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Naval History

Photographic History Of The U.S. Navy


Destroyer Archive Special Feature
  
 
 ALLEN M. SUMNER CLASS DESTROYERS
As Built - Interior Photographs
From the Edward L. Zajkowski Collection


Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Company - Kearny, NJ
January 23, 1944, three days before Commissioning
Photo thanks to Chris Wright

Introduction

At some time in the mid 1980's I received many reels of 35 mm microfilm.  Not having a machine to properly review them, they got put into a box and stored away.   About two years ago my curiosity awoke as to what were on those reels.  Being an amateur US Naval historian type, I quickly realized I had quite a collection of destroyer material, including hundreds of photos from the interior of  692 class DD's as built.
Now I want to share these photos with other veterans, enthusiasts and the general public.  It's been a long time since the first SUMNER class destroyers were ordered to be built, August 1942.  All of the photos shown were taken approximately between January and March 1945, no way of knowing for sure.  These photos are from two SUMNER DD's, USS FRANK E. EVANS (DD-754) and USS JOHN A. BOLE (DD-755).  In just a few photos, if you look close at storage boxes, fire extinguishers, etc., you can see either the name, part of a name or the hull number.
Both ships were built at the Bethlehem Steel Yard in Staten Island, NY.
As you look at the pictures, please remember certain items were not yet placed aboard the ships, such as battle lanterns, enlisted men's mattresses, general supplies, etc.  The offices are empty, engineering spaces quiet, berthing areas void of life, but shortly both these ships would  be alive with all the materials required to be a 1st class fighting ship, including a crew.  You can read more about these two ships on the NAVSOURCE destroyer pages.

To help you better understand a WWII 692/710 class destroyer, our page has over 700 images, broken down into 595 photos, 96 various deck plans and 40 tidbits of info on machinery.
This site is not only for the veteran destroyer men to reminisce, but for anyone who has an interest, wants to learn about US Navy WWII destroyers, had family members who served aboard or simply enjoys looking at a ship's insides.
Within the captions under the photos or groups of pictures, we have tried to explain what you see and where you are on the ship.  Some ships plans are included to act as guides or roadmaps.  There is no way we can explain all the nomenclature, parts or special words and terms used in reference to these destroyers.  In some captions you will see words in parenthesis to assist you in understanding our language, such as PORT (left) or GALLEY (kitchen). The internet is filled with information to help you understand these ships.
ALTERATIONS--As you view the plans and photos, please remember that starting with the day after commissioning, things change on any ship, large and small.  Some official, some not.  An Officer calls a Shipfitter to move the towel racks to a better location, the Electricians move receptacles for better access.  Blueprints are constantly being changed, some of the plans we used are "ALT 11" or "REV 7".  The bread locker being quickly (and officially) moved from the 1st platform to the main deck is a prime example.
All the work involved creating this page is the result of two volunteers, both former destroyermen.  Fred Willshaw can't be thanked enough for all his hard work creating the page from the tons of material I sent him.
I will give you some brief technical and other data about the ship's makeup and a few things you will read or see in the plans.

BLOWER ROOMS -- 8 small compartments, 4 in B-1(forward fire room) and 4 in B-3 (after fire room).  Each had a machine called a "forced draft blower".   These were steam turbine driven fans (about 6,000 RPM) that fed air into boilers under pressure.  The air came in through louvers in the smokestack.
BULKHEAD -- Similar to a wall in your house, except, they come in various classifications, air tight, oil tight, fume tight, and the most serious, water tight.

CLASS
-- Destroyers are generational, each class evolves from the class before it with improvements, advances in technology, etc.  The SUMNER (692) class evolved from the FLETCHER (445) class, the GEARING (710) class evolved from the SUMNER class, etc.
COLD IRON -- you won't see this on the page.  But both ships in the photos are on "cold iron".  A condition where the ships boilers, evaporators and generators are shutdown.  All utilities coming from the pier.
CREW
-- Each ship has officers, chief petty officers and enlisted men.  This is important to remember when you look at the berthing photos.  Officers slept in staterooms, chiefs or CPO's had chief's quarters and enlisted men had berthing compartments.
DECKS, PLATFORMS, HOLDS, LEVELS -- The Navy way to ID what deck (floor) you are on.
FRAME -- these destroyers, like other ships, have steel frames or ribs.  Each frame is exactly 21" from the center of the frame before or after it. All 445/692/710 class destroyers have 21" frame spacing.  Frames go across the ship, longitudinals beams go bow to stern.

FWD-MID-AFT -- There are many references to areas of the destroyer (or any ship) by FORWARD (FWD), AMIDSHIPS (MID) or AFTER (AFT).   Self-explanatory, the FRONT, CENTER and BACK of a ship.

HEADS -- simply put are bathrooms.  Officers, chiefs and enlisted had their own separate heads.
KEEL -- the very bottom or backbone of the ship.
MAIN DECK--we'll call that the ground floor, above main are the superstructure deck, navingation deck, etc.  Below main are the 1st, 2nd, 3rd platforms and the hold.  The hold would be the crawl space under your house (voids).

OVERHEAD -- ceiling
PASSAGE or PASSAGEWAY -- In a building, hallways or corriders.  Used to get from one part of the ship to another inside the ship. One uses the weather decks to transit outside the ship.
SCUTTLEBUTT -- drinking or water fountain
SICK BAY -- On 692's in 1945, officially named "medical storeroom", between frames 95 and 101.   Later called "pharmacy".  It was the place one went when ill.  Most destroyers did not warrant a doctor, during WW2 trained medical enlisted men filled that role and had the rate "pharmacist's mate", which later became "hospital corpsman".
STRAKES -- sides and bottom plating on a ship, same as plywood or sheathing on a house.
VOID -- a place you don't want to be.  Smallest, almost inaccessible spaces usually deep down in a ship.
WRSR -- wardroom stateroom, where the officers lived.
5 INCH -- the main guns on all 692/710 class destroyers.

It is suggested that for additional information you visit the Naval Historical and Heritage Command's website presentation of the Nomenclature of Naval Vessels from February 1942 at  http://www.history.navy.mil/books/nnv/index.htm.

We welcome questions and comments.
Please E-mail Ed at edz765@frontier.com
Ed Zajkowski
USS Keppler (DD-765)
Fred Willshaw
USS Allen M. Sumner (DD-692)
  
INDEX to Photo Sections
Berthing       Wardroom    Forward Engine Room (B-2)       Radio Central
   Captain's Sea Cabin Deck & Boatswain's Spaces    Foward Fan Room    SONAR
   Captain's Stateroom    Boat Winch    Forward Fire Room (B-1) Ordnance/Weapons
   CPO Quarters    Bosun Locker       Lower Level    20mm Ammunition Clipping Room(s)
      CPO Berthing Aft     Chain Locker        Upper Level    40mm Ordnance Compartments
      CPO Berthing Forward     Peak Tanks    I. C. & Plotting Room    5" Ammunition Handling & Stowage
      CPO Head Aft  Doors, Hatches, Passageways, etc.    Sluice Valves    MK 37 Director
      CPO Head Forward  Engineering Department    Steering Gear (RAM) Room    Torpedo & Ordnance Workshop
      CPO Pantry     After Emergency Diesel    Stuffing Box Compartment (Shaft Alley) Supply Department
   Division Commander's Cabin    After Engine Room (B-4)     Tank Tops    Bread Locker
   Enlisted Country        Lower Level  General Spaces    Food Service (Steam Line)
      Enlisted Berthing Aft       Upper Level     Ship's Office    Galley 
       Enlisted Berthing Forward    After Fan Room    Voids    Laundry
      Enlisted Berthing Inboard Passage    After Fire Room (B-3) Medical Department    Mess Decks 
      Enlisted Head Aft    After Steering    Sick Bay    Refrigeration Plant
      Enlisted Head Forward    Battery Charging Room Navigation/Communications    Scullery
   Officer's Country    Carpenter & Shipfitter Shop     Chart Room    Ship's Service Store
      Officer's Berthing Aft    Damage Control/Repair Lockers     Combat Information Center (CIC)    Storerooms
      Officer's Berthing Forward    Engineering Office (Log Room)     Pilot House    Supply Office
      Officer's Head Aft    General Workshop & Electricians Shop     Radio    Wardroom Pantry
      Officer's Head Forward    Forward Emergency Diesel        Emergency Radio Room  

Berthing

Division Commander's Cabin
 
   
Division Commanders Stateroom, or, in the world of Navy acronyms, DIVCOM. A large compartment located on the 01 deck (one above main) all the way forward. The Division Commander was the officer above the ship's captain, usually in charge of four destroyers. As built DIVCOM had 2 bunks, but in later years one was removed. He had his own private head (bathroom), plenty of storage, communications, 2 portholes. The door with the white tag was the only way in or out and led to the 01 deck inboard passage, just feet from the chart room and radio central.
  

 Captain's Sea Cabin
Sea Cabin--While at sea the captain's responsibilities left him little time for rest. Each ship had a "captain's sea cabin", usually located directly aft (behind) of the bridge. During any emergency or serious situation he was readily available for action. His normal reside was the "captain's stateroom", usually on the main deck.
  
