Crew Morale and Shopping on Board 

Could you imagine quitting from 7/11 because you are tired of being a store clerk, joined the navy, and ended up being a store clerk.

Now I’m normally not interested in gambling, but the whole “beer in the soda machine” thing is one lottery I can get behind 🤣

Make sure you RU-vid almost 'any' maintenance. I mean - millions of people watch Tavarish take the bumper of a Mitsubishi - you can be heckin' sure we'll tune in and watch a Battleship get maintained.

When I was in the Navy, double cassette deck boom boxes were popular and so when the ships store opened up, we would buy blank cassettes and any good music in stock and make mixtapes. Yes kids, we were the original mixtape creators. I made a bunch of mixtapes in the mid 80's and still have a box full of them and the boombox I made them on!

I served on Amphibious ships in the Marines when we deployed. I rarely used the ship's store because my fiancé (now wife) sent me everything I needed in care packages. BUT, I would indulge in the ice cream. We had those chocolate covered cookie sandwiches called "It's-It." But the sign said, "The Shit" (cuz they are THE shit). I still call them call them that! My wife gets upset cuz the kids call them "The Shiii." LOL

FYI: "Gedunk" is an onomatopoeic word that describes the sound a candy bar makes while being dispensed from an old-school vending machine. You put your coins in, pulled the lever back (GEE) and back forward (DUNK) which dropped your snack into the tray. Edit: also cigarette packs

06:43 I love how Ryan's voice goes up an octave when having to say the words "Video Game Arcade" 😀. Great Video, as are they all!

When Grandma was away Grandpa would tell us the “Good” stories of WWII and Post war Navy life. There was one where apparently the ship Chaplin was caught leaving a certain place where a guy would go for a good time... Well this good time was sponsored by the Morale fund 😏..

My father served on the USS New Jersey during the Korean War as an officer. He ran the "hobby shop" in his spare/time where sailors could buy small items to make on their off duty time.

Navy life was a simpler life. All my possessions fit into two sea bags. I think the only personal stuff I had was a Sony DIskman and about 20 CD's, a camera and an electric razor.

Knowing what I know about Admiral Halsey I can believe that story about him dressing down that Ensign. My first ship was a modern (at the time) destroyer, our ship's store was a space of about 20 feet by 20 feet that stocked mostly small items like snacks, cigarettes, ship's memorabilia, ball caps and such. For anything more than that we needed to either be tied up alongside a tender or repair ship and have access to their store or be in port with access to a base exchange and uniform shop. We had a crew of about 300. My last ship was a 40,000 ton assault ship with a crew of 820 sailors and capacity for up to 2,000 or so troops (usually Marines but occasionally Army engineers.) That ship store was huge by comparison, about 1500 to 2000 square feet. It carried everything the smaller store carried plus uniform items and even small electronics like 'boom boxes' and video cameras.

Halsey was an awesome commander!! He was vilified for taking the fleet through that typhoon but it was war and he took a calculated risk. He far out benefitted the Navy than he took away!!

On our carrier the geedunk store was a good distance away so there was always one guy who would make a geedunk run for everybody else. The term was "You buy, I'll fly". Being a bit of a cheapskates I always flew, so I never paid for my geedunks.

3:30 This is a great story of leadership. Lots of folks prefer stories where someone gets hit with a sick burn and then everybody claps, but those sort of events are toxic to cohesion. In this case, 1) the line jumping stopped 2) the JO learned or was reminded of policy without being humiliated 3) the men were reassured that senior leadership cared about them without schadenfreude.

Some of those spaces look like a brand new ship. Well done!

I’m an Air Force vet but I love your videos and have always been fascinated with Navy ship life.

When working in Philly visited the New Jersey. A tour of officers quarters would be good. A tour of enlisted quarters would show how these guys lived.

When I hear the name of a convenience store is "Quick Stop" my mind races to the movie Clerks. The budget for Clerks, filmed in a Leonardo, New Jersey Quick Stop was less than $28,000 1994. So $3500-ish for the combined cost of a single shell and powder in 1940 dollars. That would be somewhere between $50-$60,000 per round today? One 16" shell is worth more than a really fun movie filmed in a terrestrial Quick Stop! I'm not even supposed to be here today.

