Apprentices forging ironclad future for Shop 11F

The Shop 11F logo designed by Jesse Dalton.

SHOP SPOTLIGHT: Apprentices forging ironclad future for Shop 11F

By Anna Taylor • Public Affairs Specialist

Eric Slate describes blacksmithing as 50 percent science and 50 percent art. By that logic, it makes sense for a group of third- and fourthyear apprentices, all of whom are self-proclaimed artists, to be the faces of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) Metal Forge Shop (Shop 11F).

Slate, a fourth-year Shop 11F apprentice, has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Metalsmithing. After he graduated from college, he pursued a career with Sentara and sold insurance for Geico.

“I wasn’t very good at it,” he said, laughing. “I was unemployed for nine months before I got the interview for the apprentice program.”

Chris “Toad” Kanash, a third-year Shop 11F apprentice, considers himself a blacksmith at heart, though he dabbled in several other specialties before Photos by he got hired.

“I made pizzas, I managed a black light miniature golf course, and I was also going to Old Dominion University for my bachelor’s degree in management,” he said. “Then I decided to apply for the apprenticeship. It was something new and I saw it as an awesome opportunity and an exciting adventure.”

John Sales, a fourth-year Shop 11F apprentice, was an iron worker in the Washington, D.C. metro, commuting nearly 200 miles each day between his home in central Virginia and his jobsite.

“That was getting pretty tiresome, so I started looking for other jobs,” he said. “Once I got here, I learned about all the opportunities at the shipyard. I love what I’m doing now, but I’m not stuck in one place. I can advance if I want to.”

And then there’s Jessie Dalton, the third-year Shop 11F apprentice who is so creatively inclined he was asked to design new logos for Shop 11F and the Structural Group (Code 920).

“I wanted to capture what we do in the shop,” Dalton said.

“Propellers, anchor and anchor chain are mostly what we’re working on. I didn’t want it to be too cluttered.”

The Metal Forge Shop used to be Shop 23, but it was realigned to fall under the Shipfitting Shop (Shop 11), and the old logo didn’t reflect that change.

The Shop 11F team consists of relatively new and young employees but they’re all motivated to make a difference at the shipyard.

“We have the capability to do so much,” said Sales. “Ultimately, this shop has to potential to save the shipyard money by reducing the number of jobs we outsource.”

“I see us going nowhere but up,” Kanash added. “We’re all still apprentices, but we’re learning a lot and I believe once we become mechanics we’ll really make a name for ourselves. And I couldn’t have asked for a better group to be here with. We can knock out anything that comes our way.”

Dalton said one big perk of being in Shop 11F is the relationship they’ve built with each other.

“It’s nice having the personal support,” he said. “They’re more than just colleagues, they’re friends.”

Kanash said the friendship comes naturally.

“A lot of us see each other more than we see our families. We understand that, and it has helped out on the job and in our personal lives. It’s the small things that keep us sane.”

The camaraderie is essential, especially when you consider the importance of the work they are doing to fabricate and repair of various types of metal tools, parts, and equipment, such as anchors, anchor chain, and propellers.

Shayne Hensley • NNSY Photographer

OPPOSITE PAGE: Slate and Sales work in the forge shop. TOP: Kanash, Sales and Dalton bend a red-hot piece of pipe. ABOVE: Dalton, Slate, Kanash and Sales pose in front of the forge.

“We kind of have to keep a lot of it hidden, so people don’t know how critical the job is,” said Sales. “If we make a mistake, it’s a big deal. We may not get to cast [the propellers], but it’s awesome to take a 2,000 degree piece of hot steel out of the furnace and make it do whatever I want it to do. It’s a pretty powerful feeling.”

Slate said they also do a lot of forging and light fire jobs for the shops. “We try to repurpose old material that we can turn into chisels, center punches, hammers and various tools we can actually use.”

They’re a unique bunch, and Supervisor David Williams is grateful to have their optimism and eagerness in his shop.

“It’s been awesome supervising these guys,” he said. “I’m their supervisor but I’m not any better than they are, I just have a different function. Even though they’re apprentices, I treat them like mechanics because I believe you should treat people how they aspire to be treated. They’ve done an outstanding job. Years ago, this was the premier shop at NNSY. Through the years, it’s become a little bit more obscure, but I would like to bring us back to prominence. We need competent, exceptional people to execute the jobs, and that’s what they are.”

SEPTEMBER 2017 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • 13