The Captains had a typical crew of either 156 ("Evarts") or 186 ("Buckley") officers and ratings. The bulk of the ratings enlisted after the outbreak of World War II, thus having little military or seafaring experience, and had to be trained in whichever branch of the Navy they chose to serve; after about six weeks drilling, marching and generally getting physically fit they went into specific job training. Many of the senior non-commissioned officers were pre-war Royal Navy ratings who had been promoted.