When I was in the Navy, the soda machines were 40 cents, one quarter, one dime, and one nickel. I don’t remember any other prices, just that one. I used to buy lots of sodas from those vending machines.

My grandfather was a SK1 during WWII (promoted to SK1 in November of 1944). It seems all his promotions were due to combat action. But he was Store Keeper on board the USS Carmick DD-493 a Gleaves class destroyer. He was also Store Keeper on the USS Union in the Pacific from 1945 to the end of the war.

Word of truth on how big the "Vending Machine Alley" is on such ships. It was about,,, 18ish years or so ago when the USS Abe "Stinkin' Lincoln" was pulled into Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for a 4 year overhaul/upgrade/hull repair and I was the Vending Machine Manager at PSNS down in the CIA ("Controlled Industrial Area"= nuclear stuff) and one of my jobs was to completely go through each of the "Stinkin' Lincoln's" machines- and boy, they had a LOT of them. (30, 40, and that was just on the elevator deck below the flight deck). The Lincon has a crew with air wing of around 6000 personnel. As Drachinfel says: "The British Navy still has Grog; the Americans however has ice cream machines". Back in "the day" when everyone smoked I had a cigarette machine at the Little Yellow Vending Machine building just south of "Ditch 6" (Drydock 6) and I didn't know what to do with it. Couldn't load it with smokes as they were passe'. Worked perfectly- so I stuffed it full of candy bars. Amazing- you wouldn't think there was THAT many candy bars in existance.

The Shipsevicemen (SH rate) ran the store, Ships store office, geedunk, all vending machines, Barbershop, and laundry in the Navy. In the early years, they even did Tailor shop, Dry cleaning and Cobbler shop. The store profit also paid for the Barbership supplies and all the laundry supplies. i.e. soap, starch, bleach. The store normally worked on a 10% markup. The ship also had to pay a fee to a fund to replace any laundry equipment that had to be replaced in the future. The Navy ran the "A" school for the rate and the store paid for everything else. Yes I was a leading Shipserviceman on a Tin Can.

Oh yeah. My dad said whenever his destroyer pulled into Subic, Pearl or Yokosuka, and there was a battleship there - first thing was drop the launch and head over to do some shopping.

You guys have got to make a "Black Dragon" shirt or hoodie for the merch store. That's the coolest ship nickname ever.

Im glad this channel has come so far in three years. Enjoyed the dry dock!

You do an outstanding job showing the daily life on a battleship. Thank you for sharing

My Dad knew a guy who on his destroyer tender rigged the cigarette machine to occasionally dump a quarter in a secret bin he collected. The sailors were so used to getting screwed they didn’t bother to even complain about it. Vietnam era Navy moral was pretty bad.

They tell a similar story to the one about Admiral Halsey at the ship's QuikStop at the USS Hornet in Alameda, but it instead involves a couple of young naval aviators, the ship's geedunk, and I believe it was Admiral Clark, but I could be misremembering that. Same story, though... long line, drunk on the shine of their gold bars... until they walk past the fellow with stars on his collar patiently standing in line.

26 years in the Navy... Same comment at Patrick Radclif... The "G" in geedunk is pronounced the same way as g in "get, not like a "j." Hope this helps.. I enjoy watching your tour videos. Have a nice Day. Sincerely Steve.

Really appreciate this ongoing video series. It's fascinating to do at least a virtual tour of such places.

6:37 "Video game arcade???"lol glad you are running the show now, keep up the amazing work. I'll never forget what it was like to go on the USS (BB-63) and USS Nimitz (CVN-68) as a kid.

I've heard that Bakery story so many times from different branches and different officers involved I heard, for instance a young Marine used all the water in a shower that Marines had to refill after use.Chesty Puller told the young lieutenant that he had to spend the rest of the day refilling it

Enjoying your videos, but in the Navy, we say Geedunk with a hard G!

Crazy how the navy doesn’t supply toothbrushes and deodorant and stuff like that, it costs so little relative to the increase in morale that having everyone healthy and smelling good would bring.

Interesting story about Halsey. When I rode ships in the 80s, chiefs and officers always had head of the line privileges. Great incentive to get promoted!

