Just Sea stories and BS from an old sailor

[anunitu]

I was thinking about this talking with thalassa about sailing. I was in the Navy from 1965-1969..And yes there are a few stories of my adventures in Japan,Hong Kong,the Philippines,and Taiwan. Originally I was recruited right out of Boot camp to become a Crypto Tech. I scored VERY high on all the battery of test we took when we arrived to Boot camp. For this particular Rate(what your job was) I got a top secret clearance before I left Boot camp to go to school. They sent me to a radio station for a year before I was to start school. That was a mistake on their part,because it gave me time to think about what I was getting into. As a crypto tech,you learned how to repair crypto machines. When I finally did get to the school on Treasure Island,I dropped the school and told them I wanted to get on a ship. I ended up on the USS Piedmont,a destroyer tender as an apprentice crypto tech(they weren't gonna let me get away yet) As an apprentice I was the gopher,and was sent to the laundry for a short time as every department had to send someone part time. Working in the laundry I met some of the crazy people that was Ships Service(known among many,as the ships Mafia) I changed rates,and joined as Ships serviceman. it was a perfect fit for me. Along with the laundry,we ran the ships store,the Barber shop,the soda fountain(getting the picture about why we were called the ships Mafia?) We never stood watches,we had a bar in the laundry area,had an invitation only poker game(some officers attended,including the EXE officer from time to time) I wont say exactly that some of our members did some shady stuff,but things did happen. We could get most anything we wanted,having the Master at arms(ships police) in our collective pocket among others.

End for now,more later.

Pic follows.

USS Piedmont AD-17


The first ship I was on.

The second ship I was on was the USS Kretchmer DER329 a destroyer that had seen service in WW2.

Link about this ship.

http://www.navyct.com/d_der329.shtml

Pic below.

[anunitu]

Re: Just Sea stories and BS from an old sailor

Ahhh,took a break to compose my mind. I spent about two years on the Piedmont,it was a large ship,we had a crew of about 2,000 What this ship was for was repairing mostly destroyers but we were In KAOHSIUNG,Taiwan 6 months at a time anchored for ships to come alongside. We once had a Pig boat(Old WW2 Sub) come in for repairs. I was invited to tour the sub,but to tell you the truth it was very tight in that sub,and I couldn't deal with that. To tell you a little concerning the Ships Service gang,if you wanted drugs,we were the go to guys,if you needed a "Favor" that was us also. We did keep it low key,but from time to time one of our own made the "Grade" for a court Marshal. I learned to cut hair,I ran the vending machines,and worked a grave in the laundry. Because I worked nights I had a sign on my rack(bed) saying "Day sleeper" What with running the vending machinesm, people would wake me up to many times because the coke machine ran out,so I got the Gunners Mate to let me sleep in the Gun turret during the day.

I used to go drinking with the "Chief Boats",and one time his department officer,an ensign(all of 22 years old) wanted to join us,but the Boats told him he was to much of a kid(same age I was at the time) When the ensign complained that I was the same age as he was,the boats said,Kid this guy hasn't been a kid in years... The Ensign came from a well to do family,and was a little green when it came to life.
I myself grew up in the inner city in the projects,so as the boats would say, "this guy is a little better seasoned than most guys his age"
Taking a short break..to be continued.

---------- Post added at 08:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:08 PM ----------

If you are thinking to yourself,this guy was a bit of a hell raiser you would be correct. I did imbibe a little more than I probably should have,and I would from time to time end up at a captains Mast,that where you went to be punished. Funny story,and a little karmic to boot,while working in the laundry,I would wear shorts and leave my long pants hanging on a hook.Someone stole my wallet,and really all I had in it was my ID card. Because losing your ID was a big deal,the XO(executive officer
) put me on restriction for a month,I couldn't leave the ship. He gave me this really long speech about responsibility and really dug in on me. Now comes the Karmic part,it was only the very next day,as I was sorting incoming laundry,and what do I find but the XO's shirt,with his ID card in the pocket. Honestly sometimes I really am a bit to impulsive for my own good,but anyway,I go up to his office,toss his ID on his desk,and proceed to give him the exact same lecture he gave me. You really had to be there to see the look on his face. After that when ever I got sent for MAST(the XO usually did it) He would wave me off,and say get out of here.

To be continued..BTW,if you feel like jumping in here to make a comment I won't mind might jog my memory for some more tales of my sailors life.

[anunitu]

Re: Just Sea stories and BS from an old sailor

This is KAOHSIUNG,Taiwan where the Piedmont was when on duty.

http://www.cfsb.com.tw/kaohsiunge.html

[anunitu]

Re: Just Sea stories and BS from an old sailor

Gonna jump ahead a little to when I transferred to the Kretchmer. I had to fly up to Tacoma to catch a flight to Taiwan,because that was where the Kretchmer was ported at the time of my transfer. I arrived at the airport,and because I had my shot records at the bottom of my sea bag,I had to get the whole series of shots before I could get on board. The flight lasted over 25 hours,with a quick stop in Japan to drop some guys off. I got into Taipei airport in the evening,went through customs,stepped outside and got hit in the face with serious humidity that seemed you could cut with a knife.
Waiting for me was a Taiwanese Army driver to drive me through the mountains to Keelung to report to the Kretchmer. Now remember it was in the evening,and getting dark,I had just been on a LONG flight. The driver drove like a bat out of hell along these mountain roads,it scared me silly to say the least. When at long last we got to Keelung,he drops me at a Bar,and points and gestures I should go in. It seems this was my new ships "Office" As I stepped inside,someone at a table motioned me over. It was the ships cook,and I handed him my transfer papers. This guy had a large handle bar mustash he grabed my hand and kissed it,and said "velcome aboard" and handed me a beer. I had arrived. Now when I got onboard the guys started telling me stories about our ship,and one was very interesting,it was about the Mutiny they had. No,I am not making this up,what happened was they had just finished a 6 month tour in the tonkin gulf and when they docked in Subic bay in the Philippians,the Captain would not let anyone go ashore,this did NOT sit well with the crew,and so there was a very loud and vocal Mutiny. What happened next shows that the Navy isn't stupid,they yanked that Captain,and replaced him with what could only be described as one very cool skipper. He wore shorts all the time,and a big 10 gallon hat. To be true,he was a really good sailor,I and the crew rode out a typhoon later. Every month he would take the rec fund and throw a wild bash at our bar. Sailing on that ship was the best year in my four years in the Navy.


Keelung



TBC

[anunitu]

Re: Just Sea stories and BS from an old sailor

And then there was the uniform affair. Truly,I don't remember if this happened when I was on the Piedmont,or the Kretchmer,there was a LOT of drinking involved. It was in Hong Kong where I met a sailor from an Australian destroyer named the HMAS Vampire,we met in a bar,and after a bit of drinking,we swapped uniforms. I did catch a bit of hell when I came back aboard my ship. Mainly I wanted to swap because of the flathat. pic below.



The one I got was white because it was summer uniform time.

[anunitu]

Re: Just Sea stories and BS from an old sailor

Ok,now for a bit of insight about me. In Taiwan, the Bar Girls were for all intents and purposes,hookers. My take,just being me was I really never saw them that way. In fact I was on such good terms with most of the women in the bars,that when I was REALLY drunk,they would let me sleep it off in the back rooms where they lived. In the morning,they would bring me breakfast and comfort me. It was simply that I treated them as just people,and never insulted them. One Lady paid her own way out of the bar,you paid for them to go out with you. We went out doing the tourist thing,caught a kung fu movie,and just generally had fun and,she told me it was the most fun she had had in a long time.