The Nimitz-class crewing model requires people to watch machinery and systems continuously, adding substantially to the ship’s complement. That manpower reflects a damage-control culture adopted through the trauma of World War II. When the Navy later began to forget or relax the practice, serious problems encouraged its return. The example shows how institutional memory can shape a ship’s operating cost and personnel structure decades after the events that created it.
Notable Point · 28:33-29:24
Damage-control practice preserves institutional memory
The carrier’s manpower-heavy watchkeeping reflects lessons learned in World War II and reinforced when later departures from that model caused trouble.