Sometimes holes have not been punched where they are required, and they must be drilled. Holes as punched are often not exactly in line and must be reamed out before the rivets can be driven. This work is commonly done with machines driven by compressed air or electricity, handled by one man and a helper. It takes considerable strength to control the machine, and the general working conditions are about the same as in riveting.
There are many parts of a ship where joints must be made tight—that is, they must be calked. It is also often necessary to cut plates and other steel parts. This work is done with an air machine very similar to the air gun used by the riveter and is known as chipping and calking.
PLAN No. 1045. SHIP FITTING
The ship fitter gets out all sorts of wooden patterns (templates) for steel plates and other parts. Sometimes he makes his pattern directly from measurements taken on the ship, especially in repair work. A fitter may lay out the work directly from the drawing (blue print). The work is carried on mainly out of doors, calls for much walking and climbing, especially in repair work on ships. Ship fitters of different ratings and helpers are employed.
Among other navy-yard occupations are those of outside machinists, who install and adjust machinery on the ships; painters, who paint the woodwork and the steel; ship carpenters, who do all the work around the ways on which ships are built and launched; crane operators, who handle the steel and carry it from place to place; and locomotive firemen and engineers, who operate the small locomotives used for hauling material inside of the yard.
PLAN No. 1046. SUPPLY DEPARTMENT SERVICE
In order that ships and shops may be supplied, a navy yard operates what amounts to a huge department store—the supply department. Every conceivable article that goes to the general equipment of a ship, from drinking glasses to launch engines, is kept in stock and given out on order. For the shops great quantities of all sorts of stock, pipe, fittings, copper, lead, bronze, steel and so on, are carried, ready for distribution. In one yard alone the stock is valued at $50,000,000.
Since the supply department buys, fills orders, and delivers, it offers opportunity for employment in practically the same occupations as any large department store.
For each class of stock storekeepers are employed. A storekeeper must know every article by sight, stock marks, and the location of the bin or shelf where it is stored. He must keep track of the stock on hand and see that it is kept up. A storekeeper may be promoted to assistant manager and possibly to manager of a division.
The supply department offers employment also in such clerical occupations as checking, billing, and accounting, and, as in any large department store, truck drivers, packers, box makers, and other workers are employed in the delivery department.