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Duties of a Coxswain Aboard an LCI(L) by Herbert Nolda

(Herbert served aboard LCI(L)-91 and LCI(L)-92 as the ship's coxswain. He was reassigned to LCI(L)-92 just prior to the Normandy Landing due to a need by the LCI(L)-92 for an experienced coxswain).

This document is in reply to questions asked by Leroy Peters (son of #91 crew member Willis Peters) as to what is meant by my stating that his father and I stood many wheel watches together. Frank Vyn (son of #91 skipper Arend Vyn) has also asked to explain some duties of a coxswain on an LCI. I must later list a vocabulary of sea-going terms so as to clarify the words and terms, which I used. These words are common place to one who has gone to sea in a ship but are entirely foreign to a "lubber" or land lover, as they are referred to by sea going people.

LCIs and all other amphibious ships were very crudely constructed with little or no consideration of comfort or convenience of the crew, and because of this, they were considered expendable, similar to a throw away Dixie cup. Their main consideration was to deliver men or cargo to the designated beaches.

Perhaps I should explain the term "watches." Watch means performing special duties in addition to the regular shipboard duties. These watches are arranged in periods of four hours on and eight hours off. Watch lists are made up by officers and senior petty officers that are enlisted men also. These lists are posted on the bulletin board for all to consult. I shall enlarge on regular shipboard duties at a later time.

To begin with, a ship's time, which is commenced from zero, (midnight) is divided up into four hour periods of time referred to as watches. These are what are called three shipboard evolutions. These are: 1. In port evolution 2. Underway evolution and 3. General quarters or man your battle stations. Now, standing a wheel watch is an underway evolution. Standing a wheel watch means a man or helmsman controls the wheel or helm that controls the rudders which in turn determine which direction the ship turns or remains on a set or given course of directions.

The LCI's "wheel" was a simple handle with a knob attached to the top of it, which was referred to as a street car control in a derogatory manner. This controlled a simple rheostat which relayed the desired signals to the steering engine motors. Those of you who have never seen a street car control still may not be able to visualize all this unless you go to a museum and see a street car. Perhaps there is one in Omaha.

In the early days of sailing when the big wheels were actually used to steer the ship, two men were sometimes needed to turn the wheel if the sea was rough. The other man who helped the helmsman was called the "lee helmsman" because lee means downwind side. The term lee helmsman was still used in 1944 and it meant the sailor who was helping the helmsman, who was actually steering the ship. Additionally, Captains don't steer the ships or do the work. The enlisted men do this and the Captains and other officers give the orders. Movies have taken liberties with this; for instance some old movies show the Captain at the wheel.

On LCIs the wheel house as it was called was located on the second deck level above the first or main deck officer's quarters. It was located on the fore part of the superstructure or deck housing as viewed from the forward part of the ship. The deck house contained only two things: the helm or wheel, which controlled the rudders via electric cables to electric motors, located in the steering engine compartment. The rudders, of course, control the direction in which the ship traveled.

The helmsman is able to determine how much helm he is applying by a clock-like device that is mounted in the bulkhead if front of the helmsman. The device is called a "rudder indicator" and has hands and pointers, which indicate the position and degree of rudder movement. The "clock" is lit by a dim light.

There was protocol for coming on watch and going off. For instance, when a man would come on watch he would go to the helmsman, look at the compass, and then say to the OD, "Requesting permission to relieve the wheel." The OD then usually would say, "Very well." When a man went off the watch he again would ask permission from the OD and then the OD would say, "Very well. Lay below" which means go below deck.

The other appliance in the deck house was a devise known as the "annunciator" or engine room telegraph. (I shall draw a crude diagram of this to make it more understandable.)

