ADVENTURE TODAY

[Music] our experience today will take a support the largest battleship in the world the USS Wisconsin why don't you join me now and make the trip from New York to Norfolk Virginia and see for yourself what it feels like to be aboard [Music] we're underway [Music] the commanding officer of the Wisconsin is captain RJ Foley who came to the ship from New London Connecticut where he had served as plans officer and chief of staff for the submarine force Atlantic Fleet [Music] these are the ships service ribbons with Battlestars earned in operations against Leyte Luzon Formosa Hong Kong Indochina yo Jima Okinawa and Japan in 1951 the Wisconsin as flagship for the commander seventh Fleet saw five months of action in Korean waters [Music] it is the primary mission of the ship to fight in order to be in perfect condition to perform this mission it is essential that the hull and every piece of equipment must be kept in perfect preservation and operating condition if you've ever tried taking care of equipment around salt water you know that this is a never-ending task [Music] because of the tremendous weight of the anchor and train this piece of rope will act as a buffer between the anchor and the first link of the train when it is lower [Music] when the men are not occupied with the many tasks there are essential drills which must be practiced till perfect Man Overboard is one of them and if you happen to be the one who is over you want your shipmates to know what they're doing and as you can see even though the man over happens in this case to be a box it is a serious thing to these men and the task is performed with skill and efficiency while the big ship makes a tight circle around the smoke marker the boat is on its way [Music] mission accomplished [Music] [Music] it's becoming evening so let's go below and see what our ship looks like from the inside this is the wardrobe where the ships officers relax and eat we'll go on through to the engineering department commander Ryder shows us the main engineering panel the nerve center of the department [Music] one of the fire roams with its boilers the power is then transmitted to the main engines the turbines then to the reduction gears and finally to the propeller shaft these shafts of which there are four can produce up to 53,000 horsepower each the direction of the ship can be controlled by hand here if necessary [Music] here's the machine shop which can handle just about everything accepts the big guns the electrical shop and some of the many different types of bulbs here's a motor being rewound a printing shop the bakery [Music] and the butcher shop [Music] this cook takes his work very seriously [Music] and it was just as good as it looks the all-important chow line [Music] another important line the pay line which is held on the first and 16th of each month even went under way what do they do with the money well there's the sort of mountain [Music] and the ship store and the barbershop [Music] the tailor shop [Music] and this is home every man has a funk and a locker for his personal belonging [Music] they liked their assignment I'd say yes [Music] the next day begins with one of the most traditional jobs in the Navy hosing down the decks and scrubbing them [Music] this is another time-worn task called holy stoning [Music] we get word from the bridge that we're approaching an area where we are to perform a gun drill General Quarters is sounder man your battle stations [Music] [Music] targets are designated and the big 16-inch guns are in action [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] we're approaching our final destination now through historic hampton roads past cape henry lights to the naval base at norfolk virginia [Music] [Music] and now with grateful thanks to the officers and men of the Wisconsin and the Navy Department for allowing us to go along we bring our journey to a close [Music] [Music]