[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by Zero Niner

Another question - curious to know what happens to the crew when they return to port after a patrol. I'd imagine they'd be tired, hungry for food made from fresh ingredients, lots of downtime, perhaps a bath for a couple of hours.
Who looks after the boat and sees to the replenishment, maintenance and repairs? Is there a skeleton crew that sees to this, or does an alternate crew take over?

yes, what PB posted, kinda sorta.

initially a boat returning from a patrol was turned over to a repair crew, which included an officer cadre which was as responsible as the boat's CO for the welfare of the boat while it was in their care.

the repair crew was responsible for the repair of battle damage as well as any items on the boat's CO's gripe list. the gripe list was typically filled with electronic equipment repairs or upgrades, electrical equipment in the galley that was acting up, engine difficulties, and the like. these activities would require two to four weeks to complete, depending on the extent of the damage and the length and complexity of the gripe list.

after the repair crew finished their tasks, they would return responsibility of the boat to the CO. All crew assigned to the boat would return to the boat for the next phase(s).

The CO would then process those of the crew who would be moving on to other assignments and, more importantly, to the new crew coming on board as replacements. New crew would consist of men of all ranks, officers, chiefs, petty officers, and non-rated. His number one task was to assign the new crew to the open billets on his boat and arrange for their training.

The CO would then take a limited but unspecified period of time to test all of the repairs and new equipment that was installed on his boat. At this time, the boat would go out on several training runs on which both the crew and the equipment would be tested.

When the boat was ready in all respects for sea, the CO would be assigned a new patrol assignment by the squadron CO. He and the squadron CO would discuss ends and means for a successful mission and then plan the final aspects of the new mission. Ammo and food would be loaded on board and a prospective date for departure would be agreed to.

When all of the planning was completed, the boat would top off fuel, lube oil, and battery charge and then shove off on their next assignment.

that's it in a nut shell.