Since I started, I will continue with the watches. Back to Naval heros next week. This was the first watch I stood when I finally made it to my ship. Basically it is a watch done by an engineering rate that requires you to walk around the ship, check water levels, and check locked doors.

The watch is actually straight forward. You walk around with a clip board and sounding tape. You check the engine rooms and other engineering spaces. Then you also check a few of the voids on the ship for water. Most of these should not have water in them. You also check the ships office, dispersing office, and post office to make sure the doors are locked.

On my ships I also had to check the forward pump room and sonar dome. These were both reached by a really long ladder. If you were on watch from 4am-8am you also had to figure the draft of the ship. This was only done in port by checking the draft lines on the hull.

The funny thing about the watch is the security part is a double up. The main security of the ship also checks the doors. The draft is also double checked by the oil kings. But, your readings on the voids are only done by you. After you take readings you write down your results and every hour show then to the in-port EOOW. Basically for 4 hours you walk around, measure a bunch of air, and check some doors.

One night I actually noticed there was a bunch of extra water in one of the engine rooms. The waste heat boiler had been removed through a hole in the hull. The ship was tied to a pier and it had a quick coffer damn attached to the hole. As the tide rose the ship also moved. But, since it was tied to the pier it did not rise like it should have, it rolled slightly. Then the hole was below water. So, in turn we started to take on a whole bunch of water which made things worse. It was an easy fix, pump out the water. In the end the lines were slacked and a couple of people got yelled at. I got a pat on the back. Then I had to help clean up the mess.