A huge six story building with six dormitory wings along each side of a long central core, the receiving station was self contained, with a mess hall, navy exchange, snack bar and entertainment facilities. Enlisted people, chief petty officers and commissioned officers had separate living areas. There were medical and dental clinics nearby. It was a dreary, tired looking sort of place, a US government run hotel located in a tired, dreary Brooklyn neighborhood.
We, perhaps 20 of us, were assigned to a large open berthing area on one of the upper floors. The whole building was clearly underutilized. There was all sorts of empty space, reflecting the lack of shipyard activity. Unaccustomed to such austere accommodations, some of us searched the place for something more suitable, settling on some unused private and semi private rooms. Nobody seemed to know, or care, where we were. I was not really sure that anyone in the receiving station management knew we were living there!
There was a main front entrance and a secondary one leading to the basement. Going in the main doors meant saluting the OOD (Officer of the Deck), usually a just a symbolic seaman peon on duty. Instead, we always came in and went out the "tradesmen's entrance", avoiding military convention and uniform dress rules.
None of us had any responsibilities to the RECSTA, still being assigned to Michelson's oceanographic detachment. Some of the guys were nearing the ends of their enlistments, some went on home leave while others transferred out to other ships or stations and new people transferred in. A few guys destined for USNS Dutton became part of our detachment temporarily as their ship was due to be overhauled and updated in Brooklyn after Michelson.
There was not much to do. We reported to the detachment office on board each morning. I kept my eyes on shipyard workers, unlocking and securing our technical spaces as required. Later on, three or four of us took on responsibility for watching the ship ("fire watch") at night from about 5 PM to 8 AM (1700-0800) the next morning, one night out of 3, or 4. We could then disappear until our next scheduled watch.
With one more year of active duty, any new assignment wouldn't take advantage of my experience and the training. I volunteered to extend my time on Michelson for another 12 months. Besides that, no other assignment was going to offer the travel opportunities and would likely be less comfortable. We had heard that the ship was going to Japan! While the normal tour of duty was one year, my extension of time aboard was approved.
 |
| The Brooklyn receiving station from the corner of Park and Clermont Streets. The main entrance was on Flushing Avenue, rear of picture, opposite the shipyard. On the right is the navy dental clinic building. The elevated Brooklyn Queens Expressway, completed in 1960, now runs across the foreground. |
