Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Navy's Tradition of the New Year's Day Deck Log
Naval History and Heritage Command ^ | Dec. 28, 2017 | By Brian Shottenkirk, Ph.D,

Posted on 12/31/2024 5:50:06 PM PST by US Navy Vet

Well, this is the watch on that special night, When the OD writes poetry by gangway light Tis the 1st of January, 1968 And I've the watch that runs quite late. USS Agerholm (DD 826)

The naval service, by its very nature, thrives on rules and regulations. Above all else, a ship and her crew must promote self-reliance, discipline, and teamwork to maintain effectiveness and ensure mission accomplishment in the unforgiving and uncertain environments of both ocean and fog of battle. This truism of rules and regulation is particularly reflected in the official record maintained by all commissioned U.S. Navy vessels - the deck log.

(Excerpt) Read more at usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil ...


TOPICS: Poetry; Reference; Society
KEYWORDS: usnavy
Worth the read.
1 posted on 12/31/2024 5:50:06 PM PST by US Navy Vet
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: US Navy Vet; rlmorel
"The naval service, by its very nature, thrives on rules and regulations. Above all else, a ship and her crew must promote self-reliance, discipline, and teamwork to maintain effectiveness and ensure mission accomplishment in the unforgiving and uncertain environments of both ocean and fog of battle. This truism of rules and regulation is particularly reflected in the official record maintained by all commissioned U.S. Navy vessels - the deck log."

At least it used to be in my Navy.

2 posted on 12/31/2024 6:01:33 PM PST by A Navy Vet (USA Birth Certificate - 1787. Death Certificate - 2021? )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: US Navy Vet

Onboard the USS Dwight D Eisenhower while in port in Naples, Italy, I had the mid-watch on Dec 31, 1984. The Navy had just outlawed beards and my log noted that fact (as well as others) in a poetic form that I had prepared ahead of time. Later I was called on the carpet and was ordered to rewrite them. In the intervening 40 years I have misplaced the original. Otherwise I would be posting them this evening.


3 posted on 12/31/2024 6:33:34 PM PST by P8riot (You will never know Jesus Christ as a reality in your life until you know Him as a necessity.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: US Navy Vet

I filled out four of those.


4 posted on 12/31/2024 6:47:11 PM PST by Mathews (I have faith Malachi is right!!! Any day now...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: US Navy Vet
Bravo Zulu...
5 posted on 12/31/2024 7:13:41 PM PST by Chode (there is no fall back position, there's no rally point, there is no LZ... we're on our own. #FJB)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: A Navy Vet
You know, that is an interesting quote. In reading it, that is an absolutely rock hard, unchanging maxim description that was written in the age of sail, and in a well-functioning navy would be as valid today as it was in the days of John Paul Jones, Farragut, and even Nimitz.

You cannot go wrong with that. Technologies change. But the fundamental mindset is what makes that maxim so timeless. Self Reliance. Everything Has Its Place. The Crew as a team.

And when push comes to shove, and the rubber hits the road, when, as Kipling said, "If you can keep your head when All about you are losing theirs..." that nautical sense of order, of things having their place, of being self reliant and working as team, you are set up to succeed.

On board a ship of any kind, but particularly warships, when a crisis arrives, whether it is the height of a hurricane off Puerto Rico, or Japanese and American ships squaring off in Ironbottom Sound in 1942 at point blank range and firing directly into each other, they could see their shells hitting each other on a flat line, gun-to-hull or bulkhead, punching a hole and disappearing inside of it, all in pitch darkness.

Personal accounts of the battle went like this which is an excerpt from the web page article on warfarehistorynetwork.com:

"...At this point, “Japanese and American ships mingled like minnows in a bucket,” according to naval historian Samuel Eliot Morison. Existing records offer some idea of the confusion that took place in Iron Bottom Sound that night, but giving a conclusive, blow-by-blow description of the fighting is all but impossible. One of the participants said that the fight was like “a barroom brawl after the lights had been shot out.”

That mindset described in that maxim is what keeps you from being sunk in a battle like that, or foundering on a rocky shore in a storm.

Enjoyed that post of yours, as you could likely tell...wisdom from Your Navy. My Navy. My Dad's Navy.

6 posted on 12/31/2024 7:24:27 PM PST by rlmorel ("A people that elect corrupt politicians are not victims...but accomplices." George Orwell)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: US Navy Vet

The Army says, “HUAH”

The Marines, “HOO-RAH”

Navy?


7 posted on 12/31/2024 7:25:13 PM PST by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LonePalm; reed13k

Concerns the Navy.


8 posted on 12/31/2024 7:39:50 PM PST by Pete from Shawnee Mission ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: martin_fierro

HOOYAH


9 posted on 12/31/2024 8:13:47 PM PST by ViLaLuz (2 Chronicles 7:14)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: martin_fierro

“..Navy?...” Who Dat???


10 posted on 12/31/2024 8:15:52 PM PST by lgjhn23 ("On the 8th day, Satan created the progressive liberal to destroy all the good that God created..." )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: US Navy Vet

Aren’t Navy Ships haze grey, under way and always gay? (Only kidding!)

Happy New Year from a Merchant Mariner!


11 posted on 12/31/2024 9:02:39 PM PST by EngineDad ( Acta Non Verba)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: martin_fierro

<< The Army says “HUAH”

The Marines,”HOO-RAH”

Navy? >>

“BEAT ARMY! “


12 posted on 12/31/2024 9:48:09 PM PST by A strike (death to taggers)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: martin_fierro

They say, “IN THE NAVY”


13 posted on 12/31/2024 11:58:05 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; not averse to Going Bronson.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: A Navy Vet

....I am a Navy vet, too, although I am actually retired from the Air Force....during an open house event, I remember visiting a Navy ship and seeing a minority female, very overweight, in her dress whites, a BM2 (Botswains Mate 2nd class) as part of the OOD party, thinking what ever happened to our height and weight standards of our Navy...??


14 posted on 01/01/2025 5:45:16 AM PST by TokarevM57
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: martin_fierro; Chode

SURFS UP !!! (?)

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!


15 posted on 01/01/2025 10:35:27 AM PST by mabarker1 ( (Congress- the opposite of PROGRESS!!! A fraud, a hypocrite, a liar. I'm a member of Congress!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: TokarevM57

Maybe she was kept in “stock” just incase a spare”Bouy” was needed


16 posted on 01/01/2025 10:38:12 AM PST by mabarker1 ( (Congress- the opposite of PROGRESS!!! A fraud, a hypocrite, a liar. I'm a member of Congress!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: martin_fierro
The Army says, “HUAH”

The Marines, “HOO-RAH”

Navy?

BEAT ARMY!

17 posted on 01/01/2025 10:57:57 AM PST by JimRed (TERM LIMITS, NOW! Finish the damned WALL! TRUTH is the new HATE SPEECH! )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: TokarevM57
...a BM2 (Botswains Mate 2nd class) as part of the OOD party, thinking what ever happened to our height and weight standards of our Navy...??

A second class boatswain's mate doesn't have to do anything but hold a coffee cup without spilling and scream at the deck apes. No fitness needed.

18 posted on 01/01/2025 11:03:13 AM PST by JimRed (TERM LIMITS, NOW! Finish the damned WALL! TRUTH is the new HATE SPEECH! )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: A strike

<>“BEAT ARMY! “<>

31-13!


19 posted on 01/01/2025 1:44:37 PM PST by Jacquerie (ArticleVBlog.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: mabarker1

*


20 posted on 01/01/2025 6:49:59 PM PST by Chode (there is no fall back position, there's no rally point, there is no LZ... we're on our own. #FJB)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson