Chief Mate’s Cabin

This cabin was occupied by the Chief Mate.  In addition to standing a navigational watch he was responsible for managing the work done by the deck department and also oversaw the stowage of cargo when in port.  Cargo operations needed to be carefully managed, as objects of various sizes and shapes had to be fit into the available space all the while ensuring that the weight was properly distributed to maintain the ship’s stability.  In addition to filling the holds all available deck space was crammed with items like trucks, tanks, locomotives, airplanes, and even landing craft and PT boats.  Return voyages often presented a different problem, as there was little or no cargo leaving the war zone and the ship needed to load ballast in order to maintain stability and keep the propeller in the water.  This ballast would often be materials like sand or even rubble from bombed out buildings.  Ships returning from locations where there was no ballast available would often have to partially flood the after holds.  The crews of these ships sometimes used the flooded holds as impromptu swimming pools, at least until the water became too foul for swimming.