"The prelude to action is the work of the Engine Room Department." ADM J. R. Jellicoe / CIC / Battle of Jutland, 1916 Click here for the Engineer's Bulletin Board... Click here for Recent Engineering Stats... Engineers highlighted in the Indy Notepad...
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Most people know that below
Indy's waterline are the propellers that move the ship
from one mission to the next. What they may not know is
what it takes to make those propellers turn-and to keep
them turning after 39 years of service in the world's
finest Navy. Now is your chance to find out. Welcome to
the Independence Engineering Department Web Page! Of course, the Engineers of Freedom's Flagship do more than turn props. There's a lot more to running an 80,000-ton vessel than that. We've got to provide services for over 5,000 people. Electricity. Clean Water. Heat for cooking, bathing, and laundry. All the things that we take for granted ashore have to be made at sea. That's where we come in. Who are we? We are the nine divisions that make up the department-and the more than 600 people who comprise those divisions. The Chief Engineer, Commander Craig Little, with the help of his principle assistants-Lieutenant Commander Lloyd Jones, Main Propulsion Assistant; Lieutenant Commander Tony Wilson, Damage Control Assistant; and LT Neal Agamaite, Auxiliaries and Electrical Assistant-and their division officers, leads the men in each of these divisions in carrying out their own unique responsibilities.
Electrical Division services the systems that supply
power to the entire ship. Electrician's Damage Control (or "DC") Division maintains all the equipment and conducts the training to keep us safe from harm at sea. As sailors, we can't call the local fire department when an emergency occurs. DC Division is tasked with fighting fires, flooding, and any other casualties that come up. From the smallest situation, to the gravest battle damage, our Damage Controlmen are equipped, trained and ready to respond quickly and efficiently to any emergency we might face.
The Propulsion (or "P") Divisions are comprised of Machinist's Mates responsible for running the plant. P-1 Division, consisting of Numbers One and Four Main Machinery Rooms, owns a total of four 1,200-PSI main propulsion boilers, three Steam Service Turbine Generators (each supplying 1,500 kilowatts of electrical power), and two 70,000 shaft horsepower main engines. P-2 Division is made up of Numbers Two and Three Main Machinery Rooms-containing four more boilers, two generators, and two main engines. P-3 Division contains Numbers One and Two Auxiliary Machinery Rooms, each holding two generators and, together, a total of five evaporators which produce 380,000 gallons of fresh water each day for boilers and for drinking, washing and cooking. P-4 Division is made up of four shops: Automatic Combustion Control, Boiler Repair, the Catapult Shop, the Oil Lab. In all, P-4 ensures that the boilers are running at top efficiency, controls the transfer of fuel to keep them burning, and maintains the catapults that launch planes off the flight deck and into their next mission. P-4 Division also runs the P-4 Storeroom, which keeps the entire department fully stocked with needed supplies. The Engineering Log Room Division, manned by Yeomen, is the administrative nerve center of the department. Maintaining a 600-man department requires constant control of operating logs, as well as the management of personnel data, awards and countless other tasks in support of the sailors who keep the ship running. Text by LTjg Paris E. Crenshaw, III |
Auxiliaries Division controls
several vital systems aboard the Navy's oldest and finest
aircraft carrier. A-Division is responsible for the
maintenance of the ship's air conditioning and
ventilation system and the four huge aircraft elevators
that move planes and helicopters from the hangar bay to
the flight deck, as well as the Nitrogen/Oxygen
generating plants to supply pilots with breathing air
while flying and propellant to launch some of the weapons
they carry. A-Division's Machinist Mates also maintain
three 1,000 kilowatt diesel generators that supplement
the ship's electrical power in an emergency. More
importantly, A-Division provides maintenance and repairs
on every refrigerator, freezer, and ice-maker on the
ship-making sure that all of our drinks are cold and our
food is preserved no matter where we go.
Mates (EMs) stand watch on
electrical switchboards, distributing power to every
space to run our combat systems, provide lighting
throughout the ship, and power our TVs, VCRs, and
stereos, when we're not working (which isn't often). They
also maintain ventilation motors, galley and laundry
facilities, aircraft elevator wiring, and flight deck
lighting to guide the pilots home at night. E-Division's
"IC-men", Interior Communications Electricians,
maintain the ship's internal communications systems,
including telephones, surveillance cameras, alarms and
indicators, and the ship's control and navigation
equipment. Their hard work allows us to pass information
from one end of this 1,000-foot vessel to the other,
throughout all 16 decks.
Repair Division, made up of
Machinery Repairmen and Hull Technicians, provides
innumerable services to keep us running. Capable of
manufacturing anything made of metal to replace parts in
the Navy's oldest operational propulsion plant, these
experts provide plumbing, sewage (somebody's got to deal
with it), welding, brazing, locksmithing, engraving, and
carpentry services to our crew and to every ship in the
battle group.