Cruise 1 Sea Stories

At morning muster the First Lt. asked if anyone in the deck force had small boat training and experience. I raised my hand and the First Lt. told me to see him after muster. When I saw him he asked me what experience I had with small boats and I told him I worked on fishing boats for four summers during my high school years. His response was OK, get into one of the LCVPS that are secured to the boat boom and show me how you handle it.

The test run went very well. The layout and controls of the LCVP were much better than anything I had ever experienced on the fishing boats, and I must admit I showed off a bit. The First Lt. must have been favorably impressed because I was assigned to run the Captains Gig, liberty boat, man overboard boat, mike bouy boat, and assault boat runs. These duties continued until other deck force members were trained in boat handling, and I think this did not happen for almost half a year.

I have three short sea stories relating to the LCVP.

Lost my rudder on a practice assault landing. Rigged the emergency rudder tiller and the bow hook and I held fast on the tiller and I told the engineer to go astern slow. He went astern full. Well the rudder was in the mud and the tiller went very quickly toward the port side and knocked us into the drink. Lesson learned. The VP is stronger than I was.

The LCVP was dropped over the side with the normal boat crew for man overboard drill. When the boat hit the water the bow hook released the bow tackle before the engingeer let go of the stern tackle. This spelled big trouble. I applied full power, Bos'n mate Verhay played out plenty of slack from the davit winch and we just barely avoided a capsize. The pucker factor hit the stops on that one and my bow hook heard some real salty language.

Hooking up to a Mike bouy. The bow of the LCVP was held against the bouy with idle power while two men on the bouy completed shackeling up. The problem started because the ship was making sternway. The bouy men were barely able to jump into the LCVP as the bouy was lifted right out of the water. I backed out of there in a hurry with visions of that bouy coming at me like out of a slingshot. Phew!

Running the Liberty boat was always an adventure. Some drunk always decided he wanted to be the Coxswain. Ever see a drunk Radarman run a small boat. They keep asking "where is the blip"?

My LCVP duties led to assignments as Bos'n Mate of the watch as a steaming detail, and Bos,n Mate of the watch as a special sea detail. These duties continued for the rest of the time I was aboard the 1159. By now you are probably saying, so what! This is pretty normal stuff. I would agree except for the fact that I was a Gunners Mate. I don't know how many times a shipmate would say, "what the hell, a gunners mate is just a Bos'ns mate with grease on his hands. Others got to calling me "GunBoat". Yeah, yeah, yeah. The moral of this story has been heard many times before; NEVER VOLUNTEER - Ed Lange

Verhay, Lange, and I were standing on the port bow watching the frogmen when I bitched about swim call being requested and refused. Then I jokingly remarked that it might be a good day to fall overboard. With that Verhey and Lange looked at each other and I knew right off what was going on in their heads. I turned to run away but they grabbed me and threw me over the side. I was cussing all the way down to the water.

When I came up there was Verhay on the port 3 inch 50 gun tub. He hollered man overboard and did a swan dive into the drink. Lange got the idea, hollered man overboard and jumped over the life line into the water. We were in the water less than a minute and sailors were hollering man overboard and jumping over both sides of the ship. The stern too.

There was lots of hooting, hollering, and laughing all around the ship for a short period of time and most of the sailors swam to the bow to come back aboard. By now there was an officer at the bow taking names and everyone that had his name taken got extra duty. Chipping paint. Guess who did not get their names taken? Yeah! Verhay and Lange.

They hung onto the bottom of the bow door and were not seen. They stayed there until the tank deck was clear of officers and then came aboard. There isn't much justice in this old world.

While secured to a mike buoy in Yokosuka several sailors concieved a daring, if foolhardy stunt, just to see if they could get away with it. This is the story of that stunt.

During the early hours of a mid watch, several deck force sailors very quietly entered the LCVP that was secured to the boat boom, slipped the mooring line, and then as quietly as they could moved the boat away from the ship and then set a course for the beach. On the beach were six ladies of the evening that had been approached earlier, were game for some adventure, and agreed to try to sneak aboard the ship. All the boat crew men and the deck watch were in on this scheme.

When the LCVP returned to the ship it quietly eased into position by the stern ladder and the ladies, wearing peacoats, white hats, and dungarees came up the stern ladder, marched forward the entire length of the main deck and went below through one of the forward hatches that led to the sail locker, which had been prepared for for the party. They were not detected during their journey, even though the ladies got to giggling. Amazing!

The hatches were secured, a cook(also in on the party)provided food, beverages previously smuggled aboard were opened and the party began. The party lasted until dawn and everything was secured to start the day off with another party, complete with sentries posted in all the places where discovery might be possible. First thing in the morning it was announced that the ship was leaving the harbor that morning and would be at sea for the next week. Gulp!

The plotters could think of nothing to solve the problem other than to keep the ladies hidden, feed them, and care for all their other needs until the ship returned to Yokosuka. There were a few close calls but, believe it or not this was successfully accomplished. Imagine, half a dozen sailors keeping their mouths shut for a week about the pleasures they were experiencing at sea.

