Word: chambliss
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...ship drills merely get the man to the station; after that he is on his own. How to get off a sinking ship, what the well-dressed man in the water should wear, are suggested in the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings for July. The author: Lieut. Commander William C. Chambliss, U.S.N.R., himself an involuntary absentee from the aircraft carrier Wasp...
What to wear is usually settled by circumstances: you wear what you have on. If caught undressed, grab a shirt and pants anyway. Clothing saves skin on the trip down a rope or a rough hull. To save the hands ("principal tools of salvation") Chambliss recommends carrying a pair of light leather gloves in the hip pocket at all times. A knife is a necessity. So is a pencil flashlight, easily carried in a shirt pocket, best kept dry in a knotted rubber sheath ("a bit inelegant, but elegance has no place in abandoning ship...
...well-dressed ship-abandoner should leave without a life jacket. Chambliss prefers the inflatable type to kapok. Worn on the person, the rubber jacket is always available and may be deflated for faster swimming...
Final advice by Commander Chambliss: "Once aboard the rescue vessel, try not to make a damned nuisance of yourself. . . . If picked up by a destroyer or similarly small vessel, get below decks. Sure, you'd like to stay topside and see what's going on. But a destroyer that has taken aboard 600 or 700 survivors. . . is in a precarious state of balance...