Just above the rubbers in a very small space are the auxiliary steering controls for the ship. This is called aux steering. During general quarters there will be 4 to 5 people stationed here, one person at each rudder control, a phone talker, an officer, and maybe an extra person.

If the connection between the steering servos and the bridge is cut off then aux steering takes control of the ships direction. Speed would be controlled either in Central control or the engine rooms.

Aux Steering is a small cramped, hot, humid, and noisy space. It was hard for me to move around in there, I am 6’5”. When the ship is underway you have the sounds from the screws as well as vibration from them being transmitted into that space. During GQ drills the spaced is manned with the proper people and at times they will actually take control of the ship.

When this happens orders are relayed from the bridge to the people manning the space by sound powered phone. The orders are then carried out by the operators and the ship turns. If I recall the controls were two different rheostats mounted on the steering columns. It was just a simple as turn it one way or the other and the ship moved. Of course there were some very heavy duty electric motors moving the rudders. There was a manual control, but we never did use that.

Aux Steering was also the place engineering, actually A-gang, would hide things they wanted to keep. They also used to relocate things that were not supposed to be in other spaces. It was also a decent place to hide when the ship was in port, it wasn’t so loud and hot then since the machinery was not being used.