Captain's Stateroom
 
Captain's Stateroom on the main deck, port side, forward of the wardroom. Only two men on the ship had private rooms, the Captain and the Executive Officer. All amenities included, toilet, sink, shower, safe, ample storage space, desk, etc. Clock has not yet been installed.  

Officer's Country
  
Those areas aboard a naval vessel designated to be used solely by commissioned officers for sleeping, eating, meeting or recreational purposes.

From the ship's Organization Manual for USS LAUB (DD-613)
Ship's order #2, section 26 dated 24 October 1942
  

Forward Officers Berthing
Stateroom 101 is forward on the main deck, directly across from the captain's stateroom and forward of the wardroom.  A two officer stateroom and one of the few with a porthole.
The object with the canvas material in the right photo is called a wardrobe, where one hangs coats, trousers, etc. After the war these were replaced with 6 foot high metal, double door wardrobes.
  
Forward Officer's Head
Located between frames 35-40 on the 1st platform. The right photo shows the stateroom passage with the head's shower curtain visible through the open door.
After Officer's Berthing
Three views of stateroom 105.  Located on the main deck aft.  A three officer room.
  
The above 4 rows of photos are of all the staterooms aft on the main deck.  They are 102 (double), 103 Executive Officer, 104 (triple) and 105 (triple).
  
This is a cross ship passage around frame 139 and the right hand photo is looking to starboard.  SR 104 is on the right, 102 on the left.
  
After Officer's Head
These 4 rooms were home to 9 officers, the head consisted of 2 sinks (lavatory), 1 urinal, 1 water closet (toilet) and 1 shower.  The XO's stateroom had it's own sink.  One very unique item in the XO's room was an instantaneous water heater.  A type D-2 steam injected device.  The only other one on the ship was in the medical storeroom (sickbay).
  
The Wardroom
Officers Wardroom, opening to the right leads to Captain's Stateroom. Looking to starb'd. The 692/710 class DD wardroom table had seating for 12 at a time. Features on the far bulkhead include 2 portholes, an entertainment radio and folded surgical table. The wardroom was also used as the FORWARD BATTLE DRESSING STATION, during emergency situations. The partially seen opening to the left leads to the captain's stateroom and stateroom 101. Of special interest at the very front of the photo, on the edge of the table is a pushbutton. When an officer wanting anything, they pushed that button and a steward would pop in to cater to the need.
  
Passage going to wardroom, look close and you can see nametag holders, two on the left, one on the right. Right is the captains stateroom, room 101 is on the left. View is looking aft. 
CPO Quarters
Chiefs, CPO's or chief petty officers. A very important part of the crew. Chief's were/are the senior enlisted aboard a destroyer, many say they are the ones that really run the ship. Aboard a 692 class destroyer, as built, the chief's were split forward and aft, as the plans show. After CPO quarters was simple, a bunk room with six bunks and a small head (bathroom). Forward was the chief's pantry, lounge and mess, along with berthing for 12. In later 692's and the new 710 class, all CPO's slept forward. The early 692's used a part of CPO berthing forward to house the 5" practice loading machine, a tool used to train sailors how to quickly and safely feed ammo and fire the 5" guns, necessitating splitting the chief's berthing.

CPO Berthing Forward
The open door leads into the CPO pantry.  Just to the left is the door to the forward head (bathroom).  The large piping at top is the ships firemain, the valve is a 5” angle stop valve, # 2-40-2.
  
Ladder going up to main deck from vestibule where fwd head and door to CPO pantry is.  Above is the 5” fire main. Same vestibule as the previous two.   Looking aft.  The water tight door leads to the mess decks, louvered door to the left is a cleaning gear locker.  5” fire main overhead.
Looking forward. The open hatch goes down to the 5" loading machine, which a few years later, and on all 710 class, became exclusively Chief's berthing. The water tight door all the way forward leads to the Bosun Locker and Windlass room. Notice the 9 coathooks above, these can be seen in all berthing areas throughout the ship. Looking aft. From left to right, the 5" barbette which houses the upper handling room, the water tight door leads to the chief's pantry (kitchen), on the deck is the Dredger(manufacturer's name) type hoist for 5" ammo to be brought up from the ammo stowage rooms, and one of two mess tables with wood benches where the chief's ate their meals. Notice the entertainment radio.
  
Same area as previous photo, except the opposite view. Looking forward in the chief's messroom. The white area on the left is the port side of the ship's hull. The white "feet" on the bottom are the ship's individual frames. As is with most compartments on a Navy ship, the overhead (ceiling) is crowded with wireways, piping and ventilation ductwork.
Port side looking forward.  Two mess tables, scuttlebutt and lockers. Similar view, at top left is shoring, 5" x 5" timbers to help fill in holes below the waterline in the event of battle damage or any damage.

CPO Pantry
All the way forward in CPO quarters looking at the open door to the Bosun Locker and windlass room.
The chief's had their own cutlery, dishes, sink, refrigerator (reefer) coffee and messcook, but ate the same food as the other enlisted men.
  
CPO Head Forward
  
CPO Berthing Aft
This small compartment aft is explained in the caption at the top of this CPO section.

CPO Head Aft

Enlisted Country




Enlisted Berthing Forward

A-303 BL

Six bunks for enlisted and one hammock. All bunks are labeled with a number starting here.
These are one through six. No photos available for this space.

A-304 L

This compartment housed bunks 7 through 54.

In this room were the high pressure air flasks for torpedo charging and counter recoil for the 5" guns.
  
A-305 CL

Bunks 55 to 102.

A-306 AL

Bunks 103-117

This small compartment usually berthed the messcooks and stewards. Right photo is a good example of berthing compartment heating. In the overhead can be seen the reheater with 2 pipes coming from it. One is the steam inlet and the other is condensate returning to B-1. This heater has 2 outlets, shown, each capable of 240 CFM. The source of air for here is vent fan 01-53, an axial fan with a capacity of 6300 CFM. Fans only ran on low speed when heating and high speed in hot weather, there was no air conditioning, only outside air. Many spaces were heated by radiators (steam) or electric heaters. All enlisted berthing spaces were heated in the above manner.

Enlisted Head Forward

The forward enlisted men's head (bathroom) was designed to service bunks 1 through 117. It held 7 sinks (lavatories), 2 showers, 2 urinals, a 3 seat and a 2 seat water closet trough. The room was heated by 2 steam radiators. By blueprint, all shower heads had to be 65" above deck.
  
Enlisted Berthing Inboard Passage
Two areas of berthing in the inboard passageway. Forward is between frames 83-92 and aft between 110-120. These were not desirable bunks due to traffic 24 hours a day. They were eliminated sometime after WWII. 

Enlisted Berthing Aft

C-203 L

Bunks 133-207, 9 bunks uninstalled.

From the left, looking forward at the closed machine shop door. Center shows the aft diesel, closed, an escape ladder and scuttle above, good view of a typical locker on the deck, coat hooks and the cover for fuel oil tank C-10F. Right is the aft diesel door open, a supply vent duct and safety non-slip deck tread.
  
From left, good view of a triced up bunk, also shows how canvas bottom was attached to a pipe berth frame. The ladder in or out of C-203 to the main deck. The cleaning gear locker, each large compartment had one. It held a bucket, mop and other cleaning gear. Each compartment was maintained by a designated compartment cleaner, this task rotated among the junior men in that room.
  

C-204 LM

These photos show all the typical items in a berthing compartment, scuttlebutt (drinking fountain), electrical boxes, vent ducts, but this one also was home to the mount 53 upper handling room, or merry-go-round. Ammunition came here from the magazines below decks. The ammo in here was passed right up to the gun to be fired.

C-205 LM

Bunks 259-324

This is the aftermost berthing compartment on the ship. On the aft bulkhead are 3 watertight doors, carpenter + shipfitter shop, after steering and the peacoat room. This room had a large watertight hatch going up to the fantail and the outside. There were 2 doors going into the next forward room, C-204 LM. The very back of the mount 53 upper handling room curvature can be seen with no openings. For all you veterans, we hope after all these years you can ID the bunk you slept in and show your grandkids. Catch the look on their face when they see a piece of pipe and a sheet of canvas we called heaven after a hard day!
  
Enlisted Aft Head

The aft crew's head had 10 sinks, 4 urinals, 4 showers, a 4 seat and two 2 seat water closet troughs, water heater tank and an item no one wanted to visit, a prophylactic treatment stand! Don't assume the worst. This stand was used to treat any man with any communicable disease, including poison ivy. There have been many stories circulating that one set of trough seats were painted red, to isolate an infected man from the crew, we have been unable to positively confirm that. There's a photo above of one on the Historic Naval ship USS Slater in Albany, NY as an example of what red seats would have looked like. The water heater shown was a 60 gallon tank heated by steam. This head serviced bunks 118 through 324.
  

This 692/710 Material List for the Ship's plumbing shows no indication of any special red seats for the water closet seats.
It indicates 16 seats or 32 pieces with 3 sets of spares.
  
Supplemental Plans
For all you guys who always wanted to own your own bunk, here's your chance, not to mention a water closet trough.
  
Engineering Department

The sailors who worked and stood their watches in the engineering spaces were lovingly called "Snipes".
What is a Snipe? "Snipe" is a nickname for someone who works in the Engineering department on a ship, mainly Water Tenders/Boilermen, Machinist Mates and Electrician Mates. If anyone knows the origin of the word Snipe in relation to Navy Engineers, please e-mail us at edz765@frontier.com.

