Chaplain
The ship's ministry and a confidential ear for the whole crew.
Faith and Counsel Aboard
The Chaplain provided for the religious needs of a crew drawn from many faiths and from none. Services, scripture study, observances of the major traditions, and the sacraments and rites of particular religions were arranged so that sailors could practice their faith even in the middle of an ocean. A chaplain’s charge is to facilitate worship for all, ensuring that the free exercise of religion went to sea along with the crew.
Equally important was the chaplain’s role as counselor. Sailors brought the weight of homesickness, marital strain, grief, and the ordinary loneliness of a long deployment to the chaplain’s door. Conversations held there were treated as confidential — a sailor could speak freely without it entering a record — making the chaplain one of the few wholly private confidants aboard a crowded ship.
Aboard Constellation
Across a six-month deployment, the chaplain’s spaces became a steady refuge from the noise and pace of carrier life. Worship was held in the ship’s chapel and in spaces cleared for the purpose, scheduled around the around-the-clock rhythm of flight operations so that watchstanders on every shift could attend. The chaplain moved through the ship as well, present in mess decks and work spaces rather than waiting to be sought out.
Hard news from home reached sailors by message and mail, and it was often the chaplain who sat with a sailor through word of a death, a birth, or a family crisis thousands of miles away. The chaplain helped arrange emergency leave and Red Cross messages and, in moments of loss aboard, led the ship in mourning. In a community far from home, this was the work of holding people together.
Roster
Sailors of Chaplain · Department roster, Chaplain, USS Constellation (CV-64), WESTPAC ’94–95 — transcribed from the original cruise book. Each name links to that Sailor’s page in the scanned book. See a misspelling or a shipmate we missed? Tell us and we’ll fix it.
- LCDRPaschal L. Dawsonp. 79
- LCDRPatrick J. McCormickp. 79
- RPCOral A. Croninp. 79
- RP1Rex R. Silvestrip. 80
- RP3Mannix R. Babantop. 80
- RP3Charles E. Navarretep. 80
- RPSNAndre L. Floydp. 80
Questions & Answers
Did the chaplain serve only one religion?
No. A Navy chaplain provides for the religious needs of the entire crew, facilitating worship across many faiths and arranging for traditions outside the chaplain's own, protecting every sailor's free exercise of religion at sea.
Was what you told the chaplain kept private?
Yes. Communications with a chaplain were treated as confidential and privileged, allowing sailors to speak openly about personal matters without those conversations being reported or recorded.