....a naval vessel is damaged and has to return to a port for lengthy repairs such as Pearl Harbor, the West Coast, etc. What does the crew do? Go on leave, help with the repairs, go for extra training, get re-assigned to other ships? I've read many times about vessels leaving the battle zone for repairs, and I'm sure the crew is very happy about it. So, what happens?
From what little I know they get reassigned...depends I suppose where they go for repairs and how many other ships are there...if it pulled into Perth for example there may not be other ships to be reassigned to...so R&R!?
Any of these, including, all of the above, were possibilities. Depending on the extent of the damage, a sizeable portion of the crew could be given leave, otherwise, IIRC, half the crew were given leave and half stayed - when the first half came back, the second half got their leave. Additional training was always a possibility depending on what openings were available at the various schools, but, AFAIK, this constituted a very small portion of the crew that left. Transfer of crew to other ships or new construction was always going on. So, it is pretty much a given that some of the crew would be transferred off the ship bound for other ships or new construction.
Thanks, I wasn't sure what they did before. So a crewman wasn't guaranteed to stay on any certain ship for the duration I guess. It must be a big change of pace and lifestyle to get re-assigned from a carrier or battle wagon to an oiler or LST. A big let down too I imagine. I guess that they left specialty guys like submariners and torpedo boat men alone for the most part eh?
Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors had a fair number of detailed accounts of personnel on some of the ships. More officers than crew if I remember correctly but worth a read in any case. From what I've read the PT boats were usually so far forward they only poached from each other. Given the skills and risks involved even though they were based further back I suspect the same for subs.
To the point that submariners were sent to other submarines. For example you can find the crew lists for the USS Pampanito on her 6 war patrols and compare who went and who stayed. USS Pampanito - Wartime Personnel and that was just for over a year of service. Submariners were also sent off to the various training schools. For example, Jeweldeen "Deen" Brown has been aboard the battleship USS Nevada. He was sent off to radioman's school, graduated, and was en route back to the Pearl Harbor and the ship when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor. With his ship now sunk, he volunteered for submarine duty and served aboard the USS Trout for 8 war patrols. After his 8th war patrol, he got to go to radar school. Upon graduating from radar school, and preparing to return to the USS Trout, he got the word that the USS Trout was overdue and presumed lost on her 11th war patrol. He then went aboard the USS Gar and did another war patrol before the war ended.