To view more information on DD-692 Class machinery, please visit  http://www.dd-692.com/machinery.htm
and we recommend visiting the Historic Naval Ships Association page at
http://www.hnsa.org/doc/destroyer/steam/index.htm

Carpenter & Shipfitter Shop


SINGER CORP., INC.
Type "C" Class I
115 volts 60 cycles
This very small compartment was home to the Shipfitters (SF) and Damage Controlmen (DC).  As built, the ships sewing machine was also housed here making the room very crowded. The sewing machine was later moved to an area in the bosun locker forward. The sewing machine shown here is in the adjoining berthing compartment awaiting installation. The men in this room were qualified welders and fabricators, able to repair damage and many other types of metal/hull work.
  
Engineering Office
(Log Room)
This office was the base of operations for the ships Engineering Officer and his assistant, the MPA (Main Propulsion Assistant).
The logroom Yeoman processed all the daily logs from the department, maintained the manuals and any other tasks requested by the officer.
  
Forward Fire Room (B-1)
  All 692/710 class destroyers recognized their boilers as left or right handed by this plan.
 
B-1 Upper Level
Left photo--Upper level looking at the port side hull of the ship. Most prominent item is the #1 foam generator front and center with full cans of foam behind. Directly behind the top of the fire hose is a small black door. This is forced draft blower room #2. Center photo is a view looking forward, the ladder leads up to the inboard passage on the main deck. The white duct in the rear channels air from the blower into #1 boiler. Right photo has us looking at an angle at #1 boiler, the ladder leads up to the outboard hatch on the main deck.
  
Left photo--The large "box" object is the left side of #2 boiler. To the right with 4 small safety valves is #1 fuel oil (FO) heater. Center photo shows a continuation of the left photo starting with the FO heater. Next to it with the large black handwheel is #1 fuel oil (FO) discharge strainer. Inside the black door is forced draft blower #4 on the port side of the ship, four per fire room. The shiny deck is front of forced draft (FD) blower #4 is the top of reserve feed water tank B-10W, holding 4,339 gallons of feed water. Right photo is looking aft at #3 FD blower and the starboard hull. #3 is atop feed water tank B-9W holding 4,331 gallons of feed water.
  

B-1 Lower Level

Plan
  

Sootblower
  
Left is a plan of the B-1 gage board. Center shows the firing aisle filled with valves, gages, burners, registers, smoke indicators and the gage board. View is looking to port. Boiler #1 is on the right, #2 on the left. Right photo shows an opposite view of the firing aisle, looking at the Starboard bulkhead. This area is below the waterline, the ladder goes to the upper level and on the left is #2 boiler. These 2 photos are aboard DD-755.
  
Left photo--From the left, the geared mechansim is a soot blower designed to keep the boiler tubes clean, these B&W boilers had 8 soot blowers each. The round column running the height of the photo is a stanchion (pole) supporting the upper level beams. In the bottom left center is the burner cleaner, a bracket at top to hold the burner and a round container to catch oil and cleaning fluid, kerosene. Top center is the rear of the gage board, then the log desk and a portion of #1 boiler. Center photo is the opposite view of the left photo showing soot blowers, rear of gage baord, ladder to the upper level, stanchion and part of #2 boiler. Right photo is a side view of a boiler.
  
Left photo--This is pump row, 7 pumps in a row on the portside. (see B-1 lower level plan) This view is looking forward. Metal casing to the right is #2 boiler. Center photo is the opposite view of pump row, metal casing is #1 boiler. Right photo is a close up of one pump. All 3 photos are aboard DD-755.
  
Left photo has us looking at #1 FO Service pump. The center photo is #1 FO Booster pump. Right photo--When viewing the pumps from forward to aft, this is the7th and last one. The #1 hand driven FO pump, very important. It is used to light off a boiler if the #1 port & cruising FO service pump is out or ship has no power. All 3 photos are aboard DD-755.
  
Left photo is a view behind #2 boiler. The thin black pipe against the far bulkhead comes from the #1 hand driven FO pump. Notice, all lower level deck (flooring) is diamond plate while the upper level is all open grating. The center photo clearly shows us #1 emergency feed pump. Used for in-port and at-anchor service at low steaming rates, and for emergency service. Also used for adding boiler compound for interior tube cleaning, hence the funnel. The right photo has us looking at water tight bulkhead 92 1/2 or frame 92 1/2. On the other side of this bulkhead is the forward engine room. The hand driven FO pump is to the right. The ships name on the spare parts box is USS JOHN A BOLE DD-755. The spare parts are for the FO booster & service pumps.
  
Three views alongside boilers on the starboard side. Main wireways run forward and aft. The visible bulkhead is actually the iner shell of two water tanks, B-7W forward with 3,476 gallons of fresh (potable) water and B-9W aft, with 4,331 galloons of reserve feed water. Both fire rooms had 4 tanks, 2 fresh water and two feed water. Feed water was for the boilers. All three photos were taken aboard DD-755.
  
Left and center photos are looking forward, the starboard water tank bulkheads are to the right. The right photo is either bulkhead 72 or 92 1/2, in front of #1 boiler or behind #2 boiler.ooking forward along the side of #1 boiler to starboard.
  
Miscellaneous B-1 Lower Level photos

 Pump Data 

  

  

  

  
  Forward Engine Room (B-2)  
Forward Engine room, also called B-2. Upper level. DeLaval lube oil purifier. View looking aft. Recycles lubricating oil by removing dirt + water. Lube oil settling tank is to the left. Located in the forward engine room (B-2). The 4 wheels on the board controlled steam into the turbines to determine the ship's speed, or in reality, the speed the propellers turned. 139 rpm on both props resulted in 15 knots. The board has many alarms and gages so the people on watch would know what was going on at all times in their room. The major difference between the fwd and aft throttle boards was that the fwd one has 2 engine order telegraphs and 2 rpm gages. B-2 was considered (main control) or the one engineering compartment that controlled all 4. Also, the Chief of the Watch stood his watch here, he was in charge of the entire engineering plant.
  
Turbine driven SSTG (ship's service turbine generator) looking at the turbine end. For data, go to B-4 section.
  
Steam jet air ejector (SJAE).
Main evaporator or distilling plant, 12,000 gallons of fresh water per day. Details under section B-4.
  
Main propulsion turbine #1 reduction gear for the starboard shaft.
  
After Fire Room (B-3)
The After Fire Room (B-3) is basically the same as the Forward Fire Room (B-1), which is explained in depth in the B-1 Section. Pump row is on the opposite side of the ship with the same pumps. The upper level has the high pressure air compressor not found in B-1.
  
After Engine Room (B-4)


B-4 Upper Level
B-4 Machinery Plan
Upper Level
The "inboard" oval hatch on the main deck going down to the aft engine room. Located in the inboard (inside) passage. Each of the 4 engineering spaces had 2 of these, one inboard and 1 outboard(outside). This is a quick acting 4 dog hatch made water tight with 2 turns of the handwheel after closing. Notable in this photo is a submersible pump with cord and plug. This pump was used for dewatering emergencies and was powered by 440 volts. The cone shaped object in the rack is a suction strainer for the pump to prevent the pump from clogging with debris.
  
After engine room throttle board. Compare this to the B-2 throttle board. (B-2 throttle). A well organized collection of guages, alarms, bells, and other indicator devices. The large box on the right of the board is the salinity indicator, a way of detecting content of salt in fresh water. Guide to the B-4 throttle board.
Backside view of the B-4 throttleboard showing the 90 degree linkage from one of the throttle valves. View is just right of the throttle board, looking at the fwd bulkhead of B-4, frame 130 1/2. Shown are electrical boxes, barometer, and at top center, a "reproducer" or PA speaker. Handrail is around opening with a vertical ladder that takes one from the upper level to the lower level. After engine room switchboard viewed from the throttle board. The 2 panels shown are, left, the 120 volt AC lighting distribution board, the 3 lamps at the top are ground indicator lamps which are tested frequently, if grounds are discovered, they are traced and repaired. the 2nd panel is the AC general and battle power panel, which is 440 volts.
  
From L to R--Panels 3, 4 and 5. 3 is titled "AC bus ties and restricted battle power", 4 is "AC generator control" and 5 is DC generator control, bus ties and feeders". This is the after switchboard in B-4. 2 of these panels control both the AC + DC generators. DC was used for IC control circuits, carbon arc searchlights, generator controls and AC excitation. On the bottom of panel 4 are relays, such as overcurrent, reverse power, etc.
  
The narrow walkway behind the aft switchboard and bulkhead 130 1/2. On the other side of 130 1/2 is B-3. Degaussing Board located in the aft engine room on the starb'd (right) side. This utilized DC current from the Generators to counteract the magnetic influence of mines. Auxiliary evapoator located in the after engine room on the starboard side. Capable of making 4,000 gallons of fresh water a day from sea water. Main evaporator in forward engine room makes 12,000 gallons per day.
  
