Ethan, I was in the Navy and lived on a ship

Ethan, your Granddaddy was on active duty in the Navy for over 9 years. During that time he was assigned to three different ships... two were destroyers:
My first ship was the USS Nicholas (DD-449) which was stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
While I was onboard, the "Nick" made one six month deployment to Vietnam (the Nicholas was the fastest destroyer in the Pacific fleet... we could go over 36 knots which is like driving a car about 40 miles per hour... that's pretty fast for a ship that's over 375' long).
During that six months besides going to Vietnam, we got to visit Japan, Guam, the Philippines and Midway Island.

My second ship was the USS Strong (DD-758). While I was onboard "her" (ships are referred to as if they were ladies) we made two deployments to the Mediterranean Sea (Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Malta, Monaco and Palma) and several trips to the Carribean Sea (Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and the Bahamas). The Strong was homeported in Charleston, South Carolina. As an "Officer of the Deck," I got to "drive" both the Nicholas and the Strong. My third ship was the USNS Range Sentinel. We operated with the Navy's submarine fleet out of Cape Canaveral, Florida and participated in the submarine missile test shots. I was the Range Safety Officer (my boss was an Air Force General) and was responsible for the missiles flying a safe path. I only had to blow up one out of about 36 missiles that were tested. Those four round things on the bow (front) of the ship were the antennas that tracked the flight of each missile.
I actually lived onboard these ships for five years... at sea and in port. Our rooms were very small and we had to share a bathroom (head) with the other officers. We all ate together in a dining room called "the ward room."
Here is a video link to what destroyers did in World War II (the Nicholas was a Fletcher Class destroyer and was actually older than the USS Fletcher).
I love you, Ethan,
Granddaddy
PS. Give me a call sometime 931-598-9160.