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Turner Joy The forward and upper sections of the ship contain the sophisticated (for the time) electronics, and control sections of the ship. This little ship had both radar and sonar, as well as a CIC (Combat Information Center), in the forward areas. This was also officer's country, where the commissioned members of the ships crew at, slept, and worked. |
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From up on the main deck, a look down shows some of the levels below. We will now descent to the forward below decks area. |
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Above: The Sonar room. We are now a couple of decks below the surface, and actually under the water line. In a ship like the Turner Joy, whose primary task is ASW, this is a very important piece of gear. Left: Also far below decks, is the ship gyro. |
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Left: This is the forward crew quarters, which seems to be little improvement over the aft berthing. |
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Sailors on longer have to heave the heavy anchors up from the bottom of the sea. This winch, just under the deck, at the peak of the ship, does the job for them. |
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This is the forepeak, sometimes called the forecastle, or focsle. It is where all of the curves of the bow come together in a point. An oddly shaped area, it is generally used as a chain and rope locker. |
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To service the dining areas above, there are three large coolers, as well as considerable dry and canned storage. |
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This is the radar room. Like the sonar room, this is below decks. Also like the sonar room, this has repeaters at the upper command levels of the ship. |
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Left: This is where the petty officers sleep. Compared to the crew berthing, this is luxury, and privacy indeed. Still, the petty officers need the room. It has been widely exclaimed that though the officers might make the decisions, and decide the strategy, these are the guys that actually run the ship Below: The radio room. |
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This is the door to the decoding room, just off of the radio room. If you did not work in this room, you were definatly not welcome. |
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Left: The radar consoles, in the CIC (Combat Information Center). There were two consoles, watched by a pair of radarmen, who were supervised by a petty officer. With three men on the job, it was less likely that something would be missed. Below: The interior of the CIC. |
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The navigation room. Back in the fifties, there was no satnav. You found your way with charts, by taking fixes on starts, and by using radio beacons, when available. |
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Though ships no longer have sails, they still have masts. A look up the mast shows numerous antenna - the eyes and ears of the ship. |
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A look at the upper decks, and bridge area. The sheltered area is the navigation bridge, where the ship is sometimes commanded, inside is the main bridge, which holds the steering and speed controls and can be manned in any weather. |
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As in the days of Nelson, flag signals are still used, which is why the upper deck is sometimes called the flag deck. Though modern telecommunications may make this seem a bit anachronistic, flags are still great communications devices, that can be used at short range, when radio signals may be in danger of interception or jamming. |
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The upper decks are filled with signaling, observation, and navigation gear. |
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This is where the signal flags are sent up.
Though each flag stands for a letter of the alphabet, they are
rarely used to spell words. Instead, certain letters, and
combinations of letters have special meanings. As an example,
the letters N + C run together are a distress signal. A squadron
commander might use an E to order ships to starboard, or an I to
order them to port. A K run up the mast means everyone should
stop. Individual navies, or commanders, might work out special
signals for strategy, unknown to possible enemies. Below: The Bridge |
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Earl stands by the helm. It is divided into the steersman, and engine stations. Together, these are sometimes known as the Con, which I imagine was short for control. So to con a ship, meant to control both its engines and steering. |
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Earl points of various features, and pieces of equipment on the bridge of "his" ship. He couldn't be prouder if he was the captain, and the ship was still serving. When he actually did serve about this ship, he was probably rarely up here on the bridge. |
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Just outside of the Bridge, and surrounding it, is the Navigation Bridge. |
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A look down, towards the captain's station on the navigation bridge. There were repeaters for radar, sonar, and many of the ship's instruments here; but the ship could not be conned directly from this station. The captain would relay orders to the helmsman inside of the regular bridge. |