Distillate monitoring station from the auxiliary evaporator.
Ships service turbo generator (SSTG)--upper level--the turbine (10,056 rpm)was run on steam at 600 psi, through a reduction gear to the generator. As built the 692/710 class generator (also one in B-2) was capable of 400KW of AC electricity at 450 volts. Upgraded in later years to 500KW. The round dark object, top center, is ventilation blower 2-132-1 which blew cool outside air into the hot engine room. Each generator was also capable of making 50KW of DC electricity.
  
Power Panel (PP) 2-141-1 located in B-4 on the upper level. This is a 440 volt panel feeding equipment such as low pressure (LP)air compressors, fire + flushing (F+F) pump, etc. It is fed directly from the main switchboard in B-4, circuit FB-414. To the center right is the polished brass voice tube that allowed communications between the lower level watchstander and the upper level. This "Steam Jet Air Ejector" (SJAE) is in B-4 just aft of the throttleboard on the upper level. The function of the air ejector is to remove from the main condenser all air liberated in that condenser.
Reduction Gear Looking toward the port side bulkhead. In front is the jacking (turning) gear motor, in the left rear is #2 lube oil purifier and barely visible to the right, the LP (low pressure) air compressor with air receiver tank above.
  
Behind or the port side of the turbine. A small workbench for the MM's (machinist mates) to work on. In the distance is the LP air compressor and receiving tank. Turbine is to the left and spare parts boxes tell us this is DD-755. Aft Engine Room. portside walkway behind the turbine and reduction gears. Workbench is in the background. In the very foreground to the left is the LP (low pressure) air compressor, lower, and above is the receiver tank for the compressed air.
View of the backside of the cruising turbine with bulkhead 130 1/2 in the rear.
  
The tight walkway between the turbine and bulkhead 130 1/2.   This vertical ladder goes from the upper level of B-4 to the inboard passage on the main deck in all 692/710 class DD's. Behind the ladder is water tight bulkhead 148.
  
After engine room desk used by watch standers to fill out logs and data sheets. Upper level just in front of the throttle board.
Standing in front of the Degaussing Switchboard (not shown) looking down the 2 stage ladder with platform into the lower level of B-4 where all the pumps are located. The platform is directly over the starb'd shaft.
  
     Looking across the top of main circ pump #2. The throttle board and one handwheel are barely visible through the opening.


B-4 Lower Level
B-4 Machinery Plan
Lower Level
Left is #4 Main Feed Booster Pump. Right is Lube Oil Service Pump #4. Port shaft is behind ladder.
  
Motor for Fire & Flushing (F&F) Pump #2. Left is Main Feed Pump #4. #4 Bearing. Auxiliary Feed Booster Pump #2 to the left.
Left is #4 Main Feed Pump. The visible 1/2 of a motor is Auxiliary Condensate Circulation Pump #2. Starboard side.
  
Left is the Reduction Gear. Right is Lube Oil Cooler #2, looking aft. Right is Lube Oil Discharge Strainer #2, Port shaft as it comes out of the Reduction Gear. Left is Bulkhead 148. Pump on left is Main Condensate Pump #3. Starboard shaft behind ladder.
Round item at top is Lube Oil Cooler #2. Large round object is Auxiliary Condenser #2, small round item above is Distillate Condensate Cooler #2.
  
Port shaft under screen where it leaves the Reduction Gear.

After Steering

The wheel in the center was used for emergency steering when the bridge lost control. The horizontal bar going across in the center of the photo was the last result for steering. Hand cranks were put on the ends and sailors turned the rudders manually, very difficult and slow. After Steering located between frames 196 + 204, on the first platform (1st deck below the main deck) and amidships (dead center in the ship). This was the elctro-hydraulic machinery that turned the rudders. All 692/710 DD's had twin rudders.
   
Looking at the starboard bulkhead of after steering. From left, 2 440 volt receptecles for submersible pumps, round object at top is a siren, many electrical boxes, selector switches and a phone. The door leads to the aft berthing compartment. Aft steering has an emergency escape scuttle up to the main deck.
  
Battery Charging Room
 
The ships's charger for all batteries, diesel starting, whaleboat, portable lanterns, etc.

Two left photos show a foam proportioner unit on the main deck, inboard passage.  Used for dispensing a foam agent for fire fighting.  Right two pictures show a typical submersible pump in place with a length of cable ready for use.
  

Three views of a newly constructed repair locker on the port side main deck at frame 145, not yet stocked.
  
This pump is located in supply department storeroom C-308A. The pump is driven by a 440 volt, 50 horsepower motor. The pump is designed to discharge sea water at 350 GPM at a pressure of 150 PSI into the fire main system.
  
  
Material conditions of readiness classifications



  

All photos from inside this room were taken aboard USS Frank  E  Evans (DD-754), which had a tragic ending in 1969.  See the NAVSOURCE Destroyer Archive for details.
  
The water tight hatch (2-69-1) leading down to the forward diesel room.  This hatch is located in the scullery.  To the right is the IC room.  The ladder goes up to the main deck and the view is looking aft at bulkhead 72 with B-1 on the other side.  The 1 1/2" globe stop valve (2-71-1) on the left sends salt water cooling to the engine.  To the right of that is a 1 1/2" sea strainer, the fire hose has yet to be installed.
  
The ladder coming down from the scullery.  We are looking at the diesel fuel oil day tank, holding 200 gallons of oil when full.  The 5 small valves and piping are for monitoring tank level.  Black triangular object is the release nozzle for CO2 in the event of fire. Going right from the ladder, top, diesel starting controller (cabinet), starting batteries below (36 volts), log desk, tool box, alarms, phone and another CO2 nozzle.  Left, on the deck is the vacuum pump, see data box below.
Blower end of the diesel engine.  Attached to the engine are the fresh and salt water pumps, see data sheet below.  Space heater against the starb'd bulkhead.
  
Side view of engine(blower end exhaust side), piping, pumps.  Generator is in the background.
Gray box to the left is the governor, then the gage board which is itemized in a data box below. Exhaust pipe going up and over the side. Emergency diesel generator switchboard--Looking forward, starb'd bulkhead to the left.  Notice ships name on the extinguisher.
  
View behind the switchboard, another CO2 nozzle and a casualty power terminal. Back side of diesel--cylinders are lube oil filters, space heater (steam) top left.
  
Diesel Data

After Emergency Diesel
(left photo) From left, the door to the After Emergency Diesel Room, log desk, 2 CO2 bottles for flame smothering should fire occur. They could be triggered from a remote location by manual means. The 3 large black pipes on the right side coming up from the deck are fuel oil tank overflows, the 3 small black pipes in the overhead (ceiling) are fuel oil tank vent lines. The large box on the right center is the diesel engine starting control. A flip of the switch starts the engine. (center photo) From left, the starting controller, six 12 volt batteries (36 starting volts) to start the engine, above the batteries are a 3 phase 450 volt to 120 volt transformer bank. The switchboard controls the generators output but also monitors and controls the engine. The 2 sets of triangular lamps at the top of the right board are ground detector lamps. The tank top on the deck leads to fuel oil tank C-4F which holds 3,019 gallons of oil. (right photo) Blower end of engine. Oval tank cover on bulkhead leads to fuel oil tank C-1F, holding 14,607 gallons of black oil.
   
View between rear of switchboard and bulkhead 72. Large dark box is the 200 gallon day tank for fuel. The 2 cylinders on the left are lube oil filters. The round handwheel at the very bottom is for the scuttle to go down into the port shaft alley. Good overall view of the control side of the after emergency diesel generator. The large black line at top left is the engine air intake going right to the blower. The large half white pipe at top center is the exhaust line going up and outside. Notice the heavy duty shock mounts the engine rests on.
  
Forward Fan Room
On the main deck and at opposite ends of that deckhouse are two areas that over the years have had a few different names.  Basically, they are passageways, but each houses two large vent fans and have been called "fan rooms, forward and aft".  As built the aft room was officially titled "passage + fan space".  Forward was simply called "passage".  During the 1960's, aft was titled "after battle dressing station and barber shop" on some destroyers.  Many had the ship's store + post office relocated to the aft fan room.  For reference purposes we shall call them "fan rooms", forward and aft.  The intention of this series is to show the ship as built.

 
Referred to as the Forward Fan Room because 2 large vent fans are here, one can be seen in the overhead (ceiling). Also equipment to service gun mount 52 (5" gun number 2) located on the 01 deck, one deck above main. The open hatch goes down to the CPO/fwd head vestibule.
  
After Fan Room
 
The After Fanroom. The ladders go from the main deck to berthing compartments below. There were 2 large ventilators here, one was supply, the other exhaust all for the berthing compartments. These were always dogged down during GQ. The stack of buckets were for the fire brigade or cleaning. Notice the rack for 6 gun barrel cleaning poles and brushes. The closed watertight doors lead to the main (weather) deck just forward of mount 53.
  
I. C. & Plotting Room

 

 
  
   
The IC (Interior Communications) room is the central location for all interior shipboard communication, gun fire control, and navigational related instrumentation. This space contains the master ship gyrocompass, the 1MC Public Address amplifiers and controls, the 21MC Captains Command circuit controls, all main patch panel switchboards and circuits for the sound powered phone system, and the Mark 1A fire control computer with stable element. Major functions include remote control of the guns, providing ships course and wind speed, and central control of all interior shipboard communications.
Caption courtesy of Rich Angelini.
   
