OFFICER'S QUARTERS

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There were five Officer's cabins  on Wardroom Flats. Four  were double occupancy. The Executive Officer had his own cabin.  (Photo by Jerry Proc) 
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Engineering Officer's Cabin: All the engineering drawings for the ship were located in this area which doubled as an office and living quarters for the Engineering Officer. By 1950 all destroyer escorts had an Electrical Officer. He was responsible for all things electrical and electronic and thus had custody of the electrical drawings. The drawings were not stored in the Electrical Officer's cabin, but could have been held in the Electrical Workshop,  with electronic (radar, comm, etc) drawings held in the Electronics Maintenance Room (EMR).  (Photo by Jerry Proc) 
Within the Wardroom Lobby are five cabins for some of the ship's officers. The three on the Starboard side are (from forward to aft) Cabin One, Cabin Three and Cabin Five. The two on the Port side are the Executive Officer's Cabin, and Cabin Six. With the exception of the Executive Officer's cabin, the rest are double cabins, with two officers in each. There is another cabin across from the Cook's and Steward's Mess, aft of the Wardroom known as Cabin Seven. It housed four junior officers until the mid-1950's when it was converted to #3 Naval Stores room. It is now the artifact storage area. The upper bunks in the double cabins fold down to make a settee. The desks, drawers  and sinks are all original.

There were four officers who had single cabins and in each case, the cabin doubled as their Department's office. They were: the Captain, the Executive Officer (XO) , the Supply Officer, and the Engineering Officer.

The Executive Officer was not a watch keeper; rather his position could best be described as the ship's General Manager. He coordinated the ship's routine with the Captain and the various Heads of Departments. He was responsible for the ship's Watch and Quarter Bill for each member of the crew. A crew members Quarter Bill shows:

(a) his mess
(b) his action station
(c) his station for entering and leaving harbour
(d) his Special Sea Duty Station
(e) his Raft Station
(f) whether he was G (able to draw grog) T (temperance i.e. no grog) or U.A. or Under Age and not entitled to draw grog. Grog is a diluted mixture of rum and water.

The XO also drafted a document known as daily orders that precisely detailed the ship's activities for the next day. These would be prepared in the Coxswain's Office and distributed throughout the ship during the early evening so that everyone was in the know. During the Last Dog Watch. the XO conducted rounds. That was inspection of the living spaces for general cleanliness, and seaworthiness. The XO would also  coordinate the defect lists and compile the requests for repair or servicing back in port. As stated previously, the XO was also the President of the Wardroom Mess and supervised the activities associated with this.

The Supply Officer's cabin is located in the Ship's Office Flats below the Captain's Day Cabin. It is the one aft of the Ship's Office on the starboard side. The Supply Officer was responsible for the ships victualling (obtaining food), and he was the person responsible for the crew's pay or the "Paybob". He also controlled the stores accounts held by the various departments, and performed the duties of the Captain's Secretary.

The Ship's Office was used by the Pay writer for documentation of the crew's pay records, and by the Captain's Writer who was responsible for personnel (divisional records). He also typed the Monthly Reports of Proceedings, the written record of all the ship's activities and was responsible for typing the plethora of reports and letters associated with Service Life.

Below the ships Office Flats are fuel tanks number 7 and 8.
 

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This is Officer's Flats looking forward. All the Officer's quarters adjoined this area. ( Photo by Jerry Proc) 
 



 
Contributors or Credits:

1) Peter Dixon  - HAIDA Docent Manual 1999
2) Parks Canada - Staff Resource Manual.

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Nov 4/21