FLOATING FORTRESS

[Music] the enemy Shore of Korea those mountains are alive with guns ammunition and supplies on their way to the communist front our ship is here to see they don't arrive in the moment before the big guns start firing there's always a certain tenseness reflected in the quiet attitudes of the men that General Quarters [Music] with the guns moving into firing position I take my station on the bridge feeling as every battleship captain at times like this the responsibility of command or this is a war in which every broadside must count it's when the guns are firing efficiently like this that you can be proud of your prove down below it takes men with Navy know-how in the turrets to feed those big guns men who've earned their job through long hours of training and hard work coordination and teamwork move the shelves smoothly into position and that's TNT in powder bags which must be handled delicately and surely it takes six of those charges to her Michelle beep down the Communists throat [Music] those guns must be aimed properly too for this job my officers are at work in the main battery plot these gunnery officers are tackling the fire control problem of the action we call interdiction the destruction of enemy supply lines and rear area facilities [Music] our mission off Korea to halt the flow of supplies which keep the Communist armies fed and equipped mostly we concentrate on the coastline railway bridges supply outs and depots but we can shell targets as far as 20 miles inland 20 and planes off our carriers can take care of targets farther inland [Music] [Music] in the Korean emergency our ship has been put to work in Shore bombardment my men like the job they call it exporting steel to some tough customers and I call it making a battleship Captain feel pride in his command but elsewhere at sea we're still engaged in our traditional job with the fleet the floating fortress which provides anti-aircraft and heavy gun protection for the carriers and smaller ships and forms a nucleus for offensive action when required but there's another side of this [ __ ] from the guns are stilled and the battles over for a while that's when she comes to mean something more than a fortress something a lot more personal to her man aboard something all hands can call home of course you've got to keep a home clean and here are some of my boys doing homework to make the varsity on this ship you have to be a member of the scrub team [Music] when lettuce is a personal thing too and we hold inspections often enough to keep the ship and her crew in trim [Music] tons of clothes arrived in the ship's laundry during the year dungarees and whites receive the full treatment in the tubs until they're hauled out limp but clean what makes a ship happy part of the answer is having all the facilities of a home town including a well-equipped bakery it takes 850 loaves of bread a day to feed our crew of 2700 men but the specialty of any bakery is their cake and here a baker cuts his masterpiece into enough small pieces to satisfy the crew of course life isn't all cake and neither is navy child what this cook is cutting in case landlubbers don't recognize it is beep good juicy inch thick steaks hungry the steaks won't be ready until tomorrow but meanwhile there's good news on the grill sizzling him tastes as good as it looks and the men are happy to stand in line to prove it chow down foreign air and the crew starts attacking that child with possessed it deserves in another compartment the Marines are bored are having a birthday celebration the Admiral is on hand to join in the festivities but the high point of the affair seems to be the desert man that's reading [Music] on a ship pass on shore you can't keep up with the world without a newspaper we publish our own in the print shop and get to read it after the editors finish admiring their own work there's a ship service where you can buy everything from watches to soap but not as big as the corner drugstore but just as well supplied for Navy needs at the ice cream seven the star attraction is the Big Dipper and the crew seems to appreciate it medicine for all the Cruz Hills comes from this compartment the pharmacy the formula this Hospital Corpsman is mixing looks rather mysterious [Music] in another medical compartment our eye ear nose and throat specialist looks a little mysterious himself [Music] skilled baby doctors are on board with modern surgical equipment to handle any emergency in the operating room but for some of the sheiks of the crew the real emergencies happen in the barber shop where a short clip can be the unkindest cut of all the mailroom is the most popular spot in the ship by this time most of the crew have learned that the only way to earn their letter is to write one and these are going out by air awaiting the helicopter is ready to start them on the first lap of their journey across half the world belowdecks the activity of this mighty ship is ceaseless in the engine room the black gang is on the job keeping the propellers in motion the machine shop is the mechanical repair center of the ship a combination of skilled hands and modern equipment grinds molds and refits gears for use the electrical shop is the maintenance center for the miles of wire on a battleship here an electrician rewinds just a few feet of it mechanical spare parts for almost any emergency line the shelves of this shop including pipe fittings boats shackles and grinding stones if you want to get the word and this is the place to go in fact the ship's library stocks millions of them written by the world's finest authors this man high up the coast of Korea takes a moment off to read about more glamorous regions down under sooner or later almost every man needs legal advice of one sort or another a legal officer is the port that gives expert advice and aid when needed in this shop are the men who keep the Navy from coming apart at the scene a skillful use of needle and thread applied with modern sewing machines keeps uniforms as good as new shoes take a feeding on the spacious decks of a battleship and sooner or later they all end up in the cobbler shop for repairs among other qualifications the cobbler has to like the taste of nails so another day of the enemy coast of Korea has passed our ship has grown one day old and the crew and myself one day wife the ways of battle in these are Eastern water and now at sunset one of my men's gets up to make an announcement now hear this all and silence for sunset prayer this is chaplain Kapil Sinskey with the sunset prayer Oh Mike lot as we prepare for rest tonight we place our salt into thy hands giving me again our last pot of this busy fighting day we desire that you always occupy the first main place in our lives we thank thee for thy loving care and protection during this day of battle increase in us O Lord faithfulness to our duties so that our preparedness may keep our country safe beat with us when we are lonely and this the dear ones back home be with them as thou art with us help us to keep our hearts pure in our hands clean protect us in the hour of danger and be thou our shield and defender cause war to see we pray and when peace comes may we do our part in the building of a new and better world in which love shall prevail and the Spirit of Christ cover the earth may it be thy will to grant us an early piece sold dog breaks again in these waters and briefly in the morning quiet a kind of peace seems to rain yet those of us support this ship captain and crew know that they may bring battle and turmoil along with its daily ration of work laughter and just plain living when it does we'll be ready for this is the life you ask for when you serve aboard a battleship floating fortress of the nation's fleet [Music]