ChezDaJez
Posts: 3436
Joined: 11/12/2004 From: Chehalis, WA Status: offline
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quote:
In the field of ship's maintenance I feel that the US should probably enjoy an advantage just from the higher level of mechanical awareness virtually every American had from the very culture he/she grew up in. I'm not trying to denigrate the Naval Rating Specialists of other navies but even the lowliest Fireman Apprentice/Recruit could generally be counted on to have had his head under the hood of a car and have a basic understanding of what allowed the systems to work. In Imperial Japan, relatively few citizens owned or drove a car or truck. For them things mechical were entirely foreign to their experience and they required training just to reach a basic level. Thus while a Japanese crew might perform the same sort of maintenance operations that a US crew performed the engineering personnel actually performing useful work towards the goal would be restricted to those specialists who had received the necessary training. This American "mechanical advantage" has been commented upon in the context of the US Army's mechanization and in aviation support by many noted historians and should carry over no less to ship's maintenance. This is a good point, Spence. But take it a step further... any man can be trained to perform routine maintenance and do it well. That's normally not the issue however. The issues come into play when something unusual occurs that isn't covered by the book, say a major malfunction or battle damage. That is where that "American mechanical advantage" really paid off. The ability to improvise, to jury-rig, to cobble together with chewing gum and bailing wire was a hallmark of the American serviceman. That is not to say it was the exclusive ability of American mechanics but it certainly was a widespread ability with them. Chez
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Ret Navy AWCS (1972-1998) VP-5, Jacksonville, Fl 1973-78 ASW Ops Center, Rota, Spain 1978-81 VP-40, Mt View, Ca 1981-87 Patrol Wing 10, Mt View, CA 1987-90 ASW Ops Center, Adak, Ak 1990-92 NRD Seattle 1992-96 VP-46, Whidbey Isl, Wa 1996-98
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