As a very junior apprentice while waiting to join my first RN ship in the late '60s, a part of my duties was to visit the laid up ships up the 'Trot' on the Tamar. The idea was supposedly to check that no-one had moved onboard or nicking gear off them, they were still floating and their moorings were secure, even though the MOD police launches regularly patrolled around them.
I was normally accompanied by a PO Seaman and a couple of ABs (boats crew). The PO was supposed to board the ships with me for safety but rarely did. He, with the boats crew, would dump me on the ships while going off in the whaler (normally) to check the moorings leaving me to check out the ships internally.
This was a bit scary at times as the ships were all in darkness inside as the was no power, often there were holes in the decks from where machinery had been removed from below which were not very well railed off.
Also a dead ship makes very strange noises which seem to be magnified when your are deep inside them. I soon learned to take two torches with me as the standard issue right angle torches were useless.
So as to ensure that the checks were done there were rounds check sheets to sign in various spaces so the visits had to be done correctly.
Last edited by: four wheels good... on Sun 12 Jun 11 at 20:50
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USA's sleeping giants - Warships. 
USA's sleeping giants - Warships. 