When Did The SHIP Become The BOAT?

After watching "Carrier" for ten hours, I finished the series disappointed. As a sailor stationed aboard two aircraft carriers in my four years in the US Navy almost fifty years ago, I served a total of 36 months of sea duty. So, I was curious about what a film maker for PBS would have to say about an aircraft carrier, specifically the USS Nimitz (CVN68).

The PBS series almost exclusively focused on the air operations of the Nimitz leaving out how the rest of the ship operates whether there is an air crew on board or not. In other words, the production focused on less than half of what happens on an aircraft carrier day to day, week to week, month to month, and year to year 24/7. It focused, mainly, on the trials and tribulations of the sailors of VFA41, an aviation squadron assigned to the Nimitz for one six month deployment, commonly called a cruise.

"Carrier" was like watching an iceberg being filmed -- they only showed the tip of it. For instance, when the camera went below decks, the viewer only got glimpses of what it takes to operate a sea-going war ship three football fields long and weighing more than 100,000 tons. And, then, when the film did focus on the mess decks, the dentist's office, the personnel office, the officer's quarters, it left the impression that these functions were there to only assist the air operations. There was some acknowledgement of the nuclear power plant -- "don't go near it unless you want to turn green." There was no acknowledgement of any other permanent operations of the ship, even though ship's company may have included up to 3,000 men and women operating and maintaining this colossal floating city.

I found myself saying out loud to the "airdales" of VFA41 get over yourselves because you were, oh my goodness, on a six month deployment away from your comfort zone of the Naval Air Station back in the US. All of the drama over being gone from home and love ones is a real part of Navy life. When you join the Navy it is expected that you are going to go to sea and that you are going to be gone from home for lengthy periods of time. Such is the life of most sailors.

A six month deployment is the norm, although many ships, including my first carrier, the USS Essex (CVA9), left on a six month cruise and didn't return for almost one year due to mid-deployment changes in international circumstances. I also thought these modern sailors don't have a clue what it was like going on a lengthy deployment without Internet, pay phones and other technologies that keep them in touch with home from on board their ship. Some of the sailors in "Carrier" were talking to their family members or girlfriends or boyfriends ("seven hotdogs to every bun on the ship," according to one sailor being interviewed) every day. The Nimitz also had tv, vcr's and dvd players in practically every sleeping compartment and work space. When I was on both the USS Essex and the USS Independence (CVA 62) the only communication, except in a dire emergency, was by snail mail. Sometimes you didn't get a letter or a response to your first letter for up to a month.

I got lucky when I transferred to the Independence and got a sleeping compartment as opposed to a chain rack and a crappy mattress on the Essex. These Nimitz sailors were complaining about their compartments and their additional lockers. Civilian clothes? Ha! No civilian clothes for enlisted personnel were allowed on board under any circumstances. Whether you were in your home port or deployed overseas and pulled liberty you had to wear your uniform if you wanted to leave the ship. Most liberty was "cinderella liberty," meaning you had to return to the ship by 12 midnight; no staying overnight in some four star hotel so you could escape the confines of the ship for a day or two.

So many things seem to have changed from the Navy of several generations ago. Crossing the equator was a big deal fifty years ago. Today there is nice celebration with "Gong Shows" and entertainment. Without sounding too much like an old grouch, I found the Shellback celebration and so many other parts of "Carrier" to be lacking in many Navy traditions today. But, it is what it is! The film crew brought the viewer a small glimpse into what it's like to be aboard a ship for six months.

But what I really want to know is: When did The Ship become The Boat? That is so new Navy. If a sailor called any Navy vessel, except submarines, a boat they would have been set straight immediately -- "it's a ship, sailor," that takes you out to sea for long periods of time and, whether you like it or not, it's your home and what keeps you safe from the sea: Keep it ship shape and it will keep you!

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