Paging all seafarers

[French G.]

It would be very hard to write a ship for someone who had never did a ship and get them to the atmosphere. I can smell and hear my old ships as much as I can visualize them. No more an eerie place exists when all the normal stops and is replaced by quiet and distant sounds of emergencies going on.

[Ben]

It would be very hard to write a ship for someone who had never did a ship and get them to the atmosphere. I can smell and hear my old ships as much as I can visualize them. No more an eerie place exists when all the normal stops and is replaced by quiet and distant sounds of emergencies going on.

I don't have near the experience some of you guys have, but one of the things that kinda freaked me out my first times at sea was just how freakin' dark it can be in the middle of the ocean if the lights go out for any reason. Or if you're in a compartment down below and the lights go out. That is deep cave dark. I never went anywhere without a flashlight.

[HeroHog]

My seafaring days were spent either in the engine room surrounded by 4 (only 3 actually ran) 12 cylinder diesel locomotive generators. Talk about smells! Diesel, oils, bilge water (including piss and puke), an olfactory delight for sure! As for sounds, nothing but the drone of the diesels could be heard and felt! In birthing you still heard the diesels, a little, but the big sounds were the waves against the hull and the drone of the shaft that drove the screw (prop) that ran under birthing. In heavy water, the screw would sometimes come out of the water and the drone would shoot up in frequency then drop back down to it's usual steady frequency as you heard improperly secured items sliding back and forth along the deck and the occasional cuss words as someone lost footing and went down or fell into piping/equipment/bunks/whatever.
Bear in mind, this was a "small" ship.
Hope that helps.
My ship, the USS Tringa, ASR-16, Submarine rescue and salvage vessel.
https://youtu.be/mAabOVllpIw
Somewhere out there is video of her in some Heavy weather.

[K Frame]

"In birthing you still heard the diesels..."'

How many children did you give birth to while on ship? 

[HeroHog]

"In birthing you still heard the diesels..."'

How many children did you give birth to while on ship? 

Depends on how much Govt. Cheese I had for lunch...

[RoadKingLarry]

if you're in a compartment down below and the lights go out. That is deep cave dark. I never went anywhere without a flashlight.

You ain't seen or felt "dark" until you've been on a submerged submarine when the lights go out.
Mini-Maglites were still pretty new when I made my first WestPac deployment in 1985 but a large percentage of the crew had one hanging off their belt. Carried one on my next boat in the early '90s as well. By then I knew to have several packs of spare bulbs on board with me.

Talk about smells! Diesel, oils, bilge water (including piss and puke), an olfactory delight for sure!

Ever boarded a sub that has been underway and closed up for a few weeks to a month or so? 

[French G.]

I don't have near the experience some of you guys have, but one of the things that kinda freaked me out my first times at sea was just how freakin' dark it can be in the middle of the ocean if the lights go out for any reason. Or if you're in a compartment down below and the lights go out. That is deep cave dark. I never went anywhere without a flashlight.

Yeah. About three weeks into what would eventually be ten years on the water the ship had an emergency dual reactor shut down. I was of course working in the eating area below decks. Didn’t yet carry two lights everywhere. Pretty dark. We drifted for a day with no power, fun times.

[Hawkmoon]

My ship, the USS Tringa, ASR-16, Submarine rescue and salvage vessel.
https://youtu.be/mAabOVllpIw
Somewhere out there is video of her in some Heavy weather.

Hmmm ...

At 02:50, the captain ordered a right turn to course 045 -- I didn't hear a "Right full rudder" but the helmsman voiced that as if that had been part of the course change order.

[HeroHog]

Hmmm ...

At 02:50, the captain ordered a right turn to course 045 -- I didn't hear a "Right full rudder" but the helmsman voiced that as if that had been part of the course change order.

The officer ordered "right full rudder, ahead flank" through the port-hole in front of the helmsman then the helmsman repeated the order as he heeled the wheel over.

[kgbsquirrel]

It would be very hard to write a ship for someone who had never did a ship and get them to the atmosphere. I can smell and hear my old ships as much as I can visualize them. No more an eerie place exists when all the normal stops and is replaced by quiet and distant sounds of emergencies going on.

Walking from my car to my bunk.
Pier side, vehicle holds and hangar bay is hydraulic fluid and JP-5 exhaust.  A whiff of cigarette smoke as you walked by the conrep station/smoke deck.  Brief stink of trash, melted plastic and dirty dishes as you walked by the scullery and trash disposal. Food sitting in the hotbar as you go by the galley.  Machinery and grease through a few passageways and then finally the berthing space which was a surprisingly pleasant mix of aftershaves and soaps.  Stink was not allowed in the berthing space.  The stankbutts who didn't keep themselves clean were exiled to the overflow berthing, 20 frames forward and one deck up.

[HeroHog]

Stink was not allowed in the berthing space.  The stankbutts who didn't keep themselves clean were exiled to the overflow berthing, 20 frames forward and one deck up.

Or, back in the mid-late 70s, "treated" to a shower where you are scrubbed by your crew-mates with the stiff-ass "potato brushes" from the galley and your stinky clothes are tied to small line secured to the rail on the fantail and the clothes were then thrown over to "wash" in the roiling water aft of the main screw while underway.

[Hawkmoon]

The officer ordered "right full rudder, ahead flank" through the port-hole in front of the helmsman then the helmsman repeated the order as he heeled the wheel over.

I watched it again, and slowed it down to be more certain.

The officer said, "Officer of the deck! Come right, course 0-4-5. Increase speed to flank."

[kgbsquirrel]

A helmsman always reports how much rudder is being used when executing a course change.  Without a specific rudder order given with the course change a helmsman can choose however much to use, typically determined by the speed and throttle.  This is the normal mode of operation. 

Citation: I was a helmsman. 

Speed through the water is an amazing force multiplier.  3 knots I would use full rudder (30 degrees) and still have to wait for it to do something.  5-10 knots would be standard rudder (15 degrees) to get her moving and then ease off to 5 degrees to maintain turn speed and keep the ship from heeling over.  At 20 knots I could throw the ship to either side with only half a degree of rudder.

[Ben]

A helmsman always reports how much rudder is being used when executing a course change.  Without a specific rudder order given with the course change a helmsman can choose however much to use, typically determined by the speed and throttle.  This is the normal mode of operation. 

Citation: I was a helmsman. 

Speed through the water is an amazing force multiplier.  3 knots I would use full rudder (30 degrees) and still have to wait for it to do something.  5-10 knots would be standard rudder (15 degrees) to get her moving and then ease off to 5 degrees to maintain turn speed and keep the ship from heeling over.  At 20 knots I could throw the ship to either side with only half a degree of rudder.

Did you learn that back when you were driving the Saratoga? 

https://youtu.be/G4qIBT3qr2M?t=20

[230RN]

Dunno. It's quite possible, but that hasn't been announced. It's also possible that this fledgling author is entirely unaware of that movie, but has come up with a similar idea independently.

That's always a pisser.  I've had things obsoleted by changing politics or changing technology.

[Cliffh]

As a civilian, I was tasked with a 2 week "cruise" on the Enterprise, Alameda to San Diego and back.

Sometime during the second week, someone must have ordered a turn to port.  The turn was made "enthusiastically", so much so that there were reports of broken bones, bruises, tables & chairs piling up on the starboard side of the mess (and such a mess it was!).

[castle key]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0LgXOzcyTo

Quite interesting and probably will help n your quest for information.