# A first story



## jamesgpobog (Feb 18, 2012)

Since I'm new, this, my first post since my introduction is a short description of my introduction to active duty on my ship, USS Mispillion, AO 105, back in late 1971...

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After a week "in transit" living at the Long Beach Naval Station, I boarded the "Mighty Miss" for the first time. She was moored port side to Pier 7, across the pier from the hospital ship Repose. She was a large ship, 644 feet long, 75 feet wide, drawing almost 35 feet of water fully loaded. I was given a bunk and locker, and then given a tour of the ship. Because she is mostly cargo tanks, the tour of "people space" didn't take long.

One of the places I visited was the boiler room. I remember seeing the gauge board for the first time and thinking "I hope they don't put me down here, I'll never learn what all those dials mean!" (the board has 40 or so gages of various sizes on it.) Sure enough, I was assigned to B Division, the boiler room. 

It didn't take long to have my first adventure. I was put on the check level. This is a catwalk about 15 feet above the boiler deck, and is where the controls to regulate the amount of water going into the boilers are. 


These were my training orders, virtually verbatum; "This is a sight glass. It shows the water level in the boiler. This is the check valve. Turn it this way and the level goes up. Turn it the other way, the level goes down. Keep the level in the middle. If you have any trouble, yell."

Great training. I'm up there no more than a half hour, and the engine room trips the electrical generators off line. The lights start to fade, guys start running around me, and unbeknownst to me, shutting down the boiler. So there I am in the near-dark illumination of emergency lights, checking water on a boiler that is not running.

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This pic was taken 1/12/12 while Mispillion was in the Mare Island drydock. This is the actual location of the above story. the view is looking starboard, stern is to the right. The boiler I was checking water on is in the left foreground, the blue rod/wheel is the check valve.


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