Gun Control & RKBA

raider: .. my last ship we were suppose to be manned with 375 sailors, before I left we muster 265 sailors on board and they were still taking 30 people from our ship to feel gaps on other ships that were deploying..

This doesn't sound so drastic, raider, maybe a fast frig? Lots of shipwork can be done by cross mingling ratings, as you surely know. And increasing watches to more time on watch. With a fuller complement like over 350 I bet you were standing 4 on 12 off or better, & with a half complement below decks standing 4 on 8 off, which is still good enough so long as not port & stbd.

4 on 12 or more off the navy becomes sorta like carnival cruise lines, a pleasure cruise. I was once on a transatlantic with 4 on maybe 20 off & that even went longer as time went by, I felt guilty getting paid for it.
Course it also depends on the type of ship, the bigger the more scrutiny & the more brass the more neurotic.
What I'm getting at, is unless it's a crucial cruise by a crucial ship of the line or near one, let the skeleton crews reign, it do save money.
BT2 jimmy the one ...

Oh, btw, a 'jimmy the one' is a british naval term, stands for the executive officer on every RMS ship of size. Like US 'old man' is cap'n, a 'jimmy' is on every ship, as 2nd in command. Not that I was comm'd, just non comm, but I'm also not an egotist as the user name might imply. Developed somehow from king 'james the first'. I just liked the link to past navy soiviss.