This is the Navy I remember!
Reflections of a "Blackshoe"
by VAdm Harold Koenig, USN (Ret)
I like the Navy. I like standing on the bridge wing at sunrise with salt spray in my face and clean ocean winds whipping in from the four quarters of the globe - the ship beneath me feeling like a living thing as her engines drive her through the sea.
I like the sounds of the Navy - the piercing trill of the boatswains pipe, the syncopated clangor of the ship's bell on the quarterdeck, the harsh squawk of the 1MC and the strong language and laughter of sailors at work.
I like the vessels of the Navy - nervous darting destroyers, plodding fleet auxiliaries, sleek submarines and steady solid carriers. I like the proud sonorous names of Navy capital ships: Midway, Lexington, Saratoga, Coral Sea - memorials of great battles won. I like the lean angular names of Navy 'tin-cans': Barney, Dahlgren, Mullinix, McCloy - mementos of heroes who
went before us.
I like the tempo of a Navy band blaring through the topside speakers as we pull away from the oiler after refueling at sea. I like liberty call and the spicy scent of a foreign port. I even like all hands working parties as my ship fills herself with the multitude of supplies both mundane and exotic which she needs to cut her ties to the land and carry out her mission anywhere on the globe where there is water to float her.
I like sailors, men from all parts of the land, farms of the Midwest, small towns of New England, from the cities, the mountains and the prairies, from all walks of life. I trust and depend on them as they trust and depend on me - for professional competence, for comradeship, for courage. In a word, they are "shipmates."
I like the surge of adventure in my heart when the word is passed "Now station the special sea and anchor detail - all hands to quarters for leaving port", and I like the infectious thrill of sighting home again, with the waving hands of welcome from family and friends waiting pierside.
The work is hard and dangerous, the going rough at times, the parting from loved ones painful, but the companionship of robust Navy laughter, the 'all for one and one for all' philosophy of the sea is ever present.
I like the serenity of the sea after a day of hard ship's work, as flying fish flit across the wave tops and sunset gives way to night. I like the feel of the Navy in darkness - the masthead lights, the red and green navigation lights and stern light, the pulsating phosphorescence of radar repeaters - they cut through the dusk and join with the mirror of stars overhead.
And I like drifting off to sleep lulled by the myriad noises large and small that tell me that my ship is alive and well, and that my shipmates on watch will keep me safe. I like quiet midwatches with the aroma of strong coffee - the lifeblood of the Navy - permeating everywhere. And I like hectic watches when the exacting minuet of haze-gray shapes racing at flank speed keeps all hands on a razor edge of alertness.
I like the sudden electricity of "General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations", followed by the hurried clamor of running feet on ladders and the resounding thump of watertight doors as the ship transforms herself in a few brief seconds from a peaceful workplace to a weapon of war - ready for anything.
And I like the sight of space-age equipment manned by youngsters clad in dungarees and sound-powered phones that their grandfathers would still recognize. I like the traditions of the Navy and the men and women who made them. I like the proud names of Navy heroes: Halsey, Nimitz, Perry, Farragut, John Paul Jones.
A sailor can find much in the Navy: comrades-in-arms, pride in self and country, mastery of the seaman's trade. An adolescent can find adulthood.
In years to come, when sailors are home from the sea, they will still remember with fondness and respect the ocean in all its moods - the impossible shimmering mirror calm and the storm-tossed green water surging over the bow.
And then there will come again a faint whiff of stack gas, a faint echo of engine and rudder orders, a vision of the bright bunting of signal flags snapping at the yardarm, a refrain of hearty laughter in the wardroom and chief's quarters and messdecks.
Gone ashore for good they will grow wistful about their Navy days, when the seas belonged to them and a new port of call was ever over the horizon.
Remembering this, they will stand taller and say, "I WAS A SAILOR ONCE. I WAS PART OF THE NAVY & THE NAVY WILL ALWAYS BE PART OF ME."
