A PROPOSED SYSTEM FOR STIMULATING INTEREST IN OPERATING ENGINEERING
By Lieut. Commander Frederick C. Sherman, U. S. Navy
The defects noted in connection with the interest in operating engineering in another paper in this issue of the Proceedings may be listed as follows:
- Lack of an accurate and convenient measure of efficiency of a machinery installation.
- Lack of interest in engineering by supervising officers and men.
- Lack of a proper competitive feature similar to competition in gunnery.
Further, it is stated that the problem is psychological and that engineering is not recognized in true proportion to its importance in getting the guns into position in battle. If the psychological problem can be solved and if the interest and brains of the personnel concerned are applied to operating engineering in the same measure that they are applied to gunnery, it is believed that operating engineering will advance in step with gunnery and will solve its own problems.
The present methods of engineering competition have outlived their usefulness and have failed to solve the problem for the following reasons:
- The competition is based on economy rather than efficiency. Economy is only one feature of efficiency and not even its most important one.
- The engineering competition is extended over such a long period that interest lags and, figuratively, the personnel go stale. No athlete would attempt to keep up to A-1 condition and run a race every day in the year.
- The present engineering competition sometimes puts a premium on delaying desirable repairs for as long a period as possible in order to save on economy.
- The present competition fosters discontent by encouraging the cutting down of fresh water supplies and electric lights and fans to such a point as to cause discomfort or inconvenience to the officers and crew. This fact causes some ships to take little interest in competition as they rightly consider contentment more important than a high place in the competition.
- The present competition has no spectacular features, with results immediately visible to everyone on the ship. Such a feature is infinitely more desirable than waiting on endless computations of figures which are usually not available until the end of the competition year, as with the present method of competition.
- There is no suitable method of reward for every member of the ship involved in the results achieved.
There may be other elements in the problem, but it is believed that the above comprise the principal reasons for the failure of the present method of engineering competition to achieve the results desired in operating engineering.
To correct the conditions a system of competition is believed necessary which will accord with the following specifications:
- It must create interest, rather than discontent, of all hands.
- It must not include any features which may result in the cutting down of adequate comforts for the crew throughout the whole year.
- It must measure efficiency rather than an economy which is liable to become niggardliness.
- It must be spectacular enough to arouse the interest of the entire ship's company from the captain down to the lowest seaman and to have results immediately visible to all.
- It must be intimately connected with gunnery in order to bring home to everyone the fact that battle efficiency depends both on operating engineering to place and keep the guns in position and on gunnery to hit when so placed.
The following system is proposed as designed to fill the above requirements:
A competition should be established for battle efficiency to comprise both engineering and gunnery features in the same competition. Base this competition on the ability to place the guns in position and on the ability to hit with the guns after being so placed. In order to accomplish this, the knots per ton of fuel, best performance, should be established as a standard for each ship. Then figure out a standard number of miles to be steamed for the battle target practice. Assume this is adopted as 40 miles. Then assign to each ship for its battle efficiency practice, the exact amount of fuel required to steam 40 miles at the rate of its standard of knots per ton established from its best performance, and allowing for a certain period of full speed, say one hour and the balance at economical cruising speed. Umpires would be appointed to measure out the amount of fuel allowed and observe the operation of the ship. Then have the ship start its approach from a point accurately a certain distance, say 25 miles, from the target. Require the ship to steam at full speed for one hour at some time during the run (establish the full speed revolutions as a standard for each ship) and at its economical speed (discretion of each ship) during the rest of the run, proceeding all the time toward its target. Let it fire its guns if it gets into position and continue steaming until its allowance of fuel is expended and then stop. Its score for engineering would be its percentage of the established number of miles (based on revolution curve) obtained from its fuel allowed. In other words, a ship which steamed only 30 miles would get a score of 75 per cent. A ship which steamed 40 miles would get 100 per cent. If a ship exceeded its best performance and got more than 40 miles, it should be credited with a multiple correspondingly greater than 100. In connection with this competition, the starting- points of the target and of the firing ship should be a definite distance apart and the course and speed of the target should be unknown, although to make the competition even, the component speed of the target along the base course should be the same for all vessels of a class. In addition to steam used in main propelling plant, the ship should be required to run all the auxiliaries required for battle and to make a certain quantity of fresh water depending on the evaporating plant installed.