General Workshop & Electrical Shop

The General Workshop & Electrical Shop, a working compartment shared by "A Gang" and ship's Electrician's mates. "A" or auxiliary gang were the men who repaired steam heat, refrigeration, diesels, whaleboat engine, ran the lathe, etc. From left, oaktop workbench, test switchboard where electricians could test almost anything from fuses to motors. The machine shop aft bulkhead which is water tight bulkhead 148, on the other side is B-4 or the aft engine room. Anvil in the center, drill press to the right and barely visible in the extreme right, the lathe. Just to the right of the anvil is a round wheel, that's the hatch to the starboard shaft alley. From left--a lathe, full workbench with storage, 2 heavy duty vises and a bench grinder with 1 stone wheel and one wire brush wheel. The anvil in the foreground was used for for forming any heavy metal projects. The bulkhead with "danger fuel oil" stenciled is the bulkhead for oil tanks C-6F (aft) and C-1F (fwd). The view is looking aft. The main tool in the shop was the Reed + Prentiss lathe. Large objects could be machined by leaving the door open. The door leads to berthing compartment C-203L. The small dark box on the lower bulkhead held one sound powered phone headset, used when refueling.

  
Sluice Valves
SLUICE - An opening in the lower part of a bulkhead fitted with a sliding watertight gate, or small door, having an operating rod extending to the upper deck or decks. It is used to permit liquid in one compartment to flow into the adjoining compartment.
  

Sluice valves allow oil to go from one tank to another to ensure the service tanks are full, among other things. Sluice valves must be closed at all times except when oil is being taken aboard. They are therefore classified "X".
  
Stuffing Box Compartment (Shaft Alley)
Two small compartments between frames 148 and 152 housed the shaft alley's. One port (left), one starboard (right). Both shafts came out of B-4 or the after engine room, through bulkhead 148 and left the shaft alley's through a water tight stuffing box into the water. The port alley was C-2E and the starboard was C-3E. Each alley had a suction pipe at the very bottom leading to a fire & bilge pump in B-4 to pump bilges when necessary. There was always leak-off from the stuffing box packing. There was protective screening over the shafts for crew safety. The starb'd room housed a JP-5 or diesel oil pump and purifier. The purifier cleansed the oil prior to filling the day tanks in the diesel room or pumping oil up to the 26' motor whale boat. Spare spring bearings were stored here for the propeller shaft. Each room could only be entered through an 18" scuttle. The shaft alley compartments were surrounded on 3 sides by fuel oil tanks. On the other side of the forward bulkhead was the aft engine room.
  
Spare spring bearings, most of these bearings, wrapped in protective cosmoline (grease) are for the spring bearings. These are stored on shelves in the shaft alley. Only the starboard (right) shaft required spring bearings for support since it ran all the way from the forward, B-2, engine room. 5 were in place per ship, 3 in the aft fireroom, B-3, and 2 in B-4. The bore of the bearings was 15 7/8".
  
Steering Gear "RAM" Room

  
At the opposite end of the ship from the bosun locker is the Steering Gear Room. Some crews refered to this room as the "ram room". It was situated just aft of after steering. Aft steering had the motors and pumps which sent hydraulic fluid to the ram room into each end of the large "ram" which was housed inside a cylinder. This controlled pressurized oil moved the ram to achieve the rudder angle desired by the bridge or pilot house. There were 2 rudders, one at each end of the ram connected by movable arms seen in the photos. This room was also used for storage of spare parts. One of the photos has looped handrails for a small bridge to cross over the ram to the rear of the room, the object to the right is a fan used when the ship was directed to make a smokescreen to hide itself or something. In the room was a fog generator which when used with the fan created large amounts of smoke.
  
Tank Tops

OIL! A destroyer does nothing without it. Under all these tank top covers is oil. Each tank has a different capacity depending on location and shape of hull if an outboard tank. The round brass cap in the center is removed when refueling to monitor filling. Each cover has a gasket under it, and must be tightened securly when replaced. Let's use a tank cover nameplate to explain the tank. A-507F. A means the forward part of the ship, tank 507 and F is fuel. A-507F holds 4,673 gallons when full or 16.45 tons. The number of the manhole cover is 3-60-1 which means it's located on the 2nd platform (deck) around frame 60 on the starboard side. Physically the manhole is in the forward emergency diesel room and the tank beneath it. An empty fuel oil tank can be ballasted (filled with water) in rough weather. Within reach of these tank tops with caps, on a bulkhead was a "T" handle wrench which fit into the square for removal or tightening.
  
Deck & Boatswain's Spaces
 
Bosun Locker


  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  
   
The most forward part of a 692/710 class destroyer is always referred to as the "Bosun Locker." It encompasses an area from the forward perpendicular to frame 18, about 31 feet and goes down from and including the 1st, 2nd and 3rd platforms (decks). Many rooms are included in this area, only two of which are titled "Boatswain's Stores", one each on the 1st + 2nd platforms. Other rooms include, windlass room, wardroom stores, S.D. stores, (supply department), landing force equipment, chain locker, paint stores, etc. Later revisions would include a flag locker and canvas stores with sewing machine. Grapnel hooks, line(rope), shackles, spare parts boxes were just a few of the items stored in this area. The main item was the anchor windlass/capstan located on the 1st platform. This machine performed a double task, to raise and lower the anchors (windlass), to use the capstan as a device for line for various reasons such as assisting the ship when pulling into a pier. One motor with two seperate functions.
  
Boat Winch
Each destroyer came equipped with one boat winch. The main purpose was to lower and raise the motor whaleboat. It had many other uses including line handing and torpedo loading. The winch was made by the SILENT HOIST-WINCH & CRANE CO. It was a double gypsy head with both heads being 15" in diameter. The hoisting load was 6500 lbs. It was powered by a 2 speed 15 HP motor. The full title of the machine was "boat handling and warping winch".
  
     Chain Locker  
The chain locker, dark, dirty and cramped, but important. This compartment is located on the 3rd platform, between frames 10 and 14 and labeled A-402E. Here the very first (or last) link of anchor chain is secured to the ship onto a padeye welded to structural ship steel. The chain is attached with a 1 1/4 inch "bitter end shackle". Both chains are steel 1 1/4inch die lock links. One is 135 fathoms, the other is 105 fathoms. On the business end of the chains are the anchors, each 4,000 pounds and labeled "stockless Bower Navy type." As the anchor is dropped, chain leaves the chain locker and enters the flared end of the hawse pipe.
 
   Peak Tanks

  

  

  
The deepest part of a destroyer is also the most forward. The peak tanks are the most of all, A-1W and A-501W, both in the hold or lowest deck on the ship below the 3rd platform. A-1W extends from the knife edge bow to frame 14. A-503A starts at frame 18 to 33 at the hold level. In between is A-502A, of which we have no photos. At the very bottom is the keel or backbone of a ship.
  
General Spaces
Ship's Office
The Ship's Office was the home of the Yeomen and Personnelmen who maintained the individual Service Records, kept track of Leave, produced the Smooth Ship's Deck Log, maintained the Ship's Diary, forwarded official reports to Commands ashore, served as the Captain and XO's secretarial staff, produced the Plan of the Day, produced Reenlistment Contracts and transfer/discharge documents, maintained and interpreted the BuPers manuals and received/distributed the Ship's official mail.
  
Voids


Voids are usually small, enclosed, almost inaccessible spaces, often water tight and left empty.
  
Medical Department

Sick Bay
Folding Surgical Table. Safe used for controlled medications. Round object to the left is an AUTOCLAVE or sterilizer for surgical equipment. Medical Stores, this is the door to Sick Bay. Small, but set up just as any city pharmacy. Racks for bottles, drawers for meds and instruments. This photo positively identifies the ship as DD-755, USS John A Bole, stenciled on the box at bottom left.
  

  
Navigation/Communications

Chart Room

The Chartroom is located on the 01 level, just aft of the Division Commander's Stateroom. This was the work space for the ships navigator and the quartermasters, the sailors who assisted with navigation and piloting. The primary function of this space was to track the position of the ship on the surface of the earth. Charts and navigational publications needed for the geographic area the ship was operating in were stored in drawers in the chart table and on the book shelf above the table. Three chronometers were located on a well on the left side of the chart table, and these very accurate clocks played an important role in celestial navigation as it was imperative to note the exact time when celestial observations were made with a sextant. Against the outboard bulkhead was the Radio Direction Finder, a radio receiver with a directional antenna used to get a geographic bearing and line of position on shoreside radio stations. Later, the ships were equipped with a LORAN receiver, a more sophisticated electronic navigation system that was in use until the advent of satellite navigation systems. Located above the chart table to the left with the glass face was the Dread Reckoning Tracer Analyzer, an electrical mechanical device that fed course and speed data into the Dead Reckoning Tracer located in CIC, a mechanical plotting table that kept track of the ships Dead Reckoning position. Just to the left of the Analyzer is a Gyro Compass Repeater that told the men in the chartroom what course was being steered.
Caption courtesy of Tim Rizzuto.
     

