .45 and carry a huge toolbox into the engineering spaces of a prize vessel and secure it for capture. In my case it was getting some theoretical engines running. Heck, I was 19, what did I know?

Volunteering (what envious shipmates called, "sucking-up") is also what got me into the Oil King billet. But that's another tedious story for a time when I have more scotch.

I served in the USN almost 40 years ago. I still have close friends, former shipmates, whom I visit and write frequently. Few jobs offer an opportunity for that depth of friendship.

B