Under this competition, if the ship failed to reach the firing point before her fuel allowance was expended, she would have to stop and would not even get a chance to fire her guns. Of course she could be allowed to fire her guns in a separate run for training purposes but such firing would not count in the competition.
Then I would recommend that the entire prize money be divided among the whole ship's company somewhat on the share system as established in the old days of prize money for capturing valuable merchantmen. Allow a battle efficiency prize to the ship standing one of $10 per share. Give all non-rated men on the ship 1 share, third-class petty officers 1 ½ shares, second-class petty officers 2 shares, first-class petty officers 2 ½ shares and chief petty officers 3 shares. For the ship standing two, the same system would be followed except the value per share should be $5 and for the ship standing three, the value per share would be $3. In addition, I would recommend that a letter of commendation be given to every officer, commissioned and warrant, attached to a ship to which a prize is warded for the enlisted men. The present system of picking out three or five officers for commendation is positively harmful in that it causes many heart burnings and jealousies, whereas it is frequently utterly impracticable to limit the list of officers contributing to the success of a ship to the three or five allowed. Every officer on a ship has more or less responsibility for the success of a ship, according to his rank and assignment to duty, and should partake in the rewards. To discriminate between them is not always easy and it is recommended that every officer on board be eligible for a letter of commendation, always provided, of course, that the commanding officer approves.
Extra pay should continue to be given to gun pointers who qualify but should also be given to those engineering ratings which are most important in operating engineering, subject to a qualification based on the ships performance in the competition.
This competition would furnish spectacular features in that every person on the ship would be interested and would see approximately how many miles the ship had steamed. Its score would be known immediately upon the completion of the run. And what a visible result would be apparent if a ship had to stop either before or during firing because she ran out of fuel! Or had a breakdown! It would be a most emphatic and visual reminder to all hands that battle efficiency depends both on operating engineering and on gunnery.
This system would also tend to unite the interests of both the deck force and the "black gang" in that both would depend on each other for prize money and would be personally interested in the others' performance. It is believed that this system would tend to eliminate what is too often the case, friction between the engineer's force and the deck force.
This system also would not tend to create discontent as it would be unnecessary to shut down on quantity of fresh water issued or on electric lights or ventilation, during the rest of the year, as these things would cut no figure in the competition. But constant training to get the most out of a pound of fuel would be required in order to have competent personnel for the competition when it came. And in the last analysis, that is really what is to be sought after. In addition it would require constant attention to the condition of material in order to train the personnel to get the best results. This feature could be stimulated in addition by causing the time when the competition would be held to be unknown to the ships, within a reasonable notice.
This competition would resemble that of an athlete training for a race. His supreme trial or test would come only occasionally, but for him to make a showing in that test would require his constant training and preparing himself to be in condition for the race when it came.
Many details of such a competition would have to be worked out further than outlined above. The principal features should be those given. It might be desirable to have a primary engineering competition similar to short range target practice for the purpose of giving certain engineering ratings an opportunity to qualify for extra pay as mentioned previously. Such a primary competition could be similar to the one outlined above only restricted to one speed, either full speed or economical speed as desired.
To make this system of competition effective would require that the present engineering competition be abolished entirely and the suggested one substituted. Gunnery competition should be carried out as at present except that the present battle practice (long range gunnery practice) rules should be re-written to conform to the engineering requirements recommended herein. Short range target practice should be restricted to a practice to qualify gun pointers for extra compensation. Prize money for this practice should be eliminated and only awarded to the ship as a whole on its performance in the battle efficiency competition. A similar primary engineering practice might well be held to qualify leading engineering ratings for extra compensation, based on the ship reaching a certain standard of performance.
This suggested method of competition could be worked out in an infinite number of ways to apply it practically to the service. But the essential point is to have for the engineering competition basis, how far a ship can go on a given quantity of fuel, and for the test to be in connection with gunnery exercises. It can be applied to any class of vessel, of any kind of power plant. It makes a spectacular, sporting event which will arouse the interest of every one on the ship, and the results are immediately visible.
It is believed that a competition such as above would overcome the defects of the present system, would stimulate the interest of everyone on board ship, and would present a fair and equitable measure of the efficiency (as opposed to economy) of the engineering performances of all ships. Every man operating a piece of machinery would be personally interested in obtaining efficient results from the machine and as low consumption of power put in, compared to power obtained, as possible.
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