Great channel !

I realize this video is old in internet years, but you have gotten your "video legs" very quickly. Good job on the latest ones, and I hope for more. Thumbs up.

Served 1980-1993 as a Supply Officer. Alcohol was officially banned on US Navy Ships by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels in the WW I era. When deploying, a limited stock of Near Beer was maintained by the Supply Officer in secure storage under lock-and-key for use Ashore for Ship Functions like picnics or barbecues, strictly outside the Continental US. Did Security violations occur? I am sure! Did Officers and Enlisted drink onboard with contraband? Many examples of that!

Ship's Serviceman (SH) Rating, now Retail Services Specialist (RS) manned the Supply Department's S-3 Division. Responsible for Barber Shop, Ship's Store, Ship's Uniform Store, Laundry, Dry Cleaning, Tailor Shop, Cobbler, Soda Fountain (later Vending Machines), Video Games, Warehousemen for Retail Merchandise and Canned Sodas, Cash Collections and Recordskeeping. Ashore they manned Navy Exchange (NEX), Commissary (Supermarket), Gas Stations and Club Managers.

thankyou for using the wide angle lens!

You've got a cool job

MWR funds can be very nice. I worked on a Navy Base and one morning called Mako marine and ordered 10 fully outfitted center console fishing boats. This purchase totaled about $500K - we more than had the funds to cover the purchase. The Navy has a very solid system of auditing and taking carte of MWR funds.

I once got me some potato sticks from the store on board the Iowa (I had taken a dependence cruise on the battleship with my stepdad in 1987).

While in the Navy 1969 - 1973, I did 2 west pac tours aboard USS CHICACGO CG 11. I was in supply and at one time or another I had ran all 3 of her stores and I have to say almost everyone aboard know who I was. I say this because when I had duty and went to wake someone up they knew who I was. Home port was North Island NAS San Diego.

Well made video. And story about Halsey in line - is gorgeous)))

Love the Jersey, thank you. I have learned so many things via the Museum youtubes. Appreciate it. This coming from an old Vietnam Vet serving in the Army but always admiring the Navy. AND especially the Iowas. Thank you.

When we deployed to asscrackistan in 2011, we nominated a Marine to be in charge of loading up hard drives with movies and TV shows, games, etc. We dubbed him the Fun and Games Officer...or...FAGO. 😆

I was in a laid back company with only a few hundred Americans in a camp in Nam. We did not have a library or even a PX (for a long time ).Never heard of the morale division but had a very busy club that was open 11 hours a day. The profits from the club paid for a nice steak and a six pack of beer once a month and every 6 weeks or so a Korean band. Had strippers perform an enjoyable show but some lifer said we could not have stripes at the camp. Halve of the pot heads never showed up so we always got a second juicy steak and all the beer you could drink. Often wonder how little money the club made selling cans of cold beer for only 20¢ a can. We had delicious rabbit from Australia twice and the best Thanksgiving & Christmas meals. They flew in crates of quart eggnog both of these holidays..

I went on a diet when I was stationed on the uss garcia ff1040 , and to help me avoid snacks and sweets, I asked the ship store clerk not to sell me candy bars or chips. Naturally within a few days I had forgotten that and went by the store to grab some sweets. The clerk hadn’t forgotten my diet, and he would not sell snacks to me for the rest of the cruise- I had lost 36 pounds by the time we got back to the states. Glad I lost the weight but man I was angry at that clerk for awhile.

I literally just ask all these questions in your video about the head. Wild!

great videos

Back in the early 80s, I knew a guy who got MWR funds and set up a division party in Subic Bay. Hookers included.

We used to have beer machines like the soda machines in our barracks when I was in Korea....that thing stayed empty.....not sure why....oh wait....we bought it all and often....lol

The mention of a plan to build a video arcade on the ship makes me wonder if Ryan has ever played World of Warships from his office on the battleship.

I remember when the Honorable Mr Reagan ordered our squadron HSL-33 to be stationed on the New Jersey. We were the first Helio squadron to be stationed aboard a battleship.

