Life Aboard a Navy Ship

The United States Navy operates some of the largest and most complex vessels ever built, and living aboard one is unlike anything you experience on land. A Navy ship is essentially a floating city — it has its own power plant, water supply, food service, medical clinic, and even a post office. Sailors who are assigned to a ship are called CREW members, and they come from every state in the country. The ship they serve on becomes their home, sometimes for months at a time. Understanding how a Navy ship functions gives you a real window into one of the most demanding and rewarding CAREERS available to young Americans. When a ship DEPLOYS, meaning it leaves its home port for a mission, the crew must be fully prepared to live and work together in close quarters far from shore.