USS Turner Joy

Yesterday my sons and I toured the USS Turner Joy, a historic Navy ship berthed in the Bremerton waterfront. We gaped at the big deck guns and we wandered through the engine rooms, the mess, the officers' quarters, and the bridge. It was quite an eye-opener.

We did this because I want to get a feel for the Navy. I need to know what it's like to be on a ship enmeshed in the gritty daily life of a sailor. The narrow passageways, the tidy cabins, the carefully laid out engine room all attest to a carefully circumscribed life on board a ship. I especially liked the smell of diesel oil in the engine room and the aroma of cigars in the cabins. I could just imagine the salty chief petty officer growling at the young seamen.

On board a ship, everyone has their place and their duty to perform. There's a clear ladder of authority and the whole ship depends on everyone to do their job. It must be bracing to part of such a well-defined, highly organized network of command and performance. I can see why Navy people feel such pride.

The Turner Joy is a historic ship, of course. It was commissioned in 1959 and served in the VietNam conflict, among other tours of duty. Modern Navy ships are much more sophisticated technologically, with computerized systems of propulsion, firepower, and communications. But still I would guess the pattern of daily life on board ship is much the same.

I imagine that being in the modern Navy is much the same as being in a large corporation. There's a high level of complexity and an intense demand on one's level of expertise and personal performance.

We have a good number of active and retired Navy people in our congregation. They're committed and involved and they bring much of their Navy background to our parish: a sense of order, purpose, and leadership that benefits our parish greatly. We're lucky to have them.
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