When this engine room telegraph was operating it conveyed to the engine room any or all changes of speed of the ship that was desired by the Officer of the Deck who rode in the "Conn" or control compartment located immediately above the wheel house. This is where Willis and I came into the picture. One of us would handle the Helm and the other would stand by to operate the engine room telegraph immediately upon command from the Officer of the Deck. We would exchange duties every two hours of the four hour watch so as to avoid fatigue and boredom as well. On and in LCIs the steering devise commonly called the "wheel" was not in the form of an actual wheel with spokes attached to the outer rim of the wheel, this to hold on to and spin the wheel. (These big wheels are commonly portrayed in the movies of ships of the earlier years, although big ships in WWII did have this type of wheel. The transport Mayo that I was assigned to after D-Day did have this big wheel and I was allowed to man it on a test run. I was the first enlisted man to do so on this new ship.) The helmsman would have his hand on the knob at all times because the seas would constantly deflect the steering. He would also be watching the "clock" at all times. He could change off hands though if he was comfortable doing so. The knob was about waist high and thus wasn't uncomfortable. Of course, in rougher seas more attention was needed to keep the ship on track. If the seas were calm, the OD would say, "Steady or Steady as she goes." (This is a favorite line used in the movies.)

If an LCI happened to be traveling in a river as we did in England and some other places, the OD might give the helmsman freer rein to steer the ship without many instructions. The helmsman would know that he was supposed to keep the ship in the middle of the channel.

So how did the Office of the Deck convey his wishes to us in the wheel house? This was accomplished by his speaking into a voice tube, which was a simple brass tube of approximately two inches in diameter. This voice tube was attached to the forward bulkhead or wall of the conning tower at a convenient shoulder height with a flip lid on it. This voice tube extended down through the deck into the wheel house at about shoulder heighth and was left open so we would be able to hear the OD speak. Strangely enough, voices echoed through this tube very clearly. When communicating one would speak into the tube and the turn one's ear to hear the reply. It was very simple but it worked and in some ships the engine room was corresponded with through the voice tube. We would repeat all orders verbally to make sure there was no misunderstanding.

Of course, when Willis and I were standing watch together and the seas were not so adverse as to require our utmost attention to the task at hand, we would engage in random conversation.

Other Coxswain Duties - Sounding the Water

Sounding the water means checking for its depth. A lot of times the Captains were provided charts on depth for a particular place, but when operating in uncharted water the ship had to determine depth on their own. This was dicey business when going in to a hostile beach at night. The Captain was responsible for giving the order when to drop the stern anchor and then give the order for the troops to disembark. If a Captain gave the order to drop the ramps and land the men in too deep of water this could be disastrous. On the other hand, going in to close and getting grounded in shallow water was another risk. The Captains depended on the coxswains to sound the water and make accurate measurements.

I remember sounding the water one time when we were going in to Salerno in the dark with machine guns bullets lacing the water just ahead of us. The unloading ramps were down and I was dangling on one of them using a "lead line" to sound the water. This piece of lead weighted 8-10 pounds and was attached to a rope that had many knots on it that the coxswain would feel in the dark to determine the depth. In other words, we had to have these knots memorized so when we'd touch them we'd know what was what. There were also white rags attached to the line and they had different depth measurements too. Additionally, there were pieces of leather with holes in them that meant something else. The coxswain would throw the line out ahead of the ship, let it sink and then as the ship caught up with the line he'd lift it up and take the reading by sliding his hand along the markers. It was sort of like playing a musical instrument. When the coxswain determined the depth he would sing out the measurement and this would be passed on to the Captain.

It was pretty standard that in the Mediterranean that there was a sand bar about 300 feet from the beach. We'd slid over that and then the water would get deeper again closer to the beach. Our LCIs only needed about 5 feet of water in which to operate. Sometimes we would lighten them considerably before a landing so that they would be able to slide in shallower water. For instance, if a ship is full of oil, water, other equipment, it is going to sit deeper in the water than when empty. We would pump the fuel into some other ship or a tank on dock.

Herbert Nolda & Leroy Peters, the son of Willis James Peters (pictured below)

Willis James Peters

(served aboard LCI(L)-91 as a Seaman First Class)

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