Crew’s head

Approximately 150 enlisted men shared the aft crew’s head.  As originally fitted there were two - three seated troughs, port and starboard, four urinals, four showers and seven wash basins.  A continuous flow of seawater ran in one end of the troughs and out the other. Probably no other space on the SLATER makes as clear a statement about a sailor’s lack of privacy then the after crew’s head.

While the British generally considered the amenities found aboard U.S. destroyer escorts ‘luxurious’ compared to Royal Navy standards, they considered the troughs uncivilized and therefore were replaced with commodes and privacy barriers aboard the British destroyer escorts. 

In the morning after reveille as many as 30 or 40 sailors lined up to wash, shave and brush their teeth at the same time; they had to be quick. On ships at sea, limitations with the fresh water plant or the evaporators, often created fresh water shortages.  When adequate fresh water was available the crew could take 3 minute fresh water showers. When it was scarce, it was a cold salt-water wash with a bucket of fresh water as the rinse.  In the tropics, fresh water rain showers were often cause for all hands to run topside with their bars of soap.