Cruise 4 Sea Stories

One afternoon back in 1962 the Tom Green County was manuevering off the coast of Japan with all hands at general quarters. Our mission was to have a little gunnery practice shooting at a target towed behind a prop driven Marine Corp aircraft while observers monitored our accuracy.

I was at my station in the foward observation tub located just behind the 3 inch 50 gun mount where I functioned as a phone talker for a new Ensign who had to ask me how to put his life jacket on. The weather that day had turned into something really exciting as we watched dark gray clouds fly across the sky and lightning flashed all around the compass with loud echoing bangs. From our stations above decks we could see three formidable water spouts spiraling themselves up into the clouds from the surface of of the ocean. These were about half way to the horizon from where we were operating and certainly caught everybody's attention.

Our gunners were usually very good shots but this day the bizzare weather combined with the racket of the guns apparently succeeded in throwing them off their aim. I could hear the phone talker on the bridge relaying criticisms to the gun crews regarding what the OD considered to be amateur marksmanship. Eventually CPO Bowman who was out Chief Gunners Mate got on the phone and I could hear him angrily abusing a gun captain for his crews lack of accuracy.

The mounts were attempting to comply with the Chiefs sermon when a bolt of lightning burst down from the heavens hitting the bridge and (yow-damn) the forward observation tub. Those on the bridge did not feel a thing but us guys in the foward tub got zapped real good but fortunately nobody was injured!

On its way down to the ship the lightning also struck the target, blowing it to pieces and melting the enthusiasm of the pilot who radioed that he had an appointment elsewhere as he sped off toward land. The first falling snow I ever saw in my life started to descend onto our ship as we secured from General Quarters and headed below for some chow.