Adventures of a Yorktown
Ship's Cop
Master at Arms
I was assigned temporary duty as a deputy Master at Arms on the Yorktown. That's because I was less than enthusiastic as a Second Class Petty Officer. When the call went out for temporary duty, the Chief would always send the guy he wanted to get rid of to the temporary duty. That was me. The rest of the Masters at Arms would also sullen, unhappy to be in the Navy and out to sea and in general had no intentions of making the US Navy their career.
As a Master at Arms, we would of course be 3rd and 2nd Class Petty Officers in our "rating" but we had precious little military training. We received absolutely no police training.
One day you could be a machinist mate or photographer's mate and the next day you are a cop of a small floating city, filed with angry frustrated young men! Tensions were high amongst sailors of differing races. Fights broke out now and then and we didn't want things to escalate.
Furthermore, the Yorktown had a huge payroll and doled it out in cash. We were there guarding it all as the millions of dollars in cash were disbursed. As we were in the cold North Atlantic, where would any bandit go?
We were issued a badge to wear and often times would patrol the ship wearing police sticks and riot helmets. I had to use my experience as a petty officer to give orders that would be obeyed, control situations, calm angry shipmates, and crowd control.
I learned that you couldn't 'order' a mob of sailors to do anything. The mob wouldn't obey an order. I had to look each sailor in the eye and give each an order directly and then the group would eventually comply. Nobody told me that. I just had to learn police techniques, "on the job."
I was always afraid of putting anyone "on report." Navy justice at sea is swift and severe. I have seen guys go to the brig for ten days for stealing $20 from a shipmate. The brig is a horrible place. The Marines run it. The sailor has his head shaved, is treated like the lowest dirt by the Marines, is shouted at, is marched to chow at full attention, with his body up against the convict in front of him...horrible.
So I was always afraid to put anyone on report, even if they committed a crime in my very presence; afraid for my shipmates. I remember I was on patrol of the Yorktown, wearing my MAA badge and police stick, walking by the Yorktown ship's laundry. I suddenly heard one sailor say to the other, "where'd you get those new dungarees. You stole them didn't you." When I heard that, I walked right into the Yorktown laundry to see the open mouths and terrified faces of the two sailors. I shook my finger at them to let them know that I KNEW and to set things straight and I would forget what I heard. I didn't want them to go to the brig for 10 days (or worse)!
For example, while I was on Shore Patrol I was taking a drunk shipmate back to the ship. As a 2nd Class Petty Officer any challenge to my orders could be seen by the XO or the Captain as a challenge to their authority. The drunk Yorktown sailor hauled off and smashed me in the stomach. I saw it coming and tightened up so I wasn't hurt. But if I put him on report, I was afraid that the Captain would keel haul him or something. If the Captain would send someone to the brig for 10 days for stealing $20, what would he do to someone who struck one of his petty officers?
So, I just forgot that it happened. I'm sure my shipmate didn't mean it.
On occasion I was Supervisor of the Guard/Master At Arms. One of my guards was missing from patrolling officer's country. I tracked him down and there he was in an air conditioned space, relaxing but not patrolling. His police stick was cold because he had been in the air conditioned space for quite a long time. I put him on report.
Navy justice skipped right over XO's mast and sent him right to Captain's Mast. I was there as a witness as things went fast. The Captain looked at this sailor's service record and then at the sailor and said, "you are hereby discharged from the US Navy." I was surprised to see that he was tossed out of the Navy so quickly and was on the next plane back to the USA as a civilian!
So, like I said, I was very reluctant to put somebody on report!
Word got out that I was a nice guy MAA. I'd be on watch at the MAA's office some night, manning the phone, and alone. The procedure was that an Asst. MAA would put someone on report and then put the report onto a clip that
hung at the duty desk at the MAA's office. The Chief MAA (the real MASTER AT ARMS) would come by each morning and look through the reports. The Chief was big, old and grumpy and he even scared us Assistant Master at Arms. He decided who deserved to get the Executive Officer's attention. If he thought the XO wouldn't be interested or if the infraction was too small, he would toss that report into the trash can.
The others, went to XO's Mast or Captain's Mast.
So late at night, sailors I knew would come up to visit me at the MAA's office as I had the watch. They would be speaking for OTHER sailors, like sea lawyers. "Come on, shipmate, throw out that report. He didn't mean to swear at that 3rd Class Petty Officer. He was tired from working so hard. He's sorry now. He just got married, has a new kid...come on, just toss out that report." That way the Chief would never see it. The reporting Asst. MAA would believe that the Chief tossed the report into the trash can. No Assistant MAA would have the courage to go to the Chief to argue with him for not referring his report to the XO!
So tossing the report into the Pacific meant the end of it.
I'd protest, "I'll get court marshaled if I throw out another MAA's report..."
But they would persist and then I'd get soft hearted and crumble up the paper, give it the "deep six" by tossing the report overboard. If Davey Jones has a Court down there, I guess he can handle all those MAA reports I threw "over the rail" of the USS Yorktown.
After my three months temporary duty as a Master at Arms, I was transferred back to my division in Operations-Photography. It was good to be "home."
I just didn't have the heart for police work.
Daniel A. Bernath
Master at Arms
Petty Officer 2nd Class
Postscript: The US Navy now, as of 2000, has a permanent rate of Master at Arms.
Petty Officers from different rates go to "A" school to learn police tactics and procedures and permanently become Master at Arms throughout their Navy careers. A sailor who wants to become a military policeman in the US Navy can become a Master at Arms as a seaman. This rating patch is a rare first issue circa 1974 Master at Arms on Gabardine. The original MAA was disestablished in 1921. After a 54 year period of wearing a metal breast badge this rating came back in 1974. Soon after the rating badge was changed to a fully embroidered piece. This is a policeman in every sense, along with other duties in the Navy. Rare US Navy Petty Officer First Class ( Pay Grade E-6 ) Blue Gabardine with Red Embroidered Chevrons Rating Badge. Rating badges using an eagle, specialty mark and chevrons have been in use by the United States Navy without pause since the 1885. At the start of World War One the Navy employed 13 different ratings. To date 104 different ratings signified by unique devices have served the US Navy. An additional 22 emergency wartime ratings ( distinguished by a letter in a diamond ) were formed during WW2, the last one discontinued in the early 70's. Today there are about 65 ratings in service. The others being disestablished and in most cases merged into other ratings.
Warrant Officer (retired) told me about how there was a very big rush photo job that had everyone involved in the photolab. The Warrant Officer had everyone working overtime to get it done.
He checked on the progress of how everyone was working and saw one E3 was missing. He searched and searched for him and finally found him sitting on some boxes of chemicals in the supply room, drinking a orange can of pop.
When the Warrant Officer sees him and yells at him, "Sailor, what the ... are you doing, sitting on those boxes drinking an orange pop!"
The E-3 looks at his boss's boss, the Warrant Officer and says sleepily, "well, they were out of coke."
The W.O. says he almost blew a blood vessel to keep from laughing out loud in front of the E3, left the room and went outside and then burst out laughing.
(Source of these sea stories; Danny Busch, Photographic Warrant Officer)