What fascinates me about the USN is that the US Congress trusts them with the ability to launch thermo nuclear weapons but doesn't trust the character of those that join the USN with the ability not to abuse beer, gin or rum unlike the Royal Navy :)

The XO on my ship, USS Ford, had the officer's barber shop converted into a coffee shop. His reasoning was if officers and enlisted can fight and die together then having a haircut together was no big deal. On a side note, reactor department used the same compartment as a server room for a bit, with so much computer hardware you could hardly walk from one side to the other.

I did 6 years in the Navy. Only ship i was on was the mock up of a DDG for battle stations in boot camp. I was in the first division to do that in 2007. Wish I would of took the option to cross rate to the fleet.

Us Jarheads heard that same exact tale involving one Lt. Gen. Lewis "Chesty" Puller . . .

4:00 Years ago I read a book about the USS Washington (BB-56) which recalls a story about how a junior officer (a LTJG) started yelling at Vice Admiral Willis Lee who lit up a cigarette on the bridge not knowing he was the surface group commander. Oops

So what happens to all the money the ship's store takes in? First, it pays the bills to the vendors who supply goods to the ship. Second, it prepays vendors who want a down payment on an order. Third, any profit gores into the Nonappropriated Fund. By regulation this is used for the "Welfare and Morale" of the ship/unit personnel. This is used to furnish what we green suiters call the Day Room - which back in my day included buying a stereo and a TV - buy recreational gear like pool tables, cues and balls, darts, etc, pay for magazine and newspaper subscriptions, buy athletic gear like baseballs, basketballs, and footballs, gloves, bats, etc. It also funds food and drink for beer bashes, family days, picnics, etc. The fund is administered by a council of officers and enlisted personnel who vote to approve expenditures. In the Army. at least, the Company Executive officer usually serves as the Fund Officer as an additional duty, assisted by someone serving as the Treasurer. They are appointed to their position by the Company Commander via unit orders and are responsible for maintaining proper records, ensuring procedures are in accordance with regulations and accounting for the money. Usually as part of the Annual General Inspection conducted by the command's Inspector General, the records are reviewed and the fund is audited.

Thank you for giving us these personal tours of the ship. ✌️💚🖖

I was sitting here thinking to myself 'how the hell do they justify giving up so much room for a shop!'... when i remembered that i spent a fair few nights in the PO's mess onboard HMS Illustrious, back in 2012, which was literally one of several bar type spaces on the ship lol. I still preferred our JR mess parties, shout out to the WAFU's from the AED mess up on 2 deck and stokers on 5, not to mention the odd issue centre piss up in the hangar, which was fucking ballsy looking back.

Hell yeah Ryan. Go for 100k subscribers

Especially on the 16 inch guns, (Is that the correct term?) what looks like a rectangular chain pushes the shell and powder into the barrow. Where does it go after it comes out? Dangle down a chain pipe in the turret? Are the links designed to be pushed in a straight line?

Merchandising on all ships back in the 80s was done. I was on a fast frigate The USS Davison. And I can get zippo lighter‘s beer mugs coffee cups T-shirts shorts baseball caps just about anything you think of with the davidson name and logo on. So that is that special with battleships all navy ships did this.

Question: I heard tale that there was a bar/officers club in the aft section of the Bismarck, but could not find anything to back that claim up. I also know that with the USN being dry the New Jersey wouldn't have a bar but do other ships have them or anything similar?

Bismarck also sold stuff and had space for 500 - 1000 50 litre beer barrels.

I'm a huge World of Warships fan. Seeing one of my favorite Battleships almost as if it has been in real life has been a joy. Thank You so much for what you guys are doing and in keeping history alive and by bringing it to life as you have.

I agree , the gedunk was very important

How about a tour through medical for an old corpsman ('68-72').

I find it really strange to think that you could be stood next to an ice cream parlour and some vending machines while you sink in a WW2 war zone

The beer in the Pepsi machine was cool 😎 glad to see Pepsi and not coke, they were all to white for coke 🤣

9:01 - good story! :D

Love your videos. I don't think I saw one pertaining to it, but have you/will you produce a video pertaining to the CPO mess?

