Evening star., 1944-01-16
BY NORMAN A. KAHL,
9far star Corresnnndent


return to life as q landlubber.
Three days may not be quite
enough to qualify for q first mate 3
license but It's long enough to get
the smell Of salt in your nostrils.
For the trainees and members
Of the regular crew, the cruise
down the Atlantic Coast and
through inland waterways has not
been altogether idyllic. Food has
to be cooked for about 450 hungry
men three times a day. Decks have
to be swabbed, brass rails polished,
clothes washed and cleaned, quar-
ters made neat, hunks made up.
Drills, classes and training exer-
cises are going on almost constantly.
And the paint slapped on every
thing during the last three days
would have been enough to give
the Pentagon Building two or three
coats.
The Mariner is carrying 253 train
ees, l02 members Of the permanent
crew, Is officers and nearly 4O
newspapermen and photographers
Very few of the trainees and reg
ular crew have ever been to sea be-
for, but they handle this vessel a.
II they'd been born in ship.
Train for IL Weeks.
The trainees came aboard after
about IL weeks of shore training
at the Maritime Service School at
Sheepshead Bay, N. Y. They brought
with them the 16-piece Sheepshead
Bay Band. Many regular crew
members also came from Sleeps
head Bay. A few are from Hoffman
Island Training Station in New
York Bay.
The Mariner left New York Wed
nesday under the command OF
Comdr. Joseph H. Masse, U. s. N. r.
picked its way cautiously down the
Atlantic Coast to the mouth of the
Delaware. Part Of the voyage was
made in convoy. Standing on the
quarter deck, with the wind whip
ping our faces, we landlubbers liked
to imagine this was really the works
that U-boats and floating mines
were lurking behind every white
cap.
Actually, we've been we'll protected
During the Atlantic leg Of the voy.
age several Coast Guard escort YES.
sells have been tanning out over ou,
course, Navy blimps hover solicitous.
ly overhead and airplane patrol.
circle over us to warn us of danger
II any.
Potomac Treacherous.
The toughest part of the cruise
was negotiating the inland water.
ways with a craft that Is AL feet
long, displaces 10000 tons and has 9
57-foot beam. In about five differ.
ent spots along the Potomac River
We held our collective breath as thu
skipper and the pilot inched thu
Mariner through the treacherou,
channel.
The job Of guiding the Mariner
through the Potomac fell to Capt
Harry E. Slye. sr., AZ. who has beer
river pilot for % years and WHIT
has been sailing since he was &
youngster. Capt. Slye lives at 423(
Oglethorpe street NV. His son
Harry Slye, jr.. now a cadet midship.
man In the Pacific, represents tn,
fourth generation of seamen.
Meals served aboard the Mariner
would intimidate the most hospitabl,
housewife. We got meat three time.
day and In quantities that woulc
strip ration book of brown stamp.
for couple of weeks. No meal wa.
considered complete unless our tray.
were streaming over with vegetables
salads, fruits, desserts and coffee.
Superbly Equipped.
1t should be pointed out that ap.
parently no ship could sail without
coffee. The men who stand four.
hour watches in the crows nest anc
other windswept parts of the shir
practically live for the times they
are allowed to come below and swil
hot coffee.
The Mariner is probably the best
equipped training ship in the world
1t has more facilities than a first.
class hotel. Unlike most merchant
ships, it carries a doctor and a den.
tist. There is a barber shop, tailor
shop, laundry. canteen, library ane
recreation room, auditorium and IA.
cilities for showing movies indoor.
and outdoors. Trainees attend
classes in carpenter shop and q
machine shop. They swarm through
the engine room, even though IL
takes only three men to keep the
engines moving.
Trainees and crewmen went
through their first abandon ship
drill the second day out. We looked
at the ice-clogged water and decided
it would be better to watch from the
deck. The men who in another few
weeks will become members of regu.
lar crews aboard merchant ships
clambered over the side on nets anc
dropped into lifeboats. In the Po-
tomac, they were put through 8
man overheard" drill after they hac
tossed a dummy into the icy water.
Washingtonians Listed.
Five Washington men are amone
the trainees who made the trip
They are Charles L. Fagley, Is, a
16 Ninth street Sc, who was actine
chief machinists' mate and who ex.
poets to get a commission as JUNO,
engineer within q few weeks: Jack.
son Brodsky, 20, of SAIL First street
NV, who was an industrial ANALYST
with the War Production Board In
!civilian life; Frank c. Frazer, jr.
18, of 1740 Eighteenth street NV.
who left the University of Virginia
medical school to join the service
Warren Peoples, 18, of 3517 Tenth
street NV, who was civilian
craftsman with the Army Air Forces
at Fort Myer. and Pete Catucci. 81
OF 1913 North Capitol street, who
used to work at the Naval Torpedo
Station in Alexandria.
Landlubbers all, like the rest OF
us, they decided to 60 out and look
for the war. They entered a serv-
ice where the proportion of men
killed and lost is among the highest
in anv hra nc, of fha a rv,,o-, <o,..