What makes a Ship Great?

[Topmaul]

Years ago I was stationed on a ship and assigned to the engineering department. The crew is what makes a ship great, We had no E-4s in Engineering, all of them made E-5 and at the time there were not handing it out easily. We had a well run ship very few casualties. I can't remember ever being side lined for long. The engines ran all the time, due to excelent Chiefs and Petty Officers. Of all five Cutters I served on USCGC TAHOMA (WMEC-908) was by far the best.

[herakles]

You are very welcome to our forum!

You ask such an interesting question. And I'm sure you have given the correct answer already.

What is CGC in USCGC? I don't know. Coast Guard??

[astraltrader]

I think it is Coast Guard Cutter - Richard. [Not totally sure - should have looked it up first!]

[battlestar]

G'Day All

What makes a Ship Great? Great question.:)

For my article I used the following critieria.

First, its a warship, so, did it fight, did it win, was it damaged, how did it met its end.

Was it vital for it (warship) to be where it was, ie did the fate of a battle, or a war, rest on its shoulders

How is it remembered beyond it homeland. That is a big one, because, as it has been mentioned, national bias comes into play.

How was the crew (individual) honoured during and after its wartime service? There are other areas but these are the big ones.

Once you start looking into mulitpule ship histories these areas flesh themselves out.

I served on HMAS Stalwart in the 1980's, I contend that that was a great ship because of its crew. All crews are at the heart of our ships, and the pride we have is there for all to see.

For the US Coast Guard, I'm certain one of the critieria is how many lives did the ship and crew you are looking at save, important law enforcement actions and the like. Every type of ship has its own standards ie: merchant, law enforcement, etc.

So, there you are, my opinion, but remember, with all opinions, I could be right or wrong (Right!:D)

Enjoy

[herakles]

I seriously doubt that what you said could be bettered Ian.

So when do we learn something about HMAS Stalwart?

[Topmaul]

Your correct USCGC is United States Coast Guard Cutter or CGC for short Coast Guard Cutter. What made that ship great at the time we saved thousands of Haitians who were trying to get to the US on over crowed and un-seaworthy vessels. We caught our share of drug runners, and conducted our share of fisheries patrols intrestingly enough we would partrol the Canadian side of the line to keep Americans out of thier EEZ.

Another factor in a ship's or crew's greatness is training scores did the cutter get a "Battle E" or an "E" in various departments, such as Damage Control, Gunnery, Operations, Engineering, etc. Back then Refresher Training was much tougher than it is today and was held in Guantanimo Bay Cuba. Having the training there made it possible for the crew to Focus on the training we would spend 3 weeks there getting underway at 0700 then clear the harbor and commence drills, return to port about 1630 secure the plant eat a meal then run in port drills till 2200 after that stow gear, repair anything broken during the day then duty section would commence the lite off procedure, about 0430 not that it took that long but we had to follow the check sheets and do every thing on schedule.

The only day off was Sunday unless you had duty then you would look forward to next Sunday for some sleep.

By the way WMEC stands for W-Coast Guard M-medium E-Endourance C-Cutter
Why the picked W for Coast Guard Ships I don't know but they picked V for heavier than air meaning airplanes such as VF-41 for Navy Fighter Squadron 41

[battlestar]

G'day All

Topmaul, I want to hear more on your coast guard experiences. Could you start a thread and write about your time in the USCG.

Here in Fremantle I have toured three USCG vessels, the Icebreakers Polar Sea and Polar Sky, and the Cutter Chase, the stories those Coast Guardsmen could tell...:D

[Topmaul]

I would like to re-tell the sory of my father's Cutter he was a Second Class Boiler Tender (BT) the ship was moored in New London Con, machinery condition was Cold Iron in the engine room, the ship had just returned from a partol and was scheduled for some major overhaul most of the crew was on leave out of town. Word came down that the Andria Doria had collied with the Stockholm. My father was on duty and had to get the ship underway, in those days you had to do a bit more than pre-lube the mains and build up start air pressure. If you guys want I can give you a sailor story on how he got the ship underway and came on deck just in time to see the Andria Doria sink.

It's always nice to hear engineroom stories.

Perhaps the mods could start a section for sea stories or a section for the live savers.

[KC1BUD]

My nearly 87 year old father in law was a "coastie" during WWII. He was a part of the crew on the USS Cepheus.

"USS Cepheus (AKA-18) was an Andromeda-class attack cargo ship named after the constellation Cepheus. She was one of a handful of United States Navy AKAs that were manned by Coast Guard officers and crew during World War II. She served as a commissioned ship for 2 years and 5 months."

From; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cepheus_(AKA-18)

He went aboard her as part of the commissioning crew. The ship was known to be a US Navy ship at that time, but manned by the US coast Guard. Of course in the US the Coast guard is a part of the Navy just as the Marine Corps is.

I too was on a great ship, in my one and only Westpac We sat off the coast of Vietnam in 1975 when the north overran the south, pulled the crew off a sinking freighter that was caught in a storm, was sent north to colder waters to follow a Russian sub for 2 days, was on our way to rescue the crew of the container ship Mayaquez that was grabbed by the Cambodians (until they were released) and had our ships bell stolen in Hong Kong by the Chinese that was hired to paint the ship. Still don't know how they managed to get it off the ship.

We also went to Thailand, where we were tied up to a pier at a US Air force base and assisted by an Army tug.

[CGRET]

A photo of the Cepheus AKA-18.

49656

Regards
Charles