The other day I saw a dinosaur. It was an old style coffee percolator for about 100 cups. Before drip coffee makers, like Mr. Coffee, these percolators were all over the place.
Sailors are great drinkers of coffee. Long hours with little sleep makes a little shot of caffeine a boon. When the German cruiser, Prinz Eugen, was turned over to the USN, some of the German crew were kept on. They were surprised by two things the Americans did. First, they installed bunks for sleeping. The Germans thought hammocks were much better. Second, every work space had a coffee percolator installed. This was an incredible extravagance. No one had seen that much real coffee in five years.
The German engineers were really surprised that the boiler spaces got them. Why would you drink a hot beverage in a space that regularly had a 100 degree temperature?
Boiler Techs (BT) had a very rough time. They worked in hot, humid, oily spaces. The 1200 pound steam system that was developed after the kamikaze experience had great response, but was also very dangerous. If there was a pinhole leak in the steam system, you tried to find it by passing a broomstick over the steam lines. A steam leak with that much pressure would slice your fingers off.
If you know of an old BT, and want to see him jump, yell "High Water Low Water;" He'll jump but then run or he'll beat you to a pulp.
That kind of steam needed constant attention. On the old Goldsborough, there was a boiler explosion. Most of the watch got to the escape trunk (you had about three minutes), but two kids got confused. They took a wrong turn and couldn't hold their breath any longer. Breathing in super-saturated super-heated steam is a very painful death. One instructor compared it to being parboiled from the inside out.
On my first ship, I stood some watches in Main Engineering. I was very aware that there was a main steam line three feet over my head. Decided that Operations or Weapons were a better fit.
Living with this danger every day, the BTs got a tad drifty. They were always dirty and many took two showers a day to feel normal. Tobacco and coffee were two things that kept them sane.
On a trip to Roosevelt Roads for a Missile Ex, people started to notice that the BTs from 2B Fire Room were getting more quirky. They were moving faster than other sailors and talked fast, "Hihow- you-doing? We-have-to-blow-tubes-soon.I-got-to-run."
We'd look at each other, "It has to be drugs."
To be on the safe side, the Naval Investigation Service sent a team to search for contraband. They found nothing in the berthing spaces, so they took a deep gulp and entered the Fire Room. They were not used to the heat or humidity, but soldiered on.
They didn't find anything and were about to leave when one agent took a sip of coffee.
It was horrible. The kind that spoons don't stand in, but run away from.
They pulled the percolator and took it up to the messdecks. After dumping the vile brew, they found six inches of coffee sludge at the bottom.
The sailors weren't on amphetamines, they had caffeine poisoning!
It came out that weeks before a new Fireman came aboard. He did not drink coffee, but as the junior man on watch, he was to take the percolator up to the mess deck, dump the old brew, and scrub the percolator thoroughly.
Well, the kid just rinsed the pot and skated for half an hour.
We asked the BTs didn't they realize the coffee was bad?
No, it tasted so good.
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