CHAPTER IV, SECTION 1 Jaundry personnel with six Holmes & Narver their meals in the troop mess, particularly because they could obtain the quantity they desired with the first scrving. men. On 9 March, seven of the Laundromat machines were placed in operation at Tare to take care of personal and Rad-Safe laundry service. These were kept in operation until the evacuation for the Koon event, after which RadSafe clothing was shipped to Elmer at Eniwe- The main difficulty encountered in living afloat was the vast difference in comfort between cabin and troop class accommodations. Allotment to cabin spaces was made byassignment of supervisory and administrative personnel down to and including the foremen level. All remaining spaces were assigned by lottery. The bunks in the troops’ spaces consisted primarily of an aluminum frame to which was laced a piec? of canvas. These were set up four high with too little space between bunks. To add to the comfort of those living in these spaces, Holmes & Narver provided mattress pads. The cabin spaces were kept filled insofar as was practicabie, and prior to the Yankee event, due to demobilization, ail men were billeted in these spaces. tok for laundering. Postal facilities were established immedlatcly on embarking on the USNS Ainsworth. A daily mail courier service between Eniwetok and Bikini Atolls by H&N courier provided the quick delivery, postal service was enurely satisfactory. At the commencement of the operations afloat, the ship’s stove carried a fairly complete stock of essential items with the exception of clothing, candy, cigars and laundry bags; these were soon depleted According to MSTS regulations, the ship’s store could not purchase replenishment items im short supply from a private contractor. lt was therefore necessary for Holmes & Narver later to establish a Post Exchange to sell those items not carried by the ship’s store. MSTS regulations required ali passengers to pay for laundry, and therefore it was not possible at first to inaugurate free jaundryservice on board the USNS Ainsworth. This was later cleared through the vessel's chain of command, and after the end of March, all personal laundry was handled on beard. To perform this service it Was necessary to augment the ship's 15 March 20 March TG 7.5 HEN AEC 392 2 350° 330 6 2 278 3 25 March 305 10 15 20 25 143 140 127 116 30 March April Aoril April April 3 0 1 2 l TG 7. 4 om DATE 10 March The following table indicates the personne! housed and supported on the USNS Ainsworth. 3 ? 2 I 0 3 3 5 As a result of blast effects and radioactive contamination of the camp areas on Bikim Atoll, which could not be anticipated and for which, therefore, no preparation had been made, the following losses in camp services occurred. |, $14,330.78 Bar stores ...000........ . S& 3,082.48 Food 00.00... =69371,918.47 TG 7.2 30 33 3t 30 30 ' 8 12 6 5 TG 7.1 197 210 153 134 176 42 79 65 67 TOTALS 625 602 218 474 488 193 235 203 194 All money from revenue producing facilities was deposited in the Contract Advance Fund and thereby reverted to the Commission. The total personnel supported by Holmes & Narver at each camp and. atoll is shown in Figures 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, 4-5, 4-6, 4-7 and 4-8. MESSING Messing facilities were operated at each of food had taken place and spoilage had set in established camp. The structures for messing at the temporary camps were made as simple and inexpensive as possible since they were considered to he expendable, and were to be operated only until an advanced time prior to a shot. Standard allowance of galley equipment and utensils fur a 250, 500, 1,000 and 1.500man camp were formulated. When a camp was authorized, the equipment for it was segregated, the line. installation during the construction of the mess Many PX items were damaged and hari to be sold at reduced cost. The luss in bar stores can be attributed, to a minor degree, to pilfering. The loss in food was due primarily to the f ct that at site Fox the camp was completely d:s- troved by the Bravo event, and at both Nan and Tare the generator breakers were opened. thus cutting off power to the reefers. Thawing before the generators could be piaced back on allocated and then shipped in time to permit Page 4-5