THIS IS WHAT A SNIPE IS:
By MM 3 Jesse Fox 1959 aboard USS Henry W. Tucker DDR-875
This is what a snipe is,
This is what I know,
They’re the mighty men that make the ship go,
Down in the bilges,
Or in the steam drum,
There is always someone to call him dumb,
Down in the hole,
Whether early or late,
The watches he stands are always 4 and 8,
Now you never see a snipe with a good tan,
Though he gets all the sun that he possibly can,
Dirty and tired they come up for air,
One at a time or pair by pair,
Down in the engine room, fire room too,
None has pity, no, none for you,
Now this is what a snipe is,
The usual type,
This is what a snipe is,
But there is no gripe.
Tales of an Asia Sailor 
I’m a “top sider” a GMG 2.
I know that without the snipes my guns don’t have power to run, the helm will not answer the ship will not move. Many of my best friends aboard were snipes and I did tell them that without all the dirty, hot work they did we could not succeed as a ship. I told them I respected them and appreciated their dedication. My shore patrol partner was a BT 2. We always had each other’s back. Yes I’d go back to sea anytime if they let 75 year olds back in.
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Very good! We folks on the bridge, etc., would be helpless without these fine folk.
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4 and 8 I could only wish.DD 724 when I was on was 6 and 6
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