Today first thing off I heard the Beatles song, “A day in the life.” So I thought I would cover a day in the life of a sailor in port while on duty.

0530 Alarm goes off at my apartment 5 miles from the Naval Station Norfolk.

0540 Hit the shower

0543 get out of shower and shave.

0545 get dressed.

0550 leave home and begin 5 mile drive to base.

0640 arrive at parking lot near ship pier (Yes almost 1 hour for 5 miles!)

0650 Park (Sometimes I get lucky and find a spot faster)

0700 board ship, cross brow, ask permission to come aboard.

0701 Arrive in Engineering berthing and get dressed for the days work.

0705-0758 sit around berthing and watch tv.

0800 Quarters with the MPA on the flight deck. He covers our schedule for the day.

0830 Muster the in-port duty section to cover everything. Fire party and watch duties.

0845 Head down to oil lab.

0900-1000 BS session in oil lab

1000-1130 Work – could include painting, cleaning, waxing, installing new gages, clearing up paperwork, checking boilers for leaks, oil samples.

1130-1200 stand in line for lunch.

1200-1330 Lunch Break – eat and take a quick nap

1330 resume ships work

1330-1400 BS session in main control with MAP and CHENG

1400-1600 More work around the ship.

1600 End of the work day for non-duty section

1600-1730 Sit in oil lab- Paper work, write letters, study for Oil King Quals, work on advancement stuff

1730-1830 Dinner

1830-0800 Do duty oil king stuff. If the ship is on internal power transfer fuel, watch boilers, sample water, sample fuel. Do morning fuel and water report prior to new section taking over at 0800. If on shore power make sure boilers have steam blanket and not much else. Of course get some sleep.

Seriously as long as things are running smoothly there is not much to do. Most major problems are fixed by SIMA. The largest thing the ships crew does is regular maintenance, cleaning, and painting. If there is a problem the schedule goes all the hell and you get to bust some butt. One certain duty day we had a fire and had to clean that up. Then at O damn dark late I had to go to supply to get parts for the engine room. Plus also take care of my entire regular in port oil king tasks. We were on internal power and that was a major work load. At 0800 the next day it was liberty and the weekend off.

I hope that helps give you a small glimpse into the day of an oil king in port on duty at Naval Station Norfolk.