Principles of naval engineering - Historic Naval Ships Association

PRINCIPLES OF NAVAL ENGINEERINGDAMAGE CONTROL ORGANIZATIONIn order to ensure damage control trainingand to provide prompt control of casualties, adamage control organization must be set up andkept active on all ships.As previously noted, the engineer officer isresponsible for damage control. The damagecontrol assistant (DCA), who is under the engineerofficer, is responsible for establishing andmaintaining an effective damage control organization.Specifically, the DCA is responsible forthe prevention and control of damage, the trainingof ship's personnel in damage control, andthe operation, care, and maintenance of certainauxiliary, machinery, piping, and drainage systemsnot assigned to other departments or divisions.Although naval ships may be large or small,and although they differ in type, the basic principlesof the damage control organization aremore or less standardized. Some organizationsare larger and more elaborate than others, butthey all function on the same basic principles.A standard damage control organization,suitable for large ships but followed by all shipsas closely as practicable, includes damage controlcentral and repair stations. Damage controlcentral is integrated with propulsion and electricalcontrol in a Central Control Station onnew large ships and is a separate Station onolder and small ships. Repair parties are assignedto specifically located repair stations.Repair stations are further subdivided into unitpatrols to permit dispersal of personnel and awide coverage of the assigned areas.DAMAGE CONTROL CENTRALThe primary purpose of damage control centralis to collect and compare reports from thevarious repair stations in order to determinethe condition of the ship and the corrective actionto be taken. The commanding officer is keptposted on the condition of the ship and on importantcorrective measures taken. The damagecontrol assistant, at his battle station in damagecontrol central, is the nerve center and directingforce of the entire damage control organization.He is assisted in damage control centralby a stability officer, a casualty board operator,and a damage analyst. In addition, representativesof the various divisions of the engineeringdepartment are assigned to damage controlcentral.In damage control central, repair party reportsare carefully checked so that immediateaction can be taken to isolate damage and tomake emergency repairs in the most effectivemanner. Graphic records of the damage aremade on various damage control diagrams andstatus boards, as the reports are received. Forexample, reports concerning flooding are markedup, as they come in, on a status board whichindicates liquid distribution before damage. Withthis information, the stability and buoyance ofthe ship can be estimated and the necessarycorrective measures can be determined.If damage control central is destroyed or isfor other reasons unable to retain control, therepair stations, in designated order, take overthese same functions. Provisions are also madefor passing the control of each repair stationdown through the officers, petty officers, andnonrated men, so that no group will ever bewithout a leader.REPAIR PARTIESA standard damage control organization onlarge ships includes the following repair stations:Repair 1 (deck or topside repair).Repair 2 (forward repair).Repair 3 (after repair).Repair 4 (amidship repair).Repair 5 (propulsion repair).Repair 6 (ordnance repair).On carriers, there are two additional repairstations— Repair 7 (gallery deck and islandstructure repair) and Repair 8 (electronics repairparty). Carriers also have special organizedteams such as Aviation Fuel Repair, Crashand Salvage, and Ornance Disposal. On smallships, there are usually three repair stations-Repair 2, Repair 3, and Repair 5.The organization of repair stations is basicallythe same on all types of ships; however,more men are available for manning repairstations on large ships than on small ships. Thenumber and the ratings of men assigned to arepair station, as specified in the battle bill,are determined by the location of the station,the portion of the ship assigned to that station,and the total number of men available.Each repair party has an officer in charge,who may in some cases be a chief petty officer.The second in charge is usually a chief petty62