Combat Information Center
(CIC)
All CIC Captions Courtesy of Tim Rizzuto

 CIC looking forward to port showing from left to right the pit log indicator, a speaker amplifier, radio telephone handset, RBS or RBN radio receiver and power supply, and a locker. On the right of the picture you can make out the armored trunk for the MK37 Gun Director cable way that connects the director to the plotting room on the 1st platform deck.
  
CIC looking aft and to port. From left to right is the chair for the air search radar operator, two speakers with a chalk board, a MK10 range and bearing transmitter, the SG surface search radar consol, the 24 hour clock, and the horizontal plotting table projecting into the picture at the right. CIC looking to port and forward, from left to right showing the 24 hour clock, the door to the passageway, the pit log speed indicator, a speaker amplifier with the radio telephone handset below, and the Dead Reckoning Tracer table with voice tubes above and chart stowage below.
CIC looking to starboard and forward showing from left to right the Dead Reckoning Tracer table and cabinet, with the Horizontal Plotting Table adjacent to the DRT, communications gear above the plotting table, the Status Board on the forward bulkhead, a chalk board, speaker amplifier above the radar switch panel that allow different radars to be patched to the various repeaters around the ship.
  
CIC looking to starboard along the aft bulkhead from left to right showing the Horizontal Plotting Table edge projecting into the picture, and the equipment on the starboard bulkhead including a radio telephone handset, speaker amplifier, radar switch panel, and the table mounted SC-2 Air Search Radar Consol with the operators chair bolted to the deck.
  
Radio
All Radio Captions courtesy of Tim Rizzuto and Tom Horsfall

Radio Central

From the USS SLATER website www.ussslater.org; Main radio central, commonly called the radio room or radio shack, contained radio transmitters and receivers, which allowed the ship long and short range electronic communication capabilities. This space was normally manned by three men, two operators and a watch supervisor. Generally, the ship operated under radio silence and would only transmit necessary enemy contact reports.
The Fox Schedule was a constant stream of orders and messages broadcast by Naval Headquarters to all ships in the fleet. “Guarding the Fox” was the unending process of listening to these messages so no pertinent messages would be missed. As ships generally operated under radio silence, no acknowledgement was expected when a ship received a message addressed to her. A missed message could result in a ship’s failure to participate in a major action.
During World War II, operators sat at their typewriters or “mills” and typed out the messages that came over their headsets in encrypted Morse code. Messages addressed to the ship were turned over to the communications officer, who deciphered them in the code room on the "crypto" machine and then passed them on to the captain.

Radio Central photographed from the inboard passageway looking outboard to starboard and slightly aft. From left to right we have the file cabinet, the TBS transmitter rack, the door to the radio transmitter room, the radio operators desk with the LR Frequency meter on the left, and the TDQ Transmitter with and RCK receiver mounted on the shelf above. Radio Central photographed from the Transmitter room looking inboard to port towards the passageway door. From left to right we have the shelf mounted RCK receiver above the TDQ transmitter, the desk for local operating position 1 with the speech amplifier for the TBL transmitter mounted above the RAK/RAL radio receivers, above the typewriter, with the RAK/RAL receiver power supplies below the desk. The we have the door to the inboard passageway, and the TBS radio transmitter and receiver on the forward bulkhead mounted above the RBO entertainment receiver.
  
Radio central looking to starboard and aft showing the door to crypto on the left and an operator's deck with the large LR Frequency Meter next to an RBB series receiver. The "Mill" or typewriter for copying code is on the desk, with the power supply for the receiver located below the desk.
Radio Central looking outboard (to starboard) showing the forward bulkhead and operator's deck and door to the radio transmitter room. On the left is the main power panel for radio central containing the fuses and power switches for the various circuits. On the operators desk are two radio receivers, and RBA and probably an RBB with the power supplies below the desk and the typewriter on the desk. Communications typewriters only typed capital letters. Note the 24 hour clock above the desk.
  
Radio Central looking forward at the watch supervisors desk, the 21MC intercom box above the file cabinet. The door to the passageway to the left just outside the picture. Radio Central showing the aft bulkhead. From left to right we have the RCK Radio Receiver mounted above the large TDQ Radio Transmitter. To the right we have the Radio Receiver Patch Panel and the Radio Transmitter Patch Panel. Then we have the fan and the desk for local operating position one. And electric heater is visible on the deck just to the right of the TDQ transmitter.
Radio Central photographed from the Transmitter room looking inboard to port towards the passageway door. From left to right we have the shelf mounted RCK receiver above the TDQ transmitter, the desk for local operating position 1 with the speech amplifier for the TBL transmitter mounted above the RAK/RAL radio receivers, above the typewriter, with the RAK/RAL receiver power supplies below the desk. The we have the door to the inboard passageway, and the TBS radio transmitter and receiver on the forward bulkhead mounted above the RBO entertainment receiver.
  
Radio Central looking forward by the transmitter room door, showing the equipment on the forward bulkhead, from left to right, three stepdown transformers above the TBS radio transmitter, above the RBO radio receiver. To the right is the power panel containing the switches and fuses for powering all the electrical circuits in the radio spaces. The Gunfire Control Radar Room was located across the passageway from radio central on the port side. The space contained the electronics for the MK-12 gunfire control radar system that did not fit in the MK-37 director. On the left we have the cabinet for the MK-12 electronics and a work table, with a motor generator set on the deck next to the work table.

To learn more about Naval Radio Communications and the meanings of the many acronyms used above
we suggest that you go to the Historic Naval Ships Association pages beginning at http://www.hnsa.org/doc/radio/index.htm.

Emergency Radio Room
 
Auxiliary Radio Room (or Emergency Radio) was an auxiliary space separated from Main Radio to ensure the ship's ability for radio communication during battle casualties. This space contained duplicate equipment to Radio central for the transmission and reception of radio communication that included a Antenna Patch Panel, Radio Transmitter, Motor generators, RBB/RBC/RBA series receivers, a radio operators desk with Morse Code key, and sound powered phone circuitry. Besides normal functions of a Radio Room, operators in this space monitored 500KC, which is the harbor distress frequency. Caption courtesy Rich Angelini.
  
Pilot House
The Pilot House (or sometimes called Bridge) of a ship is the main space where overall command of the ship takes place. The main features of the Pilot House are for primary control of the Ship's Helm for steering, speed and shaft revolution orders by the Engine Order Telegraph for the engine rooms, Magnetic compass for Navigation, a rudder angle indicator to advise of the current direction of the rudders, voice tubes and sound powered phone circuits to relay observations and problems from lookouts and other Navigational stations, and a Radar repeater for navigational purposes. Some other features of the Pilot House include the Telltale panel to control all exterior navigational lighting, a chart table for plotting the ship's course, and various other alarms and indicators to allow the commanding officer or Watch Officer that has the "Conn" to make educated decisions to control the vessel. Caption courtesy Rich Angelini.

SONAR


 
SONAR was used to locate underwater objects, such as submarines. SONAR is an acronym for SOund NAvigation and Ranging. The top 4 photos are the SONAR room, A-101CLM located just forward of CIC (Combat Information Center) and the bottom photo is the SOUND room, A-305CL located on the 2nd platform.
  
Ordnance/Weapons

20mm Ammunition Clipping Room(s)

  

  

  

  
   
20mm cartridges were filled and stored here. The 692 class had three clipping rooms.
40mm Ordnance Compartments
The 3 left photos are compartment B-0103M and the right photo is B-0102M.  These are ready service rooms located on the 01 level on either side of the forward stack.
  
All photos are compartment C-102M located on the main deck aft at frame 150.  Ths is a ready service room.
  
These photos are in room B-113C, a 40 MM radar room not yet complete.
  
All photos are in a 40 MM power room located on the main deck, starboard side around frame 127.  These rooms provided the power to manipulate the gun mounts.
  
Left is an unidentified ready service room, center is C-304M, a magazine aft on the 2nd platform shared with 20MM ammunition.  Right is a typical photo of how 40MM ammo was passed from a low magazine up to the guns, this photo is not part of the 692 series.

MK 37 Director
 
All MK 37 captions courtesy of Tim Rizzuto.
 
Forward looking to port we have The Director Control Officer's station. This what the Gunnery Officer's station at General Quarters. Normally the hatch above would be open and the control officer would have his head out and use at external "Slew Sight" to put the director on target. From left to right we see the "Spot Transmitter" with the "17MC Battle Announcing Microphone" below. The we have the "Bearing Indicator," The MK12 radar repeater, the "21MC" communications box, and the pointers radar repeater below. The pointer's telescope and handwheel for opening the pointers hatch appear on the right.  Forward looking to starboard we have the pointer and trainers stations. The pointer sat on the left. At the very top on the right we have one of the hand wheels used to open the overhead hatches. At the top left are the indicators for the MK22 radar. Below that we have the two black MK60 telescopes with the protective covers over the eye pieces. Below the nearest, pointer's telescope, we have the elevation indicators for the MK 12 radar antenna. Next to each indicator are the brass handwheels for opening the armored telescope covers. Below those handwheels are the solid brass handwheels the pointer and trainer would use to move the director. Note the firing key on the pointers handwheel. On the shelf outboard is the trainer's radar repeater, and the radar selector switch to its right.
  