I hope you enjoy
These links to various sites
of the
UNITED STATES NAVY
Past and Present
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USS MAJOR DE-796
Present in Tokyo Bay Sept. 2, 1945
During Surrender Ceremony
Specifications
The Major was one of 6 Destroyer Escorts to make up an
Escort Division.
These six ships comprised of
DE-681 USS
GILLETTE
The "FLAG"
DE-682
USS UNDERHILL
(Sunk by a
KAITEN
July 24, 1945)
Note: The USS
Indianapolis CA-35 was torpedoed
by I-58 Japanese submarine just six days later.
DE-683 USS KENYON
DE-795 USS GUNASON
DE-796 USS MAJOR
DE-797 USS
WEEDEN
and made up "CortDiv 56".
(See: USS UNDERHILL, above)
USS Major DE-796
From the Dictionary of
American Naval Fighting Ships
Complete list with many "logs".
"Destroyer Escorts"
These were some of the smallest fighting ships in
the Navy, during WWII.
(You can take a BOAT aboard a SHIP, but you cannot take
a SHIP aboard a BOAT. The "Love Boat" was a SHIP,
but Love Ship does sound a little 'funny', doesn't it?)
While we're here, you might be interested to know these
ships were built at the rate of about one a day. Between April 10, 1943 and May 15, 1944, there were about 565 (see: USS Slater DE-766, below) commissioned in different shipyards, around the country. In the early 1950's another 17 were commissioned. If you do visit here, be sure to visit some of the other sites you "stumble" across. They are all fascinating.
There were several "classes" of these destroyer escorts,
and here is a list of 102 (with some stories and pictures) of one "class".
A short story - where a name comes from, and the "birth",
"life" and "death" of a fighting ship.
One of the best follows
just below
The Botswain's Pipe sounds "All Hands"
"NOW HEAR THIS"
Another Destroyer Escort is
USS WINTLE DE-25
Be sure to include this site on your "tour".
A Spruance Class "strike" Destroyer
visits Hermosa Beach, a small town, in southern California,
September 8-10, 2000.
Visit the USS Elliot DD-967
THE FOLLOWING MAY WELL BE THE "BEST" LINK ON MY SITE (FOR
SOME FOLK).
THIS IS CERTAINLY THE LARGEST SITE. DEPENDING, OF COURSE,
ON HOW YOU MEASURE!
Here, you will find pictures, descriptions,
specifications, etc. of aircraft carriers and their
aircraft
and personnel, SUBMARINES, missiles, and
other weapons, both current and historical! AND, so
much more information! IF YOU CANNOT FIND SOMETHING, THEN
E-MAIL ME AND I WILL TRY TO FIND IT FOR YOU!
If you are a veteran of any of the WATER BRANCHES of THE
MILITARY, ie: THE NAVY, COAST GUARD, *MARINES, (or their
reserve components), or MERCHANT MARINE, you should look at this next link!
*What is a Marine?
The United States Marine Corps is over 220 years of death and destruction.
We are the finest fighting force this world has ever known.
I was born in a foxhole. My mother is Anger and my father is Pain. Each moment that I live is a threat upon the life of my country's enemies.
I'm a rough-looking, tough-talking soldier of the sea.
I'm cocky, self centered, overbearing, and I do not know the meaning of fear, for
I am fear itself. I am a green amphibious monster made of blood and guts, who arose from the sea to prey upon enemies across the globe.
I feed upon anti-Americanism whenever it may arise - my hate makes me
grow stronger. And when my time comes, I will die a glorious death on
the battlefield, giving my life for my God, my country and my Corps.
We live like soldiers, talk like sailors, and slap the shit out of both.
We stole the eagle from the Air Force, the anchor from the Navy and the rope from the Army.
On the seventh day, while God rested, we
overran His perimeter, "borrowed" the globe, and we've been running the show ever since. Killer by day, lover by night, drunkard by choice..
. . .Marine By God!
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