Monday 11-3 Time changes, international date lines and collateral duties

 Picture of the day:

The ship I spent a couple of years on, USS Independence CVA-62

 

( Fire aboard is very dangerous. The Seaman is assigned many collateral duties, one is 'Fire Watch'.  A ship will have many sailors walking passageways during 'quiet time'. These troops walk 4 hour shifts from 2200 (10PM) thru 0800 (6AM) ready to report any apparent danger such as fire)

So for now:

Unless your job or lifestyle requires you to ‘work’ or be awake in the EARLY morning hours you may not truly understand this post.

First of all did you realize that Hotel clerks, policemen, night guards, and 3^rd shift factory workers worked an hour longer on 'time change' night and may or may not have gotten paid for it.

The reason this is prominent in my life is because I have crossed the Atlantic Ocean at least 3 times, both ways. When aboard ship evening and nights are broken into 4 hour shifts one of those jobs is called ‘fire-watch’.  The fire watches are collateral, above your regular job. 

Sailors stand these watches by assignment. The ‘Watch’ walks through-0ut the ship looking for dangers to his ship. That is so everyone aboard can rest easy that they will be alerted of fires, collisions or any other dangers. That meant me, and thousands of sailors work many 12 hour days when their time for fire watch comes.

Just as we all lost an hour with this change, someone stood a 5 hour mid-watch vs a 4-hour watch. Crossing the Atlantic Eastward this will happen 5 or six times, because of crossing International timelines. Therefore, the sailor walking ‘fire watch’ walks an extra hour each night that happens, it is just like the time change, except it happens much more often.

Now vice versa, crossing the ocean Westward those ‘Fire watches’ will walk only a 3-hour MID WATCH tour, because they gain an hour.

There was a fire during my fire-watch once on the USS Independence CVA 62.  The fire was not on my post, but it was my duty to wake AND CLEAR.

 Enlisted areas were easy to manage. WE enlisted, slept in large compartments. I only had to yell FIRE, FIRE, REPORT TO THE FLIGHT DECK!  Then head to another compartment.  A funny but weird thing did happen. In one compartment Sailors were watching ‘Desert Fox’ on TV and they were actually fanning smoke from the front of the screen so they could watch more before they ran out. I yelled, stay here you idiots, this fire is real, this is not a drill.

Nite Shipslog

PS.  The fire mentioned turned out to cause minor damage and was extinguished fast by our fire crews. But fires cannot be ignored... The best to you readers,  from FL