 From center aft looking to starboard we have the starboard side of the Rangefinder MK42, going through the opening in the director. The opening is covered with flexible canvas, with the optics outside. The director had automatic crossleveling, to compensate for the roll and pitch of the ship, while staying stable. This sailors had to keep clear of the rangefinder arms as it was possible to get pinched and injured between the rangefinder and the overhead in heavy seas.
Behind the rangefinder looking to starboard we have the Radar Operator's Station. At the top center we have the Operator's Control Unit with the large MK 12 Transmitter Receiver Assembly below. On the aft bulkhead of the director we have a Bearing Indicator MK10. Recessed into the bulkhead to the left of the Bearing indicator is the radar operator's indicator unit. On the right side of the picture is the MK22 radar equipment. The director house had to be modified and extended to make room for this unit. Looking to port we have the port arm of the optical MK42 Rangefinder extending out of the director through the canvas "bloomer." On the right of the rangefinder are the rangefinder operators controls with the actual eye piece covered by the removable protective metal cover. In the center of the picture note the vertical arm extending from the rangefinder up through the roof of the director shield. This was connected to the MK 12 radar antenna above, providing crossleveling for the radar antenna to keep to compensate for the roll and pitch of the ship. Looking aft and to port we have the "Illumination Control Officer's Station." On WWII era destroyers the 36" searchlights were tied into the gunfire control system so they could be aimed by the director and illuminate targets. On the left we have the face of the MK22 radar equipment. The large unit next to the radar with the hand cranks on top is the "Searchlight Control Transmitter." On the port bulkhead is the "Star Shell Spot Transmitter." The brass handwheel in the overhead is opens the director control officers armored hatch. This station was normally manned by one of the junior gunnery officers.

Torpedo & Ordnance Workshop

The left and right images are from DD-755.
  
The left and right images are from DD-754 and the center image from  DD-755.
  
Shop was used to repair all the delicate and complicated small sections of ships torpedoes including gyro's and motors.  The cart was used to move the torpedoes on deck after hoisting aboard.

5" Ammunition Handling and Stowage


What oil was to the boilers, ammunition was to the guns. The original six gun assemblies on a 692 class destroyer, in three twin gun mounts, needed ammunition and lots of it. As can be seen by the maps above, there were 10 locations for storage of 5" ammo and powder. More space was consumed by ammo than food for a crew of 300. The majority of ammo was moved by muscle power, the crew. A thing called "All Hands Working Parties" were mustered to rearm the ship. Shells were stored in seperate areas from the powder. In case a quick battle action developed, small amounts of ammo was stored in "ready service" areas, to be used the minute a gun was manned. After that it came up from the magazines. Stowage of ammo and powder was taken very serious to avoid magazine explosions. Powder was tested and temperatures monitored daily.
  Compartment A-405M, labeled "5" ammo handling room and projectile stowage". It is between frames 26 + 32 on the 3rd platform (deck).
Remote operating station for magazine sprinkling system under mount 53. The open hatch looks straight down at the motor that turns the ammunition "merry-go round" for Mount 53.
 
Compartment A-303-BL, 5" loading machine and Crew's quarters.
  
Mount 52 upper handling room merry-go-round motor and gearbox.  
Supply Department

Bread Locker

The bread locker plan on the main deck across from the galley.
This was moved shortly after completion of the 692 class. 500 loaf capacity.
  
 
 
As built the Sumner Class destroyers had their bread locker on the 1st platform (one deck below main), just aft of the Messdeck (dining hall), in the same compartment as the Scullery (dishwashing room). It was small, but according to blueprints could hold about 500 loaves of bread. On a destroyer, in the Galley, was a Cook titled the "Night Baker". His job was to make all fresh products, bread, rolls, pies, cakes, cookies, etc. at night. This had to be stored somewhere and locked up for obvious reasons. On the early Sumner's it was quickly noticed that fresh baked products did not hold up well sharing a hot, humid room with the steam operated dishwashing machine. It was then moved up one deck and right across from the Galley.

Galley 
 
I would like to dedicate this section primarily to all the Commissarymen (CS) or cooks who never let me go hungry while aboard the USS Keppler for almost 3 1/2 years and generally to all the cooks aboard destroyers since 1902. They performed miracles under all imaginable conditions, rough seas, general quarters, while ill, extended deployments, short handed and a galley smaller then most household kitchens while still managing to feed hundreds of sailors a day.
  
The left photo has us standing in the inboard passage near frame 82. The doorknob on the right is the galley door. The door all the way forward is the port side entrance to the wardroom. The 3 bunks on the left were soon removed and the bread locker installed there, moving up from the scullery. The center photo shows the inside of the galley door with steam kettles on the right and ovens and grills on the left. The right photo shows the original 692 class 2 section roasting oven (rear) and in front, two range, oven, griddle combinations. Galley ventilation was extensive, an all exhaust system, no supply fans. Above the griddles can be seen a portion of the exhaust system with two grease catching filters in place.
  
The left photo shows both galley sinks and counter workspace, all stainless steel. The left sink is forward and the rear sink is on the starboard side. Notice the large cooking pots. Both sinks came with covers. The center picture continues past or aft of the starb'd sink. Atop the 5 drawers is a wood chopping block with the dough mixer right after that. Above the mixer is a screened opening, a natural vent intake for outside air to enter when the exhaust fan was running. In the rear is a vegetable peeler and the provision room. NOTE: on the bulkhead behind the mixer and directly under the fan is the starb'd sink cover. The last photo looks at the three 40 gallon cooking kettles. These were double walled with stem injected between the walls to cook the food within. Above the kettles is another large exhaust hood to remove kettle heat. The kettles drained into the deck moat and over the side. Kettle steam came from a reducing valve in B-1. That reduced pressure auxiliary steam was 45 PSI.
    
The left photo is a close up of the exhaust vent over the griddles with a sign above instructing the messcook how to clean out the grease. This original sign still exists aboard the museum ship, USS JOSEPH P. KENNEDY JR. DD-850, in Fall River, MA, 66 years later. Center--In the vegetable prep space, too small to be called a room, is the vegetable or potato peeler. The locked door leads to the provision issue room, view is looking aft and to starb'd. Right--The provision issue room with the door open, The narrow white bulkhead to the right houses the forward uptake space for boilers 1+2. The barely visible bolt heads hold an access plate to the uptakes.
  
Left-- A straight look at the vegetable peeler in the vegetable prep space. Notice the ships name on the fire extinguisher. The black box up top is the peeler's on/off switch. Fresh water ran through the machine flushing the peelings over the side. Center--Five plans of the galley. The right photo is inside the issue room. On top of the bench to the left is the coffee grinder. Coffee was issued to the ships as beans.

Galley Machinery Data
Coffee Grinder, Electric
American Duplex Co., louisville, KY
1/4 HP GE Motor
Spares include 10 cutter pins and 1 special wrench. Stored in the Starboard Shaft Alley, C-3 E.
Peeler, Vegetable
Josiah Anstice Co.
Rochester, NY
Model A-1-C 1725 RPM 115 volts, 15 pound capacity
Motor - Howell Electric Co.
1/3 HP 1725 RPM 115 V
Spares include shafts, bearings, abrasive disks and motor in box S34, stored in B-1.
  
Some Galley Utensils
1--hand operated bread slicer
1--hand operated meat + food chopper
1--hand operated meat slicer
1--hand operated 1 LB butter cutter
1--bakers scale
1--butchers scale

Food Mixer
Each ship had one food mixer coming from one of these two manufacturers.
Reynolds Electric Co. New York  Hobart Co. Troy, Ohio
Model 422B 115 volt 12 + 22 quart capacity with 6' cord
Attachments;
1--22 qt bowl
1--12 qt bowl
1--22 qt splash cover
1--22 qt dough hook
1--12 + 22 qt wire whip
1--12 + 22 qt batter beater
1--attachment socket
1--#12 chopper with 2 plates, 2 knives
1--6" slicer attachment with 5/64" and 1/4" shredder plates.
  
Model A200 20 quart 115 volt
Attachments;
1--20 qt  bowl
1--20 qt  beater
1--20 qt whip
1--20 qt dough hook
1--20 qt extension rim
1--#12  9" vegetable slicer with hopper front only
1  #12 chopper attachment complete with 8 knives and 2 each plates,  1/8"  3/16"  1/4"  3/8"
Laundry
The ships laundry where everything gets clean. The laundry, commissary, ships store, barber all came under the jurisdiction of the Supply Department in addition to all the ships spare parts. The laundry was a small compartment with 2 washers, a dryer and a press. Everything from socks to mattress covers to the wardroom tablecloth were cleaned here.
  
Mess Decks

The messdecks (dining room) served many purposes on a destroyer. We ate our meals there, we took turns messcooking, we watched movies there and we socialized there. The average 692/710 class destroyer could seat about 50-55 crew at one time. So a crew of 280-300 enlisted men depended on a quick rotation for all to eat in a timely manner. The men going on watch ate first so they could relieve the watch and allow them to eat. There was no pecking order in the chow line, you got there, you went to the back, except 1st class petty officers who usually went to the head of the line. There are two significant items in these photos, the scuttlebutt (water fountain) and the ice cream hardening cabinet. You can imagine how popular ice cream was back then. The hatch shown open and closed leads down to an enlisted berthing compartment, A-305CL. At sea, there usually was a 4th meal, served at 2330 (11:30PM) called MIDRATS. MIDRATS is an acronym for "midnight rations", served only to those who were going on the 0000-0400 watch, or midnight to 4AM. Nothing more than soup, crackers, bread and cookies.
  
