U.S.S. YANCEY AKA-93

Ken Grooms's Navy A story for the USS Yancey

Smoke on Number Four Hatch

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This Article was originally submitted to "The best humor in uniform"

Crossing the Pacific by ship, in the Winter, could be a cold, wet and a blustery trip. These trips were a unique experience when watching movies outside on the cargo ship USS Yancey.

The movie screen was rigged on the aft end of number four cargo hatch and the audience seated themselves on the surrounding decks, hatch and in various weather protected areas of the superstructure. The higher the rank the more you could sit in comfort. Sailors tried to keep warm and comfortable by wearing foul weather gear and using the few chairs available.

One enterprising disbursing clerk thought he had found a solution. He had a chair from his office so he had a measure of comfort. But keeping warm was his first priority so he decided to order a surplus Air Force Jacket that was constructed like a heating blanket. These 28 volt jackets were designed with small wires routed thru the thin jacket and the jacket worn under a heavier foul weather jacket. He quickly realized that he didn't have the right kind of electrical plug that fit the nearest outlet in our office, so he persuaded an Electrician to install a plug that fit our outlet. He didn't consider it important that there are different plugs for different voltage systems.

When "movies on number four hatch" was announced, he was already seated in his favorite chair, zipped up the jackets, passed the extension cord thru the ship's office porthole and said "plug me in". We did as he asked! From here on I am not sure of the actual sequence of events since time and witnesses have clouded the actual events. We may have been distracted by the extension cord reacting by sort of coiling up like a snake. But I think he jumped out of his chair before the flash and then frantically began unzipping.

Years later, when I was in Engineering School, I learned that the heat generated varies with the square of the voltage. Also I found that most airplanes and ships have 28 volt systems as their primary source of electrical power. The exception occurred when we had the electrician route a 110 volt line into our office for a record player. A quick calculation indicates that our friend received about 16 times the maximum designed heat capacity of that jacket. After 45 years, since that incident, I am curious if that clerk bears a strange pattern of burn marks on his body.

K.D. Groom (K.D.)
USS Yancey Historian

Submitted 3/17/06
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