Some Navy Research

cmhbob said:

I'm working on a few short stories surrounding The Sad Girl. Danny was a Yeoman aboard the Nimitz for his first sea tour.

I wanted my character in an admin billet. I know he'd likely have a battle/GQ station - that could be almost anything, right? Any suggestions?

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If it is Danny's first sea tour he could definitely be in an admin billet, and he's have a GQ station. As a young (19 to 20 year-old) he'd likely be in a Repair Party. If you need him to be somewhere where the action is, he could be assigned as the Captain's Talker. He'd be wearing sound powered phones, and he'd essentially be a parrot for the captain -- repeating every order the captain gives over the JA sound powered phone circuit.

cmhbob said:

What about duties during mooring/departure from a port? Would he be standing by near his GQ station?

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No, he'd be at his Sea and Anchor Station. For someone on their first sea tour, that could be anywhere -- from manning the rails to manning a typewriter.

cmhbob said:

One other question, about liberty: is that charged against accrued leave, or is it more like a weekend pass? When Nimitz puts in to San Francisco Bremerton for a period of time, I want him to have several days off, and I'm trying to figure out how he'd refer to it. He needs to have enough time and be able to travel down to San Francisco.

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He'd have to be on leave. Being ship's company (on aircraft carriers, you have three separate commands -- the ship, the staff (in this case CSG-11 (Carrier Strike Group 11), and the Air Wing) it's like a regular 9-5 job, whether you are at sea or in port. Monday - Friday on the ship during working hours (depends on the ship, but generally 0800 - 1600), liberty overnight (unless his section has the duty, in which case he's onboard all night). Weekends are liberty unless his duty section has one of those days. If all the stars aligned, he'd have duty on a Thursday, so Friday afternoon he'd be on liberty, and not have to report back until 0800 Monday morning. That would mean a minimum of having five duty sections (I never had more than three, which meant while inport I had to be onboard all day every third day.)

cmhbob said:

Also, when the carriers moor at Bremerton, are they right up against the quay, where sailors can use a gangplank? Or do they have to use a launch?

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USS Nimitz is moored at Delta Pier, Naval Base Kitsap, so there would be a brow /gangplank.