Chiefs and Officers had head of the line privileges on all ships I served on. Post Office, Ship's Store, etc. You just went to the head of the line and alternated E6 and below with the khaki. This was a fair arrangement that demonstrated that indeed rank does have its privileges and served as some incentive to get in gear and "make rate". While serving on a Destroyer Tender during the 70's whenever I had an assignment to work on gear on another ship I would make a point of dropping by the ship's store and buying one of their coffee cups. My wife just hated it because I came up with quite a collection of coffee cups. Maybe I should have stuck to lighters. One of the things that wasn't advertised at all was the Navy Exchange (NEX) Mail Order Catalog. I always thought I was going to have to make a cruise to the far east to buy some state of the art HiFi gear cheap but you find what you wanted and make a special order to the NEX and they would send it to your ship's address.

The ships store can be a real life saver sometimes, especially if joining the crew mid-cruise and you forget to pack something you really need. In my case it was towels, but I've know people who had entire duffle bags delayed or lost on flights to meet their ship.

I think it may have been mentioned more than once here in the comments but the letter G in the term Gedunk is usually pronounced the same way one pronounce the G in the word “geese 🦢”, a soft G....

Also, would love to see the BB Chief's mess

Also wanted to add...if you are retired or otherwise have MWR privileges and live near a base or will be visiting near one, check out what MWR has to offer. I saved on tickets to all kinds of attractions when in San Diego because I stopped by the base MWR office first.

I wonder if the paint was peeling off the wall after this incident :) ?

Can you help other museums like the one for the Alabama, Texas, or Wisconsin do stuff like this? As a collective effort?

Awww man... I've already donated $300 to the Battleship Texas. I think that old lady is in greater need.

The Story about Admiral Halsey happened on Board a Carrier, I believe the U.S.S Enterprise CV-6 and he was in line for Ice Cream.

in 1971 cigarettes were a dollar ten cents a carton on the ship.

I was lucky enough to visit the Missouri back in the late '80s when she was still in active service. A high school buddy of mine invited me for their friends and family day and got to see a bit of the old Mo, sadly, this was after the Iwo tragedy so I wasn't able to see the 16 inchers get fired because they had put a moratorium on firing them while the investigated the accident. I remember getting both a ship's a ball cap and an engraved Zippo when I was there. I don't think I have the cap anymore, but I still have the Zippo though.

In my experience in the Navy, the word gedunk was always pronounced with the hard G, as in "great", and not the soft G, as in giant. Also, I never saw it spelled with double E.

Must be nice to have a store when deployed. Only time we see a store (PX) was when arriving or leaving country.

now i need to see if theres a library video.

How was the morale aboard New Jersey? I read quite often that at the tail end of the '80s and the Gulf War that morale aboard USS Missouri and Wisconsin were quite high, but on Iowa is was really low (even prior to the Incident).

The zippos you guys have are super cool I just wish they weren't out of stock on the website

Is there a library onboard BB55 NorthCarolina? I’ve only ever seen one small store

Sorry to hear you guys are not doing well during this bullshit. Love the content keep it up and I’ll be here to watch.

If there are port holes ( presumably on the port side) what are they called on the starboard side?

Once a ship gets out into international waters, the store can sell smokes without federal taxes. A dirt cheap price compared to in port.

When I was in, the G in geedunk was a hard G like the first G in garage. BTW, we called the National Defense Medal a geedunk medal because everyone got one. It didn't require any more than signing up.

I remember when they brought back the battleships in the '80's. Everybody and their brother volunteered, including me, to get on one. Alas, I didn't get picked. Would have been awesome to have that in your service record.

Have you made a video about the battleship's onboard library?

Thanks to all of you guys that preserve not only the equipment, but the lore and legend. These fine ships are in good hands. I have kept track of the four Iowas since I was a kid in the sixties. I know and have met many people who have served on each of them. I raised hell when Jimmy Carter wanted to turn them into razor blades . Then I cheered when Reagan reactivated them! The efforts of you people who make the effort and take the time to preserve these national treasures. I think of these ships as dormant, sleeping volcanoes. I hope to visit this ship.

If you turn off the auto Iris Function on your camera it will not appear to flicker as it’s trying to adjust to the light. Just let it adjust where you want it and then turn that feature off. Hope this is helpful.