When the ship returned to port the early hours of the mid watch were again selected to get the ladies off the ship. When the time arrived the ladies were again dressed in peacoats, white hats and dungarees led from the bow, aft all the way down the main deck to the stern, down the ladder and into the waiting LCVP. The ladies were taken ashore, the boat VERY quietly returned to the boat boom, and finally the conspirators could breath easy again. They had successfully pulled off the greatest stunt of the cruise. Not bad for a bunch of deck apes.

Being proud of what they had accomplished made it doubly hard to keep from bragging all over the ship what they had accomplished. The threat of severe punishment was hanging heavy on them all. So now I ask you, can you blame these sailors for keeping quiet about this stunt and even today not wanting to name names in this sea story? Did any of you guys know about it? Anyone want to fess up to being one of the plotters?

Looking back on our Navy experience it becomes apparent that the making of a crew is quite a quite lengthy and complicated process. You might want to read this and see if your experiences and recollections are similar to what has been recorded here.

The process starts with boot camp, followed by specialized training, and this is then followed by the school of the ship. The process culminates with a young sailor becoming a member of a ships crew. The rest of this article is a short outline of this process.

The boot camp induction is fast, confusing and a test of stamina. Sea bag and clothing issues, haircuts, shots, forms to fill out, and many details that I can't remember anymore. This is followed by assignment to a company of boots, a barracks, a bunk. Everything is a new, never before experienced situation. Living out of a seabag became much more than expected. Rolling all the seabag contents in tight rolls with even edges, and then tying them with clothes stops. Square knots and no Irish pennants allowed. An inspection of the contents of your sea bag occured at least once a week. Everything layed out on you bunk in a specific order. If anything was deemed to be dirty, everthing was dumped on the floor and required a rewash. All this was part of learning discipline "the Navy way" and it was something most boots had never experienced to this extent.

Learning the Rules of a sentry, the Manual of Arms, running to the mess hall three times a day, and then waiting for your meals, learning knots, splices and to never call it a rope. The Navy only had small stuff, lines, and hawsers. Parts of a ship, like overhead instead of ceiling, ladders instead of stairs, decks instead of floors, bunks instead of beds. No more left or right either. Now it was port and stbd. Looking back at Boot camp it seems to me there were three main purposes. Physical fitness, discipline and respect, and the making of a sailor.

Physical fitness was accomplished by calisthenics, with and without a weapon, marching, and running. Discipline, respect, and military bearing were taught every day in both classromm and other environments. As boot camp progressed these lessons became second nature . The motivation to learn and succeed was the certainty that you were accountable for your own behavior and failure was immediately accompanied by punishment of some kind.

Classroom introductory instruction was conducted on most of the phases of shipboard living requirements and in many cases was augmented by practical training exercises. The most memorable for many of us was the fire fighting school which involved going into a burning compartment and putting out a roaring fire. Also high on the list was the swimming qualification. Especially the part involving jumping off a tower into a pool that had been loaded with debris

At the completion of boot camp many of the graduates go to school again. This time to get specialized training. This might be electronics, radio, gunnery, aviation specialties, navigation, engineering, and many others. This is a reflection of the Navy dedication to training and organization that has been going on for about 200 years.

Other boots are assigned directly to a ship. All boots, either after specialized training or right out of boot camp ultimately find themselves assigned to a ship. When on board, the knowledge and skills learned during the early training stages of Navy life take on a very different meaning, and this is learned in the school of the ship.

There has always been something beautiful, mysterious, and lonely about a ship at sea. It is in this environment that the young sailors learn all the practical elements of the organization and operation of the ship. This self contained little world facing the elements of wind and waves on a huge seemingly trackless sea that at times becomes very malevolent.

A ships crew knows exactly what is expected of them and what will be done for them. A taut ship does not come from training alone. It is the result of a crew that works and lives together. The crew knows, respects, and supports one another. The crew is always ready. They are ready to use all the equipment housed on the ship to the best of their ability, and to handle any situation that arises. Good morale holds the crew together during the difficult times. The strength and efficiency of the crew as a whole is greater than the sum of the strengths of the individual crew members.

One of the things most of never thought about while we aboard our ship was just how dependent we all were on everyone doing their job right. There we were in the middle of the Pacific, knowing nothing about navigation, and none of us doubted that we would reach our destination. The Deck Apes never doubted that the Snipes would keep the engines, the generators and water makers running. None of us ever wondered when we would get out next meal. When we got into the port or harbor no one doubted the Deck Apes ability to properly secure the ship.

While this feeling or, concept, or whatever "shipmate" brings to mind occurs on all ships it seems to be more pronounced on the smaller ships where most of the sailors are on a first name basis, and the Officers also know all the names. We wind up being proud of our ship and even more proud of our shipmates.

There is great pride in what individual crew members do and even a greater pride in what the ship does. The entire ships company feels this. This pride is felt by young sailors and it results in their ultimately becoming "salty". You can see this in the swagger of his walk and the way his white hat is shaped and worn. Every time a boat leaves the ships side you can observe the sailors looking back at their ship. There is a subconsious curiosity as to how she looked to others, accompanied by a feeling of ownership that is difficult to explain to someone that has not experienced it. The Officers and Crew of a taut ship know the honor of their ship, the US Navy, and their country rests with them.