Matrix Games

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ORIGINAL: spence

I don't think anybody will be too surprised if I say I can not address an WWII IJN light cruiser's Watch Quarter and Station Bill directly but I did serve on a ship that still had its "WQSB" from WW2 on board and was tasked with adjusting certain aspects of it to fit with the much, much reduced manning of a late 1970s Coast Guard Cutter to deal with an increasingly demanding routine of boarding operations for fisheries/drug enforcement.

Said cutter, USCGC Bibb, was a very large (for the early WW2 time) escort vessel of 2700 tons, was armed with 2 5"/51s, 4 3"/50s, 8 20mm's, 6 K-guns (for side thrown depth charges) and twin DC rails on the stern. There may also have been some .50 and .30 cal MGs that the Chief Gunners Mate may have forgotten to give back to the Navy when the ship was in the yards. The ship carried 308 crewman and 25 officers (1 of which was a doctor). The engineering plant consisted of 2 boilers, two steam turbines, and two steam generators and could move the ship at 20-22 kts depending on last time the bottom was scraped. Standard speed was 15 kts. (NOTE: this was 1/2 of a DD's engineering plant - the ship was longer winded than a DD but not as fast - the USS Charleston "fake" Light Cruiser had the same hull and engineering plant) This class of ship also served as an AGC in the latter part of the war (Southern France, Philippines, Okinawa) but I never found any records of the Bibb's service in this capacity.

It was organized into 4 departments (each composed of Divisions led by a junior officer and some ratings concerned with the maintenance of the specific equipment mentioned):

Weapons - Main guns, AA guns and Depth Charges, Ship's Boats
Operations - Radio, Radar, Signals, Navigation, increasingly Electronics
Engineering - Engines, Boilers, Electrical, all mech systems, Damage Control
Supply - General Supply, Commissary, Medical

The ship's normal routine steaming was called Port and Starboard: half the crew on watch at a time. That was convenient in that although racks were set up everywhere there weren't enough to go around for the crew so the junior men got to "hot rack" it (share their bed with another crewman in the other watch section).

The ship was commanded by a Captain (O-6, not an O-3 like in the game). Because of its "roomy" accommodations the ship might also embark another Captain who commanded the Support Group (of escorts).

Weapons Department was concerned with the maintenance of all the ship's weapons systems and also included the Deck Force which was concerned with maintaining the general ship's structure. It was headed by a senior Lt or Lcdr. A 5" gun crew would include a Mount Captain (spots fall of shell), Gun Captain (oversees proper loading/safety around the gun), Pointer (cranks gun up or down as ship rolls and literally has his finger on the trigger), Trainer (cranks gun left or right), Shell Loader, Powder Loader, and Fuze Setter. There may also have been a Check Sight Operator who would look through an extra gun sight and make sure that the gun was engaging the enemy and not a friend - this is probably a peacetime addition). The gun crew would have a box of ready ammunition (15-20 rounds) near the gun. If the ship set General Quarters (Battle Stations) then the Upper and Lower Handling Rooms and the Magazines would be manned to keep more ammo coming. This would be where lots of bodies got involved from amongst the unrated men and those with no other critical job during a battle (cooks/stewards/clerks) The lateral movement of shells/powder to the gun would be done by hand: mechanical hoists moved the ammo up/down. In WW2 the mechanical hoists may or may not have had electrical drive (for little shells like 5"). The 300 lb depth charges were loaded on the K-guns/DC racks with just a block and tackle assist to "Norwegian Steam" however.

In the Engineering Department the mass of bodies would be taken up in Damage Control Parties. There was one forward (25-30 men led by a Junior Engineering Officer and some experienced Engineering and Deck (Carpenters Mates in those days) Petty Officers and one aft with Damage Control Central (a senior Lt Engineering Officer, some Petty Officers and a couple of reserve bodies) located midships.

NOTE: In "Shattered Sword" a major different is pointed between IJN and USN ships in this regard. In the USN every sailor was trained to participate in Damage Control parties right from the start. In the IJN training in damage control was limited to particular ratings and only those ratings were designated to participate in damage control (thus many sailors just keeping out of the way/standing around on the burning carriers at Midway).

Each Main Turbine had a Throttleman (Machinists Mate) and an unrated Oiler. A senior Machinist Mate or MMC watched over them. Also in the Engineroom were an Electrician to man the main electrical board and Boiler Tender to man the Evaporator (fresh water maker for the boilers (mostly)). An experienced officer would also be present to watch over all.

Six Boiler Tenders/unrated engineers serviced each boiler in the Boiler Room at GQ.

An experienced steersman (Quartermaster) and an experienced engineering rating would be in After Steering along with a couple of unrated persons to provide more "Norwegian Steam" on the block and tackles should the "power-steering" go out.

The Operations Department grew as electronics became more important during the war and specially trained electronics maintenance personnel were added to keep the gear working. Originally it consisted of Quartermasters (steersmen/log keepers), Signalmen (for visual/sound signal equipment)and Radiomen. Radarmen were added as radar became more important along with, as experience dictated so painfully in the Solomons and Atlantic convoys, a space was set aside to in which to collect and plot all the information, an organization of officers trained in radar/sonar data interpretation and other enlisted men to manually plot radar/sonar data and communicate that information to the Captain/Command was established. This was the genesis of the Combat Information Center. Both Radiomen and Radarmen increasingly became more equipment operators than equipment maintainers as time passed.


NOTE: The IJN never developed the Combat Information Center during the entire course of the war. They were studying the concept with a group of "unemployed" ship captains at the end of the war. Their commanders had little to no help interpreting such radar information as was developed (and relayed to them).

Ratings in the supply department would serve at General Quarters in any place having need of bodies: ammo handlers, DC parties, medical services. At other times they made sure that what was needed for the ship to function was purchased and maintained the good health and sustenance of its crew.

Hope this long winded exposition gives you some idea of how ships operate (and keep themselves operating).

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ORIGINAL: Natali

Hi guy. Don't know if they have it in USCG but wouldn't there be an Air Division in USN ships that had on-board aircraft?

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ORIGINAL: margeorg

Hiya,

I can share some information from a german book featuring the never-completed german aircraft carrier "Graf Zeppelin". It has a section dealing with the crew composition, and contains detailed descriptions about the different divisions and their duties on board. I´m at work right now, can look that up later on if there´s interest.

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ORIGINAL: Gridley380

A few things that might help:

1st, read the AAR "The little ship that could" http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2560960
Japanese side, with a LOT of detail of life belowdecks. An excellent view of what it takes to keep a steam plant running and to some extend what shipboard routine would be like (author wasn't in the IJN, and so must make some guesses).

2nd, take a look here: http://www.militaryresearch.org/1944%20DE%20Organization.pdf to get an idea of the manning of a warship of the era.

3rd, here's a gem: http://www.militaryresearch.org/1944%20LCT%20Organization.pdf the second page is a WQSB. Admittedly for an LCT, but note who's doing what.

#2 & 3 are purely USN, of course, but while the organization of duties varied from navy to navy the work that had to be done didn't (OK, not much).

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Hi margorg - I'd be very interested in anything you can share on this - thanks!