Refrigeration Plant

Refrigeration equipment, used to keep foods cold or frozen. The photo to the top left displays at the bottom right a freon compressor with controls above it. The compressor is against the aft bulkhead (wall). Most notable in this photo is the EMERGENCY FIRE PUMP, dark round object in center of photo. This is a 100 HP, 440 volt motor driven centrifugal pump which can deliver fire fighting water at the rate of 750 gpm at 150 psi. The gray pipe coming up from the deck is the suction line and the white pipe is the discharge line to the ship's fire main.

 Scullery
SCULLERY--by definition is a room adjoining a kitchen where dishwashing and other rough kitchen chores are done. The galley (kitchen) and scullery are not adjoined on a destroyer in any way, in fact they are a deck apart. The rest is true. Most every sailor took a turn messcooking (not defined in a dictionary) which included a turn in the scullery. Into the scullery came the metal trays, garbage, ceramic cups and bowls, garbage, forks, knives and spoons and garbage. The garbage was hauled up the ladder in 30 gallon corrugated metal cans by 2 messcooks, carried along the main deck all the way aft and dumped over the side through a chute into the sea. The scullery was located just aft of the messdecks and across the passage from the IC room. Below the scullery was the forward emergency diesel room. When a sailor finished eating, he walked his stuff from the messdecks to the scullery, first dumping the garbage from his tray into beforementioned can (no liners). Tray, silver, cup and or soup bowl were deposited for the messcooks to deal with. They were rinsed off to rid them of accumulated garbage, and there was a garbage grinder under the sink for this. The stuff was then loaded into a large dishwashing machine on containers and automatically run through. After much hissing and other noise, the stuff came out the other end clean and very hot. Then recycled back to the serving line to start all over. The dishwashing machine stats;
Insinger Machine Co. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...This company started 100 years ago and still makes dishwashing equipment at the same location as it did for the destroyers in World War II.  Model 60DA right hand 440 volt motor with a Cutler-Hammer controller (shown in photo). The machine came with galvanized steel baskets as follows;
(4) 12 bowl capacity
(4) 12 metal tray capacity
(4) cutlery
(8) 12 cup capacity

Ship's Service Store

The Ship's Service Store was part of the Supply Department and serves the ship much like a small Notions Store. It sold to the Officers and Crew such varied items as underwear, candy, cigarettes and letter writing materials.  The intention was to take the place of the land based Navy Exchanges and provide those personal comfort items not otherwise available while at sea. Profits from these sales were put into the Ship's Welfare & Recreation Fund.
  
Food Service (Steam Line)
Water tight door from the mess decks looking into the steam line(room where crew picked up their meals on trays). Notice the bench for a table secured to the bulkhead. Serving line is to the right, ladder goes up to main deck and inboard passageway. Similar to previous photo. Steam line showing opposite side of serving line. The shiny brass item at the extreme bottom left with 2 square is a sluicing valve, to be explained later. Dark object in center left is a sea strainer. Fire hoses get attached to it and debris is strained out of water before going to hose.
  
The serving line and at the close end is the “beverage” kettle. Can be used for hot or cold beverages. Has a hot/cold water inlet and steam piping to keep liquids hot and a drain. View of the steamline looking forward. Door leads to the mess decks. Notice sluicing valve and beverage kettle.

  
Storerooms
Storerooms were located throughout the ship to keep repair parts, consumables (toilet paper), food and Ship's Store items.  They were variously controlled by Commissary Men (Jack of the Dust), Ship's Servicemen and Storekeepers.  It was the function of these ratings to store the allowed items for future issue and use, maintain records of what and where the items were stored and replenish the items as needed.
  
Supply Office

  

  
 The Supply Office was the home of the Supply Officer and his staff. Here all the manuals (ERPAL, COSAL, NAVCOMP, etc.) were stored and accessed. The Equipage Logs, Pay Records, Inventory Status and other important documents were stored, updated and maintained. The cash for Payday was kept in the safe, visible under the shelf in the first image. Requistions for material from Shore Facilities and Fleet Supply Ships were created and when budgets came into existence those were maintained here.
     
Wardroom Pantry

Wardroom pantry--(right photo) double silex coffee maker. Black box above coffee is the "E" call system. Each stateroom (Officer's bunkroom) has a small switch, when pushed, the steward (Officer's attendant) picks up the phone and an order is placed for coffee, etc., to be delivered. The racks to the right are for dishes, Officers ate from dishes, enlisted from metal trays. ( left photo) To the left is the double Silex coffee maker, on the far bulkhead is a cutting board.
 
Doors, Hatches, Passageways, etc.

Doors
 

These four photos are a good example of quick acting water tight doors inside and out.  They are 8 dog, 26” x 66” doors. 



The two left pictures show standard non-tight doors used for offices, galley, wardroom, chartroom, Divcom, etc.  The 2 right photos are called “expanded metal” doors.  The only reason for using them is security.  All 4 doors are lockable.
  


  
Hatches
Quick acting scuttle #2-48. This is an 18" escape scuttle allowing crew to escape from the berthing compartment below A-305CL to the crews mess room A-205L. The underside of the scuttle had a handwheel while this level required a "T" handle wrench to open. The ID tag, 2-48, means 2nd platform, frame 48, which means the hatch is about 84' from the bow.
  
This hatch is a good example of a little of everything. A hatch, scuttle, verticle ladder and inclined ladder. This is hatch 2-165-1 going down from crew's berthing, C-203L to C-304A storeroom. Typical thru deck hatch. This one goes from the 1st platform down to the 2nd platform (2nd deck below the main deck) It is water tight and secured with 4 hand operated dogs (latches). Notice the paper covering areas, the ship is in the process of final painting immediately prior to comissioning. This is hatch 2-190 going from crews berthing to the chemical storage room. Door between mess decks and vestibule.  Good picture of a quick acting water tight door closed with dogs fully engaged.  Notice lock for door.
   
   Main Deck Aft--fantail hatch #1-189, standard water tight hatch going from main deck to berthing compartment below. Located at the stern or fantail of the ship, just forward of gun mount #53. That means the 3rd 5" gun mount from the bow. Notice the 18" escape scuttle built into the hatch. When hatch is fully closed for bad weather or combat, all dogs (securing bolts) will be tightened.
  
 


Left 2 photos are 25” x 25” water tight hatches that go between decks.  These 2 are dogged down by 4 eyebolts and nuts.  The right 2 are 18” round hatches, 4 dog and quick acting. 
  

Four through deck hatches.  The 3 left ones are dogged by 4 dogs and the last one has eyebolts and nuts.  The left one has a latch at the top to keep it open, the other 3 have legs.
  

Left is an example of a hatch with the ladder rungs attached to it.  Center two pictures show a large hatch usually going to a berthing compartment and having an inclined ladder.
  

Two left photos are unique, they are looking up from below in the A section of the ship.  The right 2 are another large hatch with a quick acting scuttle as part of the hatch.
  

Ladders
This ladder goes from the 01 level to the 02 level or pilot house. The door leads to DIVCOM. The two boxes on the bulkhead (wall) are vent fan motor controllers. The object on the bottom left is a steam convection heater.
Ladder going up from Food Service compartment (steam line) to inboard passageway on main deck. Open hatch at bottom goes down to small crew's berthing compartment, A-306L.
  

Passageways
Inboard passageway, 6 bunks between frames 100 and 117. Number 3 and 4 uptakes on the left. Hatch to B-3 (aft fire room) visible on deck beyond bunks.   Visible is a gasoline driven P-500 pump used for emergency fire fighting or dewatering from flooding. Cans on deck are foam for fire fighting. Foam proportioner is not visible. Large round white object on top is a ships ventilator or vent fan.
  
Inboard passageway, looking forward from the B-4 (aft engineroom) hatch, to the right is after officer's country. Vestibule on the 02 deck where the door to the pilot house is and the door to the portside bridge wing is, notice wood grating at bottom right which is outside.
Passage 55-60, short passage on the main deck going forward/aft from the wardroom to the upper handling room barbette of mount 52. The curtain to the left is the captain's stateroom, curtain on the right is stateroom 101. View is looking forward. Passage 67-68, good example of a main deck cross passage (going port to starboard). This passage is centered on frame 68. The view is looking to the port side from starboard. The water tight door goes to the weather deck and the ladder leads to the 01 level. Barely visible in the center both left and right are small doors (closed in the photo), this is how food was passed from the wardroom pantry into the wardroom, also dirty dishes came back to the pantry this way. When these ships were remodeled around 1960, this passage was eliminated and the wardroom extended the width of the passage.
  
Passage 67-69, same passage as the one to the left but looking from port to starboard, left to right. Door immediately in front of photo leads to the wardroom.



  

Scuttles

Left scuttle is very small, usually leading to a void.  Right photo is a flush with the deck scuttle, used where personnel traffic would cause a tripping hazard.
  

At the end of this project it seems appropriate to ring the Ship's Bell.
If you don't have one here is the plan to build one !