"More Navy Cartoons"

In my quest to find some fine Navy caricature art, I’ve ran across some great doodles by a fellow shipmate of the name Russell Crosby! A shipmate onboard the USS Davidson during the Vietnam Era, he’s made quite a few murals and caricatures of his ship’s crew! I posted some of his work here for all to enjoy …

(USS Davidson in Yokosuka, Japan)

(USS Davidson tied up in Subic Bay)

(WestPac in Subic Bay)

(USS Davidson NGFS)

(USS Davidson Cinderella Liberty)

(USS Davidson Liberty in Subic)

(USS Davidson Shipfitters)

(USS Davidson Cooks)

"Semaphore"

Few people outside the military know what a Navy Quartermaster does (several duties include the watch-to-watch navigation and the maintenance of nautical charts and navigational instruments as well as duties that used to be part of the Signalman rating: visual communications).

So during my aircraft carrier's Family Day, I demonstrated a procedure called semaphore. I grabbed my flags and signaled an imaginary boat. When finished, I pointed to a little girl in front and asked,

"Now do you know what I do?"

"Yes," she answered. "You're a cheerleader!"

"Blow The Man Down"

Today, not many know about the ways of life of Iron men and wooden ships as those Iron men sang their sea shanties. Into today’s lighter gentler times, you can sometimes hear these shanties in movies about the sea, such as Master and Commander, Jaws and Moby Dick. But the true tradition of shanties ended with the age of sail.

A very popular ol’ shanty among many a shipmate was “Blow The Man Down.” The version sung on ships usually told about policemen accusing a sailor of being a black baller and the insulted sailor knocking the policeman down and ending up in jail. The modern version usually tells a story about a sailor meeting a pretty young damsel. The title and chorus refer to the abuse sailors endured on the ships of the Black Ball line.

Oh, blow the man down, bullies, blow the man down!

To me way-aye, blow the man down.

Oh, Blow the man down, bullies, blow him right down!

Give me some time to blow the man down!

As I was a-walking down Paradise Street,

To me way-aye, blow the man down.

A pretty young damsel I chanced for to meet.

Give me some time to blow the man down!

She was round in the counter and bluff in the bow,

So I took in all sail and cried “Way enough now.”

I hailed her in English, she answered me clear,

“I’m from the Black Arrow bound to the Shakespeare.”

So I tailed her my flipper and took her in tow,

And yardarm to yardarm away we did go.

But as we were going she said unto me,

“There’s a spanking full-rigger just ready for sea.”

That spanking full-rigger to New York was bound;

She was very well manned and very well found.

But soon as that packet was clear of the bar,

The mate knocked me down with the end of a spar,

And as soon as that packet was out on the sea,

`Twas devilish hard treatment of every degree.

So I give you fair warning before we belay;

Don’t never take heed of what pretty girls say.

"Sailor Comes Home"

A Sailor sent an e-mail to his wife, informing her that his ship would be returning from deployment a day early. Arriving home, he found his wife with another man. Upset, he stormed off and got a room at the Navy Lodge to decide what to do next. His thoughts were interrupted by a call from his mother-in-law.

"Bill!"

… She said …

"I checked with my daughter and, as I expected, there is a perfectly good explanation for this whole episode."

"This I've got to hear!"

… The Sailor said …

"It was an honest mistake!"

… The mother-in-law said …

"She never got your e-mail!"

"Engineers"

Engineers are a strange breed they are, a race apart. It’s hard to explain how a man gets to be one, and since they appear to be unable to explain it themselves, the matter remains shrouded in mystery. The normal human beings who inhabit the pure air of the upper decks regard them, when they occasionally emerge from the pit down below, with amazement and curiosity. For though they look and move like other men, they are distinctly different.  Their eyes blink continuously in the unaccustomed light of day. Their skin, when visible beneath the oil stains has a distinctive pallor like that of some ancient cave dweller.  Their walk too, tends to be stooped and shambling, suggesting an earlier and less attractive stage of evolution … as for the uniforms!!!

So runs the opinion of uncouth Deck Apes! But operating and maintaining the Engineering plant of a naval vessel is not a matter of opinion. It is the prime mover of any ship and the only way it succeeds in moving from port to port.  For a ship must not only be capable of high speed, but more than any other ship on the high seas, it has to be battle ready at all times. And the responsibility of keeping these vessels going whether they have to shoot, chase subs, patrol a harbor or deliver goods to other ships falls on the Engineers.  If they fail, everything stops; all motion through the water, power for lights, radars, coffee pots, guns, pimps, etc. etc… the ship still afloat, effectively dies. Which is not nearly just an Engineering Officer’s nightmare. It can happen in this day and age, but it’s the Engineer who keeps the mission on task… keeps the engines burning and the screws turning! So never forget the Engineers!!!

"You Know You've Been In 'ASW' Too Long When..."

I REALIZED just how fully a Navy friend of mine had been indoctrinated in antisubmarine warfare when I asked him whether he knew the sex of the baby his wife was expecting. "We believe it's a boy," he answered, "but that analysis is based solely on low-confidence acoustic intelligence."

"He means," his wife clarified, "I had a sonogram."

" Making Waves "

Looking back in time, the initiation of the Navy WAVES may seem a bit sexist to some in today’s world, but it was a sign of the times and a fact of life in the days of World War II.

The United States Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve), better known as the WAVES for the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, was the World War II women's branch of the United States Naval Reserve. It was established on 21 July 1942 by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 30 July 1942. This authorized the U.S. Navy to accept women into the Naval Reserve as commissioned officers and at the enlisted level, effective for the duration of the war plus six months. The purpose of the law was to release officers and men for sea duty and replace them with women in shore establishments.

Here are some authentic cartoons from the days of old, depicting the Navy WAVES and how they were perceived in those days.  Some of these cartoons were actually printed in All Hands Magazine!

"Sailor's Little Brother"

The little brother of a Navy Radar Operator asked …

“Jim, tell me how does radar work?”

“The radar transmitter emits brief impulses of electromagnetic waves which are reflected from the target and received by a special receiver. Since the speed at which electromagnetic waves propagate is exactly known and the time they take to travel to the target and back can be determined with a great degree of accuracy it is possible to determine the range to the target as well as the direction to it.”

His little brother pondered a moment, and then said …

“As long as you don’t know, Jim, why don’t you just say so?”